Academics

Future leaders in business, government, and civil society need more than just job skills. The following articles defend the value of liberal education, with a focus on academic quality and rigor, fundamental knowledge, and the ideas that have shaped Western Civilization. They also scrutinize academic programs that have departed from these ideals in the name of progressive ideology.

Paul Krugman’s Fallacious Academic Question

Apr 29, 2005 ·

Paul Krugman is a columnist who never passes up an opportunity to throw jabs at those Americans whom he dislikes, a set that comprises anyone who doesn’t accept his big-government philosophy. All the jabbing would be fine if Krugman limited himself to serious arguments, but serious arguments might be too boring for his New York Times editors, so he often resorts to cheap shots and fallacious reasoning. His April 5, 2005 column “An Academic Question” is a case in point. (Site requires registration.)

Klein addresses predominance of leftist professors

Apr 22, 2005 ·

RALEIGH – Daniel Klein is a distinct minority in academia. Sure, he’s open about his beliefs and is not afraid to tell you what they are. The thing is his belief system runs counter to the vast majority of professors in academia today.

Klein, currently an economics professor at the University of Santa Clara who will move to George Mason University in the fall, is one of the few in academia who do not subscribe to liberal ideology. He is a libertarian in a profession filled with leftist professors and administrations.

Women’s groups against Title IX changes

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CHAPEL HILL — A group of female college administrators has begun a grassroots effort to overturn a recent Title IX clarification that makes it easier for college and universities to comply with Title IX regulations regarding athletics.

According to NCAA News, the National Association of Collegiate Women’s Athletics Administrators has sent an email to its members asking them to contact their congressmen and other political leaders to get the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights decision overturned. The Women’s Sports Foundation is also joining in the effort.

Community college audit released

Apr 21, 2005 ·

RALEIGH – The North Carolina Community College System does not have supporting documentation “to ensure appropriate internal controls” are in place regarding the system’s College Data Accounting System Application, according to an audit released Wednesday by State Auditor Les Merritt.

A similar finding was found in last year’s audit. There were no financial statements in the audit.

Kirsanow Assails Affirmative Action in Academia

Apr 15, 2005 ·

For decades, higher education institutions have utilized racial preferences and quota programs, euphemistically called “affirmative action” in their admission policies. At least one member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights would like to see that practice come to an end.

Peter Kirsanow, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights who was appointed by President Bush, spoke to students Tuesday at UNC-Chapel Hill where he focused on ending the victim grievance model of civil rights. He also argued that the focus on civil rights activism should be on looking towards the future rather than to the past. In an interview prior to his speech, Kirsanow explained that higher education is focused too much on racial policies that were effective in the 1960s, but are now unnecessary and even counterproductive.

College Advice in Less than 45 minutes

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CHAPEL HILL – Maybe Ray Lane, former president and chief operating officer of Oracle, was onto something at my college graduation three years ago.

Lane rode into the West Virginia University Coliseum on what was at the time a new invention – a Segway scooter. He said that that moment would likely be all we would remember from the speech and graduation day itself.

“In 2036, when you’re standing where I’m standing now, you’ll be able to say, I don’t remember who my commencement speaker was, but I remember what he rode in on,” Lane said. “This baby is my insurance policy against obscurity.”

Does North Carolina Need an Optometry School?

Apr 8, 2005 ·

“No one spends other people’s money as carefully as he spends his own.” So says Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman. Let’s keep that in mind as we consider a new spending proposal being pushed by one of the schools in the UNC system.

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNC-P) has advanced a plan to build a new school of optometry at the geographically remote campus. The budget contains $10 million for the initial planning and development of the project, but no funds can be expended until the UNC president’s office gives approval. A meeting to decide on the plan is scheduled for later this month.

UNC-Pembroke aims to build School of Optometry

Apr 7, 2005 ·

CHAPEL HILL – UNC-Pembroke leaders are in the development stages of a proposed School of Optometry — a school some say is unneeded given the prospect for a surplus of optometrists in the country.

Already, $10 million in state funding has been appropriated for UNC-Pembroke to plan and develop the new school. According to UNC-Pembroke Vice President for University and Community Relations Glen Burnette, that money cannot be used until UNC Office of the President gives the proposal the green light. UNC-Pembroke officials are scheduled to meet with members of an administration committee within the Office of the President by the end of the month in an effort to obtain approval to go ahead with the project.