The U.S. Department of Education released a highly critical report last month of the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, an accrediting agency that grants higher education institutions access to federal student aid, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on Dec. 18. The memorandum suggested that the department consider curtailing, suspending or ending the commission's status as one of six regional accreditors authorized by the department to permit institutions to offer federal aid to students, according to The Chronicle. The report questioned the commission's standards for measuring credit hours and program length after it accredited American Intercontinental University, an online for-profit institution, The Chronicle reported. The department's Office of Postsecondary Education has begun an investigation, although taking action against the accrediting agency would require the approval of a committee that has not yet been fully formed, according to The Chronicle.
An attendance book kept by Robert Frost during his time as an eighth-grade teacher was recently discovered in the basement of a Masonic lodge in Methuen, Mass., The New York Times reported on Dec. 31. The book dates to 1893, when the 17-year-old Frost began teaching at the Second Grammar School in Methuen after he dropped out of Dartmouth, according to The Times. The register includes daily entries written by Frost, according to The Times. Methuen city officials are seeking a $3,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to restore the document, The Boston Globe reported.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services detected anthrax in three samples taken after a case of gastrointestinal anthrax was found in a New Hampshire resident in December, according to a department press release. The patient had participated earlier in a drumming circle held at the United Campus Ministry building in Durham, according to a another press release. So far, two of the samples taken from African drums used at the building and a third from an environmental sample collected from the building have tested positive for anthrax. Samples from the drums and from the patient have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
