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.
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.
When is a Student from Ohio Really a North Carolinian?
In one of the strangest state budget provisions in years, if a student from Ohio (or any other state or even a foreign country) is awarded a full scholarship to attend one of the campuses of the UNC system, then that student can be officially counted as being a North Carolina resident. What is going on? Why say that a kid with a New Jersey driver’s license is a North Carolinian?
The answer is that this bit of definitional legerdemain is designed to evade the long-standing cap on out-of-state residents who may enroll in the state university system. Under state law, UNC campuses cannot enroll more than 18 percent of their students from non-residents. Since the taxpayers of the state put up most of the money to operate the UNC system, the argument goes, most of the places for students ought to be reserved for students whose parents pay taxes into the state treasury.
NCAA issues ban on Indian mascots
Last week an executive committee for the National Collegiate Athletics Association decided to prohibit the use of Indian mascots and nicknames by colleges and universities participating in the organization’s postseason tournaments. The NCAA also strongly encouraged institutions to cease scheduling athletic competitions with schools who use Native American nicknames, imagery or mascots.
Statement a Victory for Academic Freedom
Last week the American Council on Education released a “Statement on Academic Rights and Responsibilities,” endorsed by dozens of affiliated groups, including the American Association of University Professors, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and others.
Democrats attack Title IX Clarification
Pelosi says Title IX clarification endangers college sports for women.
Free Speech on College Campuses
American colleges and universities are hothouses of hypocrisy and the principal exhibit is the fact that while their spokesmen talk endlessly about their commitment to openness, tolerance, critical thinking, diversity,…
Paul Krugman’s Fallacious Academic Question
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.)
Women’s groups against Title IX changes
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.
What if they held a rally and nobody came?
They promised 500 and delivered … a handful.