Briefs
by John Temple Ligon

Daily newspapers

In the six months ended March 31, U.S. newspapers suffered a drop of 2.1% in weekday circulation and a 3.1% decrease on Sundays, compared with the same period a year earlier. Two of the nation's three largest- circulation newspapers held steady or reported fractional gains: The Wall Street Journal at more than 2 million total circulation and USA Today at more than 2.2 million. The third, The New York Times , lost 1.9 percent in daily circulation and 3.4% on Sundays. The Los Angeles Times had a weekday circulation of 815,000, down 300,000 from seven years

earlier.

Television watchers

Recent television ratings revealed the worst spring in a long time. More than 2.5 million fewer people were watching the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox) than at the same time last year. Last month, NBC set a record for the least- watched week for the past 20 years and proceeded to rack up a worse record the next week.

Cheating

At Duke University, the Fuqua School of Business judicial board recently found 34 first- year graduate students guilty of collaborating on a take- home exam, which was in violation of the school's honor code. Nine of the students faced expulsion. Fifteen students were given a failing grade for the course and suspended from the program for a year. Nine students were given a failing grade in the course. One student got a failing grade on the exam. Beyond the guilty 34, four of the accused were exonerated. According to a survey by Rutgers University, as reported in The New York Times , 56% of business graduate students admitted having cheated, compared with 54% of engineering graduate students, 48% in education and 45% in law. In 1996, an offer to endow a program called "The Affinity Center for Business Ethics" was declined by the Fuqua School of Business.

Moore School

USC's Moore School of Business has announced a new dean, Dr. Hildy Teegan, the director of the Center for International Business Education and Research at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Chicago native Teegan, 41, earned her PhD at the University of Texas. Columbia's Joel Smith has been dean since 2000, and Teegan takes over September 15.

No mention of S.C.

Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the Washington D.C. madame charged with running a prostitution ring, declared she intended to force her former clients to testify in her behalf. Palfrey referred to her entertainers as subcontractors who independently participated in illegal behavior well beyond the bounds of their contracts. As reported in The New York Times , she was "stunned at accusations that sexual activity had taken place between the women who worked for her and the men who paid them about $300 for 90 minutes of their attentions." Palfrey's indictment accuses her of engaging more than 100 women in prostitution from 1993 to 2006.

Clemson's campus building plans

Clemson University President James Barker recently disclosed main campus building plans expected under way by 2010. The projected cost was $225 million. Another $200 million had been targeted already for Clemson's Greenville campus of the International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR). And beyond all that money, a Charleston branch campus is also coming along.

Jets

Piper Aircraft is reportedly looking at Columbia as one of five cities for its 1,500- worker plant to build the new PiperJet, a $2.2 million single- engine jet aircraft for seven passengers.

A fountain for Five Points

The St. Patrick's Day festivals at Five Points have accumulated enough to build a $238,000 elongated fountain at the corner of Saluda Avenue and Blossom Street.

Consumer protection

In a settlement reached last month, a Texas company has voluntarily agreed to give partial to full refunds for 448 customers in S.C. who entered into contract with the company after December 1, 2005. The company, regulated under the provisions of the S.C. Consumer Credit Counseling Act, failed to obtain a license from the S.C. Dept. of Consumer Affairs (SCDCA), as the act stipulates, and charged fees to consumers that exceeded those allowed by the act. According to SCDCA, over $700,000 was recovered for S.C. consumers from the debt settlement company.

Gray areas of science

Dr. William Gray, emeritus professor at the atmospheric science department at Colorado State University, for the past 24 years, has become known as America's most reliable hurricane forecaster. Gray declared last month former Vice President Al Gore was a "gross alarmist" for making an Oscar- winning documentary about global warming.