SPOILING FOR A FIGHT
The American Association of University Professors is reaching out to graduate students and part-time professors, and becoming more of a force in unionization battles: A16

• At its annual meeting, the A.A.U.P. made changes in its two censure lists, adding some colleges and removing others based on their actions in regard to academic freedom, tenure, and shared governance: A17

GRADING PROFESSORS
At the invitation of individual faculty members, colleges are beginning to hire student "consultants" to attend classes and evaluate teaching: A18

LIMITS OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM
After testifying in defense of a Holocaust denier in a lawsuit, an evolutionary psychologist at California State University at Long Beach has found his own views questioned by colleagues: A19

PEER REVIEW
Sylvia Manning is about to be named chancellor of the University of Illinois at Chicago, even though she wasn't among the search committee's finalists. Meanwhile, the provost, Elizabeth Hoffman, is, for now, the lone finalist for the presidency of the University of Colorado System: A12

SYLLABUS
In "The Dramaturgical Approach to Psychology," at Wesleyan University, students design dramatic ways to examine human attributes: A16

HUNDREDS OF CELLISTS
At Towson University, musicians from all over the world gathered for a weeklong congress that included classes with some of the world's masters: B2

Counterpoint: A report by the National Association of Scholars on the purported decline of the English major is disingenuous and wrong, writes Ronald R. Thomas, a professor of English at Trinity College (Conn.): B11

ARMED WITH THE WORD
Radical Orthodoxy, a theological movement with a postmodern sensibility, seeks to replace social theory with God: A20

TOE OF LIZARD
In a step toward reproducing the nimble gecko's abilities, biologists and engineers have collaborated to measure the means by which it clambers across walls and ceilings: A24

HOT TYPE
Spurred by the imminent demise of a series that revived out-of-print radical novels, professors try to drum up interest among literature scholars in class politics. ... Two new books call attention to the importance of America's diehard majority, the working class: A28

NOTA BENE
In Born in Bondage: Growing Up Enslaved in the Antebellum South, Marie Jenkins Schwartz describes an intimacy involving both economics and emotions: A26

VERBATIM
David Nibert, author of Hitting the Lottery Jackpot: Government and the Taxing of Dreams, talks about the unseen costs of officially run gambling: A22

CONTROLLING KNOWLEDGE
Conventional wisdom views e-books as the end of publishing as we know it. But Michael Jensen, director of publishing technologies at the National Academy Press, writes that the technology is a way of protecting publishing's pre-Web hegemony: A64

New scholarly books: A26

THE BUSH RECORD ON HIGHER EDUCATION
As governor of Texas, the Republican presidential candidate has signed important legislation and approved budget increases, but his role has been minimal: A32

STUDENT-LOAN CONSOLIDATION
Sallie Mae, the largest financer of such loans, is buying major portions of USA Group, another behemoth in the business: A35

APPROPRIATIONS BILL ADVANCES
The House of Representatives passed a spending measure that would fulfill President Clinton's requests for Pell Grants and biomedical research, but not for other aid programs: A35

SEX OFFENDERS ON CAMPUSES
The House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill requiring colleges to publicly identify students and employees who have been convicted of sex crimes: A38

A $1-BILLION EXPERIMENT
As the Gates Millennium Scholars Program awards its first 4,000 grants, advocates hope that the process will lead to a new way of identifying talented minority students: A41

Most Americans want college to prepare them for a job, according to a survey: A32

The top staffer on education issues for the House of Representatives has taken a job at a lobbying firm: A32

In a commencement speech, President Clinton praised his education record: A34

The Education Department will give borrowers more time to refinance student loans at the current lower interest rate: A38

Some college officials say a bill in Congress to repeal estate taxes would endanger charitable giving: A39

The White House has unveiled a plan to double the number of Hispanic college graduates: A39

A $1-BILLION EXPERIMENT
As the Gates Millennium Scholars Program awards its first 4,000 grants, advocates hope that the process will lead to a new way of identifying talented minority students: A41

STUDENT-LOAN CONSOLIDATION
Sallie Mae, the largest financer of such loans, is buying major portions of USA Group, another behemoth in the business: A35

Want to sell your college? Contact a mystery client's lawyer: A41

The ailing parent of the for-profit American International University will sell its international assets: A41

The controversial president of the University of Toledo has agreed to resign: A42

Some college officials say a bill in Congress to repeal estate taxes would endanger charitable giving: A39

Wake Forest University is debating whether to build a parking garage or child-care center; both are needed: A10

Beaver College has decided to change its name, long the butt of bad jokes: A10

The University of California's newest campus, in Merced, staged a contest to select its mascot: A10

Foundation grants; gifts and bequests: A43

DISTANCE EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA
Universities and government officials are debating how the growth of online and correspondence degrees should be regulated: A45

EXPANDING ACCESS IN COLORADO
The state Legislature has set aside $800,000 to help bring four-year-degree programs to two-year colleges in rural areas, through a program that relies on online education: A46

