College Students

About 40 college students from four schools are trying to defend their networks from a team of hackers during the fifth annual Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. Saturday was the second day of competition. Participating are students from Asheville-Buncombe Technical College, Community College of Baltimore County, Millersville University and Towson University. - Associated Press

College students taking out subsidized federal student loans will see their interest rate double in July unless Congress comes to the rescue. The rate on subsidized Stafford loans is a fixed 3.4 percent, but that's set to expire and revert to 6.8 percent for new loans issued starting in July. (Old loans stay at their current rate.) Subsidized loans, for which the government pays the interest while students are in school, are awarded to those in financial need. Unsubsidized loans, for which borrowers pay the interest, already charge 6.8 percent interest.

Alexander Pendleton, of Laurel, was named to the honor roll for the fall semester at the University of Kansas, in Lawrence. A senior in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, he is the son of Michael and Vibeke Pendleton, of Laurel. Christine Baumgarten and Roberta Goldenpenny, both residents of Laurel, were named to the dean's list for the fall semester at Notre Dame of Maryland University, in Baltimore. Mital Patel, of Laurel, was named to the dean's list for the fall semester at University of the Science, in Philadelphia, Pa. She is a pharmacology and toxicology student.

The proposed $60 million apartment-and-retail development proposed for the Towson Triangle is dredging up an old ambivalence about the character of the Baltimore County seat. Is it a college town? A community for families and children? A commercial downtown? A shopping and entertainment district? A home for empty-nesters? It is, and long has been, all of the above, coexisting in what is at times an uneasy balance that grows more uneasy periodically when any one segment of the community seeks to expand its presence.

Jonathan Jayes-Green graduated near the top of his high school class but couldn't afford to attend the four-year colleges that accepted him. Now he's an honor student at two-year Montgomery College, and he'd like to head off cuts to the school's budget. The second-year student from Silver Spring was one of hundreds from Maryland's community and independent colleges rallied in Annapolis and lobbied legislators Thursday to avert cuts in Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed higher education spending.

Most of us might feel overwhelmed owing tens of thousands of dollars. Not college students. A study by Ohio State University, found that young adults not only see debt as positive, but being in hock boosted their self-esteem. The more credit card and college loan debt they held, the “higher their self-esteem and the more they felt like they were in control of their lives,” according to a release about the study. These feelings were more pronounced among students from low-income families, the study found.

One more reason why the Consumer Financial Protection Bureauneeds to look at prepaid debit cards: College students are finding their scarce dollars eaten up by fees on the cards, which many schools are using for student IDs and to disburse financial aid, according to a new study by U.S. Public Interest Research Group. PIRG says information about the contracts between colleges and the financial institutions that provide the cards to students isn't widely available, but at least one school struck a deal worth millions to the college.

Like most students gathered at the Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday to share tacos and watch the first presidential debate of the general election, senior Nicholas DePaul walked into the room as a supporter of President Barack Obama. But 30 minutes into the debate - as Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney hashed through their plans to reduce spiraling budget deficits - DePaul seemed deflated by the president's performance selling his economic vision to the country. "I'm afraid to say Romney is probably winning with the public because people react more to emotion in these kinds of things," said DePaul, a Californian who is studying political and environmental science and who spent much of the debate monitoring a political fact-check website on his laptop.

As someone who has struggled with mental illness for over 20 years, I could closely relate to Kevin Rector's article about students having difficulty finding and getting mental health services at their colleges and universities ("Students struggle for mental health services," March 8). I applaud this article, as it brings to light the real need for mental health services for college students. I was in the same boat, but I struggled alone. I relate to what many of the students in the article mentioned - a lack of information on mental health, the limited education of the professionals involved, trouble getting an appointment.

Something happened in Maryland on the way to the not-so-Great Recession: We recognized that, for today's college students, it's not where you start, it's that you finish. On May 13, the state's political and education leaders gathered to honor University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan and to announce the establishment of "A Matter of Degrees: USM Leading the Way in College Completion," a $2.5 million fund to support degree completion for USM students. The fund was launched by a $500,000 Carnegie Corporation Academic Leadership Award Mr. Kirwan received in recognition of his commitment to excellence in higher education.

Yawar Raza and Catherine Turner , both of Laurel, were named to the dean's list for the winter quarter at Rochester Institute of Technology, in Rochester, N.Y. Raza is a third-year student in the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, while Turner, a second-years student, is in the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences. Alexandra Durso and Jacqueline Sams, both of Laurel, were among the 300 James Madison University students who embarked on 30 spring break trips around the country and world.

Owl Magazine , the student magazine of Harford Community College in Bel Air, recently won national honors in the Apple Awards Competition sponsored by the National College Media Association. The Winter 2012 issue placed second in the category of Best Magazine Cover. The front page was designed by Brianna Breece, a graphic design major, and featured photography by English major John Morin. The front-page models were HCC students Laurise McMillian and Marcell Betts. "A Crash Course in Counter Culture" from Owl Magazine's Summer 2012 issue also placed second in the category of Two-Page Spread, a category judging design, photography and writing quality.

A team of 90 volunteers painted and cleaned the playground at the Pratt House this week to prepare the site for an overhaul next month. College students, part of Students Today Leaders Forever, joined Volunteers of America Chesapeake to enhance the playground at the 35-unit apartment complex for formerly homeless families with two or more children. The recreational area will be rebuilt in April with new equipment for the children, who helped design their dream playground. The students from Minnesota and North Dakota are taking part in the Pay it Forward Tour, which offers an alternative spring break trip.

With her latest production, Annapolis Shakespeare Company founder and artistic director Sally Boyett-D'Angelo is expanding the young company's horizons, both artistically and physically. At a recent rehearsal of Jon Jory's adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," Boyett-D'Angelo announced the company will soon move to recently acquired space for rehearsals, offices, a costume shop and a performance studio, at 111 Chinquapin Round Road. It's the latest advancement under Boyett-D'Angelo's guidance.

A dozen or more cases of mumps have been reported among Loyola University Maryland students over the past month, prompting officials to alert the campus community to signs of the rare virus that has spread rapidly across college campuses in recent outbreaks. That's as many cases as have occurred in a typical year statewide since 2005, when the state health department started tracking outbreaks. Confirmed and suspected infections were found in undergraduate students in multiple class years and living both on and off Loyola's North Baltimore campus.

As someone who has struggled with mental illness for over 20 years, I could closely relate to Kevin Rector's article about students having difficulty finding and getting mental health services at their colleges and universities ("Students struggle for mental health services," March 8). I applaud this article, as it brings to light the real need for mental health services for college students. I was in the same boat, but I struggled alone. I relate to what many of the students in the article mentioned - a lack of information on mental health, the limited education of the professionals involved, trouble getting an appointment.

Here's a quiz for all current and future college students and their families: Which of the following has risen in price the most sharply over the last several decades - tuition, health care, the consumer price index or textbooks? For the correct answer, please consult the back of your texts. Since 1978, the cost of college textbooks has risen 812 percent, according to the American Enterprise Institute. Few necessities can match that kind of price explosion. In 2011, the cost of college texts rose 8 percent, or more than four times the rate of inflation, according to U.S. Labor Department statistics.

Within a week of arriving on campus this semester, University of Maryland junior Grace Freund felt the familiar symptoms of a depression creeping up - ones she knew to address quickly, lest they slip from her control. The 21-year-old psychology major called the counseling center on the College Park campus soon after to set up an appointment. However, she said, her request was rebuffed. "They said, 'Call back next week. We can't even schedule an intake appointment today,'" said Freund, a graduate of Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City.