Last modified: Tuesday, April 12, 2011
IU News Round-up
April 12, 2011
IU Vies To Host Presidential Debate
Theindychannel.com, April 12 -- IU is one of 12 colleges and universities that applied to host one of the debates. The school also applied to host a debate in the 2008 campaign. IU's proposal calls for hosting the debate at 3,200-seat IU Auditorium.
The hosting sites will be announced this fall. Full story.
IU Trustees to Hear Housing Proposals
InsideINdianaBusiness.com Report, April 11 -- The Indiana University Board of Trustees is scheduled to take action at its meeting later this week on proposals that would expand housing on the Bloomington campus. The board is scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday at Alumni Hall in Bloomington. Full story.
Attempted rape arrests precede week of partying in Bloomington
Fox59.com, April 11 -- Bloomington police have arrested two men for attempted rape after two separate incidents. The arrests came during weekend parties in the days leading up to the Little 500 at Indiana University. The annual event is known for lots of cycling competition and lots of partying around town. Full story.
Ind. jury seated to hear ex-Marine's murder trial
Stamfordadvocate.com, WISHTV, The Bloomington Herald-Times, April 12 -- A southern Indiana jury has been seated to hear the murder trial of a former Marine charged in the stabbing death of an Indiana University professor. The Herald-Times reports that seven women and five men were chosen Monday to hear evidence in 26-year-old Michael Griffin's trial in the December 2009 killing of IU assistant professor Don Belton. Full story. Video. Full story 2.
Nonprofits getting information technology help from IU clinic
The Bloomington Herald-Times, April 11 -- Like most small nonprofits, Sycamore Land Trust cannot afford to hire an information technology specialist. So when it learned that a group of Indiana University students would -- at no cost -- help the agency redesign its Web site and revamp its donor data base, it leaped at the opportunity. Full story.
B1G 2011 // IU Point/Counterpoint
Offtackleempire.com, April 12 -- In Point/Counterpoint we'll be identifying each team's x-factor, and then offer arguments both in support of and contrary to the assertion said x-factor will spur the team towards glory. Today we sit back and debate the effect Indiana's new coaching staff will have on their 2011 season. Full story.
The Role Of Self-Paced Learning In Online Distance Education
BrainTrack.com, January -- Kelley Direct's online MBA includes an on-campus program for new students. Full story.
IU voices in the news
U.S. Business Schools Get More Competition From Abroad
The Wall Street Journal, April 12 -- Business-school deans attribute the relatively sluggish growth to a growing number of high-quality competitors overseas. "Schools throughout Europe, Asia and Australia have made huge investments in graduation education in general -- more specifically, business school," said James Wimbush, dean of Indiana University's graduate school of business.
Full story.
Analysis: Teamwork used to re-create sense of interaction
Financial Times, March 14 -- In the same way that traditional MBA courses fight to differentiate themselves from each other and entice students, so do distance learning MBA courses. This comes as no great surprise in an ever-expanding market like this one. Most schools seem keen to replicate the classroom experience as closely as possible, through online teamwork in particular. Jen Oberholtzer, an MBA student at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, says she would have felt disappointed if this teamwork had not been required. "Interactions with my classmates have been the highlight. Full story.
Three Ways To Avoid The Next Madoff
Forbes, March 23 -- Investigation into Bernie Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme has revealed a complex, well-thought out plan to collect billions from investors by fabricating unusually consistent returns. This was while flying under the radar of the Securities and Exchange Commission. But, despite carrying out his Ponzi scheme for decades, Madoff's plan had a few Achilles heels. In a video interview, Indiana University professor Charles Trzcinka discussed the top three places investors could have looked to avoid fraudulent money managers. From a virtually unknown auditor watching his books, an unusually stable rate of returns and contacts high up at the SEC, Madoff's actions might have made investors think twice, had they been looking in the right place. Full story.
Indiana companies charge into China
Indianapolis Business Journal, March 25 -- Especially controversial are the country's "indigenous innovation" policies, which are aimed at helping Chinese companies address an inherent weakness: their failure to come up with ground-breaking technology. Unlike the United States, the country hasn't been able to come up with the "monster, earth-shattering innovations that can take one in a very different direction," said Scott Kennedy, director of the Research Center for Chinese Politics and Business at Indiana University. That's partly because it's in the catch-up phase of economic development, "where what is most valuable isn't inventing some new product, but in more efficiently manufacturing things that already exist," he said. Full story.
Can China maintain pace of economic growth?
