Maybe We'll Go, Maybe We Won't. PSU grad student calls PSU a "bully"

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2003 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Sunday, November 23, 2003
A Section
Dickinson governors to weigh finances ; Board does not reject move to State College
ELIZABETH GIBSON Of Our Carlisle Bureau
The Dickinson School of Law's board of governors has not ruled out a proposal to move the school to University Park. Members said it will be months before they decide whether to move the school to the main campus of parent institution Penn State University in State College or keep it in Carlisle. That decision will be based on finances as well as the opinions of people inside and outside of the law school.

The board plans to immediately begin contacting alumni, students, faculty and community members for their ideas on the best location for a facility to replace the outdated Trickett Hall, members said.

"We do confront some serious constraints in our facility. We need a new and expanded facility to serve our students," law school Dean Philip McConnaughay said yesterday at the end of a two-day board meeting in Carlisle.

The board will also search for funding. "We have a challenge ahead ... to get the [financial] support we need for the facility we need," McConnaughay said.

The Penn State Board of Trustees would have to approve any university funds spent on a law school, university President Graham Spanier said Friday. The law school merged with Penn State in 2000.

The Dickinson board will meet again in January, and a building plan will be adopted within a year, said board Chairman LeRoy S. Zimmerman. The options are: move to the Penn State main campus, expand at its Carlisle location or replace Trickett Hall with a Carlisle-area facility.

?I would personally hope that we're at that point in six months. The big problem is going to be the funding to do what we need to do,?? said board member G. Thomas Miller.

A local fund drive will be followed by a regional effort, relying on Penn State resources, to contact alumni and seek their financial support for a new law school.

"We need to energize our alumni," Zimmerman said.

This weekend was the first time the board met to talk about the proposal to move the law school. Former Gov. Tom Ridge, a board member and alumnus of the law school, attended the meeting yesterday morning. The weekend meetings were preceded by the leaking of the McConnaughay memo by an unknown board member last week.

The board discussed the leak during its weekend talks in Dickinson's Cafe Per Se, several board members said.

Board member Hubert Gilroy said after the meeting yesterday that the leak showed a lack of confidence in the board. He said the board would have carefully studied the University Park proposal regardless of an advanced public airing.

Gov. Ed Rendell, state lawmakers and local political, business and community leaders and some students have called into question the motives of Penn State officials in the proposal.

John Cosgrove, a doctoral student at Penn State, said yesterday that PSU's motives should be examined.
"Quite frankly, PSU is a bully, and they've been on an aggressive building and expansion campaign under the leadership of Graham Spanier. Older buildings are going wanting ... for repair and renovation, while PSU sinks ever more money into building new ones," he said.

In the memo, McConnaughay said that the school needs to expand. He also has concerns about the law school's "languishing reputation" that had to do, in part, with Dickinson receiving a third-tier ranking in the annual survey of colleges and graduate schools by U.S. News & World Report. The law school's enrollment has risen from 530 in 1998 to 646 this school year.

The law school has also failed to raise enough money to expand in Carlisle. A six-year campaign to raise $16 million "yielded only $9 million in cash," he wrote in his memo.

McConnaughay said he did not want to increase tuition to pay for the expansion.

Tuition has risen nearly $10,000 since 1999.

The memo stated that Penn State was prepared to pay for a $60 million facility for Dickinson at University Park as long as a design was completed within a year.

McConnaughay has dodged questions about the proposal, saying he would discuss details about a move after the board met. Yesterday, he refused to provide details on the proposal.

He said public meetings would be held seeking community input in deciding the school's future.

"We plan to be completely transparent in terms of our planning and objectives,"

 McConnaughay said. ELIZABETH GIBSON: 249-2006 or egibson@patriot-news.com INFOBOX:

THE SCHOOL *Number of students: 646 *Graduates include five governors, three U.S. senators, Homeland Defense Secretary Tom Ridge, and more than 100 state, federal and county judges *Tuition is about $60,000 for the three-year program *Employs about 50 faculty and 30 adjunct professors *Founded in 1834. Oldest law school in Pennsylvania; fifth oldest in the nation *Merged with Penn State in 2000

