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From the issue dated May 23, 2008 |
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Short SubjectsC'EST LA VIEWant to live like a starving artist? Enroll in a Parisian university. COMMENCEMENT TALESA Nobel Prize-winning economist is honored at his grandson's graduation, two men who dropped out of college during World War II finally collect their degrees, a college holds its last ceremony under a grove of stately elms, and the leader of the band Devo returns to his alma mater. FRESH IDEA: Two students at the University of Wisconsin at Madison won a business competition for proposing that supermarkets begin growing produce atop their roofs. WHAT THEY'RE READING ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES: A list of the best-selling books. The FacultyADVOCATE FOR ADJUNCTSA philosopher has been making waves -- and enemies -- through his battle for contingent labor in academe in Washington State. OFF THE LISTA search committee thought it had selected 18 excellent candidates--until it met them. SYLLABUS: Students at Santa Clara University study California's blue gold. PEER REVIEW: A professor at the University of Cambridge will be the executive director of a Canadian physics institute. ... South Asia's new regional university picks a chief executive. ... A history professor at Columbia University takes over as director of the Institute for the Study of Europe. ... Eastern Michigan University chooses a new president. Research & BooksFANTASY ISLANDIn a recent memoir, the linguist Derek Bickerton recalls his controversial proposed experiment on the formation of creole languages. LEARNED SOCIETIES STUDY THEMSELVES: The humanities must avoid the trap of self-marginalization, said a speaker at the American Council of Learned Societies conference in Pittsburgh. Information TechnologyPIRATE-SPOTTINGTo catch students trading copyrighted songs online, the Recording Industry Association of America uses the same file-sharing software that online pirates love. OPEN ACCESS AS CRAFTDigital geeks could learn valuable lessons from Richard Sennett, a renowned sociologist of the analog world, writes Siva Vaidhyanathan. NEWS ANALYSIS: Music-industry lobbyists are pushing state legislators to pass bills aimed at curtailing illegal music downloading on college campuses. LINKED IN WITH: Michael P. Moulton, a professor at the University of Florida who has sued a company for reproducing and selling his lecture notes and study questions. Money & ManagementAFTERSHOCKS OF THE BUILDING BOOMColleges like to build, but they don't like to maintain, and costly deferred maintenance looms over many a campus. RESPONDING TO REALITY: Changes in higher education, like increasing costs and more-diverse students, will require changes in fund raising, a consulting company says. IN THE SPOTLIGHT: A former aide to the Senate Finance Committee predicts that college endowments will remain a hot topic in Congress. GIVING SOURS: The downturn in the economy has led to a drop in charitable giving. LEADING A FLAGSHIP: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill picks a dean to be its new chancellor. AthleticsTHE TRUE COSTS OF DIVISION I ATHLETICSA new NCAA report reveals that at many colleges, Division I teams cost a lot more than they bring in. But the report should identify which institutions subsidize which teams, writes Murray Sperber. NCAA + NAIA: The two college-athletics associations are talking about forging closer ties for their mutual benefit. BAD SPORTS: A new report by the National Collegiate Athletic Association shows that the vast majority of athletics departments operate in the red. Government & PoliticsNEW PLAYERS IN RENEWALRelatively inexperienced Congressional aides and new policy groups are taking the place of staff veterans and association lobbyists in crafting a compromise Higher Education Act. IN THE SPOTLIGHT: A former aide to the Senate Finance Committee predicts that college endowments will remain a hot topic in Congress. StudentsCONTROVERSIAL INVESTIGATIONSan Diego State University's decision to use federal undercover drug-enforcement agents in a sting operation has brought the institution both heat and praise. PIRATE-SPOTTINGTo catch students trading copyrighted songs online, the Recording Industry Association of America uses the same file-sharing software that online pirates love. FINANCIAL-AID OFFICES LOOK TO PLAN B: Colleges scramble to help students line up loans as lenders retreat from the uncertain market. DIVERSIFYING A DIVERSITY PROGRAM: Six months after suspending its controversial dormitory-based diversity discussions, the University of Delaware has approved a plan to replace them with a new residence-life program. InternationalDOCTORS AND DIVINERSIn South Africa, a new university program seeks to unite academic medicine and traditional healers in the fight against AIDS. C'EST LA VIEWant to live like a starving artist? Enroll in a Parisian university. CommentaryMAKING COLLEGE AFFORDABLENew aid policies mean thousands of students from low- and middle-income families will not have to pay tuition or take on debt to attend elite private institutions like Penn, writes Amy Gutmann, Penn's president. Even better would be a GI Bill-like effort by Congress to open college access for all. AFTER HARVARD'S AID ANNOUNCEMENTThe vice president of enrollment for Dickinson College surveys the student-aid landscape after elite colleges began offering more grants to students. THE TRUE COSTS OF DIVISION I ATHLETICSA new NCAA report reveals that at many colleges, Division I teams cost a lot more than they bring in. But the report should identify which institutions subsidize which teams, writes Murray Sperber. ASSESSING THE LIBERAL EDUCATIONStanley Katz says we need to create the benchmarks that will not only help institutions help themselves improve learning but also, with a lot of luck, reconceive higher education's goals. The Chronicle ReviewFANTASY ISLANDIn a recent memoir, the linguist Derek Bickerton recalls his controversial proposed experiment on the formation of creole languages. DNA'S INTEGRITYWhen honor codes meet genetic codes, causation is tough to unravel, writes David P. Barash. PROBING QUESTIONSPublic disapproval can spoil the mood for sex researchers. Luckily for us, a few have persevered, writes Mary Roach. MOUNTAINS OF HISTORYHillbillies may be the last tolerated American stereotype. But Appalachia, for all its poverty, has a rich past, writes Jeff Biggers. OPEN ACCESS AS CRAFTDigital geeks could learn valuable lessons from Richard Sennett, a renowned sociologist of the analog world, writes Siva Vaidhyanathan. FRAMEDFrederic Wertham has long been cast as a villain in the comics wars of the 1950s. The truth was more complicated, writes Gene Kannenberg Jr. THE RIDDLE IN THE FRONT ROWUnkempt, unpopular, unsociable -- no man is an island, but this student came pretty close, writes M. Garrett Bauman. SWIMMING IN PESTICIDESThe photographer Rick Nahmias witnesses migrant workers' risky business. CRITICAL MASS: When authors leave instructions to burn their works, should literary heirs comply? NOTA BENE: In current exhibits: images of black womanhood, and Barkley L. Hendricks's cool. Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersOFF THE LISTA search committee thought it had selected 18 excellent candidates--until it met them. DO YOU HAVE A BAD MENTOR?In every assistant professor there seems to lurk a Karate Kid seeking a Mr. Miyag. 'MY TEACHER DOESN'T LIKE ME'For department heads, distinguishing students' legitimate complaints from baseless ones is a vital job skill. |