Author Archives: E Wayne Ross

Live From Another Stunned Campus…

Posted on February 18, 2008 | Comments Off on Live From Another Stunned Campus…

Inside Higher Ed: Live From Another Stunned Campus…

In the hours after last week’s shooting at Northern Illinois University, Michael Van Der Harst wasn’t watching the television coverage of his campus. He was helping feed it.

As an editor at the Northern Star, the student newspaper, and a reporter for the campus station, Northern Television Center, Van Der Harst split his time speaking to sources and fielding phone calls until 2 a.m. “When I hung up the phone it would start ringing instantaneously,” the Northern Illinois junior said the morning after Steve Kazmierczak, a former NIU graduate student, killed five students plus himself in a lecture hall rampage. (For an update on developments at Northern Illinois, see the bottom of this article.)

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Posted in Media

New York: Marymount Being Sold; Village to Gain Taxes

Posted on February 18, 2008 | Comments Off on New York: Marymount Being Sold; Village to Gain Taxes

The New York Times: Marymount Being Sold; Village to Gain Taxes

FORDHAM UNIVERSITY has agreed to sell the historic Marymount College campus in Tarrytown for $27 million to EF Education, a private language school with 10 campuses in the country and 35 throughout the world.

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Posted in Corporate University

Colorado: Benson speaks his mind

Posted on February 18, 2008 | Comments Off on Colorado: Benson speaks his mind

Denver Post: Benson speaks his mind
The rough-edged oilman who may become CU’s next president loves challenges.

Bruce Benson was answering questions about his support for diversity on campus last week when he assured University of Colorado students that he absolutely supports the “handicaps.”

Students booed. But he used the term again.

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Posted in Administration

California: After Prop. 92’s defeat, the state’s community colleges should consider raising class fees.

Posted on February 18, 2008 | Comments Off on California: After Prop. 92’s defeat, the state’s community colleges should consider raising class fees.

Los Angeles Times: Pay more, learn more

After Prop. 92’s defeat, the state’s community colleges should consider raising class fees.

Finally, a silver lining to California’s budget crisis: It no doubt played a role in sinking Proposition 92, which would have lowered community college fees and guaranteed the college system a higher share of state funding through a damaging ballot-box budgeting formula.

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Posted in Administration

Where religion, ideology and the Web cross

Posted on February 18, 2008 | Comments Off on Where religion, ideology and the Web cross

Los Angeles Times: Where religion, ideology and the Web cross

The College of William & Mary’s president, Gene R. Nichol, quits — the latest incident in a string of campus disputes.

WASHINGTON — The College of William & Mary, the nation’s second oldest, lost its president last week after a culture-war clash that began when he ordered the removal of an 18-inch brass cross from the altar of the historic Wren Chapel.

His decision, an act of legal principle to some and a blunder of liberal activism to others, touched off a revolt among conservative bloggers and alumni of the state-supported school in Williamsburg, Va., and led to his resignation Tuesday.

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Posted in Campus Life

$20 Million Saudi Gift to Georgetown U Is Questioned

Posted on February 16, 2008 | Comments Off on $20 Million Saudi Gift to Georgetown U Is Questioned

The Washington Post: $20 Million Saudi Gift Is Questioned

A Virginia congressman has asked Georgetown University to explain how it used a $20 million donation from a Saudi prince for its academic center on Muslim and Christian relations.

Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R) sent a letter yesterday to university President John J. DeGioia expressing concern about the donation and asking whether the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding has ever produced any reports critical of Saudi Arabia.

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Posted in International

Arizona: Guns in schools considered

Posted on February 16, 2008 | Comments Off on Arizona: Guns in schools considered

The Arizona Republic: Guns in schools considered
State to debate bill that would OK firearms on campus

A day after a gunman killed five people and then himself on an Illinois college campus, Arizona lawmakers were preparing to debate whether those with proper permits should be allowed to carry their guns onto school grounds.

