Posts Tagged ‘University’

University of Texas Affirmative Action Case Back on US Supreme Court Agenda

Tuesday, October 9th, 2012

Race in university admissions will once again take center stage in the United States’ highest court Wednesday, when it starts hearing a case by a white student denied a spot at the main campus of the University of Texas.

The U.S. Supreme Court returns to the issue of affirmative action in higher education for the first time since its 2003 decision endorsing the use of race as a factor in admissions. This time around, a more conservative court is being asked to outlaw the use of Texas’ affirmative action plan and possibly to jettison the earlier ruling entirely.

The justices will be looking at the University of Texas program that is used to help fill the last quarter or so of its incoming freshman classes. Race is one of many factors considered by admissions officers. The rest of the roughly 7,100 freshman spots automatically go to Texans who graduated in the top 8 percent of their high school classes.

The challenge to the University of Texas program comes from Abigail Fisher, who filed a lawsuit with another woman when they were denied admission there in 2008. They contended the university’s race-conscious policy violated their civil and constitutional rights. By then, the two had enrolled elsewhere.

The other woman has since dropped out of the case and the state has said that Fisher is a senior at Louisiana State University whose impending graduation should bring an end to the lawsuit.

The simplest explanation for why affirmative action is back on the court’s calendar so soon after its 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger is that the author of that opinion, Sandra Day O’Connor, has retired. Her successor, Justice Samuel Alito, has been highly skeptical of any use of racial preference.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, a dissenter in the 2003 decision, probably holds the deciding vote, and he, too, has never voted in favor of racial preference.

As a result, said Supreme Court lawyer Thomas Goldstein, “No matter what the court does, it is quite likely that the UT program is going to be in big trouble.” (more…)

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

HKUST – A dynamic, international research university, in relentless pursuit of excellence, leading the advance of science and technology, and educating the new generation of front-runners for Asia and the world.

Since its official opening in October 1991, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has established itself as an intellectual powerhouse, energizing the community’s transformation into a knowledge-based society, and securing a place on the academic world map in record-breaking time.

An innovator in research and teaching, HKUST is the only science and technology research university in Hong Kong, and the only one to offer an all-PHD faculty. Its groundbreaking work in science, engineering, business, humanities and social science is successfully pushing back the boundaries of the information age. Such advances are assisted by the University’s top-class facilities.

Locally, the University is active in society through science camps, online courses for secondary school students, and lifelong learning programs; just some of the activities that bring HKUST and the community together. Nationally, alliances with Mainland universities and collaborative work with municipal governments are setting the pace for future cooperative efforts.

Globally, connections with leading institutions are actively pursued through academic partnerships with the world’s top universities, and memberships in such organizations as the Association of East Asian Research Universities and Association of Pacific Rim Universities.

HKUST brings forward the vision of the future. On its award-winning Clear Water Bay campus, the life to come is being shaped today. (more…)

University of East Anglia scientists research storms

Friday, December 16th, 2011

Researchers from the University of East Anglia have been flying into storms across the UK to help predict weather more accurately.

In a specially-adapted passenger jet, the group has measured the properties of high winds and rain which have hit the country in recent weeks.

The project aims to improve forecasting techniques.

The condensation and evaporation of water in storms is thought to influence how the weather develops and moves.

The research is led by the Natural Environment Research Council’s National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS).

Prof Ian Renfrew
Prof Ian Renfrew, from the University of East Anglia, said storm research from the flights is vital

Along with 16 aircrew, the scientists change flight direction as the storm builds. (more…)

University of Texas President Ends Tough Year With Yet Another Battle

Friday, December 16th, 2011

For William C. Powers, 2011 has been a year full of upheavals.

Certain issues were foreseeable for the president of the University of Texas at Austin, the state’s largest and arguably most prestigious public university. State lawmakers were heading into a legislative session with budget axes at the ready, and nationally there were questions about the value of higher education.

Then, in early February, when he should have been testifying at the Capitol about the university’s financial needs, Mr. Powers suffered a pulmonary embolism. He was in the hospital for a week.

It was the first struggle in a year marked by high-profile battles involving Mr. Powers — to some, the university’s very own Dumbledore; to others, a particularly large bee in the bonnet of higher education reformers.

“How you do in challenging times is more important than how you do in easy times,” Mr. Powers said Wednesday in an interview with The Texas Tribune, acknowledging that the last 12 months fell into the challenging category.

