Claremont Mckenna College

CMC Watsons No More

The Watson Foundation has scratched CMC from its list of eligible institutions for 2004. Citing the failure of 2001 Fellow David Ragsdale to comply with the terms of his fellowship, the program dropped CMC until it reassesses its screening criteria and reapplies to the program, according to an administrative email. CMC Assistant Dean of Faculty Joke Johnson says it's “negotiable” when CMC will be readmitted, although the college doesn't know when that might be.

Ragsdale was to tour Ireland, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia to research Catholic and Muslim pilgrimages.

The Watson is a one-year fellowship of $22,000 for independent study abroad offered to 50 graduating seniors at small private colleges.

Southland

SoCal Cities Propose More Studies, Floating Trains

The city of Los Angeles will pay $500,000 to study the feasibility of a high speed MAGLEV train connecting west LA to the Ontario airport. The Southern California Association of Governments, a group of city governments, proposed the track to relieve congestion from LAX and the 10 and 210 freeways.

The track, estimated to cost $5 billion for the proposed 50 mile span, conflicts with a similar plan proposed by the state-sponsored California High Speed Rail Authority. The authority’s more ambitious plan calls for track connecting LA to San Francisco, as well as track running from LA to Ontario. Other MAGLEV proposals have called for a line from Orange County to Las Vegas.

To complete the study, local governments will need to raise $12 million, in addition to the $500,000 the city of Los Angeles is providing and $2.5 million in federal money.

Although the technology for the electromagnetically powered trains--which hover inches above the ground and can reach speeds of 300 MPH—was developed in the 70’s, to date no one has been able to build a successful system.

City of Claremont

City Hosting Photo Contest

Amateur photographers have the opportunity to compete for five $100 prizes for their photography in a Claremont-sponsored contest. Opening May 1st, and running through August 31st, it is open to anyone who lives, works or attends school in Claremont. A $10 entry fee allows the submission of one photo to each of the five categories of competition.

Pitzer College

Punk, Hip-Hop Groups Headline this Year's Kahoutek

Punk band Mr. T Experience, DJ and producer Peanut Butter Wolf, indie-rockers Pretty Girls Make Graves and rap groups Madlib and Egon headline this year's Kohoutek festival. The annual Pitzer arts and Music festival will be held on the Pitzer mounds, beginning Friday, April 9th and continuing though the 10th.

Pomona-Pitzer Colleges

PP Basketball Makes Nationals

After fighting tooth-and-nail for the SCIAC title, the Pomona-Pitzer Men's Basketball team gained a berth to the NCAA Division III national tournament. After clobbering Colorado College in a raucous first-round game on March 4, the Sagehens lost to the University of Puget Sound Loggers, who were ranked first in the West.

This was the team's first SCIAC title and National berth in four years.

Claremont Graduate University

CGU Awards Brobdingnagian Poetry Prize

Claremont Graduate University will present its $100,000 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award to poet Henri Cole on April 17th at The Huntington in San Marino. Cole received the prize for his collection of poetry Middle Earth.

The endowment also provides a $10,000 Discovery Award to an up-and-coming poet. Adrian Blevins received that award this year for her work Brass Girl Brouhaha.

Southland

Machinations for Rival Consortium Thwarted

Discussions between Chapman University and Western University of Health Sciences about a possible merger came to an end in mid-March. The two institutions had been entertaining the idea for over a year.

Chapman University, located in the city of Orange, offers a liberal arts curriculum to its 3,500 undergraduates, and degrees in law, business and other fields to its 1,400 graduate students. Western, located in Pomona, offers vocational degrees in medical fields to 1,500 students.

Agreement broke down over the name of the combined institution and control of the combined board of trustees.

Pasadena

Cal Tech Student Arrested in Connection to Covina SUV Fires

Police arrested William Jensen Cottrell, a 23-year-old Caltech graduate student on March 8th. Police charged him arson and vandalism in connection to last summer's politically-motivated auto dealership fires that destroyed 125 SUVs and caused $3.5 million in damage.

Late in the summer, police arrested Pomona resident Josh Connole in connection with the bombings, only to release him days later for lack of evidence. Connole has maintained his innocence the entire time, and continues to seek a formal exoneration.

After Connole was arrested, the LA Times received emails from someone claiming responsibility for the fires and proclaiming Connole's innocence. Police told the Times that the email they received included details about the crime that had been otherwise unreleased. The Times found that the email had been sent from computers belonging to Cal Tech. Cal Tech investigated, and found that the email came from a library computer.

Police said that Cottrell's ID card had been used to enter the library within minutes of timestamps on the emails, and that someone using Cottrell's student account had been logged onto the computer used to send emails at about the same time as the Times received them.

Connecticut

University President Charged with Plagarism

President Richard Judd of Central Connecticut State University is resigning after claims that he plagarized in an op-ed piece. State university system Chancellor William Cibes called the piece a “clear, unacceptable case of plagiarism” in a report obtained by the Associated Press.

Judd wrote on the potential for peace on Cyprus island in The Hartford Courant. The article contained verbatim phrases without citations from a website, a London newspaper, and the New York Times.

Claremont Colleges

Honnold-Mudd Extends Hours

From April 11th until May 13th, the Honnold-Mudd library will test the demand for extended hours. The library will remain open until 2 AM on school nights, two hours later than its current closing time of midnight, sharp. On Fridays and Saturdays, the library will remain open until 10 PM, rather than 8 PM. On Sundays the library will open at 9 AM, rather than 11AM.

National

House Plots Financial Aid Changes

Republicans in the House of Representatives talk of proposing a bill that could change how the government allocates financial aid funds to colleges and universities. Current agreements, reached in the 1970s, guarantee institutions fixed amounts for campus-based aid programs like Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, Perkins Loans, and federal work-study funds.

These agreements offer Ivy League institutions a disproportion share of the federal pie. The New York Times found that the Ivies received 5 to 12 times the median amount of federal funds per applicant. The potential bill would allocate funds to campus-based aid programs according to the number of underprivileged students attending a school. This is expected to shift money from the Northeast to the South and parts of the West.

Scripps College

Gloria Steinem to Speak at Scripps Graduation

Feminist activist Gloria Steinem will address the class of 2004 at Scripps' commencement exercises on May 16. Beginning as journalist writing for Esquire magazine, Steinem went on to co-founded Ms. magazine and the National Women's Political Caucus. She currently is chair of the company that owns Ms. Magazine.