The May Report: 11/14/2011: Part II (of 2): 2011 Chicago Innovation Awards: The ten winning products and services were: Red Frog Events; Navman Wireless’ Qtanium; Illinois Tool Works’ Global Capless; Tripp Lite’s SRCOOL12K Portable AC unit; Elkay’s EZH20; World Bicycle Relief’s Buffalo Bicycles; Appolicious; Callibra’s Discharge 1-2-3 Composer; Trustwave’s Trustkeeper; and Narrative Science plus many of the up and comers look strangely like a list of investments by Lightbank; Krahl construction officials indicted and somehow they were tied to the building that housed the Syncubator, and more.

Editor and publisher: Ron May, ron@themayreport.com, ronaldmay@aol.com, www.themayreport.com , 773-525-3944.

If you missed an article, go here:

www.tmronline.com/A55951/tmrarticles.nsf/vwFullNewsletter

Louis Brandeis: “Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.”
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Scoop section:

PART I

– The Pritzker Group Completes Add On Acquisition

– Tuesday, November 15: i.c.stars TechBash Event

– 10 New Products, Services Recognized at Chicago Innovation Awards

– Ex-owner, execs of Krahl Construction indicted

– Callibra, Inc. dba Discharge 1-2-3 is Named Winner of 2011 Chicago Innovation Award

– Chicago Based Start-Up, Narrative Science, Named a 2011 Winner of Chicago Innovation Awards

– Wednesday, November 16: BNC Tech Pitch: DriShade and H.E. System Technologies along with interview of Troy Henikoff

– Wednesday, Nov. 30: MIT-EF lunch meeting: What’s your Mobile Strategy? Did you know that 40% of mobile phone users regularly browse the web on their mobile phones?

– Affidavit of Donna Simpson in the “Connolly case” — this was in response to a request for a TRO against Connolly brought by Craig Nelson, which is now a case being prosecuted by the State’s Attorney against Craig Nelson and the trial is Nov. 21st

– The Brian Connolly Criminal Case

– John Jonelis: Latest articles: An evening with legendary international investor, Loren Bukkett and FOUNDER IDEATION BOOTCAMP, An interview by John Jonelis with JASON JACOBSOHN

– Today, Nov. 14th, is the deadline for the discount for MIT-EF members to register for the Great Lakes Entrepreneurial bash

PART II

– Bob Bock: Thank You For Attending, Enjoy A HUGE Discount To Be Part Of The Next Event!

– Wednesday, Nov. 30: Chicago Booth Marketing Roundtable – “Legal and Regulatory Issues Affecting Marketing and Advertising Professionals”

– Wednesday, Nov. 30: EDC luncheon: Research & Manufacturing Can Cooperate in Illinois Luncheon

– Tim Trummer: Some thought’s on Ron’s book writing plans

– An email I missed from Tarkus Murphy: From the Information Superglacier™ to the Carolinas

– Buzz Bissinger: Joe Paterno, Arrogant to the End

– Maureen Dowd: Personal Foul at Penn State

__________________________

PART II

______________________

Bob Bock: Thank You For Attending, Enjoy A HUGE Discount To Be Part Of The Next Event!

Thank You For Attending, Enjoy A HUGE Discount To Be Part Of The Next Event!
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Thank You For Helping Make The Funding Feeding Frenzy November 2nd Event A Success!

Hello Ron,

Thank you for your participation in the Funding Feeding Frenzy on November 2nd. Your attendance and participation certainly helped make the event extremely successful. We’ve received great feedback and hope that you enjoyed the event, and received a tremendous amount of value.

We would also like to once again, congratulate the companies voted “Best of Show” and invite you to take another look at the winners. View all of our Presenting Companies and Demo Companies.

The next Funding Feeding Frenzy is planned for May 2, 2012. We are currently offering a monumental 50% discount off our normal ticket prices for Presenting/Demo Companies and VIP/Attendees who sign up NOW! Don’t hesitate, this offer ends soon. We hope you to see you at future Funding Feeding Frenzy events.

Chicago’s High Energy Entrepreneur Center

744 N. Wells Street, Chicago, IL 60654

Located on Wells St. / River North neighborhood.
Only 1 Block from the Chicago Brown Line Stop.

“Preview Launch” on Friday, November 11, 2011 – 3pm to 6:30pm with Beer, Wine & light munchies. (For entrepreneurs and companies that want to drop by and see it before the “Soft Launch”, please schedule an appointment with David Culver.)

• Membership in VentureSHOT Super-Ultra Collaborative Entrepreneurial Group

• Free participation (or major discounts on) Special Workshops designed to grow your business (or help you launch your business)

• Access to “Flex-Space” entrepreneur friendly working environment. (Great for part-timers!) Private offices also available.

