Higher Education News

World & Nation
Twenty-three states received failing grades for their unemployment insurance systems, according to the report Failing the Unemployed: A State-by-State Evaluation of Unemployment Insurance Systems.

The joint study by the Economic Policy Institute, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the National Employment Law Project examined eligibility standards, benefit levels, revenue, trust fund adequacy, and recession preparedness.

In the area of eligibility, 48 states and the District of Columbia failed with only 40 percent of unemployed workers receiving benefits. The poorly structured eligibility requirements, the study finds, often deny benefits to low-wage and part-time workers. For more information, visit www.aflcio.org/news/2002/0312_ui.htm.

On April 4th, thousands of students at nearly 100 campuses across the nation rallied for workers' rights in their respective communities.

The third annual Student-Labor Day of Action rallies, including one in Washington D.C., demanded better funding and maintenance of public schools. Students also pressed for a living wage for campus workers, graduate employee organizations, and anti-sweatshop policies.

Jobs with Justice co-sponsored the events, held on the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Binge drinking at women's colleges has been increasing since 1993, while binge drinking for college students overall has remained stable at about 44 percent for the past eight years.

According to the Harvard School of Public Health's College Alcohol Study, in 2001, 32 percent of women at all-female colleges report having consumed four or more drinks at a sitting, up from 24 percent in 1993. The number of abstainers at women's colleges declined by 5 percent from 1993-2001.

The study also finds that 75 percent of students who lived in sororities or fraternities reported binge drinking, compared with 51 percent in regular dormitories.

Faculty & Staff
The Nevada Supreme Court ruled recently that a non-tenured professor has "no constitutionally protected due process interest" in the University of Nevada at Las Vegas's tenure-review process.

Marcella A. McClure, a former associate professor at UNLV, filed suit against the university claiming she was unfairly denied tenure for being "uncollegial." The Supreme Court rejected her appeal, and upheld a lower court's decision that the University and Community College System of Nevada is immune from lawsuits over tenure decisions.

McClure claimed breach of contract, wrongful termination, breach of fair dealing, and emotional distress following her tenure rejection.

The attorney for the university system argued that "non-tenured faculty don't have a contractual right to tenure. Nor does the failure to grant tenure constitute a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing." McClure is now an associate professor of microbiology at Montana State University.

Professional News
Despite public protest, the College of the Mainland, a Texas community college, granted tenure to a self-described Marxist professor. David Michael Smith received support from the college's president, his departmental colleagues, and the college's governing board.

A group opposing Smith's tenure accused him of brainwashing students by encouraging them to protest the war in Afghanistan. Notes college president Homer M. Hayes: "There was a distaste for his political views, which had built up over some time. [This is] a classic demonstration of why tenure exists."

The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that graduate-teaching assistants at Tufts University in Boston can unionize. Notes the NLRB: Teaching and research assistants provide "services both in and out of the classroom, including teaching, performing research, preparing class materials, grading exams and papers...," the same work as faculty members.

Students' Binge Drinking: 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001

Source: Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study: Trends in College Binge Drinking During a Period of Increased Prevention Efforts.