NOTES

Higher Ed

Mother of Penn State student seeks damages

The mother of a Pennsylvania State University student who died in a 1999 bus crash during an Association of Residence Hall Students-sponsored trip filed a lawsuit last month against the bus company that chartered the trip, Blue & White Lines Inc.

The four-bus pileup, which also involved two cars and a pickup truck, left two dead and injured 106.

The family's attorney claims that the bus company is negligent in the crash because the buses were being driven too fast and too close together. They are seeking an unspecified amount of money in damages.

The U.S. Department of Transportation fined Blue & White Lines $90,000 in April 2000 after it was found that the company violated several safety regulations on its buses. The company went out of business later that year.

UND encourages self-awareness in week-long program

The University of North Dakota's first annual "Love Your Body Week" will kick off next week.

The week of self-awareness is in response to requests from around the campus community about making people feel good about themselves, a university health promotion advisor said.

Presentations will take place throughout the week on subjects such as body image and eating disorders. There will be many free events such as massages, fitness assessments, aerobics classes and a Self Defense Boundary Setting Class.

Events similar to North Dakota's "Love Your Body Week" have been held at universities across the nation for several years.

Florida task force counteracts Bush initiative

A University of Florida task force recommended the university search for ways to counteract Gov. Jeb Bush's One Florida Initiative that ended the use of affirmative action in admissions in that state.

The task force's first action was to inform the different programs at the university about the regulations of One Florida Initiative and to remove race and gender indicators on applications.

In a more long-term approach, the task force wants to focus on maintaining a diverse environment on campus by promoting diversity in graduate and professional studies and improving the campus climate for minority students. Dealing with undergraduate recruitment, the task force recommended employing more recruiters that could attract and retain minority students.

More than 500 Semester at Sea students had a chance of a lifetime, when on Dec. 19, they meet with Cuban President Fidel Castro.

'Semester at Sea' students meet Castro in Cuba

The Semester at Sea program, sponsored by he University of Pittsburgh, had unsuccessfully requested to meet with Castro for the past three years, but this year he agreed to see the students at the Plenaro Palacio de las Convenciones in Cuba.

The five-hour informal question-and-answer session covered a plethora of subjects including social justice, globalization, free enterprise, women's status and the Cuban revolution.

- Compiled from U-WIRE reports by Daily Staff Reporter Jane Krull.