Thursday, April 24, 2008

Hospitality Law, May 1, 2008, Thursday

Copyright 2008 LRP Publications

All Rights Reserved

Hospitality Law

May 1, 2008, Thursday

SECTION: Vol. 23 No. 5

HEADLINE: Attendees learn how to protect themselves during hiring process

BODY:

Experts gathered to provide HR information to hospitality industry

LAS VEGAS - More than 600 human resources professionals from the hotel, restaurant and food service industries participated in interactive sessions and learned hot topics in hospitality law from expert speakers at the 2nd Annual National HR in Hospitality Conference & Expo. At the event, produced by Human Resource Executive(r) Magazine and Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and School of Industrial and Labor Relations, attendees discussed ramifications of the Employee Free Choice Act, learned new strategies for addressing workplace conflict in an effort to reduce the risk of arbitration or litigation, and shared best practices with similarly situated attendees from the United States, Canada and other countries.

"This event has proven itself to be valuable to all who attend, and we are confident that it is an event that will only grow in popularity," said Harry Katz, dean of Cornell University's ILR School. "Attendees loved the interactive, sector-specific sessions for hotel, restaurant and food service practitioners. The six roundtable discussions also were a big hit; they were widely attended and received great praise for the interaction between speakers and attendees, and attendees among themselves."

Hiring issues were among the big legal issues discussed at various sessions during the conference. Attorneys Zev J. Eigen, of McBreen & Senior in Los Angeles, and John Gessner, general counsel of Texas Wings Inc. in Dallas, otherwise known as Hooters, warned attendees to be wary of how much information they uncover about a prospective employee, for fear of violating employee privacy laws.

"With all of the things you can find out legally ... you have to be careful and have to ask yourself, 'Do I need to know this information?'" Gessner warned.

For instance, if an employer discovers that a supervisor is a cross-dresser or that the head trainer is involved in some unsavory activity outside of work, having this information is something that can be brought up by the employee in a discrimination claim.

In addition, that information learned may not even be true.

"When you get into background checks, you have to look at where you are getting your information, who's getting that information, and what you're going to do with it," he said. "You have to look at how good the background check is."

And companies need to consider whether some of the checks they may require - such as drug testing or a credit check - really are necessary.

"Ask yourself, 'Does testing for drugs really have anything to do with what my company does?'" Gessner asked. "If it's a trucking company, it's a safety issue. But if I'm running Bob's Pizza Place, do you care if somebody smoked a little weed last night?"

The same can be said for credit reports. If something adverse comes up and you're going to make a decision based on that negative credit report, you may have to advise the employee on why he was eliminated from consideration during the hiring process.

Eigen said the information learned during background checks can also lead to allegations of violations of laws such as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"If you don't care about someone's age, why look for it in the first place?" Eigen asked. "With questions you wouldn't ask in an interview, you don't want to engage in a process where you uncover it otherwise."

With the ADA, employers could also be put in a tough spot if they uncover information that reveals someone's disability or potential disability.

"You're charged with that knowledge that you otherwise wouldn't have," he said. "You have to be very careful about weighing the pros and cons of this information."

Electronic recruiting concerns

With the proliferation of hiring kiosks for many food service companies and large hotel chains, human resources professionals need to be wary of the potential legal concerns that can arise from these convenient machines.

Jennifer Brown Shaw and D. Gregory Valenza, partners in the California-based law firm of Shaw Valenza LLP, said hiring kiosks actually present myriad disadvantages for companies during the hiring process.

"Obviously, you're dealing with equipment, so you'll have software maintenance, uploading, compatibility with your HR systems, etc.," Shaw said. "And you don't have the human touch."

But even more importantly, with hiring kiosks, a company may not be able to tell if an applicant is having difficulty with the application process, and whether the machine is causing the company to run afoul of antidiscrimination laws.

"Disparate treatment claims will come up with Internet recruiting and kiosks in ways that are different from a failure to hire that comes up in an interview," Valenza said. "It may be that the kiosk is only set up to deal with people in one language, or that it's not accessible in the proper way to folks with disabilities. The way the system is set up can even have a discriminatory effect."

The 3rd Annual National HR in Hospitality Conference is scheduled for March 16-19, 2009, at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Fla., and will build on this year's program. To see the complete agenda and list of speakers who presented at this year's conference, visit www.hrin hospitality.com.

LOAD-DATE: April 23, 2008

Life Science Weekly, April 29, 2008, Tuesday

Copyright 2008

Life Science Weekly via NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net

Life Science Weekly

April 29, 2008, Tuesday

SECTION: EXPANDED REPORTING; Pg. 3818

HEADLINE: LIFE SCIENCES; Scientists at Cornell University target life sciences

BODY:

New investigation results, 'Active learning: effects of core training design elements on self-regulatory processes, learning, and adaptability,' are detailed in a study published in Journal of Applied Psychology. According to recent research from the United States, "This article describes a comprehensive examination of the cognitive, motivational, and emotional processes underlying active learning approaches; their effects on learning and transfer; and the core training design elements (exploration, training frame, emotion control) and individual differences (cognitive ability, trait goal orientation, trait anxiety) that shape these processes. Participants (N=350) were trained to operate a complex, computer-based simulation."

"Exploratory learning and error-encouragement framing had a positive effect on adaptive transfer performance and interacted with cognitive ability and dispositional goal orientation to influence trainees' metacognition and state goal orientation. Trainees who received the emotion-control strategy had lower levels of state anxiety," wrote B.S. Bell and colleagues, Cornell University (see also Life Sciences).

The researchers concluded: "Implications for development of an integrated theory of active learning, learner-centered design, and research extensions are discussed."

Bell and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Applied Psychology (Active learning: effects of core training design elements on self-regulatory processes, learning, and adaptability. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2008;93(2):296-316).

For additional information, contact B.S. Bell, ILR School, Dept. of Human Resource Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850 USA..

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Applied Psychology is: American Psychological Association, 750 First St. NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242, USA.

Keywords: United States, Ithaca, Life Sciences, Psychology, Mental Health.

This article was prepared by Life Science Weekly editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2008, Life Science Weekly via NewsRx.com.

