A clash over the future of public higher ed

If colleges were automobiles, the University of Texas at Austin would be a Cadillac: a famous brand, a powerful engine of research and teaching, handsome in appearance, the Associated Press reports. Even the price is comparable: Like one of the luxury car’s models, in-state tuition for a four-year degree runs about $40,000. But in an era of budget-cutting and soaring tuition, is there still a place for “Cadillacs” – elite, public research institutions like Texas, Michigan, California-Berkeley and Virginia that try to compete with the world’s best? Or should the focus be on more affordable and efficient options, like the old Chevrolet Bel Air? It’s the central question in a pointed clash of cultures in higher education. And when Gene Powell – the former UT football player and San Antonio real estate developer who chairs the Texas board of regents – raised it with precisely that automotive comparison, reaction was swift and angry…

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IBM sends Watson supercomputer to NY college to boost its skills

Watson, the supercomputer famous for beating the world’s best human “Jeopardy!” champions, is going to college, the Associated Press reports. IBM is announcing Wednesday that it will provide a Watson system to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the first time the computer is being sent to a university. Just like the flesh-and-blood students who will work on it, Watson is leaving home to sharpen its skills. Course work will include English and math.

“It’s a big step for us,” said Michael Henesey, IBM’s vice president of business development. “We consider it absolutely strategic technology for IBM in the future. And we want to evolve it, of course, thoughtfully, but also in collaboration with the best and brightest in academia…”

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Bucknell acknowledges inflating average SAT scores

Enrollment officials at Bucknell University, a selective liberal arts school in central Pennsylvania, inflated students’ average SAT scores over the past several years, the school’s president said, the Associated Press reports. Mean SAT results for incoming freshmen were overstated by an average of 16 points between 2006 and 2012, according to President John Bravman. The motive behind the misrepresentation is unclear, he said, though college entrance exam scores often figure into national rankings.

“These numerical omissions, as relatively small as they were, violated the trust of every student, faculty member, staff member and Bucknellian they reached,” he wrote Friday in a letter to the university community. Bravman, who took office in 2010, attributed the inaccurate figures to officials who no longer work at Bucknell…

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Texas official: 3 wounded in college shooting

A shooting on a Texas community college campus wounded three people Tuesday and sent students fleeing for safety as officials placed the campus on lockdown, officials said, the Associated Press reports. Harris County Sheriff’s Maj. Armando Tello said authorities had detained a person of interest. He did not provide any details about the people who were wounded, such as whether they were students or included the person who was arrested. Authorities thought there could be a second shooter, according to a law enforcement official in Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the ongoing case. The school’s official Twitter feed said the shooting was between two people and that the situation was under control. It had issued an alert on its website earlier, telling students and faculty to take immediate shelter or avoid the campus…

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‘Girl Rising’ spotlights need for girls’ education

Just because a film isn’t finished doesn’t mean it can’t get buzz at Sundance, the Associated Press reports. Director Richard Robbins showed about 10 minutes of his new movie, “Girl Rising,” at the independent-film festival Monday, even though he still has a few weeks of post-production work to do on the project. The film tells the stories of nine girls from different developing countries — including Cambodia, Haiti, India and Afghanistan — and shows how access to education would change their lives. Robbins, who works as a writer for TV’s “Scandal,” said he had hoped to finish the film in time to compete or premiere at Sundance, but after visiting 10 countries in 12 months gathering footage, he just couldn’t make it in time. Still, he wanted to generate interest in the film, which is set for release in March…

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Moody’s: Outlook for higher ed sector now negative

Moody’s Investors Service on Wednesday downgraded its outlook for the higher education sector to negative across the board, saying even prestigious, top-tier research universities are now under threat from declining enrollment, government spending cuts and even growing public doubts over the value of a college degree, the Associated Press reports. Previously, its outlook had been stable for those better-positioned institutions, and negative for the rest. The report explaining the decision outlines a range of financial challenges now burdening virtually all institutions, though in different measures in different places — stagnant family income that limits pricing power, substantial state funding cuts, a demographic dip in the population of new high school graduates and a federal budget standoff that almost certainly bodes ill for the future flow of dollars for research and student-aid programs like Pell Grants…

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Ala. college asks court to toss suit over shooting

The University of South Alabama and its police chief want a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the parents of a nude student who was shot to death by a campus police officer, the Associated Press reports. Both the school and university police chief Zeke Aull argued in court documents that they are immune from being sued under state law in the October death of freshman Gil Collar, 18, of Wetumpka. His parents filed the suit over the killing last month. They are seeking an unspecified amount of money and a court order requiring the school to arm its officers with stun guns. Aside from arguing he can’t be held liable for Collar’s death, Aull also asked a judge to refuse the demand to arm all school officers with the weapons, which are used to shock suspects into submission…

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College degrees protected recent grads from great recession’s worst

It was a defining image of the Great Recession: floundering college grads stuck back home, living in mom and dad’s basement. But while rooted in some truth, that picture doesn’t show fully how the prolonged economic downturn broadly impacted people in their early 20s, according to a new study out Wednesday, the Associated Press reports. In fact, those degrees offered strong protections against the recession’s worst effects. The study, an analysis of U.S. Census data by the Pew Economic Mobility Project, makes no claim recent years have been golden ones for new college graduates. Wages were down and have yet to recover, unemployment and student debt were up, and fewer grads have found jobs befitting their education-level. But the report finds all of those negative effects came in much smaller doses for college graduates than for those with associate’s degrees and only a high school credential, and that fewer graduates fell out of work entirely…

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Hamas flagship university grooms Hebrew teachers

Hamas’ flagship university in Gaza has a new diploma on offer — Hebrew, the official language of its arch-foe Israel, the Associated Press reports. Gaza’s Hamas rulers say they want to produce qualified teachers as the government gradually introduces Hebrew studies in its high schools. The aim is simple: It wants Palestinians in Gaza to learn their enemy’s language.

“As Jews are occupying our lands, we have to understand their language,” said Education Ministry official Somayia Nakhala.

There are 19 students enrolled in the first one-year Hebrew diploma course offered at the Islamic University in Gaza City, a stronghold of Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007. Hamas does not recognize Israel, is officially pledged to its destruction and has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, rocket strikes and other attacks……Read More

Words school wants banned

Spoiler alert: This story contains words and phrases that some people want to ban from the English language. “Spoiler alert” is among them. So are “kick the can down the road,” “trending” and “bucket list,” the Associated Press reports. A dirty dozen have landed on the 38th annual List of Words to be Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness. The nonbinding, tongue-in-cheek decree released Monday by northern Michigan’s Lake Superior State University is based on nominations submitted from the United States, Canada and beyond. “Spoiler alert,” the seemingly thoughtful way to warn readers or viewers about looming references to a key plot point in a film or TV show, nevertheless passed its use-by date for many, including Joseph Foly, of Fremont, Calif. He argued in his submission the phrase is “used as an obnoxious way to show one has trivial information and is about to use it, no matter what.” At the risk of further offense, here’s another spoiler alert: The phrase receiving the most nominations this year is “fiscal cliff,” banished because of its overuse by media outlets when describing across-the-board federal tax increases and spending cuts that economists say could harm the economy in the new year without congressional action…

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