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From the issue dated October 20, 2006 |
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Special Report: The Sustainable UniversityWHOLE EARTH U.During the past year, dozens of colleges have announced their commitment to environmental, economic, and social sustainability. There is little agreement, however, about what they need to do and whether their efforts are making a difference. IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREENAt the forefront of the campus sustainability movement, advocates are learning some difficult lessons. WHOLE-EARTH ACTIVISTSOn some campuses, students are fueling the drive for change. SCIENCE WITHOUT BORDERSResearchers in sustainability science search for a place in academe. DEGREES OF CHANGEColleges experiment with working sustainability into their curricula. SEEDS OF SUSTAINABILITYAt Warren Wilson College, students embrace the daily responsibilities of running a small farm. DECAY BY DESIGNOur buildings are not just dwelling places, but reflections of how we see ourselves and our world. We need a new blueprint, writes David W. Orr, a professor of environmental studies at Oberlin College. THINK AHEADSustainability is a worthy, grand, interdisciplinary theme around which to build liberal-arts programs, writes Frank H.T. Rhodes, president emeritus of Cornell University. 'THE LONG EMERGENCY': A social critic warns that America faces devastating economic, social, and environmental upheavals. 'LIKELY TO INTENSIFY': A prominent economist talks about the intellectual and financial sides of the sustainability movement. 'ZERO FOOTPRINT': A business executive offers advice to higher-education leaders. 'A LIGHTNING-BOLT MOMENT': The president of Arizona State University pushes for change at his system. LIBRARY: A selection of readings about sustainability Short SubjectsSENSE & CENSORSHIPA Constitution Day observance at Jackson Community College offered lessons in freedom of speech, a Roman Catholic group asked the University of Minnesota to cancel its production of The Pope and the Witch, and a student in Colombia was punished for waging a guerrilla-art campaign. SMOKE 'EM IF YOU'VE GOT 'EM: A University of Florida lecturer has become an Internet celebrity as the "apparently baked professor," while a professor at the University of Toronto has been given his own room in which to smoke marijuana for an undisclosed medical condition. CUE THE HEAVENLY HOST: A Georgetown University professor has found the Holy Grail. Or so he says. KATRINA PREVISITED: A Tulane University instructor and his students made a movie about a major hurricane slamming New Orleans three months before the real thing happened. The FacultyDEGREES OF CHANGEColleges experiment with working sustainability into their curricula. CURRICULAR THERAPYMedical education needs to be revamped to take into account ethical, economic, legal, and other complex contemporary realities, writes Ezekiel J. Emanuel, chairman of the department of clinical bioethics at the National Institutes of Health. THE FACULTY ROLE IN ADMISSIONSA professor taking his daughter on a series of campus visits finds many of his colleagues less than helpful. THE LONG GOODBYEAfter spending 20 years in a string of temporary teaching positions, a lecturer finally decides to call it quits. GOD IN SCHOLARSHIP: Professors are more religious than they are frequently portrayed, according to a survey. LITERARY APPOINTMENT: Salman Rushdie will join the Emory University faculty in the spring and has sold his personal archive to the institution for an undisclosed sum. IVY OVERHAUL: The faculty of Harvard Law School has approved a new first-year curriculum that will focus more heavily on international law, problem-solving skills, and modern lawmaking. PEER REVIEW: An architecture professor at Auburn University will become dean of the College of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. ... The University of Iowa has fired the director of its Hygienic Laboratory. ... An associate professor at Baylor University who fought his tenure denial has won his case on appeal. Research & BooksSCIENCE WITHOUT BORDERSResearchers in sustainability science search for a place in academe. THE WANDEREROver four and a half decades, the acclaimed British literary critic Terry Eagleton has written provocatively in a variety of forms, in a variety of moods, about a variety of topics. The constant has been his political outlook, writes Jeffrey J. Williams, a professor of English and literary and cultural studies at Carnegie Mellon University. OUT OF SIGHT, IN MINDInnocence differs from darkness disavowed. And it's the latter that we see in the deceptively wholesome imagery of Norman Rockwell, writes Richard Halpern, a professor