GENDER GAP: A new report by four UC Davis professors has found that despite an unusual hiring wave and a steady increase in the number of women in the doctorate applicant pool, UC still lags in hiring women. From a high of 37 percent in 1993-94, the proportion of women hired for the faculty dropped to 25 percent systemwide in 1999. In 2003-04, the latest year for which figures have been released, the study said women made up about 36 percent of UC faculty hires. …

BOOSTING DIVERSITY: Harvard University plans to spend at least $50 million over the next decade to create a more diverse academic community in all disciplines, including throughout the sciences. President Lawrence Summers last week announced the program a few months after his comments about the ability of women to do science, which triggered a national debate. The initiative will tackle all aspects of gender and minority issues, from the safety of women working late at night at research labs to the need for a high-level advocate within the Harvard administration. …

WOMEN IN SCIENCE: More than 6,000 scientists, engineers and other experts are urging Congress to increase opportunities for women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. A letter presented to Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and George Allen, R-Va., says Congress should work to break down barriers that make it harder for women to fully participate in mathematics, engineering and other hard sciences. "Increasing the ranks of our nation's math and science experts is key to technological leadership in the world and to national security here at home," said Carol Muller, president and founder of MentorNet, an advocacy group for women in science and engineering. …

DECISION REVERSED: Ignacio Chapela, a UC Berkeley environmental science professor who criticized a 1998 university agreement between Berkeley and the Novartis Corporation — a biotech company now part of Syngenta — had his tenure decision reversed last week. Originally, Chapela was denied tenure despite support from his department and dean. The decision to award Chapela tenure came shortly after the professor sued the university in state court. According to the online news site Inside Higher Ed, Chapela was not sure why Berkeley had changed its mind. "I have no idea what happened." The issue arose when Chapela expressed his opposition to the biotech company providing millions of dollars to support research in Berkeley's College of Natural Resources in return for first rights to commercialize basic research breakthroughs. …

TENURE DOUBTS: Victor Davis Hanson, a classicist and historian at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, recently wrote an op-ed for the Washington Times in which he questioned the efficacy of tenure. "No equivalent for chief executive officers or for dishwashers exists. Politicians, lawyers and others who take unpopular stands also lack guaranteed jobs. Doctors do not enjoy them. They can lose their posts, despite 30 years of reputable work, because of a single missed diagnosis … Why does this strange practice linger on?" He recommends renewable five-year agreements outlining performance goals for professors. …

ETHNICITY NOT A FACTOR: The most comprehensive review ever performed of UC Berkeley admissions found little support for criticisms that some students are accepted because of ethnicity or other nonacademic factors. The study by UC Berkeley sociology Professor Michael Hout, commissioned by the Berkeley campus, followed complaints by former UC Board of Regents Chairman John Moores that UC Berkeley was thwarting Proposition 209's ban on affirmative action in college admissions in California. …

ACADEMIC FREEDOM: This year, lawmakers in at least 14 states have introduced bills that would limit what instructors can discuss in class and establish grievance procedures for students who take offense, according to USA Today. A federal resolution has been introduced in the U.S. House. Legislators in Tennessee, Ohio, Maine and Florida have summoned students to hearings. In Florida, one bill has the endorsement of two House committees. A similar one was recently frozen in the California state legislature. …

POST-9/11 PROBLEM: American universities should do better at recruiting international students who seek to study science and technology, says a report released last week by the National Academies. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the report cites growing competition for those students among foreign institutions, declining enrollments of foreigners in this country, and the perception since Sept. 11, 2001, that the United States does not welcome foreign scholars. Noting that foreign universities have increased their efforts to retain their students, the report urges the U.S. State Department to create a visa category specifically for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and exempt the holders of those visas from having to show that they intend to return to their home countries. ...

LANGUAGE ISSUES: UC Berkeley will no longer offer a variety of language, drama and other arts and humanities classes in the fall. Due to state budget cuts, the university will eliminate several introductory language classes, including some Spanish and Arabic sections, at least one acting class and several other courses in the College of Letters and Science. — By Clifton B. Parker