From the issue dated April 23, 2004
THE FACULTY UNATTACHED IN ACADEME Unmarried professors, who do without many of the advantages of their married colleagues, are raising the issue of fairness for "the last underrepresented minority" on campuses. NOT MUCH HELP Average faculty salaries rose by just 2.1 percent in the 2003-4 academic year, the lowest percentage increase in three decades.
WHAT AM I WORTH? Setting faculty salaries is one of the trickiest tasks you'll face as a department head. SINGING THE BABY BLUES If having children on the tenure track is a career killer, is having them in graduate school any better?
RESEARCH & PUBLISHING BEWARE E-BALLOTS A rogue computer programmer or a manufacturer of electronic voting machines could rig the 2004 U.S. elections, a group of computer scientists warns. YOU'RE REMAINDERED! Reality TV's latest? The Assistant: a take-no-prisoners contest to become the right hand of a book-publishing titan, by Melvin Jules Bukiet, an author who teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College. ACADEMIC DISTINCTIONS Unlike scientific fields, the humanities and social sciences are adversarial, and therefore need new governing structures that recognize the value of intellectual pluralism, writes Stephen H. Balch, president of the National Association of Scholars. LIVING PROOF The solitary genius is not an extinct species. But recently, mathematicians have demonstrated the power of working together to chip away at the great puzzles of their field, writes Robert Osserman of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute. LIKE A ROLLING TOME Bob Dylan has become a full-fledged academic specialty, but is it anthropology, history, American studies, literature, music, or divinity? asks David Yaffe, a writing fellow in English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS CASH AND KERRY The likely Democratic presidential nominee proposed auctions, in which lenders would compete to make student loans, with the savings paying for an increase in the national-service program. STRICKEN DESPITE ITS SUCCESS The highly popular D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program, which helps District of Columbia residents go to college, is at risk of sinking into debt. BEWARE E-BALLOTS A rogue computer programmer or a manufacturer of electronic voting machines could rig the 2004 U.S. elections, a group of computer scientists warns. SHARED INTELLIGENCE Academics and national-security agencies need to put aside their differences in our dangerous world, writes Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, dean of the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific.
MONEY & MANAGEMENT CLIMBING THE RANKINGS LADDER In Boston, a city known for higher education, Northeastern University has rebounded from financial difficulties to start moving up the ranks of national research institutions. CASH AND KERRY The likely Democratic presidential nominee proposed auctions, in which lenders would compete to make student loans, with the savings paying for an increase in the national-service program. STRICKEN DESPITE ITS SUCCESS The highly popular D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program, which helps District of Columbia residents go to college, is at risk of sinking into debt. OUT WITH THE NEW Cuts in information-technology budgets could have long-term effects on innovation in campus computing. BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY Since September 11, 2001, colleges have taken steps to increase the security of their study-abroad programs. But a lot of the responsibility, they warn, must fall on the students themselves. WHY THE SECRECY? Fund-raising foundations for state universities should reveal the details about gifts. Not doing so can hide undue influence and conflicts of interest, writes Rick Cohen, executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. APPROPRIATE DISCRETION Protecting donors' privacy is morally sound and good business. There are other safeguards against ethical lapses, writes David Bass, director of the National Center for Institutionally Related Foundations at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. A DOWNHILL BATTLE Part of the fund raiser's job is persuading donors to support the college's agenda, not just their own.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OUT WITH THE NEW Cuts in information-technology budgets could have long-term effects on innovation in campus computing. BEWARE E-BALLOTS A rogue computer programmer or a manufacturer of electronic voting machines could rig the 2004 U.S. elections, a group of computer scientists warns.
STUDENTS BRIGHTER JOB PROSPECTS Graduating seniors are optimistic, but career counselors warn of fierce competition. CASH AND KERRY The likely Democratic presidential nominee proposed auctions, in which lenders would compete to make student loans, with the savings paying for an increase in the national-service program. BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY Since September 11, 2001, colleges have taken steps to increase the security of their study-abroad programs. But a lot of the responsibility, they warn, must fall on the students themselves.
ATHLETICS HITTING THE BOOKS The National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I is raising academic standards for athletes and proposing penalties for teams that don't measure up. Critics see trouble brewing.
INTERNATIONAL BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY Since September 11, 2001, colleges have taken steps to increase the security of their study-abroad programs. But a lot of the responsibility, they warn, must fall on the students themselves. YOUTH HOSTILE Elinor Burkett, a professor on a Fulbright program in Central Asia, encounters a pervasive, ill-informed, cynical anti-Americanism.
NOTES FROM ACADEME A MOTHER'S GIFT A Holocaust survivor presented her daughter with a trove of letters from friends and family members. THE CHRONICLE REVIEW YOU'RE REMAINDERED! Reality TV's latest? The Assistant: a take-no-prisoners contest to become the right hand of a book-publishing titan, by Melvin Jules Bukiet, an author who teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College. ACADEMIC DISTINCTIONS Unlike scientific fields, the humanities and social sciences are adversarial, and therefore need new governing structures that recognize the value of intellectual pluralism, writes Stephen H. Balch, president of the National Association of Scholars. LIVING PROOF The solitary genius is not an extinct species. But recently, mathematicians have demonstrated the power of working together to chip away at the great puzzles of their field, writes Robert Osserman of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute. YOUTH HOSTILE Elinor Burkett, a professor on a Fulbright program in Central Asia, encounters a pervasive, ill-informed, cynical anti-Americanism. WHY THE SECRECY? Fund-raising foundations for state universities should reveal the details about gifts. Not doing so can hide undue influence and conflicts of interest, writes Rick Cohen, executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. APPROPRIATE DISCRETION Protecting donors' privacy is morally sound and good business. There are other safeguards against ethical lapses, writes David Bass, director of the National Center for Institutionally Related Foundations at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. LIKE A ROLLING TOME Bob Dylan has become a full-fledged academic specialty, but is it anthropology, history, American studies, literature, music, or divinity? asks David Yaffe, a writing fellow in English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. CARVED IN MEMORY When he isn't caring for the poor, the sick, and the abandoned, the psychiatrist Eric Avery transmutes their suffering -- and his own -- into art. SHARED INTELLIGENCE Academics and national-security agencies need to put aside their differences in our dangerous world, writes Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, dean of the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
CHRONICLE CAREERS WHAT AM I WORTH? Setting faculty salaries is one of the trickiest tasks you'll face as a department head. SINGING THE BABY BLUES If having children on the tenure track is a career killer, is having them in graduate school any better? A DOWNHILL BATTLE Part of the fund raiser's job is persuading donors to support the college's agenda, not just their own.
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Copyright © 2004 by The Chronicle of Higher Education