Dartmouth Faculty Overwhelmingly Vote To Recommend End Of College's Greek System

Dartmouth College faculty members overwhelmingly voted to support a motion to end the Ivy League school's controversial fraternity and sorority system at a meeting Monday, student newspaper The Dartmouth reports. The faculty vote follows a front page editorial in The Dartmouth during the college's Homecoming Weekend last month that called for an end to Greek life on campus. The newspaper's staff wrote that "Greek life is not the root of all the College's problems or of broader societal ills ... as a system, it amplifies students' worst behavior." According to The Dartmouth, the faculty voted 116-13 to end the Greek system, with three abstentions. Additionally, The Dartmouth reports, "A letter calling for abolishing the Greek system that circulated among faculty members late last month attracted 232 signatures." However, the voting numbers may be misleading, as Dartmouth alumnus Joseph Asch notes at Dartblog — only faculty members who attend the meeting have the ability to vote. It's likely that the faculty that chooses to attend a meeting about the Greek system would have stronger feelings about the outcome. Dartmouth's Greek system received some negative attention earlier this year with the publication of former Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity member Andrew Lohse's book, "Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy." In his book, Lohse details his time in a Dartmouth fraternity, revealing hazing practices and other disturbing behavior. There is no immediate impact from the faculty vote, according to The Dartmouth.SEE ALSO: Dartmouth Student Newspaper Calls For End Of College's Greek System SEE ALSO: 9 Disturbing Revelations From The New Book About Fraternity Culture At Dartmouth FOLLOW US! Check Out BI Colleges On Facebook Join the conversation about this story »

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11 Things Hardly Anyone Knows About Nike (NKE)

Nike turned 50 this year. To celebrate, UK gym My Fitness Boutique has created this infographic to celebrate its five decades in business. We've picked out some of the more interesting factlets from the infographic and a few snippets from around the web many people may never have known about the world's most famous sports brand. 1. Nike was originally named Blue Ribbon Sports and was founded in 1964 and initially operated as a distributor for Japanese shoe maker Onitsuka Tiger (now known as ASICS). It officially become Nike Inc. in 1971. 2. The company was founded with just $1,200 in the bank. It was created by Bill Bowerman — a track and field coach — and Phil Knight, a middle distance runner from Portland who was enrolled in the University of Oregon. 3. Knight had originally wanted to call the company "Dimension 6." The Nike name comes from the Greek goddess of victory, and it’s pronounced “ny’-kee.” Nike’s first employee, Jeff Johnson, came up with the name. 4. The first Nike shoes were made inside a waffle iron. Bowerman’s first eureka moment for footwear innovation came in 1971 when he and his wife were making waffles for breakfast: it sparked an idea for a grooved pattern on the sole of trainers to help athletes grip running tracks. It spawned the “Nike Waffle Trainer,” which was patented in 1974 (at the expense of his wife Barbara's waffle iron), Nike explains on its press site.  5. The Nike “swoosh” was designed by Portland State University student Carolyn Davidson, for just $35 (just over $200 in today's currency). At a later stage she was given stock which is now worth over $640,000. 6. The slogan “Just Do It” was inspired by serial killer Gary Gilmore who said “Let’s do it” just before he was executed by a firing squad in 1977. The revelation was made in 2009 documentary about advertising called “Art & Copy”.  7. The first “Just Do It” campaign launched in 1988. The ad featured Walt Stack, a then-80-year-old running icon lumbering across the Golden Great Bridge. 8. Despite the fact that he hasn’t played professionally since 2003, Michael Jordan still reportedly earns $60 million annually in royalties from Nike each year, according to Forbes.  That makes him the athlete with — by far — the biggest Nike endorsement deal. 9. Romanian tennis professional Ilie Nastase, "the Bucharest Buffoon," was the first athlete to sign an endorsement contract with Nike, in 1972. Nastase was a gifted tennis player but also became infamous for his erratic temperament and was lumped with several fines, suspensions and disqualifications throughout his career. 10. Nike’s 1987 ad for the Air Max shoes was soundtracked by The Beatles’ “Revolution” — the first time a Beatles song had ever been used in a TV commercial, according to the Career in Sports book.  11. The World’s largest Nike store is not in its US homeland but on London’s Oxford Street. It cost £10.5m to build the store, which spans across three levels and roughly 42,000 ft. It was constructed around the theme of a town square. SEE ALSO: 9 Surprising Facts About Under Armour — The Hottest Sportswear Company In The World Join the conversation about this story »

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The art worlds shame: why Britain must give its colonial booty back

