Higher Education Quick Takes

When Humboldt State University announced the creation of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research (to focus on marijuana policy analysis), Jimmy Kimmel couldn't resist making fun of the university (see video below). He predicted that the university's pot expertise would soon make it "harder to get into than Yale," and even produced a satirical ad for Humboldt State.

Now the university has invited Kimmel to be its graduation speaker. A joint letter by Rollin C. Richmond, Humboldt State's president, and Ellyn Henderson, its student government president, has invited Kimmel to be the graduation speaker. The letter notes the university's recent scholarly accomplishments (having nothing to do with pot) and its beautiful northern California location -- while also applying some guilt. "[W]e figure you owe us," they wrote. "Humboldt State provided you with just over three minutes of pretty good material, which must be worth quite a bit for a nationally televised program (though we are surprised you were unable to stretch the bit to 4 minutes 20 seconds)." Further, while stressing that they enjoyed the humor, the presidents wrote that "we also felt you shortchanged Humboldt State University, portraying all of our students as pot-obsessed slackers."

No word on whether Kimmel will appear.

James Tracy, a communication professor at Florida Atlantic University who writes about conspiracies is raising eyebrows by suggesting that the Newtown killings did not take place as reported, and that the Obama administration and others may be shaping the way the massacre has been portrayed in the press, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. The newspaper reported that in one blog post, he wrote, "While it sounds like an outrageous claim, one is left to inquire whether the Sandy Hook shooting ever took place — at least in the way law enforcement authorities and the nation's news media have described." The university has distanced itself from Tracy, telling the Sun-Sentinel that "James Tracy does not speak for the university. The website on which his post appeared is not affiliated with FAU in any way."

In a major victory for California public higher education, voters in November approved a plan by Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat, to raise some taxes for seven years. Brown and others campaigned for the tax increase by saying that it would allow the public universities to avoid tuition increases. Republicans have now responded by proposing legislation that would freeze tuition for seven years, the duration of the tax increases, The Los Angeles Times reported. While unlikely to pass, the proposal is seen as a way to shape the debate over spending priorities in the state, the newspaper said.

The University of Iowa has hired a lawyer to defend two medical school officials (one of whom has since left the university) who are facing charged in Jordan, despite never having traveled there, the Associated Press reported. The two are charged with making a death threat to Malik Juweid, who was fired by the university last year and returned to his native Jordan. An Iowa spokesman said that the charges were baseless.