While we undergrads have been sunning ourselves and relaxing—read: feverishly catching up on the TV we missed during finals in a dark room, breaking only to snack—our profs and deans have been keeping busy, as usual. Read on to find out what they’ve been doing/saying/writing…

Making Headlines

• Admiral Eric Olson, who played a pretty big part in the raid that led to Osama bin Laden’s death last year, is coming to town. Specifically, our very own part of town—according to this piece, Olson will be teaching a class about military strategy come September. (NYT)
• According to an anonymous SEAS professor, 90 percent of the tenured faculty voted “no confidence” in Dean Peña-Mora. (Spec)
• Dean of Financial Aid Laurie Schaffler is resigning, and heading out West. KevSho says it might be awhile ’til she’s replaced. (Spec)

Getting Bylines

• Nick LeMann, Dean of the J-School, asks how valuable a college degree really is. The upshot: Ivy League schools are actually underpriced. (New Yorker)
• Meanwhile, chair of the Religion Department Mark Taylor says that competition is killing higher education. (City Wire)
• Phillip Lopate, the director of Columbia’s Nonfiction Writing program, reviews Jonathan Franzen’s essay collection, and sheds some light on his relationship with David Foster Wallace. (NYT)

Laying Down The Law

• The Law School is so fed up with professors giving grades out late that the Dean is allegedly now threatening to fine and publicly shame professors who don’t get their grades in on time. (Above the Law)
• In more positive news—at least for Columbia—Law School students released a 400-page report proving that Texas executed an innocent man. (The Atlantic)