To the Editor:

The waning chalk-and-talk days of teaching result in the loss of teaching moments. Teachers relish these moments that arise spontaneously during lectures. Professors’ increasing use of PowerPoint presentations reduces or eliminates opportunities for these precious moments.

Professors reading from books or newspapers during class time are not teaching. Professors extensively projecting PowerPoints on the screen that are also in the textbook during class time are not teaching. Students know how to read. They risk losing the interest of their students. Many students try to copy everything on the screen and seldom look up. Others are bored, daydreaming, or surreptitiously using their smartphones to text friends, visit social sites, and so forth.

Professors might consider using only PowerPoints not in the text. They may also consider limiting the use of PowerPoints…

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To the Editor:

The tragic situation at the Boston Marathon will cause various changes in society, for sure, and it brings to light another series of changes marked by the mass analysis of the crime scene through publicly available images and video.

Analysis of online material has always happened, of course. But with the advent of smart phones and other means of collecting information, and the means to disseminate that information, never before has the general populace had access to vast quantities of information, the tools to analyze it, the ability to collaborate with large numbers of other individuals, to do this quickly and efficiently, and to distribute results of these analyses rapidly and broadly.

Humans are great thinkers. Our brains determine patterns and look for changes, all of this done rapidly and (mostly) subconsciously, in an attempt to understand the world around …

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To the Editor:

Some time ago while at a meeting in New York, a professor mentioned that at his institution, they were cutting many foreign-language courses because students were finding them difficult. That led students to think that they might be struggling and not end up being successful. So the result implies that if the university wants to present an image of graduating successful students, it should drop those courses that students feel are daunting.

When my daughter went to visit Texas A&M University, the dean of her college came out to address the parents. She stated that “This is not Job Corps.” I was impressed with that statement as it implied that the university was there to educate students, not train them for a specific job. Jobs would come as a result of a good education, but the education was the first priority.

I believe we should teach more foreign languages …

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To the Editor:

For an entire academic year, two international students from Nigeria have been in hiding to avoid deportation in Canada. The reason for their deportation orders was the honest mistake of working at Walmart for two weeks without the correct work permit. This type of mistake is now being addressed by the Canadian government through changes to the International Student Program, yet these two students remain under deportation orders and Canada-wide arrest warrants.

Although the students, Victoria Ordu and Favour Amadi, had work permits for campus, they did not realize they were required to apply for a separate permit to work off campus at Walmart. Soon they were embroiled in a long and arduous journey with the Canadian Border Service Agency. These two women were both studying at the University of Regina on full scholarships from their own government and had no prior…

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To the Editor:

After mulling over Robert J. Sternberg’s “Self-Sabotage in the Academic Career” (The Chronicle, April 29), I feel inclined to respond. The article reads like a Cosmo piece: “15 Ways to Get (and Keep!) a Man!” Be confident, but not pushy; talk about yourself, but don’t be boring; be interested in what he has to say but don’t monopolize the conversation; be a tigress in the bedroom, but don’t be loose; learn about his likes and dislikes! But above all else, remember ladies, if you’re single, its all your fault.

In today’s dismal academic job market, Mr. Sternberg appears out of touch and irrelevant, at best, and condescending and indifferent at worst. He advises aspiring academics to strive for an elusive professional and personal life balance without acknowledging the difficult conditions under which so many are toiling, namely, high academic and personal debt, low…

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To the Editor:

Two recent Chronicle articles (“Found in Translation: A Professor Searches for a Public Voice,” April 22, and “Actor Is Honored for Using Improv to Help Scientists Communicate,” April 20) draw attention to the critical need for scientists to learn to communicate their research to the lay public. We note an important addition: Scientists also need to build skills and networks to effectively engage in the policy-making process at all levels of government.

Effective translation of research can contribute to successful, evidence-based policy outcomes. But scientists and policymakers generally operate within different frameworks. They communicate in different ways in terms of both type and extent of information required for drawing conclusions. They work under different time frames. And they have different constituencies. Delivering a scientific research paper to …

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To the Editor:

Most information regarding college students’ alcohol consumption in surrounding areas of the college community is negative. However, research shows that the major part of the college population abstains or drinks moderately and responsibly.

College students’ misperceptions regarding their peers’ consumption of alcohol is well known. Students inaccurately perceive that their peers drink more alcohol than they do themselves. Students may drink more to fit in. They already fit in, but do not realize it. Colleges and universities using models designed to clarify these misperceptions for decades may buttress the chances for success by involving parents and community members. It is likely that parents and community members have misperceptions also.

Alcohol-prevention specialists charged with the responsibility of clarifying students’ misperceptions related to their…

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To the Editor:

One year ago, President Obama stood before the Army’s 3rd Division at Fort Stewart, in Georgia, and promised to “have the backs” of America’s veterans and service members seeking higher education. He signed an executive order to better protect veterans and service members from unscrupulous for-profit education companies, who have relentlessly pursued veterans and service members for their GI Bill education benefits, but fail to give those students an education.

The executive order was designed to provide information, support, and protection to veterans to ensure they are aware of the full cost and quality of the education offered by these institutions—to help them make an informed choice. The executive order also gave the federal government stronger oversight and enforcement tools, which are critical to preventing abuses by predatory for-profit education…

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To the Editor:

Any college rating system that uses outcome measures such as earnings or graduation rates is of dubious value unless it takes into account the types of students who initially enter the college (“How to Assess the Real Payoff of a College Degree,“ The Chronicle, April 22). Decades of longitudinal research have shown that American higher education is so stratified in terms of student inputs that institutional differences in such outcomes are primarily attributable the kinds of students who enroll—their abilities, social class, etc.—rather than to anything about the colleges’ educational programs. Indeed, when one takes into account the types of students who enroll, some of the colleges with modest outcomes turn out to be doing an excellent job, while others with much better outcomes sometimes turn out to be doing a mediocre job.

Not surprisingly, most elite…

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To the Editor:

The dust appears to be settling and expressions of anger have subsided, but many faculty members at Central New Mexico Community College are still troubled by the administration’s decision on March 26 to suspend operations of the student newspaper (“New Mexico College Suspends Student Newspaper Over Sex Issue,“ The Chronicle, March 27). We are relieved that the president, Katharine Winograd, reinstated the paper less than 21 hours later, but we must point out that the college has not acknowledged that its initial decision was an arrogant assault on free-speech rights, which are a pillar of the Constitution and the American model of higher education.

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, in a letter sent to President Winograd on March 27, claimed that “any reasonable public college president should well know” that free-speech rights are binding on …

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