Free Republic

Prof under investigation for violating amorous relationship policy. The University of Colorado has agreed to pay philosophy professor Brad Monton $120,000 plus the rest of his salary for the academic year — about $65,000 — in exchange for his resignation. Monton's departure, which Chancellor Phil DiStefano termed "a business decision," comes during a year of turmoil for the Boulder campus' philosophy department, which has been accused of creating a culture that's perceived to be unfriendly to women. Monton had been under investigation for potentially violating the university's amorous relationship policy with students, CU officials confirmed. Both Monton and CU deny...

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Education wrapped up its investigation of Princeton University's sexual harassment and assault policies. The findings were unsurprising, though still striking: the government essentially accused the university of violating federal anti-discrimination law by extending too much due process to accused students. Princeton had been one of the last hold-outs on the standard of proof in college rape trials. The university required adjudicators to obtain "clear and convincing" proof that a student was guilty of sexual assault before convicting him. That's too tough, said DOE. As part of its settlement, Princeton is required to lower...

(CNSNews.com) – The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) plans to launch a new “think tank” designed to “establish best practices and policies so college athletes and coaches can fully participate in their chosen sport regardless of religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression.”During a meeting Tuesday and Wednesday entitled “Seeking Common Ground: Creating a Respectful Athletic Climate for Athletes and Coaches of All Religious Perspectives, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity or Expression,” the NCAA will “develop the first-ever suggested guidelines so faith-based schools, public schools, and private secular schools across the country can provide inclusive and respectful athletic...

A former professor at the University of Arizona is so convinced that global warming is ruining Earth that he’s proposing a desperate plan to save the world: Destroy human civilization as we know it. Guy McPherson, who left academia in 2009 for “ethical reasons,” says humanity will be extinct by 2030 no matter what we do, so for the sake of the other species on Earth, we must “terminate industrial civilization” and abandon the modern technology that gives us electricity, worldwide mobility, clean drinking water, and medical care; to say nothing of the creature comforts of modern life. “I think...

When faced with a choice between confronting two evils, elites—particularly academic ones—usually focus on the less prevalent one. “In April, the Fifth Annual Conference on Islamophobia was held at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Law School, organized by Hatem Bazian, a Palestinian activist, co-founder of Students for Justice in Palestine, and professor of a current Berkeley course called ‘De-Constructing Islamophobia and the History of Otherness,’ with part of the course requirements being that students open a Twitter account and tweet at least once a week about ‘Islamophobia,’” Richard L. Cravatts, president of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East wrote in The...

Pompeo v. Board of Regents (D.N.M. Sept. 29, 2014, but apparently not substantially publicized until Thursday): The University of New Mexico offered a class and Plaintiff enrolled in that class. The subject matter of the class (“Images of (Wo)men: From Icons to Iconoclasts”) as set out in [the Complaint] was chosen by the class instructor, Defendant Hinkley, to spark “incendiary” class discussions. The syllabus assured students that “it’s quite clear that we do not expect anyone to necessarily agree with the positions and arguments advanced in our work. There’s controversy built right into the syllabus, and we can’t wait to...

How reliable is academic research? Not very it seems, after noting that the Journal of Vibration and Control, a reputable academic publication, had to retract 60 different papers over the summer. The editors concluded that Chen-Yuan Chen, a researcher in Taiwan, had created a “peer-review and citation ring.” OK, it’s not exactly a “Sopranos” plot. But it’s pretty shady for the world of higher education. Chen went to great lengths to make up fake e-mail addresses and even assume the names of other scientists to write approvingly of his own research. In a sense, though, he was just exploiting the...

For decades, free high-school education helped strengthen the middle class and generate prosperity. So isn’t it time to extend the same thinking to college? The idea might seem impractical, since college costs more than high school and higher education isn’t for everybody in the first place. Yet it’s also obvious that a high school education alone isn’t nearly as valuable as it used to be, which is why some researchers and policymakers are now studying ways to make college as accessible as high school for those who want it. College is free in Scandinavian countries and highly subsidized in much...

AUSTIN, April 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Ebola, a form of hemorrhagic fever in which the internal organs of the victim liquefy, has one of the highest rates of fatality of any known contagious disease at approximately 80-90% and is one of the most contagious diseases known to medical science. It is also high on the list of possible bio-terror weapons of concern to international law enforcement and military security agencies. Tom Clancy’s thriller novel, Rainbow Six describes a group of radical environmentalists that wants to rid the world of people using a modified version of Ebola. All of which is...

