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From the issue dated July 1, 2005 |
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Short SubjectsSENSE AND CENSORSHIPA student disproves her art professor's assertion that nothing can shock the public, conservative students decry a newspaper's removal from the racks, and a college blocks an alum's mass e-mailings. RED-HEADED BENEFACTOR: The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center named a professorship in stem-cell research for Willie Nelson. OF BONDS AND BONDAGE: Fifty lashes for the University of Texas System for a typographical error on its Web page! MORAL DILEMMA: A decision to legalize casinos in Singapore has educators worried about where and how to learn gambling-addiction counseling. IN OTHER NEWS ... Staffers and a student are accused of using campus facilities to produce drugs at two universities, and high-school students in Manitoba are urged to skip college. The FacultyUNION BEACHHEAD LOSTTaking advantage of the federal government's redefinition of teaching assistants as students, New York University said it won't negotiate a new contract with its graduate-student union. HUMANITIES UNLIMITEDCorporate leaders discover from a philosopher that some assets can't be tallied on the bottom line, writes Michael DeWilde, associate director of the Center for Business Ethics at Grand Valley State University. PROFESSOR CONVICTED: Roger D. Blackwell, formerly of Ohio State University's business school, faces up to 10 years in prison for insider trading. MORE THAN ONE WAY: A new book by the American Educational Research Association shows that both traditional and alternative teacher-training programs can be effective if they include certain useful components. DECISION OVERTURNED: The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a jury verdict that awarded $3-million to a woman who said she was sexually harassed by a professor at Iowa State University. PLAGIARIST PUNISHED: The dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Missouri at Kansas City has been put on administrative leave after admitting he incorporated parts of another person's speech into his own. SYLLABUS: Seniors at Maryville College pursue the mathematics, history, and culture of our national pastime in a seminar called, simply, "Baseball." PEER REVIEW: A professor of journalism who had taught at Florida International University for more than 20 years has resigned in a dispute with the new dean. ... Harvard University's Humanities Center has chosen Homi K. Bhabha, a professor of English and African and African-American studies, as its new director. ... After two rounds of searches, the University of Florida has named a new provost. Research & BooksPHYSICISTS ARE PEOPLE TOOQuantum Diaries, a Web site featuring blogs by researchers, highlights the minutiae of those who study the minutiae. WHOSE REVOLUTION?"Great men" still dominate the reigning narrative of America's battle for independence. Too little attention has been paid to the complex roles played by diverse groups of lesser-knowns, writes Gary B. Nash, director of the National Center for History in the Schools at the University of California at Los Angeles. LAB OR LOVE NEST?In the heat of the summer, Ms. Mentor finds that some of her correspondents have very humid imaginations. VERBATIM: Elspeth Probyn, author of Blush, describes the good that comes from shame. HOT TYPE: The digital revolution and intellectual freedom were the main topics of conversation at the annual meeting of the Association of American University Presses. NOTA BENE: An independent scholar argues that debates over asbestos have been oddly ahistorical, neglecting the reasons it became ubiquitous in the environment. MORE DATA NEEDED: The National Institutes of Health lacks sufficient evidence to judge the effectiveness of its programs to train members of minority groups as researchers, according to a report. SEEKING A MORATORIUM: The Association of American Publishers has asked Google to stop scanning copyrighted books for at least six months while the company answers questions about its plan. Government & PoliticsTOO LATE IN LOS ANGELESDespite last-ditch efforts by state officials, Compton Community College has lost its accreditation. Faculty members and administrators are picking through the rubble to find the real reason. GUYS DO FINE UNDER TITLE IXThe latest data show that while women's teams are making progress in terms of equity, men's teams are not feeling much pain. AN INSIDIOUS CAMPAIGNA small but vocal coalition is undermining the Supreme Court's 2003 Grutter ruling on affirmative action, writes Elise Boddie, associate director of litigation with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which represented minority students in Gratz v. Bollinger. FREEDOM OF THOUGHT: As colleges are besieged by lawmakers demanding protection of intellectual diversity, more than two dozen higher-education groups have released a joint statement laying out their positions on the subject. WINGS AND PRAYERS: An investigation by the Air Force found no overt religious discrimination at the U.S. Air Force Academy but said the institution has failed to accommodate minority religious beliefs and to set guidelines on acceptable forms of religious expression. REAUTHORIZATION PLAN: The Bush administration has sent Congress a detailed set of recommendations for revamping the student-aid programs governed by the Higher Education Act. MORE DATA NEEDED: The National Institutes of Health lacks sufficient evidence to judge the effectiveness of its programs to train members of minority groups as researchers, according to a report. YES ON TWO: A subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives has approved two bills that would increase government oversight of federally financed international-studies programs at American colleges and would renew several programs that give aid to graduate students. SPENDING DECISIONS: Members of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved a budget increase for the Office of Science in the U.S. Department of Energy next year, instead of a cut proposed by President Bush. BEHIND THE SCENES: The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has actively discouraged colleges from using race-conscious policies that are both legally permissible and necessary to close the achievement gap between black and white Americans, according to a report. IN BRIEF: A roundup of higher-education news Money & ManagementLEGAL SAVVYMore colleges are hiring in-house lawyers to handle lawsuits, institutional policy, and the occasional poodle poaching. UNION BEACHHEAD LOSTTaking advantage of the federal government's redefinition of teaching assistants as students, New York University said it won't negotiate a new contract with its graduate-student union. TOO LATE IN LOS ANGELESDespite last-ditch efforts by state officials, Compton Community College has lost its accreditation. Faculty members and administrators are picking through the rubble to find the real reason. LETTERS FROM