Word Up Wednesdays

Facebook nearly as large as U.S. population

Facebook's user base is nearly as large as the U.S. population and, for the first time, the site has turned a profit.
CNN

Colleges Are Failing in Graduation Rates

At its top levels, the American system of higher education may be the best in the world. Yet interms of its core mission — turning teenagers into educated college graduates — much of the system is simply failing.
The New York Times


Fatal shooting shocks UCI campus

After a graduate student allegedly killed his ex-wife, officials strive to reassure the UC Irvine community that the case was an anomaly and the campus is nevertheless a safe place.
Los Angeles Times


Swine flu is hot topic at Sacramento disaster-planning conference


A potential surge this fall of a novel strain of influenza turned a three-day disaster-planning conference into a mobilization effort to protect against the spread of the virus.
The Sacramento Bee

Stockton Radio Station Dumps Kanye West

A Stockton radio station has stopped playing rapper Kanye West's music after the artist upstaged Taylor Swift during Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards.
KCRA


President's opinion of Kanye West sparks debate


President Barack Obama's candid thoughts about Kanye West are provoking a debate over standards of journalism in the Twitter age.
Yahoo! News

Police serve warrants in Yale grad student slaying

Police led away a man in handcuffs to the cheers of neighbors Tuesday and plan to extract DNA samples in an attempt to link him to the killing of a Yale graduate student who died the week she was to be married.
SFGate

Carter: Wilson comments 'based on racism'

Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst to President Barack Obama during a speech to Congress last week was an act "based on racism" and rooted in fears of a black president.
MSNBC

Iraqi shoe thrower released; says he was tortured


The Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush in protest was freed from prison on Tuesday and, unrepentant, he harshly condemned the U.S. presence in his country and accused authorities of torturing him.
Yahoo! News

College student with sword kills burglary suspect


A Johns Hopkins University student armed with a samurai sword killed a suspected burglar in a garage behind his off-campus home early Tuesday, hours after someone broke in and stole electronics.
SFGate

Yale apologizes for 'Killer Cover Letters' e-mail


Yale University officials are apologizing for an e-mail notifying students about a job-search workshop named "Killer Cover Letters" that was sent out as police investigate the killing of a graduate student.
SFGate