A Great Place to Party? Survey Says… Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received the dubious honor of being rated on www.PartySchool.com – a web site that rates schools’ party scenes, gives advice on planning parties (including a list of drinking games “to get the party started”), and provides the “world’s only patented, scientifically proven cure” for combatting hangovers. PartySchool.com awarded UNC-CH with 4 out of 5 stars for its “wild” party scene.



NEA Gives Thumbs Up to Distance Education

The National Education Association (NEA) this week released a study showing positive support among NEA-member faculty for distance education. The study polled more than 400 plus instructors who had taught distance-learning courses and 130 who had not in an effort to assess distance learning’s strengths and weaknesses. Currently, one in 10 higher-education NEA members teaches a distance-learning course.


College Graduates Don’t Know Much About English

The average English major graduates knowing much about racial, ethnic, and sexual politics, but very little about literary history and classic authors, according to a new study of undergraduate English programs by the National Association of Scholars, a higher education reform group in Princeton, New Jersey.


Lawmakers Back UNC Bonds

To the applause of UNC leaders and amid self-congratulation, House and Senate members on Wednesday approved $3.1 billion in bonds for North Carolina’s public colleges and universities. But debate over equity and accountability continue as UNC leaders face ostensibly their biggest challenge yet – making their case to voters in November.


University Stewardship Questioned

While Republican lawmakers say they will support the $3.1 billion bond proposal for the UNC campuses, many say they have misgivings about the way the state’s public universities are managed. Some are calling for accountability measures.


UNC-TV Needs $65 Million

On Wednesday, less than ten hours before UNC-TV aired a documentary showcasing UNC’s facilities needs, UNC-TV director and general manager Tom Howe told the Joint Select Committee on Higher Education Facilities Needs that UNC-TV needs $65 million in state money to meet a federal mandate.


Racial Preferences, Grade Inflation Hurt Education, Students Say

While most students favor ethnic diversity on campus, they oppose compromising fairness and high standards to achieve it, according to new survey by Zogby International. The study, commissioned by the New York-based Foundation for Academic Standards and Tradition (FAST), interviewed 1,004 randomly selected college students nationwide.


Critics of Race Preferences Vindicated by Enrollment Figures

The Princeton-based National Association of Scholars (NAS) and the Berkeley-based California Association of Scholars (CAS) last week expressed great satisfaction over enrollment figures released by the University of California. Minority enrollment at the University of California is up despite the banning of race preferential admissions policies there three years ago.