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San Francisco Chronicle
The July 15, 2003, issue of the San Francisco Chronicle quotes Charles Elson, Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Chair and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, in a story about how increased merger activity could point to an improving economy.
“When mergers heat up, it tells you that people have confidence in the future,” Elson told the Chronicle. “When merger activity slows down, it tells you that companies are slowing down.”
Dallas Morning News
The June 26, 2003, issue of the Dallas Morning News quotes Charles Link, MBNA America Business Professor and an expert on baseball economics, concerning the huge contract of Texas Rangers star Alex Rodriguez.
Rodriguez signed with the Rangers in December 2000, receiving a 10-year, $252 million contract.
“If over a certain percentage of team salary goes to one player, history has shown that the team doesn’t do that well,” Link told the newspaper.
Associated Press
A June 17 Associated Press story concerning charges and subsequent plea arrangements with former Rite Aid Corp. executives quotes Charles Elson, Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Chair and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance.
Elson told AP that federal prosecutors were probably willing to make a deal with the defendants because of the complicated nature of accounting evidence that is central to obtaining convictions in such cases.
“When you're dealing with financial fraud or allegations of financial fraud, the issues are quite technical, difficult and not typically in the zone of experience of the everyday juror. They're tough to try,” he said.
ABC News
William Latham, associate professor of economics in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, was quoted June 15 by ABC News in a story about Sunday liquor sales and the elimination of the so-called “blue laws” that traditionally banned such sales
“The reason that they're now being eliminated is quite easily understood,” Latham told ABC News. “There is a large budget problem in the state of Delaware, as in a number of other states, and they see this as a way of increasing tax revenues. We need to recognize that Sunday is the second largest shopping day for all other kinds of purchases.”
San Antonio Express-News
With the San Antonio Spurs playing the New Jersey Nets in the NBA championship series on Friday, June 13, triskaidekaphobic fans in Texas had concerns and consulted the University of Delaware’s own Dr. 13–Thomas Fernsler, an associate policy scientist in the Center for Mathematics and Science Education Resources who has long studied superstitions surrounding numbers.
“Fans shouldn't worry," Fernsler told the San Antonio newspaper. "Whatever is going to happen will happen, and they're probably going to win."
Indeed, the Spurs did come from behind to win and on Sunday clinched the league championship.
Washington Post
A June 7 Washington Post story on the influx of District area residents to Bethany Beach quotes Edward Ratledge, director of the Center for Applied Demography and Survey Research.
"About 50,000 people have moved to Sussex County in the last decade," Ratledge told the Post, noting, "This trend is not new. Delaware has been a retirement destination for a long time. The taxes are lower and so is the cost of living."
CNN/Money
In a June 6 CNN/Money column about the controversy surrounding the corked bat of Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa, Chris Isidore quotes John Antil, associate professor of business administration in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics.
Antil said he does not believe the incident will drive away marketing opportunities for Sosa.
"He didn't deny anything," Antil said. "He said, ‘I'm sorry.’ When you weather a crisis well, it can actually help you. Right now is if I had a contract with him, I'd be thinking about using him more."
Washington Post
The May 11 issue of the Washington Post includes a story about the auctioning off of art that served as a symbol of the corporate excesses of the 1990s, and quotes Charles Elson, Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Chair and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance.
“Buying art, like so many other perks we’ve seen these past few years, was something meant to satisfy the ego of the chief executive, not to serve shareholder interests,” Elson told the Post. “Companies should be in the business of manufacturing products, not buying art. . . . These things look great on office walls, but they are lousy for shareholder value. They are not an effective deployment of assets.”
Indianapolis Star
Tickets sales are lagging for the 2003 Indianapolis 500, the May 10 issue of the Indianapolis Star reports. That is in large part due to a general dissatisfaction among sports fans with accelerating tickets prices, according to John Antil, associate professor of business administration in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics.
“Racing has had a tremendous boom, and now, all of a sudden, it’s bursting,” Antil told the Star. “But sports are getting hammered everywhere.”
Associated Press
Charles Elson, Woolard Professor and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, is quoted in an April 29, 2003, Associated Press story about the $1.4 billion settlement between Wall Street regulators and investment firms.
The settlement has been viewed as a first step in winning back investor trust after a string of corporate scandals. “Change isn't going to come from paying fines, but from showing investors that you will treat them honestly," Elson told the AP.
Business Week
Research by a University of Delaware team directed by James Kolodzey, professor of electrical and computer engineering, is featured in the Developments to Watch section of the April 28, 2003, issue of Business Week magazine.
Kolodzey has made an important breakthrough in the study of terahertz radiation, or T-rays, and the new technology could have practical applications in medical imaging, hazardous materials detection and even rescue operations.
Houston Chronicle
A story about a proxy fight at El Paso Corp. in the April 27, 2003, issue of the Houston Chronicle quotes Charles Elson, Woolard Professor and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance. Proxy contests “are usually very expensive and very ugly,” Elson told the Chronicle, adding such fights remain an important tool for holding company executives accountable. “It's shareholder democracy at work.”
