150th anniversary marked

In 1836, John Brown stood near the front of what's now Kent United Church of Christ and denounced it for putting black worshippers in the rear.

Then he and his family swapped seats with some of them.

The next day, deacons scolded Brown at his home. That night, the relentless abolitionist swapped seats again.

John Brown's name is linked forever with Harpers Ferry, where he stormed a leading U.S. arsenal 150 years ago on Oct. 16. Before then, he had been known as Osawatomie Brown for killing slavery supporters near a Kansas settlement by that name.

But for about 35 of his 59 wandering years, slavery's most famous foe was based in Northeast Ohio - Akron, Hudson, Richfield Township and Franklin Mills (now Kent). He was a son of a local official and a colleague of other leading locals.

Historians say Brown and the Western Reserve whetted each other's hunger for emancipation. Many locals hid slaves and fought slave-catchers. Many gave Brown money, weapons and places to hide them. Three black Oberliners followed him to Harpers Ferry.

Then and now, the community and the world have been torn about the man who declared, "The crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood." Was he a murderer, martyr, madman or all of the above?

President Abraham Lincoln clucked, "An enthusiast broods over the oppression of a people 'til he fancies himself commissioned by Heaven to liberate them."

But Gen. Lucius V. Bierce, former Akron mayor, declared, "Would to God there were many such crazy men!"

Today, few people defend slavery, but many question Brown's violent response.

Brown was an intense, domineering man with some unstable relatives and an unstable life, even by frontier standards. He moved, lost money and lost relatives remarkably often.

Still, historians hesitate to dismiss him as crazy.

"He was passionate, he was eccentric, and probably profoundly depressed, but so was Abraham Lincoln," said historian Dave Lieberth, deputy Akron mayor. "Depression often accompanies this kind of creative spark."

Brown saw himself as fighting back against the daily violence of slavery, with its beatings, whippings and rapes. He hoped the raid would inspire many slaves to rebel. None did just then. But historians say he helped to hasten the Civil War and his ultimate goal: emancipation.

When Brown was 5, his big family left Torrington, Conn., for the Western Reserve.

His father, Owen, became a justice of the peace and a commissioner of Portage County, which included Akron and Hudson at first. Owen was a staunch abolitionist and an early trustee of the interracial Western Reserve and Oberlin colleges.

At 8, John lost his mother. Soon a stepmother followed, admired but not loved. The boy grew studious and stern, correcting neighbors' scriptural misquotes.

John helped his father tan hides, delivered family cows to the Army for the War of 1812 and started hiding slaves. He briefly attended Eastern schools but ran short of money.

At about age 20, Brown married Dianthe Lusk, calling her "a remarkably plain but neat, industrious and economical girl of excellent character." In 12 years, she bore seven children, but two died young, including a newborn boy she followed to the grave.

The next year, Brown married Mary Ann Day, 17, big and strong. Thirteen more children followed, but seven died young, including a girl accidentally scalded by a sister.

For a few years, the father prospered in Crawford County, Pa., farming, surveying, serving as postmaster and running a tannery. But he returned to Ohio in debt in 1835.

He helped Zenas Kent raise a tannery and a canal in the town later named for the tycoon's son. Borrowing heavily, Brown also opened a hotel, raised racehorses and bought land along the canal's expected route.

But the canal took another turn, and a nationwide bust in 1837 brought Brown lawsuits and deeper debts.

About then, he pledged his life at a Hudson church to freedom. He took in a black collegiate boarder. He also visited Cleveland and helped there to petition against the state's discriminatory "black laws."

In 1842, the sheriff hauled Brown and two of his sons to jail for refusing to yield their Hudson farm to a creditor. Brown declared bankruptcy but kept trying to pay his debts.

For two years, he flitted among three homes in Richfield. In 1844, he leased a two-room house next door to landlord Simon Perkins Jr.'s mansion and began raising sheep as Perkins' partner.

Wrote Brown, "I think this is the most comfortable and the most favorable arrangement of my worldly concerns that I have ever had."

But Perkins' wife, Grace, complained about his rowdy boys. They retaliated with itching powder in her outhouse.

