Academics

Future leaders in business, government, and civil society need more than just job skills. The following articles defend the value of liberal education, with a focus on academic quality and rigor, fundamental knowledge, and the ideas that have shaped Western Civilization. They also scrutinize academic programs that have departed from these ideals in the name of progressive ideology.

Student Columnist Accuses N.C. State English Department of Feminist Bias

Oct 26, 2000 · Martin Center Staff

A columnist for the Technician, N.C. State University’s official student newspaper, has ignited a controversy on that campus with his charge that the English Department is an “instrument…to convert the ideas and opinions of the student body to the conformist views of feminism.” Ryan Galligan, a fifth-year student and former “P.C. tool,” wrote in his Oct. 12 column that N.C. State English faculty use “subjective grading [as] a convenient power tool” against students, who are “academically bullied to cherish feminism.” He specifically mentioned English 111 and 112, the freshmen composition courses all freshmen are required to take.

Budget Expansion Approved

Sep 14, 2000 · Martin Center Staff

The State Board of Community Colleges on Friday approved an expansion budget that represents an increase of 21.6 percent in operating funds for fiscal year 2001-02 and a 24.3 percent increase for fiscal year 2001-03. Raising faculty salaries, increasing summer term funding and improving instruction resources were among the priorities addressed.

Dropping Scores to Admit More Minorities Means “Strange Bedfellows”

Sep 8, 2000 · Martin Center Staff

Large public university systems in California, Texas and Florida may have increased minority enrollment in the face of an end to affirmative action. But the change may not be the result of increased minority test performance. In fact, many schools are dropping the SAT and ACT academic achievement exams as admissions requirements altogether, according to a recent USA Today report, automatically admitting students who are top-ranked in their high schools.

UNC Leaders, Legislators Discuss Faculty Salary Increases

Sep 1, 2000 · Martin Center Staff

University of North Carolina officials on Monday pressed legislators for increased faculty salary pay, saying that UNC campuses would suffer significant losses of their best faculty if pay and benefits aren’t improved soon.

Bond Analysts vs. Bond Supporters: Tax Hikes vs. Cost Savings

Aug 25, 2000 · Martin Center Staff

The question of whether the $3.1 billion in higher education bonds will raise taxes in North Carolina Counties sparked heated debate this week between bond supporters and research analysts.

Tax Increases from UNC Bonds a Virtual Certainty,” According to New Report

Jul 22, 2000 · Martin Center Staff

Proponents of the $3.1 billion bond for construction at UNC-system schools and community colleges have downplayed the possibility that tax increases may be necessary to cover additional debt service incurred by the state. But a recent analysis by the John Locke Foundation’s Pope Center for Higher Education Policy says otherwise.

Meredith Student

Jul 14, 2000 · Martin Center Staff

A Meredith College student says she wants to clear up misconceptions about the controversy that disrupted her class last spring when political science professor Clyde Frazier released his manuscript “Is Masculinity Obsolete?” Contrary to several reports, the attacks on Frazier’s manuscript stemmed not from students in the class, but from feminist professors and students who obtained and circulated the manuscript after hearing about it from members of the class.

Capital Projects Approved; BCC Gets $9 Million

Jul 7, 2000 · Martin Center Staff

After year’s of trying to raise the necessary funds on their own, leaders of the Black Cultural Center (BCC) at UNC-Chapel Hill got a boost this week when state lawmakers approved using $9 million to cover the cost of building a new center.

A Great Place to Party? Survey Says… Chapel Hill

Jun 30, 2000 · Martin Center Staff

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received the dubious honor of being rated on www.PartySchool.com – a web site that rates schools’ party scenes, gives advice on planning parties (including a list of drinking games “to get the party started”), and provides the “world’s only patented, scientifically proven cure” for combatting hangovers. PartySchool.com awarded UNC-CH with 4 out of 5 stars for its “wild” party scene.

NEA Gives Thumbs Up to Distance Education

Jun 15, 2000 · Martin Center Staff

The National Education Association (NEA) this week released a study showing positive support among NEA-member faculty for distance education. The study polled more than 400 plus instructors who had taught distance-learning courses and 130 who had not in an effort to assess distance learning’s strengths and weaknesses. Currently, one in 10 higher-education NEA members teaches a distance-learning course.