College Clips
Published Nov. 3, 2006
Brother Jed visits Kansas State
George "Jed" Smock doesn't use subtlety. He dresses in a three-piece tweed suit. In his hand is a Holy Bible, and in front of him are what calls hell-bound sinners.
"You need a good spanking with the scripture," he told a crowd at Bosco Student Plaza at Kansas State on Tuesday.
Smock has delivered his style of confrontational evangelism to campuses around the country.
"He makes the beginning of several quality theological arguments," said Marquis Clark, graduate student in political science and women studies. "He just doesn't articulate them very well, and I'm just terribly amused by all the fresh-out-of-high-school undergraduates who really bring up these god-awful points."
Many Christian groups also oppose his preaching methods.
-Kansas State Collegian (Kansas State University)
Arizona police pimp their ride
The Nogales (Ariz.) Police Department is fighting drunk driving and underage drinking at the Mexican border in Arizona with a $101,000 van.
The department, with the aid of a grant from the Arizona Governor's Office of Highway Safety, has received a DUI van fully equipped with a holding cell, a Breathalyzer, phones and other equipment to combat drunken driving and underage drinking.
"It's a pretty tricked-out little van," said police Chief John Kissinger.
The van is a first for the department and is designed not only to catch people who have committed alcohol-related crimes but also to deter anyone from breaking the law, especially at the border, he said.
In Arizona, people convicted of drinking underage face jail time, entering a diversion program, fines, loss of driver's license and an in-car Breathalyzer that only allows drivers to start their cars after blowing into the device with zero blood alcohol content.
-Arizona Daily Wildcat (University of Arizona)
Teaching assistants must pass English exam at Illinois
The University of Illinois requires all prospective teaching assistants who are not native English speakers to take an oral English proficiency exam before entering the classroom.
The policy has been in effect by legislation passed in 1986. According to the Web site of the Office of the Provost, Illinois has been monitoring non-native English-speaking teaching assistants since 1980.
Starting in fall 1988, only international students who passed the initial oral English proficiency screening assessments were eligible to teach.
Most international teaching assistants come to the university with a Test of Spoken English score.
Illinois also offers the SPEAK exam, in which graduate students are presented with questions and speak their responses into a microphone.
Graduate students who do not pass the SPEAK exam are usually required to take an English course.
-Daily Illini (University of Illinois)
