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From the issue dated September 7, 2007 |
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Short SubjectsANGER MANAGEMENT 101Breathe deeply. Count to 10. Just don't hurl objects at your students, even when they deserve it. 'LUCKY DIPS': Oxford University offers up odd bottles of fine wine in biannual sales. HIGH-TECH ORIENTATION: Case Western Reserve University staged a scavenger hunt using cell phones capable of reading 2-D codes. HAPPY UNION: Crystal Lee Sutton, the inspiration for the film Norma Rae, donated her papers to Alamance Community College. CULTURE WATCH: Is the college-admissions process really as twisted as it is depicted in the novel Acceptance? The FacultyGREEN AND GREENERMore and more business schools are offering programs in sustainable development. ANGER MANAGEMENT 101Breathe deeply. Count to 10. Just don't hurl objects at your students, even when they deserve it. RED, WHITE, AND CLUELESSGranted, creating a core curriculum is no simple task. But can't we all agree that basic civics should be part of it? asks Harry R. Lewis, a professor of computer science at Harvard University. THE BOOKMAN COMETHOn the continuum from purist to profligate, where do most academics fall when it comes to selling desk copies? THE ANNUAL LABOR-SHORTAGE HOAXAll too often, students learn the hard way that education, like the stock market, is built on speculation. EXTREME TENURE DENIAL: DePaul University has canceled Norman G. Finkelstein's courses, taken away his office, and put him on leave, but the controversial political scientist plans to hold classes, even it means going to jail. TENURE BY PLEBISCITE: Competing petitions on a Web site have entangled the tenure bid of a Barnard College anthropologist in Israeli-Palestinian politics. PEER REVIEW: A leading Japanese stem-cell scientist has set up shop at a San Francisco institute but has not left behind his work at Kyoto University. ... A nanoscience pioneer at the University of California at Los Angeles will move to Northwestern University as a professor and director of a new chemistry center. ... Robert C. Dynes will step down next year as president of the University of California and return to do research in physics. SYLLABUS: Students at the University of Advancing Technology learn leadership in an online game. DAY-CARE BLUES: Professors at the University of Georgia have started a petition drive and plan a rally to push administrators to expand child-care programs on the campus. JUDGMENT CALL: A Virginia Tech professor of finance who presented April's massacre on the campus as an example of investment risk has walked out on his job after a meeting with the provost. Research & BooksAVOID 'LASTING HARM'The American Psychological Association has adopted stricter standards for its members' involvement in interrogations of suspected terrorists, but critics say the rules are still too lax. PSYCHOLOGISTS, INTERROGATEDA historian at the University of Wisconsin at Madison has prompted a painful debate about whether major figures in psychology collaborated with the CIA. RESEARCH TO THE RESCUEA major biotechnology center in a downtrodden North Carolina mill town will test supporters' beliefs about economic renewal. EMILY'S BLOGBig old lonely house. Overactive imagination. Maybe putting a few thoughts on the Web will help her chill. By Evan Eisenberg, an author in New York City. GAY ANXIETIESIn the 1950s and 60s, were gay artists emblems of national pride or signs of a homosexual mafia? Maybe both, says Michael S. Sherry, a professor of history at Northwestern University. VOICE OVERGeorge Washington University's Speech and Hearing Center has some clients determined to make big changes in the way their voices sound. FOR THE DEFENSE: A sociologist from Texas A&M talks with The Chronicle about what he learned while serving as an expert witness in the Abu Ghraib trials. VERBATIM: Blogs are just the latest example of American citizen journalism, says a scholar at the New York City College of Technology. HOT TYPE: A Muslim-American philanthropic group has dropped a libel suit against Yale University Press, among other defendants. NOTA BENE: An Indiana University historian's work on American boardinghouses examines the contrasts between life there and the domestic ideal. Government & PoliticsHARSH CONCLUSIONSIn its investigative report on the massacre at Virginia Tech, a state panel has concluded that the university erred, both in handling the mentally disturbed student and in responding to the shootings themselves. RESEARCH TO THE RESCUEA major biotechnology center in a downtrodden North Carolina mill town will test supporters' beliefs about economic renewal. THE $3.5-BILLION LOOPHOLESeveral nonprofit providers of student loans have squirreled away hundreds of millions of dollars more in federal subsidies than previously known, the Education Department has found. AVOID 'LASTING HARM'The American Psychological Association has adopted stricter standards for its members' involvement in interrogations of suspected terrorists, but critics say the rules are still too lax. THE LIBERAL MOMENTThe American left has its greatest political opening since the 60s, and its greatest philosophical one since the 30s, writes E.J. Dionne Jr., a columnist at The Washington Post and a professor at Georgetown University. WRIT PICKINGThe second annual Constitution Day quiz. By Lawrence Douglas and Alexander George, professors at Amherst College. MONEY PROBLEMS: A senior vice president at the American Council on Education has come under scrutiny in an audit of spending at North Carolina A&T State University, his former employer. ANOTHER DUST-UP: