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[lost_angeleno]

This appears to be the gripe forum, according to the posted rules, so here goes.

About two years ago, I complained that the CHE did no articles about Native America during November, American Indian Heritage Month, but did articles related to other special-interest months.

Got a snarky, sarcastic response from an editor claiming the CHE never, never, ever recognized any special-interest months with articles related to them.  I thought "hogwash" (or words akin to that, which can't be used here).

Now the verdict is in.  The email was a lie.  The CHE does print articles on topics related to special-interest  months. They just sneak them in, in ways you might not notice.

During Black History Month, we got an article on whether or not African-American Literature was dead -- just 3 days before the end of the month.  Come on, waiting three days to post that article would have killed them?  But then they would not have done their goody-two-shoes part for Black History Month.

Now were in Women's history month, and it just so happens, it just happened by the random confluence of a chaotic nature, that there is an outpouring of articles on women's issues.  Coincidence?  Don't make me laugh.

All these articles are good and proper articles for the CHE to publish, and raise issues that should be discussed.  The articles themselves are important work, and deserve to be published. The CHE does a good service by bringing them to our attention.

But it's hypocritical for the editors to claim they ignore special-interest months, when they do in fact publish articles related to the themes of those months, during those months, as they are doing right now. And its hypocritical in particular to ignore Native American issues during November, while the special-interest themes of other groups, during "their" months, get plenty of print space.  I've accused the CHE of politically correct racism (including, but not limited to, benign neglect), regarding Native America, in the past, and documented my claims.  This is just more evidence of the double standard at the CHE. Some special-interest months are more equal than others. We'll see come November.  Let the flaming begin....

[gsawpenny]

I'm no expert on the past workings of CHE, but you may have a point.  It is probably an issue of the topic not being trendy enough or CHE having too limited a readership with Naive Americans to bother.  I will keep an eye out.

[sciencephd]

Last time I checked, there was not a single editor or staff member at the CHE with an academic background. 

This accounts for much of the disconnect between CHE and its supposed audience.

[dellaroux]

Wow. That does explain a few things.

I wonder if it would do to get the ball rolling for November by having a couple of submitted article queries on pertinent topics for the summer, to see what they do with them...

[torshi]

You are making a statistical argument about frequency; the answer is obtainable only by counting.  They frequently publish articles about women and academic life, so that might be a more tenuous link to the month. 

But isn't the problem more that they don't publish articles about Native American students, colleges, scholarship, scholars--not what month they don't do it in?

The Chronicle seems to be fairly hapless and/or passive about what's relevant, so it might be possible to get an editor interested in ideas, especially in ongoing existing areas (Brainstorm blog, first-person essays, etc.). 

[sciencephd]

These are all excellent topics to use as a basis for starting a blog, including the CHE-specific angle. Frankly, a blog and related outlets can be used in much more powerful ways, including self-promotion, than a conventional short article in the CHE.

[corvus_caurinus]

This one time I ordered a chocolate sundae on -- get this -- Sunday.

What are the chances??!!

[lost_angeleno]

Not to promote this as the one and only place they could go to, but it is a very good place to find some of the issues in Native American higher education, and a good place to begin thinking about this area:

http://www.tribalcollegejournal.org/

[mouseman]

L_A, as you write, two years ago, you raised this issue.  However, BTR and Larryc gave you the same advice as Del is giving you here.  So, did you, or didn't you, submit any articles for Native American month in the intervening years?
To be generous (which I rarely am), they may mean that CHE doesn't solicit articles pertaining to "special-interest groups".  However, if somebody submits an article pertaining to a minority group, and it's accepted, perhaps they will publish it to coincide with a day or month relating to that group.

So, perhaps you should submit articles relating to Native Americans, and, if one is accepted, request to have it published next November.

I second SciencePhD's proposal for a blog on the subject.  If you write under this moniker, you can also add a link to it on your profile, and thus advertise it to the CHE fora crowd.

[lost_angeleno]

Because it would blow my identity, here in the fora and at my college, which does not appreciate some of the things I write.  (This is not paranoid: I have read my personnel files: they keep copies of letters and notes I publish, and tried hard to fire me, even though I'm tenured and keep my nose clean. That fellow in Wisconsin has it really easy by comparison. Yes, I looked for someplace else to go--have you checked the job market for older faculty lately?)

I will ask around to my colleagues in my research areas and professional associations.  But they really don't have much truck with the CHE, for obvious reasons.

[mouseman]

Perhaps you could blog anonymously (pseudonymously, more correctly) - a number of forumites do so.  You could do so under a different pseudonym than this one to separate your fora comments from your blogging - if one is more likely to get you in hot water with your college than the other.

[hegemony]

How many articles on African-American educational issues and women's educational issues were published outside of their special months?  Is the appearance of those articles during those particular months statistically significant?

There is a difference between the Chronicle saying "We don't tie articles in to particular 'thematic' months" and "We refuse to publish articles about such-and-such a topic."  If they did publish a reasonable number of articles about Native American educational issues (whatever that number might be), would we care if they refused to tie it in to the particular month?  I can see valid editorial reasons that one might refuse to take on the issue of thematic months -- for one thing, it leads to the kind of charges we've heard here: "You published an article on X for X month, and now it's Y month and you're not publishing an article on Y!  That's discrimination!"  But that doesn't mean they shouldn't cover those issues responsibly in general.

I'm thinking the issue of whether they publish articles on Native American education during a certain month is a red herring.  They should publish them generally.  Perhaps someone can come up with some numbers about how many articles in the last certain numbers of years have addressed the topic.

[academic_cog]

They should be reporting on Native American issues in higher ed regularly. In fact, here's something they could be talking about right now:


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/22/union-weekly-racist_n_838996.html

[lost_angeleno]

Good find, academic_cog.  Yes, regular reports on events like that would be a good remedy to the problem here, whatever month they occur in.

In addition, an occasional short note, perhaps on the Ticker, would help balance out such incidents. For example:

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/03/diane-humetewa-to-advise-arizona-state-university-president-of-indian-affairs/

[daniel_von_flanagan]

Hard for CHE to publish articles on a topic if nobody submits one. - DvF