The Washington Post , by Susan Svrluga

When freshmen arrive at the University of Maryland, Wallace Loh, the president, tells them that only one in a thousand people on the planet have the privilege of a college education-so they should use the opportunity to give back, someday. It's not an unusual message, but it's one that the state flagship school is investing in, with a $75 million initiative to instill a culture of philan-thropy universtywide, asking students to "do good" from freshmen orienta-tion to long after graduation. University leaders announced Thursday that they would create an institute, add three endowed professorships and build a new public policy building where the Do Good Institute will be based. U-Md's initiative grew out of a project five years ago to teach students philanthropy, including a class in which students evaluated how to use cash grants to make an impact and compete to get funding for an idea.  

CR80News, by Andrew Hudson

College and universities, no matter their size, are com-munities unto themselves. Each is a microcosm within which students develop both socially and academically. But college communities represent just a portion of their larger, surrounding environments, and it's vital that academic institutions be actively engaged beyond their campus borders. The campus card is a key tool to facilitate this engagement. At first glance, the student ID forges connec-tions within an institution's walls, bringing together disparate agencies and providing valuable services to students and staff. But its impact extends beyond the campus walls, enabling cardholders to engage with local busi-nesses and merchants. Enabling merchants in the community to accept the campus card as a preferred payment method is an important step in fostering the town-and-gown relationship, says CBORD's Takieddine.

Safety Forum Report, sponsored by NCCPS

On October 22, 2015, eighteen campus public safety executives from thirteen institutions of higher educa-tion, with support from the National Center of Campus Public Safety (NCCPS), gathered in  Burlington, VT, for a one-day emerging issues forum. The purpose of this forum was to identify best practices in sharing campus law enforcement responsibilities with local partners and establishing and maintaining positive, supportive, and effective relation-ships with off-campus communities. The group addressed three objectives IHE's have regarding the development of best practices that help local and campus law enforcement agencies coordinate more closely and efficiently: determine patrol responsibilities and legal considerations; identify effective records management and intelligence-sharing practices; and establish and maintain positive relationships with local agencies and surrounding commu-nities. To see the full report, click here. 

The Panther, by Alexis Allen

Students who have been cited for noise violations or party ordinances attended a mandatory conference Sept. 23 to discuss the neighborhood issues that have plagued Orange residents and Chapman students over the past few years. Five students living off-campus examined issues going on in the community and sought prospective solutions to amend relations with their neighbors. Although the Good Neighbor courses are part of the require-ments for students who have been cited under the party ordinance, the events are open to all members of the community. Attendees were shown statistics on the average age, income and other demographic features of people living in Orange, and were given a website where they could view information specific to their neighborhood. Facilitators hoped that it would encourage respectful coexistence. 

A junior Grove City council member is working with theater students at Grove City College to help the local food pantry get clean. Cammie Messer is working with the "24-Hour Theatre Project" at GCC this weekend to collect personal care and cleaning products for The Clean Mile-which began as an initiative of the Grove City Rotary Club years ago. The Clean Mile will officially start Oct. 1 at various collection sites in Grove City, where people can donate enough products to stretch a mile (or 5,280 feet) for the Grove City Area Food Pantry on South Center Street, Cammie told council members. She is now in the process of setting up 10 collection sites. "This isn't just a government project, but a cross-comunity project," Cammie said. It's GCC's first-ever 24-hour project, which is popular and competitive event on cam-puses and among professional theatre companies in the U.S. 

Fifty-six percent of University Hill residents surveyed this summer said front-yard beer pong tables have a moderate or high impact on their daily lives. But, as many suspected, the survey showed that the tables themselves are merely a symbol of  broader issues with neighborhood enforcement. The survey, released Friday, was administered by the city following City Councilman Andrew Shoemaker's call in May for the possible banning of beer pong tables -also used for the local variant, beer die -left in front of many college houses on the Hill, often staying in place for weeks on end, sometimes decorated with empty cans and red cups. The 156 respondents comprised mostly long-term residents, plus some students. "What we saw as a pervasive element is that for some, beer pong becomes another issue associated with noise, accumulation of trash, other quality of life issues, said Amanda Nagl, Boulder's neighborhood liaison, in an interview. 

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