Commentaries | Archive

Showing records: 1381 to 1410 out of 1523

Racial intimidation at N.C. State
On Thursday, Feb. 28, North Carolina State University Prof. Phillip Muñoz's political science class on "Law and Justice" was interrupted by a group of black students. The group passed out slips of paper to students as they entered the classroom, then lined up along the side wall of the classroom. The group never spoke, not even to respond to the professor's repeated invitations to state their case. They were there to offer support, or better stated, intimidation, on behalf of a black student upset about the class.... More »
March 01, 2002

Student fee increases are being overlooked in tuition discussions
Although tuition increases have generated the most controversy in the past few months and years at schools in the University of North Carolina System, another increasing cost of attending UNC schools -- increasing student fees -- has gone unremarked.... More »
February 22, 2002

Inspired by Sept. 11, some new college courses dismissed as 'psychobabble'
New courses inspired by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 have been developed on college campuses nationwide. Most deal matter-of-factly with the issues, but some have come under criticism for being "gadfly courses" and "politically correct pseudo-courses."... More »
February 15, 2002

Courses welcome back at UNC-Qatar
On the back page of its Feb. 14-21 issue, the Nubian featured a large picture of "The infamous Darren O'Connor." A diabolical reddish glow suffuses O'Connor's face, almost crowding out his features, except for the dark hollows of his eyes, which are exaggerated by the hellish light.... More »
February 15, 2002

Poll shows how college students were affected by events of Sept. 11
About two out of three college students have changed their behavior as a result of the terrorist attacks of Septemeber 11, according to a poll released this week by the Independent Women's Forum. Ninety-six percent of students polled report that the attacks had an impact on their lives.... More »
February 08, 2002

Racial references to blame for black graduation rates at N.C. State, not low aid
A collection of black student interest groups at North Carolina State University has graded the university on the subjects of enrollment and graduation of black students and recruitment of black faculty. The African-American Student Advisory Council, not surprisingly, gave the university mostly failing grades. In essence, the groups gave N.C. State low marks because the university doesn't discriminate enough in the way they want it to.... More »
February 01, 2002

Students not-so-surprisingly silent over tuition increases
Less than a year after hundreds of University of North Carolina students marched to the Capitol to protest UNC budget cuts and large tuition increases, tuition increases are again being proposed for several UNC schools, yet the students are now mute. They were in August when legislators debated a 9 percent, retroactive tuition hike for all UNC system students (which passed Aug. 30) that The Daily Tar Heel wrote a story about it, “Low Turnout for Anti-Tuition Rally Frustrates Leaders,” on Aug. 28. “Despite the possibility of additional charges,” the DTH noted, referring to the tuition increase, “rally organizers had difficulty enticing student involvement.”... More »
January 25, 2002

Bill would study giving illegal immigrants access to in-state tuition rates
Some illegal immigrants may now pay resident tuition to attend public universities in California, thanks to legislation signed last year by Gov. Gray Davis and a vote this week by the University of California Board of Regents. In North Carolina, a bill before the Senate would create a commission to study doing the same thing here.... More »
January 18, 2002

UNC-Wilmington professor at center of free-speech fight
Controversy continues to swirl around what the University of North Carolina at Wilmington did to a professor for chiding a student's mass-distributed e-mail as "bad speech."... More »
January 15, 2002

Higher education's diminishing returns
Moeser wants people to equate "knowledge" and "learning" with the kind of formal education he represents. But in his book The Joy of Freedom, economist David Henderson calls this "one of the biggest snow jobs."... More »
January 15, 2002

College isn't 'more important than ever,' despite the Lumina Foundation study
Despite the Lumina Foundation's jeremiad over the "inaccessibility" of higher education hindering the goal of making college available to all citizens, other research indicates that such a goal itself is not socially optimal.... More »
January 11, 2002

UNCW denies chilling free speech after inspecting professor
Controversy continues to swirl around what the University of North Carolina at Wilmington did to a professor for chiding a student's mass-distributed e-mail as "bad speech." As well as around what UNCW didn't do.... More »
December 21, 2001

UNC-Chapel Hill mulls opening business school in Qatar
As the liberation of Afghanistan continues unabated and well ahead of schedule, and as Hamas takes credit for another bloody round of suicide-bomb attacks on civilians and teenagers in Israel, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill mulls a proposal to open a business school in the Emirate of Qatar.... More »
December 15, 2001

Tuition and fees grow faster at UNC schools, remain among lowest nationally
Tuition increases at the 16 campuses in the University of North Carolina have upset students and parents. A Pope Center look at the issue found that the average increase this year for in-state students in tuition and fees at a UNC school was greater than the average increase nationally. Nevertheless, tuition and fees at UNC schools are still lower than the regional and U.S. averages.... More »
December 14, 2001

Changes (and rumors of changes) to racial preferences nationwide
The face of racial preferences, under the misnomer “affirmative action,” is changing in several places nationwide.... More »
December 07, 2001