LOAD-DATE: April 23, 2008

Newstex Web Blogs, April 22, 2008, Tuesday

Copyright 2008 Newstex LLC

All Rights Reserved

Newstex Web Blogs

Copyright 2008 Kept-up Academic Librarian

Kept-up Academic Librarian

April 22, 2008, Tuesday 8:34 AM EST

HEADLINE: The Things They Can Do With Their Endowment

BYLINE: steven bell

BODY:

Apr. 22, 2008 (Kept-up Academic Librarian delivered by Newstex) --

Ronald G. Ehrenberg, a Cornell economist who studies higher education, marvels at some of the things Princeton can do with its money. Forget for the moment the hundreds of millions of dollars it spends on research projects and academic departments. Or that as far back as 2001, it replaced student loans with outright grants, a move that other universities with less-deep pockets are scrambling to match. A look at how Princeton goes about spending its endowment bounty provides some insight into the priorities of one of the countrys wealthiest universities. Read more at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/education/edlife/princeton.html?em&ex=1208836800&en=05b3bdd62624e16d&ei=5087%0A

Newstex ID: KUAL-0001-24682524

NOTES: The views expressed on blogs distributed by Newstex and its re-distributors ("Blogs via Newstex") are solely the author's and not necessarily the views of Newstex or its re-distributors. Posts from such authors are provided "AS IS", with no warranties, and confer no rights. The material and information provided in Blogs via Newstex are for general information only and should not, in any respect, be relied on as professional advice. No content on such Blogs via Newstex is "read and approved" before it is posted. Accordingly, neither Newstex nor its re-distributors make any claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained therein or linked to from such blogs, nor take responsibility for any aspect of such blog content. All content on Blogs via Newstex shall be construed as author-based content and commentary. Accordingly, no warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions, commentary or anything else offered on such Blogs via Newstex. Reader's comments reflect their individual opinion and their publication within Blogs via Newstex shall not infer or connote an endorsement by Newstex or its re-distributors of such reader's comments or views. Newstex and its re-distributors expressly reserve the right to delete posts and comments at its and their sole discretion.

LOAD-DATE: April 22, 2008

Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minnesota), April 22, 2008, Tuesday

Copyright 2008 Pioneer Press

Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minnesota)

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News

April 22, 2008, Tuesday

SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS

HEADLINE: MnDOT gets rolling with new leadership: Seasoned federal highway engineer, manager takes over agency shaken by I-35W disaster

BYLINE: Bill Salisbury, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

BODY:

Apr. 22--Flashy he is not, but Minnesota's new transportation commissioner brings a truckload of road-building experience to his new job.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Monday appointed Tom Sorel, the current head of the Federal Highway Administration's division office in Minnesota, as head of the state Department of Transportation.

Sorel, 51, is the first engineer to head MnDOT in 22 years. He has held a variety of federal highway engineering and management positions for 30 years.

"I believe he's going to be a great fit for the needs and opportunities and challenges that are in front of MnDOT," Pawlenty said at a Capitol news conference.

He succeeds Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, who was removed from her second job as transportation commissioner Feb. 28 by the Senate. On a straight party-line vote, Democratic senators refused to confirm her appointment as head of MnDOT, which ousted her from that post. She continues to serve as lieutenant governor.

The department was enveloped in political controversy during her tenure.

As a high-profile Republican, Molnau was an easy target for the Democrats who control the Legislature. While they didn't blame her for the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge last year, they said that tragedy symbolized the administration's failure to adequately fund road and bridge repair and construction.

Sorel won't face similar complaints, because the Legislature in February enacted a 10-year, $6.6 billion transportation funding program over Pawlenty's

veto. That effectively put the major transportation debate behind state policymakers.

Sorel said he's never worked on political campaigns but has plenty of experience in working with elected officials on transportation policies.

When Sorel was asked about his political affiliation, Pawlenty interrupted and said, "He declines to answer. ... We didn't ask him, and I don't know."

Sorel, who starts his $108,393-a-year state job next Monday, characterized himself as a "servant leader with a passion for transportation and innovation."

He said he has two primary goals.

"I really hope to rebuild public trust and confidence in MnDOT and the transportation community as a whole," he said. "My second prime objective is to regenerate a spirit of innovation and creativity in the state of Minne-sota."

Born and raised in Plattsburgh, N.Y., Sorel earned a civil engineering degree from the State University of New York in Buffalo and a master's degree in business administration from Thomas College in Maine. He also has what may be a useful certificate of conflict management from the Cornell School of Industrial/Labor Relations.

At the Federal Highway Administration, which provides financial and technical support to state and local governments, he held a variety of posts, including:

--Major projects team leader at the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters.

--Director of planning and program development and technology services chief in Albany, N.Y.

--Federal liaison for transportation during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.

He has worked in Minnesota for three years and led the federal transportation response to the I-35W bridge collapse.

In Salt Lake City, he helped develop that city's light-rail transit system. Although the Metropolitan Council, not MnDOT, is responsible for the Central Corridor LRT in the Twin Cities, that didn't stop reporters from peppering him with questions about the line.

Sorel said it would be premature for him to discuss the Central Corridor, but he added he was open to considering all transit options.

Key Democratic lawmakers praised Sorel's appointment. State Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, said Sorel has impressive experience and credentials.

Murphy predicted the Senate is likely to confirm the appointment, although it may not get the job done before it adjourns for the year on or before May 19.

U.S. House Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar, a Chisholm Demo-crat, called Sorel a "good choice."

"He brings experience and expertise to a position where it is truly needed," Oberstar said. "As a commissioner, he has the potential to rise above the governor and push to do what is right for Minnesota."

Pawlenty said other finalists for the commissioner's job were Bob Johns, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Transportation Studies, and interim MnDOT Commissioner Bob McFarlin, who had been Molnau's top aide and the department's public face since the I-35W bridge collapse.

"It was a very close call," Pawlenty said.

He praised McFarlin for the constructive tone he set since taking over the department. "I'd like him to stay on, but that's between him and Tom Sorel," the governor said.

NAME: Tom Sorel

AGE-BIRTHDATE: 51; Oct. 25, 1956.

