Triton Taxi stickers set to expire at end of month

Students with current Triton Taxi stickers will need to pick up new stickers to continue using the service after Oct. 30.

Though current stickers do not include an expiration date and were not intended to expire when originally given out to students, A.S. Commissioner of Student Services Kian Maleki said the move is an attempt to cut costs for the program that provides safe rides home to students. This year, it has been renamed A.S. Safe Rides.

Because the stickers have remained the same for many years, former students who do not pay current fees have continued to use the service, contributing to its rising costs, Maleki said.

To pick up new stickers, students must sign a waiver at the A.S. offices on the third floor of Price Center. The new stickers will also expire in June and must be renewed every year.

Students who do not update their stickers will not be able to use the shuttle service after the end of the month. Questions about the new service can be sent to [email protected].

High school students worried about college costs

Half of all college-bound students say that cost is their largest concern about university education, according to a new national survey published by College Partnership, a private college preparation company.

Of the 1,750 students sampled, 50 percent said money was their biggest fear, more than twice the number who said they worried about having the grades to qualify for the best university.

Only 10 percent of parents in the same poll expressed concern about the cost of a college education. Almost one-third said their greatest concern was that their student would leave the home.

In the survey, 60 percent of students said that career and major options offered by colleges represent the most important criteria in choosing where to attend, compared to the 13 percent who said the college’s reputation is most important.

Agency: Marijuana hurts learning, academics

The federal government’s Office of National Drug Control Policy has launched a national outreach campaign to warn parents and students that marijuana use may have a negative impact on teen learning and academic success.

It plans to publish an “Open Letter to Parents” in major papers, including the New York Times and USA Today. Experts in the fields of education, health and youth drug prevention will sign the letter.

Deterring student use of drugs and alcohol is essential “to safeguard not only the fabric of our society but also, ultimately, our economic security,” U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige stated.

Research shows that students who average D grades or below are more than four times as likely to have used marijuana in the past year as students who report A averages, according to Richard Wong, executive director of the American School Counselor Association.

Almost four million youth aged 12 to 17, or 16 percent, have used marijuana at least once in the past year, the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health found.

Preuss School requests funding for student buses

UCSD’s Preuss School, the campus-run charter middle and high school, is facing a shortage of school buses for its more than 700 students.

Because of state budget cuts, the local school district has eliminated bus service to the school, which instructs low-income students who want to be the first in their families to attend college.

As in the 2003-04 school year, the school will need to lease the 15 buses it needs to provide transportation for the students. It has asked community members for donations to raise the $375,000 needed to fund the program.

So far, the Jack in the Box Foundation has provided a $25,000 gift to help pay the costs.

Climate change contributed to large extinction

While humans played the largest role in the extinction of two-thirds of all large mammals on the planet, climate change was “a key part of the recipe,” UC Berkeley researchers said.

Their analysis of the large wave of deaths that occurred between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago was published in the October issue of the journal Science

Because climate change is occurring more rapidly today, the planet faces inevitable mass extinctions and “unpredictable ecosystem changes” in the future, the researchers stated.