Academics can be a mundane world, until a juicy scandal excites it.
The president of the University of Chicago recently come under fire for romantic involvement with a member of faculty. An entire ethical debate has subsequently risen over whether this presented potential for a conflict of interest.
The board has stated it sees absolutely no problems with the romantic involvement between the president and the professor. According to the Chicago Tribune
The university has taken steps to ensure that Zimmer will not be involved in decisions about her salary or promotions, spokesman Steve Kloehn said. If there are questions that typically would go to the president, they will instead go to Alper [the chairman of the university's board of trustees].
Spanier's wife, Sandra Spanier, is a Penn State employee. The question arises: Does President Spanier come into direct contact with questions related to his wife? Does it give her an unfair advantage compared to the rest of the faculty? Should the board let someone as qualified a professor as Sandra Spanier go, just so we it can avoid a potential conflict of interest? In all cases, the answer is: probably not.
The University of Alabama is having a...umm...long...err...stiff...ehmm...hard problem. Craig Wedderspoon, head of the sculpture program at UA, recently installed a 10-foot-tall sculpture entitled "Argyle". Wedderspoon saw it as an abstract artistic expression, which was all fine and dandy until people started trying to go past the abstract.
“We had a lot of people come by and comment ‘giant phallus,' ” said Wedderspoon, head of the sculpture program at UA's Department of Art. “When confronted with something abstract, we may not know what it is, it's curious how quickly it is we go to our sexual organs."
Yes Mr. Wedderspoon, curious indeed. Wedderspoon, who's previously had similar comments on his work, denies any (intentional) innuendo. It's a good thing that we don't have any statues like this on campus that could be potentially misconstrued. Oh wait...
Read on to get a closer look at Penn State's dirty statue.
After an embarrassing setback by the leak of his email to IFC presidents about the Penn State Pulse survey, IFC President Max Wendkos seems determined to his resolve in combating high-risk drinking. The question is whether it will matter.
The rules are no liquor, no wine, and no more than 50 nonmembers. Frankly, this will likely do less good than a similar proposal from the taverns or UPUA would. And later tonight we will see UPUA President Gavin Keirans lead his assembly in discussion of the holiday-- after he announces his veto on a piece of elections code legislation.
As planned, Governor Ed Rendell announced his budget proposals today for the 2010-2011 fiscal year in the Commonwealth and proposed $333.9 million in appropriations for Penn State.
This is the first of a million steps in the appropriations process for Penn State that must be taken before the university receives its funding. Over the next few months, university officials must meet with state legislators in order to come up with a final spending plan by weighing the university's costs and needs.
President Graham Spanier plans to go before the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 23 and the Senate Appropriations Committee on March 3.
After last year's near-explosive financial dilemma, lets hope that everything gets worked out in an ordered and timely fashion, like a good fire drill.
Not only is it still snowing as if winter has no plans to go anywhere, but it's coming down out there more than it has in years. To much surprise, instead of marking up certain items, I've noticed a lot of stores downtown having big sales, some of which are things that could definitely come in handy in light of Snowpocalypse '10. Read on for a list of just a few of the things going on downtown that I noticed on my walk home the other day.
There’s a lot to look forward to (and even more to laugh about) in the newest Phollegian, which is to be entitled “Vallowegian.” As the name suggests, the issue will be released this Friday, February 12, in light of Valentine’s Day. We had the opportunity to inquire about the blood, sweat, and tears that go into producing something so hilarious so consistently. Who better to consult than Editor-In-Chief Rebecca Eisenberg?
Read on for some neat features of the Vallowegian.