 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
From the issue dated August 10, 2007 |
|
Short SubjectsLOST AND FOUNDWhen we examine the search terms that bring outsiders to The Chronicle on the Web, we find fodder for ridicule. WHAT'S UP, COP?After a security scare, North Dakota State University has decided to stop having its maintenance workers shoot rabbits on the campus. SORRY, GRAMPS: Computer scientists at the University of Alberta have developed a checker-playing program that they say can't be beat by a human. STOREWIDE CLEARANCE: Ceiling height might affect consumer purchasing habits, says a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. VINYL ATTRACTION: Ryerson University, in Toronto, hopes to buy a defunct record store, along with the giant neon records that beckoned customers, for use as a new campus gateway. The FacultyREADERS AS 'CONSUMERS'To some critics, the redesigned journalism curriculum at Northwestern University's Medill School focuses too much on marketing. SOWING A HARVEST OF TEACHERSCongress crafts a bill to encourage colleges to train more science teachers and do more research in the physical sciences. WALDEN ON THE BLUE RIDGEAn English professor and his students seek their inner Thoreau. By John Kitterman, an associate professor of English at Ferrum College. WHAT I'VE LEARNED FROM RECORDED LECTURESA professor defends his use of commercial products to develop course material. THE COST OF DOING BUSINESSIf you drive to work at a university, why should you be charged to park your car? 'CHALLENGING AND PAINFUL' TIME: A grand jury in New Orleans has refused to indict a doctor at Louisiana State University's Health Sciences Center in the deaths of four elderly patients after Hurricane Katrina. PEER REVIEW: After 22 years at the University of Missouri, Stephen Lehmkuhle is leaving for another UM, to become the first chancellor of the University of Minnesota at Rochester. ... Simon Fraser University has settled a lawsuit with David F. Noble, an outspoken professor who said he had been denied a humanities appointment there because of his strong criticism of the use of technology in academe. ... Gibor Basri, an astrophysicist at the University of California at Berkeley, has been named its first vice chancellor for equity and inclusion. SYLLABUS: In a first-year science class at Hampshire College, students learn firsthand about bacteria's effects on food. Research & BooksSMUGGLE THIS ESSAYThe most exotic aspect of the global black market, writes Carolyn Nordstrom, a professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, is how pervasive and quotidian it is. NOTA BENE: A sociologist at Northwestern University explores the patterns of weather forecasters in Authors of the Storm: Meteorologists and the Culture of Prediction. HOT TYPE: In response to a libel claim by a Saudi banker, Cambridge University Press has agreed to pulp unsold copies of a 2006 book on terrorism and to ask libraries to remove it from their shelves. DUELING ECONOMISTS: Steven D. Levitt, author of Freakonomics, has reached a settlement with the economist John R. Lott Jr., who had brought a defamation lawsuit against him. STOREWIDE CLEARANCE: Ceiling height might affect consumer purchasing habits, says a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. REIMBURSEMENT LIMIT: The House of Representatives has proposed a 20-percent cap on overhead costs for grants from the Defense Department. Government & PoliticsSOWING A HARVEST OF TEACHERSCongress crafts a bill to encourage colleges to train more science teachers and do more research in the physical sciences. WHOSE BEST INTEREST?As Congress considers giving nonprofit lenders an advantage over their for-profit competitors, advocates for students question whether the behavior of the two sectors is really so different. ANTIPIRACY MANEUVERING GOES ONCollege officials have beaten back an attempt by the Senate to make them purchase technology to prevent illegal file sharing, but they still have the House of Representatives to worry about. BIGOT BEGONEThe bad news is you're a biased voter. The good news is that you can acknowledge and correct for that, writes Dalton Conley, chairman of the department of sociology at New York University. 'CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS': A bill approved by the U.S. Senate banking committee would require student-loan companies to give prospective borrowers detailed information about the private loans they offer. REIMBURSEMENT LIMIT: The House of Representatives has proposed a 20-percent cap on overhead costs for grants from the Defense Department. INCENTIVE INEFFECTIVE: A federal program that rewards lenders designated as "exceptional performers" has not reduced loan defaults, says the Government Accountability Office. CONTENT IN THE CLASSROOM: More than 90 percent of long-term schoolteachers are satisfied with their jobs, an Education Department survey has found. HIGHER STANDARDS: Because of tougher eligibility rules, fewer Georgia high-school graduates are qualifying for the HOPE Scholarships, the state's popular merit-aid program. AN END TO 'AFFINITY' AGREEMENTS: Nelnet, the second-largest consolidator of student loans, has agreed to stop paying alumni associations to recommend its services, says New York's attorney general. AFFIRMATIVE REACTION: Wisconsin's attorney general has advised state legislators that the University of Wisconsin's new race-conscious admissions policy does not conflict with state law. WORDS AND MEANING: The fight over a ballot measure to ban affirmative-action preferences in Missouri has begun as a battle over semantics. EDUCATION AND COMPETITION: At a Congressional hearing, lawmakers asked whether universities' overseas ventures might be undermining America's economic competitiveness. IN BRIEF: A roundup of higher-education news from the states. Money & ManagementTHE FINAL FRONTIERAmid the diversity in American higher education, only three college presidents are openly gay. WHAT'S IN A NAME?A spate of large, anonymous gifts has led fund raisers to consider the pros and cons of nameless philanthropy. QUALITY CONTROLThe accreditation process could certainly use reform. But a recently released, critical report won't help much, writes Alan Contreras, administrator