Quick Takes

The U.S. Education Department on Wednesday published detailed guidance about the tens of billions of dollars it is making available to states to restore funds cut from their elementary, secondary and higher education programs. The department distributed the guidance -- as well as applications for states to submit to qualify for the funds -- as Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced that it was releasing $44 billion of the more than $100 billion in funds Congress appropriated to the department to distribute to help save jobs and stimulate the economy. Among the clarifications offered by the department are several that relate to which funds may and may not be counted as state support to public colleges in calculating how much the states must restore to make the institutions whole. For instance, the department notes that "state funding for financial assistance to students attending public [institutions of higher education] is not considered state support for these institutions." It further says that states have "some flexibility" in determining what should be included; "[f]or example, a state may consider state appropriations for public higher education that are obtained from general tax revenues, as well as funds that are obtained from other sources (e.g., tobacco settlement funds and lotteries). ... A state may also include interest or earnings received from State endowments pledged to public IHEs. ... [A] state may also include such support as: (1) State appropriations for community colleges to support adult education and career and technical education programs; and (2) State payments that are made on behalf of employees of public IHEs but that are appropriated to a different State agency (e.g., group insurance contributions that the State appropriates to a central State agency, and State contributions to [institution of higher education] employee retirement systems that the State appropriates to the State agency responsible for administering retirement systems)."

Paul Zingg, president of California State University at Chico, was assaulted in his office on Wednesday. The Chico Enterprise Record reported that authorities detained a man who arrived in the office asking to "speak with the person in charge" and who then struck Zingg in the face and started assaulting him in a conference area in his office. Zingg suffered only minor injuries and was back at work later in the day. Authorities arrested Abe Baxter Stutts Jr. for the assault and could not determine a motive. Stutts is neither a student nor an employee of the university.

Officials at Brigham Young University are apologizing for an accident last week in which all of the students in the College of Humanities (about 2,500) received an e-mail with the grade point averages of all of their fellow students, with names. University officials said that the e-mail with the students' grades was intended for the registrar, and never should have been sent out to everyone. Officials apologized and pledged to institute controls to prevent similar mistakes in the future.

Ward Churchill's lawsuit against the University of Colorado is now in the hands of the jury. The Denver Post reported on closing arguments in the case, in which Churchill maintains he was fired for his political views and the university says that he was fired for repeated instances of scholarly misconduct. Patrick O'Rourke, the universit's lawyer, closed by saying: "The University of Colorado must diligently prevent misconduct. That applies to every student and every faculty member to everybody who does anything in the university's name. You cannot plagiarize, you cannot falsify, you cannot fabricate." David Lane, Churchill's lawyer, stressed his belief that university officials were not truthful when they explained the motives for dismissing Churchill. "The regents, the lying liars, and almost all of them got on the stand — you heard them lie about what was on the table," Lane said. "So they go through this charade of fairness."

Pacific Oaks College announced Wednesday that it is seeking to be merged into another institution. The California college has long been known for its highly personal, non-traditional approach to training teachers. But for several years, it has struggled financially and faculty members have accused board members and the former president of failing to understand the institution's values. A board statement Wednesday said: "The merger option was regarded as the best course of maintaining and preserving the 62-year old college’s mission, tradition, and philosophy. A sharp decline in student enrollment over the past few years combined with projected budget deficits placed the college’s future in jeopardy."

The Texas Senate's version of a budget bill for the next biennium would bar the use of state funds for stem cell research. While the measure could be stripped for the final budget bill in a House-Senate conference, the measure's inclusion has angered many scientists, who have been pleased that President Obama has ended the Bush administration's limits on federal funds for the research. A ban on the use of state funds would make it difficult for faculty members at public universities to conduct such work, even if federal funds were used for the studies. Eighteen prominent Texas scientists have sent a letter to legislators blasting the measure and arguing that it would hurt science in the state, The Texas Monthly reported.

Student and faculty leaders at Chicago State University are objecting to the two finalists named for the presidency there, the Chicago Tribune reported, viewing them as political insiders at a time that the institution could use an outside academic perspective. One finalist is Wayne Watson, chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, who has clashed numerous times with faculty members there, Professors voted no confidence in him in 2005, following a strike. The other finalist is Carol Adams, secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services. Some students plan to wear black as a sign of protest when Watson and Adams appear on campus in the next stage of the search.