HOMETOWN: Plattsburgh, N.Y.

EDUCATION: Degree in civil engineering from State University of New York in Buffalo. Master's of Business Administration from Thomas College in Maine. Certificate of conflict management from Cornell School of Industrial/Labor Relations. Associate certificate in project management from George Washington University.

EXPERIENCE: Various positions with the Federal Highway Administration since 1978. He has led the division office in Minnesota since 2005 and served as the U.S. Transportation Department's liaison for federal transportation issues during the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.

FAMILY: Wife, Laurie. One son.

To see more of the Pioneer Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.twincities.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

LOAD-DATE: April 22, 2008

Business Wire, April 21, 2008, Monday

Copyright 2008 Business Wire, Inc.

Business Wire

April 21, 2008, Monday 12:17 PM GMT

DISTRIBUTION: Business Editors

HEADLINE: Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. Names Pamela O. Kimmet Senior Vice President, Human Resources

DATELINE: ATLANTA

BODY:

Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) announced today that Pamela O. Kimmet has been named senior vice president, human resources, joining the company in May. Ms. Kimmet, 49, will oversee the development and implementation of global human resources initiatives and will report to John F. Brock, president and chief executive officer.

"With more than 25 years of extensive, global human resources leadership experience, Pam has proven herself to be a strategic business partner with a track record of success," said Mr. Brock. "At Coca-Cola Enterprises, our 73,000 employees in our global territories are critical to our operations, and I am confident in Pam's ability to lead our global human resources team."

For the past two years, Ms. Kimmet held the position of senior managing director and head of global human resources administration for Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. From 2001 to 2006, she served as senior vice president, human resources, for Lucent Technologies. She also held the role of vice president, compensation, benefits and health services at Lucent Technologies. While at Citigroup, from 1996 to 2000, Ms.Kimmet held various leadership positions of increasing responsibility in the company's compensation and benefits department, culminating as vice president and director of compensation and benefits. She started her career at General Motors Corporation, where she worked in a number of human resources roles. Ms. Kimmet received her Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and her Masters in Business Administration from Michigan State University.

Coca-Cola Enterprises is the world's largest marketer, distributor, and producer of bottle and can liquid nonalcoholic refreshment. CCE sells approximately 80percent of The Coca-Cola Company's bottle and can volume in North America and is the sole licensed bottler for products of The Coca-Cola Company in Belgium, continental France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Monaco, and the Netherlands.

CONTACT: Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.

Laura Brightwell - Media Relations

770-989-3023

or

Thor Erickson - Investor Relations

770-989-3110

URL: http://www.businesswire.com

LOAD-DATE: April 22, 2008

The Advocate, April 20, 2008, Sunday

Copyright 2008 Capital City Press

All Rights Reserved

The Advocate

April 20, 2008, Sunday

Main Edition

SECTION: B; Pg. 06

HEADLINE: The big bucks for top talent

BODY:

Who knew the path to riches led through the university president's office?

A bidding war for talent is under way out there, and highly regarded university presidents are, well, highly regarded.

The latest controversy in academia is about Mark Yudof, president of the University of Texas system, who is getting a pay package of more than $800,000 a year to become president of the University of California. The UC system presidency is probably the most prestigious public university job in the world, and perhaps that's why Yudof took it for "only" a 12 percent pay raise.

Private universities with big endowments might pay more, but Ronald Ehrenberg, director of the Higher Education Research Institute at Cornell University, said the public jobs are seen as tougher because of politics and dealing with state legislatures. "I wish they didn't have to do this," Ehrenberg told The Los Angeles Times. "I wish there were really great people who were willing to work for less. But we don't observe that to be happening."

Yudof's predecessor earned half of the new man's pay.

Yudof's hiring and pay package come at a time when the UC system faces serious budget cuts, and union representatives called the salary for Yudof a slap in the face of employees having to do more with less. Some experts agree: Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in San Jose, Calif., said the Board of Regents hiring Yudof should have been more cautious in the current economic squeeze.

What's the wise thing to do? Louisiana's been through this controversy with former LSU Chancellor Mark Emmert, who got a controversial salary that he improved upon when he went to the University of Washington. But Emmert was regarded as doing a good job for LSU, and he left for a job in his home state. The lure of home is something people can relate to.

But where is home? Where the paycheck is? There's arguably a problem with short-term leadership tenures in complex institutions. Outsiders seeking to move to higher-paying jobs might not stay as long.

One can't prove a negative, but one wonders if there wasn't - among the numerous six-figure earners who were UC college presidents and administrators - someone who could be promoted and do a good job? And maybe even stay longer? The idea of itinerant college presidents - Yudof's been at Minnesota, Texas and now California - seems outrageous compared with the long tenures of the giants in higher education's past: Robert Hutchins at Chicago, James Bryant Conant at Harvard, Clark Kerr at California.

Another issue: golden handcuffs, as the saying goes.

University presidents such as Conant or Hutchins were what is known as "public intellectuals." They spoke out on national issues and were lightning rods for controversy, but the eminence of their positions helped them to contribute to public debate on issues beyond the university.

Today's richly paid college president is expected to deliver for his college. His employers will not welcome a controversial speech on say, immigration policy, that tries to lead the national conversation.

For $800,000 a year, Yudof should chase off some contributors by demonstrating public leadership? The regents might not like that at all.

In terms of dealing with legislatures, high-paid public employees - such as the handsomely compensated Stephen Moret, head of Louisiana's Department of Economic Development, or state Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek - learn quickly that legislators don't necessarily make big bucks, and there's an underlying resentment when they take testimony, much less political directives, from people who do.

Mitigating factors for Moret and Pastorek are that they are locals, and in both cases can argue they are serving for less than they made in the private sector. They don't fit the profile of the hired gun who will move on.

But Yudof certainly does. And we'll see how he surfs the bumpy waves of budget cuts, fat paycheck in hand.

LOAD-DATE: April 20, 2008

Birmingham News (Alabama), April 20, 2008, Sunday

Copyright 2008 The Birmingham News

All Rights Reserved

Birmingham News (Alabama)

April 20, 2008, Sunday

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1A Vol. 121 No. 038

HEADLINE: Resentment rises at Catch-out Corner Resentment rises at Catch-out Corner Are Hispanics pushing blacks out of low-skill jobs?

