KRISTEN POPE

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WCU reserves transfer space

By KRISTEN POPE | April 26

Students graduating from N.C. community colleges in 2006 will have a spot waiting for them at Western Carolina University. The Cullowhee-based university announced Monday that it will guarantee admission to any community college student completing an associate of arts or associate of science degree. It also will admit any student who has completed the general education core with a minimum grade point average of 2.0 and grades higher than a C on all courses.

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Forum sheds light on tuition struggles

By KRISTEN POPE | April 19

Students and parents pinching pennies to pay tuition bills now can share their stories directly with the U.S. Congress in an online forum created by House Democrats. The forum, which opened Monday, gives students and parents a chance to dialogue about the difficulties of financing a college education. Their experiences will be posted online, collected, analyzed and put into a report and the congressional record.

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Student sues over SAT mishap

By KRISTEN POPE | April 13

An unidentified high school senior is suing the College Board for damages caused by a wrongly scored SAT. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Minnesota, is the first to be brought against the College Board since officials announced that 4,411 of the 495,000 exams administered in October had scoring errors. Ninety-five percent of the incorrect scores were within 100 points of the correct scores. While most students received scores that were lower than their actual score, 613 students received scores that were too high. The board decided not to re-report those exams.

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Oil companies do part to supply cleaner energy

By KRISTEN POPE | March 29

While Americans are emptying their wallets to fill their gas tanks, many of the nation's major oil companies are pouring their money into finding alternative energy forms. Companies such as Chevron and BP are looking to hydrogen, wind power, solar power, natural gas and geothermal energy to provide more environmentally sound energy options. John Berger, a managing partner with Contango Capital Management, which invests in early-stage technology-based companies in the energy field, said the shift in the energy market might surprise some people.

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Ads stress college importance

By KRISTEN POPE | March 24

Imagine being rushed to the emergency room with your hand stuck in a pickle jar and the doctor prescribing bloodletting as the cure. This unnerving situation is the scenario in one of the television ads recently launched by the American Council on Education. The point: Less funding for higher education means fewer medical breakthroughs. The ads, which began running on March 16 during the NCAA basketball tournament, are part of a broader campaign called Solutions for Our Future, which seeks to increase understanding about the public benefits of higher education.

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Classrooms might become battlegrounds

By KRISTEN POPE | February 21

Across the country, legislatures and individuals have grappled with the appearance of political bias in the classroom. But some wonder if it is liberal professors that are under attack or whether it is something else: academic freedom. On Wednesday, the Arizona state Senate's higher education committee approved a bill that would allow college students to opt out of reading assignments they deem personally offensive.

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Students eye sticker price

By KRISTEN POPE | January 26

If sophomore Samantha Jackson had chosen to attend the blue school down the road, she would have paid the same amount for her first year at Duke University as for her first year at UNC- Chapel Hill. Though Duke charges $32,600 for one year's tuition and fees while UNC only charges $4,606 for in-state students, Duke offered Jackson enough financial aid to even out the prices of the two schools.

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Violent crimes steadily decline

By KRISTEN POPE | September 29

America is getting safer, according to new statistics released earlier this week. The study, conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, surveys crime victims 12 years and older to determine the frequency of violent and property crimes in the nation. Both types of crime have decreased significantly in the last 30 years. Between 1993 and 2004, violent crime - including rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault - decreased by 57 percent, from 11 million occurring in 1993 to 5.2 million in 2004.