Cornell University's InterFraternity Council indefinitely banned drinking games and all non-catered parties with open invitations last week in response to the high number of students with the H1N1 virus, according to The Cornell Daily Sun. The ban extends certain aspects of a moratorium the IFC instated earlier this fall. The IFC also mandated that posters with tips on how to minimize the spread of the virus must be displayed at all parties, The Sun reported Sept. 17. The ban comes after a 20-year-old Cornell student, Warren Schor, died of complications from swine flu on Sept. 11.
About 45,000 deaths a year are related to a lack of health insurance, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Cambridge Health alliance and reported on by The Harvard Crimson. The study is based on data from a survey by the National Center for Health Statistics, which polled Americans age 17 to 64 in 1988, with a follow-up in 2000, according to The Crimson. Researchers hope the study will affect the health care debate in Congress by emphasizing that health care coverage can have far-reaching consequences. Some critics at the Kennedy School of Government argue that the study does not present a causal relationship and that researches did not control for significant factors like living environments and high-risk behavior, The Crimson reported.
The MacArthur Foundation announced the 24 recipients of its "genius" grants, each of whom will receive $500,000 over the next five years, on Monday. The grants are awarded to individuals who demonstrate creativity, originality and promise for important future developments in their work, according to the foundation's web site. The foundation recognized several university faculty members, including researchers at Princeton University, Yale University, and Harvard University. College president Jim Yong Kim received a MacArthur grant in 2003.
