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Blog and Media Roundup - Saturday, September 15, 2012; News Roundup
Topic Started: Sep 15 2012, 04:48 AM (296 Views)
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http://www.herald-sun.com/view/full_story/20155993/article-Thorp--UNC-will-recover-misused-funds?

Thorp: UNC will recover misused funds
09.14.12 - 03:43 pm
By Gregory Childress

gchildress@heraldsun.com; 919-419-6645

CHAPEL HIILL – UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp said Friday that UNC will seek to recoup any money it’s owed if an ongoing audit finds that two former fundraisers misused university money.

Matt Kupec, the university’s top fundraiser and Tami Hansbrough, a gifts officer and mother of Tyler Hansbrough, a former UNC basketball standout and current NBA player, resigned this week in the wake of a scandal over questionable travel-related expenses.

The two had been in a romantic relationship, and questions about their travel arose because some trips appeared to be personal in nature, and some were to destinations where Hansbrough’s sons, Tyler and Ben, also a collegiate basketball player at Notre Dame, were playing.

“If the auditor finds that there are expenses that should be recouped, then absolutely,” Thorp said an interview shortly after he emerged from a nearly hour-long closed door meeting with the UNC Board of Governors.

Thorp also said the university plans to name an interim vice chancellor for university advancement within the week to replace Kupec who resigned after being confronted with the questionable travel expenses.

“I had heard concerns about Matt’s [Kupec] travel when he had his five year review and I started asking him question about his travel and it made me want to get information myself,” Thorp said.

He also confirmed that at least some of the questionable trips were made on university planes made available to chancellors and vice chancellors on business.

In spite of the problems, Thorp said he believes donors will continue to donate money to UNC.

“I think people are concerned, but I think once we get an interim vice chancellor for advancement and get a search going for a new person, we’ll be moving right along.”

Meanwhile, support among members of the UNC Board of Governors appears to remain strong for Thorp, whom the board questioned about the university’s most recent scandal in a closed door session Friday.

In recent days, questions have begun to surface about Thorp’s job security in the wake of the fundraiser scandal.

“I think the chancellor in this most recent acted quickly, decisively in a circumstance that was clearly inappropriate, and so he handled that well and quickly and I think the board recognized that today,” said UNC system President Tom Ross.

Peter Hans, chairman of the UNC Board of Governors, gave Thorp good marks, but said the board expects Thorp to continue to work to clear up the issues over the questionable travel expenses.

“Chancellor Thorp has performed well by many measurements,” Hans said. “In terms of research funding, quality of the student body, private fundraising, a number of metrics, and of course it’s equally clear he needs to be successful clearing up some lingering issues on campus.”

And Ross, responding to a question about the appropriateness of hiring the mother of a star athlete to work at the university, said he did not think UNC system schools should be restricted from hiring people because of such relations.

“I think you hire the best people for the job that you can find and when people make mistakes and do things wrong, you take the appropriate action,” Ross said.

Thorp also said he didn’t have a problem with the hire.

“I wish all of this hadn’t happened, but as I have said, she raised $5 million in dentistry and she was a good fundraiser, and she was selected in a competitive search,” Thorp said.
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http://www.herald-sun.com/view/full_story/20157680/article-NCCU-hazing-allegations-subject-of-police-probe?

NCCU hazing allegations subject of police probe
09.14.12 - 06:39 pm
MICHAEL BIESECKER

Associated Press

RALEIGH — N.C. Central University administrators have requested a criminal investigation into hazing allegations involving members of the school's revered drum line.

Kevin Rome, vice chancellor for student affairs, said Friday the university's internal police department is investigating whether the alleged conduct violated state law. NCCU academic officials are conducting a separate probe into possible violations of the student code of conduct, which bars hazing.

"The safety and security of our students is of our highest importance so we will take whatever steps necessary to protect our students," Rome said. "From what we know now it appears to be an isolated incident, so at this point we are just investigating the drum line."

All 36 members of the drum line, part of the Marching Sound Machine band, were suspended by the university as of Monday. That means they won’t be performing during the Eagles' Saturday night football game against Duke, although the rest of the 200-member marching band will be at the game.