Senate Bill 1214, which a legislative committee will consider Monday, would exempt concealed-carry permit holders from a state law that bars individuals from bringing deadly weapons onto campuses of private or public K-12 schools, colleges or universities in Arizona

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Posted in Campus Life

Some Anthropologists Continue the Slow Push Toward Open Access

Posted on February 15, 2008 | Comments Off on Some Anthropologists Continue the Slow Push Toward Open Access

The Chronicle: Some Anthropologists Continue the Slow Push Toward Open Access

When the American Anthropological Association announced in September that it would move its publishing apparatus from the University of California Press to Wiley-Blackwell, anthropology blogs and e-mail lists buzzed with discontent. Some advocates of open-access publishing complained that moving to a for-profit publisher seemed like a step backward. And the switch would almost certainly mean higher prices for libraries, they said, which might spark a decline in subscriptions.

“What good is the AAA to its members if its primary goal is survival, rather than the promotion and dissemination of our research?” asked Christopher M. Kelty, an assistant professor of anthropology at Rice University, on the group blog Savage Minds, when the deal was announced.

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Posted in Open access

Missouri: ATSU_president arrested for DUI_

Posted on February 15, 2008 | Comments Off on Missouri: ATSU_president arrested for DUI_

Kirksville Daily Express: ATSU_president arrested for DUI_

The president of A.T. Still University is contesting charges after his second arrest in about three years for driving under the influence.

James J. McGovern, 68, of Kirksville, was arrested at 2:37 a.m. Nov. 28, 2007 after allegedly turning into the wrong lane at the intersection of 39th and Broadway in Kansas City.

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Posted in Administration

UK: ‘Retrain ex-troops’ as teachers

Posted on February 15, 2008 | Comments Off on UK: ‘Retrain ex-troops’ as teachers

BBC: ‘Retrain ex-troops’ as teachers

Ex-servicemen and women should be retrained as teachers to bring military style discipline to tough inner city schools, a think tank has said.

The government is being urged to adopt a US-style programme returning former soldiers, sailors and airmen to school.

The Centre for Policy Studies says ex-soldiers could have a profound effect on discipline and learning.

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Posted in K-12 issues

UK: Appeal upheld for youths ‘intoxicated by terror’

Posted on February 14, 2008 | Comments Off on UK: Appeal upheld for youths ‘intoxicated by terror’

Telegraph: Appeal upheld for youths ‘intoxicated by terror’

The country’s top judge has dealt a significant blow to a key plank of the Government’s anti-terrorism legislation after he overturned the convictions of five Muslim men jailed last year for downloading and sharing extremist terror-related material.

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Posted in Government, Legal issues

UK: Tuition fees favour the rich – new study

Posted on February 14, 2008 | Comments Off on UK: Tuition fees favour the rich – new study

The Guardian: Tuition fees favour the rich – new study

Children from poor familes say fear of debt deterred them from university

Teenagers from poorer families are turning their backs on a university education because of fears they will be saddled with thousands of pounds of debt, new research shows. The study on the impact of tuition fees reveals today that nearly two-thirds of pupils who decided not to seek higher education cited anxieties about money.

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Posted in Economics

Georgia: Regents board approves college logos on coffins

Posted on February 14, 2008 | Comments Off on Georgia: Regents board approves college logos on coffins

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Regents board approves college logos on coffins
UGA and Tech fans can now place college logos on coffins or even urns

Want to show your undying devotion to Georgia Tech or UGA? Now you can.

The Board of Regents Wednesday re-visited a decades-old policy banning the use of college logos on burial items like coffins or urns, allowing fans to bring their love for their alma maters into the hereafter. A Macon-based business, Collegiate Memorials, asked the Regents to loosen the rules and after a closer look at other states’ policies, members of the board relented.

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Posted in Corporate University

California: Former coach accepts $6.6m is sex discrimination case

Posted on February 14, 2008 | Comments Off on California: Former coach accepts $6.6m is sex discrimination case

Sacramento Bee: Former coach accepts $6.6m

Johnson-Klein takes reduced award, says it’s ‘right thing to do.’

