Disturbing
Tri-Valley University, an online university operating out of Pleasanton, California was investigated by federal prosecutors last week and was discovered to be a front for illegal immigration. A complaint filed with the U.S. District Attorney’s Office claims the school’s founder, Susan Su was a part of an elaborate fraud scheme. According to the complaint, the university has made millions of dollar in tuition fees by helping foreign nationals obtain illegal student immigration status. In May 2010, the school had 939 students with Visas compared to the 11 students from a year earlier. The complaint also said that 95 per cent of the students were from India and that more than half of them gave the same address of one apartment as their residence. The school is currently not in operation.
Hilarious
The Ontario government has created a new mobile OSAP application. The app allows students to check their application status via smart phone. The application was introduced last Tuesday at Carleton University. The app is described as being “the first interactive application of its kind,” according to the Ontario government’s press release. It is also a part of the government’s plan to make post-secondary education more affordable and accessible. Stressed about whether or not the government will give you money this semester? There’s an app for that.
Just Plain Weird
A University of Alberta student and professor have discovered that wearing the same denim jeans for 15 months without washing them doesn’t appear to have any health risks. Josh Le wore the same jeans from September 2009 to December 2010 to see how dirty they would get without washing. Le and human ecology professor Rachel McQueen swabbed the jeans and then put them through a washing machine. They found that the bacteria count on the freshly washed jeans was similar to the count found from the prewashed pair. Le admits though, that the jeans did begin to smell after a few months. So if you don’t have time to do your laundry this week (or next week), it should be okay for you to wear those jeans again.
Totally Badass
Over 150 University of Albany students walked out of class last Thursday to protest budget cuts. At noon, the students rallied together and walked to a room in the Campus Center, growing in numbers as they went. For the past three years, the university has chipped away almost $34 million in budget cuts. University of Albany’s president, George Phillips, has decided to halt admission to five humanities programs including French, Russian and Theatre. The protest occurred the day after Phillips presented a new plan to help enhance the university.
