Colleges Deride the Rankings, But Some Pay to Flaunt Them 為了註冊率 美院校砸錢宣傳大學排名


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2024/03/08 第475期 訂閱/退訂看歷史報份
 
 
紐時周報精選 Colleges Deride the Rankings, But Some Pay to Flaunt Them 為了註冊率 美院校砸錢宣傳大學排名
COVID Has Resurged, but Scientists See a Diminished Threat 新冠再起 但科學家認為威脅不大
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Colleges Deride the Rankings, But Some Pay to Flaunt Them 為了註冊率 美院校砸錢宣傳大學排名
文/Alan Blinder
譯/高詣軒

為了註冊率 美院校砸錢宣傳大學排名

Jonathan Henry, a vice president at the University of Maine at Augusta, is hoping that an email will arrive this month. He is also sort of dreading it.

奧古斯塔緬因大學副校長喬納森.亨利希望本月會收到一封電郵,他對此也有些戰戰兢兢。

The message, if it comes, will tell him that U.S. News & World Report has again ranked his university's online programs among the nation's best. History suggests the email will also prod the university toward paying U.S. News, through a licensing agent, thousands of dollars for the right to advertise its rankings.

這封信如果寄來,將會通知他:美國新聞與世界報導(下稱美國新聞)再度將他這間大學的線上課程評為全國頂尖之流。以往經驗透露,這封電郵也會鼓勵該大學透過一家授權代理商,支付數千美元給美國新聞,換取宣傳其排名的權利。

For more than a year, U.S. News has been embroiled in another caustic dispute about the worthiness of college rankings — this time with dozens of law and medical schools vowing not to supply data to the publisher, saying that rankings sometimes unduly influence the priorities of universities.

過去一年多,美國新聞捲入又一場關於大學排名價值的尖刻論戰。這次,有數十間法學、醫學院校矢言不提供資料給該出版機構,聲稱排名有時會對大學的優先事項影響過甚。

But school records and interviews show that colleges nevertheless feed the rankings industry, collectively pouring millions of dollars into it.

但校方的紀錄和訪談顯示,多家院校依然養活排名產業,共同向其傾注數百萬美元。

Many lower-profile colleges are straining to curb enrollment declines and counter shrinking budgets. And any endorsement that might attract students, administrators say, is enticing.

許多知名度較低的院校正極力阻止註冊人數下滑,並應對預算縮水,而校方主管說,一切可能吸引學生的認可都很誘人。

Maine at Augusta spent $15,225 last year for the right to market U.S. News "badges" — handsome seals with U.S. News' logo — commemorating three honors: the 61st-ranked online bachelor's program for veterans, the 79th-ranked online bachelor's in business and the 104th-ranked online bachelor's.

奧古斯塔緬因大學去年支付15225美元,取得授權以便行銷美國新聞的「標章」,即有著「美國新聞」標誌的華麗圖章,表彰著3項榮譽:在提供給退役軍人的線上學士課程中名列第61、線上商學學士課程名列第79、線上學士課程名列第104。

The money flows from schools large and small.

給錢學校大大小小都有。

Critics believe that the payments enable and incentivize a ranking system they see as harmful.

批評者認為,這些付款催生且鼓勵了排名系統,造成危害。

"I still cannot believe that higher education has collectively paid them to skew what we do in higher education," said Heather Gerken, dean of Yale Law School, who helped lead the uprising among law and medical schools. The money "devoted to this unserious enterprise," she said, could have been used to "transform lives," perhaps through financial aid or the recruitment of low-income students.

耶魯大學法學院院長希瑟.格肯說,「我依然無法相信,高等教育界向來集體付錢給他們,來歪曲我們在高等教育的志業」,她協助領導多間法學院、醫學院的反抗運動。她說,那些「貢獻給這家不入流企業」的款項,本來可以用來「改變人生」,或許是透過補助金或招收低收入學生。

U.S. News said its business of licensing its logo reflects its reputation. The rankings, U.S. News leaders said, help students and parents find clarity in a crowded, confusing college marketplace, and let quality schools break through more easily with prospects.

