Archive for July, 2009
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Saturday, July 18th, 2009Chemistry Society Cuts Libraries a Break on Digital Journal Prices
When I wrote last week that the American Chemistry Society was taking most of its print journals into digital form to reduce costs, I couldn’t help wondering if the society would pass the savings on to university scientists and libraries. (I also used the phrase “digital-only,” [...]
Wired Campus TV: Creator of The Sims Talks Educational Gaming
Saturday, July 18th, 2009Wired Campus TV: Creator of The Sims Talks Educational Gaming
Will Wright, the video-game designer who created The Sims and Sim City, has some suggestions for scholars who make video games about social issues or for use in education. His advice: lighten up.
“Make them a little more playful — maybe a little more abstract,” said Mr. [...]
Phishing Attack Hits North Carolina State U.’s E-Mail System
Saturday, July 18th, 2009Phishing Attack Hits North Carolina State U.’s E-Mail System
After business hours last Thursday night, an e-mail message popped into the in boxes of 800 people at North Carolina State University with the subject line “Mandatory Security Update: July 2009.” The e-mail message, which claimed to be from the IT Help Desk, said that in an [...]
Muslim Scholar Excluded from U.S. Wins a Victory in Federal Appeals Court
Saturday, July 18th, 2009Muslim Scholar Excluded from U.S. Wins a Victory in Federal Appeals Court
A federal appeals court ruled today that the U.S. government might have acted improperly in denying a visa to the the prominent European Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan.
But while the ruling raised hopes that Mr. Ramadan will eventually be allowed into the United States to [...]
House Budget Shortchanges Energy Research at Universities
Saturday, July 18th, 2009House Budget Shortchanges Energy Research at Universities
Washington — The House of Representatives today approved a $33.3-billion budget bill for energy and water programs in the 2010 fiscal year, which begins on October 1. As part of the bill, the Obama administration had suggested spending $280-million to create eight “energy innovation hubs,” based largely at American [...]
Texas A&M U. Faults Boat’s Manufacturer for Deadly 2008 Accident
Saturday, July 18th, 2009Texas A&M U. Faults Boat’s Manufacturer for Deadly 2008 Accident
An internal investigation by the Texas A&M University system has concluded that design and construction flaws in a sailboat led to a boating accident that killed a crew member and left five others stranded for 26 hours in the Gulf of Mexico last summer.
The university’s report, [...]
Protests Flare Outside Iran’s U. of Tehran After Friday Sermon
Saturday, July 18th, 2009Protests Flare Outside Iran’s U. of Tehran After Friday Sermon
Police officers clashed with protesters in the streets outside the University of Tehran today after the weekly prayer sermon was delivered there by the former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
In his first official public appearance since the disputed June 12 presidential election, the opposition figure [...]
China Increases Admissions Quotas for Students From Poor Provinces
Saturday, July 18th, 2009China Increases Admissions Quotas for Students From Poor Provinces
Shanghai — Amid concern over equity in its higher-education system and rising interethnic political tension, China has raised enrollment quotas for students from less-developed western provinces, the China Daily reported today.
The country closely regulates enrollment by region and ethnicity, with policies that have traditionally favored residents of [...]
India Begins Sweeping Crackdown on Higher-Education Regulator
Saturday, July 18th, 2009India Begins Sweeping Crackdown on Higher-Education Regulator
New Delhi — In an unprecedented move at the behest of India’s new education minister, the country’s main investigative agency has launched a sweeping crackdown on its regulator of engineering and management colleges, filing charges of corruption against the regulator’s chairman and arresting a top official in the act [...]
New Study Takes a Crack at Measuring Higher Education’s Productivity
Saturday, July 18th, 2009New Study Takes a Crack at Measuring Higher Education’s Productivity
Measuring value and productivity in higher education can be a complex and controversial topic: Lawmakers, taxpayers, and people paying tuition want to get the most for their money, while college administrators and faculty members argue that the quality of their educational product is directly tied to [...]