College Clips

By Amy Oslica, Staff Writer
Dec. 7, 2007

Smoking marijuana might provide

benefits, study says

Students could wind up paying fines for smoking a joint, but a recently published Swiss study suggests that toking up might provide some social and academic benefits.

A team of researchers from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland surveyed 5,263 Swiss citizens and divided them into three groups: those who smoke both marijuana and tobacco, those who smoke only marijuana and those who abstain from both substances.

The researchers found that those who use both substances were the worst off and were prone to alcohol abuse, truancy and depression.

However, the study reported many similarities between the marijuana users and abstainers.

While they were more likely to skip school and experiment with other drugs, marijuana users had comparable grades and were just as likely to finish their academic schooling.

— The Daily Collegian

(Pennsylvania State University)

Texas Tech students analyze the

importance of a first kiss

A recent study found that the first kiss is one of the most important aspects in determining relationship compatibility and some Texas Tech students agree.

According to a study of more than 1,000 college-aged adults published in the scientific journal "Evolutionary Psychology," 59 percent of men and 66 percent of women said they have been in the position of being attracted to someone until they kissed the person.

Although Gordon Gallup, a co-author of the study, said the study did not conclude why those surveyed were no longer interested in the other person after their first kiss, he believes it likely involves the operation of evolved, hard-wired unconscious mechanisms in the brain.

"At the moment of the kiss, there's a very complicated exchange of information involving tactile cues, and postural adjustments, and factory cues and even saliva exchange that may serve to impact unconscious mechanisms that asses the extent to which there's genetic incompatibility between two people," he said.

— The Daily Toreador

(Texas Tech University)

Embezzlement not uncommon

in higher education

The words "fraud" and "embezzlement" might bring to mind former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay or Martha Stewart's five-month imprisonment resulting from insider trading charges.

In recent years, cases of fraud and embezzlement have gained greater attention on the national scale, mostly within a corporate setting. But after several colleges experienced fraud last year, the focus on such cases in higher education has increased as well.

Allan Bachman, Education Manager of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, who has experience with internal auditing in higher education, said corruption in colleges and universities can generate an unusually high amount of buzz.

According to the ACFE's 2006 "Report to the Nation," there were 73 cases of fraud in the education industry last year. These cases, which were reported on campuses of varying size and location, accounted for seven percent of all occupational fraud issues in 2006.

— The Tufts Daily

(Tufts University)

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