More Than 50% of College Students Contemplate Suicide

A comprehensive study of suicidal thinking among college students found more than half of the 26,000 surveyed had suicidal thoughts at some point during their lifetime.

The web-based survey conducted in spring 2006 used separate samples of undergraduate and graduate students from 70 colleges and universities across the country.

Of the 15,010 undergraduates, average age 22: 55% had ever thought of suicide; 18% seriously considered it; and 8% made an attempt. Among 11,441 graduate students, average age 30: Exactly half had such thoughts; 15% seriously considered it and 6% made an attempt. [USA Today]

Report Shows Kevin Grady Was Asleep At Wheel

Wyoming Police Officer Kevin Meany says when he approached a white GMC Yukon in the early hours of July 2, the driver, football standout Kevin Grady, was passed out behind the wheel with the car running and in drive. Grady was unconscious and his foot was on the brake.

Meany said he reached inside through the driver’s window, put the car in park and turned off the ignition.

The car was stopped in the southbound lane of Byron Center Avenue SW, just north of 44th Street at the stoplight. [M Live]

Yale Student Makes History, Decides to Retire

Michael Phelps wasn’t the only college student that made Olympic history last week. Sada Jacobson, Yale ’06, did too by being one of the three Americans who took all the medals in the fencing competition – a feat that hasn’t been done since 1904.

Apparently, after etching one’s name into the history books, there’s nothing left to accomplish in sports, because Jacobson is retiring from competitive fencing.

Yes, at the tender age of 25, Jacobson has had enough. And so, she’s putting down the saber and picking up – a law book?! [College OTR]

iTunes U. Where College Lectures and Pop Stars Unite

At Apple’s iTunes online store, Britney Spears and Shakespeare are separated by just a few clicks.

While an episode of “Desperate Housewives” will cost $1.99, a series of lectures by renowned University of California-Berkeley philosophy professor Hubert Dreyfus is absolutely free. A single song by pop diva Rihanna is 99 cents. The price of a course on modern theoretical physics by Stanford University quantum mechanics professor Leonard Susskind? Nada.

Apple calls it iTunes U, an unsung but popular feature of iTunes. [Silicon Valley]

Facebook Items Guaranteed To Be Lies

5) Relationship Status: At the time of this writing, only two states in the country have legalized gay marriage, yet 90% of college aged women claim to be married to their best female friends. This is a factual impossibility, no matter how many bumper stickers written by total strangers are sent back and forth as if they were inside jokes. Additionally, if more men actually married their “shorties” instead of figuring that nicknaming her “wifey” is close enough, we might not have a single mother epidemic.

See the four other “Facebook Items Guaranteed to be Lies” [Banned in Hollywood]

6 Things Every College Student Should Have

When starting the first year of college, students often worry they don’t have everything they need. They also don’t usually know what they need. To keep it simple college school supplies are basically the same as in high school. As for those little odds and ends there is a list below on items that you will need and are an absolute must when going to college. [Find College Cards]

President Works To Keep Students Happy

High Point University, a “once-sleepy institution in the hills of North Carolina” is now evidently thrumming with vitality, thanks to the efforts of its president, Nido R. Qubein, a Lebanese-born High Point alumnus and author of the books “How to Get Whatever You Want” and “Close Like a Pro: Selling Strategies for Success.”

Among Qubein’s innovations since arriving three years ago are an ice-cream truck that circles the campus, dispensing free treats (500 choices!); valet parking; a concierge (who will handle your dry cleaning); and the hiring of a “director of WOW!,” whose sole mission is to keep up the spirits of the university’s charges. [Brainiac]

16 Money Management Tips for College Students

As if paying off your student loan isn’t enough of a burden already, there are other expenses that you have to think about. At your young (but bewildering) age, finances may sound like such a big responsibility. But if you can spend your money wisely, then it shouldn’t be a dilemma. Here are a few tips for students on a budget. [Find Help America]

The Top 5 Google Tools For Students

Okay college kids, it’s time for a brief course in Googleducation. Here are the top 5 ways Google can help any student get through college. [My Name Is Joel]