A Guide to the September 15, 1995, Issue
of The Chronicle of Higher Education
Items relevant to more than one category
may appear more than once in this guide.
To read the complete text of the article, click on the highlighted words.
INTERNATIONAL
IN CANADA, A SEARCH FOR MORE STUDENTS
Faced with a sudden drop in student applications, universities
across the country are recruiting more aggressively, lowering
admission standards, and even embarking on provocative, sassy
advertising campaigns.
IN RUSSIA, A STRUGGLE TO CONTINUE REFORMS
In the midst of the country's economic upheaval, universities
are dealing with their own fiscal woes, attempting to prepare
their students for a new society, and rethinking their basic
mission and how they go about their business.
IN JAPAN, TROUBLE FOR FEMALE SENIORS
As the country's economy continues to stagnate, women are
getting a chilly reception from Japanese businesses that are
hiring new college graduates.
IN AUSTRALIA, A DEBATE OVER TENURE
Academics and their national unions are worried about a sharp
decline in the proportion of faculty members in tenured
positions, and about the government's apparent interest in
developing alternatives to the tenure system.
- IN MASSACHUSETTS, Williams College is going ahead with plans
to bestow an honorary degree on the Prime Minister of
Singapore, Goh Chok Tong, a Williams alumnus, despite
opposition from some faculty members.
- IN GERMANY, 75 well-known intellectuals are petitioning the
German President to refrain from presenting an award to
Annemarie Schimmel, a scholar of Islam who has expressed
controversial views of the author Salman Rushdie.
RESEARCH & PUBLISHING
BONES OF CONTENTION
A legal battle over who has the right to excavate fossils on
public land has, not surprisingly, pitted scientists against
commercial dealers. But some scientists think the dealers do
valuable work that cash-strapped academics cannot.
- The government's seizure of "Sue," the most complete and
best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found, has
sent a clear warning to dealers of the consequences of
excavating fossils on public land.
- Digging up dinosaur fossils is neither glamorous nor easy
nor lucrative. Just ask anyone who has done it.
THE NEW LATINO COMMUNITY OF THE MIDWEST
Refugio I. Rochin, director of a research institute at Michigan
State University, is leading efforts to study a recent tide of
Latino migration to the Midwest and to avert in the region some
of the ethnic turmoil Latinos face elsewhere.
- NEW EVIDENCE from the Hubble Space Telescope appears to
confirm the suspicion of some cosmologists that the universe
is as young as 9.5 billion years old. The problem is that
this theory would make it younger than some of its stars.
- VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS 250 million years ago in present-day
Siberia were responsible for the greatest extinction of life
ever, according to a new dating of the volcanoes by
University of California geologists.
- JULY WAS ONE OF THE HOTTEST JULYS on record in Antarctica,
according to John Christy, an atmospheric scientist at the
University of Alabama at Huntsville.
- HOT TYPE:
- Discourse is leaving Indiana University Press. Starting
in January, the cultural-studies journal will be
published at Wayne State University Press under the
editorship of Roswitha Mueller, a professor of German at
the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.
- Transformation, a new journal published by Maisonneuve
Press, is unabashedly for classical Marxists only. The
editors, both English professors, say that articles are
not welcome unless they toe the Marxist line.
- 94 NEW SCHOLARLY BOOKS, briefly described:
- Nota Bene: Remarkable, Unspeakable New York: A Literary
History, by Shaun O'Connell, a professor of English at
the University of Massachusetts at Boston. The book is
published by Beacon Press.
PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL CONCERNS
DESPERATELY SEEKING PRESIDENTS
Even top universities are finding it difficult and time
consuming to recruit new leaders. Tough searches have become
common, observers say, because the jobs are so complicated, the
scrutiny so public, and the climate so political.
JUDGE SIDES WITH REGENT IN CONTRACT CASE
A state judge in Virginia has sided with Regent University in a
case involving three professors who claimed the renewable
contracts they had signed with Regent in essence gave them
tenure. Regent, and the judge, said they did not.
A DEBATE OVER TENURE IN AUSTRALIA
Academics and their national unions are worried about a sharp
decline in the proportion of faculty members in tenured
positions, and about the government's apparent interest in
developing alternatives to the tenure system: Page A43
- A FEDERAL APPEALS COURT vindicated Vassar College last week,
ruling that a female professor had not been denied tenure in
1985 because she was married and had children. The court
also recommended that a lower court dismiss her lawsuit.
- MORE THAN 100 SENIOR PROFESSORS at Rutgers University have
signed a petition expressing "deep discontent" with their
president, Francis L. Lawrence. They say the petition is not
related to a racial controversy besetting Mr. Lawrence.
- EAGER TO PROMOTE A RE-EXAMINATION of tenure, an official of
the American Association for Higher Education recently said
that academe's three main faculty unions "understand that
tenure is on the table." It turns out they don't.
