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Top Stories: Aug. 14, 2009

by Staff on Aug 14, 2009
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A Handshake Beats an iPhone
In a ballroom in the heart of Stanford University sat hundreds of entrepreneurs, researchers, CEOs and educators separated into pairs. At the sound of a bell, the pairs split off, leaving individuals frantic to fi nd a new partner. After several rounds of this routine, the room had turned into a roaring schmooze fest where individuals joked, gossiped and released their secrets about the business world.
This “speed dating” excercize was part of the Summit at Stanford, a two-and-a-half-day executive gathering hosted by the AlwaysOn network and The Stanford Technology Ventures Program. The Summit was designed to educate business leaders about current economic, political and environmental challenges of innovation and entrepreneurship.
With today’s business leaders struggling to keep up with the pace of growing technologies by learning the ins and outs of social networking sites, the gathered experts said, websites like Facebook and Twitter can only do so much: Networking requires the oldfashioned face-to-face.
Keynote speaker Kieth Ferrazzi, author of “Never Eat Alone,” said success in the business world comes from generosity and intimacy. “Humans are tribal and are naturally inclined to want to help one another,” Ferrazzi said. “Most people think that people out there want to hurt you and that nobody will want to help you, but
that’s just not true.”—Laura Fishman


3R Funding Cut at San Jose State University
Most colleges hope that by the time students get there they have the basic 3R skills: Reading, wRiting, and aRithemetic, but that’s not always the case—in San Jose State University, as well as many other colleges throughout the country. For those students who don’t have the skills, the schools offer remedial courses, and even financial assistance to help those students who don’t pass the course the first time around.

That’s all about to change. Faced with a $41 million cut in state funding, the school is planning to eliminate financial assistance for students who fail to get a passing grade in remedial classes the first time around. University spokeswoman Pat Lopes Harris explains the decision: “If we provide students with funding to retake remedial classes, then we need to take that funding away from other students who are passing their classes and moving toward graduation.” The cost of this financial assistance is about $10 million a year.

Lopes says there are various ways the college tries to help students in remedial classes. There is a Tutorial Center, Peer Mentor Center, and a Writing Center for the entire school, and some departments offer more localized help as well. With all that assistance, students should be able to pass the first time around, she says, and if they can’t, they can always hire a private tutor or try community college, because this year SJSU can’t afford to help much more than that.
Read More at KCBS.
Read More at KLIV.


State to Stop Issuing IOUs by Sept. 4
How did the save raise $1.95 billion? By issuing 327,000 IOUs since July 2. Now State Controller John Chiang says that the state will stop issuing these IOUs by Sept. 4, one month earlier than originally planned. By then, short term loans and the spending plan should bring in enough money to meet the state’s payment obligations.

But the state isn’t off the hook yet. The loans alone will amount to $10.5 billion, with the first loan of $1.5 billion expected to arrive by Aug. 28.

The news will be a relief to countless families and small businesses, whom, Chiang says “were forced to bear the brunt of the state’s chronic fiscal mismanagement.” He warns that the recent deficit mishap could repeat itself, and urged the governor and legislature to “fix the state’s structural budget deficit and ensure we are never again forced to issue IOUs.”
Read More at the Business Journal.


Communications Breakdown Blamed for Palo Alto Gas Gaffe
Palo Alto’s Assistant Director of Utilities Operations Dean Batchelor blamed a communications breakdown between city officials and contractors for the gas being turned off for 169 residents and local businesses this week. It was the second such incident this year.
The problem resulted from a controversial citywide attempt to replace the existing gas line, which dates from the 1960s, with a modern line. People whose gas were cut off were still connected to the old line, which was cut off before it was replaced. Exacerbating the situation is that the entire project is being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly falsifying workers' certification exams. By blaming the mishap on a communications failure, Batchelor was attempting to deflect the blame from the city workers’ training.
Read More at the Mercury News.


BART Strike: Traffic Jams to Hit San Jose
When BART workers walk off the job this Monday, the ripple effect will be felt as far as Highway 237 in San Jose. According to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, some 60,000 additional vehicles are expected to hit Bay Area highways, with one spokesperson suggesting that there could be as many as 25 percent more vehicles than normal during peak traffic times. By 8 am, traffic could be backed up as much as 90 minutes, and this could be increased even more by road construction on I-880. To add to this perfect (but slow-moving) storm, budget cuts have forced AC Transit to slash its bus service, leaving commuters no reprieve but to get in their cars.
BARTs unions are striking over plans to freeze workers’ salaries, curb overtime, and perhaps most controversial of all given the current political debate, cap their healthcare benefits.
Read More at the Mercury News.


Brother of Cop Killer Arrested
On Monday, DeShawn Campbell, 29, was sentenced to life-in-prison-plus for the murder of police officer Jeffrey Fontana in 2001. Yesterday, his younger brother Nickolas, 22, was arrested in South San Jose for the sexual molestation of three minors, ages 12-15. Two of the victims were relatives of Campbell. The younger Campbell now faces felony charges that include lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 and rape.
Read More at KLIV.
Read More in the Mercury News.


Another Boy Steps Forward in Soccer Coach Molestation Drama
Another boy has stepped forward, claiming that he was molested by the popular coach Thomas Anderson, 75, between the ages of eight and ten. Steve Fein, Supervising District Attorney for Santa Clara County clarified that none of the cases occurred while Anderson was coaching soccer in the county. If convicted of all charges, Anderson could face nine consecutive sentences of 15 years to life in prison.

Anderson is the founder of the West Valley Youth Soccer League. In 1981, he led the team West Valley United for boys under age twelve to victory in the regional and state championships. Prior to his work with the league, Anderson had a previous conviction for sex crimes, but no background check was run on him at the time. Read More at The Mercury News.


Lockheed Fire Still Raging
Two days after it first started, 2,000 firefighters, 120 engines, and 20 aircraft have as yet been unable to get the Lockheed Fire at Bonny Doon under control. About 2,400 locals, including the entire population of Bonny Doon, have been ordered to evacuate. The fire is especially severe because it covers an area of dry brush and timber that has not seen a fire in at least six decades. CalFire Spokeswoman Julie Hutchinson says that problem is aggravated by the “rural, inaccessible, steep terrain with vegetation that has been stressed by the drought.” The total area covered by the fire is 2,800 acres, or 4.4 square miles.

Firefighters from across the state have been coming to help the Santa Cruz crew, but the county is competing with Santa Barbara, where another enormous blaze, the La Brea Fire, has engulfed 48,500 acres. Though brush fires are an annual occurrence in Central California, the cost to the state, estimated at between $750,000 and $1 million per day, is especially damaging because of the recession. Daniel Berlant of CalFire says: “We try our best to keep the cost to a minimum but you can't put a dollar figure to protect life and property.”
Read More at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
Read More at KCBS.
Fox 35.
Read More at KION.



by Staff on Aug 14, 2009
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