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From the issue dated December 8, 2006 |
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Short SubjectsDEAR SANTAOur annual list offers gift suggestions for you or the academic in your life. BLUBBER SHOALS: Biologists at the University of Washington weighted and sank a whale's carcass to create a home for sea life and a research site for themselves. TOFU ALERT: An animal-rights group has named the 10 most vegetarian-friendly colleges in the United States. The FacultyTEA AND ANTIPATHYThe Chronicle invited David Horowitz and Michael Bérubé to lunch, then sat back and watched the rhetoric fly. LOVE ME; I CELEBRATE DIVERSITYWhat happens when that mantra loses its oppositional stance and becomes a ritual profession of faith? TEACHING AN OLD PH.D. NEW TRICKSA former tenured professor found her niche once she gave up the need to fit her new life into her old credentials. A DISSERTATION WRITER'S RUMBLINGSIgnore your febrile fantasies, decide to do a good-enough dissertation, and finish it — or not. UNPRIVATE LIFE: The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a DePaul University professor who sued the FBI to force it to expunge records it has kept on him since the 1970s. PEER REVIEW: The founder of Harvard University's Civil Rights Project is moving to the University of California at Los Angeles and taking the program with him. ... A senior adviser to the U.S. secretary of state returns to academe. ... A center for the study of Western civilization, intended for Hamilton College (N.Y.), can't get past the planning stage. Research & BooksTURN ON, TUNE IN, DO GOODMedical researchers are once again exploring the human mind with hallucinogens — cautiously — hoping to find ways to treat headaches, anxiety, and addiction. CRITICAL MASSThe U.S. Energy Department's program to convert campus nuclear reactors so that their fuel cannot be used in weapons is moving too slowly for some national-security experts. BANAL-RETENTIVEHannah Arendt has received too much acclaim — and for the wrong writings, writes Russell Jacoby, a professor in residence in the history department at the University of California at Los Angeles. NO 'ASSUMPTION OF TRUST': Science journals must develop stronger safeguards against fraud, a panel of scientists and editors has concluded. VERBATIM: A professor of fine arts at the University of Louisville deconstructs presidential libraries and their role in shaping how history is written. NOTA BENE: An anthropologist at Brown University examines the ways in which endemic corruption in Nigeria affects ordinary people, who are "participants in a process wherein they are simultaneously the main victims and the loudest critics." HOT TYPE: Baylor University has backed out of an agreement to publish a book about a tumultuous period in its recent history. The editors have vowed to find another publisher, despite a former president's warning that the book could "plunge the university into a new era of conflict and renewed animosities." IN BRIEF: A roundup of higher-education news in research. BLUBBER SHOALS: Biologists at the University of Washington weighted and sank a whale's carcass to create a home for sea life and a research site for themselves. REVIEWERS' QUESTIONABLE ETHICS: Many members of institutional review boards do not disclose their own financial conflicts of interest in proposed research on human subjects, a study has found. Government & PoliticsCRITICAL MASSThe U.S. Energy Department's program to convert campus nuclear reactors so that their fuel cannot be used in weapons is moving too slowly for some national-security experts. 'A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY'Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said last week that she would move quickly to focus the college-accreditation system on what students learn. ACCUSATIONS OF FAVORITISM: The governor has stepped in to mediate between the University of Iowa's Board of Regents and campus leaders angered by the sudden calling off of a presidential search. UNPRIVATE LIFE: The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a DePaul University professor who sued the FBI to force it to expunge records it has kept on him since the 1970s. FLEXING $70-BILLION A YEAR: As they commit public funds to higher education, state legislators should take the lead in making college more accessible, says a bipartisan panel. REVIEWERS' QUESTIONABLE ETHICS: Many members of institutional review boards do not disclose their own financial conflicts of interest in proposed research on human subjects, a study has found. 'YOU MUST HAVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE': A key Republican in the House of Representatives has told banking-industry officials that he will fight for them to maintain a say in shaping federal student-loan policy. COPYRIGHT EXEMPTIONS, WITH STRINGS: The U.S. Copyright Office has temporarily broadened professors' access to electronic materials. IN THE STATES: A roundup of higher-education news. Money & ManagementWHEN BIG GIFTS GO BADThe legal troubles — and even revocations — that have followed some major donations have forced colleges to be more careful when dealing with donors. WILD BLUE WONDERLois B. DeFleur, president of the State University of New York at Binghamton and an experienced pilot, says the two jobs call for similar approaches. THE RAZOR'S EDGECutting one's skin appears to be an increasingly common form of self-injurious behavior by students. Colleges need to learn more about its meanings, causes, prevention, and treatment, writes Joan Jacobs Brumberg, a professor of history, human development, and women's studies at Cornell University. LEARNING CURVEIn recent decades, researchers have discovered a lot about cutting and other types of self-injury. Campus health professionals need to learn how to put that knowledge to use, writes Gregory T. Eells, director of counseling and psychological services at Cornell University. INVESTING FOR CAMBRIDGE: The chief investment officer at one of the world's largest hedge-fund companies will soon become the first professional in-house money manager at a British university. $1.4-MILLION SALE: A Michigan research institute, eager to spin off a division that specializes in sensors, signal processing, and the earth sciences, has found