Pre-Launch Specials Available – Contact David Culver @ 312-953-9919 or Andy Nadler @ 847-946-4608

Sincerely,

The Funding Feeding Frenzy Team

www.FundingFeedingFrenzy.com
______________________________

Wednesday, Nov. 30: Chicago Booth Marketing Roundtable – “Legal and Regulatory Issues Affecting Marketing and Advertising Professionals”

Chicago Booth Marketing Roundtable – “Legal and Regulatory Issues Affecting Marketing and Advertising Professionals” – Wednesday, November 30, 2011, 6:00 p.m.
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The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Alumni Marketing Roundtable

Topic: Legal and Regulatory Issues Affecting Marketing and Advertising Professionals

Panelists: David S. Almeida, Partner, Sedgwick LLP

Cyndi Greenglass, SVP Strategic Solutions, Diamond Marketing Solutions

Steve Wernikoff, Staff Attorney , Federal Trade Commission, Chicago

Date: Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Time: 6:00 – 7:00 Networking and Hors d’ouevres (Cash Bar)

7:00 – 8:30 Panel Discussion

8:30 – 9:00 Networking (Cash Bar)

Location: Gleacher Center – Room 100

Price: $15.00

Price includes passed Hors D’oeuvres. There will be a cash bar as well.

To RSVP: Register Online

Questions? Please contact Scott McGarvey at smcg@chicagobooth.edu.

Session Overview
Our three-expert panel will discuss the current legal and regulatory environment facing marketers, including discussion of direct, social, mobile and affiliate marketing legal issues. We’ll be sure to address the most critical issue of today including privacy and data security, direct marketing and substantiation claims. As a marketing professional, you’ll come away armed with best practices on how to manage your risk, while avoiding litigation and regulatory enforcement actions.

About Our Panelists

David S. Almeida
Partner, Sedgwick LLP
David S. Almeida focuses his practice in the defense of consumer fraud claims, with particular emphasis on defending marketing, retail and other companies against lawsuits challenging their direct marketing practices. Mr. Almeida also counsels clients on best practices for direct, digital and mobile marketing, including advising on permission-based marketing, emerging technologies, the use of various social media platforms, as well as data security and privacy issues related to electronic and mobile commerce.

Cyndi Greenglass
Senior Vice President Strategic Solutions, Diamond Marketing Solutions
Cyndi W. Greenglass is a founding partner and Senior Vice President Strategic Solutions at Diamond Marketing Solutions, a $50,000,000 full service direct marketing company located in Chicago, IL. The firm offers concept through distribution direct marketing solutions to both Fortune 1000 and mid market companies. Cyndi was named into the Top 100 BTB Marketers by Crain’s B@B Magazine in 2004 and again in 2006, and is nationally recognized for her industry leadership and expertise. Cyndi is a member of the Executive Management team at Diamond Marketing Solutions where she is responsible for the strategic planning process, participates in strategic acquisitions, and manages the agency services division.

Prior to Diamond Marketing Solutions, Cyndi launched World Marketing Integrated Solutions, an integrated database and strategic marketing consulting firm in Chicago, and previously held the positions of Director, Database Marketing at Smith Lask Associates and Regional Marketing Manager at Dun & Bradstreet Information Services.

Cyndi is Immediate Past President of the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing, and Past Chair of the Direct Marketing Association Business-to-Business Council. She is currently Government Affairs Liaison for the Business-to-Business Council, and has also served on the Program Advisory Committee of the National Center for Database Marketing, the Direct Marketing to Business Conference, and DMDays in New York.

Steve Wernikoff
Staff Attorney , Federal Trade Commission, Chicago
Steve Wernikoff is a staff attorney with the Federal Trade Commission in Chicago who specializes in Internet related consumer protection matters. Steve has led numerous investigations and civil prosecutions involving spam email, deceptive advertising, affiliate marketing, credit card fraud, and privacy and security issues. Steve also has served as an adjunct faculty member at two local law schools where he has taught courses involving Internet fraud, online advertising and privacy issues. Prior to working at the FTC, Steve worked at a law firm in Chicago and clerked for two federal court judges.

* * * * *
Special Note
Once again, we’ll set up a Literature Table in the front registration area before the meeting. You may use the table to distribute copies of anything (within reason) that communicates your business, your capabilities, and/or career interests. This would include a brochure, a fact sheet, a resume, or other items of interest. This will give us all an opportunity to share our interests and find ways to help each other achieve goals.

* * *

Discounted Parking

Chicago Booth has arranged with the AMC Theater-River East Self parking Garage to provide discounted parking:

300 East Illinois Street (AMC Theater-River East Self Park Garage)
$6.00 after 3:00pm
Garage: Self Park Facility
Payment: Automated; at pay-stations by cash or credit card or upon exit pay by credit card only.
To receive discounted rate: There is a card validator at the first floor security desk of the Gleacher Center. The new system for the AMC Theater- River East Self Park Garage is automated. You will only need to insert your parking card in the validator and the new price will be automatically applied. You can validate your parking ticket at any time between your arrival at and departure from the Gleacher Center. When you leave the lot you will be charged for the lower $6.00 fee.

