NATIONAL BRIEFS

WASHINGTON STATE: Climber falls into crater

A climber has fallen into the crater at Mount St. Helens and a rescue effort is under way. Skamania County sheriff's officials say a 911 cell phone call was received Monday afternoon. A helicopter that does contract work for the U.S. Geological Survey spotted the climber on a steep slope near the bottom of the crater but was unable to pick him up because of high winds and whiteout conditions. The sheriff's office said the climber was blowing a rescue whistle.

INDIANA: Other college rankings

In the game of collegiate rankings, Loyola University Maryland is a perennial backbencher, tucked away on an inside page of U.S. News & World Report's annual list of "America's Best Colleges." But on the National Survey of Student Engagement, Loyola is a strong performer. It rates high on academic challenge and student-faculty interaction. The U.S. News ranking and its imitators generally reward the same group of wealthy and selective institutions. Thousands of colleges don't make the list. That has frustrated and angered many university administrators, who resent it when their school is reduced to one (poor) numerical figure. The student engagement survey, abbreviated NSSE or "Nessie," is higher education's response. Introduced 10 years ago by Indiana University researchers to counter U.S. News's compilation, the survey has won buy-ins from 1,400 colleges. Rather than rank colleges in overall quality, it attempts to quantify through a battery of questions whether students at a school are actually learning.

ARIZONA: Food firm founder killed

The owner and founder of one of the nation's largest food service distributors was among five people killed in a helicopter crash just north of Phoenix. Services Group of America announced Monday that Thomas J. Stewart, 64, died in the crash Sunday. The other four killed weren't immediately identified, but state Sen. Jonathan Paton eulogized Thomas, his wife Madena and the couple's 5-year-old daughter on the Senate floor.