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"Measuring graduation rates is indeed a charade. Yes, some programs have a “respectable” rate of graduating athletes, but these grads often take gut courses, major in fields that have little academic rigor (coaching, general studies), and are placed in courses taught by profs who wouldn’t recognize an academic standard if it slept in their bed. The whole enterprise ought to be called academic gerrymandering."
—Gary
NCAA Imposes Stiffer Penalties for Academic Performance of Midlevel Division I Teams
U. of Nevada at Reno, Facing Dozens of Lawsuits, Spends Big on Outside Legal Help
The university, which says most of the complaints are meritless, has spent about $1.7-million on lawyers to help in just four of the cases.
Canadian Panel to Investigate University's Halting of Controversial Research
The university had approved a study of assisted suicides, but changed its mind after getting legal opinions.
Dispute Over Academic Freedom Roils Turkish-Studies Institute
Some scholars say the Turkish government forced a professor to resign from a research center’s board because of his views on the massacre of Armenians in 1915.
U. of Evansville President Arrested on Drunken-Driving Charges
In a statement released today by the university, Stephen G. Jennings acknowledged making “a very serious mistake” and apologized.
Petitions Are Filed for Arizona and Nebraska Referenda on Affirmative Action
The backers of a similar measure in Colorado filed petitions months ago, but legal challenges may complicate such campaigns.
Darwin Defeated in the Bayou: Louisiana Encourages 'Critical Thinking' About Evolution | 88
ACLU Complains About Noon-Meal Prayers at Naval Academy | 77
Columbia U. Fires Teachers College Professor Accused of Rampant Plagiarism | 61
U. of Phoenix's Report on Students' Progress Is 'Disingenuous,' Critic Says | 49
Student Who Died at Professor's Home Suffered a Drug Overdose | 47
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May 17, 2008
Blue-Ribbon Panel Assails Planning for High-Security Lab at Boston U.
An 11-member panel convened by the National Institutes of Health to review plans for a high-security biomedical lab at Boston University said on Friday that the university’s neighbors needed to be included in reviews of threats posed by the lab’s research, and that NIH and university officials needed to operate more transparently to dispel “problems with trust,” according to The Boston Globe.
The panel, meeting for the third time, also released interim findings that included a call to re-evaluate the danger posed to the lab’s South End neighbors should hazardous bacteria or viruses escape.
Controversy over the university’s plans to open a Biosafety Level 4 lab has stretched on since 2003. The lab would be one of several in a new facility devoted to research on emerging infectious diseases.
The blue-ribbon panel that is now reviewing the project was created by the NIH director, Elias A. Zerhouni, after a National Research Council report last fall said that an earlier safety evaluation was “not sound and credible.”
Supporters of the lab said it would create jobs and tackle critical questions. Robert McCarron, vice president for state relations and general counsel of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, told the panel that there “is an urgent need in this country to conduct research aimed at finding causes, diagnoses, and cures for the alarming number of recently emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.” —Lawrence Biemiller
Posted on Saturday May 17, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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They are going to make the juice that will wipe us all out
— dan brown May 18, 08:23 AM #
Perhaps Logan Airport should be closed to avoid all those pesky viruses that might come into Boston and Cambridge from other places. Is the issue really safety, or are those who oppose the facility really against the kind of research that would be done there for other reasons?
— Joe Erwin May 19, 05:59 AM #