Detailed Directions :
Garage is located next to PJ Clarks and below the AMC Theater.
a) When traveling east on Illinois cross over Columbus and enter the Garage on the left (north) side of the street.
b) If driving west on Grand (north of Theater), you can enter the garage ½ block before Columbus on the left (south) side of the street.

* * *

CHECK YOUR CHICAGO WEEKLY FOR OTHER CHICAGO BOOTH ALUMNI EVENTS OF INTEREST:

For information on other coming Chicago Booth Roundtable meetings, Chicago Booth Alumni Club events, and other alumni events of interest, visit www.chicagobooth.edu/chicagoweekly/. The Chicago Weekly is updated every Thursday.

* * * * *
ABOUT THE MARKETING ROUNDTABLE
Our mission: The mission of the Chicago Booth Marketing Roundtable is to help Chicago alumni and a broader community of marketing professionals learn more, meet other colleagues, and solve marketing issues. Our vision is to be the first choice for learning and sharing new marketing ideas.

About our meetings: Chicago Booth Marketing Roundtable meetings are typically scheduled at the downtown campus (Gleacher Center), on the last Wednesday of each month (with some variation), from 6:30 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. They are free of charge, and no food is served. (Food is available, if you wish, in the cafeteria.) Room location is posted each month at the front desk. Please note date is subject to change – check calendar listing for details.

Guests: Your guests who have an active interest in marketing are always welcome via your personal invitation. Please RSVP and let us know how many to expect! (But please don’t post this or any Chicago Booth Marketing Roundtable announcement in any public forum.)
Got a topic idea? If you have a topic idea, a presenter to recommend, or any questions or suggestions, please contact any Chicago Booth Marketing Roundtable Steering Team member:

Kyle Akerman, 847-414-1426, kyle.akerman@gmail.com
Bijoy Chacko, 847 598 7016, chackobe@yahoo.com
Santanu DasGupta, 312.961.4866, sdasgupt@chicagobooth.edu
Dan Drake, 630.212.2314, Ddrake1@chicagobooth.edu
Jordan Katz, 312-288-2422, Jordan_Katz@gallup.com
Scott McGarvey, 312.648.6275, smcg@chicagobooth.edu
Vivek Prabhu, (312) 493 4987, vivek.r.prabhu@gmail.com
Les Stern, 847.205.1936, les@lsternmktg.com
Jim Steuer, 773-935-7208, JSEChicago@aol.com
Galen Williams, 312.810.1300, gwmw@sbcglobal.net

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Marketing-Roundtable@lists.chicagobooth.edu

lists.chicagobooth.edu/mailman/listinfo/marketing-roundtable

________________________________

Wednesday, Nov. 30: EDC luncheon: Research & Manufacturing Can Cooperate in Illinois Luncheon

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November 30th Monthly Luncheon

Research & Manufacturing
Can Cooperate in Illinois

A Panel Discussion featuring:

Mil Ovan, CEO, Next Gen Solar

Norman Peterson, Assistant to the Director, Argonne National Laboratory

Jack Lewnard, VP & CTO, Gas Technology Institute

When: Wednesday, November 30, 2011, Noon
Where: The Tower Club, 20 N. Wacker Drive, 39th Floor, Chicago, Illinois

The cost of the luncheon is $40 for EDC members and $65 for non-members. There is no charge for EDC Corporate and Sustaining Members. Reservations are mandatory and can be made by prepaying online at www.edcchicago.org , emailing Kathleen Matuszewich at edc@edcchicago.org or calling the EDC at 773-279-8787. Not a member, click here to become a member.

Join the EDC as our luncheon series continues with a panel discussion entitled, “Research & Manufacturing Can Cooperate in Illinois.”

One way not to lose promising engineering graduates from our local universities to jobs on either coast is to create a better environment for growing tech jobs here in the Midwest. We’re lucky to have two world-class, long time research facilities right here in the Chicago area: Argonne National Laboratories, and the Gas Technology Institute in addition to the research done at the universities, many corporations and Fermi Lab. How can both young companies and established firms best interact with these research organizations, to leverage their research and expertise into new products that will grow the Midwest economy? Our three panelists will address this very topic in a lively panel discussion.

Mil Ovan is the CEO of NextGen Solar, LLC, an Illinois based start-up aiming to be the first PV solar cell technology to effectively combine the best elements of Inorganic PV (high efficiency) with Organic PV (low cost non-toxic/earth-abundant materials and manufacturing) into one system. NextGen Solar has a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement with Argonne to develop its first prototype.

