Through
5/7
A round-up of Penn mentions in local, national, and international media.
Penn In the News
So, with all the controversy swirling around students’ use of laptops in the classroom, have you decided to prohibit them or not? Advocates of allowing laptops took a took a punch in the gut with a recent study out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology finding that students -- unable to resist the Sirens of the internet during class -- performed better when laptops were not permitted in the classroom. Of course, as with critical-thinking courses and outcomes assessment, everyone and their dean has a theory on the subject.
Penn In the News
For months, officials at the University of Iowa have been saying that they would launch a Bias Assessment and Response Team this fall. Such teams exist at many other colleges and universities and typically use the acronym BART. Many advocates for minority students have pushed for the creation of BARTs, and the Black Student Union at Iowa reviewed and approved the idea of starting one. But on Thursday, the university's chief diversity officer, Georgina Dodge, announced a change of course. The university will not be unveiling a BART at the start of the academic year, she said.
Penn In the News
Imagine living in a room smaller than a parking spot. Now imagine sharing that room with another person. For students in one residence hall at the College of Wooster, this scenario is a reality. They live in pods much smaller than typical dorm rooms, with singles measuring about 72 square feet and doubles measuring about 108 square feet. (The most common area of a parking spot in the United States is about 161.5 feet.) The trend runs in contrast to dormitory rooms that -- either by choice of the college or the students -- feature lavish amenities.
Penn In the News
Brian Daniels of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is quoted about people who risk their lives to protect their heritage.
Penn In the News
Mathias Basner of the Perelman School of Medicine says, “Attention, creativity and insight can all be impaired by not getting enough sleep, either acutely or chronically.”
Penn In the News
Last week, a player for the University of Florida’s football team was cleared of responsibility for an alleged sexual assault against a female student. The woman he was accused of assaulting was not present; she boycotted the proceedings to protest the person the university chose to decide the case. The university appointed Jake Schickel, a former assistant state attorney, to decide whether the leading wide receiver should be punished for sexual misconduct.
Penn In the News
The Scheie Eye Institute and Jean Bennett of the Perelman School of Medicine are mentioned for medical advances and treatment to end types of blindness.
Penn In the News
The University of Kentucky has sued its independent student newspaper, The Kentucky Kernel, in an attempt to shield information about the university’s investigation of a professor accused of sexual assault and harassment. The professor resigned without a hearing or finding of misconduct, raising questions about the tension between a university’s obligations to protect privacy and the need for public disclosure.
Penn In the News
Charles Sykes riled many in higher education with his 1988 book, Profscam: Professors and the Demise of Higher Education. Now the senior fellow at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute and Wisconsin-based conservative talk radio host is back with a new book, Fail U: The False Promise of Higher Education (St. Martin's Press), which hit the shelves earlier this month. As with Sykes's last book, this one is sure to have many critics within academe.
Penn In the News
Nader Engheta of the School of Engineering and Applied Science is interviewed about his field of research.