The Texas School For The Deaf’s Football Team Wins State Championship For 1st Time
/#GOODNEWS
ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
Acting your age
/The older you get, the more important it is not to act your age. -Ashleigh Brilliant
Articles of interest about higher ed - Dec 11
/***THE VIRUS
Tracking how the coronavirus is impacting colleges
Kids catch and spread coronavirus half as much as adults, Iceland study confirms
***CUTS AT COLLEGES
University of Evansville admin proposes cutting quarter of the faculty, nixing 17 majors
Marquette University To Cut 225 Faculty And Staff Positions
UC Berkeley announces sweeping pay cuts
Hit by Covid-19, Colleges Do the Unthinkable and Cut Tenure ($)
Western Oregon University plans to eliminate several majors and programs
University of Vermont provost stands by the administration’s plan to cut 23 humanities programs
UMass, workers square off over furloughs as universities face massive budget gap
***COLLEGE FINANCES
Moody's Sees Negative Outlook for Community Colleges
Cord-cutting and unbundling caused a massive shakeup in the TV industry—the same type of change is coming to colleges
***THE SPRING SEMESTER
Faculty members revolt over Univ of North Carolina plans to triple number of students living on campus next semester
Some colleges that played this semester safe are planning to expand in-person options for students in the spring
Some Colleges Plan to Bring Back More Students in the Spring ($)
Colleges Are Canceling Spring Break. In Its Place: ‘Wellness Days’ ($)
Is Cal State's plan for in-person classes next fall an early indicator?
***HUMANITIES
Why the Humanities Are in Decline
***ONLINE CLASSES
Teaching: How to Make Breakout Rooms Work Better
A New Report Confirms Our Fears About Remote Learning's Impact on Students
Remote learning widens equity gap ($)
Students Struggling With Online Learning A ‘Wake Up Call’ For Universities
A practical guide to working remotely with all 16 personality types
Microsoft files patent for a system to monitor employees' body language and facial expressions during work meetings
***HIGHER ED IN COURT
Black employees at Southwestern College file lawsuit against school
Supreme Court rejects appeal to limit transgender students
Syracuse University sued for millions over going virtual during coronavirus pandemic
Supreme Court denies LSU's attempt to claim immunity from lawsuit in death of fraternity pledge
Temple settles for $700K with Ed Dept over false U.S. News rankings data
***STUDENT CHEATING
Privacy group files complaint against five online test-proctoring services
Associated Press Publishes List of “Best Essay Writing Services”
Why Russian undergraduates cheat and how they rationalise it for themselves and others
How teachers prevent cheating during distance learning
Poor Security at Online Proctoring Company May Have Put Student Data at Risk
Automated Proctors Watch Students. Now Senators Are Watching These Companies.
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Student arrested after taking Fresno college teacher hostage
UT professor files new libel suits against students who accuse him of promoting pedophilia
Ferris State U professor put on leave after student newspaper uncovers a history of science denial
Law Professor Says He Was Suspended Without Cause
Public protector investigating UCT professor’s alleged plagiarism
Three Options For Reforming College Faculty Tenure
Chapman professor draws attention, reprimand as Trump’s lawyer in Texas lawsuit
Univ of Washington professor fired after investigation finds sexual misconduct with 17-year-old student
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
The 33,000-square-foot expansion at Trevecca Nazarene University will house the physician assistant program
Jerry Falwell Jr. drops defamation suit against Liberty University
St. Edward's University introduces new president
***RESEARCH
How to write a superb literature review
Two papers using the same data about the same topic were published in the same surgical journal one month apart. They came up with completely opposite conclusions.
