Daily Lumina News 050124

Three national surveys published in the past month identify anxiety and college costs as the greatest challenges in students' educational pursuits—and the greatest threats to completing their education.
The reports re-emphasize the role of student mental health and financial wellness in student success, as well as a greater need for transparency around the cost of higher education.

Leila Hudson treads carefully when discussing the Israel-Hamas war.
As a Palestinian-American and the elected faculty chair at the University of Arizona, she says she has no choice. She's not alone. The conflict in Gaza is rekindling efforts to control controversy and conversation on college campuses. The University of California system could be the latest to weigh in.

Federal and state officials say making computer chips in this country is vital to national security and the supply chain. In response, chipmakers are investing billions of dollars to build or expand semiconductor operations.
Colleges and universities are also stepping up with training efforts and new degree programs to equip workers with the skills to make and design chips.

College presidents and other senior leaders are struggling to respond to the latest wave of mass protests to roil American higher education. While many of these officials champion free speech in statements, they say they are also concerned about safety.
But sending in the police can backfire.

Without child care, Derrika Richard couldn't work; and without work, she couldn't afford child care. It felt like an unsolvable problem until last fall when she was accepted into a New Orleans tax-funded program that pays for child care. Now, for the first time, Richard is earning enough to pay her bills and afford online classes.
Other cities are taking note, joining a growing trend of local communities passing ballot measures to expand access to child care.

From Boston to California, students are calling on universities to cut ties with Israel’s economy, and especially with the country’s war in Gaza—effectively seeking to make academic institutions use their financial weight to show support for Palestinians.
It’s part of a movement—broadly known as BDS—that calls for boycotts, divestments, and sanctions of corporations or institutions supportive of Israel, sometimes even in tangential ways.