Notes in the Margins: Frats, Googlizing applications, and crowdfunding research

Want to save America? Stop giving to Harvard, now If inequality is a problem, what justifies big tax subsidies for wealthy donors and their super-wealthy schools? (Bloomberg via Star Tribune)

The Dark Power of Fraternities A yearlong investigation of Greek houses reveals their endemic, lurid, and sometimes tragic problems—and a sophisticated system for shifting the blame. (The Atlantic)

What if Google ran the college application process? If Google helped us manage it, students could start assembling their application at any time, building online portfolios of academic and personal accomplishments for colleges to evaluate. In the same way that algorithms take words and return them as search results, you could load your profile and get possible college matches, or your chances for admission, or your prospects for financial aid. Colleges looking to enroll or reward students just like you could find you, if you wanted them to. (The Washington Post)

Scientists turn to crowdfunding to support research With traditional funding stagnant and competition fierce, some scientists are using Internet sites such as Experiment to appeal to the public for money. (Los Angeles Times)

Federal Lawsuit Accuses For-Profit Schools of Fraud Seven former employees have filed suit against Harris School of Business and its parent company, Premier Education Group, which owns more than two dozen trade schools and community colleges operating under several names in 10 states. The suit contends that while charging more than $10,000 for programs lasting less than a year, school officials routinely misled students about their career prospects, and falsified records to enroll them and keep them enrolled, so that government grant and loan dollars would keep flowing. (The New York Times)

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