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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: academics

academics stories: 11 news summaries

 Anthropologist 
 Levi-Strauss 
 Dead at 100 

French ethnologist introduced structuralist theory

Nov 3, 09 1:11 PM CST
(AP) - Claude Levi-Strauss, widely considered the father of modern anthropology for work that included theories about commonalities between tribal and industrial societies, has died. He was 100. The French intellectual was regarded as having reshaped the field of anthropology, introducing structuralism—concepts about common patterns of behavior and thought, especially myths,... More »

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Nicolas Sarkozy • France • obituary • anthropology • academics • anthropologist • Claude Levi-Strauss • ethnology • structuralism

Krugman Spat With Professor Explodes Online

Sniping turns to race when Ferguson calls Obama Felix the Cat 

Aug 24, 09 7:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - Niall Ferguson picked the wrong Nobel-winning economist to mess with. The Scottish historian, who teaches at Harvard, has been caught up in a high-profile academic feud with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who has called him a "poseur" and a "whiner" in recent blog posts. Ferguson hit... More »

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racism • feud • economist • historian • Paul Krugman • academics • Niall Ferguson

OPINION

 GOP Needs Its Brains Back 


Jul 31, 09 1:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Republican sycophants may think Sarah Palin’s resignation was brilliant, “but don’t kid yourself,” writes Robert Eisinger in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The GOP is in trouble.” The party has lost its intellectual coherence, and if it wants it back, it’s got to look beyond... More »

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Mitt Romney • Newt Gingrich • conservative • Rob Portman • Republican Party • John Sununu • academics • Sarah Palin • Mark Sanford • intellectual

OPINION

 If Economists Fail, 
 Don't Blame Economics 

...don't give up on economics

Jul 17, 09 2:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Economists have made some disastrous calls recently, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on economics, opines an editorial in the Economist. True, too few economists predicted the financial crisis, but the current backlash, which assumes that the dismal science is basically useless, has gone too far.... More »

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economics • academics • monetary policy • financial crisis • economists

Obama Meets With Human- Rights Leaders

Under fire for recent moves, holds 'probing' pre-speech discussion

May 21, 09 10:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Dogged by criticism over recent decisions, President Obama invited a crew of human-rights and civil-liberties leaders and academics to discuss Guantanamo, tribunals, and transparency ahead of today’s speech on similar themes, the Huffington Post reports. Obama said he was unhappy with Congress’ denial of funds to close Gitmo and... More »

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Barack Obama • military tribunal • human rights • Guantanamo Bay • civil liberties • academics • human rights activists • transparency • President Obama • meeting • torture photos

 Spooky Universal Pattern 
 Captivates Math Experts 

Academics ponder similarities between cities and organisms

May 20, 09 5:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - A fascinating mathematical similarity between infrastructure requirements of cities and the nutritional needs of different-sized animals has energized a field of study that is enthralling academics. Researchers have discovered that any measure of a city's infrastructure—from number of gas stations to miles of roadway—grows only in proportion to... More »

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microorganisms • professor • academics • mathematics • pattern recognition • city • animal • mathematicians • urban development • math

(Newser) - An academic-misconduct scandal that reached into all corners of Florida State University’s athletic department could cost the school victories in a number of sports, the St. Petersburg Times reports—including in football, where coach Bobby Bowden is second on the all-time list. An NCAA probe found that the Seminoles... More »

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NCAA football • Florida State Seminoles • Bobby Bowden • academics • Joe Paterno • NCAA sanctions

NYC Prep Student Leaps to Death Into Recess Crowd

Fourth-graders out playing as body plunges to ground

Feb 19, 09 3:23 AM CST
(Newser) - A 17-year-old student at an elite Manhattan prep school leapt to his death from an eleventh-story classroom window yesterday, reports the New York Daily News. His plunging body narrowly missed a group of fourth graders playing in front of the Dalton School. "I heard a loud bang," said... More »

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suicide • New York City • Manhattan • recess • academics • prep schools • students • Dalton School

 Is Something
 Rotten in
 the Bard's
 Works? 

Debate over who really wrote Shakespeare's plays rages on

Jul 6, 08 12:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Did William Shakespeare really write the plays attributed to him? The question remains the subject of an intense academic debate, NPR reports. Those who doubt the “man from Stratford” penned his plays point to a lame rhyming epitaph on the supposed bard’s headstone, and to lack of documents... More »

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theater • literature • play • William Shakespeare • skeptics • academics

George W. Bush Library Finds a Home in Texas

SMU will host presidential library, think-tank

Feb 23, 08 5:46 AM CST
(Newser) - George W. Bush's presidential library will be built at Southern Methodist University, the Dallas Morning News reports. The First Lady's alma mater has had its eyes on that prize since just after Bush took office. "It took us 71 days to find a football coach, so we don't like... More »

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Texas • think tank • libraries • Clinton Presidential Library • academics • Southern Methodist University • presidential library • George W. Bush

Research Notes Make Internet History

New project to archive academic raw materials online

Dec 14, 07 12:07 AM CST
(Newser) - The Center for New History and Media has received a big grant to help store the raw material of academic research as part of its Internet Archive project, Ars Technica reports. Director Dan Cohen wants to help the academic world by making it easy for scholars to make their research... More »

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Internet • research • professor • universities • academics

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