Education 11-13

Kate Smith, the candidate for Santa Barbara School Board who was disqualified from the 11/4 election because she moved out of the district, protested outside the Santa Barbara Art Museum on 11/5. In addition to singing a rousing round of “God Bless America,” Smith alleged that she was bumped out of the race illegally. Smith received about 11 percent of the vote in the race regardless of her disqualification. (/katesmith1116)

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The University of California announced this week that it has added a financial aid estimator tool on its campus Web sites that gives prospective students a personalized assessment of the amount of federal loans they will be rewarded for school before they even apply. The application is a reaction to the continual increase in university fees and tough economic times.

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The Kresge Foundation, established to give a financial boost to community organizations, awarded UCSB’s Gevirtz Graduate School for Education a $500,000 challenge grant. The grant will partially fund new facilities and the school’s outreach programs if the remaining amount of $1.7 million is raised through private support by September 2009. This is the first Kresge Grant ever awarded to UCSB.

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A $1.5 million donation from the T.B. Walker Foundation will fund a new chair in the department of natural and behavioral sciences at Westmont College, the school announced this week. The money will allow a campus science professor to teach one less class a year in order to spend more time on research. (/westmont1113)