College Clips

By Meg Walsh

Published April 3, 2007

Vegetables are good for you, but avoided at Illinois

University of Illinois freshman Lauren Waller went straight to the salad bar after placing salmon on her plate. Whether cooked or raw, Waller said she tries to incorporate some kind of vegetable in her meal.

"I like vegetables," she said. "They're good for you."

Waller is a rare find among today's college students, according to the results of the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survey found adults aged 18 to 24 eat the fewest vegetables.

In Illinois and 13 other states, fewer than 20 percent of young adults ate at least three servings of vegetables a day. The government's goal is to get 50 percent of Americans to eat at least three servings of vegetables a day by 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Illinois freshman James Finkle said he avoids vegetables because they just don't taste good.

"When it comes down to pizza and cake versus vegetables, what would you choose?" he said.

— The Daily Illini (University of Illinois)

Cornell plays host to Guitar Hero for life

More than 175 Cornell University students and Ithaca, N.Y., residents of all ages rocked out to "Guitar Hero II" Thursday on a stage in Pyramid Mall in front of a big screen television to raise money for Cornell's third annual Relay for Life. The relay is an annual overnight event held to benefit the American Cancer Society. Teams from Cornell and Ithaca College gather together, and members take turns walking or running laps throughout the night.

The "Guitar Hero" fundraiser was designed as a contest in which participants donated money to play Guitar Hero II for Xbox in hopes of winning an electric guitar donated by the Ithaca Guitar Works. The fundraiser raised more than $300 for Relay for Life.

"We knew it was a good way to raise a lot of money for Relay for Life," Cornell junior Jillian Shaughnessy said. "It's an awesome game, and it gives people from Ithaca a chance to be rock stars."

— The Cornell Daily Sun (Cornell University)

Harvard professor's tenure rejection in question

Graduate students collected signatures Thursday for a letter protesting Harvard University's decision to deny tenure to associate professor of Japanese history Mikael Adolphson, a leading scholar of pre-modern Japanese history.

The petition, which included the names of roughly 50 students as of Thursday night, calls into question the university's commitment to pre-modern Japanese studies.

The letter seeks "not only to laud the professor's qualities as a teacher and mentor, but to make a case for the field of Japanese pre-modern history and its relevance to contemporary times."

First-year graduate student Jeremy Yellen, who is studying in the modern Japanese history doctoral program, said all areas of Japanese studies will "take a hit" when Adolphson leaves Harvard.

"Even those who come here to study modern Japanese history come here because of Harvard's strength in the pre-modern era," Yellen said.

— The Harvard Crimson (Harvard University)

— Compiled from U-Wire reports by Meg Walsh, senior staff writer