Soon Vanderbilt students will not be the only ones able to take classes on campus.

In an effort to make them more accessible, Vanderbilt has introduced the first need-based financial award for students enrolling in either a Maymester or a study abroad program this summer.

According to Associate Dean Martin Rapisarda, the 2009 Maymester program will offer the most courses and the most geographically varied course roster to date.

"This year we are offering two new programs in London, one in Greece and a program in China," Rapisarda said.

He wasn't in Vegas, but Dean of Admissions Douglas Christiansen knows a thing or two about gambling in a recession.

With the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama just days away, the achievements of the civil rights movement will have a special significance this Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

With the economy in recession and unemployment at the highest rate in 16 years, some seniors are nervous about going into an insecure job market.

"Well, naturally it's just scary to graduate from college, because there's just so much uncertainty out there," said Abigail Richards, a senior in Peabody College. "So, to get a better job, I am going straight to grad school so that I can make more money and fight for the jobs higher up instead of the lower jobs that they're cutting out anyway."

Renowned mandolin performer, producer and recording artist Butch Baldassari, adjunct professor of mandolin at Vanderbilt's Blair School of Music, died on Saturday at the age of 56.

Associate Professor of History Leor Halevi was awarded the 2008 Ralph Waldo Emerson Award for his book "Muhammad's Grave: Death Rites and the Making of Islamic Society."

Students off to their first classes last week, collecting syllabi and deciding which courses to keep, add or drop, encountered more difficulties than usual with OASIS, Vanderbilt's online course registration system.

Wednesday and Thursday of last week, students reported having trouble logging on to OASIS. The system was down and therefore completely inaccessible for at least two hours on Thursday, according to staff in the history department.

The Vanderbilt debate team scored a win at the James Madison University Debate Tournament, with junior Cameron Norris and sophomore Nick Brown taking first place in the varsity division of the competition held during winter break.

Nashville