Quick Takes

President Obama on Wednesday ordered the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues to conduct a review of the rules regarding the protections of human subjects in research -- both studies conducted in the United States and abroad. He noted the recent revalations that the U.S. Public Health Service "conducted research on sexually transmitted diseases in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948 involving the intentional infection of vulnerable human populations. The research was clearly unethical. In light of this revelation, I want to be assured that current rules for research participants protect people from harm or unethical treatment, domestically as well as internationally." Obama's statement said that "[w]hile I believe the research community has made tremendous progress in the area of human subjects protection, what took place in Guatemala is a sobering reminder of past abuses." He asked for a report to be completed within nine months.

Just as campus health officials are celebrating their efforts to stop distribution of Four Loko, a new "mixed" product may be gaining ground among students. WFTV News reported that the hot product among students at the University of Central Florida is Whipped Lightning, which boasts that it is the "world's first alcohol-infused whipped cream." As with Four Loko, the concern is that students are especially prone to excessive alcohol use if they aren't completely aware of what they are consuming. Liquor stores near the university are seeing the new whipped cream "fly off the shelves," WFTV reported. One student told the station why: "I think it's awesome, you can throw it on some Jell-O shots. It'd be fantastic."

Legal filings in a lawsuit by students against a Utah campus of the for-profit Everest College, a part of Corinthian Colleges, focus on recruiting tactics there. The Deseret News reported that a former admissions officer described being told to make prospective students feel uncertain about their futures. "The tactics also included questions designed at putting down the prospective student, making them feel hopeless, bad about their current situation and stuck at a dead end, in order to make enrolling in school look like the best solution to the problem," the former admissions officer wrote. The students' lawsuit says that Everest gave them bad information about the cost of programs and the ability to transfer credits. A spokesman for Everest said that many of the former admissions officer's statements were "factually wrong or false" and that representatives "avoid negative appeals."

A study led by researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder and published last week in Science has found that the academic performance of female students in physics went up by a letter grade if they were assigned "affirmation" writing assignments. Writing short, self-affirming essays seems to boost the confidence of the women -- but has no impact on the men in the courses.

Kofi Lomotey last week announced his resignation as chancellor of Southern University's Baton Rouge campus on the eve of a possible board vote to oust him, The Baton Rouge Advocate reported. Lomotey had been in office only since 2008. He declined to comment on his decision and was praised by Southern system leaders. But the faculty voted no confidence in his leadership this month, citing his handling of budget cuts, among other issues.

A new gay student organization at Cabrillo College wants to know why the student government president vetoed the use of funds for the group's first big event -- a prom for students who weren't able to take same-sex partners to their high school proms, The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. The student government president says that he's not anti-gay, but that the group was "double dipping" because it was already receiving funds from another college source. But the gay student group notes that similar funding hasn't been a problem for other groups.

Students in Italy have been staging a series of dramatic protests across Italy -- breaking into the Italian Senate, sitting on railroad tracks, and so forth -- to protest government plans to reform higher education, The New York Times reported. Researchers have joined the protest, sleeping in sleeping bags on the roofs of some universities. The anger is over the lack of funds that has resulted in chronically overcrowded classes, the potential for new cuts, and government plans that critics say will make the problems worse. The government says its plans would provide financial rewards to institutions that perform well.

Facing a $32.1 million debt, Hebrew College will sell its campus, featuring a building by the noted architect Moshe Safdie, The Boston Globe reported. The Massachusetts college offers a range of programs in Jewish education and religion. The college will still need private donations to retire its debt. Officials said that they regretted having to sell the campus, but decided that they needed to take steps to have financial stability. The college -- which has more than 1,400 students -- will lease space from the Andover Newton Theological School.

A new study in Academic Medicine finds that the average tenure of first-time medical deans (excluding those serving on an interim basis) is six years, although it may have dropped slightly in recent years. Generally, the study suggests that the tenure is longer than earlier studies have suggested.

More universities are threatening to sue high schools that have similar logos or mascots, The New York Times reported. The article cited moves by Pennsylvania State University against a cougar found to be similar to a Nittany Lion -- even though the offending high school was 1,400 miles away, in Texas. The University of Texas at Austin, meanwhile, went after a Kansas high school whose logo was similar to a Longhorn design.

Manchester Metropolitan University, in Britain, has announced that it will accredit and issue degrees for the McDonald's two-year training program for senior managers. The program includes instruction in managing a business, human resources, finance and marketing.