Campus Briefs

Applications numbers are slightly downWith both part 1 and part 2 of undergraduate admissions due by Jan. 20, the tentative number of applications to the Class of 2006 is approximately 8,700, down from 9,500 at this time last year. This year’s numbers were dramatically lower than 2000’s record number of applications, 10,080. Director of Undergraduate Admissions Jamie Hobba explained that more applications may continue to come in, and that “we should be able to bring in a class that will look a lot like last year’s.””The credentials of the applicants are strong. There’s lot of power in the pool,” he said.Cutoffs for Latin honors announcedDean of The College William Green has announced the cutoffs for Latin honors for Class of 2002 students recieving arts and sciences degrees.Students earning a graduating grade point average of 3.94 will graduate summa cum laude. These students represent the top 2 percent of the class.The next 10 percent graduate magna cum laude. Those earning a GPA of 3.76 qualify for this honor.Students who achieve a GPA of 3.53 will graduate cum laude. These students represent the next 20 percent of the class.New WRUR news radio programingNext week WRUR is planning to debut one of several news radio programs this semester. The program, which is to premiere at 8 a.m. next Wednesday, is going to cover news issues which relate to the overall theme of gender.Topics to be covered include male body image, a drag show, the Florida gubernatorial race and a small section of non-themes news.In the future, the program will hopefully contain creative writing, poetry and journalism students’ efforts to express opinions on news items.”Hopefully it is going to be a permanent fixture,” Director of Programming for WRUR James Camara said of the program.Three new programs are slated in total for this semester, and if there is sufficient interest, Camara plans to implement the program more fully. Camara also hopes that this program can be a “outlet for creative expression on campus.”These first programs are intended to see how much interest exists on campus. Currently there is a staff of around ten people, and the programming is aimed at the UR community.Eventually, Camara hopes to expand into the Rochester community, as a non-profit organization.Reporting by Tyler Berry, Lewis Powell and Kara DeSantis.