- ABOUT 250 PEOPLE gathered at the University of Toledo last
month to celebrate the 75th anniversary of women's suffrage
by re-enacting a rally like those held by suffragists before
1920.
- A VICE-PRESIDENT at Umpqua Community College has said he
will stop drowning stray cats and will leave animal control
on the campus to professionals: A6
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
PROTECTING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ON LINE
The Clinton Administration last week recommended only minor
changes in copyright law, but it still drew criticism from
scholars, librarians, and college officials concerned about
preserving access to copyrighted materials.
NEW THREATS TO ON-LINE SECURITY
Security experts say two new types of attacks on computers
should serve as a wake-up call to users, who must learn to
sacrifice convenience for safety. The attacks target users of
a word-processing program and PostScript files.
- THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA has raised hackles throughout
cyberspace by filing a request for a patent on a technology
already in wide use on the World-Wide Web -- "applets," or
software that helps applications perform certain tasks.
- THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON and Lehigh University plan to offer
live "cybercasts" of their football games on the Internet
this fall.
- BOSTON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, in collaboration with Barnes &
Noble Bookstores, have unveiled a comprehensive World-Wide
Web service for college students across the country.
- A UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN instructor uses the
World-Wide Web to teach innovative ways of studying American
literature.
- STUDENTS AND AN INSTRUCTOR at Augustana College in South
Dakota are working on an interactive, multimedia game that
they hope will give students greater insight into the life
and times of Jesus Christ.
- INFORMATION-TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES, a new feature of The
Chronicle, lists 19 new software programs, 10 new Internet
mailing lists, 9 new videos, 7 new books, and 9 other
Internet resources.
FEDERAL & STATE GOVERNMENTS (U.S.A.)
THE LONG HANDLE OF CONGRESS'S BUDGET AX
Officials at the University of Washington fear that
Congressional efforts to balance the budget could set back
programs throughout the university, from medical and scientific
research to student grants and loans.
EDUCATORS SEE TREND AGAINST MINORITY ACCESS
A combination of adverse judicial decisions and unexpected
policy changes in several states has alarmed college officials,
who say the current debate over affirmative action and related
issues could have "a chilling effect" on minorities.
PROTECTING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ON LINE
The Clinton Administration last week recommended only minor
changes in copyright law, but it still drew criticism from
scholars, librarians, and college officials concerned about
preserving access to copyrighted materials.
PROPOSED POSTAL RULES ANGER COLLEGES
The U.S. Postal Service is trying to limit the ways in which
large organizations can receive discounts on first-class mail.
Concern over the issue has led to the formation of the National
Association of College and University Mail Services.
BATTLE BREWS OVER STUDENT AID
In a series of speeches last week and this, President Clinton
and his top aides repeatedly vowed to resist Congressional
plans to cut federal loans and grants to students in the
interest of budget cutting.
- SEN. CLAIBORNE PELL, a veteran Rhode Island Democrat and the
sponsor of legislation that created Pell Grants, announced
last week that he would not seek re-election. The program is
the U.S. government's major source of student grants.
- THE SENATE JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE on the Constitution last
week started a series of hearings on affirmative action in
federal programs.
- SEN. ROBERT J. DOLE, the majority leader and a Kansas
Republican, last week criticized proposed history-teaching
standards for giving a negative view of American history. He
spoke at an American Legion convention.
- A BIPARTISAN GROUP of 17 Senators has sent a letter to
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman that decries the
conditions in which many research animals are raised before
they are sold to laboratories.
BUSINESS & PHILANTHROPY
THE FUND RAISER AS COLLEGE PRESIDENT
Rita Bornstein, the head of Rollins College since 1990, is one
of several college leaders who have moved from the development
office to the president's office at American colleges. Under
her aegis, Rollins's endowment has risen 57 per cent.
LAST GIFT OF A UNIVERSITY'S GREATEST BENEFACTOR
The University of Richmond will receive $35-million from the
estate of E. Claiborne Robins, Sr., the institution's most
generous benefactor. In all, the Robins family has given the
university $160-million.
PROPOSED POSTAL RULES ANGER COLLEGES
The U.S. Postal Service is trying to limit the ways in which
large organizations can receive discounts on first-class mail.
Concern over the issue has led to the formation of the National
Association of College and University Mail Services.
- THE PRESIDENT OF TRINITY COLLEGE in Washington, D.C., has
threatened to sue the National Alumni Forum, whose president
has belittled the women's college's academic standing in
connection with a fight with conservative alumnae.
- MONTANA'S ATTORNEY GENERAL has concluded that the University
of Montana and its foundation violated state law in selling
property to a private developer at a price below its market
value.
- CITY COLLEGE of the City University of New York erected five
wrought-iron gates at entrances to its campus in the cause
of better security, but now members of the West Harlem
neighborhood say they feel shut out.
