Daily IU News Round-up
November 18, 2009
IU study: Students' goals, priorities don't match
Chicago Tribune, Nov. 18 -- A new report by Indiana University researchers found that most high school students expect to go to college, but the work students do in high school doesn't always match up to their perceptions or goals. The report on the High School Survey of Student Engagement found that more than 70 percent of students thought doing homework and studying for class was important. But more than 80 percent of those surveyed said they spent less than an hour a day on those tasks. Full story.
Study: Referees favor aggressors
ESPN True Hoops, Nov. 17 -- A high school coach once told me that it pays to knock the other team around early, because referees get used to your style of play and have a tendency to let it happen. Professor Kyle Anderson says, in a press release about his research at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, that patterns of foul calls show referees tend to favor aggressive teams. Full story.
Study: RTLS systems can save hospitals $750K a year
Healthcarefinancenews.com, Nov. 17 -- The study, conducted by Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), analyzed the use of RadarFind's RTLS system at the Lumberton, N.C. hospital. According to the results, soon to be published in the Journal of Clinical Engineering, the technology, used to track mobile medical equipment, saved the hospital nearly $750,000 in indirect costs, as well as reducing the time spent by staff in searching for medical equipment by 96 percent. Other benefits were noticed, researchers said, in improved clinical outcomes -- driven by increased operational efficiency -- and improved staff morale. Full story.
A Teaching Experiment Shows Students How to Grasp Big Concepts
Instructors at Indiana U. break student-stumping concepts into small, evidence-focused steps
The Chronicle, Nov. 15 -- Why were Nazi critiques of Weimar-era art persuasive to many Germans? What historical experiences predisposed some Germans to share the Nazi perspective on modernist culture? All too often, undergraduate history students make a hash of essay questions like those. They fill their blue books with disconnected strings of names and dates. Or they sketch a plausible argument but leave out supporting evidence. Several years ago, a small group of faculty members at Indiana University at Bloomington decided to do something about the problem. The key, they concluded, was to construct every history course around two core skills of their discipline: assembling evidence and interpreting it. Full story.
Men & Women Equally Likely To Include Charity In Estate Plans
The Non Profit Times, Nov. 16 -- Gender does not generally predict whether someone who donates to charity is likely to leave a charitable bequest in a will, according to a new study by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. In addition to little difference by gender, there also was no difference in the rates of legacy gift planning between single men and single women, after controlling for other factors such as age, educational level, income and marital status. Full story.
IU voices in the news
Obama's China(credit)card casts shadow on PM's US visit
The Times of India, Nov. 18 -- Sumit Ganguly, a South Asia scholoar at Indiana University is quoted in this article. Full story.
Female Sexual Dysfunction: Myth or Malady?
Time.com, Nov. 18 -- There was a time when Wendy and her husband had sex three times a week. But for the past six years, the purple negligee that Wendy used to entice her husband has been stuffed in the back of a drawer. Wendy says she would take a pill to help her. But critics of such treatments worry that while a pill could potentially improve sex for some women, others may be more harmed than helped. Debby Herbenick, a sex educator and researcher at Indiana University's Kinsey Institute, does not deny that there is a biological cause of low libido. But she raises another kind of concern about drugs like flibanserin: What if they work? "[The problem] is far more complex than not desiring sex. What we really have is a group of women who wonder why they don't desire their long-term partner the way they used to," Herbenick points out. "What happens if you suddenly do have desire, but it's not for the person you hoped?" Full story.
Parents get the scoop
Centredaily.com, Nov. 18 -- Bob Gonyea, associate director of the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University, which conducts the annual survey, said the nature of parental involvement has changed because of technology. "Twenty years ago, cell phones were not ubiquitous like they are on college campuses," he said. Instead, many dorms had one phone on the hallway wall of each floor. The ability for students and parents to connect now "is so easy and cheap and fast, we can only assume there's more communication going on," Gonyea said. Full story.
Good Question: Are Referees Playing Fair?
WCCO-TV (Minneapolis), Nov. 17 -- Being a referee or an umpire is not an easy job: yelled at by coaches, second-guessed by fans, and studied by researchers. Fans often suspect that calls are influenced by factors other than what happens on the court. Are officials truly playing it fairly? "Referees want to be perceived as fair," said Kyle Anderson, a former college basketball player who is a visiting professor at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.
