What students are talking about today (Aug. 24 edition)

1. A business school dean at the historically-black Hampton University in Virginia is standing by his ban on dreadlocks and cornrows for MBA students. The ban has been in place since 2001, but at least one new student is refusing to cut his dreads. Dean Sid Credle says the ban helps students get used to the corporate uniform.

2. Law school “cannot continue in its present form,” says a Saskatchewan law professor. Schools purport to be academic, but students expect to learn practical things like how to draft contracts. “Wouldn’t everyone be happier if law schools stopped trying to be all things to all people, and instead focused on being either vocational schools or academic institutions?,” asks Michael Plaxton.

3. Canadian universities lag behind when it comes to using less-expensive e-textbooks. In the U.S., 15 per cent of sales are digital. In Canada, it’s still less than 10 per cent.

4. Jian Ghomeshi, best known as the host of CBC radio show Q, will launch his book at the University of Guelph on Sept. 15. His literary memoir, entitled 1982, is based on a 14-year-old’s desire to be David Bowie. A Q&A will follow afterward in downtown Guelph at The Bookshelf.

5. Ladies Learning Code, a Toronto-based non-profit set up to teach introductory web programming to women, is heading to heading to Vancouver. Women outnumber men in undergraduate programs, but only a third of science and engineering undergrads are women.

6. A new “video game bar,” in Vancouver that sought to combine gaming with drinking has run up against strict B.C. laws. In order to get their license, the bar must focus “primarily on food” and that means consoles aren’t allowed. An online petition opposing the decision has 4,500 signatures.

7. Police have charged Byron Arnold Blanchard, 20, in the stabbing death of 18-year-old student Joshua Hogarth. The suspect was arrested in a Calgary hotel. Police say the two were friends.

8. A job fair in Fredericton, N.B. for work in Alberta attracted thousands on Thursday, surprising organizers. A dozen companies in the oil and gas, manufacturing, technology, transportation and construction sectors were there. It illustrates the wide gap between provincial economies.

9. Watch out: Ontario police say they’ll be working hard to enforce alcohol laws during frosh week as part of a new program called Community Alcohol Safety and Enforcement program (CASE).

10. It’s Friday! If you don’t already have plans, Brian D. Johnson suggests the bike courier thriller Premium Rush, which he calls the most exciting action movie of the summer. In a season that hosted Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, that’s saying something. Read his blog post here.