Entries for May 07, 2007

The presidents of 12 liberal arts colleges have signed a letter critical of the U.S.News & World Report rankings, saying that those numbers are "misleading and do not serve well the interest of prospective students in finding a college or university that is well suited to their education beyond high school." The 12 schools have pledged not to complete the "peer assessment" section of the magazine's annual survey, which accounts for 25 percent of an institution's ranking. The letter, which was released to the public on May 5, has been sent to hundreds of liberal arts college presidents, asking them to join in the protest.

The signatories of the letter also agreed to refrain from using U.S. News rankings as part of their schools' promotional efforts. Many schools frequently tout such rankings to entice students, parents, and trustees.

But some of the schools that signed the letter opposing the peer assessment survey still mention the ranking:

• Dickinson College used U.S. News in its promotional materials last year. The school's career center still directs students toward the U.S. News Best Graduate School rankings to help them decide which school is right for them.
• Marlboro quotes U.S. News on its "promotional quotes" Web page.
• Southwestern University touts its rankings twice in its parent's handbook under the "distinguishing moments" section. It also lists various rankings shifts in its institutional history. Southwestern President Jake B. Schrum criticized the U.S. News rankings in an op-ed for Inside Higher Education on Aug. 19, 2005, but touted the rankings in an op-ed for the Austin-American Statesman on Nov. 24, 2005.

--Alex Kingsbury

GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani's first major fundraising letter, a copy of which was provided to U.S. News Whispers Editor Paul Bedard, beckons party activists with a call for victory in Iraq and Afghanistan and a promise to go national with his successful programs that fixed New York City.

"In this campaign I know I will be tested," he said in the four-page letter. "I respect the competitive nature of campaigns. I am, after all, from New York." The letter seeks contributions of $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, or $1,000.Donors are rewarded with a "Team Rudy" membership card, which reads: "By activating my Team Rudy member card, I accept that our Party is at its best when we seize the opportunity to lead, when we are confident in control of our own destiny, and when we make certain we have a powerful national defense in a still dangerous world."

Corrected May 8, 12:54 p.m. ET: The name of Dmitry Chebotayev was misspelled in an earlier version of this post.

Dmitry Chebotayev, a photographer for the Russian edition of Newsweek, was killed in a roadside bombing in Diyala province on Sunday, the Russian government has announced. U.S. News reporter Alex Kingsbury met Chebotayev in Baghdad in early March.

A veteran war photographer at age 29, Chebotayev said that whenever he traveled to Iraq he would tell his mother he was going to Chechnya so he wouldn't worry her. He was also helpful to journalists passing through checkpoints in Baghdad's International Zone, by speaking Russian with the soldiers from the Georgian Army who took over some of the posts this spring.

In an interview with Pentagon reporters late last week, the new deputy director for operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that he has not yet observed any repercussions from the delay in passage of an emergency armed services spending bill that President Bush vetoed last week. "From my foxhole, I have not seen any impact" on operations in Iraq or Afghanistan or on units that are preparing to go, said Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins. He echoed hopes that the Iraqi government adhere to its commitment to be politically neutral while it carries out the Baghdad security plan and that the pace of the Iraqi security force contributions speeds up. "Well, I can tell you I think everybody wants things to move a little quicker," Wiggins said.Wiggins also said that Sunni insurgents continue to target Iraqi leaders, but the "surge" of U.S. troops in Iraq is making progress -- though, he added, "It's often not flashy." In the city of Ramadi, troops, he said, have found nearly as many arms caches in the first four months of this year than they did all of last year. But, he added, "there continues to be a rise in the number of high-profile vehicle IED and suicide attacks on soft targets," or Iraqi civilians. Wiggins did not comment on reports that the Army is looking into replacing almost one for one its humvees for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), which are far more effective in absorbing the impact of roadside bombs. --Anna Mulrine

Updated: 1:13 p.m. ETAt least 10 people died when tornadoes ripped through Kansas this weekend. The Hutchinson (Kan.) News has short bios of the dead. (Video) Refinery problems are mostly to blame for skyrocketing gas prices, according to oil industry analyst Trilby Lundberg. Gas prices climbed to a record national average of $3.07 per gallon for regular gas in his most recent survey, the AP reports. Great Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is the guest of honor tonight at the first white tie dinner that President Bush has hosted at the White House. The Bush administration's website has all the details. The Washington Post has the social gossip and the website for WTOP radio reports on the inevitable traffic snarlups for the locals. Several British news outlets call the event "a test" for Bush. (Video) In other news from across the pond, French conservative Nicolas Sarkozy has won the presidency in his country. (Video)--Ryan Thornburg