ANTIWAR NETWORK EVENT MARCH 14th

Attention anti war activists, there will be a live simulcast of the Iraq Veterans Against the War event featuring testimony from Iraq War veterans about the negative aspects of the conflict in Iraq on Friday March 14th, 2008. The event, called Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan after an anti-war event by the same name in 1971, will feature commentary on the every day happenings that soldiers experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 4-day gathering will bring veterans to Washington DC from all over the country. In association with the simulcast the William Joiner Center will present “Winter Soldier” a 1972 movie chronicling the Vietnam War event on Monday March 10th, 2008. The UMass Boston Antiwar Network is sponsoring this event, for more information contact [email protected].

NEW HAZING POLICY DISCUSSION MARCH 11th

A University of Maine study about the effect of student hazing, has “revealed startling new evidence about the nature and extent of hazing at U.S. colleges and Universities.” Leaders of the study Elizabeth Allen and Mary Madden will be converging on Hynes Convention Center March 11th to discuss their preliminary findings. The survey includes 11,000 undergraduate respondents from colleges across the nation. More than 50% of the students surveyed said that they have experienced behavior extreme enough to be called hazing, which is illegal in all but 6 states. The last large study took place in 1999 and surveyed just over 2000 students and focused primarily on students involved in athletics. The new survey looks at a broader range of student activities and gives the study broader results. “By looking at different types of groups and student organizations, we gain a better understanding of the campus culture,” Allan explains. Emails were sent to students from UMaine and were followed up with interviews with about 400 respondents. If you are a news organization you must register with the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators to cover the event.

Dixie Trustee Party

You may grumble over UMass trustees raising fees, but the trustees at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, in North Carolina, blew $16,000 on a retreat to a 4-star lakeside hotel. A few months after getting home, they announced they didn’t have enough money for 26 part-time faculty, canned them, and increased remaining professors’ class loads. The Charlotte Observer points the finger, and cites an RCC staffer as figuring the party money could have paid for a dozen part-timers. Bemused and horrified educational consultant Marc Scheer posed the following question: “Which is more pathetic: the fact that a college spent $16,000 on a faculty retreat, or the fact that $16,000 could cover the salaries of 12 staff members for an entire semester?” Whipping out his calculator, Mr. Scheer figures RCCC adjuncts are paid well under $15 an hour. It’s even less if they’re spending time properly preparing class material and grading papers.