BYLINE: ROBERT K. GORDON News staff writer

BODY:

One question was on the minds of the men huddled around a fire one recent morning at First Avenue and 14th Street South: Would they find work that day?

After an hour of waiting, a truck stopped. The men - all day laborers who do bone-tiring jobs such as painting and landscaping - raced toward it, but only one won the prize of a day's work.

Just months ago, work was plentiful. But with the downturn in construction, day-labor jobs are more scarce now. And the influx of immigrants into the Birmingham area means competition for those jobs is greater than ever before.

For the black men gathered at First and 14th, known as ''Catch-out Corner,'' it stirred resentment.

''The Hispanics got us messed up,'' laborer Kevin Murray said.

Alabama's demographics are no longer statistics in black and white. Brown has been added to the mix as immigrant workers move here, and to other Southern states, to work.

The growth rates in the Hispanic population in Birmingham, and in Alabama as a whole, have been among the fastest in the country, census figures show. That growth has led to a burgeoning debate here that was once seen only in Southwest border states: Are Hispanics pushing blacks out of jobs, particularly low-skill jobs?

Earlier this month, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights hosted a forum to discuss the issue. Scholars agreed that immigration is indeed affecting job opportunities for AfricanAmericans, particularly the low-skilled worker.

Hispanic workers and their advocates say there are plenty of jobs to go around, but scholars who have studied the issue say there is no doubt that Hispanics disproportionately fill low-skilled jobs, especially in the Southeast.

Black workers aren't doing the landscaping, domestic, roofing and janitorial work as much as they did in the past, those scholars say.

''The foreign-born worker is now in the Southeast,'' said Vernon Briggs, a professor emeritus of industrial and labor relations at Cornell University who has published several books and papers on immigration. ''This has never happened before. They're all over the South, and the numbers are increasing substantially. The one losing out is the black population.''

Social scientists are intensely studying the issue, said Dr. Raymond Mohl, a professor in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Mohl said the question researchers are grappling with is this: Are black workers being displaced by cheaper labor, or are they being replaced as they take better jobs?

''What happened to those workers who used to do those jobs?'' Mohl asked. ''No one has a handle on that.''

A real issue

Whatever the reason, the issue is real to the men at Catch-out Corner who depend on day labor for income.

''This used to be a hot corner,'' Hosea Wilson said as he waited for a job prospect. ''What happened? You used to could come out here and catch out in five minutes. It's not as busy as it used to be.''

To a man, the laborers said potential employers are getting workers now in Hoover on Lorna Road, where scores of Hispanic workers line up every day.

Mohl said the roots of the issue for the South are in the Immigration Reform Control Act of 1986. The law made it illegal for employers to hire undocumented workers, but it also gave amnesty to the more than 2 million immigrants who had been in the country before Jan. 1, 1982.

''They were now moving all over the country, looking for work,'' Mohl said. That led to ''chain migration,'' Mohl said, with relatives from Mexico - legally and illegally - joining their kin already established in the States.

Free to follow the job market, Mohl said, Hispanics left the Southwest and came to places such as Alabama and North Carolina, where they found work in chicken-processing plants, resulting in a rapid rise in the Hispanic population.

Birmingham, with its generally stable economy and low unemployment, has become a magnet in recent years.

According to census figures, the Hispanic population grew 207 percent in Alabama from 1990 to 2000. That growth rate is not as high as in North Carolina, where the population grew by 393 percent, but is higher than in Mississippi, Virginia, Texas and Louisiana.

During that same period, Birmingham's Hispanic population grew by 318 percent, second only to Atlanta, census figures show. Census figures show the growth trend has continued in Alabama. According to the 2006 census estimate, Alabama's Hispanic population stood at 111,432, a 47 percent increase since 2000.

''The new migration appears to have some permanence as Hispanics are settling down in the South,'' Mohl said.

Difficult to come by

More immigrants moving in meant lowskilled laborers - often black men - found it more difficult to get work, Briggs said. He said immigrants work weekends and overtime without complaint. They don't complain about job conditions. That makes them attractive to employers looking for a hardworking, low-cost labor pool, Briggs said.

''Whoever was in that job is adversely affected,'' Briggs said of the hiring of immigrant workers. ''Employers love these type people. They take over jobs and push (American workers) into unemployment or to accept low wages.''

Robert Kelly, president of Trussville-based Kelly Construction Co., said there is work for anyone who wants it, but acknowledged that Hispanic workers are making inroads into the job market.

Melva Tate, Kelly's human resources director, said 22 percent of Kelly's 80 employees are Hispanic. The rest are evenly divided between blacks and whites.

The company recently held its annual training workshop in English and - for the first time - held a separate session in Spanish as part of the company's drive for diversity instead of having the one in English translated into Spanish.

''It is an issue, especially in our industry,'' said Kelly, who is also president of the African American Business Council. Kelly said it's not just a matter of Hispanics taking jobs, but employers having difficulty in finding good employees.

''Twenty years ago there wasn't as much competition. There was no Home Depot or Sam's Club,'' he said.

Given the choice of working in the air conditioning at Home Depot or working on a hot asphalt truck, American workers will take the course of least resistance, Kelly said.

The Hispanic worker, he said, is willing to take the more grueling job - and, once in a job, tends to stay.

''It only makes sense for an employer to want to attract and retain loyal employees. If they happen to be Hispanic, it's no slight to the American worker, black or white,'' Kelly said. ''Employers are finding success with Hispanic workers because these are entrylevel positions, and once they get there, they tend to be more loyal.''

'Work for everybody'

Juan Tista has lived in Alabama for a year. The Guatemala native speaks little English and doesn't have a steady job. He stands near the Chevron gas station on Lorna Road looking for work through day labor.

Tista said he and the other men do painting and concrete work. He said immigrants don't take jobs from blacks. ''There is work for everybody,'' he said.

Isabel Rubio, executive director of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, said employers in the hotel and construction industries can't find enough workers.

''There are jobs out there. It's what are you willing to do to make money legally,'' she said. ''Not everyone wants to work that hard and be out there in whatever conditions.''

