College Briefs

Monday, August 17, 1998

College Briefs

Yale students’ legal challenge falls short

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A federal judge in Connecticut dismissed a
lawsuit against Yale brought by four Orthodox Jewish undergraduates
who alleged a policy requiring students to live in coed dormitories
violated their civil rights.

The Harvard Crimson reported that four students announced Friday
they would appeal the ruling by Judge Alfred V. Covello.

"The dormitory arrangements at Yale run counter to my
strongly-held religious convictions," said sophomore Elisha D.
Hack, one of the four students, in a statement.

Co-ed bathrooms and mixed-sex dormitories violate Orthodox
Jewish rules on chastity and modesty, the students said.

Lower grad rates for minority athletes

COLUMBUS, Ohio — White athletes graduate at nearly twice the
rate of black athletes at Ohio State, but the department of
athletics is trying to change the trend.

According to the Ohio State Lantern, some 61 percent of whites
graduate in six years compared to 33 percent of blacks, according
to the office of the registrar. OSU president William "Brit" Kirwan
said the problem goes beyond just sports.

"The minority gap is also true for the campus as a whole,"
Kirwan said. "We need goals and benchmarks to narrow the gap."

The six-year graduation rate for all students is 58 percent for
whites and 40 percent for blacks. Kirwan said more should be done
to reverse the trend.

"Athletics has to be something we all feel good about," he said.
"We need to begin to monitor the graduation rates of the athletes
in the program."

Judge rules on

student funding

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — In a case similar to the University of
Minnesota’s (and the University of California’s) student services
fees lawsuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
ruled Monday that students at the University of Wisconsin, Madison
cannot be forced to fund campus groups that engage in political and
ideological activities.

Though the University of Minnesota’s case falls under the Eighth
Circuit and a different set of judges, plaintiff and defense
lawyers say they have closely followed the Wisconsin case, which
could impact the university, the Minnesota Daily reported.

"Judges do listen to what other judges say, and this could very
well influence the outcome of our case," said Mark Rotenberg, head
of the university’s office of the general counsel.

"This is better than what we expected. It’s a very clear win and
I think it will have a huge impact on the Minnesota case," said
Jordan Lorence, legal counsel for the students in both the
Minnesota and Wisconsin cases.

Many college apps available online

AUSTIN, Texas — High school students will be able to research
universities nationwide and apply to them over the Internet using
an updated web site that will be available this fall, the Daily
Texan reported.

CollegeLink, an electronic admission application service,
currently permits students to send admission applications to
multiple universities using a single form and submit those
applications electronically. About 1,000 to 1,100 universities use
CollegeLink, Millette said.

Compiled from University Wire reports.