Sound historian earns ‘genius’ award
Last week, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation bestowed the title of 2005 MacArthur Fellow — dubbed the “genius” grant — upon UCSD audio historian Emily Thompson. As reward, Thompson will receive $500,000 in funding over the next five years.
The grant was based on Thompson’s research on the historical landscape of American sound. Thompson has published a book, “The Soundscape of Modernity,” which explores the history of sound technology, science and production from the turn of the century to the opening of Radio City Music Hall in 1933. The grant will fund Thompson’s current project, a book analyzing the evolution from silent to modern films.
“I don’t yet know how best to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity, but I’m looking forward to figuring it out,” Thompson stated in a press release. “I’ve always been interested in trying to reach readers beyond the academic audience, and the MacArthur award may help me do that.”
Thompson is the 14th UCSD faculty member to receive a MacArthur Fellowship, and the fourth one from the university’s division of arts and humanities, according to a university press release. She currently serves as an associate professor in the UCSD department of history, a faculty member in the interdisciplinary program in science studies and an affiliated researcher with the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology.
Berkeley Asian enrollment hits high
The Office of Student Research at UC Berkeley has reported that the school enrolled approximately 48 percent native Asian, Asian-American and Pacific Islander students in its freshman class, an all-time high for the school where Asians made up more than 40 percent of the student body last year.
Admissions administrators said that final enrollment figures will most likely show that the number of Asian and white students on campus will be nearly the same, according to the online publication “Inside Higher Ed”. This year’s freshman class has a white enrollment of 31 percent, Latino enrollment of 11 percent and black enrollment of 3 percent.
A significant contribution to large Asian percentage is the environment of Berkeley, which has a large Asian population, Associate Vice Chancellor for Admissions Richard Black told the publication.
“Inside Higher Ed” also reported that Berkeley is accepting Asian applicants at a higher rate than ever before, while Asian students are choosing Berkeley as their college of choice more often.
Of all Asian applicants accepted to the university, 49 percent chose to attend Berkeley, as compared to only 43 percent of students generally, Black stated.
American Indians lag in education
Despite a growing enrollment, American Indians still trail other ethnic groups in several higher education meaures, according to a report issued last month by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. College enrollment of American Indian and native Alaskan students doubled in the 25 years prior to 2002, according to the report, which summarized education statistics for American Indians in many categories, including graduation rates and gender.
College enrollment of American Indian women has increased at a faster rate than men, and currently stands at more than 100,000 females compared to 65,700 males.
Even with the growing numbers, the data show a somber picture, where American Indians between 18 and 24 years of age rank much lower than the national average in college enrollment.
Currently, only 17.7 percent are enrolled, compared to the national average of 37.8 percent of every other ethnic group combined.
