Fareed Zakaria, editor-at-large of Time magazine and a CNN correspondent, will speak at Harvard University's Commencement ceremony, The Harvard Crimson reported on Friday. Zakaria was chosen because he is "an unusually creative and incisive thinker in the realm of international affairs," Harvard President Drew Faust said in a statement. Zakaria, who obtained a PhD from Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, was described by Esquire Magazine in 1999 as "the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation," The Crimson reported. Comedian Steve Carell, who played Michael Scott on the popular TV series "The Office," will speak at Princeton University's 2012 Class Day, The Daily Princetonian reported. Carell won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Comedy for his role on "The Office" in 2006, according to nbc.com. "National media have crowned him as the funniest man in America we could not agree more," Lindy Li, Princeton's Class of 2012 president, said in an email to the senior class, The Princetonian reported.
Facing the likely elimination of their respective teams, members of Brown University's skiing, fencing and wrestling programs have organized fundraising campaigns in an attempt to become financially self-sufficient and convince administrators to rethink the decision to cut the athletic programs, The Brown Daily Herald reported. At a meeting with team captains, Brown President Ruth Simmons recommended that the women's and men's ski teams raise $2 million to finance themselves independently. The two programs which share funds, a coach and other resources have raised approximately $140,000 so far, according to The Daily Herald. The wrestling and fencing teams have experienced greater fundraising success and have raised $770,000 and $700,000 respectively. The university is set to determine the teams' final standings by the end of this week, The Daily Herald reported.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who chairs the U.S. Senate's education committee, made a proposed revision to the No Child Left Behind Act public on Oct. 11, The New York Times reported. The bill aims to eliminate much of the federal government's authority over education regulation and return that power to state governments. While schools still must annually test students' reading and math skills in grades three through eight as well as one time in high school under the proposed bill, the majority of schools will no longer be required to increase the proportion of students who demonstrate proficiency each year in order to avoid sanctions, according to The Times. Harkin's proposed revision is the first bill suggesting extensive changes to the law to reach Congress since former President George W. Bush signed the original No Child Left Behind Act into law in 2002, The Times reported.
