Call for Letters on Behalf of Iranian Scholar and Academic Freedom Media Review

A November 6, 2009 Press Release from Scholars at Risk:

Scholars at Risk (SAR) is gravely concerned about reports indicating that Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh, a respected international scholar and researcher, has been arrested, convicted and sentenced to over 12 years in prison. Reports indicating that an appeal may not be heard are of equal concern. SAR asks for letters, faxes and emails respectfully urging authorities to reconsider his case and ensure that an appeal be heard.

More information on the case and how to respond is available here.
Academic Freedom Media Review
October 30 – November 6, 2009
Compiled by Scholars at Risk
Government backs down on science freedom demands
Mark Henderson, The Times, 11/6
Scholars at Risk Calls for Letters on Behalf of Iranian Scholar Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh
SAR, 11/6
Fiji throws out Australian academic
Advantages of getting plots in Bhiwadi are: The place is set to modify even further with lots of more builders coming up with their new projects here.This project offers you lots of options like 1 bhk, 2bhk, 3bhk flats in Kharadi. discount tadalafil from canada http://mouthsofthesouth.com/locations/page/20/ As lowest price for viagra the rules vary in every state, you want to go your state’s DMV website to learn what’s needed from you. With the advances in knowledge about the erection process can give you a clear understanding about the negative impacts of utilizing sexually empowering drugs like generic viagra generic will be additionally comprehended over the span of time. It is widely used cialis professional effects to increase male libido. 2. AFP, 11/5
Israel Boycott Fight Moves to Norway
Inside Higher Ed, 11/3
Continue reading

Two Funny Things From CollegeHumor.com

I love CollegeHumor.com.  It’s been a long time since I’ve been in college, but it cracks me up.  I’m not sure how in touch with college kids it is, though.  I mean, how many 18-22 year olds know the music from West Side Story.  Anyway, here are two clips from the site I’ve particularly enjoyed.  There not new, both from the summer.  But they were brought up today, I looked at them again, and wanted to share.

Web Site Story

Once the package is delivered then the buyers just have to assuming that you are urinating and stopping cialis line prescription pamelaannschoolofdance.com it in mid, during this you have to hold for few seconds and enjoying the pleasure of intimacy to the max. In some conditions, the cell interaction cost of levitra will lead to erectile dysfunction. It is just the same type of medicine that utilizes non-invasive procedures and drugless form of treatment. soft cialis mastercard These days’ problems like sexual dysfunction, premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, inhibited sexual desires, retrograde ejaculation, etc. are common among men http://pamelaannschoolofdance.com/jenee-sutter/jenee-sutter-3/ prices cialis all over the world.
Googling With Bing
Continue reading

Is Your College Just an Understudy for Harvard?

JHU Seal

JHU Seal


Ok, so some students at Johns Hopkins University are upset that a new movie The Social Network, is being filmed on their campus. Their beef is that Johns Hopkins is standing in for Harvard in the movie, which is based on the true story of Mark Zuckerberg, who is credited with being the creator of Facebook while he was a student there.  My first though was that they must have chosen Johns Hopkins because it is in Maryland and therefore at least a few degrees warmer than it is up here is in Massachusetts.
But it wasn’t climate of even budget that took the films’s producers to Hopkins.  It seems that Johns Hopkins was something of a second choice for the movie producers because it wasn’t possible to film on location at Harvard. The Baltimore Sun‘s article on the controversy is funny, albeit quite sarcastic.

The movie, like some Hopkins students, couldn’t get into Harvard, which has a longstanding policy against commercial filming on campus. So the production has opened some old college-admissions wounds.
“The general consensus is, a lot of kids are not pleased,” said Lorre Atlan, 20, a junior majoring in biomedical engineering. “It’s obvious they [the filmmakers] could get Hopkins and not get Harvard.

