Tennessee State University and Hampton University have blocked the web site JuicyCampus.com from campus web servers, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported Thursday. The site allows users to anonymously post messages about peers and other campus-related topics, and messages often malign students' sexual behavior, sexual orientation and character, according to the Chronicle. Though Tennessee State has never before blocked a web site, Michael Freeman, vice president for student affairs at the university, told The Chronicle that in "a post-Virginia Tech environment," universities need to be more careful. Matt Ivester, the founder of JuicyCampus, responded by comparing Tennessee State's action to China's censorship of its online networks, according to the Chronicle, and said that the university was infringing on students' right to free speech. Dartmouth is one of over 500 colleges and universities with discussion forums on the web site, although the site has no official affiliations with any of the schools.
Dartmouth was one of 90 schools to release a joint statement claiming that colleges need to reevaluate whether they are achieving the goals of a liberal arts education. The statement, which was drafted by a Consortium on Financing Higher Education task force, states that assessments should concentrate on whether students are acquiring skills needed for long-term success and that the colleges should release data to prospective students, parents, the government and sources of financial support. The statement also stressed the importance of peer review among institutions. The statement acknowledged the diversity among colleges, but emphasized that all institutions should develop the critical-thinking and communication skills of their students.
Dartmouth's Fed Challenge team finished second to Harvard University's team at the 2008 College Fed Challenge, a competition on economic policy between 17 universities held in Boston on Monday. Dartmouth's team beat four schools in the semi-finals before moving on to face Brown University, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the final round. The competition took place in front of federal reserve economists and each team delivered a PowerPoint presentation and predictions about inflation and gross domestic product and recommendations for monetary policy. Dartmouth's team consists of Ting Cui '10, Corey Eng '10, Joseph Huston '10, Gregory Rolfes '09 and Henry Stewart '12. Their faculty moderator is Frank Zarnowski, a visiting economics professor from Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland.
