June 26, 2007

Quick Takes: Students and Mental Health, Glendale Settles E-Mail Dispute, Layoffs at Randolph, Rider Responds to Drinking Death, Nonprofit Boards, Ex-Prof Admits Guilt, Best IT Employers, Fighting Mandatory Retirement in Canada, Texas Tussle

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• The University of Michigan released new evidence Monday that many students who need help with mental illness don’t seek assistance — even if it is available free on campus. A Web-based survey of 2,785 Michigan students found that between 37 and 84 percent of students with “significant symptoms of depressive or anxiety disorders” did not seek treatment, with the percentages varying by condition. About 10 percent of students indicated that they were receiving therapy and the same percentage said that they were taking some form of psychotropic drug. Michigan researchers plan to expand the study in the fall to look at students at 12-15 universities nationwide.
• Glendale Community College, in Arizona, has agreed that Walter Kehowski can keep his job teaching mathematics. Kehowski was placed on leave and was threatened with dismissal because of a Thanksgiving e-mail message he sent, linking to George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789, which Kehowski found on Pat Buchanan’s Web site. Those links prompted complaints from some professors and disciplinary action against Kehowski. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which backed Kehowski, issued a statement calling his right to return to teaching a victory for free speech. The Maricopa Community College District, of which Glendale is part, issued its own statement, confirming the Kehowski will return to teaching, but also noting that his use of the district’s e-mail system will be restricted.
• Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, which will become Randolph College next week as part of its plan to start admitting men, on Monday announced plans to eliminate the jobs of 30-35 staff members, about 15 percent in total, The Lynchburg News & Advance reported. The Virginia institution also plans to review faculty positions, but has not announced any changes yet for those slots.
• Rider University on Monday announced new steps to combat excessive student drinking, including a ban on alcohol at social events in dormitories or fraternities, increased regulation of the Greek system, and the creation of a new substance abuse education position. Rider’s moves are based on the recommendations of a panel appointed following the death of a freshman who was binge drinking at a fraternity.
• The boards of nonprofit groups — including those that run educational institutions — are too insular, too homogeneous, and too likely to allow business between board members and their institutions, according to a report released Monday by the Urban Institute.
• James J. Glass, a former professor at the University of North Texas, admitted in court to public corruption charges involving the diversion of $463,000 in cash and services from the university to his private business, The Dallas Morning News reported. At sentencing, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
• Nine colleges and universities made Computerworld’s 2007 list of the best places to work in information technology. Colleges on the list and their ranks among the top 100 are: University of Miami (2), University of Pennsylvania (8), Cornell University (40), Johnson County Community College (47), Miami Dade College (65), Temple University (67), Apollo Group, the parent company of the University of Phoenix (73), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (93), and Creighton University (95).
• Two professors at the University of Regina, in Saskatchewan, are suing to challenge the legality of mandatory retirement in Canada, Maclean’s reported. Unlike in the United States, Canadian courts have upheld mandatory retirement until now, although some provinces have outlawed it and many Canadian universities — most recently the University of Alberta — have ended mandatory retirement as a matter of policy.
• The University of Texas takes its longhorn logo very seriously — as some merchants in College Station (home of rival Texas A&M University) found out. The merchants have been selling T-shirts and other items with the horns cut off and the Aggie slogan “Saw ‘Em Off.” Texas objected, saying that the merchandise violated its trademark. Under a compromise, the A&M loyalists will be able to sell items with the altered longhorn as long as nostrils and a white patch are added, to distinguish their anti-longhorn logo from the real thing. The old and new “Saw ‘Em Off” designs are online here.

— Scott Jaschik

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