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"Some college administrators seem so distracted with fund raising, academic infighting, and community initiatives that they set up their emergency communications departments very poorly. Training is poor to nonexistent, secretaries are pressed into service with tremendous responsibilities for running 'notification systems' 24/7 and on weekends because no one else knows how to do it and the administration won’t pay for additional staff. Procedures are seat-of-the-pants and dependent on HIPPO (highest paid person’s opinion), except when something like Virginia Tech happens and there is some sort of scramble to do something different." --Donna
Most Colleges Avoid Risk Management, Report Says
Jill Biden Shines a Global Spotlight on American Community Colleges
Speaking at a Unesco conference in Paris, the vice president’s wife stressed the importance of two-year institutions to the nation’s educational goals.
Connecticut Public Colleges Lose 200 Professors to Early Retirement
Administrators are scrambling to plug holes in their course schedules for fall, with most expecting to do so by hiring more adjuncts or increasing class sizes.
U. of Georgia Paid 2 Fraternities $2.4-Million to Relocate, Contracts Show
The two were among five with houses on property where the university plans to build new academic facilities.
New Allegations in Admissions Controversy at U. of Illinois Suggest Ex-Provost Played a Role
Linda P.B. Katehi, the incoming chancellor of the University of California at Davis, has insisted she knew nothing of the admission of politically connected applicants at Illinois.
Sonoma State U. Foundation May Lose $350,000 on Loan to Former Board Member
The foundation will be forced to issue fewer scholarships in the 2010-11 academic year because of a diminished endowment, a university official said.
College Suspends Student for Working in Gay Pornography | 58
President Obama's Visit to Notre Dame Carries Barely a Hint of Controversy That Preceded It | 58
Drug Sting Nabs 21 Students at U. of Illinois | 57
Faculty Members and Union Protest Staff Layoffs at Temple U. as 'Cruel' | 57
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August 29, 2008
Judge Overturns Florida's Ban on Academic Travel to Cuba
A federal judge has struck down a Florida law that restricts students, faculty members, and researchers at the state’s public colleges and universities from traveling to Cuba and four other countries that the U.S. government considers terrorist states.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida had challenged the law in court on behalf of the Faculty Senate at Florida International University, arguing that the statute violated faculty members’ First Amendment rights and impinged on the federal government’s ability to regulate foreign commerce.
The two-year-old law prevents students, professors, and researchers at public universities and community colleges in Florida from using state or federal funds, or private foundation grants administered by their institutions, to travel to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. Those at private colleges in Florida are forbidden to use state funds for that purpose.
The decision, issued Thursday by the U.S. District Court in Miami, reversed an earlier ruling upholding the ban. In her order, Judge Patricia Seitz upheld one aspect of the law: State funds may not be used for travel to those countries. But nearly all such trips rely on private funds.
Judge Seitz agreed with the ACLU’s argument that the state should not be allowed to regulate travel financed with private funds and that the Florida Legislature could not interfere with federal foreign-relations powers.
“It’s a blow for academic freedom,” Thomas Breslin, a professor of international relations and chairman of Florida International University’s Faculty Senate, said of the decision during a news conference this afternoon.
The law was passed in 2006 after a Florida International professor and his wife, a university employee, were accused of spying for Cuba. —Karin Fischer
Posted on Friday August 29, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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Having had the op to travel to Cuba in 2000 with CA community college folks, I applaud this decision. I would love to go again sometime, and it looks like the gates may be opening at last!
— Peggy Aug 30, 06:26 PM #
Finally this anti-democratic law was lifted. I hope the law that prohibits us from visiting Cuba for vacational purposes gets lifted soon.It is a shame that we are told what countries to visit. Is not this law inhibiting our freedom of movement?
— D-E Aug 30, 10:42 PM #
It’s not the restriction on academic travel, but the enitre policy of US Gov’t regarding Cuba is stupid. Had the US govt. allowed Anericans to travel to Cuba, the exposure that the Cubans would have had to democracy, freedom, economic well being, etc., would have helped in creating internal opposition to communism and Castro. But we are so arrogant that we continue to support all sorts of bans, even though we have failed miserably in our effort to force Cuba to give up communism.
— Sam Sep 2, 11:34 AM #
I thought travel was still prohibited by federal law, and OFAC stopped giving academics permission, the so why does it matter what Fla. state law says?
— Rickjp Sep 2, 11:55 AM #
Sam—I’m not saying that the ban is good, but it is a bit naive to believe that American travel would set Cubans free. Canadians and Europeans have been traveling there for decades and have set up businesses, import goods, do charity work etc. and that hasn’t created the internal opposition you mention. I don’t think it’s quite so simple as showing Cubans the “American Way”.
— Canadian Sep 2, 12:14 PM #
to #3, thousands of Cubans defected/escaped to the U.S. the last 30-40 years. Maybe less than 20-30 Americans emigrated to Cuba in the same period. Cuba is not free. Maybe you can move there? You iwll get arrested for preaching a U.S. style democracy.
— Michel Sep 2, 03:35 PM #
But it is OK to travel to China? Oh yes, these are the good Communists but the Cubans are not. Same kind of authoritarian and shut up all, jail or execute the opposition except the Chinese are now given cell phones, internet access (limited) and Starbucks so they are happy in their work.
So much easier to slam a small country, on whose imports of anti-freeze toothpaste and lead laden toys we do not depend so WalMart can keep prices low.
— AW Sep 2, 03:55 PM #