Category Archives: Government

The Chronicle News Blog: Anthropology Association Urges Government to Tread Cautiously With ‘Minerva’ Project

In the latest sign of scholars’ anxiety about Pentagon-financed social-science research, the president of the American Anthropological Association has sent a letter to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget expressing concern about the “Minerva consortium,” a program announced last month by Robert M. Gates, the secretary of defense.

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The Independent: Britain to Deport Scholar Who Downloaded Al Qaeda Guide at U.S. Government Web Site

The Home Office was accused last night of rushing to deport a university administrator to conceal official blunders after he was arrested on terrorism charges only to be released without charge. A Labour MP criticised the decision, claiming there was no reason for it “other than to cover the embarrassment of the police and intelligence services”.

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The Chronicle News Blog: New Details of ‘Minerva’ Project Emerge, as Social Scientists Weigh Pentagon Ties

The Department of Defense hopes to finance the earliest projects in the fledgling social-science program known as the Minerva Consortium by the end of 2008, a Pentagon official told a group of writers last week.

In a roundtable discussion with military-oriented bloggers, Thomas G. Mahnken, deputy assistant secretary for policy planning, offered only sketchy details about the program, which was announced last month in a speech by Robert M. Gates, the secretary of defense. The program will offer grants to groups of universities to investigate topics including “religious and ideological studies” and the Chinese military.

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The Chronicle News Blog: Social Scientist in Army’s ‘Human Terrain’ Program Dies in Afghanistan

Michael V. Bhatia, a graduate student in political science who was serving as a civilian employee of the U.S. Army’s Human Terrain program, died on Wednesday in Afghanistan.

Mr. Bhatia graduated from Brown University in 1999 and was pursuing a doctorate in political science and international relations at the University of Oxford. Since late last year, he had been working with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division as part of the Human Terrain program, a controversial effort in which scholars advise military personnel about local social

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News & Observer: Gov. Mike Easley is calling on the state’s community colleges to continue admitting illegal immigrants.

Easley issued a statement today in the wake of advice from the state Attorney General’s Office, which recommended against allowing illegal immigrants to attend community colleges.

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The Chronicle News Blog: Professors Fight ‘Academic Freedom’ Bills That Question Science in 4 States

University professors have joined other science advocates to battle so-called “academic freedom” bills under consideration in Alabama, Louisiana, Michigan, and Missouri. The bills, along with similar ones that failed to win passage last week in Florida, ask teachers to promote “critical thinking,” especially on topics such as evolution, global warming, and stem-cell research.

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Inside Higher Ed: The Network of Concerned Anthropologists, a group that has asked scholars to pledge not to help the Bush administration’s “war on terror” or military activities in Iraq, has announced a series of concerns about a Pentagon proposal to support unclassified research in the social sciences and humanities. The statement notes that federal research support already has the potential to shift researchers’ agendas, and says that there were additional concerns about this program. Despite pledges that there will not be political litmus tests for research, the statement says that “subtle but powerful biases” are present from any outside funder. Further, the statement says that the plan — which is being endorsed by a number of university presidents — would push the Pentagon’s research agenda for the social sciences above that of scholars. The statement also questions whether the Defense Department could live up to promises made about the program. “The Pentagon is an agency that lacks the historical commitment to more open debate and the freer pursuit of knowledge associated with, for example, NSF and NIH and many foundations, and university funds themselves,” the statement says.

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The Chronicle News Blog: Kentucky College Board Said to Have Ignored Law in Hiring New Leader

Kentucky’s higher-education coordinating board violated state law when it hired its new president this month, the state’s attorney general ruled in a legal opinion issued on Thursday, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

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The New York Times: Fear, Paranoia and, Yes, Some Loathing in Alabama State House

There is fear in the halls of the Alabama State House. Your colleague may be wired. Somebody may be watching you. An indictment looms.

After a dozen legislators received subpoenas one day last month in a criminal investigation, an atmosphere of paranoia and anxiety has descended on the gleaming white building that houses the State Legislature, many of its occupants say.

Legislators are sweeping their offices for bugs. Routine horse-trading for votes is stymied, for fear it could be misinterpreted. A wary lawmaker agrees to meet a reporter only in a wide-open parking lot. After-hours get-togethers are off.

The concern is a result of a long-running federal investigation into corruption within the state’s system of two-year colleges that has led to guilty pleas on bribery and corruption charges by one state lawmaker and the system’s former chancellor. The Birmingham News reported in 2006 that a quarter of the 140 members of the Legislature had financial ties to the college system, with most of the jobs or contracts going to lawmakers or their relatives. Recent reports indicate the number has grown to nearly a third of the Legislature.

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VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980): Cutbacks to affect both students and instructors

– Cuts at Vancouver Community College will close the doors to thousands of students.

Cuts planned by the Board will eliminate seven percent of VCC faculty and trim classes for more than one thousand students each year.

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The Chronicle News Blog: Defense Department Finalizes Rule Barring Restricted Campus Recruiting

The U.S. Department of Defense today issued a final rule in the Federal Register outlining steps the department can take to withhold federal funds from colleges and universities that place restrictions on military recruiters and the Reserve Officer Training Corps program. The rule arises from a defense authorization bill passed in 2004, which was upheld by the Supreme Court two years ago.

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The Arizona Republic: Religious freedom measure advances

Arizona students would be protected from discrimination based on their religion and free to express their views on campus to the same degree as secular students under a bill given tentative approval by legislators Monday.

Supporters say the measure, House Bill 2713, would merely codify in state law the freedoms guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. They argue the measure would help religious students fight back against public-school teachers and administrators who recoil at the mention of God in the classroom.

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