Kentucky's attorney general has warned the governor that his recent appointments to university governing boards violate state law. MORE HANDS IN THE POT: Scientists face a tougher time landing research grants from the National Science Foundation than in the past, but neither the number of recipients nor the quality of applications has declined. ELECTION WATCH: In political donations, higher-education employees favor Democratic candidates for president over Republicans, a study has shown. RULES TIGHTENED: Following reports of conflicts of interest in its Reading First program, the Education Department has written new contract language to deal with such problems. NO MORE LOANS: The College Board says it will leave the federal student-loan program so that officials of the group's member institutions can continue to receive reimbursements when they attend its meetings. CONFIDENTIALITY QUESTIONS: The National Institutes of Health has announced the final version of a policy governing a powerful, central repository of human genetic data. NO THANKS, MICHIGAN: Hillsdale College, long known for refusing federal funds, has turned its back on state support, too. ETHICAL SETTLEMENT: Almost 70 years after orphans were pressured to stutter as part of a speech experiment at the University of Iowa, the state has agreed to pay them a total of $925,000 to settle a lawsuit. IN BRIEF: A roundup of government and politics news. PRESSURE ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is pushing law schools to release race-specific data on admissions policies and success rates, and wants the American Bar Association to drop a commitment to diversity as a criterion for accreditation. Money & ManagementRECLAIMING THE HOKIE BRANDFacing a flood of illicit merchandise after the April shootings, Virginia Tech is working to win back control of its licensed images. RANK RESENTMENTU.S. News & World Report's college ratings changed little this year, but the response to its reputational survey has fallen as criticism has grown. SUBPOENAS FOR STUDY-ABROAD PROGRAMSAn investigation by New York State's attorney general has sent colleges scrambling to ensure the legality of their arrangements with providers of overseas education. STUDY ABROAD GROWS UPAs spending a semester overseas becomes more popular, colleges struggle to create practical standards. 11 AND COUNTING: The Chronicle's compilation of openly gay and lesbian presidents of American colleges is growing, thanks to messages from the chief executives themselves. 23-PERCENT RETURN: The 2007 fiscal year was one of the best ever for Harvard University's endowment. PREVAILING AGAINST A FORMER MEMBER: The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers has won a lengthy trademark-infringement battle. ACCREDITATION UPDATE: Recent actions by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. PEER REVIEW: A leading Japanese stem-cell scientist has set up shop at a San Francisco institute but has not left behind his work at Kyoto University. ... A nanoscience pioneer at the University of California at Los Angeles will move to Northwestern University as a professor and director of a new chemistry center. ... Robert C. Dynes will step down next year as president of the University of California and return to do research in physics. Information TechnologyPEERING IN AT PIRATESCampus-network officials at Illinois State University have embarked on a monitoring project that shows that the campus network is a haven for illegal activity. FROM BENCH-TOP TO LAPTOPBig Science became Team Science. Now Team Science is becoming Networked Science. How should universities and government respond? asks Diana Rhoten, founder and director of the knowledge-institutions program at the Social Science Research Council. ONLINE SCHOOL SUPPLY: The maker of Firefox has released a "Campus Edition" of the popular Web browser for free downloading. YEARNING FOR LECTURES: Colleges can go too far in exchanging classrooms for computer screens, writes a senior at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, who says he has been denied the campus experience he expected. TAKE IT FROM MISS NEW JERSEY: Freshmen at Wagner College got online-privacy advice from a celebrity who had been burned by social-networking sites. StudentsRANK RESENTMENTU.S. News & World Report's college ratings changed little this year, but the response to its reputational survey has fallen as criticism has grown. HARSH CONCLUSIONSIn its investigative report on the massacre at Virginia Tech, a state panel has concluded that the university erred, both in handling the mentally disturbed student and in responding to the shootings themselves. PEERING IN AT PIRATESCampus-network officials at Illinois State University have embarked on a monitoring project that shows that the campus network is a haven for illegal activity. $275 FOR YOUR TROUBLE? The College Board and NCS Pearson have agreed to pay a total of $2.85-million to settle a class-action lawsuit over SAT scoring errors. HIGHER STANDARDS SUGGESTED: An assessment of ACT scores indicates that some students may not really be ready for college. FOR THE CAREER-MINDED: Princeton Review's annual college survey has added a best-job-service category to its rankings. 