Researchers and college administrators say fraud by researchers is rare and that continuing Congressional hearings and widespread publicity have seriously damaged the political influence of academic research. They fear increased regulation of federally supported work, loss of support for federal financing, and Congressional attempts to validate…

The Federal Communications Commission is considering a plan that would allow cable-television to use parts of the broadcast spectrum that has been reserved for educational programing. Cable companies say it is wasteful to reserve limited broadcasting for educational programing if not enough colleges use the frequencies allotted. (MLW)

The Internal Revenue Service has acknowledged that audits of graduate students receiving stipends were based on inconsistent interpretations of tax law but deny any policy to increase monitoring of graduate students' tax returns. (MSE)

the National Advisory Committee on Accreditation and Institutional Eligibility is criticized by various groups for doing and saying too much or too little. Current controversial issues on its agenda include loan defaults, shoddy trade schools, and treatment of minority students and faculty. The committee's role in some areas is also unclear. (MSE)

Federal judge Pratt rejected a request to temporarily keep in effect a court order he dismissed last year, saying that the NAACP failed to prove they were likely to win their appeal, or that Black students would suffer "irreparable harm" because of the dismissal. (MLW)

In a major victory for civil rights groups, a federal appeals court has revived the lawsuit that forced the Education Department to monitor the desegregation of public colleges in 18 southern and border states, claiming the groups bringing the suit still had the legal standing to pursue it. (MSE)

The Justice Department's investigation of possible antitrust violations by colleges and universities, which focuses on the way private colleges set tuition rates and award financial aid to students, is discussed. The inquiry centers on groups or consortia of private colleges. (MLW)

A decision in the case involving the "Silver Spring Monkeys" and National Institutes of Health research left open the possibility of suing the federal agency in state courts, possibly making it easier for animal-rights groups to block some animal research. However, the ruling addresses only a narrow jurisdictional question. (MSE)

A new lobbying strategy by six universities, designed to show Congress that higher education may be willing to give up some tax advantages under current law, is also criticized as a tactical error when Congress is just beginning to consider changes in the tax law affecting nonprofit groups. (MSE)

While increased attention is being paid by federal policy-makers to improved science education, many academics feel the approaches and funding is too limited and far-reaching change is necessary, including coordination of programs, reduced anti-education bias in research programs, and federal adoption of responsibility for science education. (MSE)

New federal Department of Education guidelines put responsibility for monitoring campus racial climate on individual colleges. The policy statement contains some elements pleasing to minority students and others attractive to civil libertarians. However, its broad definition of harassment is criticized by some. (MSE)

The Department of Education has suffered legal defeats in Missouri and Arkansas in its campaign to prevent colleges from publicly releasing names of students arrested by campus security. Controversy involves interpretation of a 1974 privacy-protection law, the Buckley Amendment. College officials are unsure about how to deal with the issue. (MSE)

A federal court ruled that the Justice Department had failed to prove that Alabama's public colleges and universities were segregated. The Justice Department had argued that the entire state system was segregated, instead of offering evidence that specific programs receiving federal money had violated the anti-bias laws. (MLW)

An overhaul of the welfare system, under which welfare recipients may enroll in job-training programs at community colleges and for-profit trade schools, is discussed. The new bill would provide money to the states for education and job training. The program is designed to make welfare a temporary support system. (MLW)

As the mission of the Minnesota Extension Service has broadened, so have its sources of financial support. Historically, extension has been a state-federal partnership, but lately, state and county governments have had to make up for some missing federal dollars. (MLW)