College News

News Sources: More Wall Street Regulation Urged

2008-04-03T12:11:00.003-04:00

A top Federal Reserve official told a Senate committee on Thursday that Washington must increase its regulation of Wall Street in order to prevent other banks from needing rescues similar to the one at Bear Stearns. The official, Timothy F. Geithner, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, called for a simpler, more stringent supervision over financial institutions and urged banks to put in place more fail-safes to prevent the liquidity problems that claimed Bear Stearns last month. 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 (click on names for contact information):

Ann Owen - Associate Professor of Economics, Hamilton College - Owen served as an economist for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors before joining Hamilton College. She is a frequent media commentator on issues related to Federal Reserve decisions, Social Security, and various economic indices for outlets including MarketWatch, Associated Press, The New York Times, UPI, Atlanta Journal Constitution and the Baltimore Sun. She also serves as director of the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College.

Charles R. Geisst -Professor of Economics and Finance, Manhattan College - Geisst has 10 years of investment banking experience. He is the author of 10 books, including Wall Street: A History, as well as trade articles and interviews in the International Herald-Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, and Investors Chronicle.

John H. Mutti - Sidney Meyer Professor of International Economics, Grinnell College - A former international economist with the Office of International Tax Affairs and a former senior staff economist with the Council of Economic Advisers, Mutti conducts research and teaches courses on international economics, international trade policy, international finance, public finance, financial policy and development economics.

Bowdoin Project Puts Major Focus on Majority Leader

2008-04-03T12:08:00.002-04:00

The Bowdoin College Library has inaugurated a three-year oral history project to document the life and career of U.S. Senator George J. Mitchell, a member of the Bowdoin College Class of 1954. Mitchell, former majority leader of the U.S. Senate and architect of the Northern Ireland Good Friday peace agreement, is currently chairman of the Global Board of DLA Piper, one of the world's largest law firms.

The State of U.S. Intelligence Post-9/11

2008-04-03T11:32:00.005-04:00

The September 11 attacks and the war in Iraq have raised a number of questions about the state of U.S. intelligence. Leading intelligence scholars - featuring a range of academic experts along with representatives from the Department of Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence - will gather at Williams College on April 12 to offer insights about the future of U.S. intelligence.

News Sources: Islam Overtakes Roman Catholics

2008-03-31T12:33:00.003-04:00

Islam has overtaken Roman Catholicism to become the world's largest single religious denomination, according to L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper. Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, compilier of the Annuario Pontificio, the Vatican yearbook, figures for 2006 showed that Catholics accounted for 17.4 per cent of the world population while Muslims accounted for 19.2 per cent. 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 (click on names for contact information):

Selva Raj - Professor of Religious Studies, Albion College - Raj is an expert on religious leaders and Eastern religions such as Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as a scholar of Christian religions. His book, Popular Christianity in India: Riting Between the Lines, is in production. A colleague of the late Mother Theresa, Raj pinpoints characteristics of religious leaders and their teachings and determines the attraction by devotees/disciples.

David O'Brien - Director of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, College of the Holy Cross - O'Brien is among the nation's top historians on American Catholicism. He is the author of numerous books on the subject, including From the Heart of the American Church: Catholic Higher Education and American Culture and The Renewal of American Catholicism.

William C. Placher - Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Wabash College - Placher is recognized as one of the great contemporary theologians. He is the author of The Domestication of Transcendence: Where Modern Thinking About God Went Wrong and A History of Christian Theology.

Study Looks at Different Approach to Alzheimer's

2008-03-31T12:26:00.003-04:00

An Illinois Wesleyan University professor and student are testing a drug that takes a different approach to Alzheimer's disease. Curent results show that Guanfacine may be effective at improving memory impairments.

The Fairness Doctrine and Talk Radio

2008-03-31T12:12:00.003-04:00

While talk-radio hosts certainly do attract large and loyal followings, the worry that the talkers have a huge or unfair influence on public policy is exaggerated, says DePauw Unviersity communications professor Jeffrey McCall. And he says the Fairness Doctrine would be an ineffective and perhaps unconstitutional remedy to limit the reach of such political-talk-show hosts as Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham.

News Sources: Gov't Response to Mortgage Crisis

2008-03-28T13:25:00.002-04:00

When an election campaign coincides with both a crisis on Wall Street and soaring home foreclosures across the country, the traditional ideological battles over “more government” or “less government” become blurred.But while their philosophies might seem starkly different, in reality both parties have come to the conclusion that major government involvement is needed to rescue the financial and housing markets. 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 (click on names for contact information):

John Caskey - Professor of Economics, Swarthmore College - An expert on the use of financial services by low-income U.S. households. Author of "Fringe Banking: Check-Cashing Outlets, Pawnshops, and the Poor" (1994), which examines banking alternatives for poorer people. He has also researched community development banks and economic development in poor communities.

Karl Case - Professor of Economics, Wellesley College - Case is a nationally recognized expert on real estate markets and prices. He has authored several studies that attempt to isolate the causes and consequences of boom and bust cycles and their relationship to regional economic performance.

Kevin McIntyre - Economics/Business Assistant Professor, McDaniel College - McIntyre is an expert on all things macroeconomics including the Federal Reserve, gas prices, inflation, retail markets, financial markets, international markets, and monetary policy.

Trinity Hip-Hop Festival Merges Cultures

2008-03-28T13:22:00.002-04:00

The Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival is the largest international hip-hop event in the United States. It has garnered worldwide attention for its effectiveness in blending cultures, in combining hip hop with education, and bringing together the wisdom of the "old school" pioneers with the passion of hip-hop musicians from around the world.

Who Ya Gonna Call? Wal-Mart!

2008-03-28T13:16:00.004-04:00

As reviled as they may be, local big-box stores are often a big source of relief in times of disaster, according to a new stody by St. Lawrence University economics professor Steven Horwitz. Horwitz says stores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot often outperform the government in terms of responding to local crises.

News Sources: China Cracks Down on Tibet

2008-03-26T11:11:00.005-04:00

China sought on Wednesday to contain ongoing protests in its ethnic Tibetan regions, as it stepped up detentions in Tibet's capital Lhasa and vowed tighter control over monasteries. The Tibet unrest -- and China's response to it -- has also become a lightning rod for criticism of its Communist authorities ahead of the Beijing Olympics, marring the country's desire to use the Games as a "coming out" party. 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):

Charlene Makley - Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Reed College - Makley received a Fulbright Scholar Award to study the processes through which Tibetans in eastern Qinghai province are responding to China's "Develop the West" campaign.

Daniel G. Cozort - Associate Professor of Religion and Chairperson, Dickinson College - Cozort has written four books on Tibetan Buddhism, and has lived and worked in Tibetan monasteries during visits to India.

Marc Blecher - Professor of Politics, Oberlin College - Blecher has written four books on China, most recently China Against the Tides: Restructuring Through Revolution, Radicalism, and Reform. His research on workers' politics in China is based on interviews and surveys conducted there.

A 'Green' Wind Bodes Well for Bowdoin

2008-03-26T11:05:00.004-04:00

Bowdoin College has reached a three-year agreement to purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) from the owner of the Mars Hill Wind project in northern Maine. The use of renewable energy sources brings Bowdoin's total "green" electrical supply to 100 percent of state standards.

