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From the issue dated January 21, 2005 |
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Short SubjectsSPY VS. FRYTo prevent confusion, we've compiled a handy chart to help you distinguish the Culinary Institute of America from the Central Intelligence Agency. HOOKED ON MATHEMATICS: A lecturer at the University of Bristol has crocheted a geometric model of a chaotic mathematical system. MAKING HISTORY: At the annual meeting of the American Historical Association, scholars muse on their subject. BEYOND COMPARISON: Nate Robinson of the University of Washington isn't who you think he is. WHAT THEY'RE READING ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES: A list of the best-selling books. The FacultyGAINING A FOOTHOLDDepartments of dance, once marginal in academe, are capturing universities' imaginations and financial support. FILE UNDER DISCARDA professor's records are of the utmost importance, until they're useless, writes Warren Goldstein, an associate professor of history and chairman of the department at the University of Hartford. MY PROTÉGÉ, MY FRIENDA tenured professor fears he is too emotionally invested in his relationship with a young colleague. RARE BIRDSHow can you summarize two scholarly careers in a single two-page cover letter? 'SERIOUS BREACH': A Boston College professor who wrote about ethics in psychoanalysis plagiarized a book on the same subject, according to a professional society. FINANCIAL MISCONDUCT: A tenured professor at Yale has resigned after allegedly padding his travel expenses by $150,000. TWICE REBUKED: The American Association of University Professors has issued a follow-up report on Benedict College, an institution it had already censured. SYLLABUS: In "Theology of Marriage," at Santa Clara University, students are encouraged to go "sit on the couch with the cat hair" as they interview married couples to "get a taste of that reality." PEER REVIEW: William A. Dembski, a proponent of intelligent-design theory, will lead the new Center for Science and Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. ... Until she is granted a joint appointment in the economics department, UCLA political-science professor Susanne Lohmann is refusing to review articles for economics journals. CALL FOR CHANGE: A coalition of faculty members from 24 colleges wants academic integrity to drive athletics reform. Research & BooksPAPER TRAILA new collection of government memos, some written by professors, shows how officials justified prisoner abuse in the campaign against terrorism. SIFTING FOR CLUESResearchers around the world are hoping data from the December 26 tsunami will help them save lives in the future. STATES OF GRACEWhere Christianity and fitness meet, the corporeal is said to reflect the ethereal, writes R. Marie Griffith, an associate professor of religion at Princeton University. COLONISTS' BRUTAL CIVILITYIn the 1950s, Westerners were horrified by the brutality of Mau Mau rebels in Kenya. New research is just now bringing to light the savage response of the British colonial government, writes Caroline Elkins, an assistant professor of history at Harvard University. POLITICAL RORSCHACHMost works about Fidel Castro say more about their creators' politics than about their subject. An unflattering new PBS documentary is no exception, writes Louis A. Pérez Jr., a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. EAT AND RUN: A team of Chinese paleontologists has reported finding the fossil of a mammal with dinosaur bones in its belly. MAKING HISTORY: Scholars at the recent annual meeting of the American Historical Association discussed building a national center for American history in Washington. HOT TYPE: Scientific American has started a journal of neuroscience and psychology, with the contents coming mostly from overseas. ... The Public Library of Science has created three more journals that specialize in specific disciplines. NOTA BENE: Right Stuff, Wrong Sex describes American women's fight against NASA to become astronauts. WHAT THEY'RE READING ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES: A list of the best-selling books. Government & PoliticsPAPER TRAILA new collection of government memos, some written by professors, shows how officials justified prisoner abuse in the campaign against terrorism. THE POLITICS OF PURSUITTwo recent books remind us that balancing centralized intelligence and civil liberties is a challenge the FBI has faced since its inception, writes Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, a professor of American history at the University of Edinburgh. LAW PROFESSORS DEBATE: Affirmative action and military recruiting on campuses prompted intense discussion at a law-school conference this month. RACE MEASURE: A Michigan group seeking to enact a state ban on affirmative action in college admissions and government hiring filed petitions to put the proposal on the 2006 ballot. MORE AID ENDORSED: California's governor proposed a budget that would increase funds for the state's two university systems and its community colleges. IN BRIEF: The chancellor of the State University of New York has asked for a six-month sabbatical. ... The University of Maryland at College Park will be the site of a research center on the behavioral underpinnings of terrorism. ... Maryland's governor plans to seek money for public universities. ... Indiana's new governor will ask the members of the state's Commission for Higher Education to step down. ... Public colleges in Colorado have agreed to limit tuition increases. ... Administrators at the State University of New York have proposed that students be charged a steady tuition rate all the way through college. Money & ManagementDIGGING DEEPERAs