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November 30, 2011
Alexis Mattera
Students applying to college have a lot on their plates. There are applications and essays to complete, campus visits to schedule and FAFSAs to navigate of course but college hopefuls are taking an additional step to up their admissions chances by participating in serious social media scrub downs.
With admissions officers looking beyond traditional application materials to select their students – the latest survey from Kaplan Test Prep found that 24 percent had visited applicants' Facebook pages while 20 percent used Google searches – college applicants are creating alternate identities to disguise less-than-savory photos or comments on a number of social media sites. "Ask any senior in high school what his or her Facebook name is and you will find that they have morphed their FB identity into something slightly peculiar and mysterious that only their 'friends' can figure out," says Naomi Steinberg, owner of Apply Yourself Educational Consulting. And though students' original online identities often reappear after admissions decisions have been made, Steinberg says the trend of social media expurgation will continue into the next phase of students' lives as well, like when they begin applying for jobs.
College applicants, do you plan to tweak your social media persona as soon as your applications go out? Current college students, do you think online editing played a role in your acceptance?
December 8, 2011
Suada Kolovic
There are a few key moments in life when you step back and say, "That is non-negotiable in my book." For the most part, they're usually pivotal moments that deal with relationships, faith and, at times, your job. When it comes to the latter, they are definitely a few factors to consider – How far are you willing to travel for prospective employment? Will you work for minimum wage and no benefits? (I hope not!) – but what if your future employer tells you that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are off-limits? Well, for some college students and recent grads, that is the absolute definition of non-negotiable…even if the unemployment rate is around nine percent.
According to a recent study by Cisco which surveyed 1,400 college student and 1,400 young professionals between the ages of 21 and 29 in 14 countries, some students would be willing to accept a lower salary in return for technology freedom. The survey also notes that 56 percent of college students said they would either not accept a job offer from a company that blocked access to social media in the workplace or would attempt to sidestep company polices. (For more on the study, click here.)
For those of you with full-time employment, was access to social media a deciding factor? Would you be willing to forgo a higher salary in order to "tweet" and "like" during the workday? Let us know what you think of the study in the comments section.
December 2, 2011
Scholarships.com Staff
When an acceptance letter arrives from your dream college, your first instinct may be to scream, cry and jump on your couch with Tom Cruise-caliber flair. Feel free to give in to those urges – hey, you earned it! – but realize you will soon have to figure out how to pay for your education. Can you really afford this school, not only while you're attending but after you graduate as well? A new list from Kiplinger says your dream school could be a reality after all.
The list, which rates how well colleges actually do in making themselves affordable, includes schools with students who graduate with less than $20,000 in student loan debt on average. The Washington Post's Daniel de Vise also weighed in, supplementing Kiplinger's findings with data from the Institute for College Access and Success. Here's what he found were the most affordable institutions based on the average amount of debt graduates carry:
December 6, 2011
If you're like most college students, you might revel in the fact that you are now the authority when it comes to course selection. Students tend to take advantage of this new found freedom and pick classes they'll enjoy like "Philosophy and Existential Themes" or "Psychology: Sensation vs. Perception" instead of something as uninspiring as "Introduction to Professional Writing" but employers warn that they may not adequately prepare them for the workforce.
According to a recent study conducted by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, less than 10 percent of employers thought colleges did an "excellent" job preparing students for work. The group surveyed more than 1,000 employers in various industries and found that more than half said finding qualified applicants was difficult and agreed that students should receive specific workplace training rather than broad-based education.
Following the announcement of the study's finding, Rep. Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican and chairwoman of the U.S. House of Representatives higher education subcommittee, urged institutions to heed employers' calls. "Colleges and universities are pandering to the students and giving them what they want, instead of what the employers want," she said. "I don't think you have to make a distinction between getting skills and getting an education. We need to do both."
Do you agree with the Rep. Virginia Foxx? Are colleges and universities pandering to students wants verses needs?
December 9, 2011
Lisa Lowdermilk
With the holidays just around the corner, the last thing you want to think about is getting sick. But with kissletoe (err...I mean mistletoe) in the hallways of the dorms and the impending threat of cold season, it's important that you do everything you can to stay healthy. Specifically, let's talk about meningitis – one of the biggest threats to college students' health today – and what you can to prevent it.
Meningitis is a serious illness which can cause headaches, fever, vomiting, sensitivity to light and more and if not properly treated, meningitis can lead to seizures, amputation, coma and even death. The way meningitis is spread varies depending on the type of meningitis (i.e. bacterial, viral, fungal, non-infectious, etc.). While not as contagious as the flu, bacterial meningitis is spread by coughing, sharing drinks or kissing.
