News, information and research from Boston University
June 11, 2009 at 10:43 am
The Southern Poverty Law Group, which monitors hate groups, has been following James von Brunn since 1981. His alleged fatal shooting of a guard at the Holocaust Memorial has put the spotlight back on separatist groups. School of Law Professor Robert Volk, an authority on civil rights law, can discuss the history of hate crimes.
Contact Robert Volk, 617-353-3156, rvolk@bu.edu
June 11, 2009 at 10:14 am
Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis testifies before Congress today about whether federal regulators pressured him to complete a deal last year to buy Merrill Lynch. Mark T. Williams, a former Federal Reserve bank examiner who teaches finance in the School of Management and is writing a book on the fall of Lehman Brothers during the same time frame, can discuss the big picture of Wall Street's collapse.
Contact Mark T. Williams, 617-358-2789, williams@bu.edu
June 11, 2009 at 8:10 am
Television signals convert from analog to digital on Friday, in the switch-over that originally was planned for February but delayed by the FCC because too many Americans were unprepared. College of Communication Professor T. Barton Carter, an FCC expert, can discuss the whys and wherefores about the historic conversion.
Contact T. Barton Carter, 617-353-3482, comlaw@bu.edu
June 10, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Even after agreeing to pay $15.5 million to settle suits accusing them of human-rights abuses in Nigeria, the Royal Dutch Shell oil company still has a major PR problem there. College of Communication Professor Peter Morrissey, a reputation-management expert who helped Johnson & Johnson in the Tylenol case, has some suggestions for Shell -- including naming a human-rights executive to deal with corporate ethics.
Contact Peter Morrissey, 617-353-1020, pmoriss@bu.edu
June 10, 2009 at 10:38 am
A proposed resolution for failing Boston Public Schools, from Boston Mayor Tom Menino, is a series of city-run charter schools. Many in Boston are surprised as the Mayor has always opposed lifting the cap on area-charter schools in the past and shown support for alternatives to charter schools. For commentary, please contact School of Education instructor Cara Stillings Candal at carans@bu.edu.
June 10, 2009 at 10:37 am
Google's 2008 deal with publishers to make millions of books available online is rasing more antitrust suspicion from the Justice Department, which still may try to block or force a renegotiation of the deal which has not yet been approved in court. Formal civil investigative demands (CIDs) have now been sent to Google and the publishers. School of Law Professor Keith Hylton, an antitrust-law expert, can discuss the widening probes.
Contact Keith Hylton, 617-353-8959, knhylton@bu.edu
June 10, 2009 at 10:21 am
Reports say plans to cap salaries at firms getting bailout money is being nixed by the Obama administration, which will leave it to Congress to limit bonuses. But the White House will name a "pay czar" to monitor bailed-out companies and will still push to revamp compensation practices in the financial industry. School of Management Professor Fred Foulkes, director of the Human Resources Policy Institute, can discuss trends in executive compensation.
Contact Fred Foulkes, 617-353-4281, ffoulkes@bu.edu
June 10, 2009 at 9:38 am
With 10 large banks repaying the public billions in bailout money, it divorces the government from running the banks. But Treasury still owns stock warrants in those banks, which could become valuable over time. School of Law Professor Cornelius Hurley, director of the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law, thinks the warrants should be sold on the open market -- the sooner the better.
Contact Cornelius Hurley, 617-353-5427, ckhurley@bu.edu
June 10, 2009 at 9:21 am
With the Supreme Court declining to hear a creditors' challenge to it, Fiat is set to purchase most of Chrysler's assets which will lead the Italian automaker deeply into the American market. School of Management Dean Louis Lataif, the former head of Ford Motors in Europe, can discuss the big-picture impact of the deal.
Contact Louis Lataif, 617-353-2668, lelataif@bu.edu