- A BAD REVIEW OF CAMPUS CUISINE caused a food-services
contractor at the University of Virginia to hide 4,000
copies of the student newspaper this month. His theft was
discovered.
- THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT MADISON'S museum wanted the
skeleton of a rhinoceros that died 10 years ago at the
Milwaukee Zoo. To strip the carcass to the bone, museum
officials buried it. Last month, they unearthed it.
- 19 FOUNDATION GRANTS; eight gifts and bequests.
STUDENTS
LIBERTARIANISM HITS THE CAMPUS
The philosophy, which opposes any government efforts to
restrict personal or economic liberty, has won some converts at
American colleges, attracting adherents from both the left and
the right of the political spectrum.
A SEARCH FOR MORE STUDENTS IN CANADA
Faced with a sudden drop in student applications, universities
across the country are recruiting more aggressively, lowering
admission standards, and even embarking on provocative, sassy
advertising campaigns.
TROUBLE FOR FEMALE SENIORS IN JAPAN
As the country's economy continues to stagnate, women are
getting a chilly reception from Japanese businesses that are
hiring new college graduates.
- BOSTON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, in collaboration with Barnes &
Noble Bookstores, have unveiled a comprehensive World-Wide
Web service for college students across the country.
- ONLY 17 PER CENT OF FRESHMEN at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology passed a writing test this fall. Faculty
members had raised the standards on the test since last
year.
- A LITERARY JOURNAL proposed by minority students at
Dartmouth College ran into a snag after staff members found
out they had to permit white students to join in order to
receive student-activity funds from the college.
- SIGMA PHI EPSILON, a national fraternity, suspended its
chapter at the University of Arkansas after members were
accused of throwing a chair at a black professor.
- A MAN WHO WAS CAUGHT FORGING a recommendation when he
applied to the University of Texas has now been charged with
stealing thousands of copies of the student newspaper that
reported his scheme.
ATHLETICS
NEW BOOK ON NCAA DRAWS STRONG REACTIONS
In "Unsportsmanlike Conduct," Walter Byers, the long-time head
of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, writes that
athletes should be paid. His 180-degree turn on the issue seems
to have satisfied no one.
- THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON and Lehigh University plan to offer
live "cybercasts" of their football games on the Internet
this fall.
- THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA'S football coach will allow
reporters from the student newspaper to cover his team's
practices. Tom Osborne was upset about editorial cartoons in
the Daily Nebraskan.
- NIKE INC., the powerful manufacturer of athletics wear, has
hired an insider to help it navigate the political shoals
of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
- LIBERTY UNIVERSITY dropped a lawsuit against the National
Collegiate Athletic Association after it clarified its new
rules against unsportsmanlike conduct to insure that they do
not forbid prayer on the football field.
- THE NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION placed. Bethune
Cookman College on four years' probation last week for
providing impermissible financial aid to athletes and for
using ineligible athletes in several sports.
#
- THE #BUDGET of the National Collegiate Athletic Association
# is projected to continue growing, in terms of both revenues
# and expenditures, in 1995-96. A statistical table gives the
# details.
- MORE THAN 10,000 PEOPLE descended on Berry College last
month to watch top archers from around the world compete in
the Archery Shooters Association's International Archery
Tournament.
- BRIEFLY NOTED: Middle Tennessee State University says it
will move to Division I-A, and Alabama State University
fires two coaches for using ineligible players.
OPINION & LETTERS
THE FAILURE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
"Instead of offering reasons and excuses for perennial failure,
if blacks and other groups work to become competitive -- both
in academic and economic performance -- they will dispel any
notion of inferiority" and realize the American dream, writes
Dinesh D'Souza, of the American Enterprise Institute.
DON'T LOOK ONLY AT TEST SCORES
Opponents of affirmative action rely so much on comparisons of
standardized-test scores that, if they succeed in eradicating
the practice, we might find ourselves with an admissions
process that "abandons responsible discretion in favor of a
mechanical, Orwellian system," writes Leigh H. Taylor, dean of
the Southwestern University School of Law.
WINNERS AND LOSERS IN THE FUND WARS
Francis Slakey, an adjunct professor of physics at Georgetown
University, writes about the different priorities education
programs enjoy on Capitol Hill. While science programs tend to
be well financed, valuable social programs needed by poor,
disadvantaged students are losing funds.
- MARGINALIA: flubs and fumbles from the groves of academe.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
THE ARTS
AMERICAN GHOSTS AT SHAKESPEARE'S THEATER
A play by a University of Georgia professor about the actor
Edwin Booth and his brother, John Wilkes Booth, is being
produced at the Globe, a reproduction of the Elizabethan
theater in which the Bard's plays were performed.
FOUND OBJECTS AND FAR EASTERN SYMBOLS
"Moongate: East/West Paper," on exhibit through October 8 at
Marywood College, features wall sculptures fashioned by Susan
Diamond out of hand-made paper and out of rope, metal, and
stone from the streets of New York City.