Note: In the following article, I refuse to refer to Campus Crusade for Christ by their new name. I find their removal of the words “Crusade” and “Christ” to be offensive and demeaning (and just incredibly silly).Nearly half of the abortions in this country are performed on college-age women. According to Students for Life of America, 70% of all abortion-providing and abortion-referring facilities are located within five miles of a college campus. Given those staggering numbers, it would seem that campus ministries would be positioning themselves to do something about the problem. But most are doing nothing at all. If...

...Mumia Abu-Jamal's recorded remarks will be played Sunday at [Goddard College's] commencement, along with a video about him. Bob Kenny, the school's interim president, is quoted on the website as saying the graduates' selection of Abu-Jamal reflects "their freedom to engage and think radically and critically in a world that often sets up barriers to do just that."

Every year it gets worse. It seems that the community college that both my daughters have attended is steadily becoming a hotbed of liberal teachers. This time it's an America hating, military hating, obama loving history professor. Im sick of this crap and I'm making a stand. I wanted to get with the freeper brain trust to plan the best course of action. I havent done anything. I suspect if I complain to the dean nothing will happen, because I think the nut doesn't fall far from the tree. I'm sure someone out there has experience dealing with this sort...

Sorry - I'm not sure what our posting policy is regarding TimeMag, so I'm just posting the link.

Prolific bank robber Willie Sutton when asked why he held up banks supposedly said, Because that's where the money is. Bill Gertz of the Washington Free Beacon, who reports on an FBI internal document stating that Cuban intelligence is targeting American academia and university professors to recruit spies, brings to mind Sutton's declaration. Why should Cuban intel target colleges? Because that's where the communists are.

Is your daughter a victim of male oppression? Blame Aladdin – as well as The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, The Lion King and Toy Story 2. Disney cartoons and other G-rated children’s movies are full of “gendered sexuality,” subjecting women to the male “objectifying gaze,” as “heterosexuality is constructed through hetero-romantic love relationships as exceptional, powerful, magical, and transformative.” These were the conclusions of Women’s Studies professors Karin Martin and Emily Kazyak in their 2009 research paper, “Hetero-Romantic Love and Heterosexiness in Children’s G-Rated Films.” The sociologists examined “all the G-rated films grossing $100 million dollars or more between 1990 and...

April is the cruelest month, and August is the melancholy month. Even the crickets sing a different song at dusk as August begins summer's slow retreat. Children listen for the back-to-school bells as autumn closes in and the days begin to get noticeably shorter. Bicycle baskets morph into book bags. Sandals give way to tighter shoes, and the days of flip-flops are numbered. Sand from the beaches becomes the sand through the hourglass in the science lab. Free spirits are rounded up and structured into classes of whiteboards and textbooks overflowing with data. Teachers promise expeditions to new frontiers...

The University of Colorado is moving to fire a tenured faculty member after the Boulder campus paid $825,000 this week to settle a graduate student's allegations that the philosophy professor retaliated against her for reporting she was sexually assaulted by a fellow student. Chancellor Phil DiStefano recently issued a notice of intent to dismiss associate professor David Barnett, campus spokesman Ryan Huff confirmed to the Daily Camera. If fired, Barnett would be only the fourth tenured professor ever dismissed by the university in its 138-year history. Barnett is accused of compiling a 38-page report painting the victim as "sexually promiscuous"...

A Kent State University associate professor of history is standing by his call for “jihad” and statement that Israel is “a regime that is the spiritual heir to Nazism.”In an “open letter” to “academic friends of Israel,” Julio Pino accuses the pro-Israel academic community of being “directly responsible for the murder of over 1,400 Palestinian children, women and elderly civilians.”In his statement that quotes former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and compares the academics to alleged Nazi collaborator and philosopher Martin Heidegger, Pino writes “Your names are scrawled on every bullet fired, bomb dropped, body buried and burnt forehead in Gaza. May...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Students in an Ohio State University psychology class are being taught that atheists have higher IQs than Christians, according to a report from a college watchdog organization. Campus Reform notes that a question from a recent online psychology quiz from the university implied that religious beliefs were directly related to IQ levels. “Theo has an IQ of 100 and Aine has an IQ of 125,” the quiz stated. “Which of the following statements would you expect to be true?” Students were then asked to select an answer from the following four options: 1.Aine is an atheist, while...

College campuses often seem culturally biased against non-liberals. But in some cases, political bias so deeply and obviously pervades official campus policy that no one can even defend it when challenged. On that front, the Young Americans for Liberty declared victory in their legal battle with the University of Michigan after administrators agreed to pay out $14,000 and revise discriminatory funding policies. Last year, YAL asked the university for $1,000 to bring anti-affirmative action activist Jennifer Gratz to speak on campus. UM collects mandatory fees from all students and uses them to subsidize events hosted by recognized student groups. But...