Biology’s newest knowledge, fused with the special effects of The Hobbit or Harry Potter films — that’s what’s in store from a stunning new cinematic field of biomedical animation. Catch a glimpse in this video — The Inner Life of a Cell — that might have made biologists of us all had we seen it earlier in our lives. It offers an unprecedented, scientifically accurate dramatization of how cells function, sense their surroundings and respond to external stimuli in mind-blowing moving imagery. It is part of a continuing animation series created by Xvivo, a Connecticut scientific ... Read More
If LSU Cuts Football, Academia Can Panic
December 9, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
History professor John V. Lombardi, the president of the Louisiana State University System, inevitably takes a long view when asked about the parlous state of research universities in the United States. “You pick your decade and there will be a whole bunch of books on how things are in crisis,” he observes. “You know: an American university in crisis. You could have an American university in crisis book written every 10 years, and they’ll all say the same thing. You know: ‘we’re coming to a dramatic shift in the way in which universities are operated, and they’ll never be the ... Read More
Innovation Must Get in Line for Academic Funding
October 4, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
“I think researchers are really struggling to survive in a world where resources are really scarce and innovation is not always the highest priority,” says Francine Berman, a computer scientist and vice president for research at upstate New York’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Speaking as part of Miller-McCune.com’s series of interviews on the challenges facing research universities, she explained that the innovation enterprise requires complex scaffolding, access to a pool of adequately paid graduate students, up-to-date equipment and money for things like travel to professional ... Read More
States Prove Weak Link in Supporting Research Universities
August 5, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
Robert M. Berdahl is an American historian, author and university administrator. He was chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1997 to 2004, and president of the Association of American Universities from May 2000 until May of this year. Q: Are universities in crisis today? How big a crisis are we in now? Is it mostly cyclical, or is it structural? What lasting impact is it likely to have and does it alter in any significant way, the model that then-Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development Vannevar Bush envisioned in his seminal 1945 paper, "Science, ... Read More
Retaining Excellence in U.S. Research Universities
August 5, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment
The same week that President Obama called for the United States to regain its lead as the world's best-educated nation, the University of California system turned away 30,000 students. This was roughly two years ago, but since then the fiscal picture has only darkened — for the federal government as well on the state level. The Golden State labors under a particularly gargantuan deficit — and the regents of the University of California responded by raising tuition a second time this year — but its predicament is emblematic of a central challenge for higher education across the United ... Read More
When Bad Things Happen to Good Rogues
March 28, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment
Setting a rogue to catch a rogue. That arresting phrase is the kernel of one of the United States' most important anti-fraud laws — the False Claims Act — enacted by Congress in1863. It's sometimes known as the Lincoln Law; the president wanted to crack down on unscrupulous defense contractors in his day who were selling the blue coats bum mules, decrepit horses, misfiring rifles, dud ammo and rancid rations. This law is still in force and allows even those unaffiliated with the government to file a claim of fraud against government contractors, under the so-called qui tam principle. ... Read More
Solving the World’s Problems With a Joystick
July 31, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
People involved in the Games for Change movement seem to have an answer for the classic art question: Did Pablo Picasso's painting Guernica prevent a single unnecessary death? Yes, most definitely. Or at least it would have a better chance if it were turned into a video game. As a player with "agency," who can affect the drama's as-yet-underdetermined outcome, you have a heightened responsibility, they argue. That makes games inherently engaging and part of what makes them "fun." It's also the reason players spend hours replaying games - and in some cases develop globe-spanning ... Read More
Pakistan, Captain America’s On the Phone
July 21, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
Part II of a look at the entwined fates of the United States and Pakistan. Click here to see part I, "Re-Arranging Pakistan's Deck Chairs." Reconstituting trust is tricky enough between two individuals. In the case of star-crossed "frenemies" the United States and Pakistan, it's complicated because the U.S. will simultaneously try to apply benchmarks to Pakistan's internal counter-insurgency cooperation. "We must begin [emphasis added] to develop leverage with our large-scale aid programs and ensure that U.S. taxpayer money does not indirectly end up assisting enemies that are fighting ... Read More
Re-Arranging Pakistan’s Deck Chairs
July 20, 2009 • By • Leave a Comment
Part I of a look at the entwined fates of the United States and Pakistan. Click here to see part II, "Pakistan, Captain America's On the Phone." When then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell confronted Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf, soon after the 9/11 attack, with an either-you-are-with-us-or-against-us proposition, Gen. Musharraf did what most modern military men do when contemplating battle — he war-gamed it. Not surprisingly, in the game, Pakistan did not fare well against the might of the U.S., and so the general sensibly threw his country's lot in with the Americans. In ... Read More
