 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
From the issue dated November 2, 2007 |
|
Short SubjectsMASCOT WATCHRed Hawk and Tiger and shoes, oh, my. BOARD CERTIFIED: A Russian university will graduate a group of students who, says a former world chess champ, will be the first to earn academic degrees in the game. POUND AND POUND: A bus service that took students from the University of New Hampshire students to local bars, while they drank free beers en route, has been shut down. A LITTLE RANSOM? Travelocity's roaming gnome was abducted from a career fair at Northwestern University. The FacultyFARGO NEEDS WOMENNorth Dakota State University, a cold place in the estimation of many female professors, is trying to warm up their welcome. UTTER CONFUSIONFree speech in American higher education has been sorely tested this fall, writes Robert M. O'Neil. ALL IN THE BALANCEA mechanical-watchmaking program at Oklahoma State University at Okmulgee demands a lot from its students, only a few of whom wind up succeeding. TOO THICK A FINISHThe pressure for college art professors to get doctorates is distorting studio-art instruction, writes Daniel Grant. BETWEEN YOU AND ME ...Knowing how to keep a secret, and when to share one, is getting trickier for tenure-track professors. PEER REVIEW: After two years at Duke University, the Nobel laureate Peter C. Agre will return to the Johns Hopkins University as director of its Malaria Research Institute. ... A longtime Duke administrator has announced his retirement. ... The president who was investigated for plagiarism will lead a college in West Virginia. ... Bob Kerrey, a former U.S. senator and current president of the New School, will not run for a Senate seat. COMPETENCE UNDER THE SUN: Miami Dade College will evaluate all of its 2,000 courses to ensure that graduates leave with 10 skills deemed crucial. CRY FOUL: Three professors at Ave Maria School of Law have filed whistle-blower lawsuits, claiming that they had been suspended for reporting official misconduct. BULKING UP IN THE CLASSROOM: Boston University plans to hire 150 new faculty members and spend $25-million on salary increases in an effort to raise its academic profile. Research & BooksPHILOSOPHY, CLASSICS, LITERATUREThe Social Science Research Network has begun an electronic forum for humanities scholars to show work in progress. THE ADVENTURES OF 'WALTHEIMER'John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt wanted their work on the Israel lobby and U.S. foreign policy to start a conversation. Boy did it, writes Evan R. Goldstein. FATES AND MEASURESOliver Sacks's case studies find people's worth not in their economic productivity, but in their production of emotion, particularly love, writes Leonard Cassuto. LEWIS CARROLL'S LITTLE GIRLSWas the Alice author's fascination with his female "child-friends" as creepy as it sounds? asks Amy Leal. RESEARCH AFTER 9/11: Security restrictions on academic researchers should be loosened to enhance America's economic and strategic competitiveness, says the National Research Council. CATALYTIC REACTION: The American Chemical Society has denied an accusation that it opposes open-access publishing for financial reasons. HOT TYPE: A lawsuit scheduled to go to trial in November may establish when scholarly criticism crosses the line into libel. NOTA BENE: A scholar at Northwestern University has produced an analysis, and an appreciation, of bloody awful movies. Government & PoliticsPRICKLY TASKBecause of a recently passed law, Arizona colleges must somehow ensure that public funds are not being spent to educate undocumented immigrants. CRITICAL CAREAmerica faces a severe shortage of health-care professionals. Colleges and governments at all levels must work together to avert a crisis, write Daniel W. Rahn and Steven A. Wartman. TIGHT WITH TOBACCO? A Congressional committee is investigating possible conflicts of interest among academic researchers heading a federally financed study of smokers' lungs. LEAVE NO GUARD BEHIND: Congress is examining why more than 1,500 National Guard members have been shortchanged on their GI Bill educational benefits. DEFYING THE PRESIDENT: The Senate has passed a health-and-education spending bill that exceeds President Bush's budget request by $11-billion, and Mr. Bush has threatened to veto it. ON THE BALLOT IN 2007: Voters in three states will decide referenda that affect higher education. OVERSIGHT CALLED FOR: A New Jersey investigative commission has criticized spending practices at public colleges. $154-MILLION RESTORED: Texas officials have agreed to add back funds for community colleges that the governor had cut from the state budget. MONEY UNSPENT: The University of the District of Columbia may have to return up to $18-million to the local government. IN THE STATES: A roundup of higher-education news. TOO ROSY?: The Department of Education's annual report on student-loan default rates underestimates default rates among minority students and those who graduate with significant debt, says a report. NO 'DREAM ACT': Legislation that would have provided a path to legal residency for some illegal immigrants and made them eligible for some federal education programs has failed in the Senate. BLACK-COLLEGE APPOINTMENT: The Bush administration has named an executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. STOPPING MIDSTREAM: The Senate has voted to halt an evaluation of the Upward Bound program until Congress completes a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. BALLOONING OVERPAYMENTS: Lenders taking advantage of a loophole in the federal student-loan program may have improperly