colleges' health-care costs rise each year, employees are unhappy with demands that they chip in more to pay for their coverage. SMELLING RANKIn their slippery pursuit of the top of the prestige pyramid, colleges are shortchanging the students who need them most, writes Clara M. Lovett, president of the American Association for Higher Education. DRIFTING AWAYAt some point, every academic who moves into administration or association work has to set aside scholarship. WAVES OF AID: American colleges and universities are raising money to help tsunami victims and offering relief to students who were affected. STAKING THEIR CLAIMS: Three higher-education companies have received infusions of capital from private-equity investors. NEW VENTURE: The president of the Harvard Management Company and four other top employees are leaving to establish a private investment firm. $168-MILLION SETTLEMENT: The University of California and other plaintiffs in a class action against the Enron Corporation will get that much from 18 former directors of the scandal-plagued energy company. 'FAIR AND DIGNIFIED' RESOLUTION: The Board of Trustees of Alabama A&M University has given the institution's president 30 days to negotiate his departure. PEER REVIEW: William A. Dembski, a proponent of intelligent-design theory, will lead the new Center for Science and Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. ... Until she is granted a joint appointment in the economics department, UCLA political-science professor Susanne Lohmann is refusing to review articles for economics journals. Information TechnologyALL THE LATEST GIZMOSAt the annual Consumer Electronics Show, a college technology manager spends four days learning about what her students will soon be coveting in their classrooms and dormitories. INTERNET AND EDUCATION: The Pew Internet Project finds experts' views of the future more practical and less utopian than a decade ago. HAND-HELD VERSE: At the University of Pennsylvania, a professor of English has established an online repository of contemporary poetry meant for iPods rather than computer screens. StudentsWARY OF ADVANCED PLACEMENTA study finds that taking an AP course does not necessarily predict success in the first year of college. PLAY'S THE THING: To help students relax during exam season, colleges offer kindergarten-style toys and nap time, among other stress-reducing tools. AthleticsLOWER BUDGETS, HIGHER GRADESAt its annual convention, the National Collegiate Athletic Association took steps to try to rein in the growing costs of sports and penalize teams whose players flunk out. CALL FOR CHANGE: A coalition of faculty members from 24 colleges wants academic integrity to drive athletics reform. InternationalWHERE TO TURN?Indonesia's Iskandarmuda University was heavily damaged by the recent tsunami. SIFTING FOR CLUESResearchers around the world are hoping data from the December 26 tsunami will help them save lives in the future. DISASTER MANAGEMENTStudents and professors from a Sri Lankan engineering department, with no experience in emergency aid, offered their help after the tsunami. RESIGNATION IN SOUTH KOREA: The scandal-plagued former president of Seoul National University resigned after only three days as education minister. BACK IN LINE: For the first time since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, there has been an increase in the number of foreign students applying for student visas. Notes From AcademeDISASTER MANAGEMENTStudents and professors from a Sri Lankan engineering department, with no experience in emergency aid, offered their help after the tsunami. The Chronicle ReviewFILE UNDER DISCARDA professor's records are of the utmost importance, until they're useless, writes Warren Goldstein, an associate professor of history and chairman of the department at the University of Hartford. STATES OF GRACEWhere Christianity and fitness meet, the corporeal is said to reflect the ethereal, writes R. Marie Griffith, an associate professor of religion at Princeton University. COLONISTS' BRUTAL CIVILITYIn the 1950s, Westerners were horrified by the brutality of Mau Mau rebels in Kenya. New research is just now bringing to light the savage response of the British colonial government, writes Caroline Elkins, an assistant professor of history at Harvard University. THE POLITICS OF PURSUITTwo recent books remind us that balancing centralized intelligence and civil liberties is a challenge the FBI has faced since its inception, writes Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, a professor of American history at the University of Edinburgh. POLITICAL RORSCHACHMost works about Fidel Castro say more about their creators' politics than about their subject. An unflattering new PBS documentary is no exception, writes Louis A. Pérez Jr., a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. TRANSCENDING LOSSThe artist Edward Powis Jones took tragedy's portrait and made it beautiful. SMELLING RANKIn their slippery pursuit of the top of the prestige pyramid, colleges are shortchanging the students who need them most, writes Clara M. Lovett, president of the American Association for Higher Education. MELANGE: Selections from books of interest to academe. Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersDRIFTING AWAYAt some point, every academic who moves into administration or association work has to set aside scholarship. MY PROTÉGÉ, MY FRIENDA tenured professor fears he is too emotionally invested in his relationship with a young colleague. RARE BIRDSHow can you summarize two scholarly careers in a single two-page cover letter? DETAILS OF AVAILABLE POSTS, including teaching and research positions in higher education, administrative and executive jobs, and openings outside academe |