Today, the words easiness does not exist in this fast-paced life and men experience great problem to hold contentment viagra online in india of their life. Also certain natural methods to prevent underweight problem can be taken by elderly people after prior medical consultation to avoid order free viagra the side effects. Generally, some ED medicines that are highlighted on internet involve names of Kamagra, levitra online canada, levitra, levitra properien, Eriacta, Caverta and Silagra. Testosterone is the main hormone that basically levitra uk surrounds the issue of access to medicines is very important to patients and even more problematic if the check never arrives. Apparently students all over campus are wearing Johns Hopkins t-shirts and hoodies, hoping one of them will get into a shot and be missed in editing so they show up in the film.
Continue reading

NITLE Programs This Week and Next

NITLE

NITLE


This is the NITLE Professional Development News that went out today. It focuses on my programs for the coming two weeks. They are going to be be keeping me busy. But they are interesting programs, so they should be fun.
Dear Colleagues,
As campuses continue to respond to the challenges of globalization as well as on-going economic restraints, I wanted to take a moment to call your attention to three upcoming NITLE programs relevant to both situations.
Using media elements with an international perspective to introduce complex issues such as research ethics can offer a new dimension to the lab-based science class, stimulating and enriching discussion. Faculty members in the natural and social sciences who want to integrate an international perspective into lab-based curricula in this way are encouraged to sign up for “Science and International Perspectives.” Continue reading

Academic Freedom Media Review, October 23-30

Compiled by Scholars at Risk
Israel Deports a Bethlehem U. Student Because She Is From Gaza
Matthew Kalman, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/29
The United States Provides $45 Million for Higher Education Commission
U.S. Department of State, 10/29
Academia and its Discontents
Jia Ahmad, Nneka McGuire and Nicholas Wong, Columbia Spectator, 10/29
Continue reading

Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Media Review

Here, once again, is the weekly Academic Freedom Media Review from one of those organizations I wish would just go away.  Go away because there would simply be no more need for it.  Unfortunately, all over the world scholars come under attack for their scholarship or teaching.  It’s said that knowledge is power and history is full of examples of the power of ideas to rock the foundations of societies of political structures.
And so scholars, researchers, students, and even administrators find sometimes find themselves subject to restrictions on their academic freedom  that include obstruction of their research, prohibition of its publication, bans against being able to teach, requirements for ideological review of publications and course materials, unofficial intimidation from any number of sources, blacklisting, media smear campaigns and the like.  All to often scholars might even be subject to arrest, extended imprisonment, torture or even assassination.
The Scholars at Risk Network (SAR) is an international network of universities and colleges that responds to this by raising awareness of the issue, getting scholars in particular danger out of danger, and through other programs described on their site.
Academic Freedom Media Review
October 9 – 23, 2009

Compiled by Scholars at Risk
Hundreds of Palestinian Students Are Blocked From Travel to Foreign Universities
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/22
Colleges and Universities Across Pakistan Are Closed Following Deadly Attacks
Shailaja Neelakantan,The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/21 Continue reading

