How Election Lies, Libel Law Are Key to Fox Defamation Suit

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A major defamation lawsuit against Fox News goes to trial Tuesday, carrying the potential to shed additional light on former President Donald Trump’s election lies, reveal more about how the right-leaning network operates and even redefine libel law in the U.S. Here are some things to know about the case.  The case  Dominion Voting Systems is suing Fox for $1.6 billion, claiming the news outlet repeatedly aired allegations that the company’s voting machines were rigged to doom Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign while knowing they were untrue. Fox contends that it was reporting newsworthy charges made by supporters of the Republicanmore

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How Much Should the US Government Interfere With the Colleges It Helps Fund?

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Florida is home to New College, whose roughly 700 students largely devise their own degree programs. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has accused Florida’s public education system of indoctrinating students in left-wing ideas and has removed New College’s president and board. (DeSantis is expected to announce this summer as a Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential race.) Supporters of his actions say it brings accountability to colleges run with taxpayer money; opponents claim it threatens academic freedom. Dan Friedell from VOA Learning English examines the controversy, based on a report from The Associated Press. (April 2023) …

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Does Joint Research Between the US and China Have a Future?

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The Biden administration announced it would end the China Initiative, a Trump-era plan to investigate academic espionage by China. However, the Biden administration has set new compliance, disclosure and privacy rules, and research collaboration has declined. Many researchers, especially Asian American ones, report being afraid to work alongside their Chinese peers. Can the U.S. balance national security with academic openness? Karin Fischer of the Chronicle of Higher Education looks at both sides of the issue. (April 2023) …

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Abortion Bans Raise Fears Inside Republican Party About Backlash in 2024

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As a new election season begins, the Republican Party is struggling to navigate the politics of abortion. Allies for leading presidential candidates concede that their hardline anti-abortion policies may be popular with the conservatives who decide primary elections, but they could ultimately alienate the broader set of voters they need to win the presidency. The conflict is unfolding across the United States this week, but nowhere more than in Florida, where Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law one of the nation’s toughest abortion bans on Thursday. If the courts ultimately allow the new measure to take effect, it willmore

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Is AI a Curse for College Educators or a Gift?

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Tulane University President Michael Fitts thinks that AI can make creative work easier but will never replace human creativity itself. AI “can find an answer, but it can’t be the first to ask the question,” he wrote. As long as that remains the case, universities will need to train human minds, he added. Read the op-ed from Michael Fitts in USA Today. (April 2023) …

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Are College Rankings Useful?

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U.S. News & World Report publishes the most influential college rankings in the U.S. But last year, Yale Law School – the No. 1 legal program in the country for years – chose not to participate. Twelve of the top 14 law schools followed suit, though most still made it into this year’s rankings despite not submitting data. Now, both undergraduate and graduate programs are deciding whether rankings make sense for them. This panel discussion, featuring the dean of Yale Law, the CEO of U.S. News & World Report and a high school student, was produced by Chris Remington andmore

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Should Government Employees Be Hired Based on Skills? Or Degrees?

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Many college graduates aspire to work in government because of the stability, benefits and sense of purpose. But at least six states have tried to reduce the importance of a college degree in getting a job, arguing that the requirements are a burden on poorer applicants and result in turning away many gifted ones – all amidst a labor shortage. New Jersey, one of the wealthiest and most populous states, is just the latest. Read the story from Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech for The Hill. (April 2023) …

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After Calls to Resign, Feinstein Seeks Judiciary Replacement

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Recuperating U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California asked Wednesday to be temporarily replaced on the Judiciary Committee, shortly after two House Democrats called on her to resign after her extended absence from Washington. In a statement, the long-serving Democratic senator said her recovery from a case of shingles, disclosed in early March, had been delayed because of complications. She provided no date for her return to the Senate and said she had asked Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to ask the Senate to allow another Democratic senator to serve in her committee seat until she was able to return. “I intendmore

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Second Expelled Black Lawmaker to Return to Tennessee House

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The second of two Black Democrats expelled from the Republican-led Tennessee House will return to the Legislature after a Memphis commission voted to reinstate him Wednesday, nearly a week after his banishment for supporting gun control protesters propelled him into the national spotlight. Hundreds of supporters chanted and cheered as they marched Representative Justin Pearson through Memphis to the Shelby County Board of Commissioners meeting, where officials quickly voted 7-0 to restore his position. “The message for all the people in Nashville who decided to expel us: ‘You can’t expel hope. You can’t expel justice,” Pearson said at the meeting,more

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Colleges’ Actions on Sustainability are a Draw for Students

