The Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault held a town hall meeting on Thursday in Paganucci Lounge at which students, faculty members and administrators discussed the committee's recently released recommendations for combating sexual assault. The recommendations were drafted during January's Sexual Assault Symposium, which was attended by members of several student organizations. Faculty members suggested mandatory training and education for both students and faculty members to combat sexual violence. Theater professor Peter Hackett reiterated the importance of including specific statistics in the guidelines, saying that the statistics were "very compelling." Students should not "carry this burden alone," Hackett said, and should reach out to the trustees because they have important influence on the matter.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Gov. Mitt Romney announced on Wednesday that if elected, he would change or eliminate two of the Obama administration's higher education policies tighter regulations on for-profit colleges and the overhaul of the federal student loan program, Inside Higher Education reported. Romney said he would also simplify federal financial aid and return to bank-based student loans. Romney discussed changing the eligibility guidelines for Pell Grants to allocate the grants to students most in need, according to Inside Higher Education. Romney's platform emphasizes need for a new "normal" in America, where education is affordable, Inside Higher Education reported.
Asian-Americans hold a higher proportion of bachelor's degrees than members of any other race or ethnicity in the United States, according to an American Community Service report released on Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Almost 50 percent of Asian-Americans over the age of 25 have a bachelor's degree, while the national rate is 28 percent. The survey found that Taiwanese and Indians had the highest proportion of bachelor's degrees compared to all ethnic groups surveyed, while Salvadorans had the lowest percentage of degrees. Other census data released this year has shown significant increases over the past 10 years in the percentage of minorities attaining bachelor's degrees, The Chronicle of Higher Education.