Soon Brown bought land in North Elba, N.Y., to help a local build a colony for freedmen. But few freedmen came.

Brown also opened a wool warehouse in Springfield, Mass. But prices plunged in the United States and in London, where he tried selling. He had to return to Akron and work for Perkins on harder terms than before.

In 1855, Brown joined five sons in the violent Kansas Territory. The next year, he led nocturnal raiders in dragging five slavery supporters from their homes and hacking them to death with swords. Soon his band captured 27 Missouri militiamen.

He spent the next couple of years raising money and stashing weapons around the country. He stayed with famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass in Rochester, N.Y., writing a provisional constitution for a nation of freed slaves and ignoring his host's pleas to scrap the raid.

Brown finally slipped through the hills toward Harpers Ferry, then in Virginia, now West Virginia. Twenty-two comrades joined him, including three sons and the three Oberliners, John Copeland, Shields Green and Lewis Leary.

The invaders seized the arsenal and took prisoners but were quickly surrounded. After three days, the raiders were captured, partly by Col. Robert E. Lee and Lt. J.E.B. Stuart.

The clashes killed the mayor, three other locals, a Marine, two of Brown's sons and eight other raiders. Brown was among several people wounded. Five raiders escaped for good, including a third son.

Soon, federal marshals came to Jefferson, Ohio, for John Brown Jr., who had hidden weapons in coffins there but not followed them into the raid.

Hundreds of neighbors alerted Junior and helped him elude detection.

Seven raiders were tried. Brown attended on a stretcher and refused an insanity plea. The defendants were convicted of treason, murder and more.

On Dec. 2, Brown calmly rode on his coffin through a throng to the gallows. Crowds in Ohio towns marked the moment with speeches, silences and church bells.

Soon his famously moldering body passed through Hudson en route to burial in North Elba.

Today, no Brown descendants are known to live in the Western Reserve, but some collateral relatives do. Two of them disagree about their kinsman.

"He didn't use good sense," said Martha Marsh of Hudson.

"He was way ahead of his time," said Nancy Yankulov of Uniontown.

Local leaders are torn, too.

"I have two people on my board who think John Brown is a murderous, onerous idiot," said playwright Sandra Perlman Halem, who leads the Kent Historical Society.

"As a Jew, I think of course you're supposed to free other people."

"He struck a blow against slavery," said Edmund Timothy Moore, associate dean and Pan-African professor at Kent State University. "He has to be looked at as a hero."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: gsegall@plaind.com, 216-999-4187

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Events commemorate John Brown

Northeast Ohio is staging tours, exhibits, a concert, a play and more to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Harpers Ferry raid, led by a longtime local, John Brown.

The Summit County Historical Society will open the freedom fighter's former home, the John Brown House, from 3 to 6 p.m. on three upcoming Tuesdays: Sept. 22, Oct. 27 and Nov. 24. The house is at Diagonal and Copley roads in Akron. To learn more or book group tours at other times, call 330-535-1120 or see summit

history.org.

Brown will be this year's star of the annual Ohio Underground Railroad Summit, a gathering for $75 per person on Friday, Oct. 16, and Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Hudson Library and Historical Society. The library owns a leading trove of Brown materials, which visitors can see for free whenever the building is open. The library is at 96 Library St., 330-653-6658,

hudson library.org.

On Friday, Oct. 16, officials will commemorate the anniversary of the raid at 11 a.m. at the John Brown Monument, which stands in a normally closed part of the Akron Zoo. The monument was built in 1910 by the German-American Alliance and improved in 1938 by the Negro 25 Year Club.

During the event, Brown will be portrayed by Neil Thackaberry, who runs Actors' Summit on Hudson's Owen Brown Street, named for John Brown's father. Visitors to the commemoration may park at the zoo for free. After the commemoration, the John Brown House will be open until 2 p.m.

From Oct. 16 through Feb. 14, the Akron Art Museum will display "The Legend of John Brown," featuring celebrated prints by Jacob Lawrence in the museum's collection, at normal hours and admission prices, 330-376-9185, akronart

museum.org.

