Actor John Cho spent Sunday canvassing on campus with the College organization Dartmouth for Obama and met with students to discuss the importance of the youth vote in the upcoming presidential election. Cho, who is currently touring New Hampshire to educate students about the pivotal role that they will play in November's presidential election, delivered a short speech in One Wheelock and subsequently signed autographs and took photos with those present. Cho encouraged students to register to vote by distributing voter pledge cards. "It's amazing how much power students have in this election," he said. "I hope they're aware of the extraordinary opportunity they have to effect change." In speaking to students, Cho related his life story to President Barack Obama's narrative about education and immigration, encouraging them to attend the Dartmouth for Obama informational meeting on Tuesday.
Students at three different colleges across the country were forced to evacuate their campuses on Friday due to bomb threats, The New York Times reported. Although the threats were false alarms, officials at the University of Texas, Austin, North Dakota State University and Hiram College in northeast Ohio took cautionary measures in order to ensure campus safety. The University of Texas evacuated 51,000 students and 24,000 staff and faculty members after a man claimed that he had distributed bombs around the campus that would detonate in 90 minutes. North Dakota State University evacuated its 14,000 students and Hiram College, its 1,300 undergraduates. Classes were interrupted at each college and were cancelled entirely for the day in Austin. Representatives do not know who made the threats or whether they were connected.
The federal budget for higher education programs will be cut significantly in 2013, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Federal discretionary spending on higher education will potentially be reduced by 8.2 percent and mandatory programs will face reductions of 7.6 percent. If Congress accepts the federal budget cut $109 billion overall, part of a $1.2 trillion reduction over the next decade experts fear it could have disastrous consequences for the economy. Scientific research and education supported by universities are vital for growth and prosperity, according to Hunter Rawlings, president of the Association of American Universities. The cuts arose from sequestration, which aimed to spur compromise on deficit reduction between Republicans and Democrats in Congress. However, as a compromise was never reached, the extensive cuts could have adverse effects on the economy.
