Government scrutinizes research publications

(U-WIRE) ITHACA, N.Y. – Recent increases… Government scrutinizes research publications

(U-WIRE) ITHACA, N.Y. – Recent increases in government regulation have some Cornell University officials worried that terrorism will soon claim another casualty – academic freedom.

The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, or the USA PATRIOT Act, has created, in addition to the already existing categories of classified and unclassified information, a new category of “sensitive” information. This last category could potentially include many aspects of Cornell research and is proving to be ambiguous terrain for an institution that holds a tradition of academic openness as one of its guiding principles.

The concern is that “sensitive” research may have to be reviewed before publication because of a policy of censorship called prior restraint. This policy conflicts directly with Cornell’s research policies.

The government has already toyed with the idea of implementing prior restraint in areas that have previously fallen outside the realm of classified research.

Further regulations may also try to seep into more unexpected areas of study.

In addition to providing a foundation for prior restraint, the USA PATRIOT Act is creating issues of mobility for students, particularly graduate students and faculty.

SEVIS is a tracking system for international students that requires colleges and universities to share information with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. This ensures that those with student visas, such as the ones carried by the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers, are in fact enrolled in courses. The development of the system has been accelerated in recent months.

New restrictions on the handling of so-called selected agents are also expected to impact the university in dramatic ways.

– Philip Lane, Cornell Daily Sun (Cornell U.)

Timing right for conflict with Iraq, officials say

(U-WIRE) NORMAN, Okla. – Since the Persian Gulf War in 1991, Iraq has been the staple of evil for many politicians.

Now that the United States wants to invade Iraq, key figures involved with the 1991 conflict say the timing is almost right.

Ken Levit, president of the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa and former counsel to CIA director George Tenet, said the problems that center on convincing other nations that Iraq should be dealt with immediately are in the intelligence. He said the 1991 conflict had a threat that was less complex and more concrete.

Because of the complexity and security of the intelligence, the case has not been presented to the public but has been made long ago to those with the proper security clearance.

OU President David L. Boren, former U.S. senator, was a key figure in the Senate Intelligence Committee during the 1991 crisis. When the U.S. Senate voted to support President George Bush in the attack on Iraq, he voted against it. Boren said he voted against the war because the goal was not clearly defined, and there was no effort to remove Hussein.

Boren said there needs to be international support to enter Iraq, or the United States will lose face among key allies that could keep stability in the Middle East.

– Justin Noel Shimko, Oklahoma Daily (U. Oklahoma)

Scarcity of jobs keeps students in classrooms

(U-WIRE) ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The job market is at a 20-year low, according to recently released statistics by the U.S. Labor Department. This information, combined with the uncertainty created by the possible war with Iraq and the flagging economy, caused University of Michigan engineering students, from all disciplines, to form long lines at booths of different companies at the Engineering Internship Fair Thursday.

The decline in companies’ incentives to hire new workers was illustrated by a report conducted by Conference Board, a research firm that said the number of help-wanted advertisements in newspapers in the United States hit an almost 40-year low in December 2002. Students said the wave of bad news concerning the job market is forcing them to think up ways to avoid entering the job hunt rat race.

In anticipation of the gloomy economy, many graduating seniors have opted to value-add themselves by staying one more year at school to pursue their masters degrees. “Last spring, we saw a lot of panicked students. This year, I think seniors are more prepared,” said Stephani Townsend, campus recruiting representative of Lockheed Martin Corp. “We’ve seen more seniors are looking for internships because they are going to grad school.” But some companies such as Lockheed Martin Corp. – an advance-technology company that supports NASA’s shuttle program – are “still strong in staff” and actively recruiting new blood, Townsend said.

– Lydia K. Leung, Michigan Daily (U. Michigan)

UNC system faces tough sell in getting $300 million hike

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – North Carolina’s public universities have a tough sales job on their hands – trying to wring a $300 million budget increase from state lawmakers for next year.

It’s a pitch that’s competing against other vital services in a year when the state faces an expected $2 billion gap in its $14.3 billion budget. And it could have a tougher time because key university supporters in the legislature lost elections last year and both houses have more Republicans – the party that has traditionally questioned university spending – this year.

The situation is made more worrisome, faculty and university boosters say, because two high-profile leaders in the 16-campus UNC system – the chancellors at UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University – have gotten tangled in public controversies in the past year. And they are controversies that could hamper the universities’ ability to get what they want from the state.

UNC Chancellor James Moeser caught heat last summer when the school assigned a text about Islam’s holy book, the Quran, to new students less than a year after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. NCSU Chancellor Marye Anne Fox has been scolded by her own faculty, who formally censured her in January for what they called the unfair firing of two top academic officers.

And both chancellors have been accused of endorsing wasteful spending – Moeser for authorizing a more than $376,000 severance payout to the school’s top legal counsel and Fox for pushing a $71 million conference hotel and golf course, financed with state-backed bonds.

Flaps such as those provide ammunition to legislators deciding which programs and funding requests to deny in a tight budget year, said Rep. Connie Wilson, R-Mecklenburg.

– Diane Suchetka and Sharif Durhams, Knight Ridder Newspapers

Amid state budget cuts, USC school selling its name for $25 million

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of South Carolina’s School of Medicine is for sale – at least the name is.

And for the right donors willing to pay top dollar, so are the names of its buildings, medical library and even classrooms.

The “sale” is part of a campaign to raise millions for the school through offering benefactors the chance to be immortalized on the walls of the school’s Dorn VA Medical Center and Medical Park campuses.

Lecture halls are going for $25,000 each; the medical library for $500,000; and a mere $50,000 for the anatomical museum. And the whole enchilada – the name of the School of Medicine itself – can be had for $25 million.

Since the school already has a developed infrastructure, donations won’t be spent on bricks and mortar, said Larry Faulkner, dean of the School of Medicine.

Instead, money raised through the campaign will go into endowments for recruiting top faculty members, providing educational materials and equipment for students and scholarships.

Like all of USC’s colleges and schools, the School of Medicine is feeling the pressure of state budget cuts. It now receives about one third of its total budget from state appropriations. Faulkner said the school needs to get creative if it wants to continue to improve.

– Jeff Stensland, Knight Ridder Newspapers