On Saturday, Oct. 17, Leon Bibb of WEWS Channel 5 will narrate and the Akron Symphony Orchestra will perform a John Brown concert, including the debut of "The Passion of John Brown" by Jesse Ayers, a Malone College professor. The concert will begin at 8 p.m. at E.J. Thomas Hall. For details, call 330-535-8131 or see

akronsymphony.org.

On Wednesday, Dec. 2, Akron leaders will commemorate the anniversary of Brown's hanging at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 647 E. Market St. At the end, the church bells will toll, as many local bells did 150 years ago that day.

Through the rest of 2009, an exhibit of artifacts called "Summit County's John Brown" will be on view in the Special Collections department on the third floor of the downtown Akron-Summit County Public Library, 60 S. High St., 330-643-9000, akronlibrary.org.

In 1865, Oberliners raised a monument to three slain local raiders, among the first black Americans so remembered. The tribute stands today at Martin Luther King Park, East Vine and South Pleasant streets.

The monument is part of a local "Freedom's Friends" tour by the Oberlin Heritage Center at 11 a.m. the second Friday and fourth Saturday of each month through October and by appointment. For details, call 440-774-1700 or see oberlinheritage.org.

Besides the John Brown House, his only local home still open to the public is now Benedict's Antiques, 4138 W. Streetsboro Road, Richfield, 330-659-3427. The shop is open 12:30 to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Copyright © 2009 The Plain Dealer. All Rights Reserved. Used by NewsBank with Permission.

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Former associate athletic director makes major gift

The matriarch of Kent State University athletics has donated $1.2 million to the program — the third-largest donation in its history.

Judy Devine, KSU's former associate athletic director, gave the first major donation of the public phase of the university's Centennial Campaign.

A long-time member of the athletic department and a 2003 inductee into the Varsity “K” Athletic Hall of Fame, Devine's pledge will fund the Judith K. Devine Athletic Equity Endowment.

“Judy's longtime support of athletics has ensured our student-athletes have the best resources to achieve at the highest academic levels,” said KSU President Lester Lefton. “Her latest commitment will allow Kent State to be a leader in addressing gender-equity issues as they pertain to Title IX, and is once again a testament to her remarkable vision of the modern needs of our athletics program.”

Coupled with her gift in the fall of 2008, which went toward the expansion of KSU's Academic Resource Center — in addition to permanently endowing the Athletic Academic Honors Dinner — Devine's contributions toward the Centennial Campaign now total more than $1.4 million.

Devine retired from her post as associate athletic director in 2000 following 31 years in a variety of roles within the department. She came to KSU as a graduate assistant in 1969 and went on to serve for two seasons (1975-77) as the first head coach of the women's basketball team in addition to directing the field hockey team from its inception in 1975 through the 1980 campaign.

After the merger of men's and women's athletic programs in 1975, she was given the responsibilities of assistant director of athletics before being elevated to associate athletic director in 1978. At the time of her retirement in 2000, she coordinated financial aid, housing, awards and the academic performance of KSU's student-athletes.

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Kent State University has
quite a few excellent features
in its educational line-up.
Now, it's official.
Committing to the state's
Strategic Plan for Higher Education,
Kent State University
has announced six programs
of distinction to be known as
“Centers of Excellence.”
And on Wednesday, the
board enthusiastically endorsed
all of them, approving
Liquid Crystals/Bio-Science/
Nanotechnology; Information
and Knowledge Management;
Fashion Design
and Merchandising; Public
Health and Nursing: New
Models of Care for Communities
and Individuals;
Science Education: Training
Educators in Science and
Mathematics; and Environmental
and Natural Resource
Sustainability/Urban Design
all as Centers of Excellence.
The chancellor of the Ohio
Board of Regents, Eric Fingerhut,
issued the strategic
plan in March 2008. The
plan calls for each of Ohio's
public universities to identify
its distinctive academic and
research strengths, referred
to by the chancellor as Centers
of Excellence.
Chairman Patrick Mullin
said part of the idea was to
identify areas of study unique
to the university in the state.