Rome said he hopes to resolve the student conduc
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http://williamlanderson.blogspot.com/2012/09/west-virginia-prosecutors-prove-once.html


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Friday, September 14, 2012
West Virginia Prosecutors Prove Once Again Why Individuals SHOULD be Permitted to Sue the State for Malicious Prosecution
The recent acquittal of Autumn Rae Faulkner in Elkins, West Virginia, in which a jury deliberated for only an hour, provides ironclad proof that prosecutors, state and federal, should NOT be protected with any kind of immunity, period. When jurors take only an hour to acquit -- and having served as a jury foreman, I can tell you that much of that time was spent on activities besides talking about the case -- one can bet that they made up their minds even before the prosecution rested its case.

Faulkner was accused of having sex with a 15-year-old student three times in 2008 and 2009.

It is easy to surmise that prosecutors had NO case whatsoever, and either the so-called "experts" were the stupidest people in the room, or they were the most craven. I wish it were the former, but the latter dominates my thinking.

So, why did the prosecution bring the charges and destroy this woman's life in the first place? They did it because they can do it, and that is what they were telling everyone else. Prosecutors, you see, really don't care about guilt or innocence; they just love showing their authority, and since the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that prosecutors have absolute immunity, they also know that no one in the system will hold them accountable.

In reading the article on the acquittal, I am struck by the utter arrogance that prosecutors had, and the way they dishonestly went about presenting evidence:

Following the trial, special prosecuting attorney Steve Jory said he didn't believe there was anything else the prosecution could have done differently that would have altered the outcome of the case.

"I think we presented every piece of evidence we had available to present," Jory remarked. "The case was fairly tried and the jury made its decision. Apparently they didn't believe we had enough evidence to prove our case."

But it gets even better:

Mazzei also highlighted the fact that the state hadn't presented any DNA evidence.

"The state took phones and [Faulkner's] computer, her couch, her comforter, bedding, a car, and no evidence ever came out of that that would prove Mrs. Faulkner was guilty," Mazzei said.

During his final statement, however, Jory told Mazzei that the prosecution wasn't able to present any DNA evidence because "you wouldn't allow your client and her husband to give (DNA) samples and we could not complete lab analysis." When asked after the trial if the court could have compelled Faulker and her husband, Scott Faulkner, to submit their DNA for testing, Jory said that it was possible, but the previous prosecutor in the Faulkner case -- former Randolph County Prosecutor Richard Busch -- had failed to do so.

When asked why he didn't later ask the court to order the Faulkners to submit their DNA for analysis, Jory simply said "there were a lot of factors" involved. (Emphasis mine)

As anyone familiar with criminal law knows, if the state wants evidence, it can get it. My sense is that the prosecutors and police did not seek DNA evidence because they knew there was none, it so leaving things in the realm of mere speculation where they could use innuendo would be more effective. (I imagine prosecutors already had convinced members of the media that Faulkner was a predator, but most journalists will believe anything cops and prosecutors say.) To claim to a jury that the state could not get evidence because the defendant and her attorney told them they could not get it fails to pass the laugh test.

But, when it comes to the use of innuendo, nothing tops this:

The state's evidence - or its lack thereof - was the subject of (Rocco) Mazzei's closing arguments Thursday.

"The state has this theory that a whole lotta text messages somehow equals guilt of sex," Mazzei said, referring to the voluminous number of text messages Faulkner sent to the 18-year-old student based on documents the prosecution subpoenaed from AT&T. "[Jory] wants you to convict her on a number of text messages. You should require the state to prove that this theory ... as it is, this theory is mere speculation. You haven't seen the content of a single text message."

Wow! So, prosecutors told the jurors that there were a great number of text messages, but did not show their content to jurors in hopes that they would be able to use their imaginations to surmise what Faulker MIGHT have written. As anyone familiar with teacher-student sex cases knows, text messages in the sort of situation prosecutors were alleging existed would have been filled either with sexual innuendo or outright graphic language.

What does this mean? It means that prosecutors read the messages and realized that not one of them were sexual, so they tried to deceive jurors, instead, by lying and suborning perjury.

