Notes in the Margins: Drinking abroad, loans and college-as-Wikipedia

Scabies hits the U’s ballroom dance club At least one member of the University of Minnesota’s Ballroom Dance Club reported a case of scabies early this week, halting the club’s practice this week and alarming members. (mndaily.com)

Students Who Study Abroad May Hit The Brewskis Harder, A Study Finds With the new school year underway, some college students are spending the year abroad. In addition to hitting the books and taking in the sights, they may also be drinking a lot more, a new study suggests. (universitybusiness.com)

Some student groups may lose Coffman space The second floor of Coffman Union is dedicated to the University of Minnesota’s student groups. However, out of about 700 registered groups on campus, only 29 of them have office space in Coffman, and it is possible that number will decrease further next year in response to complaints that the process is unfair. (mndaily.com)

Plan for Assigning Loan-Servicing Contracts Draws Complaints The Education Department plans to randomly assign the contracts set aside for nonprofit lenders. Critics want loans to stay in the state where they were issued. (chronicle.com)

Is What's Ailing For-Profit Colleges Evident Throughout Higher Education? A blogger argues that students paying high tuition with little prospect of a job upon graduation aren't just attending for-profit colleges; they're in traditional classrooms throughout higher education. (thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com)

Georgia Regents Ban Illegal Immigrants From Selective Public Colleges In practice, few immigrants and institutions will be affected by the change, which responds to accusations that the immigrants are taking seats away from legal residents. (chronicle.com)

What if We Ran Universities Like Wikipedia? A silly question? Maybe. But the analogy, made by a speaker at the Educause conference, reflects a recurring theme at this year’s event: Do our university bureaucracies still make sense in the era of networks? (chronicle.com)

Colleges Push for New Technology Despite Budget Woes Campus information-technology budgets showed signs of a gradual recovery in 2010, with 20-percent fewer programs than last year reporting financial cuts, according to the new Campus Computing Survey. That doesn’t mean the good times are rolling, however. With 41.6 percent of colleges still reporting cutbacks, IT departments continue to feel a pinch. (chronicle.com)

U of M's Radio K loses federal funding over low ratings The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has cut $50,000 in federal funding from the student station after reports of low ratings. (mndaily.com)

Australian Conference Focuses on Drop in Foreign Students Speakers debated how to stem a precipitous decline in enrollments from abroad. (chronicle.com)

U takes on nationwide vet shortage Over time, food animals — cattle, swine and poultry — became a rare appearance at the Veterinary Medical Center, as horses, dogs and other companion animals turned up in larger numbers. Because of this decline, the center has moved away from employing food animal staff. (mndaily.com)

Like Netflix, New College Software Seeks to Personalize Recommendations It’s called Sherpa, like the guides who lead climbers up Mount Everest. The goal of the software, developed by the South Orange County Community College District, is to mine data about students to guide them to courses, information, and services. (chronicle.com)

University spins off medical device production company The University of Minnesota announced Tuesday that it will be launching XO Thermix Medical, a company that will produce medical devices based on University research. (mndaily.com)

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