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From the issue dated November 17, 2006 |
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Election 2006POWER SHIFTAfter capturing control of the U.S. Congress, as well as the majority of governors' offices, Democrats will set the agenda for change in higher education. Short SubjectsTHAT'S 'PROFESSOR' TO YOUMost people toil for many years to become professors, while others simply claim the title. Here are a few of them. WINNING STRATEGY: Seventeen employees of two British colleges won a collective $10-million by pooling their money and playing every available lottery number. DOUBLE FEATURE: Two film companies are embroiled in a lawsuit over their competing plans for movies based on the 1971 Stanford prison experiment. BLUEPRINTS: German universities discover corporate sponsorships as a way to generate money to fix up classrooms. The FacultyNUCLEAR REACTIONFor the first time in decades, power companies are planning new reactors, and universities are responding by creating programs to train engineers. GIMME A BREAKA sabbatical proves enlightening — about how not to structure a sabbatical, writes Carolyn Foster Segal, an associate professor of English at Cedar Crest College. MAKING PEACE WITH THE GREEKSWas it just a demographic fluke that 17 of the 22 students in a professor's class were men? (DIS)ORIENTATIONA new faculty member digs out from under the avalanche of jargon and teaching theory that buried him during his first weeks on the job. ANSWERING THE MAILShould I tell hiring committees about my daughter's cancer? Our columnists answer readers' questions. PEER REVIEW: A former professor at Howard University says his articles criticizing alcohol marketing cost him the Anheuser-Busch chair. ... An informal meeting with a board member from a system looking for a new president may have led to a major raise for the University of Washington president. ... Sarah Lawrence has a new leader, and the Los Angeles Community College District is losing one. SYLLABUS: Students taking an interdisciplinary class at Lehigh University design an athletics facility that the institution will actually build. THIS ACADEMIC LIFE: A study by a graduate student in economics has found that marriage improves the academic prospects of male doctoral candidates. ... Smith College is opening a center to help women pursue graduate degrees in mathematics. ... A Web site for people doing research on transgender issues is expanding. ... A book of essays explores how people from working-class backgrounds fare in the professoriate. ... A survey about academic couples will be completed soon by Stanford researchers. Research & BooksWHORL OF DOUBTResearchers are finding evidence that the practice of fingerprint analysis is unreliable, but they say law-enforcement officials are not listening. NUCLEAR REACTIONFor the first time in decades, power companies are planning new reactors, and universities are responding by creating programs to train engineers. ECO'S ECHOA compelling new philosophical detective novel about Kant is the latest in a genre popularized more than two decades ago by The Name of the Rose, writes Carlin Romano, critic at large for The Chronicle. THE NATURE OF BEHAVIORSociobiology delivers fascinating insights. But they need to be taught with nuance, sensitivity, and careful timing, writes David P. Barash, a professor of psychology at the University of Washington. UTOPIAN VISIONSTom Stoppard's heady trilogy about 19th-century revolutionary Europe comes to New York. By Julia M. Klein, a cultural reporter and critic. VERBATIM: Marian Mollin, an associate professor of history at Virginia Tech, on how race and gender issues affected militant pacifism in the United States. HOT TYPE: Students in Portland State University's graduate writing program can learn the tools of the publishing trade at the university's own "teaching press." NOTA BENE: An assistant professor of dance at the University of Washington explores her own and others' compulsion in Glamour Addiction: Inside the American Ballroom Dance Industry. CHANGE OF MIND: Stem-cell research gains support in Congress and in Missouri. DOUBLE FEATURE: Two film companies are embroiled in a lawsuit over their competing plans for movies based on the 1971 Stanford prison experiment. Money & ManagementFAULTY CONNECTIONColleges and foundations need to learn how to communicate better and take each other's concerns more seriously, write Ray Bacchetti, a scholar in residence, and Thomas Ehrlich, a senior scholar, both at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. BIG-SCREEN DREAMSOfficials at Marshall University are optimistic that a new movie about its 1970s football program will bring more students and more money to the campus. CARBONDALE CHANCELLOR OUT: Walter V. Wendler, criticized for copying parts of a strategic plan and not citing it, has been asked to leave before the end of his contract at Southern Illinois University. GALLAUDET TRUSTEES QUIT: Both the acting chair and Sen. John McCain have left the board following its recent decision not to keep a controversial president. ACCOUNTING PROBLEMS: An audit by the U.S. Education Department blames Philander Smith College for improperly receiving nearly $500,000 in federal student aid. NO NEW RULES: The Dartmouth Alumni Association has voted down a new constitution that would have changed how alumni are elected to the college's Board of Trustees. PEER REVIEW: A former professor at Howard University says his articles criticizing alcohol marketing cost him the Anheuser-Busch chair. ... An informal meeting with a board member from a system looking for a new president may have led to a major raise for the University of Washington president. ... Sarah Lawrence has a new leader, and the Los Angeles Community College District is losing one. THE CHRONICLE INDEX OF FOR-PROFIT HIGHER EDUCATION: Recent developments