Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Jennifer Nolan

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 10d

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

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Deborah Lynn @mrsdeborahlynn.bsky.social · 29d

apnews.com/article/covi...
Governors of Arizona, Illinois, Maine and North Carolina on Friday joined the growing list of Democratic officials who have signed orders intended to ensure most residents can receive COVID-19 vaccines at pharmacies without individual prescriptions.

States are taking steps to ease access to COVID-19 vaccines as they await federal recommendation

The governors of Arizona, Illinois, Maine and North Carolina have signed orders intended to make COVID-19 vaccines available in pharmacies for people without individual prescriptions.

apnews.com

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Natalia Cecire @ncecire.bsky.social · Sep 10

lot of people out here laboring under the misapprehension that uni is just further high school and there is some higher authority on content than the professor who is a live, working researcher in the field

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WUNC News @wunc.org · Sep 9

Anti-DEI groups claim they belong to the public. University leaders say they are faculty members' intellectual property. A look at the copyright debate.

www.wunc.org/education/20...

Who owns a public university syllabus?

Anti-DEI groups claim they belong to the public. University leaders say they are faculty members' intellectual property. A look at the copyright debate.

www.wunc.org

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John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · Aug 28

My job now is to go school to school, university to university trying to help them sort through the challenge of teaching in a world with AI and the first thing I recommend to improve the teaching of writing is cut the number of students per instructor in half. No one is going to do that, though.

John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · Aug 28

I understand why people in education say they're turning to this technology because they have too much to do and they think it can ease the burden, but this is not an AI problem. It's a labor problem that the AI is only going to make worse over time.

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Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · Aug 4

say it again:

4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities

demolishing higher education is economic sabotage

Anise K. Strong @anisekstrong.bsky.social · Aug 4

It's important to note here that we're not just talking about faculty & university staff. 100s of U.S. colleges are in towns or small cities where they form the major industry & lifeblood of the community. Loss of students -> loss of rent $, restaurant $, bars, bookstores, gaming stores...

Steve Herman @w7voa.journa.host.ap.brid.gy · Aug 3

The US could see a 30-40% decline in new international student enrollment, resulting in nearly $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer American jobs. https://www.nafsa.org/fall-2025-international-student-enrollment-outlook-and-economic-impact

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Erin Gretzinger @eringretzinger.bsky.social · Aug 2

BREAKING: @theassemblync.bsky.social obtained an email in which UNC-Chapel Hill's ex-provost said Chancellor Lee Roberts agreed to the Board of Trustees’ controversial move to delay tenure votes for financial reasons.

From me & @themhartman.bsky.social

www.theassemblync.com/education/hi...

Provost: UNC-CH Chancellor Signed Off On Plan To Delay Tenure

Chris Clemens wrote in an email obtained by The Assembly that Chancellor Lee Roberts agreed to delay tenure votes for financial reasons.

www.theassemblync.com

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Jeff Melnick @melnickjeffrey1.bsky.social · Aug 1

"When the first of August came round, the Professor realized he had pleasantly trifled away nearly two months at a task which should have taken little more than a week."

--Willa Cather, 1925 and timeless

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Carlos Noreña @carlosfnorena.bsky.social · Jul 15

I'm entering my 25th year in the job, having taught for 4 years at Yale and 20 at Berkeley.

The clearest trendline in my experience (fwiw) is the *dramatically* diminished willingness or capacity of undergrads to read. I used to assign 150 pp./week. Closer to 40 now—and even that is aspirational.

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Jennifer Nolan @jnolan.bsky.social · Jul 11

(Ostensibly, my youngest daughter’s middle name is Alice because that was my grandmother’s middle name and her paternal grandmother’s first name, but I can’t say this Alice - or Carroll’s at any rate - wasn’t a factor too)

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Jennifer Nolan @jnolan.bsky.social · Jul 10

And of course our site director, Anne Margaret! @annemargaretdaniel.bsky.social

Anne Margaret Daniel 🌻 (@annemargaretdaniel.bsky.social)

Teacher, reader, writer, editor, music lover, rescue dogs. The New School University, NYC. Working on an edition of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald's letters and a Bob Dylan book. https://www.gofundme.com/f/pl...

annemargaretdaniel.bsky.social

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Jennifer Nolan @jnolan.bsky.social · Jul 10

Certainly true a couple weeks ago at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society conference in New York!
@eetempleton.bsky.social @kirkcurnutt.bsky.social @pipmcgowan.bsky.social @sarahchurchwell.bsky.social @rosstangedal.bsky.social
(& many others!)