Former Black Panther leader decries "fascist" U.S. at Duke
A former head of a domestic terrorist organization spoke at Duke University on Nov. 15 to an apparently receptive crowd.... More »
December 01, 2001

Leftists blast report urging colleges to teach American history and principles
A report by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni has the establishment-left wing of academe up in arms. "Defending Civilization: How Our Universities Are Failing America and What Can Be Done About It" builds on the fact that "academe is the only sector of American society that is distinctly divided in its response" to the terrorist attacks on America to reiterate (not to mention, underscore) the organization's call for trustees, donors and alumni to seek change in their institutions of higher education.... More »
November 30, 2001

Harsh critic of UNC-Chapel Hill to speak in Chapel Hill, Raleigh
Leftist-radical-turned-conservative-activist David Horowitz will be speaking in Raleigh and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Wednesday, Nov. 28. Horowitz, president of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture, has been sharply critical of leftists in higher education prior to and following Sept. 11, and he has been especially critical of UNC-CH.... More »
November 23, 2001

Former Black Panther leader regales Duke University students
As America's war on terrorists abroad continues successfully, a former head of a domestic terrorist organization spoke at Duke University to an apparently receptive crowd.... More »
November 16, 2001

UNCW prof threatened with a lawsuit for responding to student's e-mail
A UNC-Wilmington student is threatening a lawsuit against a professor because she was offended by his response to her mass email, sent also to him, in which she claimed the war on terrorism was an "intensification of US imperialist repression already in progress."... More »
November 15, 2001

Report on teacher certification riles education establishment
"Teacher Certification: Stumbling for Quality" is the title of a major report released in October by the Abell Foundation that has vexed the vociferous education establishment. The report, by Kate Walsh, tackles the assumptions that undergird the regulatory policies that all states have implemented, mandating teacher certification as the way to ensure good teachers.... More »
November 15, 2001

Feminist teach-in links "fundamentalism" in the Middle East to (natch) the U.S.
"Women Fight Fundamentalisms: Before and After September 11th" was the topic of a two-day "teach-in" at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. Discussion was not, however, limited to the fight against that "fundamentalist" version of Islam. As the title clearly indicates, the topic was women fighting "fundamentalisms" (plural). And one speaker discussed similarities between President George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden.... More »
November 15, 2001

N.C. State panelists suggest oil and racism are what really motivate the U.S. war on terrorism
The U.S. war on terrorism was roundly decried Tuesday by the speakers at a North Carolina State University roundtable discussion on the war. The discussion was sponsored by the N.C. State Women’s Center, the Academic Study of Religion Club and Engineers Without Borders.... More »
November 15, 2001

Students fight back against anti-war sentiment on campus
North Carolina university students are beginning to join the intellectual battle on campuses over the U.S. war on terrorism.... More »
November 09, 2001

Free Speech for Some
On October 5 the American Association of University Professors issued a statement denouncing criticism of professors opposing the war on terrorism by those who seek to "demonize" them.... More »
November 09, 2001

N.C. State Panelists Suggest Oil, Racism Motivate U.S. War on Terrorism
The U.S. war on terrorism was roundly decried Tuesday by the speakers at a North Carolina State University roundtable discussion on the war. The discussion was sponsored by the N.C. State Women's Center, the Academic Study of Religion Club and Engineers Without Borders.... More »
November 02, 2001

UNCW professor threatened by student for replying to her anti-U.S. email
A UNC-Wilmington student is threatening a lawsuit against a professor because she was offended by his response to her mass email, sent also to him, in which she claimed the war on terrorism was an "intensification of US imperialist repression already in progress."... More »
October 26, 2001

Combined teach-in will focus on the fight against fundamentalism
“Women Fight Fundamentalisms: Before and After September 11th” will be the topic of a two-day “teach-in” at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. The teach-in will build upon the national consensus forged on Sept. 11 against the extremist, militant interpretation of Islam wielded by the terrorist al-Qu’eda organization, Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban. That aberration of Islam is particularly vicious in its treatment of women. The topic of the teach-in is not, however, limited to the fight against that “fundamentalist” version of Islam by women. As the title clearly indicates, the topic is women fighting “fundamentalisms” (plural).... More »
October 19, 2001

Universities return to business as usual, fighting racism, sexism, homophobia
A month has past since the attacks on New York and Washington. Although most in the campus community are, like nearly all Americans, horrified by the attacks and wanting some semblance of justice brought to the perpetrators, a very vocal minority on university campuses is intermittently making new proclamations of U.S. culpability in terrorism. (A forum sponsored by the University Scholars Program at North Carolina State University featuring N.C. State professor of plant pathology Bob Bruck was the latest example of the latter.)... More »
October 12, 2001

Speakers at UNC-Chapel Hill "teach-ins" compare the U.S. with Nazis, terrorists
In response to the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, members of the "Progressive Faculty Network" at UNC-Chapel Hill have sponsored a series of "teach-ins" to give an alternative view of the attacks.... More »
October 07, 2001