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From the issue dated December 2, 2005 |
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Short SubjectsFROM PH.D. TO R.I.P.Colleges offer to sell cemetery plots to alumni who feel a strong pull to their alma maters. ADVICE FROM INSIDE: White-collar criminals lecture students at Susquehanna University about business ethics. MIND OVER BODY: A mayor in Thailand hopes that a new, Chinese-language university will supplant his town's brothels. MUST-THINK TV: On a television show in Ontario, college lecturers dueled in a competition that some were calling "Professor Idol." SWANS IN LOVE: A pair of mute swans are working out their relationship at the University of Nevada at Reno. The FacultyTHEIR FATHER'S VERDICTThe three children of Sami Al-Arian, a former computer-engineering professor accused of conspiring with terrorists, wait for a jury in Florida to decide his fate. SOLOMONIC JUDGMENTThe Supreme Court's forthcoming decision on the Solomon amendment, involving whether colleges can ban military recruiters, could have broad implications for academic freedom. SECONDHAND, FIRSTHANDWhen it's not blatant, plagiarism is very hard to detect, deter, or prove, says a doctoral student who's been guilty of it himself. BUSINESS AS USUAL?M.B.A. programs need to take a fresh look at their purposes and practices, writes John Quelch, a professor at Harvard Business School. MOM ON SABBATICALA professor wonders: How much of my leave am I allowed to devote to my 4-year-old? TEACHABLE AND LEARNABLE: Four new U.S. Professors of the Year recall moments that made them better in the classroom. KEEP THE FAITH: Clergy training in the United States is well and faithfully done, a study has concluded. SYLLABUS: A course at the Johns Hopkins University looks at the role of partying in the religious life of ancient Egypt. PEER REVIEW: The president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is stepping down and will join the U.S. Army Reserves. ... Delays in state financing for stem-cell research have led two noted government biologists to change direction from Stanford University to Singapore. ... A former president of the University of Nevada at Reno has been recommended as its interim president. ... Three finalists are vying to be the next chancellor of the University System of Georgia. Research & BooksTHE POWER OF SUGAR PILLSResearchers have reported a physiological basis for the mysterious placebo effect. FAITH IN REASONIn Europe, how did so much work precede the Protestant work ethic? Hint: The Dark Ages were a lot brighter than you'd think, writes Rodney Stark, a university professor of the social sciences at Baylor University. DECODING NARNIAWas C.S. Lewis a sexist, racist, evangelizing warmonger? asks Michael Nelson, a professor of political science at Rhodes College. VERBATIM: The author of two books on public health suggests applying the lessons of SARS and vaccine shortages to the threat of avian flu. HOT TYPE: The Women's Review of Books is revived by a commercial publisher. ... After 127 years, two historians at Saint Louis University have produced a new edition of a fictionalized memoir by one of the first women to attend the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. NOTA BENE: Women have less access to higher education in Bulgaria since the "changes," writes a scholar at Bowdoin College, but Western-supported women's-aid groups don't see the real problems. Government & PoliticsSOLOMONIC JUDGMENTThe Supreme Court's forthcoming decision on the Solomon amendment, involving whether colleges can ban military recruiters, could have broad implications for academic freedom. 'HARASSMENT AND INTIMIDATION'Representatives of Jewish groups have told the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights that anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias are rampant at colleges. 217 TO 215The House of Representatives narrowly approved legislation that would make it more expensive for borrowers to consolidate their federal student loans. THEIR FATHER'S VERDICTThe three children of Sami Al-Arian, a former computer-engineering professor accused of conspiring with terrorists, wait for a jury in Florida to decide his fate. 2-YEAR, 4-YEAR: The two boards that oversee colleges in Florida are disputing which of them has authority over the granting of bachelor's degrees. SALUKI CONNECTIONS: The new president of the Southern Illinois University system is an insider at nearly every institution he will deal with. JERSEY BARRIER: Presidents of New Jersey's public colleges and members of their governing boards have 30 days to either sever business relationships with the institutions or resign. SHELLING OUT: The University of California's Board of Regents has voted to increase salaries for senior administrators despite controversy. IN BRIEF: A roundup of state higher-education news DAMAGE CONTINUES: Louisiana lawmakers will cut more than $75-million from higher education because of the cost of hurricane recovery. Money & ManagementCASHING INColleges created a record number of start-up companies in 2004 and collected more than $1-billion in revenues from licenses on inventions. MAY I SEE YOUR EYEBALL, PLEASE?In place of ID cards and passwords, some colleges now use biometric technology, like hand readers and retina scanners, to screen people seeking access to facilities and data. SHOULD I APPLY?A college marketing director mulls taking the next step and seeking a vice presidency. A PRESIDENTIAL PREDICAMENTA fund-raising career suddenly seems to be the perfect springboard to a college presidency. APPEAL TO BE FILED: An accrediting commission has stood by its decision to terminate the accreditation of California's Compton Community College. CORINTHIAN IS INVESTIGATED: Florida's attorney general has subpoenaed records from one of the nation's largest publicly traded higher-education companies. VIOLATIONS ALLEGED: A report by the Fair Labor Association points