President Barack Obama's promise to renew government support for stem cell research may not be as beneficial to scientists as they originally believed, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. The National Institutes of Health's budget increases have not kept pace with inflation, and the institute may thus have less funding available for all scientists, including those who conduct stem cell research, The Chronicle reported. The Dicky-Wicker amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds to create or destroy embryos for scientific purposes, will also likely remain in effect. Embryonic stem cell research may also become less important in light of scientific discoveries that have made it possible to create stem cells from skin cells, The Chronicle reported.
The ongoing financial crisis may force Middlebury College to reduce financial aid, according to Inside Higher Ed. Middlebury will retain need-blind admissions, but now plans to increase students' minimum required contribution by $100, and increase the student work contribution by $50. Middlebury may also decrease financial aid for international students, and is considering pay cuts for the president and vice-presidents, as well as a staff salary freeze. Most top-tier colleges and universities, including Dartmouth, have said they refuse to consider financial aid cuts as a way to reduce spending. Several aid experts, though, told Inside Higher Ed that they believed other colleges and universities may make similar changes, but have not yet announced them to the public.
A visiting French professor at Goucher College has been suspended pending an investigation into accusations that he participated in acts of genocide in Rwanda in 1994, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Leopold Munyakazi, who was indicted in Rwanda in 2006 for genocide, denied the charges and said he helped refugees flee the genocide while in Rwanda, Goucher College President Sanford Ungar told The Chronicle. Munyakazi was teaching at the college as part of the Scholar Rescue Fund, which provides teaching fellowships for scholars who face persecution in their native countries. In a statement to the Goucher College student body, Ungar said the suspension was not a judgement on Munyakazi since the investigation is still ongoing.