United Press International
Studies by John C. Kraft, H. Fletcher Brown Professor of Geology, concerning the geography of ancient Troy as described in Homer’s “Iliad” are featured in a United Press International story on April 24, 2003.
Because of the work by Kraft and colleagues, it is now known that Troy once stood on the eastern end of a great bay that has since silted in, the article says.
Miami Herald
A story in the April 13, 2003, Miami Herald concerning modern Asian American teens as portrayed in the movie “Better Luck Tomorrow” quotes Peter X. Feng, associate professor of English and author of the book “Identities in Motion: Asian American Film and Video.”
“‘Better Luck Tomorrow’ is interesting because it’s not only not a non-martial arts film, but it’s also not about the stereotypical, model-minority Asian-Americans trying to fit in,” Feng told the Herald. “It’s the kind of film that I can easily imagine people being concerned about, because it doesn’t portray their community in the best light. But that comes out of the larger context that there are so few films about Asian-Americans, there’s a lot of pressure on the ones that do get made to represent them positively, thus making the characters dramatically uninteresting.”
Washington Times
The University of Delaware Extreme 2002 web site developed by the College of Marine Studies around deep sea research by Craig Cary, associated professor, was featured in the April 6, 2003, issue of the Washington Times. The site was cited in a Family Times feature as an outstanding educational tool for students.
San Francisco Chronicle
The April 3, 2003, issue of the San Francisco Chronicle quotes Charles Elson, Woolard Professor and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, in a story about Hewlett Packard shareholders defying the board of directors in a vote on a policy aimed at blocking hostile takeover bids.
Elson said the vote shows that shareholders remain wary of ceding too much power to corporate boards in the wake of scandals involving companies such as Enron and WorldCom.
It also shows continuing dissatisfaction among shareholders as a result of Hewlett Packard’s controversial purchase of Compaq last year, he said.
Elson is quoted on the same topic in the Financial Times of London and in the San Jose Mercury News.
Hartford Courant
The quick capture of Basra, a city in southern Iraq that harbors deep sentiment against Saddam Hussein, would seem to figure into United States military planning, according to an article in the March 19, 2003, issue of the Hartford Courant, which quotes Raymond Callahan, military historian and associate dean of the College of Arts and Science at the University of Delaware.
Callahan and others quoted in the article say the quick fall of a city that may welcome American troops would do much to ease public concerns about the war.
“The fact that [Basra] would be one that would fall quickly and would yield immediate photogenic results or demonstrations of the liberation of the country from its current regime—I'm sure that was a factor they were aware of,” Callahan told the Courant.
“I'm old enough to remember the World War II newsreels and those newsreels, which often depicted allied troops advancing and cheering population welcoming them, obviously had a great impact,” Callahan said. “Something comparable in real time would have a comparable impact.”
National Journal
The March 14, 2003, issue of the National Journal features an article on how to interpret reports of civilian casualties in a second Gulf War and includes commentary by Joel Best, chair of the University of Delaware sociology department and author of the book “Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians and Activists.”
“To try and see behind the numbers is the key to this,” Best told the National Journal. “There’s a tendency in our culture to treat numbers as little nuggets of truth, as though they’re real, like rocks. I prefer to say that they’re more like jewels. They are selected, they’re cut, they’re polished and they’re placed in settings so they can be viewed from particular angles.... With the best efforts in the world, these [civilian-casualty] numbers are going to be imperfect.”
Financial Times
The Feb. 24, 2003, Financial Times quotes the University of Delaware’s Charles Elson, Woolard Professor and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, concerning “success” fees as part of a measure by Taubman Centers, a Michigan-based mall operator, to fend off a hostile takeover bid by Simon Property.
Elson told the Financial Times that success fees are seen as anti-takeover devices that can undermine shareholder value. “The interests of the management are not always the same as those of shareholders,” he said. “The success fee from the point of view of corporate governance is like a chicken bone in the throat. The suspicion is always that the bankers' loyalty is to management, not to shareholders.”
Boston Globe
University of Delaware Professor Emeritus Enrico Quarantelli is quoted as founding director of UD's Center for Disaster Research in the Feb. 24, 2003, issue of the Boston Globe. In a story centering on the recent Rhode Island nightclub tragedy, he discussed crowd reactions, noting that groups tend to interpret fast-breaking events in terms of normal events and so are slow to sense danger.
“In situations like this, there is always an attempt to maintain normalcy,” Quarantelli told the Globe. “The attempt to interpret something as normal is basically an attempt to say, `’What I see is not really happening.’ And it’s a very powerful force in the human psyche.”
Baltimore Sun
The Feb. 22, 2003, issue of the Baltimore Sun quotes Joseph Pika, professor of political science and international relations at the University of Delaware, in a story about a plan by Libertarians to target certain states, including Delaware, as part of a Free State Project. Pika is skeptical, telling the Sun, “I think they're misreading Delaware politics. Libertarian candidates have not picked up significant support in any election…. I think this is a harebrained idea.”