Lord knows how much money Faulkner and her husband and family spent defending her against charges that obviously were false from the beginning. No doubt, the West Virginia school system will take its revenge by permanently sullying her record.

And what happens to prosecutors who financially ruin innocent people just because they can do it? Nothing. These are people who viciously ruined the lives of others in an attempt to make an obviously fraudulent case look to have substance.

Will the State of West Virginia take action? Don't hold your breath. Once again, we see why prosecutors should be sued; that is the ONLY way they will be held accountable.

Are these prosecutors the proverbial "bad apples" in a good barrel? Think again; in West Virginia, the entire barrel is rotten.
Posted by William L. Anderson at 1:14 PM
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http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/09/14/2342620/state-probing-durham-abc-board.html

Published Fri, Sep 14, 2012 09:39 PM
Modified Fri, Sep 14, 2012 09:40 PM
State probing Durham ABC Board
By Jim Wise - jwise@newsobserver.com
Published in: News

DURHAM State Alcohol Law Enforcement investigators are looking into possible state law violations and “other improprieties” by Durham County’s ABC Board.

Agnes Stevens, spokeswoman for the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, said the investigation is ongoing and ALE has made no report on its progress.

Late Friday, the Durham ABC Board released a statement saying it has received no official notification of the state’s investigation, but “will take positive action to fully investigate” as well.

In a May 31 letter to ALE Director John Ledford, Michael Herring, the state commission’s chief administrator, listed four allegations:

• That the Durham County board held secret meetings, in particular regarding the hiring of Emily Page, the county board’s former chairwoman, as the Durham ABC’s general manager;

• That Page is altering official board minutes;

• That Page is awarding contracts to friends of board members without proper bidding;

• That board members and employees are improperly using the board’s credit card.

Page became Durham ABC manager after longtime manager Randy Mills retired in 2011.

In its statement, the Durham board said it will invite employees to a special meeting, and any employee may request a private meeting to express any grievances or “call the board’s attention to any activity of management that they wish to address.”

The Durham board has asked the state commission to share its information in the investigation.

Stevens had no further comment on the investigation, but said the state commission is also conducting an operational financial audit of the Durham ABC and a private accounting firm is conducting the financial audit done at the end of every fiscal year.

Durham County ABC operates eight liquor stores and has 51 full-time employees. Its 2012-13 budget projects total revenue of $25,399,140, including a profit of $1,376,607 to be distributed to Durham County and the city of Durham for educational and alcohol rehabilitation use.
Wise: 919-641-5895
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http://www.chapelhillnews.com/2012/09/14/72929/thorp-questioned-by-unc-board.html

Published: Sep 14, 2012 02:27 PM
Modified: Sep 14, 2012 02:28 PM

Thorp questioned by UNC board about fundraisers


By Jane Stancill, jstancill@newsobserver.com
CHAPEL HILL - UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp answered questions from the UNC Board of Governors for nearly an hour today at a closed door meeting, where he explained the latest scandal to rock the campus.

Thorp acknowledged the week had been difficult in the aftermath of the resignations of the university’s top fundraiser, Matt Kupec, and Tami Hansbrough, a gifts officer and mother of former UNC basketball star Tyler Hansbrough. The two, who had been in a romantic relationship, stepped down after Thorp found that they had questionable travel expenses. The situation emerged after The News & Observer sought records about the activities of the fundraisers.

Board Chairman Peter Hans and UNC President Tom Ross declined to reveal what was discussed in the session, which was closed to the media under legal provisions that protect personnel information. But Ross said board members he had talked to before and after the meeting expressed the view that Thorp had handled the fundraiser issue appropriately.

Hans offered this assessment of Thorp’s performance: “Chancellor Thorp has performed well by many measurements, in terms of research funding, quality of the student body, private fundraising, a number of metrics. And of course, it’s equally clear he needs to be successful in clearing up some lingering issues on campus.”

Ross praised Thorp for the speed with which he handled the recent problem.