of English at the Johns Hopkins University. INTELLECTUAL HEROINESNew books on Hannah Arendt and Emma Lazarus celebrate the depth and complexity of their work, writes Carlin Romano, critic at large for The Chronicle. A COMPLEX UNDERSTANDING: A Columbia University professor will receive this year's prize in economics for his insights about how long-term expectations shape national economic conditions. THE 'INTERLACING OF CULTURES': The literature prize has gone to a Turkish novelist with a reputation as a social commentator. LIVES LOST: A report supports a controversial 2004 finding on the high number of Iraqi civilian deaths since the U.S. invasion. NOTA BENE: An emeritus professor of history at Yale University looks at the rowdy behavior of the rank and file at bishops' assemblies in Voting About God in Early Church Councils. HOT TYPE: The Question, Henri Alleg's memoir of his torture in Algeria by French colonial authorities, has been published in English for the first time since 1958. CUE THE HEAVENLY HOST: A Georgetown University professor has found the Holy Grail. Or so he says. CHECK THE FACTS: Two Democrats fighting to keep their seats in the U.S. House of Representatives have come under attack for their votes in support of controversial sex-related academic research. Government & PoliticsA TAXING PLANAs college leaders nationwide watch with concern, higher-education officials in Oregon await a referendum on a spending cap they say would devastate their budgets. THREAT FORECASTJarret Brachman, Peter Bergen, Barbara K. Bodine, and Jessica Stern predict where the jihadi movement is headed over the next five years, and how to counter it. TRIGGERING OUTRAGEThe recent slayings of Amish schoolgirls in Pennsylvania raise a recurring question, writes Kristin A. Goss, an assistant professor of public-policy studies and political science at Duke University: Where is America's grassroots gun-control movement? CHECK THE FACTS: Two Democrats fighting to keep their seats in the U.S. House of Representatives have come under attack for their votes in support of controversial sex-related academic research. AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: In two cases that could affect colleges, higher-education groups have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve a racial basis for assignments of students to public schools. 'A NEW DIRECTION FOR AMERICA': The House Democratic leader says the affordability of higher education will be a priority if the Democrats retake control of the House in next month's elections. IMMIGRANT TUITION: A California judge upheld a state law that allows some immigrants who are living in the state illegally to pay lower in-state tuition rates. Money & ManagementWHOLE EARTH U.During the past year, dozens of colleges have announced their commitment to environmental, economic, and social sustainability. There is little agreement, however, about what they need to do and whether their efforts are making a difference. IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREENAt the forefront of the campus sustainability movement, advocates are learning some difficult lessons. UNLEASHING THE VITRIOLThe search went according to plan, the board made its choice, and then the bloggers went on the offensive. 'RIPE FOR REFORM': The American Council of Trustees and Alumni, at its annual meeting, wrestled with the topics of intellectual diversity, academic freedom, and what it sees as lax university management. $4.3-BILLION GOAL: Stanford University has announced the largest fund-raising campaign ever in higher education. AT AN IMPASSE: A student-led protest against the choice of a new president for Gallaudet University has intensified into a shutdown of the campus and raised questions about whether she would be able to take office. PEER REVIEW: An architecture professor at Auburn University will become dean of the College of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. ... The University of Iowa has fired the director of its Hygienic Laboratory. ... An associate professor at Baylor University who fought his tenure denial has won his case on appeal. Information TechnologyFREE OFFER: Google is expanding its bid to run student e-mail systems with an offer some colleges say is too good to refuse. THE BEST DEFENSE: Colleges continue to list security as their top computing concern, according to an annual survey. WIN ONE, LOSE ONE: A federal jury has awarded CollegeNET, a company that sells online-admissions services, $8.5-million in its lawsuit against a rival, but has invalidated part of one of CollegeNET's patents. StudentsPOLICING PRIVILEGEAdmissions officials have adopted new standards meant to treat applicants fairly. WHOLE-EARTH ACTIVISTSOn some campuses, students are fueling