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From the issue dated October 12, 2007 |
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Short SubjectsA SHOCKING TREND"Don't tase me, bro" becomes a fashion statement. A CLEAN, WELL-LOADED ARCHIVE: Middlebury College has acquired a large cache of Hemingwayana from two nieces of the late author. HEY UP, ME DUCKS: Foreign students coming to Great Britain may find local dialects baffling. BACK TO NATURE: Cornell's Waste Management Institute has found a way to compost roadkill. ONCE MORE, THE IG NOBELS: This year's awards go to research projects involving Viagra for hamsters, wrinkled sheets, and the gay bomb, among other efforts. The Faculty'FAME IS A DOWNSIDE'Randy Pausch, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon who is dying of cancer, did not intend to become an Internet and television star. But he did, and he's looking on the bright side, as usual. ANIMAL ALTERNATIVESThe number of medical schools that use dogs or pigs to train doctors is shrinking fast, a result of both activist pressure and technological advances. TOOTHLESS TRUTHSThe AAUP's new report on academic freedom is a mix of undisputed old principles and alarming new lunacies, writes David Horowitz. 'GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING'Great books spurred Bob Dylan to reject a "passion for dumbness." It's that untraditionally framed reverence for tradition that makes Dylan apt reading for first-year humanities students, write Emily Ondine Wittman and Paul R. Wright. TOO MANY BAD APPLESAfter spending 25 years working with graduate students, a professor concludes it's not all it's cracked up to be. VISIBLE MANPressured to be seen at certain college events, a black professor decides to redefine his role on the campus. DON'T TEACH SO CLOSE TO MEMaybe, says Ms. Mentor, students and professors aren't meant to be good pals. PEER REVIEW: A well-known admissions officer has become "kind of a roving ombudsman," he says ... A bond analyst for colleges leaves for greener pastures ... A Virginia scholar and state climatologist says the state tried to quiet his views on global warming. FAMILY PERKS: A lawsuit filed by three former professors at Oral Roberts University outlines some unusual privileges extended to the president's children. TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: Five universities will begin training doctoral faculty from other departments to teach in graduate business programs, which are experiencing a shortage of professors. Research & BooksHIGH-WIRE ACTSScholars who advise political candidates find both risks and rewards. ANOTHER SCIENCE RACEFifty years after Sputnik, new concerns about international competition in science drive a sprawling research bill. 'THE ESSENTIAL MATERIAL'Harvey Green, a historian at Northeastern University, finds wood, and woodworking, viscerally relevant to his discipline. THE BETTING BOOMYou'd wager that academics across the disciplines would have studied the many facets of America's gambling mania. You'd lose, writes Alan Wolfe. PHILOSOPHY AND POP CULTUREWhen Homer Simpson demonstrates Aristotelian virtue, and Monty Python pits verificationism against holism, is philosophy made entertaining or is entertainment made stodgy? asks Stephen T. Asma. SMOKED OUTThe University of California and Stanford wisely rejected calls to shun research funds from tobacco companies. It was a refreshing case of academic freedom trumping PC showmanship, writes Henry I. Miller. GHOST MANAGERS: Drug companies play a far bigger role than previously suspected in the publication of journal articles, charges a Canadian academic. INTERNATIONAL MOVE: Woo Suk Hwang, the infamous former star of South Korea's stem-cell program, has reportedly restarted his cloning research in Thailand. PRESSURE FOR CHANGE: The U.S. Treasury Department has issued new regulations on how American publishers may deal with works by scholars in countries under U.S. trade embargoes. NOTA BENE: A political scientist examines why countries in the Middle East and East Asia make different decisions about seeking nuclear weapons. HOT TYPE: Long-unpublished novels by two late authors have turned up in the fall catalog of the University of Florida Press, which says it's just a coincidence. A CLEAN, WELL-LOADED ARCHIVE: Middlebury College has acquired a large cache of Hemingwayana from two nieces of the late author. ONCE MORE, THE IG NOBELS: This year's awards go to research projects involving Viagra for hamsters, wrinkled sheets, and the gay bomb, among other efforts. Government & PoliticsANOTHER SCIENCE RACEFifty years after Sputnik, new concerns about international competition in science drive a sprawling research bill. A DEMOCRATIC FRONT-RUNNERIn her college and law-school years, and later in her positions on higher education, Hillary Rodham Clinton has demonstrated a belief in "principled compromise." HIGH-WIRE ACTSScholars who advise political candidates find both risks and rewards. 10 TO TEND TOAnn H. Franke and Meyer Eisenberg offer rules for avoiding conflicts of interest. PREPARED FOR THE WORST: The National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs is giving serious thought to hiring a public-relations firm. ON THE UPSWING: Fewer than half of young people voted in 2004, says the Census Bureau, but that was more than in 2000. IN THE STATES: A roundup of higher-education news from the states. FREE-SPEECH CASE: The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the case of a preacher whose sermons were limited to one part of the Vincennes University campus. PROGRAM CANCELLED: The U.S. Department of Education will end a program that rewards guarantee agencies for averting defaults on student loans. PINK SLIPS: Student-loan providers are cutting staff and some services in response to a cut in federal subsidies. FINE SET: The U.S. Department of Energy has finalized a $3-million penalty that the University of California system must pay because classified information was removed from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. PRESSURE FOR CHANGE: The U.S. Treasury Department has issued new regulations on how American publishers may deal with works by scholars in countries under U.S. trade embargoes. Money & ManagementSHOW US THE LOYALTYIn an