MIT students pull prank on conference. "In a victory for pranksters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a bunch of computer-generated gibberish masquerading as an academic paper has been accepted at a scientific conference." The paper's title? "Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy."
posted by adrober on Apr 14, 2005 - 24 comments

The Sakai Project, an open-source course-management software program for educational institutions is being publicly released today. Backed by the University of Michigan, Indiana University at Bloomington, MIT, and Stanford, Sakai hopes to free Universities from commercial products, which have reportedly become increasingly expensive. Here's a nice little write-up from the Chronicle of Higher Ed.
posted by Ufez Jones on Jul 15, 2004 - 8 comments

HR 3077 - "unprecedented federally mandated intrusion into the content and conduct of university-based area studies programmes."

"There is a great deal at stake for American higher education and academic freedom. If HR 3077 becomes law - the Senate will review the bill next - it will create a board that monitors how closely universities reflect government policy. Since the legislation assumes that any flaw lies 'with the experts, not the policy', the government could be given the power to introduce politically sympathetic voices into the academic mainstream and to reshape the boundaries of academic inquiry. Institutional resistance would presumably be punished by the withdrawal of funds, which would be extremely damaging to Middle East centres especially."

you didn't have reason to call your congressperson tomorrow? you do now. frightening.

via the excellent openbrackets.com
posted by specialk420 on Apr 16, 2004 - 67 comments

College Cost Crisis (pdf alert) Tuition at universities continue to mount. This recent Congressional report chronicles this increase- but places the blame squarely on the Universities. Do you buy it?
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy on Sep 18, 2003 - 43 comments

The Conceptual Metaphor Home Page at Berkeley offers a fascinating compilation of the metaphors underlying our everyday speech, such as Fear is Cold, Facts Are Points, Money is a Liquid, and Sexuality is an Offensive Weapon.
posted by oissubke on Nov 10, 2002 - 14 comments

University campus communities are a logical place to give and receive support. Blood drives, counseling, vigils are occurring almost universally. Many university departments are sponsoring programs and panel discussions for the public on terrorism: a sort of rough draft of history. (See Princeton, Yale, JHU, and some with whom I have personal connection: UCSD (no annoucement online yet), Penn.)
posted by rschram on Sep 14, 2001 - 2 comments

The market-model university: '...by looking at research on the health impact of tobacco, the "science" behind global warming or breast implants, or the effectiveness of a drug, we can see that it is not unusual for sponsored academics to fudge the data, suppress unfavourable evidence, and otherwise "torture the numbers till they confess"...'
posted by talos on Mar 15, 2001 - 7 comments

MIT spam study find instant wealth, sexy-coeds just a click away. A two-year M.I.T. study of unsolicited email, or "spam," has concluded that you can earn $50,000 in the next 90 days by sending e-mail from your home, which is located near a college where sex-crazed coeds are anxious to meet you.
posted by Brilliantcrank on Feb 23, 2001 - 0 comments

Beaver College has changed its name to the more dignified Arcadia University, after bearing the brunt of countless jokes and having their websites blocked by filtering software. I guess they made the announcement during a surprise student pajama party only to give the late night talk shows one last punchline.
posted by ewagoner on Nov 20, 2000 - 9 comments

The Supreme Court ruled today that university student fees may go to controversial groups in order to create a "marketplace of ideas". As a member of a university student funding board (and as a member of "controversial" student groups, i.e. GLBT groups), I've been eagerly awaiting this ruling all semester. The case began in 1996 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where three students challenged the use of mandatory student fees to fund campus organizations that they had politically and idealogically objections to. For the full text of the Supremem Court decision, visit campusspeech.org.
posted by hit-or-miss on Mar 22, 2000 - 1 comment