Daily Debriefing
By Katie Gonzalez, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Friday, May 8, 2009
The New Hampshire Supreme Court struck down a bill on Wednesday that would have allowed 17-year-olds who turn 18 before the general election to vote in New Hampshire primaries, according to the Concord Monitor. Although the bill received some support from both Democrats and Republicans, the Supreme Court ruled that the bill violates the state constitution's standing provision that all residents must be 18 years of age or older to vote, the Monitor reported.
A recent decision by a federal judge may have far-reaching implications for the way tenure decisions are viewed by the law, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. The ruling was made in a case brought by a Jackson State University professor, who alleged that the university's decision to deny her tenure constituted salary discrimination. The case rested on the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which was designed primarily to protect workers from discriminatory pay inequities, but which the professor argued should be extended to include tenure decisions. The judge found that, because tenure decisions involve salary increases, they should be considered a "compensation decision" under the law.
The swine flu scare has given colleges and universities an opportunity to improve contingency planning for study abroad programs, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Student affairs experts, risk managers and other leaders at colleges and universities should work in concert with each other to respond to crises that affect students studying abroad, according to The Chronicle. The contingency plans should be rehearsed, tailored to specific situations and discussed with students, faculty and parents, The Chronicle reported. Dartmouth, along with several other institutions, decided to evacuate its students studying in Mexico in late April as a result of the swine flu outbreak that is believed to have originated in the country.