The Science and Mathematics Teacher Imperative (SMTI), begun three years ago by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, is the largest national initiative devoted to producing more and better-prepared science and mathematics teachers. The SMTI 2011 National Conference (June 8-10) provides an opportunity for faculty from science, mathematics and education disciplines to share their successful programs or strategies. An assistant professor of mass media at Valdosta State University, in Georgia, was arrested last week on charges of battery after a confrontation with a student over extracurricular Web surfing during class led him allegedly to close the lid of the student’s laptop computer on her hands, according to The Spectator, the campus’s student newspaper. The professor, Frank J. Rybicki is free on bail. Several students told The Spectator that Mr. Rybicki was an excellent teacher who should not be punished for enforcing a rule against visiting Web sites unrelated to a class in progress. The university said it was investigating the incident and ordered students in the class not to talk about it. Campus counseling centers re­ported an increase in clients with severe psychological problems last year, but anxiety was students' top complaint, according to an annual report by the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors. Anxiety surpassed depression as the top student complaint this year for the first time since the association's initial survey, in 2006; depression accounted for 38 percent of the counseling caseload in 2009-10. Some experts say students are feeling more anxious than ever as they feel greater pressure to succeed in college and make the most of their investment in a college education. Dr. Rebecca Cox will be talking about this and more at the faculty development session set for April 15 at 9:05 a.m. in the John Gray Center. You can register for the event now.