Educating the two minority groups is the key to breaking down barriers, Rubio said.

The coalition is working on programs that will bring blacks and Hispanics together to at least talk, she said.

Job competition between Hispanics and blacks is a complex issue, said Flavia Jiminez of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights group.

Employers often turn to immigrants, Jiminez said, as a way to cut wages and improve profits. That's especially true of illegal immigrants, who are not likely to lodge complaints about pay or working conditions, she said.

And that directly affects others competing for those low-skill jobs.

Hosea Wilson, one of the day laborers at Catch-out Corner, deals with the issue every day.

''Everybody thinks they (Hispanics) work harder, longer and cheaper, but we have skills just like they have skills,'' he said while waving at passing pickup trucks. ''We're all trying to eat.''

-------------------------

News staff writer Erin N. Stock contributed to this report. rgordon@bhamnews.com

LOAD-DATE: April 22, 2008

Inside BU, April 17, 2008, Thursday

Inside BU

April 17, 2008, Thursday

Inside BU

Four honorary degrees to be awarded

A former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner; an internationally known economist, educator and Binghamton alumnus; a local philanthropist; and a chemical engineer will receive honorary degrees and speak at Binghamton University Commencement ceremonies in May. All ceremonies will be held in the Events Center.

Ronald Ehrenberg ’66

Ehrenberg
, a staunch advocate of public higher education, will receive the doctor of science degree and speak at the Graduate School Commencement at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 17.

He is the Irving M. Ives Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics at Cornell University, where he is also director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute. In 2005, he was named a Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow, the highest honor for undergraduate teaching that Cornell bestows. His research and publications on the economics of education have earned widespread praise and have contributed to the national dialogue on the funding of higher education, public and private.

Ehrenberg earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematical sciences from Binghamton before receiving his master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from Northwestern University.

In addition to the economics of education, Ehrenberg’s fields of specialization include the analysis of labor markets, evaluation of social programs and analysis of compensation programs.


He and his wife, Randy Ann Birch Ehrenberg ’67, established the Judith and Seymour Ehrenberg Endowed Scholarship in 1998 for Harpur College of Arts and Sciences students of limited financial means. The scholarship is named for Ehrenberg’s parents, both former teachers in New York City public schools.


Richard Felder

Felder, a chemical engineer by training known for his expertise in teaching methods, will receive the doctor of science degree and speak at the morning Harpur College ceremony at 9 a.m. Sunday, May 18.

He attended City College of New York, earning his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, and went on to Princeton University for his doctorate in chemical engineering.

Felder is now the Hoechst Celanese Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University.

Co-author of Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes, an introductory chemical engineering text among the most popular in the field, Felder has published more than 200 works on science and engineering education and chemical process engineering.

He is co-director of the National Effective Teaching Institute with his wife and colleague, Rebecca Brent, offering workshops on effective teaching methods. Felder’s methods involve inductive teaching, including inquiry-based learning, project-based learning and other student-centered methods that immediately involve students as active learners.

He has been honored with numerous awards, including the R.J. Reynolds Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research and Extension; the AT&T foundation Award for Excellence in Engineering Education; the Chemical Manufacturers Association National Catalyst Award; and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Institute Lectureship Award. In 2006, he was chosen as one of five Outstanding Engineering Educators of the Century by the Southeastern Section of the ASEE.

Raymond Osterhout

Osterhout, a retired insurance executive and philanthropist, will receive the doctor of humane letters degree at the professional schools ceremony at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, May 18.

A native of Windsor, Osterhout has made two $1 million gifts to Binghamton University – one to establish the Ray and Wanda Osterhout Distinguished Professorship in Entrepreneurship within the School of Management and the second to name the Osterhout Concert Theater in support of the Anderson Center for the Performing Arts.

The professorship gift supports the continued growth of an innovative program designed to prepare graduates to launch new businesses. The gift to the Anderson Center helps maintain the high quality of the center’s technical equipment and performances.

Osterhout was a stand-out in cross country and track at Syracuse University. He married his high-school sweetheart, Wanda Steinbrecher, before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

He worked for Kemper Insurance before moving on to the reinsurance field. Osterhout rose to the position of president of the National Reinsurance Corp. before serving as chairman, president and CEO of American Independent Reinsurance Corp., part of Aetna Life and Casualty Co. After selling that firm, he worked for Swiss Reinsurance Corp. as group vice president and underwriting and marketing manager. He retired in 2002.

Osterhout serves on the Binghamton University Foundation audit committee, the School of Management’s Dean’s Advisory Board and Harpur Forum. He is also a judge and mentor for the School of Management’s business plan competitions.

With his wife, Osterhout received the Binghamton University Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award in 2005.

Theodore J. (Ted) Kooser

Kooser, 13th poet laureate consultant to the Library of Congress and a Pulitzer Prize winner, will receive the doctor of letters degree and speak at the second Harpur College ceremony at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 18.

Kooser earned his bachelor’s degree in English education from Iowa State University. He taught high school for a year before beginning graduate study in English at the University of Nebraska, while working full time for Bankers Life Nebraska.

Kooser wrote poetry each day before heading for the office, publishing 11 full-length collections of poetry while rising to the position of vice president of Lincoln Benefit Life, from which he retired in 1999. His published works include Official Entry Blank (1969), Sure Signs: New and Selection Poems (1980), Weather Central (1994) and Delights and Shadows (2004), for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2005. Also in 2005, Kooser published The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets.

In 2006, Kooser accepted the Binghamton University Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award for Delights and Shadows. He conducted a workshop for the University community and gave a reading when he accepted the award.

Kooser teaches poetry as a presidential professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The Cornell Daily Sun, April 16, 2008, Wednesday

The Cornell Daily Sun

April 16, 2008, Wednesday

The Cornell Daily Sun

War Veterans Discuss the Corruption Behind the Nation’s Recent Wars Abroad

By Elizabeth Krevsky

Last night, the Campus Anti-war Network (CAN), Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), Watermargin Cooperative and The Bully Pulpit showed “Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan,” a film documenting U.S. soldiers’ eyewitness accounts of the current U.S. occupation in Iraq. Members of the IVAW and one member of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) were also present at the screening and answered questions about their own experiences in a panel discussion following the film.

