Since 2008, Italian universities have seen their budgets slashed by 14 percent. And in late 2010 the Italian government passed a law that drastically reduced the number of contract university workers, effectively laying off thousands of postdocs, assistants, researchers, and lecturers. The law also included a planned decrease in the number of…

Stories of transient students missing deadlines or being misled about their voting rights are nothing new. But this year, the role younger voters played in Barack Obama's win in Iowa's Democratic presidential primary seems to have motivated a wave of college students in other states. Some of those students--and the campaigns courting them--are out…

Pennsylvania is considered one of the nation's key swing states. But over in Penn State's student union, there wasn't much excitement about the forthcoming election--even though it is the first presidential vote that most undergraduates will cast. A visit last week by "The Chronicle" to Penn State and two other campuses in the central…

African professors are often asked by Americans at academic gatherings, campus events, and informal social gatherings what they think of the never-ending civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the genocide in Sudan, anarchy in Somalia, last year's disastrous elections in Nigeria, the Kenyan political crisis, and other problems. Whether…

In his presidential acceptance speech last week, Barack Obama gave a nod to his youngest and most loyal supporters, who, he said, had "rejected the myth of their generation's apathy." Indeed, voters ages 18 to 29 turned out more than they had since 1972, the first presidential election after the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18. They supported…

Among the 142 ballot measures that will be before voters in 33 states this November are 17 proposals in 13 states that would directly affect higher education. Michigan voters will face questions about stem-cell research, people going to the polls in Colorado and Nebraska will be asked about affirmative action, and voters in six states will decide…

This article reports that a state ballot measure to ban affirmative-action programs based on race, gender, and national origin at public colleges and other state agencies was defeated. Colorado voters narrowly rejected such a referendum last week by a razor-thin margin that took two days to become official. Voters in Nebraska, however, took the…

In this article, the author provides the contentions of intellectual historian John Patrick Diggins on the November 2008 elections and the presidential leadership. Diggins observed that "all people spoke about was winning the elections, and no one seemed to be concerned with the problems of the future." Diggins also expressed how he was skeptical…

Obamamania has swept across college campuses. Students, it seems, are out campaigning, registering people to vote, singing the Democrat's praises far and wide. This article reports that a new poll of college students in four battleground states--Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania--conducted by CBS News, UWIRE, and "The…

Professors and politics blend uneasily in the classroom, especially in an election year. As the election cycle unfolds, professors can expect to be asked about their political views: "How do you feel about McCain?" "Do you think we're ready for a black president?" Nothing in higher-education policy explicitly precludes honest answers to those…

Among the many groups of Barack Obama's supporters who considered him one of their own, and helped propel him into the presidency, were large numbers of the nation's college professors, administrators, and students. The president-elect won overwhelming support from academe throughout the campaign. The Obama campaign aggressively courted student…

During this election year, many people who study race and education had hoped that the nomination of a black presidential candidate and the increased focus on race would have led to a related discussion of equal access to higher education and a turn toward a stronger commitment to the creation of a truly diverse society. However, unfortunately,…

This article presents the suggestion of Merle S. King, chairman of the department of computer science and information systems at Kennesaw State University and also a director of Kennesaw State's Center for Elections Systems, which has helped establish a uniform statewide voting system in Georgia. On the last day of the conference sponsored by the…

As the first balloting of the 2008 presidential campaign nears, colleges in early-voting states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina have become hotbeds of political activity. College campuses are favored venues for nationally televised debates and candidates' policy announcements. College officials say election activities can bolster…

This article reports a unique partnership between Kennesaw State University and the Georgia state government involving the participation of computer experts in the deployment or electronic voting machines. The effort has received attention in Washington as scientists and government officials search for ways to reform election procedures across the…