Several things you can do to prevent meningitis include washing your hands properly, getting plenty of rest, not sharing drinks and getting vaccinated, though bacterial meningitis is the only type of meningitis which can be prevented with a vaccine. Because it's the most common type to afflict college students (as well as the most deadly), it's extremely important to get vaccinated before attending college. With that said, if you're already in college and haven't been vaccinated, now is the time to do so! In fact, beginning January 1st, Texas is requiring all incoming college students to get vaccinated prior to attending.
If you think you or someone you know might have symptoms of meningitis, see a doctor right away. Meningitis is treatable with antibiotics but only if you act in time!
Lisa Lowdermilk is a published poet, avid video gamer and artist. Her poems have appeared in Celebrate Young Poets: West (Fall 2006) edition and Widener University's The Blue Route. She enjoys watching thrillers, trying different restaurants and attempting to breakdance. Lisa is now majoring in professional writing at the University of Colorado Denver.
December 12, 2011
If you need to find money for college and know how to create and upload a video file, have we got a scholarship opportunity for you.
The Dr Pepper Million Dollar Tuition Giveaway gives students age 18 and older the chance to earn up to $100,000 to fund their college educations. Thirsty for more details? We bet you are! To enter, all you have to do is submit an original video explaining why you deserve tuition through the Dr Pepper website by December 31st. Hey, it's easier – not to mention less dangerous – than describing what Dr Pepper tastes like!
Full guidelines for submission and answers to FAQs can be found on Dr Pepper's website. To learn more about this award as well as additional scholarship opportunities, conduct a free scholarship search today!
December 13, 2011
As regular admissions deadlines draw closer, high school students are putting the finishing touches on their college application packets and preparing to send their materials off to their schools of choice. As they sit down to write their admissions essays, however, they are increasingly surprised: Traditional essay questions like "Why this school?" and "What is your greatest achievement?" are disappearing in favor of quirkier prompts and quicker responses.
In a recent Chicago Tribune article, both students and educators weighed in on the increased emphasis on brevity (we're talking responses of 25 words or fewer) and creativity (schools like the University of Dayton, George Mason and Tufts now accept video essays). While some are definitely in favor – "It allows colleges to learn things they may not get from a transcript and a resume," said Katherine Cohen, a college consultant and founder of IvyWise.com – others, like Barmak Nassirian of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, are less than pleased: "It just reinforces that there's some secret code that needs to be cracked to gain admission," he said. Here are just a few of the more interesting prompts seen on college applications during this admissions cycle:
What do you think of this admissions shift? Would you rather write 250 words or 25? What has been the strangest essay prompt you've encountered on college application thus far?
December 15, 2011
Not-so-breaking news: College is expensive and the costs associated with it show no sign of stopping their steady climb. What's a college hopeful to do? Consider a school that's finding ways to bridge the financial gap, like UC Berkeley.
Beginning next fall, Berkeley will amp up its financial aid contributions for middle-class students. School officials reported that while the number of low-income and wealthy students has increased over the last several years, the number from middle-class families has remained flat. Berkeley hopes to regain the interest of middle-class applicants by becoming the first public university to promise families earning between $80,000 and $140,000 a year will contribute no more than 15 percent of their annual incomes toward tuition.
This news – released just one day after Gov. Jerry Brown announced a $2.2 billion budget shortfall and another severe round of cuts to state colleges and universities – has already been dubbed a game changer by Terry W. Hartle: The senior vice president of the American Council on Education also believes other colleges will channel their competitive spirits and do whatever they can to offer similar programs. Learn more about Berkeley's plan here then tell us what you think.
December 16, 2011
The Federal Pell Grant program as we know it has been in jeopardy in recent years but an agreement reached last night will keep its funding intact. While college students will still receive the maximum award amount per year, the number of eligible recipients is a quite different (and unfortunate) story.
The Chronicle reported congressional leaders agreed on a spending bill for the remainder of the current fiscal year that would increase funds for the National Institutes of Health by 1 percent, thereby maintaining the maximum Pell Grant amount of $5,550. To make this $300 million increase possible, however, eligibility for the award has been restricted. Under the bill, Pell Grant funding will only be available to each student for six years instead of nine, high school diplomas or GEDs will be required (no more ability-to-benefit tests) and the income cap for receiving an "automatic zero" expected family contribution will be lowered from $30,000 to $23,000. The interest subsidy on undergraduate student loans during the six-month grace period after a student graduates would also temporarily end.
Yes, the changes are significant but they are far less severe than an earlier bill which would have lowered the income cap to $15,000 and reduced the amount of income working students could exclude when applying for financial aid – changes that would have negatively impacted thousands of college students, especially those attending community colleges. We want to know what you think about the news. Is there a way to maintain federal funding without decreasing eligibility or do you think this bill is the best option?
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Saturday, 16 Aug 2014 05:00 PM
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency, as he and other officials seek to restore order after a week of racially charged protests and looting over the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer.
