Sunday, April 30, 2006

It Pays To Teach

Ever wonder exactly how much your professors make? Well, University of Maryland students know thanks to The Diamondback's annual salary guide. If anything can be learned from all this information it's that not only can professors work about 5 hours a week, they can get paid very well to do it. For those who crave more salaries, here is Rutgers' list of its highest paid professors.

Speaking of wealthy professors, "Freakonomics" author and University of Chicago professor Steven Levitt is being sued by a former visiting professor. The professor claims that the book misrepresents his work on guns and crime, and damages his reputation.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Politics, Politics, Politics

The end of the school year means it's time for the always tumultuous student union elections. In order to prepare students for real world politics, nearly every university has elections marred by violations and accusations of cheating .

At the University of Chicago the election violations revolved around threats and intimidation. One candidate claims the other tried to intimidate him into not running and by threatening a "bloody battle." Frankly I don't think the Chicago students want a president who cowers in fear at hearing the words "bloody battle" from a campus politician.

There were more election difficulties at UCSD where both candidates filed grievances against one another. The bond of friendship couldn't even save this election as the two candidates were friends who had made a pact to try and work out difficulties without filing formal charges.

Perhaps the biggest electoral fireworks came at the presidential inaugurations at Loyola Marymount University. The incumbent president, who had been defeated in this months election, called the president-elect a "cheater" and then walked out of the ceremony. He believes the school constitution was disregarded when Judicial Affairs refused to disqualify his opponent. It seems as though gracious losing is the only thing being disregarded.