Sep 22, 2005 ·

The University Needs to Know Its Own Limitations

One of my favorite movie lines occurs when Clint Eastwood (“Dirty Harry” Callahan) says to a criminal he has just subdued, “A man has got to know his own limitations.”

Knowing one’s limitations is a good idea for institutions as well as individuals, but for some years now, it’s been evident that UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser doesn’t recognize any limits on his university. His September 15 “State of the University Address” shows that he believes the university to have a far wider range of capabilities than it actually does.

One example is the Chancellor’s statement that “North Carolina must compete in this global economy, so it is absolutely critical that its flagship university be a player on the world stage.” That’s why UNC is building a new Global Education Center.

Sep 15, 2005 ·

DTH columnist fired for controversial column

CHAPEL HILL – A UNC-Chapel Hill student was fired from The Daily Tar Heel, the school’s student newspaper, Wednesday after she wrote a column on airport security that maintained Arabs should be “stripped naked and cavity-searched if they get within 100 yards of an airport.”

Jillian Bandes, a junior from Florida, was the author of the controversial column that ran in Tuesday’s edition of the school paper. She says she was just stating her opinion on airport security in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and was never given an opportunity from The Daily Tar Heel editors to defend herself.

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Power Corrupts in Academic Style

College professors and administrators are supposed to be dedicated to liberty to challenge ideas, to argue, to dissent. They often say that they are. But when they have the power to punish someone for deviating from one of their cherished notions, do they stick to the principles of academic freedom, or do they fall into Lord Acton’s famous statement about the corrupting nature of power?

A recent case involving a respected history professor shows that some academics love academic freedom, but only for those who agree with them.

Slowly gathering momentum within the education establishment is the idea that students and faculty members should not just be evaluated on the basis of their objective performance – their knowledge of the subject matter and their ability to teach it – but also on their acceptance of certain philosophical views having nothing to do with that subject matter.

Sep 14, 2005 ·

Why is the NCAA silent about all those Fighting Scots?

What if I, an American of Scots heritage and “therefore” representative of all, no matter what the rest say, were to complain about the “Fighting Scots?” It seems the NCAA would have to do something about them, right, to show equal consideration to Indians and Scots?

Sep 13, 2005 ·

UNC, Dole research initiative announced in Kannapolis

KANNAPOLIS – More than two years after Pillowtex closed in July 2003, a major public-private research initiative is in development that will transform the site of the former manufacturing company into what is billed as a national leader in biotechnology research.

The plan, known as the North Carolina Research Campus, will utilize research initiatives from institutions within the University of North Carolina, Dole Food Company, and other private research companies. Full details of the project were announced during a press conference in Kannapolis on Sept. 12.

Sep 8, 2005 ·

Better Way to Nominate BOG Members

CHAPEL HILL — Every two years, the General Assembly is charged with appointing 16 members to the UNC Board of Governors, half of the board’s 32-seat voting membership. The Board of Governors is invested with great power, and its decisions affect the state’s citizens, especially those with children in the UNC system.

State law tasks the House and Senate each to choose eight members, but it doesn’t stipulate exactly how the selections are to be made. That is left up to the rules adopted by the respective chambers. You might expect that the procedures would be fair and open, but that isn’t the case.

Recently, the process has been conducted under a veil of secrecy that does a disservice to the taxpayers who fund the UNC system to the tune of more than $2 billion annually.

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Is it necessary for everyone to go to college?

Fifty years ago, college education was sold to students as a way of broadening their intellectual horizons. The curriculum was filled with courses in literature, philosophy, history and so on. If you were looking for job training, that was mostly found in the job market itself, or at technical institutes and community colleges.

Strangely, the situation has changed almost 180 degrees. Today most people look to higher education for job training (or at least preparation) and great numbers of students believe that without a college degree, they will be unemployable in all but menial labor. At the same time, the old idea that the purpose of a college education is to broaden one’s intellectual horizons has been largely relegated to the broom closet. True, quite a few institutions still pay lip service to the importance of a liberal education, but in fact it is quite easy for students at most of them to earn a BA without taking any of the kind of courses that used to be the pillars of the curriculum. Students who want to learn about, say, philosophy or history would be better off looking for a good lecture series on tape than looking through the course catalogue.

Sep 6, 2005 ·

Legislature amends Umstead Act

RALEIGH – Earlier this session, legislators passed a law that would make it easier for the University of North Carolina to compete with small businesses in college communities. The bill, HB 1539, which sets forth the changes to the Umstead Act, was opposed by several business leaders including several in Orange County.

The bill was unanimously passed by members of both the House and Senate. The Umstead Act is a 76-year-old provision that prohibits unfair state-supported competition with private companies.

Sep 1, 2005 ·

NCAA Committee Issues New Warnings on Offensive Mascots

INDIANAPOLIS – A NCAA committee has issued new demands to several colleges and universities across the nation seeking justification for their continued use of offensive mascots, NCAA officials announced today. At issue is enforcement of the NCAA’s new edict against “hostile and abusive racial/ethnic/national origin mascots, nicknames or imagery,” with which schools must abide in order to have eligibility to participate in NCAA postseason events.

The Executive Committee on Making Foolish Pronouncements During the Off-Season, reputed to be the NCAA’s busiest committee, initiated the latest spate of demands. Their purpose is to clarify and expand the NCAA’s position on offensive mascots, said committee head Giselda Knickertwist.