DOMESTIC PARTNER HEALTH BENEFITS DENIED: Even though the Faculty Senate at Pennsylvania State University recently voted overwhelmingly to give health benefits to domestic partners, state legislators said no. “Penn State is a state-related university that exists in no small measure because of the support we enjoy from the citizens of the Commonwealth through their elected officials,” President Graham B. Spanier told the Faculty Senate. “I must report that there is insufficient support at this time in the Pennsylvania Legislature to allow Penn State to approve the Faculty Senate proposal.”

“RED FLAGS” FOUND IN STAFF MORALE AT UC, DAVIS: A 10-month study of staff workload issues at University of California, Davis found three major concerns: In general, faculty and staff relationships are poor, and most staff believe that faculty members do not value their work; staff say they they can’t get the training and keep up with all of the changing workplace expectations; and, staff are unhappy with the communication they have with their bosses. (Staff did agree that they are a focused and dedicated group; they have the equipment to do the job; and, as a whole, the university communicates well with its employees.) UC, Davis has since responded to staff concerns by looking at extra training for supervisors and department chairs, better reporting procedures that will keep more people informed, and more chances for employees to get extra training in areas such as technology. They also want to cut down on the number of committees that are created to make a decision and often tap a considerable amount of staff time and energy along the way.

WIRED ABOUT NEW WIRELESS CLASSROOM: The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill gets its first wireless classroom in the fall. A wireless classroom connects students’ notebook computers to the campus network by radio waves rather than a wire. The push to develop wireless classrooms stems from many professors wanting movable seats to give them the flexibility to group students during class. The trial run in the wireless classroom will be put to use as the campus aims to get computerized classrooms—both wired and wireless—in place by fall 2000, when freshmen will be required to own a notebook computer. ¶