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durhamcounty @durhamcounty.bsky.social · Jul 7

This morning, we're seeing a number of road closures due to high water. Please be advised that the following roads are currently impacted:

Portions of Old Oxford Rd
Moores Mill Rd
Roxboro Rd near the Person County Line
John Jones Rd
Snow Hill Rd

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Jennifer Nolan @jnolan.bsky.social · Jun 7

Yes, she knows to sit on my left, but there are only 4 of us. OTOH, my mother came from a family of 5 children, 3 of whom were lefties, so holiday dinners always involved a complex seating chart!

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Jennifer Nolan @jnolan.bsky.social · Jun 7

I, a righty, didn’t learn about left-handed scissors until my left-handed daughter was 4, and she spend the week after I bought her a pair delightedly using them on anything I’d let her!

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · Jun 4

The child in this trustee’s scenario? Faculty. Who submitted their tenure files for consideration in accordance with the terms of their employment. Both sides have a responsibility in that contract, one to submit and one to review.

I hope everyone really hears this.

Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · Jun 4

UNC's board has belatedly confirmed faculty's tenure awards, but made some incredibly alarming remarks along the way. On public outcry to the board's silence, one trustee wrote, "It is not good governance to give your child a cookie every time they lay on the floor and scream that they want one."

Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · Jun 4

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

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Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · Jun 4

UNC's board has belatedly confirmed faculty's tenure awards, but made some incredibly alarming remarks along the way. On public outcry to the board's silence, one trustee wrote, "It is not good governance to give your child a cookie every time they lay on the floor and scream that they want one."

Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · Jun 4

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

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The Assembly @theassemblync.bsky.social · May 29

Some UNC-Chapel Hill faculty say they are concerned about a recent Board of Trustees decision—or, rather, non-decision—on faculty tenure and promotion cases.

www.theassemblync.com/education/hi...

UNC-Chapel Hill Has Delayed Tenure Votes in Most Departments This Spring

UNC-Chapel Hill trustees didn't approve tenure cases outside of health-related schools at the last two meetings.

www.theassemblync.com

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Eric Muller @elmunc.bsky.social · May 24

Something's up (down?) at #UNC.

The Bd of Trustees, which has authority over tenure decisions, tabled all at its March mtg & re-tabled all from the College of Arts & Sciences & the non-health professional schools (Law, Biz, etc) at its next mtg. All w/o explanation.

#AcademicSky #academicfreedom

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Jennifer Nolan @jnolan.bsky.social · May 22

Took 115+ years, but the world Forster imagined in “The Machine Stops” is finally upon us

www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~koehl/Teach...

Though I’m an Americanist, I’ve begun teaching it in most classes

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · May 1

Well yes that’s the plan. Also, not a secret. Also, never been so close to achieving it before.

Wealthy, powerful people are generally such because they never, ever let a good crisis pass without breaking their enemies and stealing their stuff.

Dr. Garrett Schumann @garrt.bsky.social · May 1

I've been thinking that, if there really is a big recession (as it looks like there will be), the resulting conditions will enable universities to get closer to their goal of fully eliminating expensive tenure-track faculty in favor of large pools of less expensive adjunct instructors

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Jennifer Nolan @jnolan.bsky.social · Apr 12

Catching up on this week’s #VibeCheck & reminded of this quote from firebrand, and fellow Texan, Molly Ivins:

“So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it.”

open.spotify.com/episode/0U6q...

If You Don’t Want to Be Edged, Get Out of My Bed

Vibe Check · Episode

open.spotify.com

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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Apr 10

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic “The Great Gatsby” turns 100 today. Revisit a 1926 Profile of the author, who described himself as “one of the most notorious drinkers of the younger generation.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald, That Sad Young Man

John C. Mosher’s 1926 Profile of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald: “All was quiet on the Riviera, and then the Fitzgeralds arrived.”

www.newyorker.com

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Jennifer Nolan @jnolan.bsky.social · Apr 10

Happy Gatsby day to those who celebrate! Remarkably relevant for 100 years and counting

Original dust jacket of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, published 100 years ago today

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Sarah Churchwell @sarahchurchwell.bsky.social · Apr 5

The Great Gatsby turns 100 next week and in honor of its centenary I’ve written a piece that says something I’ve been wanting to say for a while now. www.ft.com/content/dd6f...

How Gatsby foretold Trump’s America

A century after it was published, F Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece is more relevant than ever. Sarah Churchwell on the trouble with ‘careless people’

www.ft.com

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