Chronicle of Higher Education
University of Delaware English Professor Ben Yagoda has a humorous piece in the Feb. 21, 2003, issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education. In the Chronicle Review’s Observer section, he writes about “Yagoda's Unfamiliar Quotations,” phrases he did not find in the updated Bartlett's. Among his favorite lines: “Let it rip, speed king.”
Taipei Times
The Feb. 20, 2003, issue of the Taipei Times quotes John Byrne, director of the University of Delaware’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, in a story concerning conservation in Taiwan, which he said is a key ecosystem for the planet. “For example,” Byrne said, “it provides the nesting grounds for an endangered species, the black-faced spoonbill, which is of great importance for our world.
“We must find a way to welcome efforts by human beings living on the island to exercise stewardship over this globally significant island ecosystem. Politics should not override our responsibility to ensure an ecologically diverse and sustainable future for all living things on Taiwan, and everywhere else.”
Washington Post
The Feb. 4, 2003, issue of the Washington Post includes a story on the removal of a dissident from the board of directors of Walt Disney Co., and quotes Charles Elson, Woolard Professor and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.
Disney earlier had been hailed for shrinking its board, making for a more cohesive unit.
“This is one step forward for Disney but another big step back,” Elson told the Post, adding that shareholders must remain vigilant as companies shrink their boards to ensure that dissidents are not being purged in the name of good governance. “There is really no way to prevent this from happening,” he said. “But when it does happen, shareholders need to take issue with it.”
CNN
The University of Delaware has been noted in several recent postings on the CNN web site.
On Feb. 2, 2003, CNN Travel posted a story written by Randall Chase of the Associated Press about the current exhibit at the University Gallery, “Samuel L. Schmucker: The Discovery of His Lost Art.” The exhibit features 200 postcards and 90 watercolors from one of the leading illustrators of the “golden age of the picture postcard,” from 1898-1915. The exhibit will run through March 28.
A column by Chris Isidore posted Jan. 31, 2003, in the CNN Money section quotes John Antil, associate professor in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, concerning the employment of former baseball player Pete Rose by advertisers. Major League Baseball is considering the reinstatement of Rose, who was banned from the game following gambling allegations. “As a company, why would I take the risk?” Antil said. “I don’t think there’s a major advertiser that will take the chance.”
USA Today
An article in the Jan. 29, 2003, issue of USA Today concerning losses of multiple executives by a single corporation in a short period of time quotes Charles Elson, Woolard Professor and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.
Elson told USA Today that losing two executives at the same time can result in a corporation veering off course.
Sacramento Bee
John Antil, associate professor in the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics and a widely noted expert on Super Bowl advertising, is quoted in the Jan. 27, 2003, issue of the Sacramento Bee concerning the quality of commercials televised during Super Bowl XXXVII.
Antil told the newspaper that many of the spots were not quite up to past standards. “There were some good ones,” he said, “but I was disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high.”
Wilmington News-Journal
John Antil, associate professor in the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics with expertise in sports marketing, is quoted in a story about the merchandising of the Philadelphia Eagles that appears in the Jan. 15, 2003, issue of the Wilmington News-Journal.
Antil told the News-Journal, “Philly fans are different from fans in any other city. They have very short memories, and they’re very unforgiving.”
USA Today
Columnist Christine Brennan writes in the Jan. 15, 2003, issue of USA Today about young figure skaters and notes there are high hopes for 13-year-old Kimberly Meissner, who trains at the University of Delaware with coaches Tracey Poletis and Pam Gregory.
“This kid has everything,” Poletis told the columnist. “She has the presentation, she has the maturity and she comes in with a smile on her face every day.”
Brennan noted in her column that Meissner trains on the same UD ice where Tara Lipinski spent much of her early career.
The New York Times
The Jan. 14, 2003, issue of The New York Times includes a story about weeds that are growing resistant to the popular herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup and several other commercial weed killers, and quotes Mark J. VanGessel, associate professor of plant and soil sciences in the University of Delaware’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
“With the advent of Roundup Ready crops, all we're using is glyphosate,” VanGessel told the Times. “Long term, what’s going to have to happen is getting away from the continuous use of Roundup Ready crops.”
The New York Times
The Jan. 2, 2003, issue of The New York Times quotes Thomas Fernsler, associate policy scientist in the University of Delaware’s Math and Science Education Resource Center, in a story about the day’s unusual numerical sequence. Those who got up very early watched the numbers 01-02-03-04-05-06 (for the month, day, year, hour, minute and second) come and go.
Fernsler, who is better known as Dr. 13 for his interest in triskaidekaphobia, called the occurrence a “magical time warp.”
Sports Illustrated for Kids
The January 2003 issue of Sports Illustrated for Kids includes a two-page feature on University of Delaware cheerleading recruit Greg Gilbert.