Norm Peterson is the Assistant to the Director at Argonne, where he interacts with governmental agencies and develops collaborations between industries, universities, and other technology organizations. These collaborations have included a number of projects with the State of Illinois and Illinois companies, leveraging Argonne technology and expertise. Prior to joining Argonne, he was the Executive Director of the Governor’s Commission on Science & Technology for the State of Illinois.

Jack Lewnard is the Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the Gas Technology Institute, where he leads GTI’s long-term technical strategy and vision, identifies new energy technologies, issues, and opportunities, and provides overall direction to the R&D organization. He also has start-up experience, gained prior to joining GTI when he served as Vice President, Process Development for GreenFuel Technologies, Inc.

Support the EDC

We believe that quality programs are the key to building our membership base. Our members support our efforts and enable us to develop programs that explore issues, questions and problems that affect business, community and economic development. Consider joining the EDC, as a member you will support our efforts to offer a broad range of programs relevant to the Chicagoland area.

We offer three levels of membership:
· Individual (which offers discounted monthly luncheons);
· Sustaining (which includes prepaid luncheons for a year and discounted registration for our breakfast programs); and
· Corporate (you and a guest are pre-paid for monthly lunches and discounted registration for breakfast programs).
·
The Individual membership is $75 annually, Sustaining is $425 and the Corporate is $750. Becoming a member is a click away. Join now!

Economic Development Council
4064 N. Lincoln Avenue
Suite 251
Chicago, IL 60618
773-279-8787
www.edcchicago.org

_______________________________

Tim Trummer: Some thought’s on Ron’s book writing plans

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Hi Ron. My name is Tim Trummer. I’m a resident of Lincoln Park, a writer and consultant/know-it-all with an MBA from Northwestern. I read your latest emails this morning and I saw you mention several times that you could write a book.

I definitely think that you should consider writing a book.

For what it’s worth, I will share with you my thoughts on how you should go about this.

1. You shouldn’t limit yourself to any one topic. You aren’t the kind of thorough researcher for that kind of thing – you are more of a hit-and-run kind of guy. And, whatever you would choose for a topic – Groupon, for example – is going to be old news by the time you publish.

2. You shouldn’t write a book that’s simply a rehash of all your emails. I saw one person advise you to do something like that, and I think it’s a dull concept, and it seems lazy.

3. You’ve got a couple of decades of personal experience in the tech industry, so you can write a kind of personal history. You need to make it your story and your memory of the all the people and events of the past few decades. People read your newsletter for news and gossip, but you have to be aware that they read it because of your personality too. In any kind of online venture we want “salience” – the idea that there is a real person on the other end of the communication. You satisfy that requirement 100%.

4. Short chapters detailing various episodes in Chicago tech history make it easier to write too. You don’t have to do a tedious, continuous narrative. You can jump from one thing to another. One of the toughest things about writing a book is committing to the actual writing, and if you take an episodic approach you can do it piecemeal.

5. I also think that you should do it as an oral history. That is, you shouldn’t type it, you should record it. Then someone has to transcribe it, and it has to be edited so that it’s a good, artful blend of smooth narrative without losing your personality. It’s an art to make something smooth and readable, and at the same time to retain the voice of the author. There are people who are very talented at this. A journalism student might want to do this as a master’s degree project.

I’m not saying that it would be easy to get this done, but I think this is the way to get the best result, and I don’t think you should bother unless you want to do something excellent. You have a chance to tell some unique Chicago business history in a Chicago voice. That’s worth doing well, and unless it’s done well it’s not worth doing at all. If you’ve read Nelson Ahlgren’s Chicago: City on the Make, that’s the kind of thing you should aspire too. Anything else is a fu**ing waste of time.

I’m not looking for personal involvement, and I’m not looking to get paid, but I did want you to know that there is an audience for a good book from you.

Tim

–
Tim Trummer
847 404 9268

www.linkedin.com/in/timtrummer

____________________________________

An email I missed from Tarkus Murphy: From the Information Superglacier™ to the Carolinas

Subject: Re: From the Information Superglacier™ to the Carolinas
Date: 10/30/2011 7:56:58 A.M. Central Daylight Time
From: tarkus@ripco.com
To: ron@themayreport.com, RONALDMAY@aol.com, melanie_adcock@msn.com

Ron, I may have a wireless communications story for you coming in December / January in the States of New York, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

I am also in preliminary talks with several groups in Illinois.

No sense in talking concepts until some key letters of support are executed – prior to any construction or activity. You know how timelines go with startups.

As you know, I tend to seek projects that are hybrid fiber / 4G wireless on the Information Superglacier™ rather than wireless, alone.

I was NOT able to make it to 4G World (in Chicago) this year, but I did send a colleague to pick up information.

I’ll be looking over a box of trade show materials (via snail mail), next week.

I noticed that this earlier item (10/6) was not picked up – here’s a resend.

