The Chronicle Group formulates policy on intellectual property � If the plan is passed, faculty considering selling courses to online universities would consult a dean or department chair. By TREY DAVIS The Chronicle
As the national demand for online college courses grows, so does the need for professors who can create and teach these courses. However, this trend creates potential conflicts ofinterests when a professor already working for a physical university also devotes time to creating a course for an online one. A committee offaculty members has spent the past few months investigating this dilemma and preparing a new University policy that will be discussed at tomorrow’s Academic Council meeting. This policy stipulates that all fulltime Duke faculty wishing to create and regularly teach a non-Duke online course must first inform their dean or department chair, who will then review the proposal “to ensure that no conflict of interests or commitment will arise.” If the policy is implemented, Duke will establish a new intellectual property committee to interpret and administer this policy.
The question of Duke professors selling courses online is one that has never been directly addressed before, said David Lange, a professor of law and intellectual property rights expert. “Faculty members own what they create in the absence of some policy to the contrary,” said Lange, a member of the committee. As the Internet has expanded in the last five years, Lange said, there has been a lot of debate at universities over who owns the courses that some professors sell online. “Duke is engaged in that inquiry right now. I think the process has been so far very productive and useful,” he said. Lange noted that of the three main laws that deal with intellectual property—the Copyright Act of 1976, the Trademark Act of 1946 and the Patent Act of 1952—which do not directly apply to professors selling their courses online. Lange also stressed that the issue is not solely about who owns the material, but about conflicts of interest. Legally, there is nothing in place to stop a professor from selling a course to an online university while working somewhere else, but Lange said it would be perfectly reasonable for a university to exercise “some responsible” control. “The best way to do that is to deal with it as a conflict of interest problem,” Lange said. See INTELLECTUAL
Tipper in town First Lady hopeful Tipper Gore visited the Triangle Tuesday evening to discuss her husband’s platform and the important role young people play in the democratic process. See story, page 12.
PROPERTY on page 15
Controversy puzzles Indigo Girls Award nominees By NORBERT SCHURER
largely untenured
The Chronicle
When the Last Day of Classes schedule was announced, some students complained that the Indigo Girls do not appeal to them—or to a large segment of the student body. But Indigo Girl Emily Saliers has an appeal of her own: “Just open your hearts up.” Intrigued by the campus reaction to the announcement, Saliers points out: “Our whole message is about celebrating diversity and respect among people and creatures, and also having a good time.” Saliers believes her band should not be reduced to just one aspect. “To me, we’re a lot of different things, and a lot of the music just has to do with exploring issues of life. There are a lot of songs that are sing-along songs and feel-good songs,” she says, adding that the music usually resonates with any audience. At the same time, she concedes that the Indigo Girls can easily be pigeonholed.
“We’re aligned with a certain set of politics that may attract a certain audience,” says Saliers, who,
along with fellow band member Amy Ray, is known for her liberal activism.
By JAMES HERRIOTT The Chronicle It would be very odd if the Los Angeles Lakers
LAST DAY OF
CLASSES CONCERT ...QELD£.B_D.E..AC.XS
7:30 p.m. Page Auditorium* Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Agents of Good Roots
Michelle Malone Indigo Girls (acoustic)
TICKETS; Distributed in front of > Campus Council plans to have a live feed piped into Page from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. (any remainthe Cl Quad ing tickets distributed at 6 p.m.) •
For example, the Indigo Girls’
1994 hit “Least Complicated” addresses the two women’s recogni-
tion of their homosexuality. But Saliers adds that their audience goes beyond what some may
suspect. “We have a large gay following, for obvious reasons, [but] they don’t make up the largest percentage of our fans,” she says. “We have more
Report examines Health System, page 6
�
venue dunged by bud dw to indament weather
women fans than men fans, and we have a large college following and a
growing high school following.” Regardless ofwho is in the audience, Saliers says the band enjoys playing live. “Our experience with the crowd has just been a joyful experience,” she says. “I can’t imagine really alienating anybody unless they See
shelled out millions to a benchwarmer and offered their MVPs and all-stars the lowest salary possible. But many feel that for one reason or another this is how the University treats its best teachers. Ofthe 33 people nominated by students for the 1999-2000 Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award, only 12 were tenured professors—the others were graduate students, visiting professors, assistant professors, research professors, professors ofthe practice and lecturers. This pattern of student preference for younger, non-tenured teachers raises age-old questions as to whether the tenure system, in its attempt to promote quality research, stifles quality teaching. William Chafe, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, said the results this year were an aberration, not a trend. “I think our tenure-track faculty care deeply about teaching,” he said. But Associate Director of Alumni Affairs Barbara Pattishall, who oversees the award, said it is a general trend that most of the nominees are not tenured professors. “That’s always the case,” she said, but declined to comment further. Award nominee Celia Bonaventura, a professor in the Nicholas School of the Environment, said the tenure system does have a negative impact on
INDIGO GIRLS on page 28
Committee
suggests regulating
See TEACHING on page 26 �
mass e-mails, page 8