Former students linked to Sept. 11 attacks

Two former California State University-Sacramento students were charged last week with aiding the suspected 20th hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui enter the United States before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The two former students, Sejarahtul Dursina and her husband, Yazid Sufaat, are accused of providing Moussaoui with a fake job to aid in his immigration process along with $35,000 allegedly used to fund the attacks. Moussaoui, the first suspect related to the largest terrorist attack in U.S. history, was arrested about one month before Sept. 11 on an immigration violation charge.

Dursina and Sufaat, who graduated from Cal-State in 1987 and 1988 respectively, were arrested and are being held in Malaysia. It is not likely they will be extradited to the United States for trial. ATT

Mossaoui is awaiting trail in federal court in Alexandria, Va. The trial is set to begin in September.

Hawaii dorm rapist remains at large

Police and university officials have no leads in a case involving the rape of a resident adviser in her dormitory room at the University of Hawaii.

The student, whose name has not been released, was reportedly raped and beaten by a man she can only describe as “in his 20’s” after several weeks of threatening phone calls were made to her dorm room. According to university officials, the student was relocated before the attack to a secure on-campus housing unit where the incident occurred.

The university has since posted composites of the man’s face, which are being torn down each night by an unknown suspect. The man is described as a non-student.

College students look for ways to quit smoking

Health officials at the University of Wisconsin have set up special classes to help students kick their smoking habits, after a survey released last week by American College Health Association reported 25 percent of college students smoke.

The program, called “Quick Start,” consists of five monthly sessions that help students understand why they smoke and attempts to eliminate common excuses like “social smoker” and “I’ll quit when I graduate.”

According to Wisconsin professor Doug Jorenby, an expert in the field, quitting cold turkey is the least effective way to stop smoking. He said only 3 to 7 percent of all smokers stay smoke-free for more than a year after an abrupt stop in the flow of nicotine.

Jorenby, who is also the director of clinical services at the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, recommends groups like Quick Start to help cure the psychological addiction to cigarettes.

UNC drops early decision option

The University of North Carolina announced it will not longer accept early decision applications starting in the fall.

The university’s decision to terminate the program, which allows high school students to apply and receive a decision from colleges by January of the senior year, makes UNC the first college in the country to abandon the program.

University officials said early decision places too much pressure on high school students, forcing them to choose a school on a shortened timetable, often without ever visiting the campus