Quick Takes
Hundreds of Thousands Claimed $532M in Excess College Tax Credits
The Hope tax credit is designed to help middle class families pay for college -- but not this much. A Treasury Department audit released Thursday found that several hundred thousand taxpayers sought credit in 2006 and 2007 for more than half a billion dollars more than they were supposed to by claiming the tax credit for a third or even a fourth year; it is limited by statute to two years. The agency's inspector general for tax administration found that the IRS system is not set up to flag taxpayers who seek the credit for more than two years, and that agency officials lack the ability to disallow claims for Hope credits because of "math errors." The audit recommends that the IRS be given that authority. The Hope credit was significantly expanded for 2009 and 2010 as part of the federal economic stimulus package.
U. of Nebraska Regents Weigh Stem Cell Restrictions
The University of Nebraska's Board of Regents is scheduled to vote today on whether to limit embryonic stem cell research at university facilities to studies that would have been permitted under the Bush administration's more restrictive policy. The resolution (see Page 4 at this link), which is backed by several regents supported by Nebraska Right to Life, would put the university out of the mainstream and at odds with policy changes made by the Obama administration, which has cleared the way for far more use of stem cells than was allowed in federally backed studies during the previous eight years.
U. of California Backs 32% Increase for Students
As students protested outside, the University of California's Board of Regents on Thursday reluctantly approved a 32 percent increase in "fees" (what the rest of higher education calls tuition) for 2010-11. "We're being forced to impose a user tax on our students and their families," Mark Yudof, the UC system's president, said during a committee hearing Wednesday. "This is a tax necessary because our political leaders have failed to adequately fund public higher education." Under the budget, which also seeks a $913 million increase in state support for the 2010-11 academic year, undergraduates and graduate professional school students will see an increase of 15 percent, or $585, in the forthcoming winter and spring terms, and an additional 15 percent increase, or $1,334, beginning in summer 2010.
Faculty Unionize at UConn Health Center
Medical faculty members at the University of Connecticut Health Center have voted to unionize and to be represented by the American Association of University Professors. According to the AAUP, this is the first time that the faculty at a free-standing medical school will have collective bargaining.
Independence Urged for Community College in DC
The new community college at the University of the District of Columbia needs independence from the university to be "credible and legitimate," according to a report being released today, The Washington Post reported. The study praises the establishment of the community college in a city that had lacked one, but says that UDC has lost the confidence of the business community, a situation that would hurt the development of the community college. Officials of the college said that their institution would be judged by the quality of graduates, not the link to UDC.
Klan Enters Debate Over Song at Ole Miss
The Ku Klux Klan is planning a rally at the University of Mississippi Saturday to protest the university's ban on shouting the final line of a fight song: "The South shall rise again," The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported. The university has been discouraging the last line -- going so far as to change a song commonly performed at football games -- because the line is offensive to many who see it as a link to the university's racist past. The Klan sees the issue in a different way. "This is not a white or black issue at all. It's freedom of speech. They've got a right to say what they want at the game," said Shane Tate, a Klan leader in the state.
Affair Expenses Aren't Reimbursable
Jeff Schemmel resigned Thursday as athletics director at San Diego State University after the university determined that he had sought reimbursements for expenses from a cross-country trip related to a tryst he had with an Alabama woman, not university work, The San Diego Union Tribune reported. Both Schemmel and the woman are married to other people and the situation became public in part because of the woman's divorce proceedings.
University Settles Lawsuit by Witch for $40,000
Without admitting wrongdoing, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln has agreed to pay $40,000 to a former employee who says she was fired after the university learned that she is a witch, The Lincoln Journal Star reported. The woman formerly directed a youth program at the university.