The self-righteousnessness of British museums stops them from returning masterpieces pillaged long ago to their rightful owners. Its time they stopped hogging the worlds treasuresBritains museums need to face up to a reality. Cultural imperialism is dead. They cannot any longer coldly keep hold of artistic treasures that were acquired in dubious circumstances a long time ago.Amal Clooney may or may not be the best ambassador for the Greek government in its long campaign to return the Parthenon marbles to Greece. The celebrity support this cause has attracted ever since Lord Byron made it part of his romantic image in the early 19th century keeps it in the limelight, but also allows the British Museum, where the best sculptures from the 5th century BC Parthenon continue to be kept, to portray its critics as self-publicists. Continue reading...

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All The Ways The Euro Crisis Is Actually Much Worse Than The Great Depression

By the time President Roosevelt gave his inaugural address in March 1933, America was already in its fifth year of the Great Depression. This national tragedy left more than one in five working age people unemployed. Industrial production in the US declined by almost half. And real GDP fell by almost a third. Contrast the US's experience between 1929 and 1940 to that of the Eurozone since the onset of the financial crisis and Europe looks good by comparison. Europe's real GDP declined only 5% peak-to-trough and unemployment peaked at 12%. Those figures, however, cover a multitude of sins. Greece has seen real GDP decline by 25% between the last quarter of 2007 and the last quarter of 2013, while youth unemployment in Italy and Portugal is still at shocking levels of 44% and 35% respectively. In both cases the crisis exacted a heavy toll on society with some of the poorest and most vulnerable the hardest hit. And in both opportunities to act decisively to address problems early were passed up and problems were allowed to fester.Unemployment during the Great Depression hit a staggering 25.2% in the US whereas Eurozone unemployment peaked at only 12.2%, but ... ... That figure disguises the fact that some countries were hit worse than the US in the '30s, like Greece (27%) and Spain (24.4%). This iconic photo of unemployed men queuing outside a soup kitchen has come to represent the hardships of the Great Depression in the US .... See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Greek FinMin: 75% of Loan Must be Repaid

Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis, in an interview with Greek MEGA TV channel, spoke of a period of adjustment until the country’s final exit from the memorandum. “There will be an adjustment period for maybe six months or a year until we exit the ...

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Eurozone growth outlook slashed in new blow to recovery

Brussels (AFP) - The EU sharply cut its growth forecasts for the eurozone on Tuesday, warning that France and Italy remain huge problems for the sluggish European economy that is becoming a worry worldwide.The threat of deflation and recession combined with stubbornly high unemployment across the 18-country eurozone loomed large in the European Commission's autumn economic forecasts.In a grim set of numbers, it cut its 2014 growth prediction for the 18-country area to just 0.8 percent from the previous 1.2 percent, then predicting expansions of 1.1 percent in 2015 and 1.7 percent in 2016.EU officials called for urgent investment to boost jobs and growth, amid fears that just two years after its last debt crisis, the eurozone could again destabilise the global economy as a whole."The economic and employment situation is not improving fast enough," said Jyrki Katainen, the commission's new vice president for jobs and growth, as he announced the bleak figures.With years of austerity failing to reanimate the eurozone, new European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has promised to unveil a 300-billion-euro ($380-billion) investment plan for the eurozone by Christmas.But despite apparently avoiding a so-called "triple-dip" recession, the eurozone headwinds on the world economy have caused turmoil on global stock markets in recent weeks.- 'No magic bullet' -Pierre Moscovici, the new commissioner for economic affairs, warned that there would also be hard work ahead to both bring in investment and for eurozone nations to bring in structural reforms."There is no magic bullet, there is no simple answer," Moscovici told the same press conference.Also haunting Europe is the danger of deflation, and while the commission believes prices will not fall outright, it said inflation will remain very low and also drag on growth.The commission said inflation in the eurozone this year would sink to a "very low" 0.5 percent and rise only to 0.8 percent next year -- both way off the European Central Bank target of just under two percent.Unemployment in the eurozone, already sky high in several crisis-hit countries, will remain a huge problem in the next few years, it said. The rate would slip to 10.2 percent in 2016, still above pre-crisis levels and with Spain and Greece both at 22 percent.Germany emerges as a worry from the EU figures, with the economy, normally seen as the growth engine for the continent, set to expand by a sluggish 1.3 percent in 2014 and just 1.1 percent next year.- Fears for France, Italy -But France and Italy stand out as the biggest problems. Both are under huge pressure from the commission to cut back on overspending and push through reforms that Rome and Paris have promised but largely failed to implement.France's economy is predicted to grow just by 0.3 percent this year -- against an earlier forecast of 1.0 percent -- and expand by 0.7 percent in 2015. Brussels said France was also on track for the biggest budget deficit in the eurozone, surging to 4.5 percent of total GDP in 2015 and 4.7 percent in 2016, putting Paris at risk of being sanctioned by the commission for exceeding the EU limit of 3.0 percent.In Paris, a finance ministry source said the EU figures were "purely theoretical" and "meant nothing", while sticking to its own forecast that France would reach the EU's limit in 2017.Italy meanwhile will stay in recession for a third consecutive year with a contraction 0.4 percent, followed by 0.6 percent growth next year, while staying burdened by debt.Britain and Ireland gave the most cause for optimism, with the non-euro British economy set to grow by 3.1 percent this year and 2.7 percent next year, and Ireland by a whopping 4.6 percent this year and 3.6 percent next year.Moscovici warned however that without strong action to create jobs and growth "people could despair of the European project."Analysts agreed with the call for investment."The European Commission has delivered a bleak assessment of the economic outlook for the eurozone," VTB Capital economist Neil MacKinnon told AFP. "Fiscal stimulus is required not austerity."Join the conversation about this story »