4 POINTS DOWN: The College Board has attributed a continuing decline in combined SAT math and reading scores this year to greater diversity among the test-takers. WINDBLOWN EDUCATIONS: Thousands of students displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 have not yet returned to Louisiana and Mississippi colleges, says a report. MOM & DAD WERE RIGHT: First-year college students who happen to be assigned roommates with video-game consoles study 40 minutes less per day, on average. AthleticsBOTTOM LINE OF A MISMATCH: When Arkansas State University's football team visits the mighty University of Texas Longhorns, the score is measured in more than points. BUSTED BY E-MAIL: The NCAA has placed Purdue University on probation for two years after finding academic fraud in the women's basketball program. CASH WITH A SWOOSH: The University of Oregon has announced that the co-founder and chairman of Nike Inc. and his wife plan to give $100-million to the athletics program. SPLIT ELIGIBILITY: In an unusual move, the NCAA has ruled that academic missteps block a football recruit at the University of Mississippi from playing but that he can keep his scholarship. InternationalSUBPOENAS FOR STUDY-ABROAD PROGRAMSAn investigation by New York State's attorney general has sent colleges scrambling to ensure the legality of their arrangements with providers of overseas education. STUDY ABROAD GROWS UPAs spending a semester overseas becomes more popular, colleges struggle to create practical standards. A CALL FOR TRANSPARENCYTime will tell whether study-abroad programs deserve the legal scrutiny they are under. But they should do more to explain what they do, and how and why they do it, writes William W. Hoffa, an independent consultant in international education. NO NEED? The Canadian financial-aid system has quietly morphed from being predominantly need-based to relying on untargeted measures like tuition freezes and tax credits, a study has found. A FIRST IN CANADA: The arrival of students at temporary quarters at a ski resort in British Columbia marks the opening of Canada's first private, nonprofit, secular university. MORE FOREIGN STUDENTS: Admissions of graduate students from overseas have increased for the third straight year, a survey has found. UP TO A JUDGE: A scholar has been released from the Iranian prison where she had been held since May, but she cannot yet leave the country. $380,000 COMMITMENT: Students who attend the medical school newly set up by Duke University in Singapore must agree to repay the cost of their education if they do not work at least four years in the country after they graduate. NEGLECTED NO MORE: India's university system is the focus of an agenda of reform and development, the country's prime minister has announced, describing plans to create new higher-education institutions. ALLEGED TERRORIST TIES: Dozens of academics have signed two open letters to Germany's federal prosecutor, protesting the arrest and detention of a sociologist who specializes in critical research on urban gentrification. OUT OF THE INTELLECTUAL COLD: North Korea is preparing to create an English-language university, which would focus on business administration, computer science, and agriculture. SECURITY VETTING: Colleges may be affected by the U.S. Agency for International Development's plan to ensure that its grant money will not go to terrorists. 4 PROFESSORS ARRESTED: At least 150 students in and around Bangladesh's capital have been injured in clashes with the police in protests against the presence of the army on the campus of the University of Dhaka. Notes From AcademeVOICE OVERGeorge Washington University's Speech and Hearing Center has some clients determined to make big changes in the way their voices sound. The Chronicle ReviewTHE LIBERAL MOMENTThe American left has its greatest political opening since the 60s, and its greatest philosophical one since the 30s, writes E.J. Dionne Jr., a columnist at The Washington Post and a professor at Georgetown University. WRIT PICKINGThe second annual Constitution Day quiz. By Lawrence Douglas and Alexander George, professors at Amherst College. EMILY'S BLOGBig old lonely house. Overactive imagination. Maybe putting a few thoughts on the Web will help her chill. By Evan Eisenberg, an author in New York City. UNBEATABLE VALUESEven the most arcane, technical management issues in higher education can rest on moral choices, write Michael S. McPherson, former president of Macalester College, and Morton Owen Schapiro, president of Williams College. FROM BENCH-TOP TO LAPTOPBig Science became Team Science. Now Team Science is becoming Networked Science. How should universities and government respond? asks Diana Rhoten, founder and director of the knowledge-institutions program at the Social Science Research Council. GAY ANXIETIESIn the 1950s and 60s, were gay artists emblems of national pride or signs of a homosexual mafia? Maybe both, says Michael S. Sherry, a professor of history at Northwestern University. A CALL FOR TRANSPARENCYTime will tell whether study-abroad programs deserve the legal scrutiny they are under. But they should do more to explain what they do, and how and why they do it, writes William W. Hoffa, an independent consultant in international education. PRINTS IN PRINTA picture's worth a thousand words, so, thought the photographer Ralph Gibson, why not make books of them? RED, WHITE, AND CLUELESSGranted, creating a core curriculum is no simple task. But can't we all agree that basic civics should be part of it? asks Harry R. Lewis, a professor of computer science at Harvard University. CRITICAL MASS: The Mormon factor. Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersTHE BOOKMAN COMETHOn the continuum from purist to profligate, where do most academics fall when it comes to selling desk copies? THE ANNUAL LABOR-SHORTAGE HOAXAll too often, students learn the hard way that education, like the stock market, is built on speculation. DETAILS OF AVAILABLE POSTS, including teaching and research positions in higher education, administrative and executive jobs, and openings outside academe |