Just days before music students were supposed to play their end-of-semester "juries," or performance examinations, at Ithaca College's School of Music, more than 60 pianos, including most of the grand pianos, were vandalized over the weekend, The Ithacan, a student newspaper, reported. College officials do not yet know exactly how much it will cost to repair the pianos, which were in practice rooms. A piano technician said most of the instruments had been returned to working order on Monday, the same day music majors organized a candlelight vigil.

Faculty members at the University of Connecticut Health Center voted this week by a two-vote margin, 223 to 221, to unionize, the Hartford Courant reports. This is the first vote on the issue since the faculty twice defeated union bids, in 1999 and 2000, and some observers feel the affirmative vote demonstrates a growing uncertainty about the future of faculty job security.

A quadriplegic student at Oklahoma's East Central University is being told to move out of his dormitory unless he hires an assistant to stay with him overnight to help with his personal needs, The Oklahoman reports. Joshua Jackson, a 35-year-old student who broke his neck in 1999 and lost the use of his legs, says the $11,000 it would cost to hire an overnight assistant is beyond his means. The university says it's a matter of safety, declaring that if Mr. Jackson needed to leave his dorm in the middle of the night, in an emergency, he might not be able to do so.

James Madison University's judicial-affairs office has found a reporter for the student newspaper, The Breeze, responsible for trespassing in a campus dormitory. Katie Hibson, a contributing writer, was charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, and noncompliance with an official request in connection with reporting she was doing for the newspaper in late October. Ms. Hibson had twice entered the dorm, and each time was asked to leave by a resident assistant. She will not appeal the decision, she says, because even though she does not feel she violated university policy, the judicial process has taken a toll on her schoolwork.

The Committee for Economic Development, a nonprofit research and policy group, is calling for more openness in the sharing of information at higher-education institutions. In a new report, "Harnessing Openness to Improve Research, Teaching, and Learning in Higher Education," the committee discusses how the digital age can allow for improved efficiency and greater collaboration, and also offers recommendations to both governments and colleges on how best to improve openness in academe. Suggestions include more dedication to open educational resources by colleges, and more financial support from governments for research on the effectiveness of digital educational materials.

Only six months after landing a $160,000-a-year teaching gig at his law-school alma mater, the College of William and Mary, a powerful state senator, Tommy Norment, sponsored nearly $20-million in spending for the college, The Virginian-Pilot reported. Mr. Norment, a Republican and senior member of the Finance Committee, was hired to teach two courses in what the newspaper called the "most lucrative" instance of a Virginia lawmaker on the payroll of a state university. The deal echoes one, also disclosed by The Virginian-Pilot, in which another state college, Old Dominion University, hired another state lawmaker; the arrangement was later rescinded.