Top L.A. Manager Moving to Pomona College

2008-03-26T10:56:00.002-04:00

The person who holds the top management job in Los Angeles' city government has been appointed Vice President and Treasurer of Pomona College. Karen Sisson starts her new duties July 1.

News Sources: New Prime Minister in Pakistan

2008-03-24T18:34:00.001-04:00

Yusuf Raza Gillani has been elected by a huge mandate by Pakistan's parliament to be the country's next prime minister. For President Pervez Musharraf, once the country's supreme executive authority, it has been another bad day. What looks like the beginning of the end of his powers began with the sweeping victory of political parties opposed to his rule last month. 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):

The Hon. Joseph Melrose - Professor of Politics and International Relations, Ursinus College - Ambassador Joseph H. Melrose Jr. retired from the U.S. Department of State in 2002, after three decades in the Foreign Service. During his diplomatic career, Ambassador Melrose held a variety of positions in Washington and abroad, including postings in Vietnam, Syria, Pakistan and Nigeria, in addition to Sierra Leone. He was Task Force Coordinator for the post-Sept. 11th task force with the Department of State, and later was a Senior Consultant on Counterterrorism for the Office of the Secretary of State’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism

Bob Snyder -Professor of Political Science, Southwestern University - Snyder can discuss Middle East politics, U.S. foreign policy and Islamist terrorism. He is the author of Hating America: Bin Laden as a Civilized Revolutionary.

Bradford Dillman - Assistant Professor of International Political Economy, University of Puget Sound - Dillman teaches courses in Middle East politics and illicit global economies. He spent a number of years teaching in Turkey and Egypt. In addition, his research has taken him to Algeria and Morocco. Current research includes Algerian politics, Middle East political economies and democratization. He's written and edited numerous publications.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

2008-03-24T18:03:00.003-04:00

"Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" is gone, but not forgotten. Members of the Rollins College community celebrated what would have been the 80th birthday of the late Fred Rogers, who starred in the PBS children's show and graduated from Rollins in 1951. In honor of the famous alum's fondness for wearing sweaters, the group presented a local rescue mission with more than 250 sweaters collected during a charity drive.

A Different Kind of Party Animal

2008-03-24T17:58:00.005-04:00

The Wall Street Journal recently featured Bowdoin Colledge senior Meredith Segal in an article about a new type of "party animals" - students who skips spring break in a vacation locale in favor of volunteering with presidential campaigns. Segal is national director of Students for Barack Obama.

News Sources: OPEC Blames U.S. for High Oil Prices

2008-03-06T07:23:00.003-05:00

As President Bush declared the the U.S. has "to get off oil," OPEC ministers have opted to not put more oil on the global market. OPEC President Chakib Khelil says the global market is being affected by what he called "the mismanagement of the U.S. economy," and America's problems were a key factor in the cartel's decision. 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:

Michael T. Klare - Professor of Peace and World Security Studies, Hampshire College - Klare is the author of Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum. He is an expert on world security and serves on the Committee on International Security Studies, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Thomas E. Drennen - Assistant Professor of Economics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges - Drennen's expertise interweaves economics with environmental issues. Drennen is the author of more than 20 publications alternative energy, gas prices, nuclear facilities, hybrid cars, public policy, sport utility vehicles, and more.

Mary Ann Tetreault - Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Trinity University - Tetreault is an expert on international affairs and how political systems affect the oil industry. She is he author of books on political and social movements in the Middle East.

About the Ides of March

2008-03-06T07:20:00.002-05:00

Historically, the Ides of March was a day to settle accounts, a day when bills were due, says Jason Moralee, assistant professor of history at Illinois Wesleyan University. Today, we usually associate the day with a settling of another kind of account – the assassination of Roman emperor Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.

Tony Blair Looks East

2008-03-05T23:05:00.000-05:00

Every economy in the world is being fundamentally changed by globalization and technological advances, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair told an audience at DePauw University. As a result, he said, "The center of gravity is shifting eastward."

News Sources: Perjury Charges against Clemens?

2008-02-26T14:26:00.004-05:00

A Congressional committee has taken the first steps toward asking the Department of Justice to start a criminal investigation into whether Roger Clemens committed perjury during testimony about performance-enhancing drugs, according to three lawyers with knowledge of the matter. 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:

Name:	Julio Rodriguez
College:	Randolph-Macon Woman's College
Email:	jrodriguez@rmwc.edu
Position:	Visiting Scholar of American Culture
Office Phone:	434-947-8304
News Phone:	434-947-8142
Topic:	Baseball, sports and American culture
Description:	A lifelong baseball fan, Julio Rodriguez earned his Ph.D. in American Studies from Bowling Green State University where his studies focused on the intersection of race, masculinity and sport at various key moments in American history. He recently co-taught an intensive summer seminar dealing with sport and American culture.

Name:	Jeffrey Nesteruk
College:	Franklin & Marshall College
Email:	JEFFREY.NESTERUK@fandm.edu
Position:	Professor of Business Administration/Director Center for Liberal Arts & Society
Office Phone:	717-291-3924
News Phone:	717-291-3837
Topic:	Legal studies and ethics
Description:	A lawyer, Nesteruk teaches courses in legal studies and ethics. His research interests include topics in corporate law and business ethics.

Name:	Nicholas Dixon
College:	Alma College
Email:	dixon@alma.edu
Position:	Associate Professor of Philosophy
Office Phone:	517-463-7219
News Phone:	517-463-7258
Topic:	Sports: Ethics
Description:	England native specializing in applied ethics. In sports-related national and international forums, has shared sportsmanship views on running up scores ok, losing by wide margins no disgrace and boxing banning blows to the head do it. Published in Journal of the Philosophy of Sport and Philosophical Inquiry in Sport 1995.

George Washington Book Prize Finalists Named

2008-02-26T14:20:00.004-05:00

With a $50,000 payoff, it's nation's largest prize for books on history. This year's finalists for the George Washington Book Prize have been announced at Washington College.

Using Stats to Rate Baseball Managers

2008-02-26T14:14:00.005-05:00

The baseball world uses statistics to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of players. Why not use them to do the same thing for team managers? Steve Wang, a Swarthmore College statistics professor, thinks he's figured out a way to do just that. He's crunched six years' worth of numbers in 23 categories - from how often they go their bullpens to the number of lineups they use in a season.

News Sources: "Change You Can Xerox"

2008-02-22T10:53:00.004-05:00

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

2008-02-22T10:35:00.003-05:00

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

2008-02-22T10:26:00.005-05:00

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

2008-02-20T12:19:00.004-05:00

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

2008-02-20T12:11:00.002-05:00

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

2008-02-20T12:01:00.005-05:00

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

2008-02-18T11:43:00.004-05:00

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

2008-02-18T11:38:00.003-05:00

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

2008-02-18T11:11:00.002-05:00

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.