美國新聞表示,授權標誌業務反映其聲望。美國新聞的領導階層說,這些排名有助學生和家長在百家爭鳴、眼花撩亂的大學市場裡尋得明燈,並讓優質學校更容易在潛在學生間取得斬獲。

Eric Gertler, executive chair of U.S. News, acknowledged in an interview that the publisher pulls in millions from universities looking to share in the allure of U.S. News' credibility.

美國新聞執行主席格特勒在訪談中承認,許多大學希望從美國新聞公信力的魅力裡分一杯羹,讓該出版機構進帳數百萬美元。

 
COVID Has Resurged, but Scientists See a Diminished Threat 新冠再起 但科學家認為威脅不大
文/Apoorva Mandavilli
譯/周辰陽

新冠再起 但科學家認為威脅不大

The holidays have come and gone, and once again Americans are riding a tide of respiratory ailments, including COVID-19. But so far, this winter's COVID uptick seems less deadly than last year's, and much less so than in 2022, when the omicron surge ground the nation to a halt.

假期來了又去,美國人又一次迎接呼吸道疾病,包括新冠肺炎。但到目前為止,比起去年,今年冬天的新冠病例上升似乎沒那麼致命,也比2022年低得多,當年Omicron變異株激增,讓整個國家陷於停頓。

"We're not seeing the signs that would make me think that we're heading into another severe wave," said Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. "So far, we're in relatively good shape."

約翰霍普金斯衛生安全中心的流行病學家凱特琳.瑞佛斯表示,「我們沒有看到跡象,會讓我覺得正走向另一波嚴重浪潮。到目前為止,我們正處在相對良好的狀態」。

Still, there are few masks in sight, and just a fraction of the most vulnerable people have received the latest COVID shots, she noted. "It's not too late," Rivers added, to get the updated vaccine.

儘管如此,她指出,放眼望去很少人戴口罩,而且最脆弱的人群只有一小部分施打最新的新冠疫苗。瑞佛斯補充說,對於接種更新的疫苗,「現在還來得及」。

Federal officials are relying on limited data to measure this year's spread. After the end of the public health emergency in May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped tracking the number of COVID infections.

聯邦官員正仰賴有限的數據,來衡量今年的傳播狀況。公共衛生緊急狀態去年5月結束後,美國疾病防治中心(CDC)已停止追蹤新冠感染人數。

But trends in wastewater data, positive tests, emergency department visits, hospitalization rates and deaths point to a rise in infections in all regions of the nation, according to the CDC. These patterns have prompted many hospitals to reinstate mask policies.

但根據CDC,廢水檢測數據、篩檢陽性、急診就診、住院率與死亡數字趨勢,指向全國所有區域出現感染率上升。這些模式,已促使許多醫院恢復口罩政策。

As in previous years, the numbers have steadily been rising all winter, and are expected to increase further after holiday travel and get-togethers. Many of the infections are caused by a new variant, JN.1, which has rapidly spread in recent weeks.

跟前幾年一樣,整個冬天這些數字一直穩步上升,且預期將在假期旅行與歡聚之後進一步增加。許多感染是由一個新的變異株JN.1引起,這種變異株最近幾周迅速傳播。

Some scientists have pointed to rising levels of the virus in sewage samples as an indicator that infections are at least as high this year as they were at this time last year. But Rivers urged caution in interpreting wastewater data as a proxy for infections and said hospitalizations were a more reliable metric.

一些科學家指出,將汙水樣本裡的病毒上升水平當作指標,今年感染率至少跟去年此時一樣高。但瑞佛斯敦促,解讀廢水數據做為感染指標時應保持謹慎,並指住院率是一個更可靠的指標。

In the week that ended on Dec. 23, hospitalizations rose by nearly 17% from the previous week. There were about 29,000 new hospital admissions, compared with 39,000 the same week last year and 61,000 in 2021. And weekly hospitalizations are increasing more slowly than in previous years, Rivers said.

在12月23日結束的該周,住院率較前一周上升近17%,約有29000名新入院患者。相較之下,去年同一周為39000名,2021年則為61000名。瑞佛斯說,每周住院率增長速度比前幾年更慢。

COVID is still claiming at least 1,200 lives per week. But that number is about one-third the toll this time last year and one-eighth that in 2021.

新冠病毒每周仍奪走至少1200條人命。但這個數字約為去年此時死亡人數的三分之一、2021年的八分之一。

 
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