Most recently, on Dec. 8, Mr. Powers abruptly demanded — and received — the resignation of Lawrence Sager as dean of the School of Law. Mr. Powers, who had formerly held the post, said the move was necessary to quell unrest among a deeply divided faculty. “You can’t have a unit be productive, frankly, both on the teaching and on the research side, if there’s not a sense of common enterprise,” he said. “And for whatever reason, that has broken down.”

Mr. Powers and Stefanie A. Lindquist, the interim dean of the law school, are now trying to calm the waters. Mr. Sager’s abrupt departure put an uncomfortable spotlight on the strained personal relationship between the two men, and it has also drawn scrutiny of the role private foundations play in the university’s finances. (more…)

International Education Week Promotes Study Abroad

Friday, November 18th, 2011

The 12th annual International Education (IE) Week began this year on Monday, November 14th and ends today. IE Week is a joint operation with the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Education, along with hundreds of colleges, to promote programs that will educate Americans on why global learning is important in this economy market. IE Week first began in 2000 and now more than 100 countries celebrate it each year. The theme for the week was International Education: Inspiring Students Locally to Succeed Globally.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated that they are “passionate about providing all of our children with an education that will enable them to succeed in a globally competitive economy where knowledge and innovation are more important than ever,” in a press release found on ED.gov, the Education Department’s website.

Most of the activities listed for the week involved information sessions on international internships and education abroad programs. The University’s Honor Program held an event concerning the CUA Oxford Program on Thursday for honor students on campus who are considering the program.

Some events that were held on campus include an Education Abroad Social that took place on Wednesday by the CUA Global Ambassadors and the CUA Cultural Thanksgiving Potluck on Thursday hosted by Campus Activities, Campus Ministry and the Center for Global Education. (more…)

University of Missouri to limit lecture recording

Friday, November 18th, 2011

From videotaped lectures to podcasts, universities are rushing to embrace the digital revolution. Yet even as some schools invite the public to view course material online, they’re starting to grapple with how to keep classroom discussions out of the wrong hands

At the University of Missouri, a leaked classroom video that went viral in the spring and triggered an uproar on conservative media has prompted what may be the first restrictions on students recording lectures since the advent of portable tape recorders more than 50 years ago. Under the new policy, students must first obtain written permission from their professors and classmates.

Administrators say they want to make sure that students and faculty don’t discover their conversations posted online or become afraid to talk openly. The new policy “protects the sanctity of the classroom for our students so they can freely discuss their thoughts and opinions,” said Steve Graham, senior associate vice president for academic affairs for the four-campus Missouri system.

But some Missouri professors are crying foul. They say the restrictions are impractical and contradict the public university’s goal of promoting shared knowledge.

“…We are public, taxpayer-funded faculty, and so we should think long and hard about any sort of restrictions on the rights of our students to record us as we work,” said Charles Davis, a journalism professor and former executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition.

The proposal, which awaits approval by campus attorneys, is a response to a video of a labor studies lecture by University of Missouri-Kansas City professor Judy Ancel. Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government website obtained a leaked copy and edited hours of classroom lectures to suggest that she and a classroom colleague advocated union violence. (more…)

University of Michigan launches two satellites into space on back of NASA rocket

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

With 30 seconds to go before two satellites they built were due to rocket into space, the 20 students or so gathered early this morning in a University of Michigan lab grew quiet.

There wasn’t a large celebration when the rocket blasted off.

Instead, there was a sense of fulfillment in the lab and an acknowledgment that the work wasn’t over – the satellites would soon be deployed in space and need monitoring.

U-M put two satellites into space this morning – M-Cubed and RAX. They hitched a ride on a NASA rocket and satellite. U-M was one of three universities across the nation to send satellites into space on this rocket.

M-cubed, which about the size of a square tissue box, – 10 cm by 10 cm by 10 cm – is designed for taking pictures of Earth. But more importantly, it is also flying a prototype of a specialized computer that private industry is testing for future space flights. RAX, which is about three times the size of M-Cubed, will be conducting a variety of experiments and measurements of the atmosphere.

U-M has a long tradition of being involved in the space program. It currently has one satellite in orbit. It has funding for two more missions.

It’s taken four years to build M-Cubed. Ken Gmerek, now a senior and the project manager, joined the team the second week of his freshmen year.

“I’m excited and a little nervous,” he said about 5:40 a.m. this morning, eight minutes before the launch. “I’m also a little relieved to get to this point. It’s been a long time coming.” (more…)

University of Colorado researchers look to pythons for clues to heart health

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

DENVER—Python blood may hold the road map to effective treatments for human heart disease, according to a new biomedical study by University of Colorado researchers.