News Sources: Shooting Down a Satellite

2008-02-15T14:05:00.003-05:00

The military will try to shoot down a crippled spy satellite in the next two weeks, senior officials said Thursday. The officials laid out a high-tech plan to intercept the satellite over the Pacific just before it tumbles uncontrollably to Earth carrying toxic fuel. The ramifications of the operation are diplomatic, as well as military and scientific, in part because the United States criticized China last year when Beijing tested an antisatellite system with an old weather satellite as a target and in part because of renewed Russian concerns about "star wars" technology. 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):

George E. Hudson - Professor of Political Science, Wittenberg University - Hudson is an authority on the former Soviet Union and modern Russia and use of military as an instrument of foreign policy. He was an adviser to Department of Defense and consultant to National Security Council. Was member of U.S. team which negotiated with Soviets for convential arms reductions in 1979.

Douglas Stuart - Professor of Political Science, Dickinson College - Stuart is an adjunct professor at the U.S. Army War College. His areas of research specialization include U.S. European security relations, and Asian security and arms control.

Bin Yu - Assistant Professor of Political Science, Wittenberg University - Bin is president of Chinese Scholars of Political Science and International Studies and a MacArthur fellow at the Center of International Security and Arms Control and research fellow at Center of International Studies, Beijing.

Competing to Speak

2008-02-15T13:56:00.005-05:00

Each year, Westmont College hosts one of the best-funded speech competitions in the country - a month-long tournament in which students compete in areas of Debate, Great Speeches, Persuasive Speeches, and Biblical Recitation.

Do Talk Show Hosts Get Too Much Credit?

2008-02-15T13:51:00.003-05:00

Is the power of political talk-show hosts overrated? Jeffrey McCall, professor of communication at DePauw University, says a recent study showed that well over 80 percent of talk radio listeners say that their voting choices are not influenced by talk radio. "I believe that most talk radio listeners are independent thinkers who don't just want to get in line with the thinking of even their favorite talk hosts," McCall says.

News Sources: U.S. Population Growth by 2050

2008-02-13T17:00:00.003-05:00

The U.S. population will reach 438 million in 2050, with 82 percent of the growth coming from immigrants and their U.S.-born descendants, according to a new study. During the next half century, the Latino and Asian populations will triple and the non-Hispanic white population will grow by 4 percent, said the study by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan group in Washington. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the colegenews.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):

Katya Gibel Azoulay - Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Africana Studies, Grinnell College - Azoulay's primary research interest is with race and racial identities. She has a unique perspective on race, including the demographics of minorities in elections, and is the author of Black, Jewish and Interracial: Its Not the Color of Your Skin but the Race of Your Kin and Other Myths of Identity.

James Martin-Schramm - Professor of Religion, Luther College - Martin-Schramm can discuss world population, overpopulation, Protestant ethical position on world population, population and consumption of resources. He wrote and presented NGO Protestant Position Paper to United Nations Conference on World Population.

Ellen Percy Kraly - Associate Professor of Geography, Colgate University - Kraly's studies on emigration are displayed in exhibits on Ellis Island and frequently cited in national publications. Consultant to the United Nations Statistical Office and U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform on immigration and the environment. Currently working on a federally funded study of undocumented migrants in the U.S. workforce.

Robots to Invade Connecticut

2008-02-13T16:54:00.003-05:00

Trinity College is preparing to host one of the world’s best known international robotics competitions. The 15th annual Trinity College Fire Fighting Home Robot Contest will bring 120 teams of robot enthusiasts and engineers of all ages from as far away as China and Israel to the College’s Hartford campus April 12 and 13.

Lincoln Prize Winners Announced

2008-02-13T16:50:00.003-05:00

Gettysburg College has announced this year's winners of the Lincoln Prize, one of the nation's most generous awards in the field of American history. This year's honorees are James Oakes and Elizabeth Brown Pryor for two books that offer new insights into the lives of three of the Civil War era's most compelling figures: Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and Robert E. Lee.

News Sources: Army Seeks Death Penalty for 9/11 Planners

2008-02-11T22:11:00.000-05:00

The Pentagon on Monday charged the alleged planner of the September 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and five others with murder and conspiracy and asked that they be executed if convicted. 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):

Christopher Pyle - Professor of Politics, Mount Holyoke College - Pyle is a noted expert on both USA Patriot Acts and issues pertaining to civil liberties in the midst of the war on terror. He is a former U.S. Army intelligence officer and the author of Military Surveillance of Civilian Politics.

Austin Sarat - William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College - Sarat studies legal theory and is especially interested in the death penalty, to which he is opposed.

Martha Crenshaw - John E. Andrus Professor of Government, Wesleyan University - Crenshaw gained an international reputation for her studies of political terrorism. She has testified before Congress, and he has served as a consultant to the Department of State, the U.S. Naval and Army War Colleges, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Defense Nuclear Agency. She has authored three books, including Terrorism, Legitimacy, and Power: The Consequences of Political Violence.

Is Flirting Ethical?

2008-02-11T22:08:00.000-05:00

Flirting is an art form, but the game can be dangerous. Gettysburg College philosophy professor Steve Gimbel says there is nothing wrong with the act of flirting, but context matters.

Love Now vs. Ancient Rome

2008-02-11T21:55:00.000-05:00

Today's valentines focus on sharing, caring, love and friendship. The beloved is portrayed as gentle, sensitive, tender and compassionate. But the ancient Romans had quite a different take on love, says Hamilton College Classics Professor Barbara Gold. Love for them was painful, like a disease.

Should You Hide Your Thesis?

2008-02-08T17:48:00.000-05:00

Internet chatter about Hillary Clinton's "Hidden Thesis" from her senior year at Wellesley College has some students worried about having their work at such an early age available for pubic scrutiny. But Bryn Mawr's English lecturer Anne Dalke thinks it's not a problem, and that making such work public can be a boon to students, academics, and others.

DePauw Ensemble Eyed for 3 Grammy Awards

2008-02-08T17:45:00.000-05:00

eighth blackbird, a contemporary classical music group that is DePauw University's ensemble-in-residence for this academic year, has been nominated for three Grammy Awards at Sunday's ceremony.

News Sources: Super Tuesday

2008-02-05T11:23:00.000-05:00

Voters in 24 states from coast to coast are making Feb. 5 a truly "Super Tuesday" for presidential aspirants. Some of the biggest prizes of the primary season -- California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Missouri and Georgia -- are up for grabs. More than four-fifths of the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination and more than 1,000 of the 1,191 necessary delegates on the Republican side are at stake. 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):

Myron A. Levine - Professor of Political Science, Albion College - Levine is an internationally renowned expert on presidential elections (U.S. and abroad) and political strategies in the U.S. He regularly comments on current events and politics in newspapers, radio and television. A former Fulbright lecturer, he also is an expert on NATO expansion, political issues of American cities, national urban policies and volunteerism. Levine is the author of Presidential Campaigns and Elections and Urban Politics: Political Power in Metropolitan America.

Tari Renner - Professor and Chair of Political Science, Illinois Wesleyan University -Renner conducts research on public opinion polling, electoral behavior, election systems and urban political structures. He also directs Illinois Wesleyan's statewide political polling center. Renner is a former Director of Survey Research for the International City/County Management Association in Washington, D.C.

Raymond Seidelman - Professor of Political Science, Sarah Lawrence College - Seidelman is an expert on voting and non-voting in America, the politics of labor, political economy and the politics of suburbs. He has been a contributor to leading newspapers, magazines and journals and has appeared on NPR and been consultant to Rainbow (PUSH) Coalition.