environment of ambitious professionals and eager headhunters, colleges seek creative ways to hang on to their best fund raisers. IN FROM THE FRINGEHome-schooled students are applying to college by the thousands, compelling admissions officers to devise new policies. MORE THAN MONEYSound financial planning is necessary, but not enough, to rescue colleges in distress, writes Terrence MacTaggart. HOW GREEN IS YOUR CAMPUS? A consortium plans to create a rating system for sustainable landscape design at colleges and elsewhere. DIVERGING MISSIONS: The Helene Fuld College of Nursing, in New York, has separated itself from its teaching hospital. ART CONTROVERSY: The Randolph College Board of Trustees has voted to sell four paintings from the college museum's collection at auction. THANKS, BUT ...: A $200-million gift to Claremont McKenna College is the largest donation ever to a liberal-arts college, but not everybody's happy about it. DECISION REVERSED: An alumni association of the Mississippi University for Women, which the university's president had sought to dissolve last spring, will continue to operate, a state judge has ruled. IN BRIEF: A roundup of higher-education news in money and management. PEER REVIEW: A well-known admissions officer has become "kind of a roving ombudsman," he says ... A bond analyst for colleges leaves for greener pastures ... A Virginia scholar and state climatologist says the state tried to quiet his views on global warming. Information TechnologyTECHNOLOGY IN COMMONUnder a new system, college students and staff members can get to a variety of online services with only one password. 'FAME IS A DOWNSIDE'Randy Pausch, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon who is dying of cancer, did not intend to become an Internet and television star. But he did, and he's looking on the bright side, as usual. LINKED IN: The president of the Motion Picture Association of America on why it pushed hard for an antipiracy measure that colleges said was too harsh. THE WIRED CAMPUS: A roundup of information-technology news in higher education. StudentsIN FROM THE FRINGEHome-schooled students are applying to college by the thousands, compelling admissions officers to devise new policies. NATIONAL ACTION: Students at more than 100 colleges staged walkouts last week to hold rallies in support of the so-called Jena Six. 'DINERO GRATIS': Community-college trustees and presidents are urged to market their institutions in Spanish. ADMISSIONS CONFERENCE: Problems in the admissions process were the hot topic at the annual meeting of college admissions officers and high-school counselors. AthleticsPOWER PLAYERSWho are the 10 most powerful people in college sports? GRADUATED SUCCESS: Athletes in the nation's biggest college-sports programs continue to graduate at high levels, the NCAA says. InternationalCROWDED CLASSROOMS IN INDIAThe country's economic success has left universities suffering from a shortage of faculty members. UNFAIRLY SINGLED OUTBritish scholars made the right call in rejecting the latest proposal to boycott Israeli academe. But the proposals themselves are damaging and only threaten progress toward peace in the Middle East, writes David Newman. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE: The president of Venezuela says he will nationalize any educational institution that doesn't adopt his socialist government's new curriculum. GOING GLOBAL: The Graduate Management Admission Council is trying to expand its overseas membership and identify new markets for graduate business education. ON LEGAL ADVICE: Britain's main faculty union has put the brakes on a proposal to boycott Israeli universities. EXITS BLOCKED: Nine students died and 51 were injured in a university fire in Moscow last week. ADMISSIONS PROBLEMS: Makerere University, in Uganda, has revoked more than 200 degrees because of academic fraud. Notes From Academe'THE ESSENTIAL MATERIAL'Harvey Green, a historian at Northeastern University, finds wood, and woodworking, viscerally relevant to his discipline. The Chronicle ReviewTHE BETTING BOOMYou'd wager that academics across the disciplines would have studied the many facets of America's gambling mania. You'd lose, writes Alan Wolfe. TOOTHLESS TRUTHSThe AAUP's new report on academic freedom is a mix of undisputed old principles and alarming new lunacies, writes David Horowitz. UNFAIRLY SINGLED OUTBritish scholars made the right call in rejecting the latest proposal to boycott Israeli academe. But the proposals themselves are damaging and only threaten progress toward peace in the Middle East, writes David Newman. MORE THAN MONEYSound financial planning is necessary, but not enough, to rescue colleges in distress, writes Terrence MacTaggart. 'GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING'Great books spurred Bob Dylan to reject a "passion for dumbness." It's that untraditionally framed reverence for tradition that makes Dylan apt reading for first-year humanities students, write Emily Ondine Wittman and Paul R. Wright. PHILOSOPHY AND POP CULTUREWhen Homer Simpson demonstrates Aristotelian virtue, and Monty Python pits verificationism against holism, is philosophy made entertaining or is entertainment made stodgy? asks Stephen T. Asma. SMOKED OUTThe University of California and Stanford wisely rejected calls to shun research funds from tobacco companies. It was a refreshing case of academic freedom trumping PC showmanship, writes Henry I. Miller. LAYERS OF SELFThe personal is always political, but the political is not always personal for Indian female artists represented in an exhibition at Brandeis. 10 TO TEND TOAnn H. Franke and Meyer Eisenberg offer rules for avoiding conflicts of interest. CRITICAL MASS: Women and hip-hop. Letters to the EditorChronicle CareersTOO MANY BAD APPLESAfter spending 25 years working with graduate students, a professor concludes it's not all it's cracked up to be. VISIBLE MANPressured to be seen at certain college events, a black professor decides to redefine his role on the campus. DON'T TEACH SO CLOSE TO MEMaybe, says Ms. Mentor, students and professors aren't meant to be good pals. DETAILS OF AVAILABLE POSTS, including teaching and research positions in higher education, administrative and executive jobs, and openings outside academe |