***STUDENT LIFE
Dartmouth College revoked the on-campus privileges of 86 students who violated COVID-19 policies during fall term
What It's Like To Apply To College During The Pandemic
Completing College National and State Reports
More high school seniors skip out on college planning amid COVID-19
College Students Reflect On Another Semester During The Pandemic
Columbia students threaten to withhold tuition fees amid Covid protest
Inside one of the largest college journalism collaborations ever
***FREE SPEECH
Cambridge University rejects proposal it be 'respectful' of all views
Report: 88% of universities restrict expression — and online classes are especially dangerous for student speech
Education Department Blasts 'Culture of Censorship' at Colleges ($)
***RACIAL ISSUES ON CAMPUS
Johns Hopkins, long believed by university to be abolitionist, owned slaves, records show
NC State investigating employee accused of Proud Boys membership
University of Dallas Student Gov can't decide whether to approve a club focused on racial justice
Lehigh College of Education plagiarized anti-racism section
Why Is Auburn University Losing Black Students?
***SEXUAL HARRASSMENT & ASSAULT
Biden vows ’quick end’ to DeVos’ sexual misconduct rule
Students join forces to fight campus sexual assault as Instagram accounts reveal disturbing pattern
Lawsuit: lax Eckerd College security led to rape
Bless you Prison
/It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. Even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained; and even in the best of all hearts, there remains a small corner of evil.
That is why I turn back to the years of my imprisonment and say, sometimes to the astonishment of those about me: ‘Bless you, prison!’ I…have served enough time there. I nourished my soul there, and I say without hesitation: ‘Bless you, prison, for having been in my life!’”
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn (Born Dec. 11, 1918), The Gulag Archipelago
Articles of interest about journalism, fakes, the virus, writing, and more - December 10
/***THE VIRUS
First signs of Thanksgiving COVID-19 wave emerge
Your Old Radiator Is a Pandemic-Fighting Weapon
Should I wipe down groceries during the pandemic?
Nearly all coronavirus transmission happens in these 5 places
British Study: Low infection rates in schools
***THE VACCINES
The vaccines will be much less effective if introduced where the coronavirus is raging
Here’s Why Vaccinated People Still Need to Wear a Mask ($)
C.D.C. Call for Data on Vaccine Recipients Raises Alarm Over Privacy ($)
***VENTILATORS
Who Decides Which COVID-19 Patients Get Ventilators?
The U.S. Has Passed the Hospital Breaking Point
***JOURNALISM
Neo-Nazi group member who threatened journalist gets prison time
A massive cross-border collaboration to finish the investigations of a murdered Mexican journalist
Appeals Court hands journalists big Freedom of Information Act win for gun data access
Half of U.S. adults don't know that Facebook does not do original news reporting
ICE Is Trying To Force BuzzFeed News To Divulge Its Sources
A scientific search engine that generates one-sentence summaries of research papers
***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM
Substack isn’t a new model for journalism — it’s a very old one
Inside Patch's new local newsletter platform
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Radio Disney Shutting Down Amid Restructuring
Did Google and Facebook kill the media revenue model? The Platforms vs legacy media
***WRITING & READING
When sound science meets imperfect grammar
The 25 Best Children’s Books of 2020
Sri Lankan man and his mobile library bring books to kids in remote areas
How to Gather the Oral Histories of COVID-19
Independent Bookstores Are Fighting Back Against Amazon Via a New Online Platform
The Future of Online Marketing: Automated Copywriting
***FAKES & FRAUDS
Anti-Vaccine Doctor Has Been Invited to Testify Before Senate Committee
Former Harvard cancer researcher faked a dozen images, say Feds
I Published a Fake Paper in a ‘Peer-Reviewed’ Journal
The internet is not ready for the flood of AI-generated text