African Poverty Linked to Agricultural Technology

2008-02-05T11:18:00.000-05:00

People in Africa are poor because their labor as farmers has not yet been improved by science, including modern biotechnology. That's the overall conclusion of a new book by Wellesley College professor of political science Robert Paarlberg. He says U.S. foreign assistance to agricultural science in Africa has fallen by 75 percent in the past two decades, he notes, and the foreign assistance of European governments is now often predicated on staying away from modern agricultural science.

The Real "Dogs of the Dow?"

2008-02-05T11:05:00.000-05:00

There is no sure thing in the stock market, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average has long been used as a bellweather index for investors. Even so, research by Pomona College professor Gary Smith shows that stocks dropped from the Dow average since 1928 have actually outperformed the stocks that replaced them. Smith says this bucks conventional wisdom by showing "out-of-favor stocks" generally outperform whatever happens to be popular at the moment.

News Sources: Yahoo! Takeover Attempt

2008-02-01T12:22:00.000-05:00

Software titan Microsoft’s bold $44.6 billion bid to acquire Internet media company Yahoo Inc on Friday may shake up the industry like no deal has done in a long time. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news soures and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Alva W. Butcher - Associate Professor of Business Leadership, University of Puget Sound - Butcher specializes in corporate finance and specifically in share repurchase and Internet stock offerings.

David Newton - Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance, Westmont College - Newton is an expert on corporate finance and investments, and innovation strategy/change management/intellectual capital. He has written numerous books, including How to Be an Internet-Stock Investor.

L. Stephen Bowers - Professor of Business and Economics, Ursinus College - Bowers spent 20 years in executive leadership, 16 as CEO of a manufacturing and technology company serving a worldwide market. His turnaround consulting firm helped businesses regain growth and profitability, with impressive results. He serves on the boards of several manufacturing and tech firms, and maintains a consulting practice concentrating on the turnaround of troubled manufacturing companies.

Superdelegates Committing Super Early

2008-02-01T12:15:00.000-05:00

About a fifth of all delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this year will be "superdelegates" - party regulars and elected officials who are free of the influence of party primaries or caucuses. More than 300 of these delegates have already announced who they will support for the presidential nomination. But DePauw University journalism professor Ken Bode says such early commitments run counter to the intentions of party officials who created the superdelegate slots.

Focusing the Nation on Global Warming

2008-02-01T12:05:00.000-05:00

Focus the Nation, a massive Jan. 31 national teach-in on global warming solutions, marshaled the support and participation of more than 1,500 colleges and universities across America. Headquartered at Lewis & Clark College, it was the brainchild of Lewis & Clark College economics professor Eban Goodstein.

News Sources: California Health Revamp Fails

2008-01-30T12:57:00.000-05:00

The demise of California's proposed health-care restructuring underscores a difficulty states face in achieving universal insurance coverage: their inability to slow the upward trajectory of health-care costs, analysts said. 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, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Merton Finkler - Professor of Economics, Lawrence University - A specialist in the economics of health care, Finkler has served as consultant to California's Kaiser Permanente Medical Group since 1987. He also runs Innovative Health Associates, a private consulting firm specializing in long-term care and managed care evaluation and strategy. He is a former Robert Wood Johnson Faculty Fellow in health care finance.

Edward Sayre - Assistant Professor of Economics, Agnes Scott College - Sayre has written extensively on the effect of HMOs on the quality of health, care.

Ann Owen - Associate Professor of Economics, Hamilton College - Owen served as an economist for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors before joining Hamilton College. Owen focuses her research on the effects of international trade on health and savings behavior. Owen is a frequent media commentator on issues related to Federal Reserve decisions, Social Security, and various economic indices for outlets including MarketWatch, Associated Press, The New York Times, UPI, Atlanta Journal Constitution and the Baltimore Sun. She also serves as director of the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College and is a board member for the Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession.

Willamette Honors WWII Internees

2008-01-30T12:52:00.000-05:00

Japanese-American students at Willamette University during World War II were forced to say an abrupt goodbye when federal prosecutors rounded them up for a trip to an internment camp. In February, Willamette invites them to return for a series of events in their honor.

Undecided White Voters 'Flee' to White Candidates

2008-01-30T12:42:00.000-05:00

Keith Reeves, political science professor at Swarthmore College, talks about the effects of race on politics in a recent issue of New Yorker. "The voting booth is tantamount to the confessional - it's the secrecy of the ballot that is the critical issue," says Reeves. "One thing we found that was surprising was when you have instances of a fairly large percentage of undecided white voters, they flee to the white candidate."

News Sources: Kenyan Riots

2008-01-28T14:48:00.000-05:00

Police battled rampaging youths in western Kenya as ethnic clashes that have left more than 100 people dead in the past four days spread across the country. Tribal violence has killed nearly 900 people there since elections last month. 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, including the following (click on names for contact information):

The Hon. Joseph Melrose - Professor of Politics and International Relations, Ursinus College - Melrose retired from the U.S. Department of State in 2002, after three decades in the Foreign Service, most recently as Ambassador to Sierra Leone, where he helped broker a peace treaty. In the fall of 2006 he served as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the 61st United Nations General Assembly for the State Department. He also led the Foreign Emergency Support Team, deployed to Nairobi, Kenya in the aftermath of the Embassy bombings, where he helped oversee the reestablishment of Embassy operations and the recovery effort.

Kevin Dunn - Assistant Professor of Political Science, Hobart and William Smith Colleges - Dunn specializes in the politics and development in Africa, theories of international relations and U.S. foreign policy. He has investigated how theory and practice in international relations differ-with particular attention paid to U.S. foreign policy toward underdeveloped nations. Dunn co-edited Africa's Challenge to International Relations Theory.

Eve Sandberg - Associate Professor of Politics, Oberlin College - Sanberg is an expert on contemporary African affairs, political economies of developing nations and international relations. She has given talks for the USIA, Council on African Studies at Yale and Columbia and she edited The Changing Politics of Non-Governmental Organizations and African States.

Sundance as an Educational Eye-Opener

2008-01-28T14:44:00.000-05:00

Charles Lee and Jessica Pesola went to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah as part of a DePauw University winter term session. While there, the students were recruited to provide insights to a major Hollywood studio that may help decide which films wind up in theaters acros the country.

Clintons Have Little Room to Talk

2008-01-28T13:57:00.000-05:00

You can't learn from your mistakes if you don't admit them, says DePauw communications professor Ken Bode. In that respect, he says, Hillary Clinton is altogether too much like George W. Bush -- she cannot and will not admit a mistake.

News Sources: Researchers Create Synthetic Bacterium

2008-01-25T10:35:00.000-05:00

Taking a significant step toward the creation of synthetic forms of life, researchers reported Thursday that they had manufactured the entire genome of a bacterium by stitching together its chemical components. 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, including the following (click on names for contact infomation):

Karen Rader - Professor and Chair for Science Technology and Society, Sarah Lawrence College - A recipient of grants from and a reviewer for the Woodrow Wilson and Mellon foundations and the National Science Foundation, Rader is an expert on the relations between society and science, particularly laboratory work, and political, social and ethical issues in American culture. She focuses on biotechnology, gender and science, and genetics.