Gilbert is a 6-foot 2-inch, 228-pound defensive end and all-county offensive lineman for the football team at Lower Cape May Regional High School in New Jersey. The high school senior has received inquiries about playing football at Princeton and Georgetown universities, and the universities of Richmond and Maryland but has opted to join the UD cheerleading squad.
According to the article, Gilbert has been cheering with the Katz All-Stars squad, a competitive cheerleading team, since 1999. “I always like to lift things,” he told SI for Kids, which notes he can deadlift 545 pounds. “Lifting a girl is pretty cool.”
The article notes that Gilbert visited the UD campus in May, and that “the school’s strong cheerleading and academic programs felt right.”
Chicago Sun-Times
A story about the musical-turned-movie “Chicago” in the Dec. 27, 2002, issue of the Chicago Sun-Times quotes University of Delaware English professor Thomas Pauly, who wrote a book titled “Chicago” about the original comedy and the press coverage on which it is based.
Pauly’s book looks at Maurine Watkins, a reporter who immortalized murderers Belva Gaertner and Beulah Annan in her 1926 comedy.
“I think Watkins realized that in a city like Chicago, these two stories weren’t so unusual unless she made them so,” Pauly told the Sun-Times. “She used a tongue-in-cheek attitude and a wry sense of humor, which caught the attention of her editors and readers.”
Delaware Today
The December 2002 issue of Delaware Today magazine includes a feature story on the University of Delaware’s unique Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program.
MALS enables learners to pursue a wide variety of interests without the limitation of strictly defined requirements.
Gary May, program director, told Delaware Today that when the program was established in 1988, most of the students were retirees. Today, the average age is 47 and most of those enrolled have full-time jobs. “It’s no longer a program just for retirees,” he said.
MALS students are eager learners, he said, and “they like to challenge the professor and exchange ideas.”
Wilmington News-Journal
The huge Poweball lottery jackpot was the subject of a front-page story in the Dec. 19, 2002, issue of the Wilmington News-Journal, and it featured a quote from Tom Ilvento, who chairs the UD Department of Food and Resource Economics, which includes statistical studies.
Ilvento told the News-Journal, “People are buying an opportunity to dream for a couple of days about what they would do with that money.” And, even though he knows the odds are long, Ilvento joined in the fantasy. “There’s a ticket in my wallet,” he said.
Another front-page story, this on plastic gift cards that have become popular holiday items, quotes Meryl P. Gardner, associate professor of business administration in UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics.
“People like to give gift cards rather than cash because cash is viewed by our society as being tacky or callous or last-minute,” Gardner said.
Portland Oregonian
Research by Xiao-Hai Yan, professor of oceanography and co-director of the Center for Remote Sensing in the University of Delaware’s College of Marine Studies, is featured in the Research Notebook section of the Portland Oregonian of Dec. 11, 2002. He has found that the strong westerly winds related to El Niño help produce warm and choppy waters in the Pacific Ocean, causing a slight imbalance in the Earth’s rotation rate that may slightly extend the length of the day.
Washington Post
Charles Elson, Woolard Professor and director of the University of Delaware’s Center for Corporate Governance, is quoted in a Dec. 11, 2002, Washington Post story about Treasury secretary nominee John W. Snow, chairman and chief executive officer of CSX. Snow has been a member of several corporate boards while at the same time running CSX, and Elson said such practices can “reduce the effect of oversight.” He added it is unfair to single out Snow for criticism in this matter because there has not been widespread opposition to the practice of multiple directorships.
Elson also is quoted in a Dec. 11 Associated Press story about William Donaldson, the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. “I don't think the president could have made a better choice,” Elson said. “[Donaldson] is terrific. He knows the broker side, he knows the exchange side and he’s well suited to take everything into account.”
Chemical & Engineering News
Research being conducted at the University of Delaware by John T. Koh, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and his research group is featured in the Nov. 18, 2002, issue of Chemical & Engineering News.
The story, which concerns synthetic versions of Vitamin D to help people with a form of rickets down as Vitamin D Resistant Rickets, can be found at
[http://pubs.acs.org/cen/topstory/8046/8046notw1.html].
Associated Press
Charles Elson, Woolard Professor and director of the University of Delaware’s Center for Corporate Governance, was quoted widely in a national Associated Press story on Nov. 12, 2002, concerning increases in salaries for chief executive officers even in the face of a down stock market.
Elson told AP he found the report on executive salaries “disappointing, to say the least. When earnings and stock prices go down, so should salaries, even those of CEOs.”
The New York Times
A story concerning structural engineering and the collapse of the World Trade Center twin towers in the Oct. 23, 2002, issue of The New York Times quotes Michael Chajes, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The story focuses on engineer Charles Thornton, who has raised controversial issues concerning the design of the WTC and who spoke on that topic April 9 at the University of Delaware.
“In a situation like this, some people are hesitant to raise any issue,” Chajes said. “Having someone at his level saying these things and bringing up the discussion is certainly a good thing for the engineering community.”
