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Tag Archives: trustee election
Large Voter Turnout–PSU Alumni Motivated!
More than 35,000 Penn State graduates had voted in the race for three trustees seats as of early Wednesday. Voting closes at 9 a.m. today. Penn State spokesman David La Torre said ballots will be tabulated after voting closes. The university hired KPMG, an international auditing company, to oversee that process. Results will be announced during the trustees meeting, which starts at 1:30 p.m. Friday in the Nittany Lion Inn. Each year, three of the board’s nine alumni seats are up for election. An unprecedented 86 candidates are running in this year’s race. The meeting will be streamed live at www.centredaily.com.
Expert introduces new child-abuse center
Esteemed child abuse expert Dr. Richard D. Krugman spoke Thursday afternoon at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center before a reception held for the new Penn State Hershey Center for the Protection of Children. Krugman, who is the vice chancellor for health affairs for the University of Colorado Denver, provided strong background information for why it is so important to continue the efforts to reduce child abuse. Dean of the College of Medicine Dr. Harold L. Paz said the new center will focus mainly on patient care, education, research and the formation of partnerships with other organizations such as the Dickinson School of Law to advocate against child abuse. According to Paz, the center was established in December when the university announced it would contribute $500,000 to $800,000 of the Big Ten Bowl Game revenue to the center, on top of the $1.5 million to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. Paz said the Hershey Medical Center has had different initiatives for a long time but recently found the momentum to bring them together with the center. Expert introduces new child-abuse center with lecture
By Sam Janesch and Mitchell Culler Collegian Staff Writers
Penn State–Are we another Cornell?
For years, lawmakers have groused that Penn State walks, talks and spends like a private school. As state support continues to slide, university officials say that idea may not be so far-fetched. In response to a question Tuesday about the possibility of the university’s “becoming more private,” board of trustees Chairwoman Karen Peetz said all options are on the table. Peetz said she’s talked with representatives from Cornell, a fellow land-grant university that receives some government support but remains private. Cornell’s structure could give Penn State guidance in moving past its state-related status, she said during a meeting with faculty. “I think the Cornell model is of great interest,” she said. “They appear to have successfully managed the public/private.
Looks like she is admitting that they have done a poor job of managing the public–I happen to agree with her on this!
How The Current Board of Trustees Spends Your Money
Penn State is paying for two athletic directors at a cost that could exceed $750,000 this year, records suggest.
Curley’s defense attorney Caroline M. Roberto and Schultz’s defense attorney Tom Farrell, both of Pittsburgh, are among about a dozen lawyers, law firms and consultants who collected nearly $3.2 million from Penn State as of Dec. 31 for costs stemming from the Sandusky scandal. Roberto collected $82,697, and Farrell was paid $65,842, Penn State told the Trib.
Curley’s defense attorney Caroline M. Roberto and Schultz’s defense attorney Tom Farrell, both of Pittsburgh, are among about a dozen lawyers, law firms and consultants who collected nearly $3.2 million from Penn State as of Dec. 31 for costs stemming from the Sandusky scandal. Roberto collected $82,697, and Farrell was paid $65,842, Penn State told the Trib.
In addition to Roberto and Farrell, Vaira & Riley, a Philadelphia law firm, was paid $61,769 for “employee legal defense.”
The university has spent $2.46 million for the board of trustees’ internal investigation, including $1.14 million to Freeh, Sporkin & Sullivan, former FBI director Louis Freeh‘s firm; $111,164 to Domus Inc. and $172,563 to Kekst and Company Inc., both for public relations for Freeh; $499,370 to Ketchum Public Relations for crisis management; $506,162 to Reed Smith LLP and $32,053 for “other” consultants and costs.
Penn State disclosed “university legal defense” costs of $359,753, including $172,658 to Saul Ewing LLC; $65,771 to Duane Morris LLC; $26,354 to Lanny J. Davis & Associates; and $94,952 for “other.”
A $50,130 bill for costs related to external investigations included $46,173 to Margolis & Healy, a security firm specializing in higher education; $3,711 to the Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC law firm and $245 listed for “other.”
The school paid $108,205 for contract negotiations, including $88,205 to Schnader, Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP and $20,000 to ML Strategies.
Read more: Athletic directors may cost PSU $750,000 – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_781687.html#ixzz1mYmTeY7l
Did You Know?? Penn State Tuition
OK, where was the board of trustees when this was happening?? Penn State has the highest tuition of any 4 year institution in the USA!! No wonder the state legislature is looking at us as a private institution. The “New” Board has much work to do to right these wrongs. There was a lot more wrong at Penn State than just how the scandal of November played out on the media.