to health and safety issues as the biggest workplace concerns in factories that produce collegiate apparel. $26-MILLION GIFT: Landing its largest-ever donation required the City College of New York to make a highly personal case for its institutional mission. PEER REVIEW: The president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is stepping down and will join the U.S. Army Reserves. ... Delays in state financing for stem-cell research have led two noted government biologists to change direction from Stanford University to Singapore. ... A former president of the University of Nevada at Reno has been recommended as its interim president. ... Three finalists are vying to be the next chancellor of the University System of Georgia. Information TechnologyMAY I SEE YOUR EYEBALL, PLEASE?In place of ID cards and passwords, some colleges now use biometric technology, like hand readers and retina scanners, to screen people seeking access to facilities and data. GAMBLE ON GOOGLE?A communications expert plugs the Web mammoth's Library Project into his search algorithm, and fear and doubt are his top two results. By Siva Vaidhyanathan, an assistant professor of culture and communication at New York University. THE LOWDOWN ON DOWNLOADSThe law is clear, and so are the ethics -- pirating digital music and movies is wrong. Colleges should have explicit protocols and hold violators responsible, write Graham Spanier, president of the Pennsylvania State University, and Cary H. Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America. TALK TO THE HEAD: Virtual tutors under development are designed not just to instruct but also to motivate. THE JOY OF TEXT: Google has given $3-million to the Library of Congress to start the World Digital Library project. StudentsSMALL TOWN, BIG PLANSA sophomore studying political science at California University of Pennsylvania has been elected mayor of the borough. 217 TO 215The House of Representatives narrowly approved legislation that would make it more expensive for borrowers to consolidate their federal student loans. REGISTER, THEN REGISTERColleges should encourage students' political involvement -- and not just in election years, write Michael X. Delli Carpini, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and Ivan Frishberg, a consultant with Young Voter Strategies. HIRE AND HIRE: The spring 2006 job market for college graduates will improve on last year's increase, a report says. DRUNK AND STUPID: A study finds that college students who suffer negative consequences after drinking and driving are more likely to drink and drive again than those who do not. OXFORD-BOUND: Thirty-two American students are named Rhodes scholars; the U.S. Naval Academy tops the list with four. AthleticsFOOTBALL PENALTIES: The NCAA has placed the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of South Carolina at Columbia on probation. InternationalRAISING THE BARA new kind of law school in India makes the field more attractive to students as it heightens their awareness of social issues. AN ARSENAL OF IGNORANCENuclear nonproliferation policies are falling apart, and we aren't training anyone to fix them, writes William C. Potter, director of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. SHUTDOWNS AND PROTESTS: The University of Panama faces complaints by students and a watchdog group over allegations of corruption and repression of speech. Notes From AcademeDELINEATOR OF DREAMSDrawings by Marion Mahony that made rich clients write checks to famous architects are on display at Northwestern University. The Chronicle ReviewGAMBLE ON GOOGLE?A communications expert plugs the Web mammoth's Library Project into his search algorithm, and fear and doubt are his top two results. By Siva Vaidhyanathan, an assistant professor of culture and communication at New York University. SECONDHAND, FIRSTHANDWhen it's not blatant, plagiarism is very hard to detect, deter, or prove, says a doctoral student who's been guilty of it himself. FAITH IN REASONIn Europe, how did so much work precede the Protestant work ethic? Hint: The Dark Ages were a lot brighter than you'd think, writes Rodney Stark, a university professor of the social sciences at Baylor University. DECODING NARNIAWas C.S. Lewis a sexist, racist, evangelizing warmonger? asks Michael Nelson, a professor of political science at Rhodes College. AN ARSENAL OF IGNORANCENuclear nonproliferation policies are falling apart, and we aren't training anyone to fix them, writes William C. Potter, director of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. BUSINESS AS USUAL?M.B.A. programs need to take a fresh look at their purposes and practices, writes John Quelch, a professor at Harvard Business School. REGISTER, THEN REGISTERColleges should encourage students' political involvement -- and not just in election years, write Michael X. Delli Carpini, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and Ivan Frishberg, a consultant with Young Voter Strategies. THE JOY OF HEXPhotography of the occult illuminates human hopes and horrors. THE LOWDOWN ON DOWNLOADSThe law is clear, and so are the ethics -- pirating digital music and movies is wrong. Colleges should have explicit protocols and hold violators responsible, write Graham Spanier, president of the Pennsylvania State University, and Cary H. Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America. MELANGE: Excerpts from books of interest to academe. Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersMOM ON SABBATICALA professor wonders: How much of my leave am I allowed to devote to my 4-year-old? SHOULD I APPLY?A college marketing director mulls taking the next step and seeking a vice presidency. A PRESIDENTIAL PREDICAMENTA fund-raising career suddenly seems to be the perfect springboard to a college presidency. JOB DETAILS OF AVAILABLE POSTS, including teaching and research positions in higher education, administrative and executive jobs, and openings outside academe Gazette |