From: Tarkus
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 8:24 PM
To: May Report ; Ronald May ; Melanie Adcock ; Tarkus
Subject: From the Information Superglacier™ to the Carolinas

An Information Superglacier™ company was at the “Internet 2″ meeting in North Carolina, this week.

We met with the principals of ECC Technologies (see, below) at the STC on the day of Governor Cuomo’s announcement of a new $4.4 B program (including 300 new jobs in Canandaigua’s STC). They were the firm that helped design both Axcess Ontario and the Southern Tier Network. I’ve been suggesting to various parties in the Illinois fiber optic community that it might be a good idea to meet with ECC to discuss their experiences in dealing with privately funded dark fiber networks and their interaction with Federally funded “Last Mile” and “Middle Mile” networks (as well as Federally funded Sustainable Broadband Adoption and Computer Center programs). I believe that ECC was also involved in the creation of NY’s DANC network.

High speed networks like Internet2, National Lambda Rail (NLR), ES NET and US UCAN may be common knowledge in Chicago, but many of these new 100 Gbps networks will be soon be made available to Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs) in all 50 States. In many cases, CAIs may move from fractional T-1 speeds to exceptionally;y high speed networks. At the same time that North Carolina will build out another 2000 miles of fiber, North Carolina has passed a law blocking the creation of municipal fiber networks (often, last mile networks). This new development may help recharge efforts to develop “last mile” networks in rural communities.

Other than passing on this news, I had nothing to do with the NC efforts. If my own efforts with ECC (up on the Information Superglacier™) work out, I’ll keep you posted.

Tarkus

Published on MCNC | Connecting North Carolina’s Future Today (www.mcnc.org)

MCNC names ECC Technologies marketing agent for BTOP Round 2 fiber
Editorial Contacts:
MCNC Communications Hotline: (919) 248.4105
Noah Garrett, NGC Communications, on behalf of MCNC: (252) 423.1277 or press@mcnc.org [2]

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. (Oct. 5, 2011) – MCNC, the private, not-for-profit operator of the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), announced today that it has selected ECC Technologies of Wake Forest, N.C., and Penfield, N.Y., to oversee commercial broadband opportunities included in the second phase of the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative (GLRBI) awarded through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

“MCNC was looking for a fiber marketing partner who shared its goals of leveraging this GLRBI fiber to expand broadband service options for businesses and consumers in rural North Carolina. These are entities that MCNC will not serve directly but are opportunities for commercial service providers to serve,” said Joe Freddoso, President and CEO of MCNC. “ECC has a proven track record of working with local and regional business and policy leaders to leverage fiber assets to help expand service in underserved areas.”

MCNC raised $28.25 million in private matching funds and received $75.75 million in BTOP funds to build and acquire 1,700 miles of fiber as part of the second phase of the GLRBI. The Golden LEAF Foundation granted $24 million of the matching funds for this phase of the expansion. Construction on the new build portion of the second phase of network expansion began in July and will conclude in spring 2013.

MCNC will use the new fiber to expand the capacity of NCREN, which server as the backbone Intranet and Internet network for a significant number of Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs) in North Carolina. Those CAIs include all K-12 public schools, community colleges, University of North Carolina System institutions and select private colleges and universities, non-profit hospitals, public health, and public safety institutions in North Carolina.

In addition to serving rural and underserved CAIs through NCREN’s historic expansion, commercial businesses and consumers also can be served on all segments of the new GLRBI infrastructure. This includes segments in Northeast North Carolina (including the Outer Banks), North Central, Graham County, Charlotte to Wilmington, Charlotte to Kannapolis, and Hamlet to Raleigh. ECC will be responsible for working with public sector entities, private business enterprises, wholesale service providers, and last-mile service providers who are seeking to expand service offerings to reach these underserved consumers and businesses with affordable broadband service using the GLRBI fiber. ECC has a 16-year history of creating collaborative agreements that expand broadband services in rural areas.

“We are looking forward to working with leaders throughout North Carolina and helping discover how the GLRBI can be part of their plans to create a prosperous future.”
–Joe Starks
CEO and founder of ECC Technologies

ECC will begin its efforts on behalf of MCNC with extensive outreach to groups of leaders in areas of the GLRBI build. Groups of advocates, such as Northeast Rural Broadband Partnership, have already begun to formulate their strategies for leveraging the GLRBI fiber to expand broadband options for businesses and consumers in their respective regions. ECC will work with existing and emerging groups like the Northeast Rural Broadband Partnership to assist them in understanding the role the GLRBI fiber can play in their broadband expansion plans.

“Many rural regions in North Carolina have been left behind in the race to build out critical broadband infrastructure. The GLRBI is the first step for these regions and their leaders to leverage an infrastructure that is now critical for prosperity, education, healthcare, and global competitiveness,” said Joe Starks, CEO and founder of ECC Technologies. “We are looking forward to working with leaders throughout North Carolina and helping discover how the GLRBI can be part of their plans to create a prosperous future.”

