50th annual Grammy awards nominations
Giving thought to donor intent\
'The Mormon question': Before Romney, Reed Smoot
Economics geeks check Nashville housing market

50th annual Grammy awards nominations
Grammy.com
Friday, Dec. 7

Greg Barz, associate professor of ethnomusicology, is nominated for a Grammy in the best traditional world music category for Singing For Life: Songs of Hope, Healing and HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

Giving thought to donor intent
Inside Higher Education
Friday, Dec. 7

One by one Thursday morning, a panel of lawyers, philanthropy experts and angry college alumni (some wearing multiple hats) recounted details of myriad legal battles involving institutions – Princeton University, Tulane University, Randolph College – and the miffed donors whom they represent.

The speakers’ stories turned into messages of warning. In their estimation, it’s a tough time to be a donor. Too many colleges violate the trust of philanthropists by redirecting gifts intended for a specific purpose without giving adequate notice. And with colleges receiving $28 billion in charitable gifts in 2006, the stakes are higher than ever.

Ruff Fant, who identified himself as a donor to Vanderbilt University, is quoted.

'The Mormon question': Before Romney, Reed Smoot
The Salt Lake Tribune
Friday, Dec. 7

For months, he vacillated over whether to give the speech or not, and when he sought advice, he received conflicting opinions.

The man was Reed Smoot and, a little over 100 years ago, he stood on the floor of the U.S. Senate to defend his right to serve there as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Smoot gave what historian Michael H. Paulos describes as a "JFK speech before JFK gave it," a 30-minute address that passionately refuted claims against him, the LDS Church and "unequivocally pledged" allegiance in "civil affairs to my country."

Smoot delivered, in other words, a speech that prefigured the one presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave this morning in Texas.

Kathleen Flake, a Vanderbilt University historian and author of The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle, is quoted.

Economics geeks check Nashville housing market
The Tennessean
Friday, Nov. 7

Are you an economics geek trapped in a normal person's body? No?

Well, the wonkishly informative blog ManagementRandD.Blogspot.com, written by Vanderbilt University business school professor (and former chief economist of the Federal Trade Commission) Luke Froeb and Owen School graduate Brian McCann, is still worth a look.

A recent post, for example, explains how Nashville's real estate market is faring in comparison to the rest of the country, which is tanking as a whole. Good news, according to the site: Houses are on the market for an average of only 6 months here, instead of the national average of 10 months.

Also, the gap between personal income and housing prices is far narrower in the Nashville area than in the rest of the country.