College Shorts

SAT essay question stirs controversy

Online discussion forums such as College Confidential have been filled with complaints about an essay question on the most recent SAT. One-third of the test-takers were reportedly asked about reality TV and its influence on modern society. Students who are not familiar with popular culture and do not have televisions in their homes raised concerns that this question was unfair, especially when students are taught to review classic literature references to prepare for the essay.

Officials from the College Board have since defended the question and maintain that it was fair to all students, regardless of television-viewing habits. They have said that the purpose of the question was not to favor those students who watch television, but rather encourage students from all backgrounds to analyze elements of modern culture and the impact that popular shows such as Jersey Shore have on today’s youth.

 

— HuffPost College

 

UF research to protect bananas from disease

Randy Ploetz, a researcher at the Tropical Research and Education Center at the University of Florida’s southern Florida campus, has begun working with members of the banana research in hopes of preventing the spread of a devastating disease to the Western Hemisphere.

Tropical Race 4, a variant of Panama Disease, was responsible for wiping out entire banana plantations in Southeast Asia in the early ‘90’s and experts believe there is a chance it may spread to South America. Ploetz has outlined a plan to both prevent the spread of the disease and a way to fight it if it does reach American shores. He hopes to educate producers, researchers and anyone else involved in the industry. According to Ploetz, should the disease reach a country such as Ecuador where bananas are the largest export, the effects would be seen around the globe, causing potentially irreversible damage to the banana industry.

 

—UWIRE




Florida students fast for hunger awareness

Starting at 6 p.m. on March 18, University of Florida students began a day of starvation dubbed “Fast for Food,” ingesting nothing but water and Gatorade to raise awareness for homelessness and hunger. Jeremy A. Scott, director of the Black Student Union’s Leadership Development Institute which hosted the event, said these issues are more prevalent in Gainesville than people think.

“[The University of Florida] gets recognition for athletics and academics,” Scott said. “People fail to notice that a couple blocks down on University Avenue is where the majority of homeless are.”

The organization used Fast for Food as an opportunity to give students a taste of life in poverty. After activists made it through the night, they split into teams and went around Gainesville buying meals, pillows and jackets for homeless people they met on the street.

 



— UWIRE