Higher Ed Law Prof Blog

From one of our readers

Dear Prof. Castagnera:

I very much enjoy the Higher Ed Law Prof Blog. I'm taking the
liberty of sending you a link to a paper I just posted on SSRN that
your blog's readers might find interesting, called "Universities as
First Amendment Institutions: Some Easy Answers and Hard
Questions." It's at this link:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=966312. Hope you enjoy it.

Best,

Paul Horwitz

College Students More Narcissistic

A study of college students indicates that today's college students are more self-centered and narcissistic than earlier generations.  The study, the Nacissistic Personality Inventory, evaluated the responses of more than 16,000 college students in the U.S. between the years 1982 and 2006.  In 2006, two-thirds of the students surveyed scored above average on narcissism;  that was 30% more than the students surveyed in 1982.    The NPI survey asks the students to respond to statements such as "If I ruled the world, it would be a better place,:  and "I think I am a special person."  Professor Jean Twenge, of San Diego State University, lead author of the study, blamed the "self-esteem" movement that started in the 1980s;  she also said that current technology such as MySpace and YouTube encourages attention-seeking and fuels the increase in narcissism.  Prof. W. Keith Campbell of the University of Georgia, a co-author of the study, stated that one antidote to the increasing narcissism could be less indulgent and more authoritative parenting.  An Associated Press article about the study can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17349066/

AFL-CIO and UAW File Complaint with ILO over Denial of Right to Organize by Grad Students

The AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers  filed a complaint with the International Labor Organization on Feb. 26th.  The complaint alleged that the 2004 National Labor Relations Board decison in Brown Unversity, 342 N.L.R.B. No. 42 (2004) violates the rights of workers to freedom of association  and collective bargaining  as protected by ILO Conventions # 87 (asserting the right of workers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing) and # 98 ( exhorting governments to take measures to promote voluntary negotiation of collective agreements regulating terms and conditions of employment) .  In Brown, the NLRB reversed an earlier decision, New York University, 332 N.L.R.B. No. 111 (2000) that unanimously held graduate assistants [GA's] at NYU were employees under the National Labor Relations Act  [NLRA];  that meant that the GA's had the right to organize a union and the employer had an obligation to recognize and bargain with the GA's union.  In the Brown University decision, the NLRB majority (made up of Bush appointees) held that GA's are students rather than employees under the NLRA;  the effect of that decision was to remove the GA's from the protection of the NLRA and to allow the employer-university to refuse to recognize the GA's union.  In response to the Brown University decision, NYU withdrew recognition of the graduate assistants' union, which was affiliated with the UAW.  The GA union went on strike against NYU, but has been unsuccessful in its efforts to get NYU to recognize and bargain with the union for a new contract.  The AFL-CIO press release regarding the ILO complaint can be found at http://www.aflcio.org/mediacenter/prsptm/pr02262007.cfm

State Courts Address "Weingarten" Rights for Public Employees

In cases that could have implications for faculty members at public colleges or universities, the New York Court of Appeals and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court both addressed the issue of "Weingarten" rights for public employees.  In the case NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc., 430 U.S. 251 (1975), the U.S. Supreme Court held that, under the National Labor Relations Act, union members have the right to have a union representative present at an investigatory interview if the employee reasonably believes that the interview might result in disciplinary action.  In the case New York City Transit v. Public Employment Relations Board, decided Feb. 20th, the N.Y. Court of Appeals held that there is no corresponding "Weingarten" right available to public employees under the N.Y. Civil Service Law (known as the "Taylor Law").  The N.Y. Court of Appeals decision is available at http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2007/2007_01387.htm

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in the case of Office of Administration v. Labor Relations Board, also decided Feb. 20th, held that the Pennsylvania Public Employee Relations Act did allow public employees the right to have their choice of union representative present during an investigatory interview.  The Pa. Supreme Court decision is available at http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/Supreme/out/J-14-2006mo.pdf