Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Thursday that she will endorse Congressman Mike Capuano '73, D-Mass., in his campaign for the open Massachusetts Senate seat. Pelosi cited Capuano's "proven record of standing up for progressive values and what he believes is right," including health care reform and marriage equality, as reasons for her support, according to a press release from Capuano's campaign. As speaker-elect, Pelosi selected Capuano in 2006 to oversee the Democratic Party's transition to the majority and later asked him to head her Special Task Force on Ethics Enforcement.
Public universities are most commonly responding to the economic crisis by delaying maintenance projects, reducing staff and cutting adjunct faculty positions, according to a survey released by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities on Thursday, Inside Higher Ed reported. Over 90 percent of the institutions whose budgets were cut by at least 10 percent decided to reduce the number of permanent and part-time staff, and about 88 percent are delaying maintenance projects and cutting adjunct faculty positions, Inside Higher Ed reported. Most of the institutions are planning to increase enrollment, according to Inside Higher Ed. In the long-term, 78 percent are planning to invest in more energy-efficient systems, and the majority are planning to conduct administrative reviews before making any definite decisions.
Colleges and federal agencies that award grants need to do more to keep women with science Ph.D's in academia and on the tenure track, according to a report by three researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on Tuesday. Fewer women than men pursue careers in academic science, and women are much less likely than men to stay win academia long enough to earn tenure, according to The Chronicle. The report, "Staying Competitive: Patching America's Leaky Pipeline in the Sciences," calls for institutions to provide more family benefits and remove time limits for individuals pursuing careers in academia, according to The Chronicle. Adding benefits like paid maternity leave for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, and giving primary investigators extra money if one of their researchers must take family leave would help stymie the departure of female scientists from academia, The Chronicle reported.
