Academic Freedom Media Review – April 16-22, 2011

The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here.  The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.
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Malawi: Political Science Professor Talks About Blogging Academic Freedom
Victor Kaonga, Global Voices Online, 4/22
DUBAI: Scholar’s detention threatens UAE’s reputation
Brendan O’Malley, University World News, 4/21
New crackdown on Iraqi academic elite
NEAR, 4/21
Bahrain’s Crackdown on Protest Extends to Academe, With Interrogations, Firings and Expulsions
David L. Wheeler, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4/21
Anti-Israel, Anti-Semitic or Both?
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 4/21
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By the Numbers

This is just some food for thought, numbers that that I find it difficult to get my head around, particularly how they relate to one another. How do you make sense of them?  Especially in light of the debate over current budget priorities?
Value of a Life:

  • The EPA estimates the value of life at $9.1 million.
  • The FDA estimates the value of life at $7.9 million.
  • For the Transportation Department the cost is only $6 million
  • Homeland Security say the cost of preventing death by terrorism may be 100 times higher than death by other means.

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(source: “As U.S. Agencies Put More Value on a Life, Businesses Fret,” by Binyamin Appelbaum. The New York Times, February, 16,2011.)
Profits, Taxes, Bailouts and Layoffs at one company:

  • Last week there were protests over the $885 million tax refund received by a Boston based company, State Street Corp.
  • The company reported $1.56 billion in profits last year.
  • It received a bailout of $2 billion in October 2008, though it repaid in in June 2009.
  • On Nov. 30 State Street announced that it is cutting 1,400 jobs, or 5 percent of its workforce.
  • In 2010 Chief Executive Officer Joseph “Jay” Hooley received compensation valued at $12.9 million.

(source: “State Street’s $885 Million Tax Refund Sparks Boston Protest,” Christopher Condon. Bloomberg, April 15, 2011)
State budget deficits:
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SAR Academic Freedom Media Review, April 9-15

The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.
Scholars at Risk calls for letters on behalf of Professor Nasser bin Ghaith of the UAE
Scholars at Risk, 4/15
12 Organizations Ask U. of Virginia to Safeguard Climate Researcher’s Academic Freedom
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4/14
Hastings’ board pulls UC brand from rights meeting
Bob Egelko, The San Francisco Chronicle, 4/13
Top PEN Prize to Honor Nasrin Sotoudeh, Jailed Iranian Lawyer, Writer, Activist
PEN, 4/13
Iran: independent civil society organisations ignored over draft law on associations
Education International, 4/12
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Whose Reading Your Email?

Imagine you wrote something expressing your opinion on a political issue, it was published in the newspaper, and following  that publication, you were forced to send all your email on that issue and anything related to it to a group of political activists that were opposed to your opinions.  Would you feel intimidated?  Would you be reluctant to do so?  Well, under the Freedom of Information Act and if you were an employee at a public university, you might have to, as the case of a University of Wisconsin professor demonstrates.  The Daily Cardinal at the university reports, in part:

With Wisconsin legislators between sessions and the budget repair bill temporarily tied up in the courts, state Republicans and Democrats have—relatively speaking—taken a welcome break from the political pettiness that’s become so standard this term.
That is, until March 17, when the Republican Party of Wisconsin—spear-headed in this particular case by Stephan Thompson—decided to take a run at UW-Madison’s revered history professor William Cronon.
Cronon posted a blog entry March 15 examining the influence the American Legislative Exchange Council may have on conservative policy making in the state. Two days later, the RPW submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for all of Cronon’s e-mails since Jan. 1, 2011, containing words including “Republican,” “union” and “recall,” acronyms like “WEAC” and “AFSCME” and names including Gov. Scott Walker, both Fitzgerald brothers and all eight Republican legislators subject to recall efforts.
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Academic Freedom Media Review, March 26-April 1

Compiled by Scholars at Risk
The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.
Malawi police arrest 5 university students for rioting
Afrique en Ligne, 3/31
Unusual Ruling for Academic Freedom
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 3/31
Yale and National U. of Singapore Set Plans for New Liberal-Arts College
Karin Fischer, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 3/31
‘Academic Freedom’ Offers Little Protection Against New Efforts to Obtain Professors’ E-Mails
Peter Schmidt and Colin Woodard, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 3/29
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