Wall Street Journal
The Oct. 22, 2002, issue of the Wall Street Journal mentions the “Beyond Oscar Wilde: Portraits of Late Victorian Writers and Artists from the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection” on display now in the University Gallery in its Time Off column in the Leisure & Arts section. The Wall Street Journal notes that Samuels Lasner will discuss the 65 works on view on Wednesday, Oct. 30.
USA Today
Carl Klockars, University of Delaware professor of criminal justice, is quoted in a story about the Washington metropolitan area shootings in the Oct. 22, 2002, issue of USA Today. The story notes that serial killers do not often communicate with authorities but when they do, they are generally seeking notoriety. “He wants to get credit for the work he’s done,” Klockars told USA Today.
Dallas Morning News
In the Oct. 21, 2002, issue of the Dallas Morning News, columnist Richard Alm writes about baseball salaries and quotes Charles Link, MBNA Professor of Business at UD. Link said he sees evidence teams may curtail runaway spending.
Delaware Today
The University of Delaware figures prominently in the November 2002 issue of Delaware Today magazine, which has stories about the Delaware Biotechnology Center, new Head Football Coach K.C. Keller and Arthurian research by English professor Michael Rewa.
Delaware Today looks at biotechnology, which it calls “the wave of the future,” and notes the important part the University plays in that future through DBI.
The story on Keeler sats the new UD coach is “motivated and motivating,” and “enthusiastic and determined.”
Rewa, featured in the magazine’s “What’s Up” section, discusses his interest in the applications of the legends of Camelot in popular culture today: a housing development called Avalon, a dog named Sir Lancelot, a field named for Excalibur. His Camelot Courier newsletter can be found on the UD web site at [www.english.udel.edu/rewa].
Los Angeles Times
Carl Klockars, University of Delaware professor of criminal justice, is quoted in a story about witnesses to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area sniper shootings in the Oct. 17, 2002, issue of the Los Angeles Times.
Klockars said it is easy for witnesses to be confused about what they saw. “One shot, the body falls and people react to it,” he said. “There are a lot of things going on quickly. People are looking at different aspects of commotion, and they’re likely to be distracted.”
USA Today
The Oct. 17, 2002, USA Today quotes the University of Delaware’s Charles Link, MBNA Professor of Business, in a story about the economics of major league baseball. Link said fans of small-market teams should not get too excited about the prospect of additional revenue sharing because those teams tend to spend the money on things other than outstanding players. “Instead of using the money to improve the team,” he said, citing past mistakes, “they used it to meet other costs.”
‘The Todd Mundt Show’
Research by Richard Wool, University of Delaware professor of chemical engineering and director of the Affordable Composites from Renewable Sources (ACRES) program, was featured Oct. 15, 2002, on National Public Radio’s “The Todd Mundt Show.” Wool discussed work on a computer chip made of chicken feathers and soy resin.
The Oct. 15 show is available in the show’s archives, which can be found at [www.toddshow.org]. The segment featuring Wool begins shortly after the 27 minute mark.
The New York Times, Associated Press
Both the Associated Press and the Oct. 4, 2002, issue of The New York Times quote the University of Delaware’s Charles Elson in stories about the resignation of Martha Stewart from the board of the New York Stock Exchange. Stewart has been under fire as a result of trading in ImClone stock
Elson, Woolard Professor and director of UD’s Center for Corporate Governance, told The New York Times that, “As a board member, [Stewart] had a fiduciary responsibility. The exchange must be run on trust and integrity, and the role of a director is to contribute to public confidence.”
“Given the allegations floating around about Stewart, it becomes problematic and more difficult for her to sit on the board of the New York Stock Exchange,” Elson told the Associated Press. “When you sit on the board of the exchange, you are responsible for holding up the standards of the exchange.”
The Oct. 3, 2002, Cleveland Plain Dealer quotes Elson in a story about Institutional Shareholder Services, a small Maryland firm that is carrying some weight in the corporate governance world. Also, he is quoted in a Reuters story about Moody's hiring a corporate governance expert who previously had been with TIAA-CREF.
Saskatoon Western Producer
The Oct. 3, 2002, Saskatoon Western Producer includes a story about research into the use of chicken feathers in the production of computer chips by Richard Wool, professor of chemical engineering and director of the ACRES (Affordable Composites from Renewable Sources) program at UD.
The New York Times and Washington Post
Charles Elson, director of the University of Delaware’s Center for Corporate Governance, is quoted in stories in the Sept. 17, 2002, issues of The New York Times and the Washington Post about the retirement package of former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, which is being revised following charges that it is excessive.
Elson told the Times that, to the extent that packages are seen as too generous, investors and others are likely to pay attention. "I think there will be pressure to revisit it," he said. "There is the disgust factor."
"The question is, was enough disclosed?" he told the Post. "When a board gives that much away, it is relevant to shareholders as they evaluate the board's performance."