Alexander Immerman ’09, CAN member and chair of the committee that brought the film to campus, said that it was important to show the film on campus as “self-education for ourselves and for the Cornell community.”

After the testimony was originally heard in Washington D.C. on March 13 through 16, “the mass media completely ignored it,” he said, “and we need to be informed.”

The film contained candid testimony from Iraq war veterans on their experiences as members of the U.S. military during the ongoing occupation. This testimony included several graphic photographs and videos of what they witnessed.

“The rules of engagement changed a lot,” one veteran noted. “We were never told to detain anyone, just mess ‘em up.”

Several veterans noted the “drop weapons” they carried with them in case they shot and killed a civilian by accident, so they could make the civilian look like an insurgent.

One woman told the story of a female soldier who was “raped, discharged and then punished for being raped,” shedding light on the cover-up of sexual assault in the U.S. military.

Other veterans discussed the “obvious and intentional dehumanization of Iraqis” they witnessed, citing the treatment of detainees such as depriving them of food and water, leaving sandbags over their heads, beating them and forcing them to view pornography.

Following the film, members of the panel provided testimony of their personal experiences in the panel discussion.

Eli Wright, still on active duty, discussed the current military healthcare crisis and his own struggles to obtain adequate healthcare. Currently on medical discharge, Wright spoke of the multiple injuries he suffered in Iraq, and the fact that he waited more than two years to receive surgery for his shoulder. Since he had to wait so long, the shoulder could not be repaired completely, and it will remain permanently disabled.

Perry O’Brien ’08, 82nd Airborne Division Army veteran from the Afghanistan war and one of the organizers for this year’s Winter Soldier, told how he witnessed the mutilation of the war-dead when fellow soldiers turned recently deceased civilians into medical cadavers.

Michael Blake, veteran of the 4th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army received Conscientious Objector status and an honorable discharge after his tour in Iraq. Blake discussed the current status of the war in Iraq, and the fact that “the war won’t end any time soon.”

He explained, “Neither [Obama nor Clinton] has any plan for pulling out soldiers.” As a veteran, and speaking to all veterans, Blake said, “We have to continue to fight because we offer the truth.”

Prof. Ronald Applegate, industrial and labor relations, also noted the importance of incorporating veterans into the anti-war struggle, citing the fact that groups of soldiers in Vietnam refused to carry out orders of their superiors and that this defiance played a major role in the U.S.’s decision to cut back operations in Vietnam.

Phil Aliff, 10th Mountain Division soldier from 2004 to 2008, said that the Cornell community and the world “need to know what’s happening on the ground in order to go forward.” He hopes to work towards “building a movement to put pressure on the government [because] the world is watching and we can’t afford to be silent any longer.”

The panelists’ accounts closed to a standing ovation, and the event continued with an open discussion of issues regarding the Iraq war.

One member of the audience brought up Colin Powell’s “Pottery Barn rationale” of “you break it, you bought it,” referencing the ongoing occupation of Iraq. O’Brien responded, “Only a complete idiot tries to fix pottery with a hammer.”

Aliff noted that the key problem with the anti-war movement is the lack of organization, so he proposed to the audience that “we go forward with building a movement and use that momentum and turn it into action.”

In reaction to the event, Suzy Gustafson ’08 said, “What’s important is that we didn’t just watch a movie; we watched the opening of public dialogue.”

Such an event is important, she explained, because there are “too many urgent things to be addressed [regarding the war] that are not being addressed.”

Emma Banks ’10, who said she is very passionate about the anti-war movement, felt that there are reasons for everyone to care about the war. She explained, “If you give a shit about the economy, you should care about the war.”

Immerman hopes that CAN and events such as Winter Soldier will “underscore the importance of political action” and “inspire people to get involved.”

Veterans’ testimony is available online at www.ivaw.org.

The Detroit News, April 14, 2008, Monday

The Detroit News

April 14, 2008, Monday

The Detroit News

Hoffa drums up Obama support;
Teamsters chief pushes members to vote for Ill. senator while some unions wait to endorse.

David Shepardson / The Detroit News
READING, Pa. -- Organized labor is working overtime to get a Democrat elected president, flexing its once dominant muscles to try and get trade deals rewritten or canceled and secure passage of a proposal to boost membership.

Some unions -- like the United Auto Workers, steelworkers and mine workers -- are waiting for the dust to settle before endorsing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama or New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But Teamsters President James P. Hoffa isn't sitting on the sidelines.

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He interrupted breakfast one day last week at O'Grady's Family Restaurant in Reading to take a quick call. Obama wanted to know how things were going on the campaign trail.

Obama quizzed Hoffa, head of the 1.4-million member union, on how his weeklong tour of Pennsylvania to drum up support among the Keystone State's 83,000 Teamsters was going, six weeks after he endorsed Obama.

"The polls are going good, (Obama) said. We're closing," Hoffa said, recounting the brief chat he had with Obama about the Democratic presidential race with Clinton. Organized labor's clout has diminished as its ranks have thinned, but it still carries significant weight in the Democratic primaries, and Hoffa is doing all he can to make that count. He's stumping for Obama at every opportunity and trying to rally the union's members. On April 6, he met with 100 Michigan Teamsters stewards in Detroit to tout Obama.

"We've got to be a player," Hoffa said, explaining the union's Obama endorsement. "We're going to be a player for Obama."

Harry Katz, dean of the school of industrial relations at Cornell University, said unions still have "noticeable influence in elections" with financial resources and get-out-the-vote efforts. "Members tend to vote in a strong majority direction consistent with what the official union position is," Katz said, adding that overall union membership has declined nationally to 12.1 percent of workers, reducing union clout.

Labor unions don't always have a great track record of picking winning candidates early, he said. The Teamsters endorsed former U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri in 2004. "Strategically, it clearly helps them to declare a position if they guess right," Katz said. "But if they endorse the loser, it works against them."

In Pennsylvania, 13.6 percent of workers belong to unions. In Michigan, it's 19.6 percent, the sixth-highest in the nation. A survey said about 27 million votes came from union households in the 2004 presidential election, or about 22.3 percent of all votes.

