J.D. Salinger, the author known for his reclusiveness as well as his influence on literature, died Wednesday of natural causes at his home in Cornish, N.H., The New York Times reported. Salinger was 91. Salinger was best known for his controversial but highly successful novel, "The Catcher in the Rye," which continues to sell tens of thousands of copies each year in paperback, according to the Times. Salinger fled the high profile that his success brought, however, living in seclusion in his Cornish home for more than 50 years, the Times reported. Dartmouth students often reported seeing him wandering the Current Periodicals Room of Baker-Berry Library.
The long-term debt of American universities increased 54 percent in the 2009 fiscal year, Bloomberg reported Thursday. The ongoing financial crisis forced many institutions to borrow to offset record endowment losses, causing an average debt of $167.8-million during the 12-month period, Bloomberg reported. Harvard University and Princeton University were among those institutions to sell bonds, and borrowing was highest by those institutions with more than $1 billion in assets, according to Bloomberg. The continuing economic crisis may continue to affect institutions' finances, as declines in the number and size of donations are expected, Bloomberg reported.
Texas Christian University officials and representatives from Kappa Sigma fraternity are internally reviewing the case of a TCU Kappa Sigma fraternity member who was allegedly branded on his buttocks by his fellow members during a ski trip in Colorado, causing second and third-degree burns, the Dallas Star-Telegram reported Wednesday. Members of Kappa Sigma fraternity, who had rented a house along with members of Delta Delta Delta sorority for the trip, branded him first with the Kappa Sigma letters using a coat hanger before branding three large triangles the symbol of Tri-Delt on him while he was unconscious, the student told the Star-Telegram. The student, who will have to undergo plastic surgery to repair the damage, had allowed the members to brand the Kappa Sigma letters, but did not agree to and cannot remember the second branding, he told the Star-Telegram.