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‘Your view of the world is not the world,” the instructor at the seminar I attended reminded us. At first it didn't mean much to me, but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes.

For example, my view of the world changes with the seasons.

When I run in late February, a 40-degree day feels warm. A few weeks ago, in late August, the temperature at 6 a.m. was 40 degrees. Now I know that 40 degrees is 40 degrees and yet I couldn't believe how cold I felt on that August morning.

So, what does this have to do with anything, you may be asking? Just look around you. So many people selfishly believe their view of the world is, in fact, the world.

NO GROUP IS IMMUNE

Some Christians believe that their view is absolutely correct, to the exclusion of every other religious or philosophic belief — but so do some Muslims, some Jews, some Hindus. Many Republicans believe that their ideology is the gospel, but so do many in the Democratic Party.

When someone is convinced that his or her view is the only correct one and he or she leaves no room for dissent, discussion or debate, all other potential answers are eliminated. Any and all other possible remedies are terminated before being born. Is that a good way to arrive at a solution to a problem?

Would a scientist do that? Maybe the answer lies somewhere between the extremes.

More and more, I have come to believe that the answer is not A or Z and that many of the letters in between may be worth looking at.

It isn't just political junkies who think so narrowly. All selfish people must subconsciously confuse their view of the world with the world. Imagine the young man I saw the other day riding his motorcycle on Interstate 77 at 75 mph. He was looking down at his cell phone, creating a text message with his thumb. Was he simply oblivious, or was he convinced he wasn't risking his life or mine by engaging in that conduct?

Either way, he was confused that his view of the world was the world.

And how about the judge who lost his patience and instructed a bailiff to put duct tape over a belligerent defendant's mouth? Isn't that judge setting an example that when reason fails, it is OK to resort to violence? Aren't judges supposed to be tolerant and wise?

When a judge is confronted with a mouthy defendant, isn't that when the judge needs to be the most thoughtful, patient and resilient? Judges are called “Your Honor,” and everyone rises when they walk into a courtroom, both signs of respect for the judge and his or her office. We don't do that for anyone else in any other profession. Does anyone rise when you walk into work? Shouldn't a judge demonstrate that same respect to those lawyers and litigants coming before him?

He was obviously confused that his view of the world was the world.

Joe Wilson, the South Carolina representative who shouted out, “You lie” while President Obama was addressing Congress, must believe not only that his view of the world is the correct one but also that he matters more than anyone else in the room at the time. That takes quite an ego.

President Obama was elected by a considerable majority of Americans; a congressman is elected in a district of about 600,000 people. Mr. Wilson was obviously confused that his view of the world was the world.

Abraham Lincoln's opponents said and wrote horrible things about him and his policies. Cartoons depicted Lincoln as an ape. And look where that ended — in a civil war costing thousands of American lives and an assassination.

STAY OPEN-MINDED

Maybe I am naïve, but I don't understand why we can't debate, even argue, without hating each other. I don't understand why we can't be open to the potential that might be found in another person's views. What worries me is that the unintended consequence of our growing belief that our view of the world is the world, and the incivility it generates, will be violence that none of us wants, or should want.

Paul A. Mastriacovo of Plain Township is a faculty member in the Department of Justice Studies at the main campus of Kent State University.

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Carroll County Commissioners continued discussion Monday regarding ongoing efforts to keep Atwood Lake Resort and Conference Center from closing.

Commissioner Larry Garner said he has learned that Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District officials had contacted wrecking companies in anticipation of Jan. 1 when MWCD officials would determine the fate of the resort.

Commissioners have been working to solidify an agreement with MWCD, commissioners, and Kent State University to include university programs and to use rooms to house students during offseason.

Commissioner Tom Wheaton said they will continue to work hard to make the partnership work.

He added they are continuing to seek information regarding the cost to run the water tower, and what the specific EPA violations are against the lodge involving water issues.

In other business, commissioners signed an agreement to be administrators for the Family and Childrens First Council grant to run through September 22, 2010.

The dog pound report was approved as 33 impounded, 26 tagged, one redeemed, and one citation issued for no license.