in the industry. Information TechnologyELECTION HELP DESKA California district recruited computer-science graduate students to monitor electronic voting. They didn't always like what they saw. COLLECTIVE WISDOMAn author's experiences with Wikipedia make her a believer in its possibilities. By Ann Kirschner, dean of City University of New York's Honors College. BRIGHT FUTURE: The online-education market has the potential to grow significantly, Eduventures says. THE BROWN BAG: In an online discussion with Chronicle readers, the president of Western Governors University describes the benefits of its 'competency-based' assessment system. THE WIRED CAMPUS: A roundup of news in higher-education technology. StudentsBETTER TOGETHERStudents from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds benefit more than their peers from group learning, says the latest National Survey of Student Engagement. LEGAL CHALLENGE: The Association of American Medical Colleges plans to appeal a California judge's ruling ordering it to revamp its procedures for determining who gets extra time on the Medical College Admission Test. AID FOR STUDENTS: Democratic victors in Congress pledge to make college more affordable. AthleticsBIG-SCREEN DREAMSOfficials at Marshall University are optimistic that a new movie about its 1970s football program will bring more students and more money to the campus. THE COSTS OF ATHLETICSCongress is asking the NCAA some good questions about big-time college-sports spending, and colleges have few good answers, writes Thomas G. Palaima, a professor of classics at the University of Texas at Austin. EASY A's: An Auburn University committee has found that two professors there were "overly accommodating" to all members of their class, not just athletes. FEDERAL PEP RALLY: Athletes whose teams will be cut at James Madison University gathered at the Department of Education to protest Title IX. COMPLETION RATES RISE: Scholarship athletes continue to graduate at historic levels, according to a report by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. InternationalANSWERING AMERICA'S INVITATIONThe number of foreign students in the United States remained steady last academic year, ending two years of declines, an annual report says. SO OTHERS MIGHT WALKStudents at LeTourneau University, in Texas, design and build prosthetic legs, then deliver them to people in developing countries. SPEAK FREELYOn the topic of Israel, as on every topic, open debate is in the best interest of international peace, stability, and security, writes Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life and a professor of political science at Boston College. FOR THE PROMOTION OF SCIENCE: A private university in northern Germany has received a $250-million gift, the largest ever given a higher-education institution in that country. CAMPUS CLOSED: The largest public university in the Mexican state of Oaxaca is being used as a refuge for demonstrators against the state's governor. CHANGES AT THE TOP: Several Canadian universities shuffled positions in the latest rankings by Maclean's magazine. WINNING STRATEGY: Seventeen employees of two British colleges won a collective $10-million by pooling their money and playing every available lottery number. BLUEPRINTS: German universities discover corporate sponsorships as a way to generate money to fix up classrooms. Notes From AcademeSO OTHERS MIGHT WALKStudents at LeTourneau University, in Texas, design and build prosthetic legs, then deliver them to people in developing countries. The Chronicle ReviewGIMME A BREAKA sabbatical proves enlightening — about how not to structure a sabbatical, writes Carolyn Foster Segal, an associate professor of English at Cedar Crest College. SPEAK FREELYOn the topic of Israel, as on every topic, open debate is in the best interest of international peace, stability, and security, writes Alan Wolfe, director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life and a professor of political science at Boston College. ECO'S ECHOA compelling new philosophical detective novel about Kant is the latest in a genre popularized more than two decades ago by The Name of the Rose, writes Carlin Romano, critic at large for The Chronicle. COLLECTIVE WISDOMAn author's experiences with Wikipedia make her a believer in its possibilities. By Ann Kirschner, dean of City University of New York's Honors College. THE COSTS OF ATHLETICSCongress is asking the NCAA some good questions about big-time college-sports spending, and colleges have few good answers, writes Thomas G. Palaima, a professor of classics at the University of Texas at Austin. THE NATURE OF BEHAVIORSociobiology delivers fascinating insights. But they need to be taught with nuance, sensitivity, and careful timing, writes David P. Barash, a professor of psychology at the University of Washington. UTOPIAN VISIONSTom Stoppard's heady trilogy about 19th-century revolutionary Europe comes to New York. By Julia M. Klein, a cultural reporter and critic. 'COMMUNITY WITHOUT BORDERS'The photojournalist David Bacon chronicles the struggles of undocumented Latino workers in the United States. FAULTY CONNECTIONColleges and foundations need to learn how to communicate better and take each other's concerns more seriously, write Ray Bacchetti, a scholar in residence, and Thomas Ehrlich, a senior scholar, both at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. CRITICAL MASS: U.S.-Iranian relations Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersMAKING PEACE WITH THE GREEKSWas it just a demographic fluke that 17 of the 22 students in a professor's class were men? (DIS)ORIENTATIONA new faculty member digs out from under the avalanche of jargon and teaching theory that buried him during his first weeks on the job. ANSWERING THE MAILShould I tell hiring committees about my daughter's cancer? Our columnists answer readers' questions. Gazette |