The Teamsters endorsed Obama in February, after previously pledging to stay neutral in the campaign.

During his tour of Pennsylvania, Hoffa visited Teamsters at three work sites, including outside a Hershey candy plant that's closing in Reading at year's end, with production of York Peppermint Patties being shifted to Mexico. He rallied for changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he reminded everyone was pushed through by former President Clinton.

But based on interviews with more than a dozen Teamsters members at three work sites in southwest Pennsylvania, Hoffa may have a rough road. Nearly all said they were undecided, while others voiced support for Clinton or Republican rival John McCain. Only a couple said they supported Obama.

"I really want to see what (Obama) has to say about the economy. I want a future for my two kids," said Danielle Simmers, 35, a receiver at a food warehouse in Pine Grove, Pa., where Hoffa spoke to more than 100 Teamsters.

Pennsylvania Teamsters also got recorded phone calls from Hoffa.

"Barack Obama is the man who can change America," Hoffa told a dozen truck drivers at the New Penn Terminal in Reading. "I looked in this guy's eyes. I believe him. I believe he can change this country."

Hoffa said Obama will renegotiate NAFTA. He will "sit down with the Mexicans and Canada and say, 'Hey, there has to be a new deal. We're losing jobs to you and this was never the intention.' "

Hoffa and other major union leaders want Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, a law that would make it easier for unions to organize new members. Business groups argue it unfairly tilts the table toward unions and could coerce workers into joining.

Some unions aren't jumping in.

The UAW has declined to make an endorsement, but UAW President Ron Gettelfinger has said the 475,000-member union would back the Democrat who wins the primary.

"The question: Where's the UAW? Just floating around out there. What do they intend to do? They could have a big impact," Hoffa said.

Clinton has sought to bolster her affiliations with unions and has visited two General Motors Corp. assembly plants this year.

"I drove here today in a car built by union members from steel made by union members, over roads laid by union members," Clinton told the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO on April 1. Obama visited a GM plant in Wisconsin.

Both candidates are working hard to court the union vote.

In an interview aboard a Teamsters semitrailer last week, Hoffa said the race was close.

"The longer it goes, the nastier it gets," he said. "It's like a big dead heat. It's like two guys in double, triple overtime just keep playing and playing and playing."

Clinton's lead has shrunk in Pennsylvania, with one poll putting her up 46 percent to 42 percent. Some have suggested Obama is closing the gap.

In Michigan, the race is up in the air. Obama hasn't campaigned in the state because of state Democrats' decision to move up the primary and his decision to pull his name off the ballot. Clinton, who was the only major candidate on Michigan's January ballot, won the Democratic primary.

Obama's tough criticism of Detroit's Big Three automakers made in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club in May 2007 could be an issue.

"That's not a good message," Hoffa said. "Probably doesn't help him in Michigan."

Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 18, 2008, Friday

Copyright 2008 The Chronicle of Higher Education

All Rights Reserved

The Chronicle of Higher Education

April 18, 2008 Friday

SECTION: THE FACULTY; Pg. 1 Vol. 54 No. 32

HEADLINE: Wisconsin's Flagship Is Raided for Scholars

BYLINE: ROBIN WILSON

BODY:

Jon C. Pevehouse had not even finished his first year as a tenure-track professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 2001 when other universities began trying to lure him away. By last year, Mr. Pevehouse decided it was time to consider the offers seriously. He quickly ended up more than doubling his salary, with a move to the University of Chicago.

Mr. Pevehouse was considered an up-and-comer, and his departure last spring was a blow to Madison's political-science department. But he wasn't alone: In all, nine political scientists, more than a fifth of the department, left Madison last year.

"It was a body blow," says Donald A. Downs, a longtime professor of political science there. "People worry about holding down the fort."

The problem is money. Wisconsin's stagnating state higher-education budget has forced the university to keep faculty salaries far below average. When professors get feelers from elsewhere, they learn that a move can easily mean a whopping 100-percent salary increase -- sometimes more.

Budget problems have also depleted money for perks that keep faculty members on board -- funds for research and travel, pay for summer months, reduced teaching loads, and longer and more frequent sabbaticals.

Since the departures last year, the political-science department has made some new hires that it is excited about. But it remains one of several departments at Madison, most of them in the humanities and social sciences, that are losing faculty members faster than they can replace them.

As the faculty pay gap between public and private institutions widens nationwide, lots of public universities are having a hard time competing. But Madison is having particular problems, losing faculty members not only to well-off private institutions, like Chicago, but also to lower-ranked public universities. In the past few years, professors in a variety of disciplines have left Madison for Arizona State, Florida State, and Rutgers Universities and the University of Minnesota, among others.

Some people worry that the wave of faculty departures is damaging Madison's reputation as a premier public institution. From 2006 to 2007, the university dropped from No. 34 to No. 38 in U.S. News & World Report's rankings of national doctoral institutions.

And when it comes to faculty pay, Madison comes in at the bottom of a list of universities that it considers competitors. "As our peers have pulled ahead," acknowledges Peter V. Farrell, the provost, "we bring up the rear."

Despite the losses, some professors at Madison remain optimistic. Last year Wisconsin's governor persuaded the Legislature to approve $10-million to increase the salaries of professors who are likely to be lured away.

"This is not the apocalypse," says William Cronon, a professor of history who, at $147,000 a year, is one of the highest-paid faculty members in the humanities at Madison. "This is a great university, and that will be true 25 years from now."

A Drop in the Rankings

About 400 professors at Madison received job offers from other colleges in the past four years. That is double the number who received offers in the four years before that. While in some years the university has been able to hang on to as many as 80 percent of those with outside offers, the proportion slipped to 63 percent last year.

The departures have hit the College of Letters and Science hardest. Last year 33 professors in the college received job offers from other universities, and Madison was able to hang on to only 19 of them. That does not count professors who retired from Wisconsin but went on to work at other universities. For example, of the nine departures in political science last year, four were technically retirements. But three of the four have taken jobs elsewhere, including one as a dean at Boston University.

