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From the issue dated April 18, 2008 |
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Special Report: Virginia Tech, One Year LaterNEW MOMENTUMVirginia Tech invoked "Hokie spirit" in making a rapid quick recovery from the mass shootings on the campus in April 2007. Some marketing experts see the strategy as a wise one. A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE: In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings, colleges nationwide have made changes in how they identify and handle threats to campus safety. STEADY HAND: Charles W. Steger, president of Virginia Tech, endured a college leader's worst nightmare and has emerged not unscathed, but widely admired. NEW EFFORTS, FEW FUNDS: As Virginia Tech sifts through advice and follows some of it, officials are dealing with another Korean-American student's suicide and, as yet, no financial help from the state. GUN BILLS FAIL: A rush of proposed state legislation to allow firearms on college campuses has produced little change. Short SubjectsFRIES WITH THAT?A team from Purdue University won the 21st Rube Goldberg Machine Contest with a device that made a hamburger in 156 steps. STROKE OF GENIUS: A professor at Northland College has invented a canoe paddle for one-armed boaters. TWO THUMBS UP: Ryerson University, in Toronto, will offer classes this fall in a multiplex cinema that has been designed as a dual-use facility. THE EXAMINED LIFE: A fine-arts graduate student at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville lived in an "inside out" house on the quad to dramatize the lack of privacy in the era of social-networking Web sites. Notes From AcademeDEGREES OF RECONCILIATIONThe University of Oregon and other West Coast institutions are offering honorary degrees to the Japanese-American students they expelled at the start of World War II. Research & BooksMUM'S THE WORDAnimal researchers are declining to go public about their work rather than abandon it as protests increase in violence. PROTECTING ANCIENT ARTIFACTSIsraeli, Palestinian, and American archaeologists have unveiled a draft agreement on archaeological and cultural heritage that they hope to see included in an eventual Middle East peace agreement. The FacultyA FLAGSHIP IS RAIDEDAt cash-strapped public institutions like the University of Wisconsin at Madison, professors are being wooed away by competitors offering higher pay and better terms. MUM'S THE WORDAnimal researchers are declining to go public about their work rather than abandon it as protests increase in violence. PEER REVIEW: A new administrator in the University of Texas system will help students transfer from two-year colleges. ... A longtime employee is the next provost at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. ... An scholar of English who specializes in modernism heads west, from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale to Pomona College. Information TechnologyPHISHING TACKLEA growing plague of clever e-mail scams, aimed at colleges nationwide, has campus-network officials worried about how to combat them. MEASURED SUCCESSAmid increasing demands to hold colleges accountable for their academic performance, advocates for electronic portfolios of students' work say the systems can provide the assessment data that lawmakers and accreditors want. LINKED IN WITH: Jonathan Zittrain, a professor of Internet governance and regulation at the University of Oxford, who foresees the end of innovation on the network unless users figure out ways to combat bad behavior. NEWS ANALYSIS: The University of Massachusetts has announced an online-education program in China, but campus officials with experience there say it may be speaking too soon. Money & ManagementMEASURED SUCCESSAmid increasing demands to hold colleges accountable for their academic performance, advocates for electronic portfolios of students' work say the systems can provide the assessment data that lawmakers and accreditors want. KEEP ON BUILDING: Despite economic uncertainty, campus construction continues apace, in part because of nontraditional financing plans like public-private partnerships. WHAT TO MAKE OF AN ARBORETUM: A landscape architect asks: Is it properly a wilderness or a garden? BAD WHITEWASH: A mistake during a renovation project at New York University has resulted in lead contamination in a Manhattan neighborhood. FATE UP IN THE AIR: One of academe's finest flying saucers is on an endangered list because it doesn't have skyboxes. MILLIONS FOR TWO: Tufts University and Lesley University will share a $272-million gift from trusts set up by a Tufts alumnus. GRASSLEY'S NEW HIRE: The new senior counsel to a key U.S. senator intends to follow her predecessor's record of investigating college endowments and other nonprofit tax matters. HANDHELD HELP: A bill in committee in the U.S. House of Representatives would provide relief to colleges and others that give their employees cellphones and BlackBerrys. LESS