Stacy Johnson-Klein said Wednesday she will accept a smaller award in her court victory over Fresno State, saying it’s time for her and the community to put a divisive trial behind them.

The former California State University, Fresno, women’s basketball coach said she consulted with family and her legal team and prayed before deciding to accept Fresno County Superior Court Judge Donald S. Black’s reduced award of $6.6 million.

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Posted in Equity, Legal issues

Hate in Their Midst at CSU Long Beach

Posted on February 14, 2008 | Comments Off on Hate in Their Midst at CSU Long Beach

Inside Higher Ed: Hate in Their Midst

Scholars, documentary producers, and genocide survivors have gathered at California State University at Long Beach this week for the President’s Forum on International Human Rights, which is focused on modern genocides and society’s responsibility to prevent them. Participants report that the sessions have been engaging and intense, and the gathering is being praised for focusing attention on the most vile forms of hate. Some of those who have been participating, however, wonder if the university needs to look a little closer to home.

Also this week, a white supremacist Web site called Vanguard News Network (its motto is “No Jews. Just Right.”) drew attention to an article in the Long Beach student paper about how some professors there want more distance between the institution and a psychology professor, Kevin MacDonald, who has applied evolutionary psychology to studying Jews in ways that scholars find offensive and inaccurate.

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Posted in Faculty

Halting California Tuition Hikes

Posted on February 13, 2008 | Comments Off on Halting California Tuition Hikes

MRZine: Halting California Tuition Hikes
by Seth Sandronsky

Making ends meet is a fight for Valencia Henley, an ethnic studies major graduating from California State University, Sacramento this spring.

“Each semester I have faced being kicked out of classes due not to my grades but to being late paying student fees,” she said. “At times my professors have let me stay in their classes until I can pay. Many of my friends are also struggling this way.”

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Posted in Commentary

College Custodians in New Brunswick Tentatively Agree to Go Back to Work

Posted on February 13, 2008 | Comments Off on College Custodians in New Brunswick Tentatively Agree to Go Back to Work

CBC: Government, CUPE reach tentative agreement

A tentative deal has been reached to end a five-week-old strike by New Brunswick’s college custodians, corrections officers and human service counsellors.

Human Resources Minister Wally Stiles announced the tentative deal on Wednesday as the legislature met to consider back-to-work legislation, which was first announced on Monday.

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Posted in Strikes & Labor Disputes

Russia shuts university that displeased Putin

Posted on February 13, 2008 | Comments Off on Russia shuts university that displeased Putin

The Guardian: Russia shuts university that displeased Putin

The Kremlin was yesterday accused of mounting an unprecedented attack on academic freedom after one of Russia’s top universities was closed.

The European University at St Petersburg (EUSP) has been forced to suspend its teaching after officials claimed that its historic buildings were “a fire risk”. On Friday a court ordered that all academic work cease, classrooms be sealed and the university’s library shut.

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Posted in International

William And Mary President Resigns

Posted on February 13, 2008 | Comments Off on William And Mary President Resigns

The Washington Post: William And Mary President Resigns
College Had Said It Wouldn’t Renew Nichol’s Contract

The president of the College of William and Mary resigned yesterday after being told over the weekend that his contract would not be renewed this summer.

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Posted in Administration

Harvard Opts In to ‘Opt Out’ Plan

Posted on February 13, 2008 | Comments Off on Harvard Opts In to ‘Opt Out’ Plan

Inside Higher Ed: Harvard Opts In to ‘Opt Out’ Plan

Harvard University’s arts and sciences faculty approved a plan on Tuesday that will post finished academic papers online free, unless scholars specifically decide to opt out of the open-access program. While other institutions have similar repositories for their faculty’s work, Harvard’s is unique for making online publication the default option.

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Posted in Open access