a buyer in Michigan Technological University. PEER REVIEW: The founder of Harvard University's Civil Rights Project is moving to the University of California at Los Angeles and taking the program with him. ... A senior adviser to the U.S. secretary of state returns to academe. ... A center for the study of Western civilization, intended for Hamilton College (N.Y.), can't get past the planning stage. Information TechnologySKYPE'S THE LIMITSome colleges have banned the Internet telephone service because it eats up bandwidth, but many students and professors say it is too useful to prohibit. POD PEOPLEAsk not for whom the MP3 downloads; it downloads for thee, writes Robert Schneider, an assistant professor of theater and dance at Northern Illinois University. THE PORTABILITY FACTOR: While the use of laptops does not appear to raise students' grades, it does encourage interdisciplinary mixing on the campus, say researchers at Carnegie Mellon University. NEW DISCIPLINE AT THE POLLS? Academe should devise a new discipline, election science, to study issues raised by electronic voting machines, says a computer scientist in Georgia. COPYRIGHT EXEMPTIONS, WITH STRINGS: The U.S. Copyright Office has temporarily broadened professors' access to electronic materials. THE WIRED CAMPUS: A roundup of news in higher-education technology. AthleticsA COACH'S DOUBLE LIFEA once-prominent women's basketball coach killed himself this year. Only then did friends learn of his secrets. StudentsTHE RAZOR'S EDGECutting one's skin appears to be an increasingly common form of self-injurious behavior by students. Colleges need to learn more about its meanings, causes, prevention, and treatment, writes Joan Jacobs Brumberg, a professor of history, human development, and women's studies at Cornell University. LEARNING CURVEIn recent decades, researchers have discovered a lot about cutting and other types of self-injury. Campus health professionals need to learn how to put that knowledge to use, writes Gregory T. Eells, director of counseling and psychological services at Cornell University. 'A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY'Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said last week that she would move quickly to focus the college-accreditation system on what students learn. ASSAULT CONVICTIONS: A judge has found two fraternity members at the University of Pennsylvania guilty in the beating of a pledge. RHODES SCHOLARS NAMED: Thirty-two of the scholarships have gone to Americans this year, including six at Harvard University. IN BRIEF: A roundup of student news. InternationalDEGREES FOR THE TAKING?College programs have proliferated in Italy after an overhaul of the higher-education system, but critics say the new degrees, particularly those involving "experience credits" and online courses, are too easy to obtain. THE ANXIETY OF INFLUENCEIndia, a historian argues, defines its culture independently, rather than in opposition to America's. Perhaps there's a lesson in that for Europe, suggests Richard Pells, a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. LINGUA DIVERSAThe world is moving toward a uniform material economy, but cultural differences remain, and fluency in them is crucial, writes Luis Martinez-Fernandez, director of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino studies at the University of Central Florida. TURKISH FOOTHOLD: Laureate Education Inc. has formed a partnership with a university in Istanbul that will allow the company to operate in Turkey despite a ban on for-profit universities. NO INJURIES REPORTED: A rudimentary bomb has damaged a dormitory area in the main building of Moscow State University. Notes From AcademeWILD BLUE WONDERLois B. DeFleur, president of the State University of New York at Binghamton and an experienced pilot, says the two jobs call for similar approaches. The Chronicle ReviewPOD PEOPLEAsk not for whom the MP3 downloads; it downloads for thee, writes Robert Schneider, an assistant professor of theater and dance at Northern Illinois University. THE RAZOR'S EDGECutting one's skin appears to be an increasingly common form of self-injurious behavior by students. Colleges need to learn more about its meanings, causes, prevention, and treatment, writes Joan Jacobs Brumberg, a professor of history, human development, and women's studies at Cornell University. LEARNING CURVEIn recent decades, researchers have discovered a lot about cutting and other types of self-injury. Campus health professionals need to learn how to put that knowledge to use, writes Gregory T. Eells, director of counseling and psychological services at Cornell University. THE ANXIETY OF INFLUENCEIndia, a historian argues, defines its culture independently, rather than in opposition to America's. Perhaps there's a lesson in that for Europe, suggests Richard Pells, a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. BANAL-RETENTIVEHannah Arendt has received too much acclaim — and for the wrong writings, writes Russell Jacoby, a professor in residence in the history department at the University of California at Los Angeles. LA C.V. BOHEMEColleges can help to understand and foster the cultural and economic power of the creative sector, writes Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, president of Marlboro College. COLORFUL CRAWLERSA book offers portraits of 100 Costa Rican caterpillars. LINGUA DIVERSAThe world is moving toward a uniform material economy, but cultural differences remain, and fluency in them is crucial, writes Luis Martinez-Fernandez, director of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino studies at the University of Central Florida. CRITICAL MASS: Remembering Robert Altman. Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersLOVE ME; I CELEBRATE DIVERSITYWhat happens when that mantra loses its oppositional stance and becomes a ritual profession of faith? TEACHING AN OLD PH.D. NEW TRICKSA former tenured professor found her niche once she gave up the need to fit her new life into her old credentials. A DISSERTATION WRITER'S RUMBLINGSIgnore your febrile fantasies, decide to do a good-enough dissertation, and finish it — or not. DETAILS OF AVAILABLE POSTS, including teaching and research positions in higher education, administrative and executive jobs, and openings outside academe Gazette |