College President Jim Yong Kim's Learning Collaborative on High-Risk Drinking has reached its full membership of 32 colleges and universities and will conclude its first learning session Friday, the College announced Wednesday. The Collaborative, which includes Brown University, Cornell University, Princeton University, Stanford University and Yale University, in addition to more than a dozen public universities, will spend 18 months studying health and social programs designed to combat binge drinking on college campuses, according to the project's website. Scientists from The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice will work with school representatives to develop strategies for reducing unhealthy drinking among students. More than 40 percent of college students participate in binge drinking, which often leads to other unhealthy behaviors such as unsafe sex and poor academic performance, according to the press release. Kim started the initiative in May to attempt to combat binge drinking with an "evidence-based" approach, pooling quantitative date and research from different sources.
The Republican-controlled New Hampshire state legislature passed legislation requiring girls under the age of 18 to notify either their parents or a judge when seeking an abortion, The Boston Globe reported. The law, passed on June 22 over Democratic Gov. John Lynch's veto, forces health providers to notify parents of a minor's abortion request within 48 hours of the abortion. Providers failing to comply would face misdemeanor charges, according to The Globe. While supporters of the law suggest that it involves parents in their children's important medical decisions, its opponents including Lynch argue that it may prevent medical professionals from exercising their best medical judgment in life-threatening situations. Others objected to the law's omission of exemptions for victims of rape and incest, The Globe reported.
The College signed an agreement earlier this month with the American University in Kosovo, building upon a relationship that began last August, according to a College press release. The schools hope to broaden cooperation on issues like accreditation, curriculum development and exchange programs. AUK produces graduates who work to improve the fledgling nation, and is the only institution in the region enrolling students from a range of ethnic groups, according to the release. The partnership has enabled administrators at AUK to pursue a liberal arts model based on the environment promoted by the College. Dartmouth's involvement in Kosovo dates back as far as 1999, when Dartmouth Medical School faculty traveled there to provide health care to war-stricken areas.