“The chancellor, in this most recent situation, acted quickly, decisively in a circumstance that was clearly inappropriate,” he said. “So he handled that well and quickly. I think the board recognized that today.”

He also said Thorp had taken several actions to deal with academic fraud in the African and Afro-American Studies department, where no-show classes had been heavily enrolled with football and basketball players. The measures are designed to make sure that something like that never happens again, Ross said.

However, Ross added: “Every time something like this happens, there are concerns, both by the board, by the president, by lots of people, and we continue to be vigilant in our responsibility to watch the circumstance closely.”

About a year ago, Thorp had a thorough review, which happens on a four-year cycle, Ross said. He will undergo a less detailed two-year evaluation next year.

Thorp described the board as supportive of him when he emerged from the closed session, which lasted about 50 minutes.

“I just talked to them about the situation and answered their questions,” he said. “They were appreciative of how hard this has been, frustrated with the way it takes away from all of the positives. I mean, this is the same month when we broke the top 10 in federal research support, and we can’t get anyone to write about it because we’ve got this. So I think there’s a lot of frustration about that, but I feel very good working for this board.”

An internal audit regarding the fundraisers’ travel expenses continues, Thorp said, and could be finished in a few weeks. The state auditor’s office has been notified about the internal audit but so far is not involved in the review, he said.

“It’s a high profile story, but it’s the kind of incident that comes up unfortunately fairly frequently in universities,” he said, adding that UNC-CH’s internal audit department deals with questions about improper charges by employees routinely.

Thorp said the university may eventually decide to hire outside help in tightening controls on travel expenses by employees.

Several reviews of the academic fraud are under way, as well as a State Bureau of Investigation probe of possible criminal conduct. A Board of Governors panel is looking into UNC-CH’s handling of the matter, and Thorp brought in former North Carolina Gov. Jim Martin and an outside consulting firm to conduct an independent review of academic issues. That work continues.

“It’s been a tough couple of years, and it’s hard,” Thorp said. “But I feel like we’re identifying problems that have arisen because of policies that have been around for a long time. It’s frustrating to keep finding a new one, but if we find them we can correct them, and I think the decisive action we took on this one sends a strong message. It also shows us that there’s one more thing that we need to have strong oversight on.”

Thorp said he’d rather not be consumed with such problems, but added: “We’ve entered an era where there is more scrutiny and more need for accountability, and we’re responding to that.”
Stancill: 919-829-4559
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Quasimodo

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http://dukecheck.com/

✓ A one year anniversary, hardly worthy of a celebration

Posted on September 15, 2012 by DukeCheck

Precisely a year ago, with his closest advisers suggesting that he might want a different label, President Brodhead declared the “Year of the Beaver” at Duke. Standing before the Academic Council, Brodhead explained the beaver gets things done — a busy animal constructing things all day long — and that’s what he wanted in the 2011-12 academic year, to move the Kunshan Initiative to reality.

Oh dear. The year is over. Rather than achievement, mostly the “Year of the Beaver’ drew snickers, and snide remarks that Brodhead was referring to a series of ribald fraternity parties.

The year concludes with the same questions and new ones vexing the Administration’s scheme to start a full scale research university in China, which is just the start of a string of franchises around the world. Words that come to mind: Grandiose. Egotistical.

We all know the Chinese government has not approved our application for Duke Kunshan University, despite a new round of assurances — the third round by our count — in early January that the official OK was imminent. “Plan the celebration,” said Brodhead on January 4, passing along what he said the Deputy Minister of Education had told him.

Without approval, we cannot recruit students. Nor commit to faculty according to Chinese regulations. So even after approval, if it comes, there will be a substantial lag before opening day for classes.

And DKU will be only a shadow of the original plan: the dorms for 700 that were going to be filled by masters students for business degrees will instead have, as is stands now, 45 degree candidates. Duke will try to cover the empty spaces by allowing current Durham undergraduates to spend time in Kunshan.

The embarrassment of an empty campus pales in comparison to other looming issues. We see warning signs about academic freedom, and it is hardly reassuring that Brodhead most recently claimed “agreement” with the Chinese on this most sensitive subject but won’t reveal the text.

