Are universities above the law?

by Peter Berkowitz

Three lawsuits--against Dartmouth College and Duke and Princeton universities--may be the best things to happen to higher education in decades. The Dartmouth suit, though recently withdrawn, focused attention on the role of alumni in college affairs. The Duke case raises the question of the extent to which courts will require universities to observe their own rules and regulations. The Princeton case puts at issue the enforceability of restricted gifts. All three expose the often opaque governing structures under which colleges and universities operate and bring into focus the need for transparency and accountability in higher education.More than the scope of universities' legal responsibilities is at stake here. That's because upholding the rule of law on campus can contribute to the reform of university governance--and the reform of university governance is an indispensable precondition for the restoration of a liberal education -worthy of the name.

For more on this article, go to The Weekly Standard

Attack on Muslim student in Ill. deemed bogus; alleged victim charged

Elmhurst, Ill. - A Muslim student who said a masked gunman assaulted her after he wrote anti-Islamic slurs in a women's restroom at Elmhurst College was arrested Friday after an investigation concluded the attack never happened.

A week after the case roiled the small college, Elmhurst Police Chief Steven Neubauer said Safia Jilani, 19, of Oak Brook had been booked on a felony charge of filing a false police report, which is punishable by 1 to 3 years in prison.

Jilani reported Oct. 9 that the man beat her with the gun in the college's science center, authorities said. Anti-Muslim graffiti was written on the wall, similar to a threat written on the same student's locker the previous week.

For more on this story, go to The Chicago Tribune. Also, for a moralizing, self-serving commentary reacting to the now-bogus attack, go to The Leader, EC's student newspaper, and EC's Website.

Inflation, and the bailout, simplified

Chronicle of Higher Education seeking academic freedom reporter

JournalismJobs.com and MediaBistro.com have posted a job opening in academic-freedom journalism being advertised by The Chronicle of Higher Education:

The successful candidate for this full-time, Washington, DC-based position will demonstrate enthusiasm for and knowledge of the debates over academic freedom roiling college and university campuses; how campus politics affect professors' ability to teach and do research; and how religion, politics, and activism affect tenure, research, academic publishing, and faculty governance.

He or she will scoop the competition at breaking news, write insightful analyses that connect the dots, and develop enterprising features that advance stories and set The Chronicle apart. Applicants should have 5–10 years of relevant experience and a demonstrated ability to break news and meet daily assignments as well as to generate ideas and produce mid- and long-range feature stories.

Job applicants should send a cover letter, resume, and at least three clips to: Josh Fischman, Senior Editor, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 1255 23rd St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20037 or you can email those materials, including clips (no links to clips, please) to josh.fischman@chronicle.com. The subject line of the email should read "Job Applicant." NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE

What Andrew Jackson might say about the bailout

by James P. Pinkerton

“You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the eternal God, I will rout you out.”

Today I turn over my space to Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, who said these fiery words to a delegation of bankers in 1832:

“Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time, and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter, I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the eternal God, I will rout you out.”

The issue back then was the Bank of the United States, a federally chartered institution—sort of a predecessor to the Federal Reserve—that Jackson, ever the populist, strongly opposed. Today, most people agree that a national bank is necessary, but as today’s vote demonstrates, there is no national consensus on transferring wealth from the middle to the top. Good! Let’s hope that principle holds true for a while longer.

Today, the same as back then, big bankers attempt to blackmail America: If you don’t do things our way, exactly as we tell you, then the roof will cave in.

For more on this commentary, go to The Fox Forum

The 4-1-1 on a 9-1-1 rip-off in N.Y.

Syracuse, N.Y. - The cell phone bill says "9-1-1 Service Fee": $1.20. You pay it every month to New York state.

But only 6 cents end up at a 911 center.

Instead, the state spends the money on itself: overtime, fringe benefits, travel, vehicles, new boots, clip-on ties, sun block, spray paint, groceries, dry cleaning and other daily expenses for agencies ranging from the state police to the departments of corrections and parks, state records show.

The National Guard, for example, spent almost $1 million at Oswego's Best Western Captain's Quarters hotel and steak and seafood restaurant and the Econo Lodge Riverfront Inn. That housed and fed up to 21 soldiers who patrolled the nuclear power plants for three years after Sept. 11, 2001.

The state imposed the fee to raise enough money to upgrade 911 technology so dispatchers can find you when you call from your cell phone and can't talk.

For more on this story, go to The (Syracuse) Post-Standard