Notes in the Margins: Gay-friendly colleges, executive excess and newbie legislators

More Students Seek Avenues to Gay-Friendly Colleges The number of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students seeking a university that is “gay friendly” is increasing, driven by websites that rate schools on how supportive they are for gay students. (New York Times)

The States of Online Regulation A recent report by Eduventures found that Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are among the least permissive states as far as requiring online institutions to acquire unique licenses to “operate” inside their borders. (Inside Higher Ed)

Some charities most generous to executives Executives at two of Arizona’s largest private school scholarship charities have used state income tax dollars to give themselves luxury cars, expensive real estate, jobs for relatives and friends, and extra cash hidden in the nonprofits’ balance sheets. (eastvalleytribune.com)

With Budget-Cutting Ascendant, 2-Year Colleges Are Wary of Congress's Intentions Long ignored in terms of clout and financial support, community colleges received a healthy dose of national exposure last year with a high-profile summit at the White House and the approval of a $2-billion career-training program. But the political dynamics have changed here, and two-year institutions are worried that the momentum they have been able to build in the first half of President Obama's term might not last through the next two years. (chronicle.com)

Loan defaults sting Tennessee nurses Dozens of Tennessee nurses have had their licenses suspended for ignoring their student loans under new enforcement of a decade-old statute, state officials said. In October, 42 nurses' licenses were suspended for failure to repay their federal student loans, including three in Chattanooga, according to the Tennessee Department of Health's monthly disciplinary action report. But state officials say the suspensions don't represent a problem in the nursing field. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

Training the education legislators Legislatures in the vast majority of states will convene this month, and after an election cycle in which voters frequently favored newcomers over incumbents, public college officials and others will find an unprecedented number of unfamiliar faces among their local lawmakers. That turnover will almost certainly exacerbate the sense shared by many -- including a national group of state legislators themselves, in a 2006 report -- that legislative understanding of, and leadership on, higher education issues is lacking. (Inside Higher Ed)

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