Articles

Articles

Aug 9, 2002 ·

State budget crisis brings UNC ‘overhead receipts’ under scrutiny

Public universities in North Carolina this year received $120 million from the federal government in “overhead receipts.” That money is intended to help pay the universities’ administrative and institutional costs in conducting research for federal projects. It is also coming under legislative scrutiny in this tight budgetary era, as lawmakers question how the universities use that money and whether it duplicates any state funding efforts.

Jul 29, 2002 ·

Campus intellectual intolerance is back

In 1976, I was a student at Duke Law School. One of the campus speakers that year was Milton Friedman, who had recently received the Nobel Prize in economics. Prior to his talk, leftist student groups posted signs around the campus protesting Friedman’s appearance on the grounds that since he had once given some economic advice to Pinochet’s government in Chile, he was therefore complicit in that regime’s repression.

Jul 19, 2002 ·

The SAT or the racial gap it measures?

What is so wrong with the SAT that it needs an overhaul? The SAT is, quite frankly, too objective — and one of the things it measures objectively is the vast difference in educational preparation between black and white students.

Jul 18, 2002 ·

Inquiry #13: The Higher Education Bonds: Hindsight and Foresight

The campaign for the higher education bonds in 2000 told North Carolina voters that the bonds were the best way to handle the University of North Carolina system’s deteriorating facilities and its pressing needs for new buildings to accommodate an expected surge in enrollment. Bond supporters were adamant and explicit in promising voters that the bonds wouldn’t raise their taxes. Now two years after passage, taxes have already risen and the deepening state budget crisis threatens to see them increase again, UNC is favoring new construction over supposedly critical repairs, there has been no sign of a massive surge in enrollment, and UNC is unnecessarily and openly pursuing contracting procedures that are possibly illegal and likely more costly. A moratorium on the bond sales, allowed by the legislation approving the bonds, appears to be the most responsible way to navigate the state’s fiscal crisis and UNC’s crisis of credibility with N.C. voters.

Jul 15, 2002 ·

Report urges sweeping changes to fix “LGBTQ Climate” at UNC-Chapel Hill

UNC-Chapel Hill needs a great deal more courses in “Sexuality Studies,” special theme housing for gay students, domestic-partner benefits for gay faculty and a revision of dependent benefits to include unadopted children in a domestic-partner arrangement, and the creation of a new campus office, complete with directors, staff, and an advisory committee, to consolidate academic and support resources for gay students, faculty, and staff. Those are just a few of the recommendations contained within a recently released report to the provost on “growing acceptance amid lingering and pernicious discrimination” at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Jul 12, 2002 ·

Study finds foreign student program rife with corruption

The Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., released in June a very damning evaluation of the Foreign Student Program. Conducted by George Borjas, Pforzheimer Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, the evaluation finds the program rife with corruption and failing abysmally at achieving its advertised benefits.

Jul 5, 2002 ·

What’s still OK for public schools: a scorecard

The recent ruling (now on hold) by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to declare the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional and therefore not fit for public schools is just one of the bewildering changes taking place in our public schools. At this moment, maybe it’s time to take stock of what is — and what isn’t — allowed nowadays.

Jun 28, 2002 ·

UNC-Wilmington feminists abort free speech

When a new Women’s Resource Center was established at my university (UNC-Wilmington), I was concerned that it would serve as more of a resource for feminist professors than for female students. I also suspected that the center would try to advance a “pro-choice” agenda with little tolerance for the views of pro-life advocates.