***QANON
Former Trump lawyer finds an ally in operator of QAnon’s Internet home
The making of the QAnon conspiracy cult
The QAnon conspiracy is fake. The harm it's doing to child welfare groups is real
QAnon's Rise in Japan Shows Its Global Spread ($)
***SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitch Cracks Down on Hate Speech and Harassment ($)
Facebook hit with massive antitrust lawsuit from 46 states
Facebook reportedly tweaked its algorithm but it failed to decrease engagement on ideologically aligned pages
Reddit reveals daily active user count for the first time: 52 million
***LANGUAGE
The words that actually persuade people on the pandemic
Merriam-Webster's top word of 2020 not a shocker: pandemic
Research Finds Brains Work Harder While Processing Descriptions Of Motion In Other Languages
***LITERATURE
"The Great Gatsby" and other 1925 Works Will Soon Enter the Public Domain
Dispute Erupts Over Translation Rights to New Nobel Laureate ($)
Questions raised over charity seeking to buy JRR Tolkien's Oxford house
Louise Glück, forgoing fanfare, accepts Nobel Prize in Literature at home
John Steinbeck, Bard of the American Worker
***CS LEWIS
Ten Things You (Probably) Don’t Know About C. S. Lewis
CS Lewis Expert Walter Hooper dies
***POETRY
Disarming anger and lust
/The surest means of disarming an anger or a lust (is) to turn your attention from the girl or the insult and start examining the passion itself. –CS Lewis
Embracing Hard Work
/Think about how a typical English class works: You read a “great work” by a famous author, discussing what the messages are, and how the author uses language, structure, and imagery to convey them. You memorize particularly pithy quotes to be regurgitated on the exam, and perhaps later on second dates. Students are rarely encouraged to peek at early drafts of those works. All they see is the final product, lovingly polished by both writer and editor to a very high shine. When the teacher asks “What is the author saying here?” no one ever suggests that the answer might be “He didn’t quite know” or “That sentence was part of a key scene in an earlier draft, and he forgot to take it out in revision.”
Or consider a science survey class. It consists almost entirely of the theories that turned out to be right—not the folks who believed in the mythical “N-rays,” declared that human beings had forty-eight chromosomes, or saw imaginary canals on Mars. When we do read about falsified scientific theories of the past—Lamarckian evolution, phrenology, reproduction by “spontaneous generation”—the people who believed in them frequently come across as ludicrous yokels, even though many of them were distinguished scientists who made real contributions to their fields.
No wonder students get the idea that being a good writer is defined by not writing bad stuff.
Megan Mcardle writing in the Atlantic
Some days
/Some days you’re the pigeon, some days you’re the statue.
Napping Through Life
/For men and women who have accepted the reality of change, the need for endless learning and trying is a way of living, a way of thinking, a way of being awake and ready. Life isn’t a train ride where you choose your destination, pay your fare and settle back for a nap. It’s a cycle ride over uncertain terrain, which you in the driver’s seat, constantly correcting your balance and determining the direction of progress. It’s difficult, sometimes profoundly painful. But its better than napping through life.
John Gardner, Self-Renewal
Let the winter pass
/Sometimes it is best to lie low, to do nothing but let the winter pass. In such moments, you can collect your self and strengthen your identity.
Small opportunities
/Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises. –Demostenes
Articles of interest about higher ed - Dec 4
/***THE VIRUS
AstraZeneca and Oxford's stories clash on COVID-19 vaccine
The order of COVID-19 symptoms tends to differ from the flu
Here’s how long it takes to catch COVID if you’re in a room with someone who has it
***HIGHER ED & THE VIRUS
U.S. colleges mull new virus protocols for students' return
What role could colleges have in distributing coronavirus vaccines?
