Quick Takes

The Texas Senate on Tuesday approved significant changes in the state's "10 percent" admissions law, which has guaranteed admission to the public university of their choice all students who graduate in the top 10 percent of high schools in the state. The changes, The Dallas Morning News reported, would apply the law until a college or university had filled half of its entering class. An additional 10 percent of the class would have to come from those in the top 10 percent of their high school classes, but universities could consider other measures too. Then universities would be free to select students on a range of criteria. The law was adopted at a time Texas was barred by federal court order from considering race or ethnicity in admissions, and the law helped preserve diversity in higher education at the state's competitive universities. Because many Texas high schools are overwhelmingly Latino or black or white, the law assured a steady stream of minority students -- and was seen as sending a message of inclusion to students in low-income areas. But the University of Texas at Austin has been fighting to change the law, arguing that so many of these students enroll there that the university has lost all ability to create a class using a range of criteria. University officials and their legislative backers have said that the change need not hurt minority enrollment levels.

Ward Churchill, who is suing the University of Colorado at Boulder to get his job back, admitted on Tuesday that portions of a book he edited and wrote parts of were plagiarized, but he said he wasn't responsible for doing so, 9 News reported. "Plagiarism occurred," Churchill said in reference to the writings. But Churchill said that others who were involved in the project did the plagiarizing and that he was unaware of it. Churchill has generally not admitted that any plagiarism occurred in his work, arguing that minor errors have been stretched by the university to fire him for his controversial political views. University of Colorado officials also asked Churchill on Tuesday why he had indicated that he wanted to be called "Dr. Churchill" when he has only a master's degree. Churchill responded that he has an honorary doctorate and asked the lawyer, "You wish to dishonor it?" The Denver Post noted that while there were some sharp exchanges in the testimony, much of it was detailed discussion of sources and the details of scholarly writing, and that the judge had to call a recess at one point when a juror appeared to be having difficulty staying awake.

The City University of New York plans to announce today that it has completed a $1.2 billion fund-raising campaign three years early, and that the system is now seeking to raise $3 billion by 2015, The New York Times reported. CUNY officials say that the funds will not replace government support for operations, but will be used to create new academic programs and scholarships, and to add full-time faculty positions. While multi-billion dollar campaigns are increasingly common for leading private universities and public flagships, the CUNY campaign is notable, experts told the Times, because the university system educates so many immigrant and working class students. Roger Benjamin, president of the Council for Aid to Education, said: "For an urban public university system, these numbers are really quite dramatic.”

Yale University has filed a suit in federal court seeking affirmation that the university is the legitimate owner of "The Night Cafe," a Van Gogh masterpiece, the Associated Press reported. Yale acted amid public claims by Pierre Konowaloff of France, who says he is the great-grandson of the Russian industrialist who owned the painting before the Soviets nationalized his property after they gained control. The Soviets subsequently sold the painting and several sales later it was donated to Yale.

The Patriot League – a eight-member Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association conference – has adopted a cost-efficiency plan to help save money during the current economic downturn. Among other changes, the conference will set limits on the number of individuals that can travel with a team, eliminate awards banquets at its championships, and begin using teleconferencing for meetings of its head coaches. Carolyn Schlie Femovich, the conference’s executive director, said that more changes could be on the way: “These are things that seemed to be pretty self-evident. A number of other things we’ll come back to – perhaps qualifying standards, scheduling of championships and mileage parameters for officials.”

Ohio's Controlling Board, which oversees various spending projects authorized by the state, on Monday rejected plans by Miami University to purchase $167,000 worth of office chairs. The problem, The Columbus Dispatch reported, is that many of the chairs were priced at $522 each, when there are less expensive options available. One of the board members who voted against the spending did note, however, that the board members were all discussing the matter while sitting in $2,000 black leather chairs.