The School of Education at Madison has also been a target of outside recruiters. Last year 15 faculty members received job offers and six left, including four in the department of curriculum and instruction. That department, which is ranked No. 1 in the country by U.S. News, lost James Gee, who took several million dollars in grants with him to Arizona State. The school fell from No. 8 to No. 12 in the national rankings this year.

Faculty turnover is expensive. Over all, across the disciplines, Madison figures that it spends an average of $1.2-million in start-up costs for each new professor. It typically takes eight years for a professor to bring in enough research money to cover that cost. A professor who stays at Madison for 25 years after earning tenure brings in an average of about $13-million in research money. But the university loses many professors before they even pay off the initial investment.

Professors say Madison is a prime target for other universities looking to hire because average faculty raises are so low. Even if a professor is getting research grants, producing journal articles, and writing books, the most he or she would have received over the past few years is about a 2-percent annual raise. Some professors report that years have gone by with no raise at all. On average, faculty salaries nationwide are up by 3.8 percent this year, the same as last year, according to the American Association of University Professors.

It is no surprise, then, that faculty members at Madison find themselves significantly underpaid compared with those at other universities. Madison's average salary is at the bottom of a list of 12 public universities that it considers its peers. The university paid full professors $103,543 last year, about 13 percent less than the average for that group.

Madison has also slowly slipped to the bottom of a ranking of faculty pay, compiled by Cornell University, at 38 prestigious public and private research universities. Last year Madison paid its professors -- from assist-ant to full -- an average of $50,000 a year less than professors earned at Harvard University, which topped the list. Professors at Madison also earned less than those at Ohio State and Purdue Universities and at the Universities of Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, and Texas.

"They are hemorrhaging in terms of their ability to attract and retain faculty," says Ronald G. Ehrenberg, director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute. "It's a wonderful university, but once you get the reputation of going in the wrong direction, it's very, very hard to build it back up."

Baiting the Hook

One sure way to get a raise, say Madison professors, is to go out and get another job offer and ask the university to match it. That is a common practice in higher education, but at Madison it has damaged morale because it is often the only way professors feel they can get rewarded.

Richard Lehrer spent 16 years at Madison before leaving to work as a professor of education at Vanderbilt University, in 2001. "For years I was making less money than my wife, who was a middle-school English teacher," he says. When he asked Madison officials for more money, he recalls, "they said that was all they could do."

Later, after 10 years at Madison, he got a job offer from the University of Michigan. "When the guy called, he said, 'I got on the UW Web site and I saw your salary, and you can't afford not to listen to me.'" Mr. Lehrer took the offer back to Madison, which agreed to double his salary, so he stayed. But five years after that, when he got the offer from Vanderbilt he decided to go.

The practice of professors at Madison flashing outside offers in order to get raises has set the university up to lose some of its very best faculty members. Professors may go out on the market without necessarily intending to leave, but then find themselves bowled over by the possibilities.

"You get courted, and at a certain point you start to fall in love with the institution courting you," says Michael Bernard-Donals, chairman of the English department. Five professors left there last year, including three who went to Rutgers, and the department is down at least 10 faculty members from a high of 54 in the 2005-6 academic year.

Rebecca L. Walkowitz and her husband, Henry S. Turner, are among the three who moved to Rutgers last year. Like many faculty members who have left, she says the move was bittersweet: "We had great colleagues, and it was really hard for us to leave." But at Rutgers she found an English department that not only offered more resources to professors and graduate students, she says, but also was more valued by administrators.

"At Rutgers," Ms. Walkowitz says, "you feel the humanities are the jewel in the crown."

Wayne A. Wiegand left Madison's School of Library and Information Studies in 2003 because he didn't feel that professors in his department received adequate support. He is now at Florida State, where he gets $6,500 a year to spend on research and travel, compared with $1,000 a year at Madison.

And because he is an editor of The Library Quarterly, his field's premier scholarly journal, Florida State has permanently reduced his teaching load. Madison had refused such reductions to journal editors at its campus, he says.

In addition, when Mr. Wiegand recently won a $50,000 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities to work on a book, Florida State offered to match the sum. That means he can take next year off and still receive his regular salary. In a similar situation at Madison, he says, the university refused to match the grant.

Catching Up

Madison has been using some new strategies to try to hang on to its best and brightest. The university just gave 10 young faculty members $50,000 fellowships, which they can use for travel, books, and other expenses. It is hoping to award 15 more over the next few years.

It is also raising private money to hire professors, rather than depending so heavily on state funds. And it is using extra money the governor approved for faculty salaries last year to try to keep faculty members who are at risk of being hired away.

"We are asking our deans, Is there a next wave we can foresee?" says Mr. Farrell, the provost. "It's a lot cheaper for us if we can have a pre-emptive response."

Sometimes that works. Laura L. Kiessling and her husband, Ronald T. Raines, are professors of chemistry and biochemistry at Madison. Two universities were interested in hiring them in 2006. But before those institutions made formal offers, Madison asked the couple, "What can we do to keep you?" recalls Ms. Kiessling, who is a member of the National Academies of Science and just won a prestigious Guggenheim fellowship.

She won't say much about the couple's answer or Madison's response. But Gary D. Sandefur, dean of the College of Letters and Science, says both professors got raises, along with flexible spending accounts to use for things like lab equipment, travel, and research assistance.

"We do everything we can to keep the very best people, and they are exactly the kind of people we want to keep," says Mr. Sandefur.

But even professors whom Madison has rewarded worry about the university's future. Ken Ono has an endowed chair in mathematics that pays him $149,000 for nine months, almost double what other full professors in the department earn. His faculty group in number theory is one of the best in the country. But while he is happy, he knows that other universities will keep trying to pick off his lower-paid colleagues. In the past four years, the math department has lost seven professors.

"I'm scared," says Mr. Ono. "One of my closest colleagues is a full professor who is paid less than some new tenure-track assistant professors at other universities. I fear that he will be lured away. In my line of work, losing one or two colleagues can be devastating."

That's why Mr. Ono is looking around himself. He's had five job offers since he started at Madison, in 2000, and has turned them all down. But his departure could be just a matter of time. Two new offers are on the table, and he is considering them more seriously than he has any others.

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