It was announced that Clay Rd. at the intersection of Flint Rd. will be closed beginning Monday for eight weeks for a bridge deck replacement.

Commissioners reminded that the county surplus auction will be held Thursday at 4:30 at the county garage.

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Carroll County Commissioners continued discussion Monday regarding ongoing efforts to keep Atwood Lake Resort and Conference Center from closing.

Commissioner Larry Garner said he has learned that Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District officials had contacted wrecking companies in anticipation of Jan. 1 when MWCD officials would determine the fate of the resort.

Commissioners have been working to solidify an agreement with MWCD, commissioners, and Kent State University to include university programs and to use rooms to house students during offseason.

Commissioner Tom Wheaton said they will continue to work hard to make the partnership work.

He added they are continuing to seek information regarding the cost to run the water tower, and what the specific EPA violations are against the lodge involving water issues.

In other business, commissioners signed an agreement to be administrators for the Family and Children's First Council grant to run through September 22, 2010.

The dog pound report was approved as 33 impounded, 26 tagged, one redeemed, and one citation issued for no license.

It was announced that Clay Rd. at the intersection of Flint Rd. will be closed beginning Monday for eight weeks for a bridge deck replacement.

Commissioners reminded that the county surplus auction will be held Thursday at 4:30 at the county garage.

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Sen. Wilson to visit Columbiana Friday

COLUMBUS State Senator Jason Wilson (D Columbiana) will be available to meet with constituents from 1-2 p.m. Friday at the Columbiana Public Library located at 332 North Middle St. Senator Wilson asks that constituents seeking assistance with state issues bring any relevant paperwork and documentation in order to facilitate assistance from his office. For more information, contact Senator Wilson's office at 614-466-6508.

KSU offers small business orientation

EAST LIVERPOOL - Kent State University, Workforce Development is sponsoring Entrepreneurship, Inc., a two-hour orientation that provides information which can help you to follow the steps to provide a better opportunity for success. The program will be presented by the Small Business Development Center, which is located at the Tuscarawas Campus of Kent State University.

The presentation will be held from 1-3 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15 at the East Liverpool Motor Lodge. The fee is $20 per person, which includes the textbook. If a partnership is planned, one $20 fee will be charged for the partners.

Many businesses are not successful because they do not follow a business plan. The presentation will include the keys to starting a successful business. Many financial institutions require that individuals who desire funding assistance to start their business participate in Entrepreneurship training in order to be considered for a loan.

Call Lisa McNicol, Workforce Development, East Liverpool Campus at 330-382-7427 to register.

