Monday, February 12, 2001
Florida students want alternative to Social Security number IDs
University of Florida students met with state legislators to discuss plans for a new law that would prohibit the use of Social Security numbers as identifiers in the state university system. Student leaders say the law would help prevent identity theft and credit card fraud. A Florida legislator believes the students have a valid argument but worries about the financial ramifications. Identifying students without the use of Social Security numbers would require upgrading every state university and community college computer. Identity theft, the fastest growing financial crime in the nation, affects 500,000 to 700,000 people each year.

U.S. universities award fewer Ph.D.s
The number of doctorates awarded by American universities fell in 1999 for the first time in 14 years, as the University of Georgia climbed to 29th among institutions nationally in the number of Ph.D.s awarded.
A total of 41,140 Ph.D.s were awarded by American universities, a decline of 3.6 percent from the previous year, according to a national study conducted by the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center. However, the number of minority doctoral recipients increased by 5.1 percent. The study found that 57 percent of the doctoral recipients were men and about two-thirds were U.S. citizens.

Colorado gets $250 million pledge
An Internet entrepreneur and his wife have pledged $250 million to the University of Colorado System to develop technologies aimed at improving the lives of people with cognitive disabilities. The gift is the largest ever to a public university.
The gift of stock, to be paid over five years, will be used to establish the University of Colorado Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities. The institute will develop technology to help the 20 million Americans who suffer from cognitive disabilities, such as Alzheimer’s disease, autism, dementia and mental retardation as well as strokes.

Union advises football players
The United Steelworkers of America is advising a group of current and former football players at the University of California at Los Angeles in negotiations with the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The Collegiate Athletes Coalition, a registered student group at UCLA, listed six demands: full health-care coverage during the off-season and during so-called voluntary practices; immediate coverage of medical costs for catastrophic injuries; an increase in the NCAA’s life-insurance coverage; an increase in athletic-scholarship funds to cover the minimum amount needed to meet basic living expenses; elimination of the restriction on what jobs football players can hold and how much they can earn during the off-season; and creation of an employment program to encourage academic achievement and aid graduating students in their pursuit of careers outside football.

—Sharon Coar
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