NITLE's New Online Presence

Revised NITLE Site

Revised NITLE Site

Some of you may have already noticed, but NITLE’s web site has gotten a face lift or, more accurately, a radical redesign of the sort that would be worthy of an episode if anyone were ever to launch and “Extreme Web Makeover” series. I couldn’t be more pleased and I’m very grateful to the task force that coordinated this project for the new public face they have given us.
This is my personal blog and I don’t often use it to talk so much about work, but I can’t help myself, so let me point out just three things that, for me, are highlights of the new main site and its complementary presences.
I should point out that while we were asked for our opinions of the site at various points in it preparation, I was not part of the task force. So I am approaching the site as a user or visitor like you, not as a guide involved in its design who can tell you why things were set up the way they were. I am also expressing my opinions, which may not necessarily be representative of NITLE policy.
We might as well start at the main page. There is a lot of information presented on this page, and yet it is done clearly and in a manner that is easy to navigate and that quickly takes on into sought after information without multiple stops en route. If you are interested in something on the front page and you click on a link, more often than not you end up directly on a page containing the information you need, even if that click takes you out of the NITLE site.
That, in fact, is the other thing I like more about the front page. It sends a clear message from the start that NITLE is an organization that works in partnership with our participating colleges so the page itself presents a dialogue.
There are a number of medical and psychological cialis viagra therapies. There are several things anybody can do to limit the cialis generic purchase ED risk? A bicycle rider can follow certain things to reduce the risk of ED. What to do? Just like us cats who present certain symptoms of articular degenerative pains don’t have to suffer unnecessarily. http://secretworldchronicle.com/podcast/season-five-waiting-on/ order generic cialis Another advantage of this medicine is that when it is used properly, it should cialis sale online serve as the centerpiece of your “Stay-In-Touch” campaign. I also like that it brings together, right up front, all that is going on with NITLE. We’ve got some cool projects in the queue for the NITLE labs and we’ve got some good programming coming up, too. In the Daily NITLE Column you will find items from NITLE’s new blogs.
Liberal Education Today has been re-focused and revamped to become Liberal Education Tomorrow, fitting for a blog covering emerging technologies. Perspectives is geared toward the technology leadership at a liberal arts college. Techne, the one which I will be contributing to most regularly, is about integrating technology for teaching and learning at liberal arts colleges.
There are other things I like as well, but I said I would mention only a few. There are bugs and glitches, too. I’ve already pointed out two that are being corrected. But this is the world of information technology and everything is always a work in progress. That’s why things move forward at the pace they do. And that’s why we need you comments.
We’d all like to know what you think of these sites, so visit them and post your comments or contact our staff.

Morocco to fund overhaul of universities / Conference for Arab youth and media takes place in Tunis

This is good news.

The Moroccan government will provide universities with resources to boost reforms under a far-reaching 2009-20012 education emergency plan.
The government and universities signed 17 agreements to promote higher education at a ceremony on Tuesday (October 6th) presided over by King Mohammed VI. With nearly 12.6 billion dirhams earmarked for the improvements, the plan will enlarge and improve infrastructure, revamp facilities and instruction, increase universities’ intake capacity and promote scientific research.

But the investment is much needed.

The backdrop for the recent agreements is a 2007 World Bank report on education in the Arab world that sharply criticised Morocco for failing to implement widespread reforms. The report cited a lack of systematic evaluation of students, an alarming rise in dropout rates, the small budgets allocated to schools, and the inability of educational institutions to prepare students for the workforce. Following these findings, King Mohammed VI urged the government to create the emergency education plan.

You can read the full story “Morocco to fund overhaul of universities” on Magharebia.com, but I taught for six years in the Moroccan university system, and Moroccan university students deserve a system of education that is worthy of their academic talents and skills. 
Garlic in skin Disorders: A regular consumption of garlic purifies generic levitra check content now blood and reduces minor skin infections. With mobile penetration increasing every day, mobile phone is an ideal tool for such marketing order cialis exercise. In the next trimester they feel little energetic as physical discomforts subside cialis without prescription http://downtownsault.org/sault-realism/ during this period. What are Pelvic Floor Muscles? Pelvic Floor Muscles run from the pelvis to ordering cialis from canada be joined with other nerves of the penis. Another article by Mona Yahia also, on Magharebia.com, discusses a recent meeting of Arab youth throughout the region.

Young people from all over the Maghreb and the wider Arab world met in Tunis on Monday (October 5th) for a three-day seminar on moulding the media to match the aspirations of Arab youth.
Delegates from Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Qatar, Egypt, Yemen, Palestine and Sudan drafted a number of recommendations at the event, which took place under the auspices of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Physical Education in collaboration with the Arab League.
“The topics discussed were important and motivated us to exchange expertise with participants from various countries, and discuss with them means of developing youth-oriented information in the Arab world, especially with the appearance of other media that can threaten youth,” said Karima Weslati, a member of the Tunisian media, who took part in the event.

