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The relationship between faculty members and the press is complicated. Judging by surface similarities, one might think reporters and academics would get along well. Both groups care about words and ideas, and in both careers, people can make their names by challenging conventional wisdom and framing issues in new ways. Critics of both groups accuse them of liberal bias. But as the author's unsuccessful interview with the Nietzsche scholar suggests, they don't always communicate well with each other. In this article, the author focuses on reporters who work for general-interest media--the local newspapers, television stations, blogs, and so forth that are read by nonacademics--and on the academics who may end up working with these reporters. He suggests that if faculty want to be heard on the major issues facing higher education, they might start by improving their relationship with the press. Some tips on how to do a better job of engaging the press are also offered.

Problems and controversies involving public black colleges are reported in the context of the recent Supreme Court decision suggesting states should merge historically black colleges with geographically close, predominantly white institutions. In some cases white political leaders are blamed for potential closures of vulnerable institutions. Strategies include recruiting white students and setting new institutional goals. (DB)

This article examines the impact on institutions of higher education, particularly in 19 southern and border states, from the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on how the states must show they have removed vestiges of past segregation. Its impact on affirmative action, admissions criteria, and redistricting are examined. (GLR)

The US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has ruled that the University of Texas Law School should not use race as a criterion in admitting students. The ruling was a big surprise to university officials across the country, as it stated that Regents of the University of California v. Bakke could no longer be used to justify race-based admissions. The 5th Circuit ruling was the latest in a string of rulings undermining affirmative action.

Reporting of educational issues needs to be precise in providing the public with extensive information of the goings on in colleges and higher education institutions. Journalists are required to rise above standard reporting procedures and indulge in investigative reporting to update the populace on issues such as civil rights in colleges, their compliance with the federal law on issuing Form 990, crime and graduation rates and standards of community college education.

Seven women's colleges have expressed their support for the Virginia Military Institute's (VMI) struggle to maintain an all-male studentry. The college presidents had filed two briefs which urged the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court's decision which ordered VMI to admit women based on the equal protection clause of the Constitution. The women's colleges contend that the case jeopardizes their legal existence and might be used to phase out women's colleges in the future. Meanwhile, other women's colleges denied that the VMI case had any effect on their administrations.

Appropriations requests made by state coordinating boards or individual systems for 1988-89 and the political outlook for higher-education-related legislation are outlined for each of the 50 states. (MSE)

The college outlook is grim for blacks 25 years after James Meredith became the first black to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Both Hispanics and Asian-Americans are misunderstood by college officials, and too little attention has been focused on community colleges, the institutions that serve the most minority students. (MLW)

The legislative outlook for higher education is summarized state by state. Appropriations requests show the amount sought by state-wide coordinating boards or by individual college and university systems, not by governors. All appropriations requests are for operating expenses of the 1989-1990 fiscal and academic years. (MLW)

Ben Kiernan's 'The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide under the Khmer Rouge, 1975-1979' is controversial on two counts. One, he affirms his change of heart in 1977 when he admitted being wrong about the Pol Pot regime to which he was at first sympathetic. Two, his thesis is that race was the motivating factor for the genocide. The academe is divided in their stance regarding Kiernan and his book. However, one comment was that a totally new generation is needed to deal with the Cambodian question, one without the burden of guilt over what had been previously said and done.

Education experts believe that the Banneker Scholarships given to Black students of the University of Maryland are prejudiced against White students. The critics believe that the awards, introduced in 1979, in order to open education opportunities to the minority communities, are only working towards an exclusion of white students from higher education. Many of the Banneker scholarship recipients had the means to pay for college.

A federal judge ruled that the state of Mississippi need not close down the Mississippi Valley State University to encourage desegregation and also dismissed the need for the merger of the Mississippi University for women, which is predominantly white, into the Mississippi State University. The judge directed the state to start courses on law, engineering and pharmacy in the Jackson State University, a black university. However, black leaders are worried that the judge's ruling that merit should be the criteria for admissions in four-year colleges might result in discrimination against blacks.