David Bourgaize - Fletcher Jones Professor of Molecular Genetics, Whittier College -Bourgaize i an expert on biotechnology, genetic engineering and the role of genetics and eugenics in society. He has received major research grants from the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Michael P. Roberts - Assistant Professor of Biology, Dickinson College - Roberts can comment on DNA testing, molecular genetics, cloning, and the process of genetic selection. His research includes regulation of gene expression and cell differentiation. Roberts has lectured and served as an American Cancer Society Post-doctoral Fellow at Princeton University.

Down-grading the Scholar Athlete?

2008-01-25T10:22:00.000-05:00

The NCAA created Division III several years ago for colleges and universities that choose to concentrate on recruiting students who were scholars first and athletes second. But Southwest University President Jake B. Schrum says some schools have been allowed to join Division III who are not as committed to the idea of scholar-athletes. The result? The NCAA is encouraging those for whom Division III was originally created to consider moving down yet again to a Division IV.

Viewers Want Better TV Political Coverage

2008-01-25T10:07:00.000-05:00

Numerous polls show that the public wants a different kind of television election coverage - with increased focus on where candidates stand on issues and more coverage of lesser-known candidates. This is not likely to happen soon, says DePauw University communications professor Jeffrey McCall. That's because it's easier and cheaper to cover elections by discussing the latest poll numbers and celebrity supporters and by showing and analyzing Hillary Clinton’s teary eyes.

News Sources: Economic Stimulus Talks

2008-01-18T14:15:00.000-05:00

President Bush has jump-started the talks between the White House and Congress over how to give a needed boost to the slowing US economy, announcing he wants to pump about 140 bln usd into the hands of consumers and businesses.

Philip N. Jefferson - Associate Professor of Economics, Swarthmore College - Former research economist at the Federal Reserve Board. Has researched small business employment and effect of the money supply on economic performance. Expert on the Fed and its chairman.

Ann Owen - Associate Professor of Economics, Hamilton College - Economics professor Ann Owen served as an economist for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors before joining Hamilton College. She has published several papers on long-run growth and income distribution. Owen is a frequent media commentator on issues related to Federal Reserve decisions, Social Security, and various economic indices for outlets including MarketWatch, Associated Press, The New York Times, UPI, Atlanta Journal Constitution and the Baltimore Sun. She also serves as director of the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College.

Steven E. Schier - Position:Dorothy H. and Edward C. Congdon Professor of Political Science, Carleton College - Schier's interests are primarily in methodology and American politics, including the role of interest groups, elections, fiscal policy, generational politics, and political parties. Schier also publishes widely on the federal government. He is co-author of Payment Due: A Nation in Debt, a Generation in Trouble, and author of Congress in Default, which looks at why Congress has failed to solve the federal budget deficit.

Slalom for a Sheepskin

2008-01-18T13:47:00.000-05:00

Middlebury College's winter term graduates have a unique way of leaving campus. As part of a congratulatory weekend for these graduates, they stage a "ski-down" procession in cap and gown. This year's event will take place on Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Middlebury College Snow Bowl in Hancock, Vt.

Global Warming and Coral Migration

2008-01-18T13:34:00.000-05:00

Global warming may cause coral species along Australia’s western coast to migrate to cooler waters, says Cornell College geology professor Ben Greenstein. His research on previous coral migrations suggests that such movement could provide a safe haven for temperature-sensitive species as the oceans warm.

News Sources: Race, Gender and the Democrats

2008-01-14T13:32:00.001-05:00

On a year when Democrats are buoyed by the prospect of retaking the White House, tensions are mounting in the white-hot race between the camp who want to elect the first woman president and the one that wants to elect the first black president. Can the wounds be healed or are the Democrats headed for a scorched-earth campaign between two constituencies that are core part of its base? 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, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Alice Almond Shrock - Professor of History, Earlham College - Shrock has devoted years of research to the role and influences of women in America's political development. She has been resident scholar with the U.S. House and the British House of Commons. She is widely interviewed and has lent analysis to National Public Radio and Voice of America.

Marcus Pohlmann -Professor of Political Science, Rhodes College - Pohlmann is author of Racial Politics at the Crossroads and Black Politics in Conservative America.

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.

Sundance Festival to Feature Film on Swarthmore Prof

2008-01-14T12:33:00.000-05:00

A documentary featuring Swarthmore College linguistics professor K. David Harrison will have its world premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival later this month. The film, entitled "The Linguists", follows Harrison and Gregory Anderson as they document disappearing languages around the world

Morehouse a New Chapter in Genarlow Wilson Story

2008-01-14T12:23:00.000-05:00

Genarlow Wilson says he's having "a rebirth" after the Tom Joyner Foundation agreed to fund his education at Morehouse College. It's a far cry from the day when a 17-year-old Wilson was sent to prison for receiving oral sex from a 16-year-old girl. The sentence’s harshness was denounced nationwide by civil rights leaders, and the offense was subsequently reduced to a misdemeanor.

News Sourcs - No Child Left Behind

2008-01-11T12:31:00.000-05:00

January marks the sixth anniversary of the enactment of The No Child Left Behind Act, but it’s up for reauthorization by Congress and many education advocates are calling for a comprehensive overhaul. While it helps school districts identify achievement gaps, critics say it does nothing to help states address teacher shortages and it punishes entire schools for sub-par performances by sub-groups of students. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them on the COLLEGENEWS.ORG database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Judith T. Wagner - Professor of Child Development and Education, Whittier College - Wagner specializes in improving education and family life through greater understanding of growing children. She has spoken and published widely on education, child development and family life, and chaired the California Department of Education's early education coordinating committee. She is a Rockefeller Scholar for advanced study at the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation.

David J. Menefee-Libey - Associate Professor of Politics, Pomona College. An expert on national politics and public policy, Menefee-Libey's recent research focuses on the politics of reform in urban school districts, particularly in the Los Angeles region.

Michael Miller - Professor of Education, Gustavus Adolphus College – Miller is an expert on teaching standards, student outcomes, organizational leadership, and community-college partnerships.

Spartans, Trojans and Hobbits

2008-01-11T12:14:00.000-05:00

The study of mythology typically focuses on works by Homer and Virgil, but Centre College's Lee Patterson is also incorporating hobbits, Star Wars and "The X-Files." Patterson, a visiting professor of classics, says many contemporary authors incorporate mythological narrative patterns that are centures old, but which still resonate for audiences across the globe.

Remembering Sir Edmund Hillary

2008-01-11T12:07:00.000-05:00

Sir Edmund Hillary, who died Jan. 10, became the first man to scale Mt. Everest largely through "happenstance," says Hamilton College history professor Maurice Isserman. However, Isserman - who has co-authored a history of Himalayan mountaineering to be published this spring - says Hillary had the character to withstand all of the public acclaim that came with the achievement and the generosity to never forget the Sherpas who helped him.

News Sources: U.S. Warns Iran

2008-01-09T11:42:00.000-05:00

A confrontation between three U.S. Navy warships and five Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz almost triggered an exchange of gunfire, and if it happens again there may be a battle, the president's top security aide says. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online a the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on the names for contact information):

Shelley Deane - Assistant Professor Government/Legal Studies - Deane is an expert on the Middle East, security and has negotiated peace agreements involving Israel Palestine, Northern Ireland, the PLO and associated groups. She received has been interviewed by NPR, the AP, the Los Angeles Times and others.