Arizona Republic
The Sept. 16, 2002, Arizona Republic has a story on Arizona Diamondback pitcher Mike Koplove, who played baseball at the University of Delaware before being drafted in the 29th round in 1998.
As of that issue, the reliever was 6-1 with a sterling 1.82 earned run average for the defending world champions.
"My whole career, I've never had many wins," Koplove said. "This year, I've come in a lot of times when the game has been tied or been in when we have had a rally. Kind of lucky."
Alameda Times-Star
The Sept. 16, 2002, Alameda, Calif., Times-Star has a story urging members of the Raider Nation to pray for the arm of former UD quarterback Rich Gannon, who threw a franchise-record 64 times in leading the Oakland Raiders past the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night.
Associated Press
The Associated Press quotes Charles Elson, director of the University of Delaware’s Center for Corporate Governance, in a recent story about corporations cracking down on lavish executive perks in the wake of the Tyco International Ltd. lawsuit.
The lawsuit, in which Tyco is seeking a return of money from former corporate officers accused of theft, “sends a strong message to executives that these actions are not without consequences,” Elson told AP.
The story hit the AP wire Sept. 14, 2002, and since has appeared in a large number of newspapers in the United States and Canada.
Baltimore Sun
The Sept. 16, 2002, Baltimore Sun includes a story about Homewood House, a National Historic Landmark on the campus of Johns Hopkins University that is preparing to celebrate its 200th anniversary.
The story notes that Bernie Herman, UD Rosenberg Professor of Art History and director of the Center for American Material Culture Studies, and Damie Stillman, UD professor emeritus of American architecture, have been involved in a project to examine the Homewood House history during the past year.
Christian Science Monitor
The work of the University of Delaware Disaster Research Center following the Sept. 11 attacks is highlighted in a story in the Aug. 28, 2002, issue of the Christian Science Monitor.
Two days after the attack, James Kendra, a postdoctoral fellow, and four other representatives of the Disaster Research Center were in New York City to observe the work of the various agencies that responded to the disaster.
"Our objective in disaster research is to learn what can be applied to future situations, to improve planning and improve responses," Kendra told the Christian Science Monitor.
The newspaper reports that the UD team “concluded that creativity and improvisation–such as the Coast Guard, ferries and anything else that could float moving 1 million people–are important in responding to such disasters.”
Financial Times
The Aug. 27, 2002, issue of the Financial Times includes a profile on Charles Elson, director of the University of Delaware Center for Corporate Governance.
The Financial Times writes: “Prof Elson is the Clark Kent of corporate governance. The casual observer sees only a mild-mannered law professor, a slight figure in a grey suit and crisp white shirt. But he is also director of the University of Delaware's Centre for Corporate Governance–and the man who fired ‘Chainsaw’ Al Dunlap, the most feared chief executive of his generation.”
Elson also was quoted Aug. 28 on CNBC’s “The News with Brian Williams.” The segment concerned WorldCom executives.
NASA
A National Aeronautic and Space Administration balloon that set a world record as the largest balloon ever launched carried a payload supplied by a University of Delaware researcher.
The balloon carried a solar and heliosphere experiment called Low Energy Electrons that was provided by Paul Evenson, a UD professor in the Bartol Research Institute.
“Aside from our excitement and the fact that this balloon established a new record for balloon volume, this flight should help establish a new platform for science such as ultra-violet and X-ray astronomy,” according to Steve Smith, chief of NASA's Balloon Program Office at Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Va.
“In addition to the great science Dr. Evenson is doing, this is a demonstration that balloons can reach extreme altitudes with relatively heavy payloads,” Danny Ball, site manager for the National Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, added. “We hope this will lead to new interest from other science disciplines needing very high altitudes.”
This flight was the sixth in a series of balloon observations of cosmic electrons that have used the LEE and the Anti-Electron Sub Orbital Payload (AESOP) instrument provided by John Clem, also of Bartol.
Both instruments flew from Lynn Lake, on Aug. 13, 2002, on a 40-million-cubic-foot balloon that reached an altitude of 134,000 feet (41 kilometers). The total flight time was 23 hours, 14 minutes.
Associated Press
Jonathan Lewis, a psychologist in the University of Delaware’s Center for Counseling and Student Development, is featured in an Associated Press story filed Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2002, that considers the feelings of parents as they send their freshmen off to college.
Arlene Levinson, an AP reporter, attended a DelaWorld session last month during which Lewis told parents: “If you’ve been in the homework business, you are hereby fired. It’s time for you to step back so they can step forward.”
Toronto Star
Cole Galloway, University of Delaware assistant professor of physical therapy, is quoted in a story about clumsiness in the Aug. 16, 2002, edition of the Toronto Star.
What makes one person graceful and another clumsy? “It’s possibly one of the biggest unanswered questions in neuroscience,” Galloway said.
The New York Times
The heat wave is the most deadly of all natural disasters, according to a story in the Aug. 13, 2002, issue of The New York Times, which cites statistics from the University of Delaware's Center for Climatic Research.
