Bleach Balloons Hurled at Minority Students; Charges of Anti-Semitism at UC Berkeley

Bleach Balloons Hurled at Minority Students. An unknown assailant(s) allegedly hurled bleach-filled water balloons out of apartment windows at several students of color, near the University of Texas campus. Over the past few weeks, there have been several reports of "bleach-bombing" and some in the UT community feel that the pranks are racially charged. A former UT student and activist responded to the bleach balloons: "[T]his is not 1960 [...] [w]e are not afraid to walk anywhere. We are not going back in time." Not many students at UT know that the bleach-bombing is occurring, and the university held a press conference addressing the events. Unfortunately, notice of the press conference wasn't widely released in advance, so most students are still in the dark about the possibly racially motivated incidents. [The Horn]

Charges of Anti-Semitism at UC Berkeley. Anti-Israel protests at UC Berkeley have propelled charges brought against the university. The federal government is now investigating allegations that, "UC Berkeley officials fomented a hostile climate for Jewish students by failing to sufficiently tamp down anti-Israeli protests." The two individuals behind the charges liken the atmosphere on campus to the one "in Europe against Jewish students and scholars...during the turbulent years leading up to and including the Holocaust." UC Berkeley denies the allegations, citing a campus poll that finds 80% of Jewish students feel respected on campus, which is approximately the same as the Muslim student population. [Los Angeles Times]

Canceled Concert Costs University $1 Million. When officials at the University of Hawaii invited Stevie Wonder to perform on campus, they did not anticipate in it ending in a loss of $1 million and a state Senate investigation. The concert was to take place on August 18 and all proceeds were to support the University of Hawaii athletic department. However, days after ticket sales began, the athletic director at the time called the concert off because "Wonder and his representatives had not authorized the event." This led to 6,000 tickets being refunded and big questions asked by the government. The university used a Florida company to play the middle man in organizing the concert and interacting with Wonder and his representatives, but Wonder claimed to have not received any payment for the event. As of now, it seems as though the University of Hawaii was a victim of fraud, and the state senate investigation continues. [Star Adviser]

Penn State Faculty Stick it to Natural Gas Industry. Faculty members at Penn State University decided to stop research going towards a study on hydraulic fracturing, also known as "fracking". Funded by the natural gas industry itself, specifically by the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the study's aim was to analyze the economic and energy impacts of fracking, the dangerous drilling method used to release natural gas from the earth. One of the faculty members who declined to research for the study, Michael Arthur, said of the lack of faculty support, "[p]eople are a little more thoughtful about hopping in."[Bloomberg News]

 

Sydney Hofferth is a Communications Intern for Campus Progress. You can follow her on twitter at @squidhoff10.

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