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THEY COULD HELP YOUR CHILDREN LEARN AS WELL SHE IS A PROFESSOR AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY. USE THE RESEARCH PROVES JUST HOW MUCH FLASHCARDS CAN HELP YOUR MEMORY. AND THOUGH COD RESPECT OF THAT PROBE FOR A TEST WITHOUT MY NO CARDS AS YOU HAVE YOUR HAND APPEARED TELLS WHAT YOU LEARNED IN YOUR RESEARCH TREATY TO THE HOUSE CARDS HELP ME IN A COUPLE DIFFERENT WAYS. THINK THE REASON STUDENTS USE THE USE THEM BECAUSE AND THE CHANCE TO EVALUATE AND WHAT THEY KNOW WHAT THEY DON'T USE THE TERM ON THE FRONT TO TRY TO REMEMBER THE DEFINITION FOR MEMORY AND YOU CAN'T COME UP WITH ANYTHING, THAT MEANS A PUBLIC DON'T KNOW WELL KNOWN OF THE NEED IS TO THE ITEMS AND MORE. A CUSTOMS AND APPRECIATE IT WAS WHEN YOU DO REMEMBER SOMETHING IN THAT IMPROVES THE ODDS THAT YOU'LL REMEMBER THAT LATER A FALSE MEMORY TO REMEMBER INNOCENCE. OKAY HOW YOU MAKE INEFFECTIVE FLASHCARD? THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY OF MUSIC IS TO HAVE A KEY TERM OR WORD ON THE FRONT DEFINITION ARE MANY OF THAT TERM ON THE BACK BUT DIDN'T USE THEM PROPERLY. AND THEY'RE A BOOKING AT THE KEY TERM THAT JUST IS THAT LOOKS FAMILIAR AND NONE OF THAT ONE. -A GOOD TO THE WORK. THEN OF COURSE IS CHECK WHAT YOU RETRIEVED AGAINST A RIGHT ANSWER BE CHECKED CAREFULLY TO MAKE SURE THE WAFERS TREE IS CORRECT PICKETT SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM SO THAT'S ON T PUT IT OVER WHICH HAD TO RETREAT FROM MEMORY WHAT IS THE SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM AND WHAT THE READER MEMORY TEST AGAINST FRANCE ON THE BACK IN A TURNS OUT THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IS STACKED UP IN YOUR BODY IS A ROSTER LAWYER. S THE INFORMATION TO TRY TO TARGET. THESE WERE QUESTIONS OF ALL AGES? THEY DO. PRACTICING TERM MEMORY REDUCES BETTER MEMORY LATER. EVEN ELEMENTARY AGE STUDENTS IN FACT ALSO THAT OTHER IN THIS AGE RANGE OF ADULTS BENEFIT FROM TESTING AND SWISS TO APPEARED IN + TRADE METHOD? 6-2 AT THE MOST BENEFIT ADDED USING FLASH CARDS AND WE HAVE TO USE THEM IN THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF THE RIGHT TIME. THE KEY IS WHEN YOUR SELF TESTING WHEN YOUR PRACTICING REMEMBERING RIGHT, DON'T STOP DONTE THAT ARE NOW THE STACK A SHAKY BUT IN THE STACK TO GET RIGHT THREE TIMES AND GO HAD SOUGHT TO STEP ASIDE AND COME BACK ON THREE OTHER DAYS AND TAKE THAT STEP BACK UP AND PARK CITY IN TRADE GET RIGHT THREE TIMES IN PRACTICE THREE MORE DAYS LATER WE FIND THAT THAT'S THE BIGGEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK. IT WOULD WASHINGTON RECEIVED AN AWARD. THAT'S RIGHT. I'M VERY HONORED THIS FOR A PRESIDENTIAL AURA CAREER AWARD WILL NO ONE IN THAT WILL BE PRESUMED THERE THIS PROBLEM VERY EXCITED, VERY HONORED TO BEEN SELECTED FOR THE AWARD AND NOT COME OR GONE ATCHISON OVER TO WAYNE AND STEPHANIE TO TEST OUT NEW METHOD COULD TAKE AWAY. WHAT TIME TO COOL THEM THREE TIMES TO BUY A MINIMUM SHARE WANTS THEM WILL SEE IF YOU DO AFTER ONE TIME APPEARED MORE THE PEOPLE HERE. THERE CLOUDS AND A PUFFY AND DARK BECAUSE THUNDERSTORMS SECOND ONE IS VIRGO. ANY FORM OF PRECIPITATION THE DISTANT REACHES CLOWNED THE LOSS BUT NOT LEAST BUBBLE GENESIS AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IT WAS DRINK AS RAPIDLY. TORQUING FOR HIM.

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I know plenty of former newspaper employees who once thought they had job security. They figured they'd never be laid off because their companies raked in so much money that they could weather cyclical economic downturns.

At the Press-Register in Mobile, Ala., and 19 other daily newspapers owned by Advance Publications, many workers based that feeling on something firmer than water cooler talk. Their employment stability was promised in writing, right on the first page of the employee handbook.

The so-called "Newhouse pledge," named after the family that founded and controls the New York-based media company, guaranteed that in most cases, employees would never be laid off. The pledge, which according to a recently filed lawsuit has been in place for at least 25 years, applied to all full-time, non-union employees. Newhouse has a reputation of being an anti-union company, and some believe the pledge was intended partly to discourage employees from organizing.

But like hot type and afternoon editions, the pledge has become a relic.

In August, Advance Publications announced that it would repeal the pledge, effective Feb. 5, 2010. Then, the company presumably will begin to lay off some of the people it once promised to keep regardless of "technological changes or economic conditions."