Fawaz Gerges - Professor of Middle East Studies, Sarah Lawrence College - A MacArthur Fellow, Gerges studies Arab politics, militant Islamic movements, the Arab-Israeli peace process and America's relations with the Arab world. He is the author of America and Political Islam: Clash of Cultures or Clash of Interests? and The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global. He has contributed to major foreign affairs publications and newspapers.

Douglas Stuart - Professor of Political Science/Director of Clarke Center, Dickinson College - Stuart can address American foreign policy, international relations theory, U.S. national security, NATO, U.S. foreign policy decision making, and U.S. defense policies.

The Welfare Debate

2008-01-09T11:36:00.000-05:00

The controversy over how to help poor people largely boils down to tension between the rhetoric of the "good Samaritan" and that of those who fear creating dependency and corruption, says Illinois Wesleyan University Associate Professor of Political Science Greg Shaw. In his new book, Shaw examines the history and rhetoric that have led to a stalemate in the discussion of welfare in America.

How Should Presidential Candidates Be Nominated?

2008-01-09T11:30:00.000-05:00

While political pundits try to make sense of the votes in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, Allegheny College prepares to launch a national effort to reform the presidential nomination process. Meanwhile, a visit to the Iowa caucuses caused a skeptic from DePauw University to reassess his stance.

News Sources: Supreme Court and Lethal Injections

2008-01-07T12:33:00.000-05:00

The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments today on whether lethal injection causes excruciating pain for death row inmates and violates the Constitution's ban on "cruel and unusual punishment." Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them on the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Richard Moran - Professor of Sociology, Mount Holyoke College -Moran is a criminologist whose opinion pieces appear frequently in leading newspapers. He is a commentator for NPR's "Morning Edition" and a leading expert on public policy in crime control, capital punishment and incarceration.

Austin Sarat - William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College - Sarat studies legal theory and is especially interested in the death penalty, to which he is opposed.

M. Margaret Falls-Corbitt - Professor of Philosophy, Hendrix College - Falls-Corbitt is an ethicist who writes and lectures on ethics, religion, the death penalty and the penal system.

Non-Traditional 'Macbeth' Subject of National Conference

2008-01-07T12:28:00.000-05:00

Macbeth, Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy, has long been adapted for African-American actors. National scholars, local artists, a film director and a Hollywood actor will participate in a conversation at Rhodes College about so-called ‘non-traditional’ casting of Shakespeare's plays and African American artists who have adapted Macbeth in their works.

Class Unites Alumnae, Students Via Internet

2008-01-07T12:25:00.000-05:00

A class at Bryn Mawr College titled "Critical Feminist Theory" has harnessed the Web to allow alumnae to join current students and take part in a course as it's happening.

News Sources: Writers' Strike and Jay Leno

2008-01-04T13:22:00.001-05:00

"Tonight Show" host Jay Leno could face disciplinary action from the Writers Guild of America for writing his monologue while the nearly 2-month-old writers strike continues. The WGA has been on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers since Nov. 5, halting the production of many TV shows. Among other outstanding issues, writers and producers are fighting over how much compensation writers should receive when TV shows and movies are streamed or downloaded over the Internet. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org databse of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact infomation):

Jeffrey M. McCall - Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, DePauw University - A former broadcaster himself, Dr. McCall has analyzed the content of television news broadcasts, manages the student-run radio station and has written nationally on issues related to the media. His special area of interest is media coverage of politics.

Janet C. Goulet - Professor of Economics, Wittenberg University - Goulet is former director of Center for Labor Management Cooperation, and has been published in the Journal of Consumer Credit Management and the Journal of Behavioral Economics. She has servced as an arbitrator for the Ohio Employee Relations Board, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and the American Arbitration Association.

Gary Chaison - Professor of Industrial Relations, Clark University - An expert in collective bargaining, labor movements and union organizing extensively, Chaison is one of the most widely regarded scholars on unions worldwide.

Point Guard Scores Political Coup

2008-01-04T13:10:00.000-05:00

The the Sunnyside, Washington, City Council is about to dramatically change its composition, after a Whitman College student's research showed its at-large voting system kept Hispanic residents off the council. The studies by Ian Warner, a 2007 graduate who was a point guard on Whitman's basketball team, attracted the attention of the U.S. Justice Department.

FCC Serves Up Corporate Welfare to Big Media

2008-01-04T12:48:00.001-05:00

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Dec. 18 decision to "relax" media ownership rules opens the door to a new wave of consolidation that will further erode the quality of U.S. news media, says DePauw communications professor Kevin Howley. He says the ruling is corporate welfare allows big media to get even bigger, while discouraging competition, diversity and independent voices.

News Sources: New Hampshire & Iowa Vote

2008-01-02T11:00:00.000-05:00

The Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses and the Jan. 8 New Hampshire primary mark the start of a highly compressed presidential nomination process that some observers say could be wrapped up as early as February. But on the eve of these crucial contests, polls show the outcomes of the races in both parties and in both states appear to be anybody's guess. 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, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Barbara Trish - Associate Professor of Political Science, Grinnell College - Since joining Grinnell, Trish has examined and researched the Iowa Caucus system as well as the "coordinated campaign" efforts in the Midwest. She has served as president of the Iowa Conference of Political Scientists (2000-2001) and is active in party and campaign politics.

Emmett H. Buell Jr. - Professor of Political Science, Denison University - An expert on the New Hampshire primaries, Buell is author of Nominating the President 1991 and wrote the "invisible primary" chapter in recent book, In Pursuit of the White House. He is the director of the Richard G. Lugar Program in Politics and Public Policy at Denison, Lugar's alma mater.

Douglas I. Hodgkin - Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Bates College - Hodgkin is a specialist in American government, political campaigns/elections, public-opinion polling, political action committees and elections. He and his students at New Hampshire-based Bates College conduct regular opinion polls on issues. He is active Republican with valuable insight into the evolution and current state of the Republican Party.

War During the Holidays

2008-01-02T10:50:00.001-05:00

The American media suspended most of the bad news from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan during the holiday season. But DePauw's Ken Bode spotlights an NBC News producer who understands that war does not take a holiday.

Bhutto's Dream for Pakistan

2008-01-02T10:35:00.000-05:00

Ten years before her assassination, former Pakistan President Benazir Bhutto visited DePauw University and told an audience there that she foresaw a new millenium "in which the gap between rich and poor states narrows, where we attack literacy and promote human rights universally... where the birth of a girl child is celebrated as much as a boy child, where every child is planned, supported and educated."

News Sources: Putin Goes from Prez to Prime Minister

2007-12-17T13:15:00.000-05:00

Vladimir Putin told delegates at the pro-Kremlin United Russia party's convention that he will serve as prime minister if his longtime aide Dmitri Medvedev is elected to replace him as president next March. Some fear such an arrangement may be fundamentally unstable, as a strong figure in that post may create tensions which have already buffeted Russia in its brief democratic history. 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, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Larry Caldwell - Gamble Professor of Political Science, Occidental College - A former visiting professor at the National War College, scholar-in-residence in the CIA's Office of Soviet Analysis, and RAND consultant, Caldwell is an expert on Russian-American relations, Russian politics and military, and arms control who has testified before Senate and House committees.

