NEWS ; SHORT SUBJECTS
‘Speed-Faithing’ at Dominican ... Professorial Trivia ... MacArthur Competitors ... Lampooning Again
SPEEDY SPIRITUALITY:
Forget speed-dating, that 20th-
century hook-up relic. Dominican
University, outside Chicago, is
pioneering the practice of “speed
faithing,” a meet-up opportunity
about their religious beliefs. This
Valentine’s Day, the university is
reprising the event for students
only. “Being a Catholic institu-
tion, we’re already gearing up for
future weddings, babies—lots of
babies—and christenings,” says
Jessica Mackinnon, a spokes-
woman for the university.
ment on a house. And the voice
of the rat? That would be Patton
Oswalt.
Arthur’s ideals of duty, honor,
and country. Unlike the “genius
grant” MacArthurs, these carry
no cash.
A PROFESSOR’S PLUNGE:
Eric Pierson (below), an associate
professor of communication stud-
ies at the University of San Diego,
took a shot at winning $1-million
on the January 30 episode of the
television game show Who’s Still
Standing? Contestants vie to be
the last person to correctly answer
a set of trivia questions. A wrong
answer triggers a trap door, drop-
ping the losing contestant through
the stage ;oor. The show’s stylists
TWEED
Taking academe
a little less seriously.
More at chronicle.com/tweed
DOMINICAN U.
for students who want answers
to deeper questions than “What’s
your sign?” and “What’s your ma-
jor?” As part of a yearlong partner-
ship with the Interfaith Youth
Core, a national organization
promoting ecumenism on college
campuses, Dominican staged its
;rst speed-faithing event last fall.
Students, faculty members, and
staff members from a variety
of faiths sat down with strangers
for ;ve-minute conversations
had out;tted Mr. Pierson in stereo-
typical professorial garb: bright
shirt, red neckerchief, blazer with
elbow patches, and a classy beret.
He nailed eight correct answers
before dropping eight feet into a
pile of foam on the question “What
stand-up comic voiced Remy the
rat chef in Ratatouille?” Mr. Pier-
son’s game-show luck has been
better: He won more than $15,000
in a ;ve-day run in 1987 on High
Rollers, with the host Wink Martin-
dale. Mr. Pierson and his wife,
Shirley—newlyweds at the time—
used the money for a down pay-
GENIUSES AND CADETS:
Each fall the MacArthur Founda-
tion announces, with great fan-
fare, the winners of its $500,000,
no-strings-attached grants for
“exceptional creativity.” Chroni-
cle editors did a double take this
month when an “unclassi;ed”
memo announcing the winners of
another MacArthur Awards pro-
gram arrived by e-mail. The Gen-
eral Douglas MacArthur Foun-
dation and the U.S. Army Cadet
Command named the top Army
ROTC programs for each of the
nation’s eight brigades. The win-
ning programs were the
Citadel, Northeastern
University, Iowa State
University, the Uni-
versity of Maryland at
College Park, the Uni-
versity of Utah, the Uni-
versity of Mississippi,
the University of Notre
Dame, and Santa Clara
University. The awards
recognize General Mac-
APPETITE FOR PARODY:
Forty years elapsed between the
Harvard Lampoon’s Bored of the
Rings and its 2009 novel Night-
light, a spoof of Stephenie Mey-
er’s Twilight vampire-romance
series. The undergrad parody-
novel business must be lucrative.
Last week, the Harvard humor
club released The Hunger Pains,
a sendup of Suzanne Collins’s
dystopian story of teens who are
forced to ;ght to the death in
a grim reality-television show
staged by the government. In the
spoof, Kantkiss Nev-
erclean must outwit
her opponents if she
hopes to make it back
to her family in the
telemarketing district’s
worst neighborhood,
the Crack. The Hun-
ger Pains is not high
art, but we know a 12-
year-old who loved it.
—;;; ;;;;;
FROM NBC’S “WHO’S STILL STANDING?”
INSIDE YOU’LL ALSO FIND ‘THE CHRONICLE REVIEW,’
OUR AWARD-WINNING MAGAZINE OF IDEAS
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; VolumeLVIII,Number15 chronicle.com THE CHRONICLE of Higher Education®
; INSIDE Anger Darkens Mood on Campuses ; ; HawkersonCampus Studentsmarketproducts
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cisionsatPennStateandthe
UniversityofCaliforniaat
Davisdominatedheadlinesoverthe
pastmonth,yetthedamagemayex
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tendwellbeyondthosetwoinstitu
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tions.Bothcriseshaveraisedbroader
questionsaboutthemoralcredibility
ofcollegeleaders,addingweightto
thenation’sbrewingdiscontentwithighereducationattheverytime
ighereducationattheverytime
whenpublicdisaffectionforbanks,
government,andotherinstitutionsis
alsoontherise.
