Quick Takes: Texas Colleges Close for Rita, $500,000 in Spending Questioned at American, Trading Charges in Madison

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Many Texas colleges will be closed today as the state braces for the arrival of Hurricane Rita. Colleges in Galveston closed earlier in the week, but institutions that are further away, and still see a possibility of being hit by Rita, are shutting down today. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has created a special Web site with information about the closings at public and private colleges.
An audit at American University has questioned $500,000 in spending by Benjamin A. Ladner, the president, who is currently on leave, and his wife, The Washington Post reported. Ladner and his lawyers have said all spending was appropriate. But the confidential audit, obtained by The Post, cited such expenses as a "professional development" trip to Europe for the president's chef, a waterfall for the president's house, and chauffeurs who took the president's wife to jewelers and salons.
Paul Barrows, a former vice chancellor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who left his position after having an affair with a graduate student, is suing Madison, charging that he was disciplined by the university without being given full due process, The Capital Times reported. Madison officials have faced a barrage of criticism for not firing Barrows and they released a report Thursday that said he could not be fired, but that he could be demoted, which the university did.