Michael Hamm - Boles Professor of History, Centre College - Hamm is the author of books on the history of Ukraine and Russia, and he has been a guest scholar in Russia and a university lecturer in Kazakstan. His work has been honored with Fulbright and IREX fellowships.

George E. Hudson - Professor of Political Science, Wittenberg University - Hudson is a Fulbright Scholar, an authority on the former Soviet Union and modern Russia and the use of the military as an instrument of foreign policy. An adviser to the Department of Defense and a consultant to the National Security Council, he was a member of the U.S. team which negotiated with Soviets for convential arms reductions in 1979.

What Iraq is Teaching College Students

2007-12-17T12:55:00.000-05:00

College students know that the deepest lessons are lived, not taught, says Eckerd College President Donald Eastman. He fears the lessons of Iraq - the acceptance of torture, of the outsourcing of war, and of the relegation of war duties to the lower economic stratum - have taught them that many of the high ideals they had for the United States of America before 9/11 no longer apply to the country they now live in.

"I'll Be Home" Popularity Good News for SLU

2007-12-17T12:48:00.000-05:00

"I'll Be Home For Christmas" ranks 12th on The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) list of the Top 25 most-performed holiday songs of the past five years. That's good news for St. Lawrence University, because the song's alumni composer provided that the school receive a share of the royalties.

News Sources: Baseball's Steroid Report

2007-12-13T13:41:00.000-05:00

Former Senator George Mitchell is set to release his 304-page report on the use of steroids in Major League Baseball, covering 20 months of investigation. More than 50 players are named in the report, according to individuals who saw the report. 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, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Julio Rodriguez - Visiting Scholar of American Culture, Randolph College - A lifelong baseball fan, Julio Rodriguez earned his Ph.D. in American Studies from Bowling Green State University where his studies focused on the intersection of race, masculinity and sport at various key moments in American history. He recently co-taught an intensive summer seminar dealing with sport and American culture.

Nicholas Dixon - Associate Professor of Philosophy, Alma College - Dixon specializes in applied ethics, and in sports-related national and international forums, he has shared sportsmanship views on running up scores ok, losing by wide margins no disgrace and boxing banning blows to the head do it. He has been published in the Journal of the Philosophy of Sport and Philosophical Inquiry in Sport.

John Charles Bradbury - Assistant Professor of Economics, Sewanee: The University of the South - Bradbury’s most recent research focuses on microeconomic behavior within the game of baseball. This work has been featured in major media outlets.

Twice in a 'blue moon'

2007-12-13T13:33:00.000-05:00

Whitman College's annual art and literary magazine, blue moon, has been awarded the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's Gold Medal. It's the second straight year blue moon has received the gold medal. The publication also received All-Columbian Honors in the categories of organization and design.

Finding Willpower During the Holidays

2007-12-13T13:27:00.000-05:00

If you are wrestling with willpower - or the lack thereof - during the holidays, keep in mind what Momma told you: it's important whom you choose as your playmates. Hamilton College Professor Heidi Ravven, who studies the history of free will, offers advice for the faint-willed.

News Sources: Water-boarding Wariness

2007-12-11T12:29:00.000-05:00

The debate over whether the practice of "water-boarding" is a permissible interrogation technique or is torture has been heightened by an ABC News interview with ex-CIA officer John Kiriakou. He acknowledged that water-boarding was used in interrogating al-Qaeda prisoner Abu Zubaydah, but he says he thinks it did amount to torture. Meanwhile, the public has learned that in 2005 the CIA destroyed hundreds of hours of videotapes showing the interrogations of Abu Zubaydah and another al-Qaeda prisoner. 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, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Darius Rejali - Professor of Political Science, Reed College - Rejali is the author of Torture and Modernity: Self, State, and Society in Modern Iran as well as articles on torture, executions, violence in Latin America, and mass rape in ethnic war, particularly Bosnia. He is a aResearcher on human rights of sexual minorities, AIDS testing policies in the U.S. and Europe and Iranian politics.

Martha D. Huggins - Roger Thayer Stone Professor of Sociology, Union College - Huggins has studied police torture and police death squads in military dictatorships in Brazil and Greece, a project that included interviews with 27 former police officers.

Samuel V. Wilson - Wheat Visiting Professor in Leadership, Hampden-Sydney College - Wilson is president emeritus of Hampden-Sydney College. He is former deputy to the director of central intelligence for the intelligence community and retired director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.

Durden to Chair Fulbright Board

2007-12-11T12:25:00.000-05:00

Dickinson College President William G. Durden has been named chairman of the advisory board for the Council for International Exchange of Scholars division (CIES) and to the board of directors of its parent organization, the Institute of International Education.

Gifts for the Aspiring College Student

2007-12-11T12:19:00.000-05:00

What's on your holiday shopping list for your teenager who's looking for the perfect college? Scott Friedhoff, vice president for enrollment and communications at Allegheny College, offers a few suggestions for items that both entertain and help shine a little light.Post Options

News Sources: Intelligence Finding on Iran

2007-12-04T13:56:00.000-05:00

President Bush said today that a new intelligence finding that Iran halted its nuclear weapons work in 2003 had not altered his sense that Iran remained a danger. At a White House press conference, Bush called the report “a warning signal,” not grounds for reassurance, and said the United States would not renounce the option of a military response. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them on the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Samuel V. Wilson - Wheat Visiting Professor in Leadership, Hampden-Sydney College - Wilson is former deputy to the director of central intelligence for the intelligence community and retired director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. He is president emeritus of Hampden-Sydney College.

Martha Crenshaw - John E. Andrus Professor of Government, Wesleyan University - Crenshaw has gained an international reputation for studies of political terrorism. She has testified before Congress and has served as a consultant to the Department of State, the U.S. Naval and Army War Colleges, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Defense Nuclear Agency. Crenshaw has authored three books, including Terrorism, Legitimacy, and Power: The Consequences of Political Violence.

Darius Rejali - Professor of Political Science, Reed College - An expert on human rights, Rejali is the author of Torture and Modernity: Self, State, and Society in Modern Iran.

Bennington Faculty Make NYT 'Notable Books' List

2007-12-04T13:51:00.000-05:00

Works by two Bennington College faculty members were included in The New York Times Book Review's recent list of 100 Most Notable Books of the Year. They were literature faculty member Steven Bach’s biography Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl and MFA faculty member Tom Bissell’s memoir, The Father of All Things: A Marine, His Son, and the Legacy of Vietnam.

The Cost of Midnight Oil

2007-12-04T13:43:00.001-05:00

"Pulling an all-nighter" is an end-of-the-semester tradition for most college students facing final exams. But will it actually help your test scores? St. Lawrence University psychology professor Pamela Thatcher studied the sleeping patterns and grades of 111 students, and found that those who regularly pulled at least one all-nighter a semester had lower GPAs.