Noel Preston, chairman of the Northeast Rural Broadband, said that for years leaders in Northeast North Carolina have realized the critical nature of reaching underserved businesses and consumers with more affordable broadband service.

“We know that realizing that vision is only possible if the public sector and private sector work together,” said Preston. “The GLRBI has provided a catalytic step to energizing this vision. By working with ECC Technologies and MCNC, we hope to form the partnerships to help realize this vision.”

——————————————————————————–

About ECC Technologies
ECC Technologies is a full service technology and communications consulting group. Over the past decade, ECC has been involved in over $1 Billion worth of project development worldwide. They are a leader in community-wide telecommunications planning and analysis and also specialize in project planning, design, engineering, implementation, and support services for educational, corporate, and community environments.

About The Golden LEAF Foundation
The Golden LEAF Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to help transform North Carolina’s economy. The foundation receives one-half of North Carolina’s funds from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers and places special emphasis on assisting tobacco-dependent, economically distressed and/or rural communities across the state. The Golden LEAF Foundation works in partnership with governmental entities, educational institutions, economic development organizations and nonprofits to achieve its mission. The foundation has awarded 1,110 grants worth over $511 million since its inception. To learn more about applying for a grant, visit www.goldenleaf.org [3] or call (888) 684.8404.

MCNC/BTOP Central Webspace
For more information regarding all of MCNC’s BTOP activities, visit MCNC’s BTOP Central Web Space [4] online. You also can follow the progress of the GLRBI at www.twitter.com/GLRBI [5] or www.facebook.com/GLRBI [6]. Questions? Please see our FAQ [7] section regarding Round 2 construction questions, or contact us [8] for more details.

About Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative
MCNC currently is working on a $144 million expansion of the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN) scheduled to be completed by 2013. This initiative has been labeled the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative.

To fund this expansion, MCNC applied for and received two U.S. Department of Commerce Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) awards totaling $104 million. In addition, MCNC raised $40 million in private matching funds as required by the BTOP program. MCNC’s sources of matching funds included $24 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation, $8 million from the MCNC Endowment, $4 million from private-sector wholesale telecommunications company FRC, and an estimated $4 million through donations of land and existing conduit from individual community colleges, universities, and others including the Albemarle Pamlico Economic Development Corporation. No direct funding from the State of North Carolina was required. MCNC estimates the expansion of NCREN will create or save 2,500 engineering, construction, and manufacturing jobs in the state.

Both MCNC awards are -part of a coordinated strategy developed by the Office of North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue, the N.C. Office of Economic Recovery & Investment, and e-NC Authority to improve broadband access for businesses and residents in underserved areas. Once all work is complete, the two rounds of BTOP infrastructure have the potential to serve directly, or through MCNC partnerships with private-sector service providers, more than 1,500 community anchor institutions, 180,000 businesses, and reach more than 300,000 underserved families.

——————————————————————————–

Source URL: www.mcnc.org/news/mcnc-names-ecc-technologies-marketing-agent-for-btop2-fiber
Links:
[1] www.mcnc.org/../sites/default/files/news-mcnc_fibermarketingpartner-ECC.pdf
[2] mailto:press@mcnc.org
[3] www.goldenleaf.org/
[4] www.mcnc.org/btop
[5] twitter.com/#!/GLRBI
[6] www.facebook.com/glrbi
[7] www.mcnc.org/btop/faq-round2-construction-and-project-development
[8] www.mcnc.org/support/contact.html

______________________________

Buzz Bissinger: Joe Paterno, Arrogant to the End

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Joe Paterno, Arrogant to the End

The Daily Beast, Wednesday, November 9, 2011, 10:28pm (PST)
By Buzz Bissinger

Like everyone else, I cannot get the scandal of Pennsylvania State University out of my mind.

The story is unfolding at the speed of sound, not just the worst sports scandal in modern history but also one of the worst scandals in modern history:

A former Penn State assistant coach for 29 years and alleged sexual predator, Jerry Sandusky, apparently continued unchecked because of the failure of university officials and head football coach deity Joe Paterno to do anything that might have made a difference instead of what they collectively did achieve:

Buck-passing and unconscionable cowardice.

Bing even more:
..
Paterno announced in a statement Wednesday that he would retire as head coach at the end of the football season after 46 years. He tried to sound like a humble martyr, but he was selfish and self-serving as usual. With the hubris and arrogance that has been the hallmark of his career over the past decade, the over-the-hill 84-year-old attempted to do an end-run around the Penn State board of trustees, who have been meeting to decide his fate. Paterno was hoping he could forever claim he decided to leave the football program of his own accord. The trustees called his bluff Wednesday night, firing Paterno and university president Graham Spanier.

Paterno is just a part of this whole sordid, shameful disgrace. He is easy to focus on because of his mythic stature, all false idol, as it turns out. But I find myself not caring about him anymore, particularly now that he has been let go.