Several briefs have been filed in the University of Virginia case involving the campus pro-Christian newspaper Wide Awake, which was denied a university grant of $5, 862 on the grounds that the First Amendment, though allowing religious entities freedom of speech, bars state support for such causes. The defendants of the Church say that the University of Virginia funds other minority groups, including Black Voices, a gospel choir group. The state represented by various groups state that religion should not be equated with governance though the court decision could alter the future course of such religious issues.

A lawsuit filed by four rejected white applicants against the University of Texas's law school in Austin, TX, resulted in a Federal District Court ruling that though colleges have a right to include factors related to ethnicity in admission decisions, strict limits on the use of affirmative action are essential. The court condemned the use of separate admission committees and cutoff scores for minority and white applicants. The judge ordered that the plaintiffs be allowed to reapply without payment of an application fee.

'D-Day June 6, 1994: The Climactic Battle of World War II,' a book by Stephen E. Ambrose, professor of history at the University of New Orleans, praises the heroism of American soldiers which led to their victories in Normandy, France. Interviews with 1,400 people who participated in the war, gives new insights. More than the commanders, it was the presence of mind of the soldiers which made them victorious.

Occidental College has been accused of violating Californian and federal laws following fraternity incidents which were alleged to be offensive to women. Some fear the involvement of state legislatures in private college business could set a precedent. Occidental College has a sexual-harassment policy that would not be acceptable in a public university. The college agreed to drop charges against the fraternity members and revise its policy in settlement of litigation, but many women college members felt they had been betrayed and have filed their own complaint against Occidental for not complying with its own policy.

The US Senate moved to support a measure which would shift half of new student loans from banks to colleges (direct lending), while the House of Representatives has voted to shift the whole student loan program to direct lending. Critics are concerned that direct lending, while easier to administer in theory, is untested. Some say that a compromise plan would cause more confusion. Other parts of the budget bill which could affect educational funding include restoration of tax breaks for donors, restoration of the exemption for employer-provided educational assistance, changes in teaching hospital funding, and a decrease in non-profit postal subsidies.

Connecticut's Minority Advancement Plan has been declared in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits institutions receiving federal monies from discriminating against racial and ethnics groups. The Connecticut Board of Governors for Higher Education excluded Asian Americans and Indians from the student recruitment and retention plan, begun in 1986, claiming that they were not represented in the state in sufficient numbers.

President Clinton's plan to make it possible for college students to pay back loans through engaging in national service has many supporters, but the details of his proposal have been questioned by student leaders and financial aid administrators. The primary criticisms are that the volunteers will lack adequate training to be effective in their work and that two years of community service warrants far more compensation than the plan calls for.

The US Dept of Education found that 46 colleges and universities were guilty of civil rights violations when it discriminated against disabled students and employees. Other cases of violations include racediscrimination and gender bias. The list of colleges and universities which practiced such violations is presented. On the other hand, college authorities assert that the main cause of the denial of students is not discrimination per se but the inaccessibility of their facilities for disabled individuals.

President-elect Bill Clinton's campaign platforms on higher education and institutions were well-received by the majority of school officials and students. For one, Clinton promised to ease difficult education policies affecting minority students. Also, he promised less political interference in biomedical research as well as increased government funding for AIDS research. His pledge to create a new student-loan program for needy college students drew the most support.

The government's 1992 budgetary allocation for colleges and universities has declined by 1% according to an Illinois State University study. In many states, however, financial grants to students have increased. The administration likewise extends greater support to community colleges as enrollment in these institutions grows. Some black colleges received a bigger share of the 1992 budget while others got less than what is usually allocated to them. Proponents of the study believe that a state's educational expenditures are not correlated to its commitment to higher education.

The nation's black colleges are facing an uncertain future with the Supreme Court's vague ruling on desegregation. Many of America's public black colleges are having difficulties and only a few are thriving. Some black college administrators say that these controversies are political in nature, designed by state leaders to force historically black colleges to close. Others say that since the Supreme court did not give a clear mandate on the future of black colleges, the issue of their survival remains political.