According to the center, the death toll caused by heat waves is about 1,500 Americans per year.
The story quotes Laurence S. Kalkstein, UD professor of geography and an expert on biometeorology. Kalkstein said heat waves are relative, based on where people live. "What makes a heat wave in Duluth is not what makes a heat wave in Dallas," he told the Times. "We respond to the normal weather conditions of wherever we live."
Denver Post
Vilmos Misangyi, a professor in UD's College of Business and Economics, discussed a decade-long study of corporate executives during a meeting of the Academy of Management held Monday, Aug. 12, in Denver.
The study found that charismatic chief executive officers made more money than their counterparts, but that "charisma had no significant effect on a company's stock price of balance sheet," according to a story in the Aug. 13, 2002, issue of the Denver Post.
Baltimore Sun
A story in the July 31, 2002, issue of the Baltimore Sun about how local television stations fill news airtime with stories about crime and violence quotes Danilo Yanich, a University of Delaware associate professor and policy scientist with the Center for Community and Family Development who has conducted research on television crime coverage.
“There’s no question it’s newsworthy,” Yanich told the Sun. “It’s a question of how you present it and how often you present it.”
On local newscasts, Yanich said that “violence moves everything else out, and it colors everything else.”
The New York Times
Charles Elson, Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Professor of Corporate Governance and director of the University of Delaware’s Center for Corporate Governance, is quoted in a story about the labor movement’s call for corporate reform that appears in the July 30, 2002, issue of The New York Times.
Elson said he believes labor’s pledge to play a larger role in corporate governance issues should boost the reform movement. “Labor has been a very active voice in the governance area and a very successful voice,” he said.
Chicago Tribune
A story on the history of air conditioning that appeared in the July 29, 2002, issue of the Chicago Tribune quotes Larry Kalkstein of the University of Delaware’s Center for Climatic Research.
Kalkstein said heat-related deaths in New York City fell more than 25 percent from the 1960s to the 1990s and added that is largely because of air conditioning.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The July 8, 2002, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gave rave reviews to the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble for a concert Saturday, July 6, which included a composition featuring poems by Fleda Brown, University of Delaware professor of English.
The composition, "Einstein on Mercer Street," was written by Brown's nephew, Kevin Puts.
The reviewer wrote, "The evening came to stunning conclusion in Kevin Puts' 'Einstein on Mercer Street,' a major commission by PNME. The work, incorporating the entire ensemble, exists between a song cycle and a Mahler symphony in terms of transforming text into a musical whole. The nine poems of contemporary poet Fleda Brown, a fictional account of Einstein's reflections as an old man, are masterfully intertwined into several sections that took different styles as their basis, from minimalism to Mozartean classicism.
"The theories of science and art usually meet imperfectly when applied, but it is hard not to remark that, like Einstein's theory, the effect of this piece was probably relative to each person in the audience. Its lack of cliches demanded that you fend for yourself for interpretation. For me, the reflective poems combined with the redolent motivic work gave 'Einstein' a potent nostalgia.
"Puts clearly is an emerging talent, and bass-baritone Timothy Jones was outstanding, displaying an easy-going approach to the melodies and speaking. Given the beloved subject matter and the strong and accessible composition, this work is an ideal piece for a new PNME to show that contemporary music is as vital and relevant as ever."
The New York Times
Research on an important Egyptian trade city by Steven E. Sidebotham, University of Delaware professor of history, is featured in a story on the front page of the Science Section in the July 9, 2002, issue of The New York Times.
Sidebotham has been working with UCLA archaeologist Willeke Wendrich on a dig in the one-time port of Berenike on the Red Sea, about 600 miles south of Suez near the border with Sudan.
ABC News
A July 9, 2002, ABC News.com story on corporate boards quotes Charles Elson, Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Professor of Corporate Governance and director of the University of Delaware Center for Corporate Governance.
The story notes that corporate boards are increasingly under fire as scandal after scandal rocks American business.
Elson told ABC, "The problem of the passive board is an old one."
Elson also was included in a July 7, 2002, Washington Post story concerning a scathing U.S. Senate report on the Enron collapse.
"They missed some very important clues," Elson said of the Enron board. "In the future people are going to have a heightened sensitivity to those clues. This has created a very healthy skepticism vis-a-vis management."
Washington Post
Richard Wool, director of the University of Delaware's Affordable Composites from Renewable Sources (ACRES) program, is featured in a story in the Science section of the July 8, 2002, Washington Post.
The story is headlined "Can computers fly on the wings of a chicken?" and reports that Wool has filed a patent for a new generation of computer microchips that will replace silicon with materials generated from waste chicken feathers.
Wool "understands that nonspecialists will find this strange," the story notes, adding, "But he's used to it. Wool and his colleagues at the University's ACRES project have been developing new uses for plant fibers, oils and resins. Using such raw materials as the humble soybean, Wool and his colleagues are designing prototypes for everything from simple adhesives to hurricane-proof roofs."