Oprah and Obama

2007-11-26T12:11:00.000-05:00

Oprah Winfrey's coming to town for Senator Barack Obama, scheduling a three-state tour beginning Dec. 8. Ms. Winfrey, who has been fiercely protective of her extraordinary brand, is dipping into presidential politics for the first time with a visit to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. 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, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Barbara Trish - Associate Professor of Political Science, Grinnell College - Since joining Grinnell, Trish has examined and researched the Iowa Caucus system as well as the "coordinated campaign" efforts in the Midwest. She has served as president of the Iowa Conference of Political Scientists (2000-2001) and is active in party and campaign politics.

Keith Reeves - Associate Professor, Swarthmore College - The Director of Swarthmore's Center for Social and Policy Studies, Reeves is an expert on the impact of racial politics on electoral behavior. He is the author of Voting Hopes or Fears?: White Voters, Black Candidates, and Racial Politics in America.

Ronald Lembo - Associate Professor of Sociology, Amherst College - Lembo teaches and writes about the sociology of mass media and mass culture, news and entertainment systems, media corporations. His newest book is Thinking Through Television: Viewing Practices and the Social Limits to Power.

Former CNN Analyst Says Networks Need "Reality Check"

2007-11-26T12:02:00.000-05:00

DePauw Visiting Professor Ken Bode was a long-time political analyst for CNN. After watching CNN's Democratic presidential debate last week, Bode says somebody in the network's executive suites needs a reality check on fairness. At the same time, he says, things are no better at competitor Fox News.

Fellowship and a Ring

2007-11-26T11:48:00.001-05:00

Fascination with J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings led Wayne Hammond, assistant librarian of Williams College's Chapin Library of Rare Books, to collect works by and about Tolkien, then to write about him. It also led him to a soulmate across the Atlantic Ocean. His ensuing fellowship with Christina Scull led to a ring and to a husband-wife collaboration that has produced Tolkien publications since 1994.

News Sources: Middle East Peace Conference

2007-11-21T14:14:00.000-05:00

Arab countries are warming — slightly — to a U.S.-pushed Mideast peace conference in Annapolis amid a flurry of fierce last-minute lobbying. But heavyweight Saudi Arabia still wouldn't say Wednesday if it plans to send a high-level delegation and Syria also remained on the fence. 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, including the following (click on names for contact information):

David Lesch - Professor of History, Trinity University - Lesch is an expert on Middle East and American foreign policy. He is the author of 1979: The Year that Shaped the Modern Middle East and, recently, The New Lion of Damascus, about Syrian president Bashar al-Asad, to whom Lesch has had unprecedented access. He served as news analyst and consultant to the National Security Agency during the Persian Gulf War, and is a consultant to the U.S. State Department. College:

Fawaz Gerges - Professor of Middle East Studies, Sarah Lawrence College - A MacArthur Fellow, Gerges studies Arab politics, militant Islamic movements, the Arab-Israeli peace process and America's relations with the Arab world. Gerges is the author of America and Political Islam: Clash of Cultures or Clash of Interests? and The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global. He has contributed to major foreign affairs publications and newspapers.

Virginia Tilley - Associate Professor of Political Science, Hobart and William Smith Colleges - Tilley specializes in the politics of economic development and ethnic conflict, especially in developing countries. She has researched indigenous politics in Arab-Israeli conflict and settlement policy. Her book The One-State Solution A Breakthrough for Peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Deadlock is forthcoming.

Following a Different Drummer?

2007-11-21T14:07:00.000-05:00

Tim Stedman came to Knox College from Los Angeles for what he calls a traditional education. In doing so, he walked away from fat paychecks and hobnobbing with celebrities as a vice president/creative director with the world's largest record studio. Even so, he spent this past summer working or Lyle Lovett.

Surviving Black Friday and Beyond

2007-11-21T14:01:00.000-05:00

On four-year college campuses, few courses focus on how to manage your money. Wellesley College economics professor Ann Witte and a former student, Saundra Gulley, offer help through a class called "Personal Finance," now in its second year at the college.

News Sources: Reading vs. TV Survey

2007-11-19T13:19:00.000-05:00

Americans aged 15 to 24 on average spend two hours a day watching TV and only seven minutes on leisure reading, reducing their chances for high-paying jobs and community service, according to a report by the National Endowment for the Arts. Reporters looking for experts to interview on these topics can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following: (click on names for contact information):

Claudia E. Cornett - Professor of Education, Wittenberg University - Cornett has delivered 300 speeches and authored books and articles on learning styles, bibliotherapy, motivation, literature-based reading instruction and whole language. She also wrote and taught the children's instructional television program, teacher in-service as well as a teacher in-service video series on reading.

Ronald Lembo - Associate Professor of Sociology, Amherst College - Lembo's newest book is Thinking Through Television: Viewing Practices and the Social Limits to Power.Teaches and writes about the sociology of mass media and mass culture, news and entertainment systems, media corporations.

Thomas Cloer - Professor of Education, Furman University - Cloer is a reading specialist who has written extensively on phonics and other basic reading techniques. He has long argued against standardization of reading materials for elementary school children. He was voted the South Carolina Governor's Professor of the Year in 1988.

Voter ID Law: A New "Poll Tax?"

2007-11-19T13:07:00.000-05:00

A new Indiana law requires voters who can't show identification at the polls to use a provisional ballot and then travel to the the courthouse within the next 10 days to either show a valid ID or swear that they are either indigent or have a religious objection to being photographed. Swarthmore College political science professor Richard Valelly recently joined a group of leading scholars of race, class, and politics in America in signing an amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court this week challenging the Indiana law, contending it amounts to a poll tax and a "democratic emergency."

The Holidays as Family Minefields

2007-11-19T12:56:00.000-05:00

Parents: Our child is coming home from college to visit; we'll have a perfect holiday. Children: Finally, a chance to do some laundry and catch up with old friends. Sound like a Thanksgiving recipe for disaster? Gettysburg College counseling director Kathy Bradley says such "clashes in expectations" are at the root of many disagreements between college students and their families during holiday breaks.

News Sources: Driver's Licenses for Illegal Immigrants

2007-11-14T17:54:00.000-05:00

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer on Wednesday dropped a plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants in his state because of overwhelming opposition to the proposal in an issue with repercussions in the U.S. presidential campaign. 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, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Dean Hubbard - Professor of Public Policy, Sarah Lawrence College - Holder of the Joanne Woodward Chair in Public Policy, Hubbard’s expertise focuses on issues of immigrant laborers, U.S. labor law, employment discrimination and community organization.

Ellen Percy Kraly - Associate Professor of Geography, Colgate University - Kraly's studies on emigration are displayed in exhibits on Ellis Island and frequently cited in national publications. She has served as a consultant to the United Nations Statistical Office and U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform on immigration and the environment, and is currently working on a federally funded study of undocumented migrants in the U.S. workforce.

Robert Smith - Assistant Professor of Sociology, Barnard College - Smith has authored numerous articles on immigration, and is currently revising book on Mexican immigration. He is co-author of a report to U.S. State Department comparing InterAmerican and Mediterranean-European migration systems.

Did Welfare Reform Work?

2007-11-14T17:48:00.000-05:00

We know that the welfare case load fell and that work increased following the passage of welfare reform legislation in 1996. But how did this affect children, family structure, and incomes of recipients? Bowdoin College economist John Fitzgerald's demographic studies of government welfare and anti-poverty programs showed little, if any, decline in single motherhood as a result of reforms partially aimed at reducing the number of unwed mothers.