Watching the Ivies: 4/1
BROWN: Police officers and family members continue to search for Brown University student Sunil Tripathi ’12, who has been missing for over a week. Last seen two Saturdays ago, Tripathi left “a note suggestive of suicidal intent” along with his wallet and credit cards at his apartment before his disappearance, according to the Brown Daily Herald. The FBI has joined the search, the Daily Herald reported. A Facebook page, titled “Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi,” is created to help raise awareness of Tripathi’s disappearance by compiling all the available information.
http://www.browndailyherald.com/2013/03/22/search-for-missing-undergrad-expands/
http://www.browndailyherald.com/2013/03/22/fbi-involved-in-missing-undergrad-case/
COLUMBIA: Osmond Cousins, a cook at Columbia University’s Faculty House, has filed a class action lawsuit against the University for charging customers for tips that the employees never received. According to the Columbia Spectator, the lawsuit contends that Faculty House clients receive bills for meals that include a 15% tip, leading customers to believe that the service charge will go to the employees. The Spectator also reported that New York state law allows banquets and special functions to be exempt from tipping laws “where a fixed percentage of the patron’s bill is added for gratuities which are distributed to employees.”
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2013/03/29/faculty-house-worker-sues-cu
CORNELL: Students at Cornell will pay $1945 more in tuition for the 2013-2014 school year, bringing up the cost of attendance to $57,042 including room and board, the Cornell Sun reported. The tuition hike would affect students in Cornell’s professional schools but not the University’s other graduate students. According to a University press release, all other costs, such as housing, dining, and student fees will not increase for the 2013-2014 academic year. The cost of attendance for New York state residents will increase at the same rate, changing from $40,902 to $42,847.
HARVARD: Harvard University’s acceptance rate is once again at a record low, with 5.8% of applicants admitted to the Class of 2017, according to The Crimson. Of the 35,023 applicants, 1,134 received offers of admission under regular decision, bringing the total number of admitted students with early action students to 2,029. In an effort to reach students from a wider range of backgrounds, Harvard has agreed to spend an additional $10 million on financial aid, according to the Dean of Admissions. Harvard’s acceptance rate is currently the lowest in the Ivy League.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/3/28/class-of-2017-admissions/
PRINCETON: Princeton University has extended an offer of admission to 1,931 high school students of the 26, 498 who applied for a spot in the Class of 2017, according a Press Release from the University. Compared to the University’s previous acceptance rate of 7.86%, this year’s acceptance rate of 7.29% is the University’s lowest. Over one-third of the 1,931 students admitted were accepted through the single-choice early action program.
http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S36/44/74C02/index.xml?section=topstories
UPENN: The University of Pennsylvania will introduce a new dining plan featuring the flexible use of dining dollar for the 2013-2014 school year. The new Any Time Meal plan, which will only be available to upperclassmen, is the first ever dining dollars only plan and includes $1,500 dining dollars per semester for only $2,950 per year. Students will also be able to use this plan at all-you-can-eat dining halls. Director of Penn Dining Pam Lampitt said she does not expect a decrease in traffic at the all-you-can-eat facilities, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported. In addition, the Falk Dining Commons will only accept Dining Dollars beginning next fall.
http://www.thedp.com/article/2013/03/new-dining-plans-available-for-2013-2014-academic-year
YALE: The Yale College Council hosted a forum for students to engage with members of a committee that is tasked with addressing Yale College’s grading policies. The committee has been considering changing Yale’s grading policy from a letter-grade system to a 100-point scale system, according to the Yale Daily News. The forum, which was held one week before the faculty will vote on the proposed changes, entertained student concerns for nearly three hours. A Yale College Council Survey on nearly 1,700 students found that 79% of respondents were opposed to a 0-100 grading scale and believed that that proposed changes would be negative, the Yale Daily News reported. Students present at the forum voiced concerns with how the change would affect the atmosphere of collaboration at the College. Faculty cited the fact that 62% of grades awarded at the College last spring were in the A-range as a primary concern for combating grade compression.
http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/03/28/students-hesitant-about-grading-proposals/