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Adair Turner: Germany Is Wrong About Economics And 'Terrible Things' Threaten Europe Because Of It

Lord Adair Turner, the chief financial regulator charged with herding Britain's shattered financial sector, sat down with Business Insider recently to give us his take on the state of the world economy. Yesterday, he told us why he believes the British economy is threatened by a chronic debt overhang that could push the country back into recession. The more debt a country has, the more it is exposed to changes in markets on which that debt is traded — with the nasty downside that an indebted nation can end up suddenly owing a lot more than it can possibly pay, he says. (Hello, Greece!) In that same conversation he offered us his pessimistic views on the state of the eurozone, too. Turner's warning of a secular stagnation for the UK is nothing compared to his grim diagnosis for Europe. The threats Turner identifies from extremely high household debt levels in the world's advanced economies are small beer in comparison to the dangers he thinks is facing Europe's currency union. And Germany is a huge part of the problem. Business Insider: Given your views on the state of the UK economy, what do you think about the other parts of the developed world? Adair Turner: I think for a set of reasons, the US might be about to achieve a self-sustained takeoff without progressing to more extreme policy measures. They’ve been helped for instance by more deleveraging by actually writing off debt. Of course, one of the ways you can come out of a debt overhang without fiscal stimulus or monetization (having a central bank pay off government debt directly) is if you can actually write off debt… The US also did have higher fiscal deficits that Europe, much higher. BI: And what about the Eurozone?  AT: I think the Eurozone without a different policy is condemned to another decade that looks like Japan in the 1990s, but it’s actually much more worrying.  I think Japan in 1990 was already one of the richest economies in the world, it is culturally and ethnically homogeneous with no immigration flows, no internal ethnic or religious divides. It has managed to continue to grow, albeit slowly, and it’s still a rich place. It has the beginnings of a population decline that means that growth has been combined with low unemployment. Now there are huge unanswered questions about what is going to happen to Japan's large debt pile, but the social and economic experience here has not stressed the Japanese political and social system. It think if you put the same pattern of 10 years of slow growth and deflation and lack of escape from debt overhang into a Europe, which is divided by countries which can then play elements of nationalism against one another, with large immigrant communities of different ethnic and religious mix which then creates the possibility of tensions which are bound to get worse if the economic circumstances are bad. With very significant and I think uncontrollable immigration flows across the Mediterranean, from parts of the world which are in chaos, I’m really worried that this is a formula for real social stress, high unemployment, populist political responses which then generate a radicalization of the minorities of which they are a response. I think we’re playing with fire. In that environment, by closing the door on even funded fiscal policy, let alone the monetization that I’m talking about, I think we could do terrible things to the future of Europe. BI: One of the big economic news stories recently has been that the German economy is slowing. What do you think about their place in Europe?  AT: Although I have huge respect for what Germany is as an economic success, a very strong political system…. And I entirely understand their fears of high inflation, etc., I think the predominant German attitude to macroeconomics is simply wrong. There’s a failure to deal with the fallacies of aggregation that are at the core of macroeconomics. It is not possible for the whole world to succeed in the same way that Germany succeeds. We cannot all be export led economies. We can’t all run surpluses unless we find another planet.SEE ALSO: GEORGE SOROS: 'Wake Up, Europe!' Join the conversation about this story »

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