Good morning Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
New York University Will Offer Free Tuition For All Medical Students
NYU's School of Medicine is set to become the first major medical school to offer students a free education. The decision, announced Thursday at the university's annual White Coat Ceremony, will apply to both present and future students — regardless of merit or financial need. In a statement, the school said the move is "a bold effort to simultaneously address the rising costs of medical education and still attract the best and brightest students to careers in medicine."
According to the BBC, NYU has been working for more than ten years to raise the necessary funds to pay for students' tuition. The university's goal moving forward is to raise a total of $600 million so that scholarships are permanently available. However, students are still responsible for the cost of room and board.
“We believe that with our tuition-free initiative, we have taken a necessary, rational step that addresses a critical need to train the most talented physicians, unencumbered by crushing debt,” said Robert I. Grossman, MD, the Saul J. Farber Dean of NYU School of Medicine and CEO of NYU Langone Health. “We hope that many other academic medical centers will soon choose to join us on this path.”
Connecticut Police Have Responded To 80 K2 Overdoses In Just Two Days
First responders in New Haven, Connecticut have been called to more than 80 overdoses on K2 in the past two days — and 76 of those occurred all within 24 hours. At one point, around 18 people collapsed at the same park near Yale University in a span of three-and-a-half hours, NBC Connecticut reported. Though some who overdosed were in life-threatening condition, authorities said there have been no fatalities.
K2 — often called synthetic marijuana, fake weed, or Spice —is "a human-made mind-altering chemical that's either sprayed on dried, shredded planet material so it can be smoked, or sold as liquids to be vaporized and inhaled in e-cigarettes and other devices, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. City Office of Emergency Management Director Rick Fontana said the Drug Enforcement Agency tested one of the substances used, and confirmed that it was K2, and not laced with any opioid. Officials had previously suspected that the doses of K2 had been mixed with fentanyl; however, Fontana said only a small percentage of those who overdosed tested positive for fentanyl — and what was found could've been from separate injections.
Bodies are literally dropping all around me from suspected drug overdoses despite massive effort by #NewHaven cops & fire. I've never seen anything quite this bad happening at once. .@WTNH#CTnewspic.twitter.com/bQhlmNMkw7
— Mario Boone, Jou. (@MarioBooneTV) August 15, 2018
What's particularly odd about the situation is that multiple victims told police that they didn't actually purchase the K2, and it was instead given to them as a "free sample." Police Chief Anthony Campbell believes that whoever was handing out the drugs was trying to get people addicted, "thereby establishing a clientele," the CTPost reported. Police have since arrested two suspects who are known for selling K2.
A Retired Navy Special-Ops Commander Condemned Trump Revoking The CIA Director's Security Clearance
William McRaven, the Navy admiral who oversaw the 2011 raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden, wrote a scathing opinion piece for The Washington Post on Thursday, asking President Trump to revoke his White House security clearance since that's what he did to former CIA director James Brennan. "Former CIA director John Brennan, whose security clearance you revoked on Wednesday, is one of the finest public servants I have ever known. Few Americans have done more to protect this country than John. He is a man of unparalleled integrity, whose honesty and character have never been in question, except by those who don’t know him," McRaven's article — that also served as a letter to Trump — began. "Therefore, I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency."
According to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump stripped Brennan of his clearance due to his "history that calls into question his objectivity and credibility." She also called into question why former government officials even have security clearances. "Such access is particularly inappropriate when former officials have transitioned into highly partisan positions and seek to use real or perceived access to sensitive information to validate their political attacks," Sanders said.
In McRaven's letter, he added that Trump's actions have "embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage, and, worst of all, divided us as a nation." McRaven ended with a call for Trump to fix his behavior: "If you think for a moment that your McCarthy-era tactics will suppress the voices of criticism, you are sadly mistaken. The criticism will continue until you become the leader we prayed you would be."
What to look for...
Ariana Grande's new album, Sweetner.