ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 186 / C&RL News ■ M arch 2004 G a r y P a t t i l l o → F a s t Facts Study abroad student num bers rising The latest figures from the Institute of International Education reveal that, for the 2001-02 academic year, 4.4 percent more students received credit for study abroad than in the previous year. Since the early 1990s, the number of students studying abroad has more than doubled from 71,154 in 1991-92 to the present 160,920. Interest in less traditional destinations is also growing. Among the countries with the largest increases in for-credit study were China, Japan, and the Czech Republic. Institute o f International Education, "Am erican students study abroad in grow ing num bers," W ashington, D.C., November 17, 2003, opendoors.iienetwork.org/?p=36524. January 25, 2004 Identity theft, Internet fraud The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released its report of the top consumer complaint categories for 2003. Identity theft continues to top the list, accounting for 42 percent of the complaints lodged in the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database, up from 40 percent in 2002. Internet- related complaints accounted for 55 percent of all fr aud reports, up from 45 percent in 2002. The FTC received more than half a million consumer complaints in 2003. Internet auctions accounted for 15 percent of complaints. The median loss to victims of Internet related fraud was $195. Federal Trade Commission, "N a tional and state trends in frau d and id e n tity th e ft: January-December 2003," www.consumer.gov/sentinel/pubs/Top10Fraud2003.pdf.January 2 2 , 2004 Students' political in terest Interest in politics is on the rise among incoming college freshmen. A recent study by the Higher Education Research Institute indicates a reversal of a long-term trend of disengagement from politics. Nearly 34 percent of students feel that “keeping up to date with political affairs” is a very important life goal. This number, however, is far below the 60.3 percent reported in 1966, when the study first began tracking political interest among college freshmen. The number of self­ labeled “liberals” was down last year, while the number of “conservatives” was up from previous years. About half the freshmen consider themselves “middle-of-the-road.” Higher Education Research Institute, "The American freshman: National norms fo r fall 2003," University o f California, Los Angeles Graduate School o f Education and Information studies, www.gseis.uda.edu/heri/findings.html. January 29,2004 Com bating cybersquatting The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is combatting the abusive registra­ tion of trademarks as domain names, or cybersquatting. Since the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) went into effect in December 1999, WIPO’s Arbitra­ tion and Mediation Center has handled some 6,000 disputes covering 10,000 domain names. More than 80 percent of WIPO decisions went in favor of the trademark holder. So far, parties to WIPO UDRP disputes have come from 116 different countries. W orld Intellectual Property Organization, "WIPO continues e fforts to stamp o u t cybersquatting," w w w .w ip o .in t/ edocs/prdocs/en/2004/wipo_upd_2004_217.html. Geneva, Switzerland. January 27 , 2004 High school enrollm ent The number of U.S. high school graduates is rising and projected to peak in 2008-09, with 3.2 million students earning their diplomas. Long-term projections show Hispanic graduates on the rise, while graduation rates for white students will decline. Numbers for black students are expected to remain about the same. Projections also show great diversity in income and regional distribution, with the West expecting the highest rate of growth among low-income students, while the Northeast expects the most growth in the top income group. Western Interstate Commission fo r Higher Education, "Knocking a t the college door: Projections o f high school graduates by state, income, and race/ethnicity, 1988 to 2018," www.wiche.edu/policy/knocking/1988-2018/. January 29, 2004 Gary P attillo is reference librarian a t the University o f N orth Carolina-Chapel Hill, e-mail: pattillo@refstaff.lib.unc.edu http://www.consumer.gov/sentinel/pubs/Top10Fraud2003.pdf.January22,2004 http://www.gseis.uda.edu/heri/findings.html http://www.wipo.int/ http://www.wiche.edu/policy/knocking/1988-2018/