CNN Money
Anna Kournikova has not had a stellar career on the tennis court, witness her first-round loss at Wimbledon, but she continues to be a force in sports marketing off the court. That could come to an end at some point, John Antil, University of Delaware associate professor of business administration, told CNN Money in a story that appeared July 5, 2002.
Antil said he believes the on-court success of Venus and Serena Williams is making them more attractive among advertisers seeking endorsements. "Is she (Kournikova) going to get a five-year deal with someone? I don't think so," Antil said. "Would I sign Venus Williams for five years for a good buck? Yeah, I would."
Associated Press
John Antil, a University of Delaware associate professor of business administration with expertise in sports marketing, was quoted June 19, 2002, in a widely distributed Associated Press story about the potential for marketing of players on the U.S. men’s soccer team after the World Cup.
“It is extremely ironic that soccer is the No. 1 participation sport for kids but we can’t seem to maintain the interest of adults in terms of TV viewership and game attendance,” Antil told AP.
He said a “heroic moment” is needed to grab the nation’s attention and hold it.
“You need a phenomenal play, the Pele up-in-the-air, over-the-head kick that gets a goal,” Antil said. “That’s the kind of thing you pray for. It has to be a super event that imbeds itself in the national consciousness.”
The article was picked up by many news outlets, including The New York Times, CNN Money, the Boston Globe, the Baltimore Sun, the Tampa Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Chicago Tribune
University of Delaware marine biologists Bill Hall and Nancy Targett are quoted in a story about the steep decline in the Delaware Bay horseshoe crab population that appeared June 17, 2002, in the Chicago Tribune.
Moving along the South Bowers beach, Hall told the reporter, “Years ago, you couldn’t walk here. There would be solid crabs down the length of the beach.”
Use of the ancient creatures as bait for eel and conch exploded in the 1990s, and Targett is developing an artificial lure to take the place of horseshoe crabs as bait.
Los Angeles Times
The May 29 issue of the Los Angeles Times includes a quote from Charles Elson, Woolard Professor and director of the University of Delaware's Center for Corporate Governance, in a story about the growing pressures on corporate board members in the wake of the Enron collapse.
At one time, the story notes, a board seat was a post "long on perks and short on demands."
Now, Elson said, "the perceived risk is greater and the potential reward less in most people's minds, the risk being the potential for litigation, embarrassment or even liability."
Delaware Law Weekly
Valerie P. Hans, professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, discusses changes to the civil jury trial being considered by the Delaware General Assembly in the May 29 issue of the Delaware Law Weekly.
Legislation would drop the requirement of a unanimous verdict and require instead agreement among 10 of the 12 jurors in civil cases.
"The public jury trial is an important part of self-government," Hans told the Delaware Law Weekly. "It provides an ability to handle conflict in societies."
Philadelphia Inquirer
A front page story in the May 21 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer cites the work of conservation experts and graduate students from the University of Delaware's Wintherthur Program in Art Conservation in the restoration of statues on the hallowed ground of the Gettysburg battlefield.
The Inquirer reported: "Using student labor at Gettysburg helps keep the cost of the project down, but also gives students a rare opportunity to work with outdoor sculpture. 'The experience is so much different than working in a lab,' said Nicole Grabow, a second-year student from Wilmington, as she balanced on a scaffold. 'It's great to feel you're preserving something for people to see. So many visitors come to this site.'"
Washington Post
A story on the horseshoe crab population in the May 22 edition of the Washington Post highlights the work of Bill Hall, a marine education specialist in the University of Delaware's College of Marine Studies.
Reporter Carol Vinzant joined Hall's crew on the beaches of the Delaware Bay to count the ancient creatures during a mating period, and noted that some volunteers refer to the researcher as "the god of horseshoe crabs."
She wrote: "Surveys show that the crab population has declined but that the decline has leveled off. To track the trend, researchers need lots of data, from lots of volunteers. Anyone can sign up but because it takes a night of training, Hall particularly wants people who can come out for more than one night.
"If you want to see the crabs without counting over the next several weeks, you don't necessarily have to go out in the middle of the night. (But it's much more spectacular if you do. They like the full and new moons.) For the less ambitious watcher, horseshoe crabs also show up at high tide during the day.
"But midnight it was as we walked along the beach. I spent most of my time turning upended crabs back over. Hall directed some back toward the water. 'C'mon, lady of the night, you'll find your way,' he coached them. 'When you see them try to right themselves, you wonder how they survived 300 million years.'
"Horseshoe crabs are the same phylum, arthropoda, as the true crabs, but they belong to a different subphylum and are actually more related to spiders, scorpions and mites. As militaristic as they look in their spiked armor, the crabs are no risk to handle. They don't bite or pinch. About the only way you could get hurt by a horseshoe crab is if someone threw one at you.
"In fact, I realized as I got ready for my drive back along that dark road, the horseshoe crab is the least scary thing out here."
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