PUBLISHING: The University of California Press will soon publish a book that claims famed attorney Alan Dershowitz inappropriately lifted material from another author when writing the book The Case for Israel. DePaul University political science professor Norman Finkelstein makes the charge in his new book, Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History, due out in late August. In letters to California officials, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dershowitz threatened to sue for libel. The governor has declined to intervene because of the "clear, academic freedom issue it presents." ...

FRATERNITY PUNISHED: A UC Berkeley fraternity whose members hazed a recruit by shooting him at least 30 times with a pellet gun in April has been suspended. The Pi Kappa Phi chapter now cannot rush pledges, barbecue with alumni after football games or partake in sorority mixers for a year. University officials said this represented the most aggressive discipline against a fraternity in recent years. ...

HOUSING CONCERNS: The California Coastal Commission's approval of a 320-unit graduate student housing complex at UC Santa Barbara means groundbreaking this fall in what was described as a crucial project to ease the housing shortage there. University officials have long complained that top-notch faculty is hard to get and keep because of soaring housing prices in Santa Barbara. ...

NEW MEDIA: Yahoo is teaming with UC Berkeley to launch a new laboratory to explore innovations in areas such as Internet search technology, social media and mobile media. The founding director of the Yahoo Research Labs-Berkeley, opening in August, is Marc Davis, an assistant professor at UC Berkeley's School of Information Management and Systems. He is the director of the school's cutting-edge "Garage Cinema Research" group that focuses on creating daily media content. ...

NOT-SO-FREE PRESS: According to the Associated Press, a local alternative newspaper in Chico pulled a critical article about the California State University campus from some copies of its "Goin' Chico" city guide after university officials threatened not to distribute the guide in its student orientation packets. The Chico News & Review replaced an article about Cal State Chico's reputation as a party school with a welcome address from the university's president. ...

ROTC UNDER FIRE: Activists in San Francisco are organizing a non-binding ballot measure that would encourage schools and colleges in the city to bar military recruiters, according to the Associated Press. The "College, Not Combat" measure could be on the ballots this fall. ...

HACKED: As many as 270,000 applicants to the University of Southern California may have recently had some of their private information seen by a hacker. While university officials believe that few files were actually viewed, they are increasing security and trying to notify those who may be at risk. ...

FEMALE HISTORIANS: In 1979, women made up only 16 percent of new history doctorates, and in the 20 years that followed, that percentage rose to 40. But a new American Historical Association report notes that progress has been limited. The report, prepared by Elizabeth Lunbeck, a Princeton historian, says that by 1988, 39 percent of assistant professors of history were women. But by 1999, only 18 percent of full professors of history were women. ...

GAY FILM EFFORT: The UCLA Film and Television Archive wants to create the world's largest publicly accessible collection of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender films. It has joined forces with Outfest, a gay film festival in Los Angeles. The program will begin with Outfest's existing library of more than 3,300 preview tapes and discs, which will be transferred to the UCLA archive. — By Clifton B. Parker