THAN SPORTING: A group of college presidents and athletic directors have objected to the prominence of beer commercials during the NCAA men's basketball final. Government & PoliticsCONFLICTS OF INTEREST?Despite a settlement with New York's attorney general, Sallie Mae continues to play host to the online presence of a few colleges' student-aid operations. AFFIRMATIVE-ACTION CASE: A lawsuit by a rejected student accuses the University of Texas at Austin of improperly considering race in admissions. FALLING FUNDS: Less money from the federal government means fewer and smaller Perkins Loans for students, colleges say. SEEKING CONSIDERATION: Credit unions want recognition, in the form of favorable subsidy rates, for their growing role in providing student loans. GRASSLEY'S NEW HIRE: The new senior counsel to a key U.S. senator intends to follow her predecessor's record of investigating college endowments and other nonprofit tax matters. HANDHELD HELP: A bill in committee in the U.S. House of Representatives would provide relief to colleges and others that give their employees cellphones and BlackBerrys. StudentsHEMINGWAY AND A HOT DOGCasting aside a longtime prohibition, campus libraries are choosing to welcome snackers — as long as they're tidy — among the bookshelves. THE TALK OF 2-YEAR COLLEGES: At the annual meeting of the American Association of Community Colleges, campus leaders discussed the growing pressures they face, the newest of which is their states' budget deficits. AthleticsLESS THAN SPORTING: A group of college presidents and athletic directors have objected to the prominence of beer commercials during the NCAA men's basketball final. InternationalPROTECTING ANCIENT ARTIFACTSIsraeli, Palestinian, and American archaeologists have unveiled a draft agreement on archaeological and cultural heritage that they hope to see included in an eventual Middle East peace agreement. UNPRECEDENTED ATTENTION: Growing public interest in international education, and increasing scrutiny from state officials, drove discussions on ethics in the field at a recent conference. 2 YEARS IN THE WORLD: Community colleges in the United States are seen as a model by developing countries looking to train a skilled work force, even as the institutions wrestle with issues of global education, said speakers at the annual meeting of the American Association of Community Colleges. NEWS ANALYSIS: The University of Massachusetts has announced an online-education program in China, but campus officials with experience there say it may be speaking too soon. CommentaryDISTRESSED AND DISTURBEDVaried levels of unhappiness, mental illness, and potential for violence exist among college students, writes Morton M. Silverman, and there are good models to address them all. EXPLAINING FERPASteven J. McDonald clears up widespread misconceptions about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. WORST-CASE SCENARIOSSeveral state legislatures are considering bills to permit concealed weapons on college campuses. Bad idea, says Jesus M. Villahermosa Jr. The Chronicle ReviewBATTLES OF CONSCIENCEScholars across cultures are asking whether the Islamic tradition of jihad provides a doctrine of just warfare, writes Evan R. Goldstein. A CRITIC REVIEWS HIS WORKAt 95, the literary giant M.H. Abrams offers a close reading of his career, writes Jeffrey J. Williams. TREATMENT OPTIONSHealth-finance analysts weigh government-run programs against an open market. But why not have both? asks Phillip Longman. BUCKLE UPThirty-five years after Erica Jong's Fear of Flying took off, the feminist classic continues its turbulent journey, writes Elaine Showalter. CELLULOID UNDER SIEGEThe digital age is disorienting and overwhelming for traditional film-studies scholars, writes Thomas Doherty. TO ALL APPEARANCESIn his latest work, the playwright Itamar Moses engagingly explores personal and aesthetic trickery, writes Julia M. Klein. WESTERN FACERobb Kendrick shoots contemporary tintypes of today's cowboys. A CLOSER LOOK AT AFRICAIt's hard to explain the continent's current troubles without shortchanging either historical complexities or modern culpabilities, writes Moses Ochonu. CRITICAL MASSNot all commentators like Stuff White People Like, a blog so successful that it's becoming a book. NOTA BENEHitching's Hitches and Niches: Books on white weddings, Commie-fighting housewives of the 1950s, and tough career and family choices facing women today Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersARE YOU A GOOD PROTEGE?Failing to seek, find, and keep a good relationship with a mentor in the tenure-track years is a serious mistake. MY BEST FACE FORWARDTired of being typecast as an aging adjunct, a job candidate turns to Botox. NOT YOUR FATHER'S PH.D.A devoted blogger confronts his fear that his virtual life is damaging his career prospects in academe. DETAILS OF AVAILABLE POSTS, including teaching and research positions in higher education, administrative and executive jobs, and openings outside academe |