The Famous Grouse
28 February 2012 Leave a comment
The Chronicle of Higher Education uses me as a foil in a profile of my colleague Dan Cohen.
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Can Professors Use Private E-Mail for Most Communications?
8 January 2012 Leave a comment
In an interview marking his ascendancy to the AHA presidency, William Cronon tells the Chronicle of Higher Education, “I now use my university e-mail address only for communicating with students and for doing administrative work for the university.”
Sarah Palin was criticized for allegedly conducing public business on a private, Yahoo! account. Could Cronon face similar challenges? And how often are Bill Cronon and Sarah Palin mentioned in the same paragraph?
Forthcoming: To Promote the General Welfare
6 December 2011 1 Comment
I have a chapter on transportation in the forthcoming book, To Promote the General Welfare: The Case for Big Government, edited by Steven Conn. The book is scheduled for July 2012.
Kojo Nnamdi Show: “Rethinking the “Common Rule”
28 November 2011 Leave a comment
On November 21 I had the pleasure of joining Jerry Menikoff of OHRP and Kathy Hudson of NIH on an episode of the Kojo Nnamdi Show entitled, “Rethinking the “Common Rule”: The Ethics of Research with Human Subjects.” We received many thoughtful, informed comments and questions.
Often is heard a discouraging word
14 November 2011 Leave a comment
Larry Cebula has posted an “Open Letter to My Students: No, You Cannot be a Professor,” explaining that “The reason you are not going to be a professor is because that job is going away, and yet doctoral programs continue to produce as many new Ph.D.s as ever. It is a simple calculation of odds–you are not going to win the lottery, you are not going to be struck by a meteorite, you are not going to be a professor. All of these things will happen to someone, somewhere, but none of them will happen to you.”
(h/t Dan Cohen)
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Guest Blogging at the Aporetic
3 November 2011 Leave a comment
My colleague Mike O’Malley graciously gave me the chance to argue with him on his own blog, the Aporetic. My post, “More Babies in That Bathwater,” appeared on Monday, and Mike’s reply, “There Can Be More Than One,” appeared yesterday. To sum things up, Mike thinks that the questions facing scholarly publication are whether they will be print or digital, and whether peer review will by anonymous or signed. I think the real issue is whether editors will be paid or unpaid.
Questioning Privacy Protections in Research
25 October 2011 Leave a comment
I am quoted in Patricia Cohen, “Questioning Privacy Protections in Research,” New York Times, 24 October 2011.
Virginia’s History Textbooks Still Aren’t Accurate
5 October 2011 Leave a comment
Published: “Virginia’s History Textbooks Still Aren’t Accurate—The Publishers Need to Get Historians Involved,” History News Network, 3 October 2011.
Wary eyes on Dulles rail project’s bottom line
3 October 2011 Leave a comment
Dana Hedgpeth, “Wary eyes on Dulles rail project’s bottom line,” Washington Post, 1 October 2011.
The original Metro system was estimated to cost $2.5 billion in 1969, but it came in at $3.8 billion — not counting inflation, according to Zachary M. Schrag, associate professor of history at George Mason University and author of “The Great Society Subway,” a history of Metro.
“It would be somewhat surprising for a major rail transit project to be completed on budget,” Schrag said. “Most major projects of any kind go over budget, that includes road projects, weapons systems, space programs, stadiums.”
Typically, overruns hit because it is hard to predict the cost of such expenses as materials and the relocation of utilities in a construction area, Schrag said. “It is kind of a vicious spiral where people low-ball the estimates to get their project approved,” he said.
Virginia approves revised history texts
3 October 2011 Leave a comment
Kevin Sieff, “Virginia approves revised history texts,” Washington Post, 30 September 2011.
“I don’t have much confidence in these textbooks,” said Zachary Schrag, a history professor at George Mason University who enumerated his concerns in a four-page memo to the state.