the drive for change. REPAYMENT PLAN: The Arizona Students' Association settled a lawsuit this month against its former executive director, who admitted to embezzling nearly $150,000 from the student group. AWAITING SENTENCE: A former student at Southern University at Baton Rouge has been convicted of bribery for paying a former registrar to create a false transcript. FAILURE REVOKED: A student teacher who said she was flunked because she had reported class prayers and Bible studies at her assigned public elementary school has reached a settlement with Southeastern Louisiana University and a local school district. FREE-SPEECH CASE: An evangelist who has preached at hundreds of colleges across the country has sued Murray State University for keeping him from its campus. AthleticsGENDER BALANCE: James Madison University will eliminate 10 of its 28 intercollegiate athletics teams at the end of this academic year to comply with Title IX. QUESTIONING AUTHORITY: The University of North Dakota has sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association over restrictions on using its American Indian nickname. A 'GALLING' RESULT: The College of William and Mary plans to change its athletics logo in order to comply with NCAA policy on American Indian images. InternationalFLUSH WITH FLUENCYThe new Fulbright Critical Language Enhancement Award offers students a total of $114-million to become expert in languages deemed vital to the U.S. national interest. MERGING UNIVERSITIES: Denmark is restructuring its higher-education system in an effort to strengthen research programs in response to globalization. EARLY ENTRY: The State University of New York at Buffalo celebrates the 25th anniversary of its partnership with Chinese universities. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: Imperial College London is splitting off from the University of London. LIVES LOST: A report supports a controversial 2004 finding on the high number of Iraqi civilian deaths since the U.S. invasion. Notes From AcademeSEEDS OF SUSTAINABILITYAt Warren Wilson College, students embrace the daily responsibilities of running a small farm. The Chronicle ReviewTHE WANDEREROver four and a half decades, the acclaimed British literary critic Terry Eagleton has written provocatively in a variety of forms, in a variety of moods, about a variety of topics. The constant has been his political outlook, writes Jeffrey J. Williams, a professor of English and literary and cultural studies at Carnegie Mellon University. DECAY BY DESIGNOur buildings are not just dwelling places, but reflections of how we see ourselves and our world. We need a new blueprint, writes David W. Orr, a professor of environmental studies at Oberlin College. THREAT FORECASTJarret Brachman, Peter Bergen, Barbara K. Bodine, and Jessica Stern predict where the jihadi movement is headed over the next five years, and how to counter it. CURRICULAR THERAPYMedical education needs to be revamped to take into account ethical, economic, legal, and other complex contemporary realities, writes Ezekiel J. Emanuel, chairman of the department of clinical bioethics at the National Institutes of Health. OUT OF SIGHT, IN MINDInnocence differs from darkness disavowed. And it's the latter that we see in the deceptively wholesome imagery of Norman Rockwell, writes Richard Halpern, a professor of English at the Johns Hopkins University. TRIGGERING OUTRAGEThe recent slayings of Amish schoolgirls in Pennsylvania raise a recurring question, writes Kristin A. Goss, an assistant professor of public-policy studies and political science at Duke University: Where is America's grassroots gun-control movement? INTELLECTUAL HEROINESNew books on Hannah Arendt and Emma Lazarus celebrate the depth and complexity of their work, writes Carlin Romano, critic at large for The Chronicle. FILE UNDER CURIOSITYThe outsider artist Gregory L. Blackstock visually catalogs his world. THINK AHEADSustainability is a worthy, grand, interdisciplinary theme around which to build liberal-arts programs, writes Frank H.T. Rhodes, president emeritus of Cornell University. CRITICAL MASS: Three recent books analyze single motherhood. Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersTHE FACULTY ROLE IN ADMISSIONSA professor taking his daughter on a series of campus visits finds many of his colleagues less than helpful. UNLEASHING THE VITRIOLThe search went according to plan, the board made its choice, and then the bloggers went on the offensive. THE LONG GOODBYEAfter spending 20 years in a string of temporary teaching positions, a lecturer finally decides to call it quits. DETAILS OF AVAILABLE POSTS, including teaching and research positions in higher education, administrative and executive jobs, and openings outside academe |