The unusual job security pledge is at the heart of a lawsuit pitting former Press-Register Publisher Howard Bronson against Advance Publications [PDF] and Managing Partner Mark Newhouse. Bronson wants a jury to award damages for breaking the pledge and forcing him into retirement. (Bronson, representatives of the paper and Advance declined to talk to me or didn't return messages.)
Not only was the job security pledge written down in the Press-Register employee handbook, but it was frequently restated in memos and verbal communications, according to the lawsuit and interviews with current and former Press-Register employees.

There were caveats, of course. Workers had to complete a probationary period and perform their work satisfactorily. They could be fired for misconduct and had to be willing to train for new jobs.

And there was another exception in the pledge, one that might have been easy to dismiss in the pre-Internet age, but today sounds eerily prescient. The pledge applied only as long as the newspaper "continues to publish daily in its current newsprint form."

This summer, Advance closed its 45,000-circulation daily Ann Arbor News and launched a Web-based entity, AnnArbor.com, and an affiliated twice-weekly print edition. Could similar moves be far behind at other distressed properties?

I am personally familiar with the Newhouse pledge. I was a Press-Register reporter from 1997 to 2002, when I left for a job at The Tampa Tribune. I remain vested in a small Newhouse pension.

During my tenure in Mobile the paper was known around town as "the Cash Register" for its robust revenues. I never worried about losing my job, especially due to the economy, but I do remember talking about the pledge with the man who hired me, former regional news and business editor Jerald Hyche.

"The Newhouse pledge was comforting," said Hyche, now an Episcopal minister in Houston. "It seemed to represent the family's and the company's long-term vision for an industry that could be pretty volatile."
A few years before I arrived in Mobile, American Journalism Review published a story focusing on a dramatic shift at Newhouse papers around the country -- their move from "high-profit journalistic underachievers" to award-winning watchdogs "with fat news holes and the staff to fill them." Then-Editor Stan Tiner, now at The Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss., said he went on a hiring spree after arriving in 1992. (In those days, the story noted, there were no formal budgets at the papers.) Tiner declined to comment for this story.

Steve Newhouse, chairman of AdvanceNet, the chain's online division, told Editor & Publisher that the pledge does not apply "to the kind of transitional moment in the newspaper industry that is basically struggling to survive."

Outside media experts said Advance Publications can't be expected to uphold a promise from a bygone business model.

"Anybody in the newspaper business in this country today knows that staying alive is the first priority," said Alex Jones, director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University.

Lauren Rich Fine, a former media analyst for Merrill Lynch and now practitioner in residence at Kent State University, said the pledge is "unrealistic in today's world, whether for a media company or something else. Companies need flexibility to downsize."

According to the lawsuit, Bronson was given talking points to indicate the company had "no current plan" for layoffs once the pledge expires in February. But several of my former colleagues said this week that they are bracing for cuts. Who could blame them?
The Press-Register has had about 36 voluntary buyouts, plus other attrition, over the past year. Some 200 buyouts have taken place at The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., also owned by Advance Publications.

The job security pledge "was unique in the newspaper industry and, as far as I know, fairly unique in business," said Jim Aucoin, chairman of the Department of Communications at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. Until June, he also was a part-time editorial writer at the Press-Register, not subject to the pledge.

As a private company, Advance isn't subject to the same financial disclosure rules as publicly held chains such as Media General, which owns The Tampa Tribune. But media observers say Advance is subject to the same market pressures that have pushed down revenues at other papers.

"They must have thought they could save enough through retirements and buyouts," Aucoin said, "but the cuts may need to be deeper and more painful."

Some Press-Register employees told me Bronson is a hero for taking on Newhouse. Others worry that they'll face more financial pain and job insecurity if he prevails.

Bronson isn't the only publisher leaving a Newhouse newspaper. Last week Victor Hanson III, 53, president and publisher of The Birmingham News, announced that he would retire Dec. 1. At The (Portland) Oregonian, 87-year-old Fred A. Stickel stepped down as publisher on Friday. His son, Patrick F. Stickel, the newspaper's president, told The Oregonian that he will serve as interim publisher but will not seek the post permanently.
Fine, a former member of Poynter's National Advisory Board, said the six-month warning on repealing the pledge is fair notice. "You offer something, and you may have to withdraw it later," she said, comparing it to cuts imposed by struggling U.S. automakers on their unions. "There is no such thing as offering something forever."

