College Shorts - 04/15/10

Web site makes it easier to pinpoint party schools

Five students from U. Florida have created the Web site partyschooltexts.com in order identify the number one party school in the United States.

Text message conversations are listed on the Web site, grouped by college, and students can vote for their favorites.

“It’s ridiculous how the same company who produces SAT reviews also does party school rankings,” said Nick Gilboy, one of the creators. “College students know much more about partying than the ‘Princeton Review’ does.”

The creators did not approve of textsfromlastnight.com and its use of area codes to identify text messages.

“College students rarely have phone numbers with the same area codes as their college town,” said Alex Baden, another student behind the Web site. “Their school doesn’t get credit for all the crazy things that happen.”

“We are trying to add a level of accountability to schools who claim they party hard,” said Kevin Ruiz, another creator.

— The Independent Florida Alligator

Rutgers professor studies the biology of adultery

Helen Fisher, a visiting professor at Rutgers University, is researching the biological and psychological drives behind adultery.

“The brain is actually set up to make adultery somewhat easy,” Fisher said. “We have two brain systems: One of them is linked to attachment and romantic love, and then there is the other brain system, which is purely sex drive.”

When these brain systems are not well connected, people can become adulterers who satisfy their sex drive without regard for romance.

There is even a cheating gene, vasopressin, discovered by researchers in Sweden.

“In the past, it seemed that women would cheat because they were truly in love with the other person or to seek revenge,” said Deborah Carr, an associate professor of Sociology. “But in modern times, women are gaining more independence, and their reasons for cheating begin to closely resemble men’s reasons for cheating.”

— The Daily Targum

First-year multitasker gains press

Lauren Moore, a first-year at the University of Texas at Austin, has garnered acclaim for her ability to solve a Rubik’s Cube and recite the first 100 digits of pi while balancing 15 books on her head.

“It’s really not that interesting of a story,” Moore said. “In high school, in one of my math classes, there was a poster on one of the walls with pi around the edges. I’d be doing my homework and said, ‘I could actually memorize pi,’ so that’s how I got to 100 digits.”

She also acquired her speedy Rubik’s Cube skills in high school. As for the book balancing, she has church school to thank.

“I was with my church youth group a lot, and I was always balancing Bibles on my head,” she said. “So, it just kind of happened.”

— The Daily Texan