Indianapolis Business Journal, March 25 -- People talk about China's continued economic growth almost as if it is a foregone conclusion. But Bruce Jaffee, emeritus professor of business economics and public policy at
Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, isn't so sure. He said much of the recent economic growth has been driven by an infrastructure spending spree and strong exports. "That just can't be sustained at this level, and with all the leverage, the focus on construction, and elements of speculation in housing, the bubble is likely to burst," he said. Full story.
Visits at key times give IU prof unique view of China
Indianapolis Business Journal, March 21 -- Indiana University professor Bruce Jaffee has been to China three times over the past three decades -- with each visit coming at a pivotal juncture in the country's history. The contrast between his first visit -- in 1981 -- and his latest this month could hardly be greater. Full story.
Why the Communist Party is obsessed with GDP
Indianapolis Business Journal, March 17 -- All the talk during our visit in China about gross domestic product makes it easy to forget this is still a Communist country. Earlier this week, our group met for nearly an hour with Jin Deshui, Chinese Communist Party secretary for Zhejiang University and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Zhejiant Provincial People's Congress. While it was a highly ceremonial affair with no revelations, it was still an unforgettable experience. "Legitimacy comes about through economic performance, defending the country's national honor, a sense of fairness and things like that," said Scott Kennedy, the director of Indiana University's Research Center for Chinese Business & Politics and the leader of our group.
Full story.
External CEOs cost more, deliver less
Management Issues, April 11 -- Companies that embark on expensive and lengthy searches for a new CEO could well be wasting both their time and money. Because according to a 20-year study of American S&P 500 non-financial companies, companies that only appoint internal candidates as CEO significantly outperform those that appoint outsiders to the top job. The study, by The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and management consultants A.T. Kearney, identified 36 companies that exclusively promoted CEOs from within their own ranks between 1988 and 2007. Full story.
Firms profit when chiefs rise
The Australian, April 5 -- Companies can spend fortunes recruiting CEOs from outside, presenting them to the world like premiership football clubs. But research suggests they could be wasting money. A 20-year study in the US has found that corporations that promote CEOs from within their own ranks routinely outperform those that recruit from outside. Moreover, the consultancy AT Kearney and the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University have discovered that outsiders have a significantly higher failure rate and a shorter tenure than insiders. Full story.
Farrakhan Using Libyan Crisis to Bolster His Nation of Islam
New York Times, April 10 -- When Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Chicago-based Nation of Islam, staunchly defended Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi recently, he seized headlines for an organization that has made little news in recent years. To a core group of supporters, though, Mr. Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam still resonate. "He does not need to get back into the spotlight," said Edward E. Curtis IV, professor of religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and author of "Black Muslim Religion in the Nation of Islam. "He has never left it in black America." Full story.
Suzanne Collins's War Stories for Kids
New York Times, April 10 -- Back in 2009, the literary agent Rosemary Stimola sat down to read "Mockingjay," the third, highly anticipated book in a wildly popular trilogy of young adult novels by Suzanne Collins. A small woman with fine features and long, flowing hair, Collins is confident and entertaining in person, displaying none of the earnest anxiousness of some of her taped interviews. Her life story may be less dramatic than the rags-to-riches tales of Rowling and Meyer -- neither had published anything before their best-selling successes -- but like them, she spent much of her life in relative obscurity. A military brat whose family moved frequently, she met and later married an actor, Cap Pryor, at Indiana University and arrived in New York at 25 to work on her M.F.A. in dramatic writing at New York University. Full story.
From the Chronicle
Leader Reshapes City Colleges of Chicago, Her Alma Mater
Under a new chancellor, the 100-year-old community-college system is undergoing one of the most aggressive efforts in its history to ensure that its students are transfer- and career-ready. Rotating teams scrutinize every facet of the system, from remediation to technology to student-support services. The effort, called Reinvention, is taking on a daunting problem: Only 7 percent of the system's full-time students graduate on time. Full story.
Graduate-School Applications From Foreign Students Continue to Rise
Foreign-student applications to American graduate schools are up 9 percent over last year, with much of the increase fueled by a double-digit expansion in applications from prospective Chinese students, according to a report released today by the Council of Graduate Schools. Full story.
Setbacks on the Road to Liberalization
The article reported on a recent talk given in Kuwait City by American University economist John Willoughby, who described the quality problems, financial difficulties, and controversies facing both Western branch campuses in the Gulf region and the Western-style universities that have opened in recent years. Co-education remains problematic for conservatives, for instance, while other critics dislike the Westernized curriculum, together with the dominance of English and the leg up they believe it gives to foreign professors. Full story.
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.