of the Office of Degree Authorization of the Oregon Student Assistance Commission. MILLION-DOLLAR BABYA fund-raising office had two hours to raise $3,000 more and reach a record sum in cash gifts. WHISTLE-BLOWER COLLECTS: Oakland City University will pay $5.3-million to resolve a whistle-blower's complaint that it improperly rewarded student recruiters. NACUBO ROUNDUP: The prospect of ethics reforms and investigations hung over the recent meeting of the National Association of College and University Business Officers. DISTANCE-EDUCATION VENTURE: Touro College will sell its online division to a private-equity fund. VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: Moody's has shown its approval of Virginia Tech's response to the April shootings by affirming the institution's high bond ratings. FRAUD ALLEGED: A donor to Middle Tennessee State University has been accused of bilking investors out of millions of dollars in an investment scheme. $7.5-MILLION IN PAYMENTS: The University of California has agreed to settle 35 claims brought by patients who had sought liver transplants on the Irvine campus. WHY I MOVED: In an unusual switch, a high-profile general counsel becomes a college president. PEER REVIEW: After 22 years at the University of Missouri, Stephen Lehmkuhle is leaving for another UM, to become the first chancellor of the University of Minnesota at Rochester. ... Simon Fraser University has settled a lawsuit with David F. Noble, an outspoken professor who said he had been denied a humanities appointment there because of his strong criticism of the use of technology in academe. ... Gibor Basri, an astrophysicist at the University of California at Berkeley, has been named its first vice chancellor for equity and inclusion. AthleticsSNAP COURSES: Auburn University has settled a dispute with a professor who was accused of awarding high grades to athletes and other students in courses that required little work and no attendance. CUOMO KEEPS AT IT: The New York attorney general's latest investigation of student-loan practices involves 40 college athletics programs. Information TechnologyANTIPIRACY MANEUVERING GOES ONCollege officials have beaten back an attempt by the Senate to make them purchase technology to prevent illegal file sharing, but they still have the House of Representatives to worry about. LOST AND FOUNDWhen we examine the search terms that bring outsiders to The Chronicle on the Web, we find fodder for ridicule. SORRY, GRAMPS: Computer scientists at the University of Alberta have developed a checker-playing program that they say can't be beat by a human. DISTANCE-EDUCATION VENTURE: Touro College will sell its online division to a private-equity fund. InternationalRAISING THE BAR IN CENTRAL AMERICAEducators hope that new accreditation standards will improve higher education in the region's poorest countries. WITH EVERY WOMAN, A STORYIn a two-week immersion program run by the University of San Francisco, nursing students visit rural Guatemalan villages to provide prenatal care alongside local midwives. LIBERALISM, DEMOCRACY, AND ISRAELRecent books question whether the Jewish state can, or even should, survive. But their authors, in appraising Zionist prejudices, don't seem to understand their own, writes Gadi Taub, an assistant professor of communications and public policy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 10,000 SIGNATURES: A group that campaigns for peace in the Middle East says it has drawn support for an online petition opposing a proposed boycott of Israeli universities and academics by Britain's main faculty union. EDUCATION AND COMPETITION: At a Congressional hearing, lawmakers asked whether universities' overseas ventures might be undermining America's economic competitiveness. TARGET ZERO: What is believed to be the last gun range on a Canadian campus has been ordered closed by the University of Toronto. HUMAN-RIGHTS FILING: A Turkish scholar at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities has petitioned the European Court of Human Rights to overturn the part of Turkey's penal code that criminalizes "denigrating Turkishness." Notes From AcademeWITH EVERY WOMAN, A STORYIn a two-week immersion program run by the University of San Francisco, nursing students visit rural Guatemalan villages to provide prenatal care alongside local midwives. The Chronicle ReviewLIBERALISM, DEMOCRACY, AND ISRAELRecent books question whether the Jewish state can, or even should, survive. But their authors, in appraising Zionist prejudices, don't seem to understand their own, writes Gadi Taub, an assistant professor of communications and public policy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. WALDEN ON THE BLUE RIDGEAn English professor and his students seek their inner Thoreau. By John Kitterman, an associate professor of English at Ferrum College. SMUGGLE THIS ESSAYThe most exotic aspect of the global black market, writes Carolyn Nordstrom, a professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, is how pervasive and quotidian it is. BIGOT BEGONEThe bad news is you're a biased voter. The good news is that you can acknowledge and correct for that, writes Dalton Conley, chairman of the department of sociology at New York University. HOOKEDThe photographer Barbara Mensch explores the rough beauty of the Fulton Fish Market on the cusp of its demise. QUALITY CONTROLThe accreditation process could certainly use reform. But a recently released, critical report won't help much, writes Alan Contreras, administrator of the Office of Degree Authorization of the Oregon Student Assistance Commission. DECONSTRUCT THIS: Lying versus self-justification. CRITICAL MASS: Is America Rome? Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersWHAT I'VE LEARNED FROM RECORDED LECTURESA professor defends his use of commercial products to develop course material. THE COST OF DOING BUSINESSIf you drive to work at a university, why should you be charged to park your car? MILLION-DOLLAR BABYA fund-raising office had two hours to raise $3,000 more and reach a record sum in cash gifts. DETAILS OF AVAILABLE POSTS, including teaching and research positions in higher education, administrative and executive jobs, and openings outside academe Gazette |