Researchers at CU’s Biofrontiers Institute have discovered three key fatty acids in python blood that, when reproduced, have the same positive effect on mammal heart growth as that observed in pythons.

A day after a Burmese python feeds, the mass of the snake’s heart increases by 40 per cent and the triglycerides in its bloodstream grow 50 times beyond normal levels. Since triglycerides are the main component in natural fats and oils, this results in massive amounts of fatty acids circulating through the python’s bloodstream.

“Fats in blood is usually associated with bad things in humans,” lead researcher Leslie Leinwand said. “We wanted to find out how the python manages to not have something toxic happen to it.”

The researchers discovered no evidence that the fats in the python’s blood deposited in the reptile’s heart. In fact, they found an increase in activity of a key enzyme that protects the heart from damage.

The research team was able to identify the three key fatty acids that could be used to mimic the chemical makeup of a python’s post-feeding blood. (more…)

Education Policy Critics March on White House

Saturday, July 30th, 2011
People march to the White House during the “Save Our Schools” rally in Washington, D.C., on July 30. Marchers chanted and carried signs expressing their demands after hearing speeches nearby.

Teachers and their supporters gathered near the White House on Saturday afternoon to chant, cheer, and march for a variety of changes they hope to see in public schools—most notably, a 180-degree shift away from standards- and testing-based accountability.

Aside from that message, those who attended the Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action in the scalding sun preached everything from boosting support for teachers’ unions, to booting U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, to getting more federal money for low-income schoolchildren. Student poverty was repeatedly cited as the most pressing problem in public schools.

The more than two hours of speeches and hourlong march, along with other related events, were organized by teachers and teacher-educators who say they are fed up with test-driven accountability for schools—and, increasingly, for teachers. Speakers ranged from such prominent education authors as Jonathan Kozol and Diane Ravitch to the actor Matt Damon.

Organizers estimated the size of the crowd at 5,000, but a rough count by Education Week put it closer to 3,000. Before the event, organizers had said they were expecting 5,000 to 10,000 people.

The gathering, according to the organizers, was aimed at sending a message to national and state policymakers about its participants’ disgust with those policies and to highlight their own principles for improving public education. Members have created a series of position papers outlining the loosely organized group’s views on high-stakes testing, equitable school funding, unions and collective bargaining, and changes to curriculum.

For the most part, those aren’t formal policy prescriptions, and no stronger positions emerged from the rally Saturday. However, policy proposals aren’t necessarily among the organizers’ goals.

“What we’re talking about is creating the right conditions, not prescriptive policies,” said Sabrina Stevens Shupe, a former teacher in Denver who has turned full-time activist and was one of the event’s leaders. “There’s no one silver bullet that’s going to save anything,” she added, referring to attempts to craft education reforms over the past 30 years.

Patrick McCarthy, an 11th grade English teacher from Woodstock, Va., said he is tired of devoting weeks of the school year to preparing students for standardized tests. If he had his way, students would instead spend that time writing more, and improving their writing and critical-thinking skills.

“I’m so tired of hearing teachers are the bad guys,” said Mr. McCarthy, who will start his 17th year as a teacher later this year. (more…)

Scottish university head in retirement row

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

Professor disputes contract after staff e-mail announcement

A senior academic at Abertay University may be one of the first to test the laws surrounding the abolition of forced retirement, after he rejected claims by his employer that he had retired.

Professor Bernard King, principal of Abertay University, denied he had retired after an e-mail was sent to staff announcing the news.

The university said that King had been notified of his impending retirement in December last year, after his 65th birthday, well ahead of the 6 April 2011 deadline for forced retirements. Abertay insist that King’s retirement was due to start on 1st July.

However, the professor, who was suspended earlier this year after a row about whether to extend his employment contract, has alleged his employer discriminated against him because of his age.

In a statement from his solicitors, King said he had “not accepted” the email referring to his retirement and that he has started employment tribunal proceedings.

The statement said: “His position is that he has not retired and he remains in dispute with the university over the terms of an extension of contract agreed with the university last year.

“The principal’s claims of age discrimination and whistle-blowing in relation to actions taken to address allegations of bullying and intimidation of members of staff remain the subject of employment tribunal proceedings which will take place later this year.”

The solicitors handling the case have advised him that the university’s current actions were “both unfair and unlawful”. (more…)