News Sources: "Change You Can Xerox"

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has accused rival Barack Obama of political plagiarism during a live televised debate. But Obama brushed off the accusation that he represented "change you can Xerox", saying it was just part of "silly season" politics. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges and universities, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Stephen Medvic - Assistant Professor of Government, Franklin & Marshall College - Medvic has provided political analysis for numerous media outlets including CNN, The Washington Post and Fox News On-line. He is the co-editor of Shades of Gray: Perspectives on Campaign Ethics.

David Schwartz - Associate Professor of Philosophy, Randolph College - Schwartz's research focuses on the relation between ethical values and public policy.

John Wilcox - Professor of Religious Studies, Manhattan College - Wilcox is the founder and director of the Center for Professional Ethics.

Cornel West Challenges Music Industry at Morehouse

African American Studies professor Cornel West is challenging the music industry to become more creative. West, who himself recently became a Hidden Beach Recordings artist, told a Morehouse College that the music industry has become watered down by those more enthralled with technology and producing superficial music that overly focuses on sexual gratification.

College Students Abandoning Landline Phones

Nowhere is the demise of the landline phone as pronounced as in the residence halls of a college campus. Ten years ago, about 90 percent of Bucknell University students were using a room phone. Today, fewer than 30 percent of Bucknell students have their campus landline’s voicemail set up, and that number is dropping every year.

News Sources: Cuba after Castro

Fidel Castro's decision to step down as leader of Cuba has reignited debate over U.S. policy that seeks to isolate the communist-led nation. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges and universities, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Gary Prevost - Professor of Political Science, Saint John's University - Prevost is an author and lecturer who has done extensive research into Central and Latin American politics and social movements. His co-edited book Cuba: The Different American is indicative of his in-depth perspective of Cuba.

Louis L. Ortmayer - Professor of Political Science, Davidson College - Ortmayer is a leader in developing the "case" method of teaching political science, and he has written cases on preventive diplomacy in US-Cuba relations and the post-Cold War world.

Dean Hubbard - Professor of Public Policy, Sarah Lawrence College - The holder of the Joanne Woodward Chair in Public Policy, Hubbard’s expertise focuses on issues of immigrant laborers, and international labor relations, especially in Cuba.

A Taxing Labor of Love

Colgate University students are expected to return more than a million dollars to local taxpayers this year. Working through Colgate's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, 30 student volunteers will help about 500 local families file their taxes for free. The VITA program at Colgate, the first student-staffed initiative of its kind in New York, started in 2003.

Leap Year Lessons

Leap year reminds us that time is a man-made creation, says Linda French, associate professor of physics at Illinois Wesleyan University.Chalk it up to a stubborn universe that refuses to operate on Greenwich time, says French, who teaches students how time would be different if we judged it by a star other than the sun.

News Sources: Kosovo Declares Independence

Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia has led to dancing in the streets in that country, but is causing some stress in other countries' global relationships. President Bush promptly recognized the new country, while Russia and Serbia will contest the declaration before the United Nations Security Council, saying it would set a troubling precedent. Britain, Italy, France and Germany are expected to recognize Kosovo, while Spain and Cyprus expected to oppose recognition. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges and universities, including the following (click on name for contact information):

Thomas Emmert - Professor of History, Gustavus Adolphus College - Emmert is an expert on the history of Kosovo, Serbia, the Balkan states, and Russia. He has written The Battle of Kosovo: Early Reports of Victory and Defeat and The Kosovo Legacy. He teaches the European history survey, as well as courses on both Imperial and modern Russia, the Ottoman Empire, 19th century European intellectual and cultural movements, and Balkan nationalism.

Dr. Andrew A. Michta - Professor of International Studies, Rhodes College - Michta's books include The Government and Politics of Postcommunist Europe. In addition, he has been a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C. as well as a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University.

William M. Rose - Professor of Government, Connecticut College - Professor Rose teaches courses on international relations, U.S. foreign policy, international terrorism, civil wars, and United Nations peacekeeping. During the Cold War, he specialized in U.S.-Soviet arms control negotiations.

Management Prof Receives National Award

College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University associate professor of management Paul Marsnik was honored recently in Austin, Texas, as a winner of the Acton Foundation’s national award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education. The awards, for which students submit nominations, recognize outstanding teachers who inspire students to become principled entrepreneurs.

A Rolling Revolution

Incoming students at Ripon College who sign a pledge saying they won't bring a car to campus will receive a brand-new Trek mountain bike to keep. School officials hope the "Ripon Velorution Program" will help ease pressure to build additional parking lots on the beautiful historic campus.