TRENDING UP
Graduation rates and loan forgiveness are trending up, especially when the two are linked.
The University of Texas at Austin is testing a program that would measure whether students can be encouraged to complete their degrees by offering forgiveness of the most expensive loans they take out to attend UT.
The pilot project only includes 200 students this fall, but UT officials said students could save thousands of dollars if it proves successful. When it seems like you’re being overwhelmingly told that you’ll graduate up to your eyeballs in student loan debt, it’s a relief to know universities like UT Austin are looking out for you.
Cautionary tales of social media are increasing, and more people are looking at your Facebook than you think, according to a survey by Kaplan Test Prep. Although relatively few college admissions officers say they Google applicants or look at their Facebook pages, more of those who do report finding something undesirable.
The percentage of admissions officers who reported finding something that impacted an applicant’s chance of admission — anything from alcohol consumption in photos, essay plagiarism or something illegal — leaped from 12 percent to 35 percent.
Does it really need to be said again? Don’t be stupid on the Internet.
TRENDING DOWN
Minor Twitter indescretions could also get you in trouble, as third-string quarterback Cardale Jones of Ohio State University learned last week when he tweeted, “Why should we have to go class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we aint come here to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS.” The tweet was eventually deleted and Jones’ Twitter account removed. He was also suspended from a game on Saturday.
It was a pretty harmless, careless tweet that came under scrutiny because Jones is an athlete. But it’s hard to tell which one is easier make: the joke about Jones being third string and not playing much football anyway, or the one about how he clearly should “play SCHOOL” more often?
Evolution continues finding skeptics. In a video, Rep. Paul Broun, a Georgia Republican who chairs the House Science Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, said the Bible contains the literal truth. “God’s word is true,” he said in during filmed address to a church congregation. “All that stuff I was taught about evolution, embryology, the big bang theory; all of that is lies straight from the pit of hell.”
A spokeswoman for Broun said he was “speaking off the record to a large church group about his personal beliefs regarding religious issues.”
The thing about evolution, and science in general, is that science is not a personal belief. On the bright side, celebrity science educator Bill Nye spoke out against Broun after seeing the video. That guy’s really making a comeback.