Whatever perception of job security I had at The Tampa Tribune ended when my colleagues started getting laid off in 2007. I lost my job last year. I never had anything in writing, but I doubt it would have mattered anyway. In business, it seems, a pledge is only reliable as long as it's also profitable.

Maybe a jury in Mobile will decide otherwise.

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Sache Ross, a Kent State University junior and nursing major, has her school days figured out. She wakes up, goes to class, goes to work and studies after, if there's time. Ross works two days a week at Jazzman's Cafe in Eastway Market and Deli. She takes orders and makes drinks, such as espressos and smoothies. "It's not much money, but it helps with everything else," said Ross, who's held the position for three semesters. But recently, more students have been picking up campus jobs on top of classes and extracurricular activities. Between fall 2008 and now, student employment on campus has increased 2 percent, said Ami Hollis, associate director of Career Services Center. Hollis added that they are experiencing a 2.5 percent increase in students getting more than one job. "I would have expected a decrease from the state of Ohio cutting our budget," Hollis said. "A 2 percent increase is not huge - not what we would call a trend." Dining Services director Richard Roldan said he definitely sees the increase in employment. Dining Services, the largest employer on campus, currently has 781 student employees and hired 60 more students this year, Roldan said in an e-mail. Roldan stressed that student employment is important and ties into the university's "Excellence in Action" slogan, and because their employees are students with class schedules and exams, Roldan said they offer flexible hours. Since the start of the semester, Roldan said they have received more than 1,000 applications. Betsy Joseph, director of Residence Services, the second largest employer on campus, said they have also noticed an increase. In the past year, applications have risen from 55 to 79. Security Manager Brian Hellwig, in an e-mail to Joseph, said there are 42 security guards currently working, and there has been an increase in the number that applied. "Working on campus is actually a good thing," Joseph said. "It's good to have a little money in your pocket and not having to ask mom and dad." Alex Shokles, sophomore speech pathology major, works at Campus Copy Connection on the third floor of the University Library. She works three days a week, and one of the days she doesn't have class. Shokles said she works for "fun money." "It gives me something to do," she said. "I need structure." Besides being paid for her job, Ross said she has fun at Jazzman's. "It's a good experience working with different people," she said. Students can work no more than 32 hours a week in one department, according to the Career Services Web site. "Students have to weigh how much personal time they want to have," Hollis said. "Schoolwork comes first, and they will have to work around the schedule."

http://media.www.kentnewsnet.com/media/storage/paper867/news/2009/09/28/News/More-Students.Work.On.Campus-3785169.shtml

Copyright © 2009 Daily Kent Stater via UWire

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KENT, Ohio, Sept. 28 -- Kent State University issued the following news release:

The Wick Poetry Center will host readings from Edward Micus and Stephen Dunn on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 8 p.m. in Room 306 ABC of the Kent Student Center.

Stephen Dunn is the author of sixteen books, including Different Hours, which won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for poetry. He has been the recipient of many awards including the James Wright Prize from Mid-American Review, the Theodore Rothke Prize from Poetry Northwest, and many others. His poems have appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, the American Poetry Review and other journals. Since 1974 he has taught at Richard Stockton College of NJ, where he is Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing.

Edward Micus is the winner of the 2009 Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize. He is retired assistant director of the Center for Creative Success at Mankato State University in Minnesota. Micus is the past winner of the Loft-McKnight Poetry Award, a finalist for the Minneosta Book Award, and winner of the New Rivers Press New Voices award. His poetry has been published in The Harvard Review, Laurel Review, Poetry and elsewhere.

These Wick Poetry Center events are free and open to the public. For more info on this and other events, visit the Wick Poetry Center's Web site at www.kent.edu/wick.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com.

Copyright © 2009 US Fed News (HT Syndication)

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