A report issued by the American Association of University Professors found that the average pay gap between professors at public and private universities has widened, The New York Times reported. Instructors at private schools make an average of $167,118 while their public school counterparts make $123,393. Assistant professors at private universities make $62,763, while those at public schools make $58,591. The study found that colleges and universities are cutting down on tenure and tenure-track jobs, shifting the workload to alternate sources such as graduate students and part-time professors. The report said that only 24 percent of the academic workforce is made up of professors who have or will have tenure. The economic crisis has particularly affected public institutions, causing them to make cuts in spending that harm education quality.
Yale University is being sued for negligence after a car crash during a 2011 football tailgate led to the death of a woman, the Yale Daily News reported. Nancy Barry, a 30-year-old Salem, Mass., resident, was killed after being hit by a U-Haul truck that was headed toward a tailgate area assigned to Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. A lawyer representing Barry's estate argues that Yale should have known that truck use posed a risk to pedestrians and the university should have designated vehicle-specific areas. The Yale spokesman Tom Conroy dismissed the claims, saying that Yale is not responsible for the collision. The lawsuit has also been filed against the New Haven police, claiming that they should have supplied more officers in order to better manage the crowd. Other defendants include the Yale student who hit Barry, the U-Haul company of Connecticut, the student who rented the truck and the company Yale hired to ensure the event ran safely.
Princeton University's Office of Information Technology has identified the students who sent out a prank email April 1 claiming that numbers for Princeton's room draw would be reassigned, The Daily Princetonian reported. Senior Will Harrel was originally thought to have written the email, which was sent to approximately 1,000 to 2,000 people. Administrators determined, however, that the actual offenders sent an email from a fake account in Harrel's name. Administrators forwarded the case to the university's dean of undergraduate students' offices, which will review the findings and determine if disciplinary action is necessary. At Dartmouth, anonymous students sent out an email on April Fools' Day and April 3, purportedly from Interim College President Carol Folt, claiming that a "zombified student" had been found in the Life Sciences Center.