Full story.
Trends
Skip mammograms at 40, start at 50, task force says
New government advice is at odds with American Cancer Society guidelines
The Bloomington Herald-Times, (AP) Nov. 17 -- Most women don't need a mammogram in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at 50, a government task force said Monday. It's a major reversal that conflicts with the American Cancer Society's long-standing position. Also, the task force said breast self-exams do no good and women shouldn't be taught to do them. For most of the past two decades, the cancer society has been recommending annual mammograms beginning at 40. Full story.
Court to Consider Michigan's Affirmative Action Ban
AP via The Detroit News, Nov 18 -- A federal appeals court is about to consider a lawsuit challenging Michigan's ban against racial preferences in public university admissions and government hiring. Civil rights groups and University of Michigan students, faculty and applicants say the 2006 ballot measure approved by voters is unconstitutional. Full story.
Students Drink More and More Often If Living in Coed Dorms
USA TODAY, Nov 18 -- In the past 30 years, coed college dormitories have gone from rare to routine, with nearly all students who live on campus now sharing housing with members of the opposite sex. But a study out today suggests that the shift may have had unintended results. It finds that students in coed dorms are far more likely than those in single-sex dorms to drink alcohol regularly -- and nearly 2 times as likely to drink to excess on a weekly basis. Full story.
Educators Seek Ways to Keep Students in College
The Oregonian, Nov 18 -- Hundreds of high school and university educators will gather at Portland State University on Thursday to discuss ways to better prepare students for college and to keep them there once they arrive. The symposium offers one of those rare occasions when educators from public schools, community colleges and public and private universities all get together in the same room to talk about a common problem, said Bob Kieran, assistant vice chancellor for research and planning for the Oregon University System. Interest is high. The symposium has made room for 370 people and has another 100 on a waiting list. Full story.
USC Enrolls Highest Number of Foreign Students of Any U.S. University
The Los Angeles Times, Nov 18 -- For the eighth consecutive year, USC enrolled the highest number of foreign students of any U.S. university last year, a new report shows. USC, which recruits strongly in Asia, had 7,482 international students in the 2008-09 school year, according to the study by the Institute of International Education with support from the State Department. In all, USC enrolls about 34,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Full story.
From the Chronicle
Embedding Journalists in Academe
Can universities rescue ailing newspapers? More precisely, can universities sustain and support the construction and distribution of serious news and analysis of current affairs? The question comes naturally at a time when universities are viewed as economic engines. With newspapers in severe distress for reasons both economic and technological, publishers and editors increasingly view universities as potential saviors. Full story.
We Need 'Philosophy of Journalism'
If you examine philosophy-department offerings around America, you'll find staple courses in "Philosophy of Law," "Philosophy of Art," "Philosophy of Science," "Philosophy of Religion," and a fair number of other areas that make up our world. It makes sense. Philosophy, as the intellectual enterprise that in its noblest form inspects all areas of life and questions each practice's fundamental concepts and presumptions, should regularly look at all human activities broad and persistent enough not to be aberrations or idiosyncrasies. Full story.
Duncan Promises Colleges Attention to Cutting Costly Red Tape
Education Secretary Arne Duncan promised on Tuesday to work on reducing regulatory reporting burdens on colleges, saying he would gladly cut federal red tape if institutions, in return, showed greater progress on improving student performance. "I'm more than willing to exchange that," Mr. Duncan told college leaders at the annual meeting of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities here. Full story.
Accountability Issues Persist Under New Administration
More than three years after the Bush administration sought and largely failed to force greater federal oversight of higher education, concerns about accountability, or the lack of it, can still generate heated discussions inside the Beltway. Full story.
Daily IU News Round-up is distributed to faculty and staff at IU, and it contains a short review of media coverage relating to IU administrative and student news, federal and state legislative policy, and trends and issues in higher education. Prepared by the IU Office of University Communications, the Daily IU News Round-up is not an all-inclusive gathering of news featuring IU faculty and staff. To subscribe to the Daily IU News Round-up list or to have your name removed, please contact Susan Williams, Office of University Communications, sulwilli@indiana.edu.
