The best in last week's editorials from college campuses across the nation

University of Minnesota

For male athletes in Division I college basketball and football, the term "student-athlete" is a farce. The athlete is ever-present, appearing on national television, honored by pep rallies and showered with perks - but the student is historically in the bottom third of his class in SAT scores, grade point average, class rank and graduation rates.

Sadly, the excuses to maintain the status quo of "they're dumb athletes" or "that's the way it is" prevail while steps can be taken immediately to force institutions and athletes to make strides toward academic accountability.

First, academic counseling and support services must be under the same control and location as the general university population. Not only does this encourage integration into the general student body, it decreases the chances of academic advisers whose main concern is eligibility rather than education.

- "Put 'student' back in student-athlete," from University of Minnesota's
Minnesota Daily

Indiana University

What is clearly at stake is the threat that the photos will carry with them some political implications. Interestingly enough, the administration had no problem using images of firefighters removing a flag-draped stretcher from Ground Zero in a political advertisement when it stood to benefit, but it does have problems with the images which may have a negative political impact.

These photos are part of the story of the war in Iraq. President Bush cannot choose which photos are suitable for citizens. The administration believes the American people cannot be trusted with seeing these photos - all the more reason to see them. Information will always find a way out, and it'll always find a way out quicker if someone doesn't want it to be known.

- "Pentagon angry over pictures of war casualties," from Indiana University's
Indiana Daily Student

Baylor University

The standards for punishing fraternities that violate the hazing policies should be set in stone. Fraternities should know that if they keep a pledge out too late, they will receive X amount of semesters of suspension or probation, and if they cause serious harm to a student, they will receive a greater level of punishment.

Minimum levels of suspension and other punishment must be set up to ensure student organizations are treated fairly. Groups should be informed of the consequences of violating each policy. If they choose to do so, administrators should take the previously set boundaries as a base for establishing punishment.

In addition, fraternities and other organizations should take the hazing policies seriously. Such practice may be a tradition, but any humiliation or abuse of fellow students is never appropriate. If groups want to avoid the consequences, then don't practice the offense.

- "Hazing violations must be handled equally, fairly," from Baylor University's
The Lariat

University of Southern California

Traditional race-based affirmative action programs have failed to counteract the increasing dominance of rich kids in national universities. Even as national universities admit increasing numbers of Jews, blacks and Hispanics, socioeconomic diversity continues to shrink. As rich families pour ever more resources into breeding Ivy League professionals, the necessity of universities adopting economic affirmative action policies becomes increasingly important.

As Lawrence H. Summers, the president of Harvard, said: "An important purpose of institutions like Harvard is to give everybody a shot at the American dream." When families can buy their kids into our country's top educational institutions, college degrees cease to be a mark of merit and become nothing more than a mark of privilege. Coming generations deserve better.

- "As the poor get poorer, the rich get into college," from University of Southern California's
Daily Trojan

California State University, Long Beach

Once the smoking pretext is discredited, medical marijuana can be seen as comparable to other drugs that are illegal for recreational use but legal for medicinal use, including narcotics such as morphine, codeine and hydrocodone.

Other arguments against medical marijuana include the perception that it could lead to "diversion," meaning that it could ease access to marijuana for those seeking the drug for social use. But as long as the co-ops adhere to strict rules requiring doctor's prescriptions and special identification cards (as they do now), the threat of diversion is virtually nonexistent. And for the record, anyone who can't currently obtain marijuana probably hasn't tried.

- "Patients' rights go up in smoke," from California State University, Long Beach's
Daily Forty-Niner

Indiana University

For the past few weeks, the Bush administration has been fighting the label "new Vietnam" as it deals with criticism about its campaign in Iraq, which has seen an increasing number of casualties during the month of April. Though the administration claims the criticism is unfounded, one eerily recognizable aspect of the Vietnam War reared its ugly head last week.

In front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Vietnam veteran Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., argued for the reinstitution of the draft, asking, "Why shouldn't we ask all of our citizens to bear some responsibility and pay some price?"

The answer to Hagel's question is simple: The American public never asked for this military endeavor.

- "Dodging the draft," from Indiana University's
Indiana Daily Student

University of California, Berkeley

Pat Tillman's sacrifice says nothing about the NFL. It speaks more to his personal character and the character of the others who every day put their lives in jeopardy. His sacrifice is a tragedy in the same way each person's death in war is a tragedy. Placing one death above another is a disservice to all.

Likewise, there are those who are picking at his memory to make their case against the war. Some antiwar Web sites have taken to calling Tillman's death a "waste" and used his death in particular as a weapon against President Bush. Perhaps this might not be so distasteful had Tillman not consciously tried to keep his decision to join the armed forces private.

When he walked away from a $3.6 million contract, he did so discreetly. He did not seek the spotlight when he left football. The best honor we can give to a man who shunned the spotlight is to not forget that every life lost is precious and irreplaceable.

- "The sacrifices of all servicepeople matter," from University of California, Berkeley's
Daily Californian

- Compiled from U-Wire