DC Digest - October 29, 2010

In Today's Issue:

  • Politics in the Social Media Age: How Tweet it is
  • Ed Department Releases Final Rules for Title IV Student Aid Programs
  • Duke Professor and Assistant Attorney General to Co-Chair White House Group on Internet Privacy
  • Annual College Board Report Shows Increases in Tuition, Aid
  • Duke Science Goes to DC
  • Ted Kaufman, Temporary Senator
  • Video: Senator Kaufman on The Daily Show
  • Are You a Constitutional Scholar? Here's a Test.
  • National Labor Relations Board Steps Toward Grad Unions
  • FAFSA Increases May be Slowing

POLITICS IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA AGE: HOW TWEET IT IS
This might be the last election cycle in which we write about how the phenomenon of social media — interactive, friend-driven websites such as Facebook and Twitter — is affecting national politics, because next time around, the practice of social media may be such an integral part of the process we won't even notice it.

Read More:
Politics in the Social Media Age (NPR.org)


ED DEPARTMENT RELEASES FINAL RULES FOR TITLE IV STUDENT AID PROGRAMS
The Department of Education on Thursday released its long-awaited set of new regulations on Title IV student financial aid program integrity, which cover a broad range of areas including credit-hour definition, state authorization, misrepresentation and incentive compensation, among other issues.

Read More:
Education Department Releases Final Rules for Title IV Student Aid Programs (ACE.edu)
(Almost) Final Rules (Inside Higher Ed)


DUKE PROFESSOR AND ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL TO CO-CHAIR WHITE HOUSE GROUP ON INTERNET PRIVACY
Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy and Duke Law Professor Christopher Schroeder has been appointed to run a new White House working group focused on the internet and privacy.

Read More:
Assistant Attorney General To Co-Chair White House Group on Internet Privacy (mainjustice.com)


ANNUAL COLLEGE BOARD REPORT SHOWS INCREASES IN TUITION, AID
The College Board on Thursday released its annual reports, Trends in Student Aid and Trends in College Pricing, which found that although tuition and fees are up in every sector, record increases in federal student aid during the previous year have helped offset the actual costs of higher education for students and families.

Read More:
As College Fees Climb, Aid Does Too (NY Times)


DUKE GOES TO DC
DNA, the wonders of dry ice and Dan Ariely's decision-making investigations were among Duke exhibits and activities that attracted thousands of visitors in Washington D.C. over the weekend at the two-day inaugural USA Science and Engineering Expo. Forty university students, faculty and staff showcased Duke research in colorful booths located on Freedom Plaza, near the Washington Monument.

Read More:
Duke Goest to DC (DukeNews)


TED KAUFMAN, THE TEMPORARY SENATOR
A Time Magazine interview with Duke Law Senior Lecturing Fellow and Senator Ted Kaufman:
A few hours after Christine O'Donnell, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Delaware, learned, to her surprise, in the midst of a debate, that the U.S. Constitution contains a provision that separates church and state, I sat down for lunch with the man she would replace, Senator Ted Kaufman. Most Americans have never heard of this man, but they know who he is: the perpetual Hollywood political fantasy, a Mr. Smith who has gone to Washington and, freed from the shackles of electoral politics, has simply done what he thinks is right. Kaufman was appointed to fill out Joe Biden's Senate term in 2009.

Read More:
Ted Kaufman, The Temporary Senator (Time.com)


VIDEO: SENATOR KAUFMAN DISCUSSES SENATE'S ROLE AND CHALLENGES ON THE DAILY SHOW
Senator and Senior Lecturing Fellow Ted Kaufman guests on The Daily Show. 

Read More:
Kaufman on the Daily Show (Daily Show.com)


ARE YOU A CONSTITUTIONAL SCHOLAR? HERE'S A TEST.
Walter Dellinger, Duke Law professor and former solicitor general in the Clinton Administration, appeared on NPR's 'Morning Edition' this week to talk about constitutional arguments heard on the campaign trail.

Read More:
Are You a Constitutional Scholar? (NPR.org)


NLRB STEPS TOWARD GRAD UNIONS
The National Labor Relations Board, in a 2-to-1 decision, has edged away from its recent history of rejecting unionization rights for graduate teaching assistants at private universities.

In the decision, the NLRB found that the graduate students at New York University who are currently trying to unionize with the United Auto Workers deserve a full hearing on the merits of their organizing drive. In so doing, the majority of the NLRB reversed a regional director's decision that the UAW could not organize graduate students at NYU because of a 2004 NLRB ruling in a case involving Brown University graduate students.

Read More:
NLRB Steps Toward Grad Unions (InsideHigherEd)


FAFSA INCREASES MAY BE SLOWING
More students have submitted FAFSAs in 2010-11 than in 2009-10, but the growth in the number of submitted FAFSAs is slowing, according to analysis of U.S. Department of Education data by Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Finaid.org and FastWeb.com.

Kantrowitz reports that roughly 1.2 million (17.5 percent) more FAFSAs were submitted in the first quarter of 2010-11 than during the same quarter in 2009-2010. In the second quarter of 2010-11, 630,000 (12.3 percent) more FAFSAs were submitted than in the second quarter of 2009-10. In the third quarter of 2010-11, only 49,000 (1.3 percent) more FAFSAs were submitted than in the third quarter of 2009-10.

Read More:
FAFSA Increases May be Slowing (NASFAA.org)