College Clips

By Maggie Creamer, Managing Editor
May 4, 2007

Pitchfork, machete wielded on

Wisconsin campus

When members of Acacia Fraternity at Madison, Wisc., noticed two people vandalizing a tent, they drew two weapons they had handy.

Those two weapons were a machete and a pitchfork.

According to the police report, an officer at the scene of the crime overheard a member of the fight say, "I just had a pitchfork pulled on me."

Madison police spokesman Mike Hanson said the fight occurred in front of the Acacia house, but it is unclear if the tent belonged to the fraternity. No one was hurt in the incident, and the two Acacia members were arrested along with two other suspects. The police report said all four received citations for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, and it confirmed that alcohol was involved.

— The Daily Cardinal

(University of Wisconsin)

'Daily Show' has cultural impact on college demographic

Despite criticism from FOX News Channel's Bill O'Reilly that the audience for "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" are only "stoned slackers watching (his) dopey show every night," Stewart might actually be educating the masses.

Readers of major newspaper Web sites tied in their knowledge of political figures and recent headline news stories with regular viewers of "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," according to the Pew Research Center for People and the Press.

Regular viewers of the comedy news shows might know more about current events, "because young people have more time to get the news, and then leisurely watch 'The Daily Show' afterward," said Karlo Marcello, a research associate at the University of Maryland's Center for Information and Research of Civic Learning and Engagement. "'The Daily Show' requires people know the news before they watch. It's not like the Jay Leno show where he makes references to things in popular culture that anyone can pick up on."

— The Diamondback

(University of Maryland)

SPenn State considers switching to Google mail

Students across the country are generally unsatisfied with their colleges' current e-mail systems, according to a survey of more than 4,000 students by Google Inc.

At Pennsylvania State University, 57 percent of students are "very dissatisfied" with the school's Webmail Lite system. Students cited slow service and frequent periods of unavailability as reasons why they would like to see a change.

Vice Provost of Information Technology Kevin Morooney said the university is considering switching to Google Apps Education Edition, which would be offered to the school free of charge, and students and faculty could keep their existing e-mail addresses.

The service would offer Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, mobile alerts and publishing tools such as documents and spread sheets, enterprise specialist Jeff Keltner said.

— The Daily Collegian

(Pennsylvania State University)

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