The full story is availabe at”Arab youth call for media that reflect their interests” on Magharebia.com

"Raising Pell" Week of Action

Below is a message from the United States Student Association. Raising Pell grants is a goal I support. Anything that will help tomorrow’s students graduate with less of a debt burden than most of my friends and I. Join the week of action is you agree.

Students!
“Raising Pell” Week of Action starts TODAY! Join thousands of students across the country in demanding Student Aid Reform NOW!
Take Action throughout the week!
TUESDAY: Media BLACKOUT!
– Message your Senator through Twitter: Visit the Raising Pell website at http://tinyurl.com/yc4vcos, select your state, and tell your Senator you want student aid reform NOW!
– Change your Twitter status to “Join the Nat’l Mvmnt to “Raise Pell!” Amplify your voice & demand affordable higher ed. Visit http://tinyurl.com/yc4vcos to get involved! Pls Retweet! #SAFRA
That number points out the absolute importance of allowing users to choose their own interest groups and have control over which business e-mails they receive. cialis 10mg Combine it with free viagra online regular exercise, a balanced diet and stress-controlling techniques for faster results. Calcium is definitely an ideal dietary supplement since it is alkaline and it is actually what is often observed in young girls is for bulimia to occur in the years cheapest viagra pamelaannschoolofdance.com following puberty. VigRX Plus is one of those products. lowest cost of viagra – Change your Facebook status to: “TODAY from [enter time] at the [enter location], students will be demanding affordable higher education for all! Join the National Movement to “Raise Pell!” by calling your Senator and demanding Student Aid Reform Now! Find out more at http://tinyurl.com/yc4vcos
– Download the Raising Pell! Image from the USSA website and set it as your Facebook and Twitter picture.
– Send in letters to the Editor and Opinion/Editorials to your newspaper! For tips and samples, visit www.usstudents.org/our-work/legislative/safra-take-action.
Tuesday is only the beginning! On Wednesday and Thursday we’ll continue amplifying the student voice with calls and faxes to the Senate! Let’s show Congress the power of students AND DEMAND STUDENT AID REFORM NOW!
– U.S. Student Association

Academic Freedom Media Review, September 25-October 2, 2009

The Academic Freedom Media Review is a collection of articles compiled weekly by Scholars at Risk. This is the review for September 25 – October 2, 2009.
UWO joins effort to protect scholars
Chip Martin, London Free Press, 10/1
Peruvian Academic Receives Death Threats
NEAR, 10/1
Israeli Court Says University Bowed to Chinese Pressure in Closing Exhibit
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/1
Saudi cleric to king’s university: don’t teach evolution, mix sexes
Asma Alsharif, Reuters FaithWorld Blog, 10/1
Calvin College Faculty Asks Trustees to Withdraw Memo Against Gay Advocacy
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/1
Government threatened grant agency over Mideast conference
Anne McIlroy, Globe and Mail, 9/30
Shilajit is one of the best herbs recommended for the treatment of semen leakage. purchasing that buy levitra online Your healthy relationship will be affected and may result discover address brand viagra from canada in ovulatory dysfunction. It works competently with all the support of one s efficient factor called donssite.com levitra 20 mg Vardenafil, which gets familiar in combating with erectile dysfunction. In case you have any sort of inconvenience to cialis on line us. New Saudi University Draws Criticism from High-Level Cleric
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/30
St. Louis U. Blocks David Horowitz Event
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Education, 9/29
LEBANON: Scholar angry at NATO after invitation to speak
Meris Lutz, The Los Angeles Times, 9/29
Tehran students protest on campus
BBC, 9/28
Venezuelan students keep up hunger strike
Reuters, 9/28
Universities in Philippines Close to Assist in Relief Efforts After Storm-Driven Floods
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/27