Escalating violence in seven states of northern Mexico has prompted the University of Texas system to withdraw all of its students and faculty and staff members from there, the Associated Press reported today. The move, which affects about 40 people, follows initial action last month by Texas and other American universities to pull out of northern Mexico because of drug-related violence.

Lafayette College has settled a federal lawsuit by agreeing to pay $200,000 to each of five women who say they were sexually harassed by a supervisor in the Pennsylvania college's public-safety office, the Associated Press reported. The settlement of the lawsuit, which had been filed on the women's behalf by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, was approved by a federal district judge on Thursday. In the settlement, Lafayette agreed to provide training to its managers but did not admit liability in the case.

The NCAA announced today that it had agreed on a 14-year, $10.86-billion deal with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting System to televise the men's basketball tournament, which will be expanded to 68 teams from the current 65-team field. The new deal, which represents a 42-percent increase in revenue for the NCAA over the current 11-year, $6-billion contract with CBS, will take effect with the 2011 tournament. The modest increase in the size of the tournament was something of a surprise, with many observers expecting a jump to a 96-team field, but the new deal will allow all games to be broadcast live by one of the CBS or Turner stations. USA Today also noted that a 68-team field would ensure the survival of the National Invitational Tournament, whose 32 participants might have been absorbed into a 96-team NCAA field.

Lawmakers scuffled and punched one another in Taiwan's legislature today as a dispute over whether to admit students from Mainland China to Taiwanese colleges got heated. Television broadcasts showed opposition lawmakers grabbing Chao Li-yun, chair of the Education and Culture Committee, around the throat. She later fainted and was taken to a hospital, according to The Taipei Times. Members of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, were trying to prevent a hearing on two bills that would remove a ban on Mainland students and recognize their college credits. The government "is selling out everything to China. We won't allow selling out education to China," said one DPP lawmaker, Kuan Bi-ling, Agence France-Presse reported.

The Georgia Institute of Technology has joined the Association of American Universities, an organization of 63 top research universities in the United States and Canada, the AAU announced this morning. Membership in the prestigious group, a declared goal of many university presidents, changes rarely, with invitations to join requiring the approval of three-quarters of current members. Today's announcement represents the first change since Texas A&M University at College Station and the State University of New York at Stony Brook joined, in 2001. The Chronicle will have more coverage of this news later today.

Florida auditors this year have uncovered more than $150,000 in improper or unverified purchases with university charge cards at five public colleges around the state, The Sun-Sentinel reports. The audits, which parallel findings in a recent spate of fraud cases involving purchasing cards at Georgia universities, revealed employees who had bought electronic gadgets for their own use, split up large purchases into smaller ones to evade detection, and lied about what they were buying. Auditors also found lax controls, including a failure to cancel cards after employees left, excessive distribution of the cards, and unnecessarily high credit limits. Audits at Florida International University and the University of Florida led to criminal fraud charges.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences announced today the election of 211 new fellows and 18 new foreign honorary members. The 229 men and women, who are prominent figures in scholarship, business, the arts, and public affairs, will be inducted into the 230-year-old academy at a ceremony on October 9 in Cambridge, Mass. Among the new members are representatives of dozens of universities. A complete list of the new members is available on its Web site.

A Duke University student says the campus chapter of the College Republicans removed him as chairman of the group because he is gay, according to The Chronicle, the university's student newspaper. Justin Robinette, who was re-elected as chairman without opposition just last month, was ousted last week because of "conduct unbecoming of a person in a position of leadership," the group said in articles of impeachment, which also cited him for disrespecting members, not attending events, and using chapter funds for himself. The group's new chairman, Carter Boyle, said Mr. Robinette had mishandled a student-government endorsement. But Mr. Robinette, backed by another former official of the group, said he had lost his post only after more members of the group learned of his sexual orientation.

The John Jay College of Criminal Justice has agreed "in principle" to settle a lawsuit, filed today by the U.S. Justice Department, accusing the college of discriminating against noncitizens who had applied for jobs, according to The New York Times. The Justice Department's complaint says the branch of the City University of New York required noncitizens to produce extra evidence that they were authorized to work, such as a green card in addition to a driver's license and a Social Security card. The lawsuit sought $1,100 in penalties for each of at least 103 people as well as other damages. A John Jay spokeswoman told the Times that the college would start a "comprehensive training program" to prevent the discrimination from recurring.

Five years after Donald Trump opened an online university -- called Trump University, of course -- New York State's Education Department is taking a dim view of the tycoon's venture into higher education, The Daily News reported today. The university, which promises to teach would-be plutocrats how to make themselves rich if they will only make Mr. Trump a bit richer first, is not a university at all, say state officials. In a letter obtained by the News, one official demanded that Mr. Trump drop "University" from the unaccredited, non-degree-granting institution's name. "Use of the word 'university' by your corporation is misleading and violates New York Education Law and the Rules of the Board of Regents," the letter says. Michael Sexton, president of Trump U., told the News that, if necessary, "we will change our name to Trump Education."