The Tabard coed fraternity received a court date of July 14 for its trial for two counts of serving alcohol to underage individuals in an arraignment at the Lebanon District Court on Monday. Although an attorney represented the organization, no members of the organization were present at the arraignment. After receiving a warning from Hanover Police for an April incident of serving alcohol to minors, the Tabard was charged with its second offense when a 20-year old Dartmouth student was arrested for alcohol possession after allegedly drinking at the Tabard's physical plant on May 27. The offenses constitute felony charges and carry fines as high as $100,000 for each count because the Tabard can be charged as a "corporation or unincorporated association" under New Hampshire law, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Close to 25 universities are piloting a new service, Turnitin for Admissions, that calculates the percentage of matching words and phrases between submitted admissions essays and essays available in the service's database of Internet content, journals, books and papers, according to the service's website. While some have praised the service, David Hawkins, director of public policy at the National Association for College Admission Counseling, told The Chronicle of Higher Education that plagiarism is not as much of a problem as is "shadow writing" in admissions essays, in which an applicant's teachers or parents write the essay for the prospective student. In a study based on more than 450,000 essays submitted in 2006-2007, Turnitin for Admissions found that 36 percent of the essays contained more than 10 percent of plagiarized content, according to The Chronicle.
There is insufficient grant funding available to guarantee that low and moderate-income students can afford to enroll and remain in four-year colleges, according to a June report by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. The percentage of a low-income family's annual income required to fund a student at a four-year public college rose from 41 percent for high school graduates in 1992 to 46 percent for graduates in 2004 due to inadequate grant funding, according to the report. Enrollment in four-year colleges has been affected by the increasing costs, as 54 percent of "qualified" low-income high school graduates enrolled in four-year colleges in 1992 and only 40 percent enrolled in 2004, according to the report. The change in enrollment will also lead to decreased college graduation rates, according to the report.
