Notes in the Margins: Admin pensions, literary study stats and academic loopholes

Consortium Will Help Universities Map Their Global Activities The UCosmic partnership will build on an online system created at the University of Cincinnati to monitor that institution's international engagements. (chronicle.com)

Blind Law-School Grad Wins Right to Use Assistive Technology on Bar Exam A blind law-school graduate won a legal victory today in her fight to take two legal exams with help from assistive software. It’s the latest in a series of court battles over issues of technology accessibility. (chronicle.com)

Auburn Is First In One Ranking, 85th in Another Auburn’s top-ranked football team has tumbled in the N.C.A.A.’s most important academic measurement to No. 85 from No. 4 among the 120 major college football programs. The decline came after the university closed several academic loopholes following a New York Times article in 2006 that showed numerous football players padded their grade-point averages and remained eligible through independent-study-style courses that required little or no work. Yet Auburn has earned a certain sort of praise from those who were its toughest critics in 2006. (The New York Times)

University of California pensions: UC's top leaders reject bigger pensions for top earners - latimes.com Thirty-six highly paid employees have threatened to sue if benefits were not based on full salaries. The UC president and the regents board chairman support the $245,000 limit. (Los Angeles Times)

The Statistical Turn in Literary Studies: Humanists usually take to math like cats to water. But literary critics of late have been embracing statistics and other quantitative measures. (Chronicle of Higher Education)

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