The curfew will run midnight until 5 a.m. CDT (0500 to 1000 GMT) until further notice, said Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson. Johnson was named by the governor this week to oversee security in the suburban St. Louis community that has been roiled by the Aug. 9 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
The mood among hundreds of protesters on a main road in Ferguson that has been the scene of recent demonstrations was tense and defiant on Saturday night, in marked contrast to the festive atmosphere of Thursday. Scores of police in bullet-proof vests lined the sides of the road in the rain.
"I'm a grown man, 24 years old," said demonstrator Phonso Scott. "I can be out here as long as I want to be. I'll be right here at 12:01, 12:02."
"The curfew is going to make things worse," he said. "I think the cops are going to get violent tonight, but they can't lock us all up."
Earlier in the day, Nixon and other officials came face to face with angry members of the community during a tense news conference at a church near Ferguson.
"The eyes of the world are watching. This is the test of whether a community, this community, any community, can break the cycle of fear, distrust and violence, and replace them with peace, strength and, ultimately, justice," Nixon, a Democrat, told the gathering.
Some in the crowd reacted angrily to the news and several said the police officer who killed Brown must be prosecuted for murder if peace is to return to the community.
But Nixon said public safety had to be protected. "We cannot have looting and crimes at night. We can't have people fearful," he said.
The unrest erupted after police officer Darren Wilson, 28, shot and killed Brown shortly after noon a week ago as Brown and a friend walked down a street that runs through an apartment complex where Brown's grandmother lives.
Tensions have been high all week but escalated on Friday evening as protesters again swarmed through a residential and retail district that has become a center of the unrest, pitting mostly black protesters against mostly white police.
On Saturday, people marching through city streets held signs that read "Black lives matter," and "Don't shoot."
Brown's family and supporters have demanded for days that the officer who shot Brown be held accountable. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the shooting for any civil rights violations, and the St. Louis County Police department is also investigating the shooting.
For days, police repeatedly refused to identify the officer involved, citing concerns for his safety. On Friday, Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson gave in to community pressure and identified Wilson as the officer involved.
But at the same time, Jackson added to the community's outrage when he announced Brown had been a suspect in a robbery of a convenience store at the time he was shot.
Jackson later told a news conference that when Wilson shot Brown, the officer did not know the teen was a suspect in the robbery. There was no connection between the shooting and the alleged robbery, Jackson said.
Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Brown's family, said in a statement issued on Friday that the family was "beyond outraged" at the police attempts to "assassinate the character of their son."
Civil rights activist the Reverend Al Sharpton said he would lead a rally with Brown's family in Ferguson on Sunday.
Other law enforcement agencies have criticized the Ferguson police department for trying to make the alleged robbery an issue connected to the shooting, and for releasing a video from inside the store that shows Brown violently shoving a store clerk before he walks out the door.
The U.S. Justice Department asked Ferguson police on Thursday not to release the video, out of a concern it would roil the community further, but on Friday it was released over the objections of federal officials, said a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity.
The police version of Brown's shooting differs markedly from witness accounts, including that of the friend who was walking with Brown at the time, Dorian Johnson, 22.
In the police version, after Wilson asked Brown to move out of the road onto a sidewalk, Brown reached into the patrol car and struggled with Wilson for the officer's service gun. Wilson, who sustained a facial injury, then shot Brown a number of times.
Johnson and at least one other witness have said the officer reached out through his car window to grab at Brown and the teenager was trying to get away from the officer when he was shot. Brown held up his hands in a sign of surrender but the officer got out of his patrol car and shot Brown several times, they said.
Brown family attorney Anthony Gray said on Saturday that Dr. Michael Baden, a high-profile forensic pathologist, will conduct a second autopsy on Brown's body, according to CNN.
FBI agents were at the scene of the shooting on Saturday interviewing residents, and civil rights activist Jesse Jackson also visited the site, leading a prayer near a makeshift memorial to Brown just a few feet from where he died.
© 2015 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.
Thursday, 02 Apr 2015 06:05 AM
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RCSD: Shooting victim tried to drive himself to the hospital, crashes into tree
Richland County Sheriff's deputies are looking for two men accused of shooting another man in the car with them Tuesday night.
Sergeant Curtis Wilson, a Sheriff's Department spokesman, said the victim was transported to Palmetto Health Richland with a gun shot wound to the upper body.
The victim told police he was in a car with two suspects smoking drugs on Torwood Drive and Swandale Drive when he heard a pistol load, Wilson said.
The victim struggled with the two suspects and the gun went off, hitting the victim, according to Wilson.
Wilson said the suspects fled the scene, and the victim tried to drive the car to the hospital and crashed into a tree on Faison Drive and then passed out.
Wilson said the Columbia Police Department responded to the crash but turned the investigation over to the Richland County Sheriff's Department.
Anyone with information should call Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.
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