collected more than twice the $300-million in overpayments identified by Education Department auditors. Money & ManagementTHE SCROOGE SYNDROMECritics, some of them influential, are asking: Should wealthy colleges be spending more from their endowments? BOTH SIDES CLAIM VICTORYA New Jersey judge has released seven decisions in a closely watched lawsuit against Princeton University that has serious implications for issues of donor intent and philanthropic management. LESSONS FROM THE TOPStephen J. Trachtenberg, recently retired from a university presidency, offers some hard-earned advice on that elusive quality called leadership. (First recommendation: Be lucky.) DON'T FOCUS ON YOUR DIFFERENCESHow do the disparate members of a presidential-search committee come together? WHISTLE-BLOWER STYMIED: A lawsuit brought against Chapman University that could have threatened its accreditation has been dismissed by a federal judge. $1-BILLION GOAL: Virginia Tech has decided to count gifts to a memorial fund for victims of the April 16 shootings as part of its capital campaign. IN BRIEF: A roundup of news in higher education. PEER REVIEW: After two years at Duke University, the Nobel laureate Peter C. Agre will return to the Johns Hopkins University as director of its Malaria Research Institute. ... A longtime Duke administrator has announced his retirement. ... The president who was investigated for plagiarism will lead a college in West Virginia. ... Bob Kerrey, a former U.S. senator and current president of the New School, will not run for a Senate seat. Information TechnologyHARD-DRIVING SECURITYExperts describe five ways that colleges can protect the personal data of employees and students. PHILOSOPHY, CLASSICS, LITERATUREThe Social Science Research Network has begun an electronic forum for humanities scholars to show work in progress. LINKED IN WITH: Merrill L. Johnson, who teaches a geography course on the virtual world Second Life. StudentsTUITION GAP PERSISTSStudent aid is increasing but still falls short of covering the average price of a college education, the College Board reports. BENEFITS OF DUAL ENROLLMENT: Students who take college courses while in high school are likelier than their peers to graduate, go on to college, and do well there, a study suggests. POOR PREDICTOR: The University of California might stop requiring in-state applicants to take SAT subject tests. MISTRIAL DECLARED: The jury deadlocked in the trial of the former student accused of raping and murdering a classmate at Eastern Michigan University. AthleticsMASCOT WATCHRed Hawk and Tiger and shoes, oh, my. ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: White men continue to hold the vast majority of top jobs in big-time athletics departments, a study has found. $2-MILLION AWARD IN LAWSUIT: A state-court jury has found in favor of a former head football coach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette who says he was fired because of his race. $3.5-MILLION AGREEMENT: The second of three gender-bias lawsuits against California State University at Fresno has been settled. InternationalGLOBAL U.Portland State University, on the Pacific Rim, trains its graduates for a world in which an understanding of other cultures, economies, and political systems is crucial. LOOKING NORTH: Latin America's largest university is now seeking students in the United States. ISRAELI CAMPUSES IN CRISIS: Faculty members continued their strike for higher wages despite a financial agreement between university presidents and the government. POSSIBLE CRACKDOWN ON VISA FRAUD: A Chinese student has been found guilty of using fake documents to try to stay in Canada. Notes From AcademeALL IN THE BALANCEA mechanical-watchmaking program at Oklahoma State University at Okmulgee demands a lot from its students, only a few of whom wind up succeeding. The Chronicle ReviewUTTER CONFUSIONFree speech in American higher education has been sorely tested this fall, writes Robert M. O'Neil. LESSONS FROM THE TOPStephen J. Trachtenberg, recently retired from a university presidency, offers some hard-earned advice on that elusive quality called leadership. (First recommendation: Be lucky.) THE ADVENTURES OF 'WALTHEIMER'John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt wanted their work on the Israel lobby and U.S. foreign policy to start a conversation. Boy did it, writes Evan R. Goldstein. FATES AND MEASURESOliver Sacks's case studies find people's worth not in their economic productivity, but in their production of emotion, particularly love, writes Leonard Cassuto. CRITICAL CAREAmerica faces a severe shortage of health-care professionals. Colleges and governments at all levels must work together to avert a crisis, write Daniel W. Rahn and Steven A. Wartman. LEWIS CARROLL'S LITTLE GIRLSWas the Alice author's fascination with his female "child-friends" as creepy as it sounds? asks Amy Leal. 'THE IDEA OF CUBA'The photographer Alex Harris finds a reflection of his artistic exile in Jose Martí's political one. TOO THICK A FINISHThe pressure for college art professors to get doctorates is distorting studio-art instruction, writes Daniel Grant. CRITICAL MASS: Anatole Broyard and passing. DECONSTRUCT THIS: Hillary Clinton and the media. Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersDON'T FOCUS ON YOUR DIFFERENCESHow do the disparate members of a presidential-search committee come together? BETWEEN YOU AND ME ...Knowing how to keep a secret, and when to share one, is getting trickier for tenure-track professors. THE PAIN OF THE PENIf it's a joy to express your thoughts on the page, bully for you, but for this writer, it's hard work. |