Once again, we’ve scooped the New York Times, but tragically, no one ever notices. The Paper of Record reports on the latest college-ranking trend: eco-friendliness.

Do they mention online colleges, which offer a 92% reduction in energy use over campus schools? Take a guess.

In other news, Higher Ed Watch catches up to our early coverage of the presidential candidates’ higher ed plans. They point out that McCain doesn’t seem to have one yet.

And in closing, a problem we haven’t already written about, but hope to contribute to. College newspapers are starting to see their turf encroached upon by corporate websites offering locally tailored news and diversions to students. Even twistier is the fact that these corporate giants are often the Web hosts of the college paper’s own site. Inside Higher Ed reports:

The initial reaction this past week was one of shock and betrayal when representatives of mtvU first introduced a network of Web sites called Campus Daily Guides, customized for individual colleges and clearly targeted to the same online audience as college newspaper Web sites.

I can see why it’s making the papers nervous. I mean, why would I carry the paper crossword to my lecture when I can do it online, on my laptop? Looks like note-taking from far away, and I wouldn’t have my almost-completed Sunday crossword tossed out the window by an irate TA. I mean, you know, hypothetically.