Former candidate for U.S. Assistant Attorney General Lani Guinier is attempting to make law school and the legal profession more welcoming to women, in part by rejecting use of the Socratic method in classroom discussion, which she feels is intimidating, combative, and discriminates against women. Others say the Socratic approach encourages men…

While Internet content relating to black culture is burgeoning, and scholars want to make more available, the cost of selecting and organizing materials is hindering their efforts. Some innovative approaches are being used, including an online course on media, technology, and diversity and a compact-disk collection of research on slave trading.…

The National Science Foundation will increase support for supercomputer centers at the University of California, San Diego and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, while leaving unclear the status of the program at Cornell University (New York) and a cooperative Carnegie-Mellon University (Pennsylvania) and University of Pittsburgh…

Massachusetts' Board of Higher Education is moving to develop one state higher education institution as an elite campus to draw the state's best students, as Commonwealth College of Massachusetts. Ten institutions are competing for approval of their institutions and models, which include elements such as enhanced curricula and honors programs,…

The Public Health Service's Office of Research Integrity, charged with investigating allegations of research misconduct, is addressing charges of inefficiency by speeding up inquiries and reducing the backlog of cases. However, concern persists about the quality of investigations and the agency's power. Some feel the agency relies too heavily on…

In 1995-96, a leveling of state spending on student financial aid ended a five-year period of rapid growth. Most of the aid is in the form of need-based grants to undergraduates. Four states slashed need-based aid expenditures by over 10%, and 10 increased it by over 10%. Reductions are attributed to competition for funds. (MSE)

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has contributed $58 million to improve journalism education since 1990, including endowment of 10 university chairs, fellowships for mid-career journalists, and scholarships for journalism majors. The endowed chairs are bringing respected journalists into academe. The foundation also donates to schools,…

An Earlham College (Indiana) student's lawsuit charging the college with responsibility for her rape during a Japanese study-abroad program tests the legality of the waiver students sign before leaving. The student claims the waiver is not the issue, but the need for colleges to protect students facing sexual harassment. She says the college…

Twenty-five years after passage of Title IX, federal legislation barring sex discrimination in athletics in federally-funded schools, females make up 37% of college athletes and receive 38% of athletic scholarships at National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I schools. Women's participation in college sports has increased four-fold.…

Data on 305 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 institutions include, separately for males and females: number and proportion of athletes; dollar amount and proportion of operating expenses, recruiting expenses, and sports-related student financial aid; and the net total budget for the 1995-96 academic year. Institutions are…

The East-West Center (Hawaii) and North-South Center (Florida) for hemisphere-oriented international studies have lost most federal funding and have had to trim staff, cut programs, and begin solicitation of private support. While lawmakers admit the centers do important work, they feel they are unnecessary and the work could be done elsewhere.…

In 1997, commercial companies operated by Australian universities are expected to double their combined income of three years ago. All but 2 of the nation's 36 public universities have their own companies to market research discoveries and sell education locally and overseas. Economic pressure for even more profit is growing. The universities can…

Molefi Kete Asante, chairman of the Temple University (Pennsylvania) African American studies department, the first doctoral program in the discipline in the country, is stepping down amidst controversy over his leadership. An avowed Afrocentrist, his administration is viewed by some as creating rancor and instability among faculty, and has led…

Developers of Internet 2, an improved computerized information system designed for research purposes, are seeking federal support, suggesting that the new network's benefits would extend well beyond the academic realm. The educators behind the system propose that the system will create not only better electronics, but also new network applications…

A Mount Holyoke College (Massachusetts) class on computer applications in history and the humanities, entitled "Frankenstein Meets Multimedia," uses topics from the 1818 novel as the basis for students to develop multimedia compact disks about it. The novel is used because its author was heavily influenced by the philosophy of the Enlightenment…