Private colleges took on higher levels of debt in the 2005 fiscal year, according to a report released on Wednesday by Moody’s Investors Service, but they also kept themselves financially healthy, thanks to positive returns on investments, hearty fund raising, and higher tuition charges.

Microsoft and Brown University have launched the Microsoft Center for Research on Pen-Centric Computing. The center aims to improve "pen-based operation of Tablet PCs, Pocket PCs and Palm Pilot personal digital assistants (PDAs), electronic whiteboards and conventional desktop computers."

Economics Professor Glen Loury is a guest on “News and Notes with Farai Chideya,” which airs on National Public Radio. For the wide-ranging discussion on current events, including the cost of the war in Iraq, gay blood donors, and the rebuilding of New Orleans, Loury and Chideya were joined by Hofstra University journalism Professor E.R. Shipp and Michael Meyers, executive director of the New York Civil Rights Coalition.

Stephen Gatesy, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, discusses his research regarding dinosaur motion and his work with the American Museum of Natural History.

Political Science Professor Darrell West offers remarks about the perceived perfection of Sen. Barack Obama.

Printed scores of Yiddish American sheet music once rested on living room pianos across America. Over the years, those scores made their way into university libraries. One of the largest collections in the country is at Brown University’s John Hay Library, which holds 2,000 pieces of Yiddish sheet music. The University recently launched a digitization project that, when completed at year’s end, will have turned original paper documents into computer image files. Visitors will be able to view up to 700 complete Yiddish-American musical scores online, anytime, anywhere, through Brown's virtual library of sheet music