JAILSometimes, declining a student's request is the right thing to do for the administrators, the institution, and the student. FROM CORPORATION TO COLLEGE: The members of college governing boards are older, a bit more diverse, and more likely to have a background in business than their predecessors were, two surveys have found. RECORDS RULING: The Iowa State U. Foundation must make its donor files public, a state judge has ruled. JUDGMENT AVERTED: An accrediting agency has avoided litigation by settling with Edward Waters College, but the case may bring changes to the accrediting process. CHANGES FOR CHARITIES? A report that Congress requested from nonprofit experts recommends strict financial rules for the nonprofit sector. PEER REVIEW: A professor of journalism who had taught at Florida International University for more than 20 years has resigned in a dispute with the new dean. ... Harvard University's Humanities Center has chosen Homi K. Bhabha, a professor of English and African and African-American studies, as its new director. ... After two rounds of searches, the University of Florida has named a new provost. AthleticsGUYS DO FINE UNDER TITLE IXThe latest data show that while women's teams are making progress in terms of equity, men's teams are not feeling much pain. RANKED AGAIN: Two sociology professors have crunched numbers from the NCAA to come up with a rating system designed to help athletes choose the best college to maximize both their athletics and their academic success. Information TechnologyOUTWARD BOUNDThe University of Texas at Austin is clearing its undergraduate library of nearly all books to make way for computers and a coffee shop, and other colleges are making similar moves. PHYSICISTS ARE PEOPLE TOOQuantum Diaries, a Web site featuring blogs by researchers, highlights the minutiae of those who study the minutiae. LET THE EXPERIMENT BEGINIt is easy to panic about online education at liberal-arts colleges, but one faculty member makes the case for it. BEEP BEEP: Researchers at the University of Southern California have developed a device that turns drivers into musicians. GRADING IPODS: Duke University tracked the uses that students and professors made of university-distributed iPods last fall and concluded that the electronic gadgets had educational merit -- in some courses. SEEKING A MORATORIUM: The Association of American Publishers has asked Google to stop scanning copyrighted books for at least six months while the company answers questions about its plan. 'SWARMCASTING': An online television station that will stream video to multiple users nonstop is being developed by students at the University of Texas at Austin. THE WIRED CAMPUS: A roundup of information-technology news StudentsMISSION UNCLEARLloyd Thacker, an admissions-reform activist, gathered deans and counselors for a brainstorming conference, with cloudy results. TROUBLE BREWING: At the University of Oregon, one recent graduate says the dining service's plans for a popular pub on the campus send a mixed message. LIMITS ON THE PRESS: Public-college administrators have the authority to review and censor student publications, a federal appeals court has ruled. BENEFIT OF EXTRA HELP: Remedial courses appear to improve the odds that poorly prepared college students will eventually complete a degree, two economists report. InternationalHIGHER EDUCATION AND THE BEYONDIn the Philippines, college can open doors to new worlds -- supernatural ones. SYRIA-U.S. RELATIONSThe next generation of the Assad and Bush families face off. Recent books help explain the high stakes and checkered history, writes Moshe Ma'oz, a senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace. HISTORIC MEETING: Students from North Korea and South Korea met for the first time since the Korean War began. EMPTY CHAIR: Egyptian authorities have refused to let a prominent Egyptian playwright accept an award from an Israeli university. STUDENT MASSACRE: A special prosecutor in Mexico will file genocide charges against the country's former president in the 1971 killing of campus protesters. CIVIL AGREEMENT: Two Harvard employees, the university, and the Justice Department have reached a settlement over a claim that the academics tried to defraud the federal government through a Russian-aid project. HARSH INITIATION: Following increasingly bizarre reports of hazing rituals on college campuses in Thailand, the government has urged an end to the practice and is asking universities to punish the students who are responsible. Notes From AcademeNEW KICKS ON AN OLD ROADThe highway that once led millions of migrants west now draws students from the University of New Mexico who are studying American heritage. The Chronicle ReviewHUMANITIES UNLIMITEDCorporate leaders discover from a philosopher that some assets can't be tallied on the bottom line, writes Michael DeWilde, associate director of the Center for Business Ethics at Grand Valley State University. WHOSE REVOLUTION?"Great men" still dominate the reigning narrative of America's battle for independence. Too little attention has been paid to the complex roles played by diverse groups of lesser-knowns, writes Gary B. Nash, director of the National Center for History in the Schools at the University of California at Los Angeles. MODELS OF THE MINDJames O. Freedman, president emeritus of Dartmouth College and the University of Iowa, remembers that, as a Harvard undergraduate, he learned some of his most memorable lessons outside the classroom from the sermons and writings of two theologians. FOREIGN BODIESL'Intrus (The Intruder), the latest film by Claire Denis, brilliantly explores her perennial themes of personal and political alienation, writes Judith Mayne, a professor of French and women's studies at Ohio State University. SYRIA-U.S. RELATIONSThe next generation of the Assad and Bush families face off. Recent books help explain the high stakes and checkered history, writes Moshe Ma'oz, a senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace. BODIES OF WORKUCLA pulls from various collections around a corporeal theme. AN INSIDIOUS CAMPAIGNA small but vocal coalition is undermining the Supreme Court's 2003 Grutter ruling on affirmative action, writes Elise Boddie, associate director of litigation with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which represented minority students in Gratz v. Bollinger. MELANGE: Selections from this year's commencement speeches Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersLET THE EXPERIMENT BEGINIt is easy to panic about online education at liberal-arts colleges, but one faculty member makes the case for it. LETTERS FROM JAILSometimes, declining a student's request is the right thing to do for the administrators, the institution, and the student. LAB OR LOVE NEST?In the heat of the summer, Ms. Mentor finds that some of her correspondents have very humid imaginations. DETAILS OF AVAILABLE POSTS, including teaching and research positions in higher education, administrative and executive jobs, and openings outside academe Gazette |