SDSU students in uproar after faculty cancels spring break
***HUMANITIES
UVM to eliminate 23 programs in the College of Arts and Sciences
Thousands petition against proposed cuts to humanities at UVM
***LAYOFFS & FURLOUGHS
More than 400 workers temporarily laid off at 3 Pa. colleges
***HIGHER ED
Universities Face Federal Crackdown on Academics With China Ties
National Academies unveils recommendations for colleges ahead of the spring semester
Pricey mini campus promises students maskless, safe spring term
Many Universities Lag on Social Mobility Indicators, Report Finds
University rankings need a rethink
How Minnesota colleges are keeping study abroad programs afloat
Penn professor predicts six trends that will influence higher education decisions in 2021
***CERTIFICATIONS
Embedding Certifications Into Bachelor's Degrees
***HIGHER ED IN COURT
Ohio professor pursues legal battle after rebuke for misgendering student
Lawsuit alleges years of anti-Black discrimination at San Diego area college
University sues former student accused of causing $400K in damage during prank
San Diego State University sued in the death of fraternity pledge
***COLLEGE COVID LAWSUITS
Two students sue Miami University over suspension for violating COVID-related code of conduct
NYU student sues over suspension for violating COVID orders
***LAWSUITS OVER TUITION
Lawsuit against precollege summer program at UW-Madison dismissed
New Lawsuit Takes Aim at Texas Universities’ Out-of-State Tuition
***ONLINE CLASSES
5 Things We've Learned About Virtual School In 2020
The Chicago Guide to College Science Teaching
The Problem With Giving Math Tests Online, and How Teachers Are Solving It
Colleges are not giving students pass-fail options this semester-- with some exceptions
The emotional toll of distance learning ($)
***ONLINE CHEATING
Online exam monitoring can invade privacy and erode trust at universities
College Students Are Learning Hard Lessons About Anti-Cheating Software
Students search for shortcuts as virtual schooling expands
An argument for giving kids open-book tests during the pandemic (and after) ($)
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Faculty leaders at Rutgers are challenging spending decisions
University of Chicago Grad Students Call on Faculty to Denounce Videos By Department Member
UC Berkeley instructors discuss struggles amid online learning
Ferris State University professor on leave following controversial COVID-19 comments
Professor finds his third-grade photo online — and realizes he’s been a meme for years
Ex-DeSales University priest’s child porn included torture of young children, feds say
***ADMINISTRATORS
College president faces criticism for how he communicated a professor's death from COVID
Is the Pandemic Pushing a Wave of Presidents Out? Not Yet ($)
Ohio State to launch national search for new provost
***CATHOLIC COLLEGES
Deep cuts at Catholic colleges draw backlash
New alliance of workers and students across Jesuit institutions joins together to protest cuts
***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
Bennett College finds a new accreditor after two years
Surf’s up in innovative class at Point Loma Nazarene
***RESEARCH
A scientific search engine that generates one-sentence summaries of research papers
How papers get published, how they get retracted, and what a better system might look like (podcast)
Correcting the scientific record- a broken system?
AI created hypothesis: Machine-learning systems are beginning to generate ideas, not just test them
Journal policies and editors' opinions on peer review
***RETRACTIONS
Science Is Self-Correcting- but the Record Is Not (video)
Stem cell researcher’s retraction count may near two dozen
***STUDENT LOANS
Ed Dept. Analysis Projects $435B in Student Loan Losses
***STUDENT LIFE
Enrollment By International Students In U.S. Colleges Plummets
More than a third of prospective college students are reconsidering higher education
Discrimination from some California college professors? Fresno State student speaks out
‘I’ve never seen the campus’: What it’s like to attend Harvard from your childhood bedroom
Harvard gets its first Black, elected student body president
Students lobby for pass-fail grading
Research integrity awareness among biology students
***FREE SPEECH
Ohio lawmakers require free speech protection at colleges, universities
***STUDENT MEDIA
***CYBERATTACKS
Universities Attacked by Phishing Campaign
A ransomware attack has shut down Baltimore County public schools
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
This type of sexual harassment on campus often goes overlooked
University of Michigan hires firm to reform culture around sexual misconduct
Our parents warned us the internet would break our brains. It broke theirs instead.
/So many boomers that warned millennials to be careful on the internet seem to have forgotten all their own warnings. Their brains are broken, and that destruction is threatening to break our relationships, too.
There is so much content on the internet, and so much of it is bad. It is blasting in your face relentlessly. To navigate it well — to discern truth and lies, to parse one's own emotional and reflexive responses, to summon the mental energy to pay attention to credibility and incentives and the small, almost indescribable cues that might indicate whether a piece of content is to be trusted — is very difficult. It is especially difficult for those who have low digital literacy because they did not grow up using the internet.
Our parents' generation, no less than ours, was totally unprepared for the advent of digital technology and mass media … They've been sucked into their screens like the rest of us. They weren't physically abducted, as they feared we could be by a chatroom catfisher in 1999. But it can still feel like the people we know and love are gone.
Bonnie Kristan writing in The Week
Top teacher wins $1m and gives half away
/#GOODNEWS
your friends
/Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.
The seven social sins
/The seven social sins: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice. -Mahatma Gandhi