Free speech on campus

By Steve Greenberg
Published on September 11, 2008

New UC president Yudof is part of a dynamic duo

By Tom Tugend
Published on March 23, 2008

Mark Yudof, chancellor of the University of Texas since 2002, is to be formally confirmed by the UC Regents within a week. As such, he will take the helm of the world's leading public research university, with 10 campuses, including Berkeley and UCLA, some 220,000 students and an $18-billion budget. Even more noteworthy for the Jewish community is the resumÃ(c) of his wife, Judy Yudof. She is the immediate past international president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, representing 760 synagogues, the first woman to hold the post in the organization's 89-year history.

Choose Grrl Power over beauty pageants, grrlz

By Rabbi Rona Shapiro
Published on March 1, 2007

By many measures, Jewish girls are thriving. They are leading extracurricular activities, bettering the world around them, excelling in sports and studying at elite universities. At the same time such success often comes at a cost for girls.

Fight Against Campus Bias Gets Boost

By Morton A. Klein
Published on May 4, 2006

If you're a Jewish college student, you no longer have to tolerate anti-Semitism or Israel-bashing on your campus. You are protected under our federal civil rights laws. These were the landmark conclusions of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, an independent federal agency that analyzes information about discrimination and reports its findings and recommendations to the president and Congress.

Superintendant Romer Wants to End Term Early

By Howard Blume
Published on February 9, 2006

Los Angeles schools Supt. Roy Romer, the central figure in efforts to improve local schools, has quietly informed top school officials that he would like to leave the job by September, some nine months before his contract expires.

Title VI Debate Focus on Resource Centers

By JTA Staff
Published on October 27, 2005

U.S. lawmakers and academics are engaged in fierce debate over the renewal of Title VI of the Higher Education Act. Under Title VI, select universities get federal funding and prestigious designation as national resource centers for the study of places and languages the government deems vital for meeting global challenges.

Preschool Teaching Methods Stir Debate

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on August 25, 2005

Once upon a time, children didn't step into a classroom until kindergarten. There, 5-year-olds got their first real introduction to ABCs and 123s, colors and shapes and how to share and take turns.

A Student’s Plea

By Seth Lutske
Published on December 23, 2004

Often I find myself staring at walls or lying on my bed staring at the ceiling, blank-minded. But I am not one who has the luxury to be blank-minded. There is too much to do -- not by will, but by force.

Adults-In-Training Hopes and Fears

By Jane Ulman
Published on December 11, 2003

"Why are you having a bar or bat mitzvah?" Larry Kligman, dean of students at Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School in Northridge, asks the school's 65 seventh-graders.

Jewish Studies Popular With Non-Jews Around the World

By Tom Tugend
Published on December 26, 2002

Contrary to widespread fears of a rising global wave of anti-Semitism, "we, as Jews, have many more friends than we think we have," said professor Lawrence H. Schiffman, president of the Association of Jewish Studies, which recently held its 34th annual meeting in Los Angeles.

It’s Not That Easy Being Gifted

By Sharon Schatz Rosenthal
Published on October 24, 2002

Just as most day schools are not equipped to cater to the needs of special education children, most do not have resources for academically advanced students. While there is a legal mandate enabling special education students to get services through public schools, there is no such mandate for gifted children in California.

Physician, Heal The Soul

By Mike Levy
Published on April 18, 2002

Physicians played a significant role in the Holocaust, and today's doctors can learn from the ethical failures of that period, according to an article recently published by Dr. Joel Geiderman, co-chair of the emergency department (ED) of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

In "Physician Complicity in the Holocaust: Historical Review and Reflections on Emergency Medicine in the 21st Century," Geiderman sets out a series of moral failures he attributes to German physicians before, during and after WWII. Published in the March issue of Academic Emergency Medicine journal, the two-part article enumerates ethical challenges requiring greater vigilance from today's physicians.

Balancing the Scales

By Andrea Adelson
Published on January 17, 2002

What is the duty to assist those in danger under Jewish law compared to American law? The question is no mere academic exercise to Neil H. Cogan, dean of the Whittier Law School, who spoke on the topic last week as the inaugural speaker of the recently formed Jewish Lawyers of Orange County.

More than 50 lawyers attended the Newport Beach luncheon at the Pacific Club, the second Jewish professional group organized under the Jewish Federation of Orange County. In addition to a 10-person advisory panel, the group's honorary chair members include Todd Spitzer, a county supervisor; Joel Kuperberg, Irvine's city attorney, and Kenneth Wolfson, counsel to developers of the Foothill Ranch and Rancho Santa Margarita.

Gordis, Alexander Leave UJ for Posts in Israel

By Orit Arfa
Published on January 28, 1999

Dr. Robert Wexler, president of the University of Judaism, has good reason to believe that the spirit of Zionism is alive at the institution.

Conference Explores Peace Through Education

By Beverly Gray
Published on October 22, 1998

Israeli-Palestinian coexistence and how to achieve it: That was the topic on everybody's lips when the 24th Annual Academic Conference convened at the Century Plaza Hotel last weekend. The panel, sponsored by American Friends of the Hebrew University, was followed by a luncheon featuring keynote speaker Dennis Prager, the KABC radio host best known for his "Religion on the Line" program.

Bilingual Blues

By Joel Kotkin
Published on June 19, 1997

Here we go again. For the third time in four years, Californians are about to be treated to another racially tinged slugfest, this time over bilingual education.