The House Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education heard testimony about both the positive aspects of intercollegiate sports and overcommercialization and corruption. The information gave legislators little sense of the federal government's role in overseeing college sports. (MSE)

The movement to create "academic alliances" of high-school and college teachers is discussed. The alliances owe much of their strength to the increased sense of self-esteem and the pleasure that members find in the company of disciplinary colleagues. A directory of some alliances is included. (MLW)

An Education Department study shows that high school coursework is a more significant barrier to student participation in college sports than is a controversial National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requirement for higher standardized test scores. The stricter NCAA standard, to take effect in August 1996, has been criticized for…

Conflict over the authorship of scientific research into schizophrenia in an international collaboration is discussed. Issues of access to research data and laboratory samples, competition for research results, and attribution of scholarship are considered. (MSE)

Collaboration between schools and colleges, one of the most popular aspects of educational reform in recent years, now seems seriously threatened by inadequate funds, uncertain goals, and lack of broad participation by college teachers. Advocates of collaboration fear that their efforts could become just another idea that didn't work. (MSE)

A federal judge has ruled that 23 prestigious colleges and universities in the Overlap Group violated federal antitrust laws for over 20 years when they met to compare financial-aid packages to be awarded to prospective students, rejecting arguments of social and educational need and nonapplicability of antitrust law. Massachusetts Institute of…

In Portland, an Oregon state commission wants to create a federation of public and private institutions to meet local demand through better coordination. The effort may involve having some institutions refocus curricula to social and economic issues facing the community, seeking less state and more private funds, and joint faculty hiring. (MSE)

In search of increased support for graduate students in plant science and upgraded laboratories, the College of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California Berkeley, offered the college's expertise in exchange for major financial backing from the single company making the best offer. The resulting five-year, $25-million alliance with one…

Canadian universities now have the fastest research network backbone in the world, CA*Net 3, claiming it can transmit the contents of the Library of Congress in one second. In the United States, network officials feel that their competing Internet2 project supports more research into new network applications than the Canadian project. CA*Net 3…

While American higher education institutions are trying to provide increased educational opportunities for Black South Africans, Black South African leaders are concerned that some educational and financial aid programs are being hastily planned and ill-conceived. (MSE)

Kingsborough Community College's New Start Program, designed to prevent dropping out, allows students on the verge of academic failure at three participating senior colleges to enroll as students in good standing, earn credits, and reenroll in any City University of New York senior college. (MSE)

The National Security Council has barred the National Science Foundation from providing a grant to help finance American participation in East-West research because the federal government cannot control the research, causing the institute's supporters to seek money directly from Congress. (MSE)

The National Collegiate Athletic Association's proposed cost-cutting measures would affect almost all intercollegiate sports through reduction of practice and playing seasons, reduction in the number of scholarships, shortening of recruiting periods, or limits on the size of coaching staffs. However, few changes are proposed for football. (MSE)

Rising program deficits and lack of state aid for college sports programs in Oregon have caused the suspension of sports teams as a cost-cutting measure. Some trace the financial problems to equalization of women's sports and the 1982 downturn in the lumber industry. Financing options appear limited. (MSE)

The Real Estate Investment Trust, a companion organization to the Common Trust, allows colleges to commit as little as $50,000 for investments in commercial properties at minimum risk, which could protect endowments while providing returns comparable to those of the stock market. (MSE)