What I am trying to fathom is how it ever became possible that so many men of power and intellect did nothing when it became obvious, because it was abundantly obvious on the basis of the findings of fact handed down earlier this week by a Pennsylvania investigative grand jury, that a former assistant coach familiar to all of them was plucking out little boys as young as 10 to f— up the a– or be on the receiving end of blow jobs.

(Note: We need to stop the daintiness and describe the alleged offenses for what they truly are in the vernacular to somehow try to capture the monstrousness. Not anal intercourse or oral sex, which sounds clinical, but butt-f—ing and blow jobs and cock-grabbing and pants-groping and other assorted acts that the 67-year-old Sandusky allegedly inflicted on eight minor victims over a 15-year-span, according to the 23-page grand jury report, and resulted in 40 counts of serial sex abuse of minors.)

I think the answer to the question of inaction is simple. It wasn’t a matter of university officials and football staffers in Happy Valley not wanting to deal with it (which they didn’t), or not following up (which they didn’t), or having better things to do like attending Friday night football pep rallies. There is no great conspiracy theory at work.

What happened, or more accurately did not happen, goes to the core of evil that major college sports programs in this country have become, equivalent to Mafia families in which the code of omerta rules and coaches and staff always close ranks around their own, even if it means letting someone who was first accused of inappropriate sexual conduct in 1998 continue to roam.

The horror of it all, both in terms of what Sandusky allegedly did and what Penn State officials did not, can be summed up by a single sound.

It is a “rhythmic, slapping” sound, according to page 6 of the grand jury report. It is heard by a 28-year-old football graduate assistant named Mike McQueary in the locker room of the Lasch Football building on the Penn State Campus at 9:30 p.m. on the Friday night of March 1, 2002.

McQueary is placing some new sneakers into his locker. At first he finds it odd that the lights and showers are on. Then he hears the sound coming from the showers. He looks inside and according to his grand jury testimony, sees the cause of the sound: a naked child of roughly 10 years old with his hands up against the wall with a naked Sandusky butt-f—ing him from behind. Sadistic yes. Sick yes. Beyond disturbing yes. Deviant yes. Immediate grounds for calling the police? Of course yes. The upshot?

Nothing. Nada. Not a goddamn thing but the passing of the buck up the food chain of bureaucratic bullshit where too many people know that something awful has happened and try to bury it.

McCreary, who witnessed the incident, witnessed it, doesn’t call the police, although he is 28. He runs to his daddy. His daddy advises him to tell Paterno. He tells Paterno. The great JoePa, who regardless of his non-credible insistence in grand jury testimony that he was never told the specific nature of the sexual act, does at the very least acknowledge that McCreary did relate to him that Sandusky was “fondling” a young boy.

Unless fondling of young boys by assistant football coaches at Penn State is commonplace and encouraged, that alone should be enough to make Paterno go to the police. Or being the father figure he supposedly is, tell McCreary that he has to go to the police and will accompany him, given that Paterno is the most popular and powerful man in Pennsylvania, with instant credibility.

But Paterno does nothing beyond fulfilling his minimal obligation. He passes the information he says he has on to athletic director Tim Curley and that’s it, the obviousness that Sandusky is doing something terrible apparently far less important than such crucial pursuits as watching game films of the last Ohio State game. And on up the food chain it goes—to senior vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz, all the way up to Spanier, the university president. But with each iteration the incident only seems to become more diluted and more muddled or, as the grand jury report unequivocally indicates, some of those aware of what happened are lying their balls off to try to minimize what they really knew. Which would also explain the action that the university ultimately took against Sandusky:

He had his keys to the locker room taken away, which he had still maintained after he stopped coaching in 1999.

Which may also explain that in the wake of such draconian punishment, Sandusky subsequently gave blow jobs to a minor roughly 13 years old more than 20 times in 2007 and 2008, according to the grand jury findings of fact.

Joe will mercifully be gone, along with President Spanier. Curley and Schultz, who have been charged with perjury on the basis of their testimony to the grand jury, should go as well. So should McCreary, who is actually the most gutless in not telling police what he witnessed. The entire Penn State coaching staff, too much under the influence of Paterno, should go.

And so, frankly, should major college football and basketball as it exists now, rotten beyond repair, as has been pointed out a thousand times. Totally disconnected from the academic experience, they are insulated kingdoms with their own rules and reigns of terror because of the money they make, trading in illegal recruiting and illegal gifts and illegal favors, and now, thanks to Penn State, alleged sexual abuse of children by a former coach who must have assumed he would always be protected. Just like a Mafia soldier.

Except that the even the Mafia has higher moral standards.less

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Maureen Dowd: Personal Foul at Penn State

www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/opinion/dowd-personal-foul-at-penn.html

Op-Ed Columnist

Personal Foul at Penn State

By MAUREEN DOWD

Published: November 8, 2011

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WASHINGTON

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Go to Columnist Page ».