“It’snotagoodtimetolosecred
-
ibilityinAmerica,”saysDanielYan
-
kelovich,apollsterandscholarof
publicopinion.And“thisjustaddsto
thecredibilityproblem”forcolleges.
Atanothertime,thepublicat
-
tentiontoPennState’smishandling
ofanallegedchild-sex-abusescan
-
dal,andadecisionthatledtothe
much-videoedNovember18pep
-
per-sprayingofpeacefullyprotest
-
ingstudentsinCalifornia,wouldbe
badenough,saysMr.Yankelovich.
Buttoday,withsomuchskepticism
aboutthecostandvalueofcollege,
suchhigher-educationscandalsonly
reinforcepre-existingconcernsthat
administratorsarenotactingin
goodfaith,hesays.
What’smore,thePennStateand
Daviscontroversiesare“examples
ofinstitutionsthatseemtobecon
-
cernedwiththemselvesratherthan
theirstudents.That’stherapagainsthebanks,”Mr.Yankelovichsaid.
hebanks,”Mr.Yankelovichsaid.
Therancoroftoday’spolitical
discourse,coupledwiththepower
ofsocialandtraditionalmediato Leaders’ Choices
Put Colleges
in Uneasy Spot ContinuedonPageA9 M
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S Lt.JohnPikeoftheU.ofCaliforniaatDavispoliceforceusedpepperspraytodisbandgroupsofpeacefulprotesters.
Videosoftheeventquicklywentviral,andstudentscalledontheuniversity’schancellortoresign. B;E;;;H;;;;; ;;;;;;;;;;;;; P ;;;;;;;;;;;; recentlyadd
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edhernametothe“pledge
ofrefusal.”Bydoingso,she
agreednottorepayherstudent
loans—if999,999otherAmericansignthepledge,too.
ignthepledge,too.
Ms.Brown,agraduatestudent
attheNewSchoolhere,hasmore
than$100,000ineducationdebt,
whichshe’slongplannedtore
-
payaftergraduatingand;ndinga
job.
L
ikemanystudentsandrecent
graduates,however,she’scometo
seehighereducationasapromise
gonesour,anever-deepeningpitof
debt.
Ms.Brown,42,hasconsidered
thelikelyconsequencesofkeeping
herpledge.Theringingtelephone
andthethreateningletters.The Debt Protesters Denounce
Colleges for Broken Promises ContinuedonPageA6 O ;;;;;;;;;;;; November18,I
wasshockedandsaddenedto
watchthevideoofpoliceof;cers
breakingupapeacefulstudentprotestatheUniversityofCaliforniaatDavis.I’d
heUniversityofCaliforniaatDavis.I’d
justgivenalectureintheChancellor’s
Colloquiumseriesafewweeksbefore.I
lovethiscampus.Iadmirethebrilliant
studentsandfaculty,thegraciousstaff,
andtheadministrators
andalumniandsupport
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ersImetduringthree
daysofenergetichospital
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ity.Thesceneinthevideo
isnothinglikethecampusIvisited.Astudentsoccupyingthecampussitquietly,
tudentsoccupyingthecampussitquietly,
notfarfromtheirbrighttentsarrangedas
neatlyasanadforasporting-goodsstore,
thecampuspolicearrive,
completewithprotec
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tiveheadgear.
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neof;cer
walkspastthestudents,
calmlysprayingthem
withpeppergas.
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ecouldbeexterminat
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yesandearsstinging,
thestudentscontinuetositpeacefully.
Thenthearrestsbegin.
H
owcouldthisbehappeningatDavis—
andatothercampusestoo?Whyarestudents
whoarepeaceablyprotestingbeingtreated
likecriminals?AttheUniversityofCali
-
forniaatBerkeley,aformerpoetlaureateof
theUnitedStates,
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obert
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ass,wasclubbed
bypoliceinantiterroristSWATgearwhen
hewenttoseeforhimselfiftherereally A Plea to Presidents: Exercise Your Moral Leadership ContinuedonPageA80 POINTOFVIEW ByCathyN.Davidson TooManyColleges Withoneoftheworld’slowest
birthrates,South
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oreafacesa
crisisforhighereducation. A14OurAnimals,Ourselves Whatourrelationships
withbeaststellusaboutus. SectionB
The Chronicle Review
A WEEKLY MAGAZINE OF IDEAS The Chronicle of Higher Education Section B December 2, 2011
;;
The Chronicle Review
Our Animals, Ourselves
Essays by JUSTIN E.H. SMITH and KATHY RUDY
;
Teaching ‘ The Kite Runner’ at Penn State Undercover in a Slaughterhouse Fringe Physics
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