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Younger Americans – millennials and adults in Generation Z – are more engaged in addressing climate change on- and offline, according to a 2021 Pew Research poll. Compared with older adults, Gen Zers and millennials are talking more about the need for action on climate change, including discussing and sharing information on social media platforms and by volunteering and attending rallies and protests on climate change, Pew found. Colleges and universities in the U.S. are taking note of students’ increased interest and are finding ways to become more environmentally sustainable, The Washington Post reported.  Read the story from Amudalat Ajasamore

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Harris Travels to Tennessee After 2 Lawmakers Expelled 

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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris traveled Friday to the Southern U.S. state of Tennessee, where she criticized Republican lawmakers for taking the rare step a day earlier of expelling two Democratic lawmakers from the legislature because they participated in a protest at the Capitol calling for more gun control. In a speech at Fisk University, Nashville’s historically Black university, Harris said the ousted lawmakers were being silenced for standing up for the lives of schoolchildren, referencing last month’s deadly school shooting in Nashville. The vice president met privately with the expelled lawmakers — Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson —more

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Trump Is Indicted — Now What?

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The Manhattan district attorney’s indictment of Donald Trump on 34 felony charges and the prospect of more charges to come have injected more uncertainty into the November 2024 race for the White House. Trump, who has declared himself a candidate for next year’s Republican presidential nomination, was formally charged this week with falsifying New York business records to conceal his role in paying hush money to an adult film actress before the 2016 election. He is also facing potential charges in at least three other cases. Never before in American history have criminal charges been brought against a former president,more

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Ouster of State Lawmakers Draws Nation’s Eyes to Tennessee 

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In an episode that fuses simmering conflicts in the United States over race, gun control, and the country’s deep political divide, Republican legislators in Tennessee have come under widespread criticism following a vote Thursday to expel two Democratic members from the state’s House of Representatives. The expulsion votes came just days after the two lawmakers, Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, interrupted a House session to demand that lawmakers implement stronger gun control laws. Jones and Pearson are both Black men. A motion to expel Representative Gloria Johnson, who participated in the protest with Jones and Pearson, failed by onemore

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Is the ‘Death of the Humanities’ Real?

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Between 2012 and 2018, U.S. enrollment in humanities majors dropped by over 14%. Many students think that the humanities, like history or English, won’t get them a good job or aren’t relevant to their interests. But the true picture may be less dire. Some colleges are bringing their humanities programs into the 21st century, and students are responding in earnest, as Johanna Alonso of Inside Higher Ed reports. (April 2023) …

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Everyone Agrees Campus ‘Free Speech’ Is in Crisis – but What Exactly do They Mean by Free Speech?

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Republicans in Congress convened a hearing on free speech, calling witnesses who claimed new language rules and diversity requirements have made healthy disagreement impossible. Democrats countered by noting Republican efforts to restrict public school curricula and ban books from public libraries. Eva Surovell of the Chronicle of Higher Education analyzes the debate. …

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Why Are Fewer Americans Enrolling in Community College?

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Community colleges offer two-year degrees, which are often meant to be a steppingstone to a full bachelor’s degree. But nearly half of two-year community college students drop out, and the number of students enrolling has plummeted by 37% since 2010. Some would-be students are taking advantage of a lucrative job market before school; others are questioning the value of college in the first place. Read the story from Jon Marcus of the Hechinger Report, published by the Associated Press. (April 2023) …

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Trump Pleads Not Guilty to 34-Count Hush Money Indictment

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Former U.S. President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday in a New York state court to a 34-count indictment accusing him of falsifying business records in furtherance of an unspecified crime – described by prosecutors as a bid to hide a hush money payment to a porn actress to help him win the presidency in 2016. In the first-ever criminal case against a current or former U.S. leader, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged in a “set of facts” accompanying the indictment that Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging informationmore

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Explaining the Criminal Charges Against Trump

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Thirty-four counts of “falsifying business records in the first degree.” Those are the charges against former President Donald Trump in the first indictment of a current or former U.S. president. The indictment, handed down by a New York grand jury last week, was made public Tuesday afternoon after Trump was arraigned in a New York state court, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. The charges stem from a hush money payment of $130,000 that Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn actor Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential election. The payoff, prosecutors say, wasmore

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White House Refrains From Commenting About Trump Arraignment

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As his predecessor was entering not guilty pleas to felonies in a courtroom, U.S. President Joe Biden met with his science and technology advisers and commented about the potential risks and benefits of artificial intelligence. He ignored reporters’ questions about Donald Trump’s arraignment. The president on Tuesday was not paying attention to the activities in New York, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “It’s an ongoing case, so we’re just not going to comment on the case specifically itself,” said Jean-Pierre. “Look, the president is just going to focus on the American people like he does every day.” more

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