Calif lawmakers denounce anti-Semitism in colleges

An Assembly resolution urging California colleges and universities to squelch nascent anti-Semitism also encouraged educators to crack down on demonstrations against Israel, angering advocates for Muslim students, the Associated Press reports. With no debate, lawmakers on Tuesday approved a resolution that encourages university leaders to combat a wide array of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel actions.

“California schools need to recognize that anti-Semitism is still a very real issue on college campuses around the state — it did not disappear with the end of World War II,” said Assemblywoman Linda Halderman, R-Fresno, the resolution’s author.

Most of the incidents of anti-Semitism the resolution cited are related to the Israel-Palestine debate. These include instances of protesters comparing Israeli police to Nazis and urging support for Hamas……Read More

Apple’s $1 billion patent verdict a blow to Android phones

Many analysts said the decision could spell danger for competitors who, like Samsung, use Google’s Android operating system to power their cell phones.

It was the $1 billion question that campus technology leaders were asking Aug. 25: What does Apple’s victory in an epic patent dispute over its fiercest rival mean for the U.S. smart-phone industry?

Analysts from Wall Street to Hong Kong debated whether a jury’s decision that Samsung Electronics Co. ripped off Apple technology would help Apple corner the U.S. smart-phone market over Android rivals, or amount to one more step in a protracted legal battle over smart-phone technology.

Many analysts said the decision could spell danger for competitors who, like Samsung, use Google Inc.’s Android operating system to power their cell phones.…Read More

Top higher-education technology news: August 2012

Here are some of the top higher-education technology news stories in our July/August 2012 edition.

eLearning programs have gotten a reprieve from a controversial federal rule that some people viewed as too heavy-handed; a new resource helps ed-tech leaders understand the various standards for ensuring that campus technology systems are compatible with each other; and two recent court rulings have important implications for campus technology use: These are among the top higher-education technology stories in the July/August edition of eCampus News.

Our July/August edition is now available in digital format on our website. You can browse the full publication here, or click on any of the headlines below to read these highlights:

eLearning programs get a reprieve…Read More

Students say for-profit college targeted African Americans, women in online and TV ads

Virginia College students said they weren’t employable after graduation.

For only the second time in the U.S., a college has been formally accused of targeting minorities and women in TV and online advertisements. And a group of students claims the for-profit institution fell well short of accreditation requirements, costing graduates jobs over the past two years.

The Mississippi Center for Justice, a nonprofit, public-interest law firm, filed a formal legal complaint July 18 against the Virginia College, which has national accreditation, but allegedly lacks regional accreditation. Many medical assisting students were only made aware of this after earning their degree and being turned down for jobs because they lacked basic experience.

Virginia College, the recipient of $292 million in federal student loans last year, has also been accused of targeting African Americans and women in local advertising campaigns, which included online efforts like pop-up ads. The school’s recruiters guided these prospective students toward hefty educational loans, some as high as $26,000 for a 15-month course in medical assistance at the college’s Jackson, Miss., campus.…Read More

Vet-targeted college website to be turned over to feds

For-profit schools have aggressively recruited veterans since 2008.

A company that officials say preyed on veterans for their education benefits by steering them to for-profit colleges has agreed to pay $2.5 million to 20 states and turn over its website to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway announced the consumer protection settlement June 27 against QuinStreet Inc. The company ran the website GIBill.com.

The states alleged GIBill.com misled military veterans by giving the impression schools listed on its site were the only ones where education benefits could be used. The colleges were primarily for-profit.…Read More

Court: Facebook posts about student’s lab cadaver justified punishment

Tatro said her free speech rights were violated.

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled June 20 that the University of Minnesota did not violate a mortuary student’s free speech rights by punishing her for Facebook posts about the school cadaver she was working on, which included “satirical commentary and violent fantasy.”

But the court, in what might be the nation’s first state high court decision addressing college students’ online free speech rights, said the sanctions imposed by the university on Amanda Tatro were justified by “narrowly tailored” rules directly related to “established professional conduct standards.”

Although Tatro lost her case, some free speech advocates said they were relieved by the ruling’s limits, which they said applied only to the online conduct of a student in a professional program.…Read More

Online college officials cheer court ruling on controversial federal regulation

Some online colleges said they would withdraw from small states if state authorization rules were implemented.

The U.S. Court of Appeals on June 5 sided with an earlier court ruling that would eliminate a federal regulation that higher-education officials characterized as heavy handed and a potentially devastating blow for online learning.

The court’s decision to “vacate” state authorization rules—which would require colleges with online programs to register courses in every state in which they operate—followed a 2011 U.S. District Court decision to strike down the law.

Eliminating the distance-education portion of the state authorization regulation was based purely on procedural grounds: The appeals court charged that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) did not comply with a federal rulemaking process that would provide the online community the chance to add comments and suggestions before implementation of the regulation.…Read More

Commission examining federal rule that could ‘impede access’ to online education

The commission will have an adviser from the Education Department.

A group of influential policy makers will review a federal regulation that has drawn the scorn of online college officials who say the government rule could leave students in small states without access to web-based courses.

“State authorization” rules have been at the center of an ongoing debate among federal officials pushing colleges to register online programs in every state in which they operate, and campus decision makers who call the law onerous and overreaching.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) lost a court battle over the state authorization rules last year, but ED officials have continued to push for the regulations. And the U.S. House of Representatives in February voted to eliminate state authorization rules in a rare bipartisan vote.…Read More

Notre Dame sues Obama administration over birth control mandate

On Monday, the University of Notre Dame filed suit against the Obama administration over its rule that all employers must offer contraception in their insurance plans, The Ticket reports. Notre Dame is now the seventh religious college to sue over the mandate; it’s also the largest school to do so. President Barack Obama gave the commencement address at the prominent Catholic university in 2009. In its suit, the school says that health care reform’s contraception mandate violates its religious freedom and would require it to go against Catholic principles by offering contraception and sterilization to students and faculty in its insurance plan. The university serves 11,500 students of different religious faiths, and is traditionally led by a Catholic priest as president. A few dozen Catholic dioceses and other religious organizations also filed suit today…

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