USA Today is discontinuing several of its "All-Star" scholarship programs, including the All-USA College Academic Team and the All-USA Community College Academic Team. The programs recognized the scholastic and extracurricular achievement of 20 undergraduates and 20 community college students. The newspaper will also discontinue programs acknowledging high school students, awards that do not include monetary payment. Although officials cited budgetary constraints as their primary motivation, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that the media is increasingly reducing coverage of institutions of higher learning. Zachary Kaufman '08 and N. Taylor Thompson '08 were selected for the team this year, and Laura Myers '08 and Jessica Ogden '08 received honorable mentions.
More than 1.5 million graduating college seniors will have difficulty obtaining work, and prospects for next year's students may be worse, according to a report released by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The percentage of open jobs increased by only eight percent in 2008, while it was projected to rise by 16 percent. The percentage growth in open jobs peaked in 2007, with a 17.4 percent increase. The recent economic problems, which include increasing gas prices and the subprime mortgage crisis are largely responsible for the cutbacks, according to the NACE. Job market decreases primarily affect the disciplines bearing the brunt of the recession, construction and finance, while other areas of business remain relatively untouched, the NACE reported.
Opportunities for college students interested in studying sign language abroad are increasing, according to Inside Higher Ed. Several new programs, most of which opened last summer, focus on the study of foreign sign language and deaf culture in other countries. The programs initially had few student participants, but have grown significantly, increasing from four to 25 entrants per program in the past year. Financial support for the programs is still lacking because universities give less support to foreign sign language professors than to those who teach standard foreign languages such as French or Spanish, Sherman Wilcox, chair of the linguistics department at the University of New Mexico, told Inside Higher Ed.