Related

Penn State Said to Be Planning Paterno Exit Amid Scandal (November 9, 2011)

Paterno, the King of Pennsylvania, Until Now (November 9, 2011)

Questions on Sandusky Are Wrapped in a 2005 Mystery (November 9, 2011)

Related in Opinion

Editorial: Penn State’s Culpability (November 9, 2011)

Readers’ Comments

“This story shows exactly why so many victims of abuse are afraid to step forward and tell the truth… .”
Patricia, New York, NYRead Full Comment »

My nephew Anthony, 10, is the proud owner of Penn State shorts, underwear, socks, jerseys, sweatshirts and plastic football players.

The thrill of his young life was seeing the Nittany Lions beat Indiana at FedEx Field last year. He even bravely broke with generations of family tradition to declare that he loved Joe Paterno more than Notre Dame.

So I’ve got to wonder how the 84-year-old coach feels when he thinks about all the children who look up to him; innocent, football-crazy boys like the one he was told about in March 2002, a child then Anthony’s age who was sexually assaulted in a shower in the football building by Jerry Sandusky, Paterno’s former defensive guru, according to charges leveled by the Pennsylvania attorney general.

Paterno was told about it the day after it happened by Mike McQueary, a graduate assistant coach who testified that he went into the locker room one Friday night and heard rhythmic slapping noises. He looked into the showers and saw a naked boy about 10 years old “with his hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky,” according to the grand jury report.

It would appear to be the rare case of a pedophile caught in the act, and you’d think a graduate student would know enough to stop the rape and call the police. But McQueary, who was 28 years old at the time, was a serf in the powerfully paternal Paternoland. According to the report, he called his dad, went home and then the next day went to the coach’s house to tell him.

“I don’t even have words to talk about the betrayal that I feel,” the mother of one of Sandusky’s alleged victims told The Harrisburg Patriot-News, adding about McQueary: “He ran and called his daddy?”

Paterno, who has cast himself for 46 years as a moral compass teaching his “kids” values, testified that he did not call the police at the time either. The family man who had faced difficult moments at Brown University as a poor Italian with a Brooklyn accent must have decided that his reputation was more important than justice.

The iconic coach waited another day, according to the report, and summoned Tim Curley, the Penn State athletic director who had been a quarterback for Paterno in the ’70s.

Curley did not call the university police, who had investigated an episode in 1998 in which Sandusky admitted he was wrong to shower with an 11-year-old boy and promised not to do it again. (Two years later, according to the grand jury report, a janitor saw Sandusky performing oral sex on a boy in the showers and told his supervisor, who did not report it.)

Curley waited another week and a half to see McQueary, who told the grand jury that he repeated his sodomy story for Curley and Gary Schultz, a university vice president who oversaw campus police.

Two more weeks passed before Curley contacted McQueary to let him know that Sandusky’s keys to the locker room had been taken away and the incident had been reported to The Second Mile, the charity Sandusky started in 1977.

Prosecutors suggest that the former coach, whose memoir is ironically titled “Touched,” founded the charity as a way to ensnare boys. They have charged Sandusky, now 67, with sexually assaulting eight boys he met there.

Despite knowing of the two similar rapes, The Second Mile did not do anything to keep Sandusky away from vulnerable children until 2008.

Curley said he told Sandusky he could no longer bring children onto the Penn State campus. In other words, Jer, if you want to violate kids who live in cow town where everything revolves around the idolatry of Penn State and Paterno, kindly take them off campus. The predator was still welcome on his own, though; he was spotted at the football team’s weight room working out last week.

Curley told the university president, Graham Spanier, about the matter, and it got buried. Paterno, Curley and Schultz disingenuously claim they were left with the impression that the contact might have been mere “horsing around,” as Curley put it. That’s grotesque.

Like the Roman Catholic Church, Penn State is an arrogant institution hiding behind its mystique. And sports, as my former fellow sports columnist at The Washington Star, David Israel, says, is “an insular world that protects its own, and operates outside of societal norms as long as victories and cash continue to flow bountifully.” Penn State rakes in $70 million a year from its football program.

Paterno was still practicing for the game against Nebraska on Saturday, and supportive students were rallying at his house. This is what Israel calls “the delusion that the ability to win football games indicates anything at all about your character or intelligence other than that you can win football games.”

I can only hope that by the time Anthony’s parents work up their nerve to have what they call “the conversation” with him about his fallen idol, St. Joe and the other Penn State scoundrels will have been ignominiously cast out of what turns out to be a not-so-Happy Valley.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: November 10, 2011

An earlier version of this column used the wrong shorthand in the headline and the final paragraph for Pennsylvania State University. It is Penn State, not Penn.

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END OF REPORT: PART II