ATTRACTING CUSTOMERS THROUGH EDUCATION
Barnes & Noble.com, an arm of the giant bookseller, has announced that it will offer free, online courses in jazz, yoga, and film noir, among other subjects: A47

BLOCKING CONTENT
Seattle Pacific University has become the latest Christian-affiliated institution to bar campus access to sex-related sites on the Internet: A49

DELAY FOR WESTERN GOVERNORS U.
An accrediting panel has pushed back a key decision, requesting more information about the operations of the distance-education provider: A49

DREXEL'S WIRELESS WORLD
The university has promised that its entire campus, except the dormitories, will have wireless Internet connections by the fall: A50

NEW RECRUITING TOOL
Some admissions officials believe that they can use e-mail as a cost-efficient way to attract more students: A51

Distance-education providers are promoting summertime discounts, but some wonder whether the efforts will cheapen the notion of online learning: A45

The authors of The Social Life of Information argue that "distance education" is an oxymoron: A49

NEW RECRUITING TOOL
Some admissions officials believe that they can use e-mail as a cost-efficient way to attract more students: A51

SEX OFFENDERS ON CAMPUSES
The House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill requiring colleges to publicly identify students and employees who have been convicted of sex crimes: A38

An Internet company is drumming up business by advertising free test preparation for the SAT: A51

For underage students, alcohol is cheap and easy to get, says a Harvard University researcher: A51

An Ohio University senior arrested for cooling off topless staged a bare-breasted march in protest: A10

A new scholarship program will enable students at two archrivals, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to study and live at the other campus: A12

Prime Numbers: Internet start-up companies are hiring growing numbers of new M.B.A.'s: A12

A record number of athletes are playing college sports, according to a survey by the National Collegiate Athletic Association: A53

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville has placed a tutoring program for athletes under the authority of the provost: A53

Intramural sports will replace intercollegiate athletics at Champlain College: A53

SAFE HAVEN FOR SCHOLARS AT RISK
American colleges have formed a network to bring imperiled foreign academics to safety -- and jobs -- in the United States: A54

STUDY ABROAD BOOMS
As the U.S. dollar has strengthened against other currencies, the number of American students overseas has surged: A55

DISTANCE EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA
Universities and government officials are debating how the growth of online and correspondence degrees should be regulated: A45

World Beat: A survey of professional associations found that many feel their members are not prepared to practice internationally. ... Friction between Thailand and Myanmar broke out at an educational conference near their border: A54

In Australia, the University of Melbourne has come under fire for a spinoff company's stock offering: A56

Elite British universities snub applicants from low-income families, according to an independent report: A56

Japan plans to give its public universities substantial autonomy: A56

CONTROLLING KNOWLEDGE
Conventional wisdom views e-books as the end of publishing as we know it. But Michael Jensen, director of publishing technologies at the National Academy Press, writes that the technology is a way of protecting publishing's pre-Web hegemony: A64

'PERSONS OF THE SOIL'
Unlike their popular depictions, the real lives of South Asians -- in the diaspora or on the subcontinent -- involve creative compromises and defy broad characterization, says Siva Vaidhyanathan, a faculty fellow in the department of culture and communication at New York University: B4

WHY BATTLE EXOTIC SPECIES?
Although alien organisms do alter ecosystems, we have no evidence that the changes are for the worse, writes Mark Sagoff, a senior research scholar at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at the University of Maryland at College Park: B7

Counterpoint: A report by the National Association of Scholars on the purported decline of the English major is disingenuous and wrong, writes Ronald R. Thomas, a professor of English at Trinity College (Conn.): B11

• Collaborative efforts in distance education may not be good models for the future: B3

• Teaching workshops for faculty members: B10

• "The yin and yang" of academics: B10

• Multiyear contracts, but no tenure: B10

• Interpreting the Kent State shootings: B11

• Cartoon by Matt Hall: B10

HUNDREDS OF CELLISTS
At Towson University, musicians from all over the world gathered for a weeklong congress that included classes with some of the world's masters: B2

ALL-GIRL BANDS
In an excerpt from Swing Shift, her book about all-female jazz and swing musicians of the 1940's, Sherrie Tucker reveals how she found lots of stories that didn't fit her plot line. The author is an assistant professor of women's studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges: B8

MATHEMATICS AND LIFE
As different as they seem, the two share an inevitable uncertainty, writes Daniel Rockmore, a professor of mathematics and computer science at Dartmouth College, in praise of Proof, a new drama about a passionate search for answers: B9

'SURVIVING IMPRESSIONS'
An exhibition of artworks by Martha Betts that was inspired by her treatment for brain cancer is on display at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of the Arts: B72

• APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS on U.S. campuses.

• DEATHS of people in academe.

• FELLOWSHIPS: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has appointed 25 fellows, and the National Humanities Center has appointed 41 fellows for 2000-1: A57

• COMING EVENTS: conferences, workshops, and seminars.

• DEADLINES for fellowships, grants, the submission of papers, and more.

DETAILS OF AVAILABLE POSTS, including teaching and research positions in higher education, administrative and executive jobs, and openings outside academe.