The formula for Coca-Cola. The recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken. The list of people buying tickets for Connecticut Huskies football games.The first two are legally protected trade secrets -- and third one will be, too, if the University of Connecticut gets its way.Connecticut's Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in December in a case testing whether public colleges may refuse to honor open-records requests for the identities of those buying tickets to sporting events.Ordinarily, any document in the possession of a public university must be disclosed on request, unless the university can point to a specific exemption that makes the document confidential.
Author: Frank LoMonte
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: N.C. court ruling offers new leverage to obtain private colleges’ police records
Student journalists at private colleges may have a stronger argument for access to previously off-limits police reports from campus law enforcement, as a result of a recent North Carolina Supreme Court ruling.The case, State v.
Why Penn State’s (many) problems may include a Clery Act crime reporting violation
To the extent that it is understood at all, the Jeanne Clery Act is known as the federal law that requires college police to tally and disclose reported crimes on their campuses.So it may seen anomalous that a crime not reported to police at all -- the alleged sexual assault of a 10-year-old boy in the football team showers at Penn State -- might be the basis of a Clery Act violation.To understand why requires understanding the scope of a university's disclosure obligations under Clery -- which, it seems increasingly clear, many colleges and universities thsmselves either fail to understand or affirmatively ignore.The U.S.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Public schools, private profit — charter school operators must obey state disclosure laws
Charter schools may operate in a public/private twilight zone when it comes to obeying state education regulations, but when it comes to open-records and open-meetings laws, these publicly funded entities must be publicly accountable, an Ohio judge's recent ruling reaffirms.In an October 2011 opinion, Ohio Common Pleas Judge John F.
“Where can I get celebrity photos on the Internet?” Today, there’s one more answer.
In the everything's-free, share-and-share-alike culture of the Web, it often comes as a surprise and a disappointment to students that celebrity photos on news organizations' websites are valuable copyright-protected property.Students want to talk and write about Rihanna and Li'l Wayne and (for some unearthly reason) Kim Kardashian, and they need illustrations to accompany their stories.
Va. alcohol advertising challenge keeps chugging along
A legal challenge to Virginia's ban on advertisements for alcoholic beverages in college publications is headed back to federal court for another round.In a Nov.
Report: The road to journalism’s future runs straight through college campuses
Students aren't the future of journalism. They're the present.That's the bottom line of a report from the New America Foundation, a public-policy think-tank chaired by Google's Eric Schmidt that includes prominent journalistic thinkers such as The Atlantic's James Fallows among its leadership.The report, "Shaping 21st Century Journalism," concludes that America's 483 (or so) journalism schools must fill the gap left by dwindling professional news staffs by refocusing their efforts on the creation of content for public consumption.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: What a haul — campus towing contracts can be big (and sometimes dirty) money
The recent bribery conviction of a California businessman, found guilty of paying inducements to a campus police chief in exchange for automobile towing referrals, highlights just how much money is at stake in the wrecker business -- and how closely it needs watching.According to trial testimony, Morgan McComas of Pirot Towing in San Jacinto, Calif., gave gifts -- including free rims for a personal pickup truck -- to the then-head of the Mount San Jacinto College Police Department to induce the chief to steer business to the Pirot firm.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Are college sports really a cash cow? More like a cash tapeworm.
College athletics are perceived as a cash cow, a profit center for Division I schools that justifies the substantial image risk that many schools incur by enrolling "students" of dubious academic merit, and by associating themselves with the sports agents and high-rolling boosters who are drawn to college athletes like flies.The numbers, however, often tell a different story. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that most college athletic programs in Ohio -- with one notable exception: Ohio State -- are not financially self-sustaining from ticket sales, merchandise royalties and other self-generated revenues.
Stripped of access? Iowa court decides there’s no right to know how strip-search violators were punished.
In a split decision, Iowa's Court of Appeals has refused to order a public school to disclose records documenting the disciplinary action imposed on two employees who improperly strip-searched female students to look for stolen money.The case, ACLU Foundation of Iowa, Inc. v.