The Associated Press State & Local Wire

UIUC names Wise new chancellor at Urbana campus

By David Mercer, Associated Press

August 3, 2011

The University of Illinois has chosen University of Washington Provost Phyllis Wise as its next chancellor.

Wise will take over the top job at the university's flagship campus in Urbana-Champaign on Oct. 1, pending approval of the board of trustees at their next meeting in September.

"Dr. Wise has the 'full package,'" University of Illinois President Michael, who is in charge of all three university campuses, said in statement Wednesday. "She is a proven scholar, with a deep commitment to public higher education, and has an exceptional reputation as a leader at some of the nation's top universities. I couldn't be more pleased to have her joining our distinguished leadership team."

..."I look forward to working with the faculty, staff and students, and the University's many external stakeholders and partners, to build on its strengths and create new opportunities for the University to have an even greater impact," she said.

Wise is a professor of physiology and biophysics, biology, and obstetrics and gynecology and has been at Washington since 2006. While serving as provost, the equivalent of the chancellor's job in Urbana-Champaign, she also was interim president of the University of Washington system last year. ...

Wise has a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College and a doctorate from the University of Michigan. She also is a member of the board of directors at Nike, Inc.

NBC News Transcripts - Today Show

Education Nation Today; Rob Franek discusses Princeton Review's annual college rankings

August 2, 2011

ANN CURRY, co-host:

...This morning on Education Nation Today, the country's best colleges. The Princeton Review is out with its annual rankings, covering everything from the top dorms and food to the schools with the best financial aid. And here to walk us through the list is Rob Franek. He's the author of Princeton Review's The Best 376 Colleges.

CURRY: Of course. It's always great to have you here because you give us such clarity. You ranked 62 different categories, from financial aid to campus services to even quality of life for some students. How were these lists compiled?

Mr. FRANEK: Well, the difference between  The Best 376 Colleges  and every other guide book out there, as well as college research Web site, is that we go directly to whom we consider college experts: current college students. So 122,000 of those students this year. So we have an online survey that sits on princetonreview.com and they come and fill it out each year.

CURRY: So you get an authentic voice. And on the question of great financial aid, which is of course the thing that everybody really cares a lot about...

Mr. FRANEK: Yeah.

CURRY: ...number one was Swarthmore College.

Mr. FRANEK: Swarthmore College. And, you know, it's not too surprising because it's been a usual suspect on that great financial aid list, as well as our number one school in our best value colleges list. But Swarthmore has a really high sticker price, $52,000. But the average aid package, $36,000, bringing it down to $16,000 overall. That's what a student would pay for a public education in the--in the US alone.

...

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Swarthmore No. 1 for value, Penn State 4th for beer

By Peter Mucha, Inquirer Staff Writer

August 2, 2011

The Princeton Review is out with its annual college and university rankings, and the region is once again well represented.

Unlike other surveys, the results found in a new book, The Best 376 Colleges, were based on voting by students, 122,000 of them.

Swarthmore College was rated the top private school for "value" for the third year in a row, as well as the No. 1 college or university for "Great Financial Aid."

Penn State is No. 1 for "Everyone Plays Intramural Sports" (and "Financial Aid Not So Great"), third for "Students Pack the Stadiums," fourth for "Lots of Beer," fifth among "Jock Schools," and seventh for both "Happiest Students" and "Party Schools." Just two years ago, Penn State was voted the top party school.  ...

SPORTS

The Patriot News (PA)

City Islanders' Morgan Langley more than happy to pitch in with late, game-winning score -- even if it means falling victim to some teammates' pranks

By Michael Bullock, The Patriot-News

July 30, 2011

As Morgan Langley finished up practice late Friday morning, the high-octane Harrisburg City Islanders winger immediately encountered several perplexing dilemmas.
 
One was locating his sneakers.

The other? Finding a ride home.

Such is the life of a 22-year-old USL PRO rookie, even one who pockets a late score in an improbable come-from-behind victory. From unlikely hero to innocent victim.

Langley understood.

"I like the prank," said Langley, while unwrapping a sneaker mummified by athletic tape and attached to a gate. Moments earlier, he found the other shoe perched atop a field hockey goal - filled with stones and pebbles. "When I'm older, I can do this to the rookies."

Some 36 hours earlier, Langley the heroic rookie unleashed his late-game venom on Dayton, cashing in in second-half stoppage time as the City Islanders came off the deck to claim a 3-2 victory. Bill Becher's club trailed 2-0 just 30 minutes in.

"Bill has basically said to me before going in every game this year, 'When we're down or tied, go get us a goal back or go get the winner" said the feisty Swarthmore graduate, who has scored two goals (the other came in a May win over Pittsburgh) in 17 appearances as a reserve.

"It's been tough coming off the bench late and getting in the flow of a game, but that's part of my job. That's what I've learned to do. That's what I've been wanting to do is put a ball in the back of the net late in a game. I succeeded. I finally followed Bill's directions."

"Morgan's worked hard," Becher said of the 5-10, 150-pounder, who owns Swarthmore's single-season and career scoring records. "He's gotten better as the season's gone on. He's young, he's been hot and cold. Some games, he's gone in and done well. Other games, he's gone in and struggled.

"That's a guy who's used to playing all the time in college, and now he's come here and he's trying to figure out how to come off the bench and be ready to go in and make an impact in a shorter period of time," Becher added. "It's not easy for anybody, let alone a first-year player.

"One thing he did show us all preseason is that he can score goals. [Wednesday night's goal was] his second one now and it was a good finish. A lot of guys would have put that over the top, but he kept his head down, struck it well and it was a great goal for us." ...

"That was exciting," Langley said of his first career game-winning score with the City Islanders. "To me, I'm just glad to be putting in a late goal in the pros at this point. I was used to it in college. But as a rookie coming in here, it was kinda frustrating having a season with just one goal so far.

"So I figured I just gotta keep chugging, got a second one and luckily it was worth something. Something good. That's my job at this point."

As for those pranks ...