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | PA | $14,416 |
| University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | PA | $14,154 |
| University of Vermont | VT | $13,554 |
| St. Mary’s College of Maryland | MD | $13,234 |
| New Jersey Institute of Technology | NJ | $12,856 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona | PA | $12,750 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks | PA | $12,750 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College | PA | $12,750 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Harrisburg | PA | $12,750 |
| University of New Hampshire-Main Campus | NH | $12,743 |
| The College of New Jersey | NJ | $12,722 |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | IL | $12,528 |
| Pennsylvania College of Technology | PA | $12,480 |
| Miami University-Oxford | OH | $12,312 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Abington | PA | $12,250 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Beaver | PA | $12,250 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Greater Allegheny | PA | $12,250 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Lehigh Valley | PA | $12,250 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Mont Alto | PA | $12,250 |
| Colorado School of Mines | CO | $12,244 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Hazleton | PA | $12,200 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State New Kensington | PA | $12,200 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Brandywine | PA | $12,150 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Fayette- Eberly Campus | PA | $12,150 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Schuylkill | PA | $12,150 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Wilkes-Barre | PA | $12,150 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Dubois | PA | $12,130 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Worthington Scranton | PA | $12,110 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State York | PA | $12,110 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Shenango | PA | $12,050 |
| University of Illinois at Chicago | IL | $12,034 |
| University of Massachusetts Amherst |
State Funding Issues Must Be Addressed
As Penn State students clamor for more state aid in hopes of avoiding higher tuition bills, Gov. Tom Corbett has put the university on notice. If Penn State wants taxpayer money, the university must accept the full-disclosure requirements of the state’s open-records law, Corbett says. Sparked by the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal that has exposed the secrecy in which Penn State’s leaders have operated, Corbett said he plans to talk to state lawmakers about forcing Penn State to make a decision: Is it a public or private institution? Corbett said he wants to talk about requiring the other “state-related” schools — the University of Pittsburgh, Temple and Lincoln — to fully comply with the Right to Know law if they want state aid. The debate comes as Corbett prepares to release his new state budget on Tuesday. The open-records law applies to local and state governmental agencies, community colleges and the 14 state-owned universities, including Millersville and Shippensburg. Some lawmakers agree that more public disclosure is in order for the four universities, but they aren’t enamored with Corbett’s approach. “They should not be intimidated into giving up state funds — funds I believe critical to their mission and to their ability to enable lower-income students to afford higher education,” said Sen. John Blake, D-Lackawanna County. Blake is among a few lawmakers who have introduced legislation to expand the disclosure requirements of the four universities. Under the open-records law, those schools must only provide information that the university provides to the IRS and a list of their 25 highest-paid employees. The state’s Right to Know Law carries with it the presumption that all records of an agency are public unless they fall under 30 exemptions. But it also keeps private proprietary, academic and security information that universities have been leery of disclosing. The universities have argued that if they had to disclose all of their professors’ salaries, they could be at a competitive disadvantage. They also say some donors might not give if they couldn’t do so anonymously. Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware County, an open-government advocate, admits there is a strong argument to be made that broader disclosure rules should be placed on the four universities, which receive millions in tax dollars. But he hasn’t decided whether universities should have the same rules as other government agencies. “It is something we will be looking at in the amendment to the open-records law that I hope to have finished by June 30,” he said. Corbett advised Penn State trustees of his intention to tie Penn State’s aid to the open-records law when the university’s board met in January. “A decision has to be made,” Corbett said afterward.
Penn State Board of Trustees needs a “Whistleblower”
After reading the writings of one candidate for the Penn State Board of Trustees, I have the following observations:
The “lowest” rank of members of the Board of Trustees at Penn State seem to consist of those new members (of which I would like to be one), who believe that the Board is actually a deliberative body entrusted to watch over the moral, financial, and educational integrity of the University. In keeping to its original purposes — education of the citizens of Pennsylvania–according to the charter naming Penn State, the Farmer’s High School (reason for location in the geographical center of the state) as the Land Grant University in Pennsylvania.
This group has apparently seen its experience as one of heartache and disappointment. Their opinions were rarely asked for. It has been said that they are never told much of what is going on, except to receive the meeting agendas a week or so before the meetings, there is little for them to do but to attend the meetings and approve whatever is on the agenda. If they raise any serious question, they are told to meet with the appropriate administrators who will answer their concerns — after the meeting is over.” (look out, here I come)
Well, as a trustee, I think it would be my responsibility to follow up with those appropriate administrators and get the answers if I couldn’t get them from fellow board of trustee members. I might not be popular with other board members, (people who question the power brokers are not usually liked very much) but I would have pursued the answers vigorously. As I explained last week to an emeritus associate professor from Penn State in State College, I might have been on the steps of Old Main handing out leaflets to inform and/or I would have been seeking others who could have made a difference by getting the word out. I can guarantee that I wouldn’t have been standing behind a Vice Chairman looking like I had just rubber stamped and agreed with actions that were clearly illegal and morally bankrupt (broken sunshine laws, and a note with a scribbled phone number delivered at bedtime–really?). I am appalled that even now, two months after that famous meeting, that not one board member has spoken out about what happened. The minutes, which you can read here on http://www.PennStateTrustee.com are ambiguous and tell us little (no surprise).
To have people running for the board who were members during the past 30 years now claiming to want to “clean house” seems a bit odd to me. If we had more whistle blowers on the board during the past 30 years, maybe the “November massacre”, the “Penn State Scandal” would not have occurred. I have been proven to be one of the 2 out of 1000 individuals that Eric Silver, a PSU sociologist, referred to in his article in the black covered Penn Stater.
I always try to work within the system first, but if all else fails, and I feel wrong has been done, it is my intention to do what I can to make it right. There are numerous examples in my life that I can show that I bucked the system, and others benefited. I hope to have the opportunity to do the same for my beloved alma mater, Penn State Forever.