Uncle Dick’s assertions about unfettered access to the internet on the DKU campus seem more quixotic than ever. Just today, China, to quell rumors about the whereabouts of the nation’s new designated leader, Xi Jinping, cut off Facebook and other social media sites where rumors and theories abounded.

There’s not one member of Team Brodhead who has broken the conspiracy of silence to speak about the status of religion on the new campus. Can it be taught? Can people worship? With the assistance of an administrator at another American university operating in China, albeit on a small scale, DukeCheck obtained a translation of the Chinese law which applies directly to foreign institutions opening campuses. It’s clear to us that both teaching and worship are prohibited. For a school with Duke’s heritage, this is serious stuff, and no, Uncle Dick, we won’t go the hell away.

Meantime, our faculty has raised a procession of questions in the Academic Council — all of them ducked. This has been the pattern since day one, when someone asked if Kunshan, wherever that backwater is, was the best location we could get. That challenge is still not answered.

Question: “The focus of all of the resources and the administration’s attention on one specific project… (may mean we lose) the opportunity of the multitude of other programs in China…. Are we neglecting other possibilities?”

Question: Isn’t Professor William Kirby of Harvard — the only outside consultant the Administration provided — suggesting a “level of commitment and engagement that is far beyond any of the plans that we have made so far.”

Question: Will workers hired for menial tasks at DKU enjoy a fair wage, which means earnings substantially above the city’s average, which the regime might not tolerate.

Question: with only six years on our contract with the host city of Kunshan, “would it be possible for Kunshan or the Chinese to say, ‘we own the buildings and we can get another, better deal from a different university,’ so (they) kick us out and put in another university?”

Question: “Forgive my ignorance, but Wuhan (our silent university partner required by Chinese law). Wuhan University, I don’t know. Are we partnering with Santa Monica City College? That’s what I am trying to find out.”

That sampling only begins the list of questions. The wimps never answered one.

(snip)

With the Administration silent or ducking, we are proud to be in a position to proclaim that starting September 15, 2012, we supplant Year of the Beaver and enter into a new relationship with Team Brodhead:

We proclaim the Year of the Weasel with a heavy heart, for last spring, when Chair Rick Wagoner opened the door to a Trustee meeting long enough to surprise us with news that President Brodhead’s contact had been extended for five more years, we expressed hope for Brodhead II. Hope that at last, this eloquent and erudite man from Yale would move beyond the rough ride that has characterized his first eight years, and blossom into the kind of leader we had hoped he would be.

Alas, there is no sign of that. Silence is not leadership. And as the questions mount, we feel less and less assured about the viability of the China experiment. We are fearful that the price in dollars and in reputation that Duke will pay to accommodate the Chinese will exceed the value of our putting our footprint in Asia and extending Western values to education in that vast nation.

Sunday night: specifics. Enrollment predictions do not add up. Meaning income from tuition will be woefully short.
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Quasimodo

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http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/emory-university-to-eliminate-programs/nSByn/

Posted: 7:50 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14, 2012
Emory University to eliminate programs


By Laura Diamond


Emory University will eliminate several academic departments and make other changes in the College of Arts and Sciences, Dean Robin Forman said Friday.

(snip)

Emory will phase out the journalism program, department of visual arts, division of educational studies and department of physical education. Students enrolled in these programs will be able to complete their degrees and tenured faculty will move to other departments.

[How do you teach in another department that you aren't proficient in?]

The university will suspend admissions to Spanish and economics graduate programs so leaders there can redefine the missions, Forman said. Emory also will suspend admissions to the Institute for Liberal Arts so it can be restructured.

The changes will begin at the end of this academic year and finish by the end of the 2016-17 academic year. About 20 staff positions will be cut over the next five years, officials said.

Savings from the changes will be re-invested into existing programs and growing areas, such as neurosciences, contemporary China studies and digital and new media studies, Emory officials said.

(snip)

The college has shuttered programs before. Emory decided to close the dental school in 1990 and shut down the geology department in 1986.


Cynical me bets that none of the angry studies departments--some likely with very few students--will have any of their courses cut. . .

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