Penn State considers Napster subscriptions
(U-WIRE) University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb.
Music downloading service Napster is joining forces with Pennsylvania State University in an attempt to stifle illegal music downloading at universities.
The university might decide to pay a discounted fee for Napster's basic services for students. One year ago, Napster did not have a contract with any school to provide free music downloads, said Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America. Now 20 schools have signed up. Penn State will not profit from the agreement, officials said,.Rather, the contracts are designed to deter illegal music downloading, which can result in lawsuits against students. The university, not individual users, paid Napster for the service in a 12,000-member pilot program. School leaders are considering whether to subscribe to the service.
Okla. police crack down on underage drinking
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Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Okla.
An Oklahoma public relations officer told fraternity members to "party responsibly" while promoting Project Under 21, a national campaign to stop underage drinking.
The Stillwater Oklahoma Police Department arrested 87 people in party-sting operations involving plain-clothes officers who infiltrated parties suspected of serving alcohol to minors. Funding for Project Under 21 has been cut by $5,000 in recent years, but the program remains active.
Kentucky faces summer crime wave
(U-WIRE) University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.
A wave of crime hit the University of Kentucky area over the summer, including two killings in Lexington and Chicago, Ky., and two sexual assaults on the university's campus.
Dong Zhang, 24, killed his girlfriend and buried her body in Indiana. Both were from China. Zhang later hanged himself in the Lexington-Fayette Detention Center.
In a separate incident, a Lexington music store owner was shot several times and his employee was shot dead. A Louisville man was arrested and charged with the murder, assault and armed robbery. Though no motive for the attack has been established, the alleged attacker and store owner reportedly were acquaintances. A 25-year-old suspect from Pine Knot, Ky., allegedly raped a 15-year-old girl. And a woman said she was kissed and groped by a man in the University of Kentucky Hospital. Kentucky police have not arrested the suspect, whom the woman reportedly knows.
Professor denied entry to U.S. under Patriot Act
(U-WIRE) University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind.
An Islamic scholar from Europe was refused entry into the United States after U.S. authorities denied him a visa. Tariq Ramadan was hired to a chaired, tenured teaching position at the University of Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for Peace Studies.
He was to begin teaching in mid-August.
The Department of State revoked Ramadan's visa, citing an immigration provision under the Patriot Act, but provided no further details about the decision.
Ramadan has taught at the College of Geneva and the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. The director of the Kroc program speculated Ramadan's opponents had something to do with his visa denial. Jewish groups in France and the United States have accused Ramadan of making anti-Semitic and militant Islamic statements.
Cornell grad released from captivity in Iraq
(U-WIRE) Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
A Cornell University graduate kidnapped in Iraq while working as a journalist was released Sunday. Micah Garen was working on a documentary for Four Corners Media about Iraq's looted archeological pieces.
Garen and his translator were taken hostage by the militant group Martyrs Brigade after taking photographs near Nasiriyah. Garen said representatives of the militant cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr helped ensure his release after 10 days in captivity. Garen, undaunted by the kidnapping, said he plans to continue his work in Iraq.