THE DICKINSON SCHOOL OF LAW BOARD OF GOVERNORS *LeRoy S. Zimmerman, Harrisburg, former state attorney general and chairman of the board of governors *Helen S. Balick, Wilmington, Del., retired judge *Zygmunt R. Bialkowski Jr., Scranton, lawyer, Morgolis Edelstein *Ward A. Bower, Newton Square, lawyer, Altman Weil Inc. *William R. Caroselli, Pittsburgh, lawyer, Caroselli, Beachler, McTierran & Conboy *J. Michael Eakin, Harrisburg, state Supreme Court judge * Anthony C. Falvello, Sugarloaf, lawyer, The Falvello Law Firm *Kathleen P. Galop, Madison, N.J., lawyer, Preservation Possibilities *Hubert X. Gilroy, Carlisle, lawyer, Broujos & Gilroy, P.C. *M. Fletcher Gornall, Erie, retired lawyer *Joseph M. Harenza, Reading, lawyer, Stevens & Lee, P.C. *Shaun D. Henry, lawyer, McNees Wallace & Nurick Harrisburg *Jan R. Jurden, Wilmington, Del., Delaware Superior Court judge *Lewis Katz, Cherry Hill, N.J., lawyer, Katz Ettin Levine Kurzweil & Weber, P.C. *Edwin L. Klett, Pittsburgh, lawyer, Klett, Lieber, Rooney & Schorling *Dr. Sidney D. Kline Jr., Reading, lawyer, Stevens & Lee, P.C. *Jason P. Kutulakis, Carlisle, lawyer, Abom & Kutulakis * Joan Dawley Maher, Carlisle, retired lawyer *James G. McLean, Pittsburgh, lawyer, Manion, McDonough & Lucas, P.C. *G. Thomas Miller, Harrisburg, lawyer, Miller & Miller *Leslie Anne Miller, Harrisburg, lawyer, officer of General Counsel *H. Laddie Montague Jr., Philadelphia, lawyer, Berger & Montague * Michelle Moore, Atlanta, lawyer, Jones Day *Joseph Nadel, San Francisco, lawyer, Berger, Nadel & Vannelli, P.C. *Christylee Peck, Harrisburg, lawyer, Rhoads & Sinon, LLP *Arthur L. Piccone, Wilkes-Barre, lawyer, Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn, P.C. *Sylvia H. Rambo, Harrisburg, U.S. District judge *Tom Ridge, Washington, D.C., federal Homeland Security director *Dale F. Shugart Jr., Carlisle, lawyer, Shugart Law Office *Donald C. Smaltz, Torrence, Calif., lawyer, Greenberg, Fields & Whitcomb, LLP *J. Rodman Steele Jr., West Palm Beach, Fla., lawyer, Ackerman & Senterfitt *Tracy L. Steele, Philadelphia, lawyer, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP *Donald C. Taylor, Wilmington, Del., lawyer, Cooch & Taylor *Nathan H. Waters Jr., Harrisburg, solicitor/chief legal officer, Harrisburg School District *Sandor Yelen, Wilkes-Barre, lawyer, Yelen Law Office

Politics, politics.

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2003, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Saturday, November 22, 2003
A
Governor enters law school fray
By Marc Levy The Associated Press
HARRISBURG Gov. Ed Rendell and lawmakers sounded off over a proposal to move Penn State's law school from its home of 169 years in Carlisle to the university's main campus, while the law school's chairman said that no decision is imminent.

The Dickinson School of Law's board of governors met Friday night and was scheduled to meet again today to discuss ideas of other locations to which the school could move, said the chairman, LeRoy S. Zimmerman.

"No decisions were made tonight, nor are any decisions anticipated throughout this weekend," Spanier said late Friday after the meeting, which was closed to the public. "The board agreed that we would establish a process to review all of the options concerning facilities and locations."

"We have an opportunity as the board of governors to talk about all of these issues that relate to these facilities and space and location and we're going to do that," Zimmerman said in a telephone interview.

No vote will be taken during the two days of closed meetings, he said.

"Unfortunately, there has been the erroneous impression that this decision had been made and it's a done deal," Zimmerman said. "That's not correct."

At some point, he said, the board hopes to involve the school's alumni, faculty and community in the decision. Options include moving to other sites in Carlisle, Zimmerman said.

He spoke after a Commonwealth Court hearing in which Judge Renee L. Cohn rejected a petition by The Sentinel of Carlisle and The Patriot-News of Harrisburg to open the board meeting to the public.

Since the possibility of the move came out a week ago, it has drawn much attention.

In a joint letter to Spanier, Gov. Ed Rendell and nine central Pennsylvania state lawmakers wrote that it does not appear that the university has considered the benefits, financial or otherwise, of keeping the school where it is.

"This proposal, and the threat it contains, has served as a call to arms across the community at large, and throughout the political leadership and the legal community in the area," they wrote in the letter Thursday.

With regard to the letter from Rendell, Spanier said, "I look forward to opportunities to speak with the governor," adding that he hopes that Rendell will be supportive of the process to determine the school's future.

Spanier also said that should the Dickinson board decide to relocate and require Penn State funds to do so, the university's board of trustees would need to approve the expenditure.

The Sentinel first reported last week that the law school's dean recommended that the board move the school to State College within five years, citing a need to expand and concerns about its "languishing reputation."

The newspaper cited a confidential memo written by the dean, Phil McConnaughay, in preparation for the board meeting.

One of the board members leaked the McConnaughay memo to the media.

An unhappy Zimmerman said, "The board (of governors) should be the first body to discuss this. Unfortunately, we were pre-empted on that."

Spanier has said he is prepared to raise $60 million to build a facility in State College for the school. The existing campus lacks adequate classrooms, faculty offices, library space, student areas, courtrooms, an auditorium and electrical power to support basic programs and technology, McConnaughay said.

Zimmerman indicated a move to State College would create an opportunity for enhancing academics and to integrate the law school into the university.

Carlisle Mayor Kirk Wilson, who noted that the school provides prestige and jobs to the town, said he believed that Spanier would likely take the letter into consideration since some of the university's money comes from the state.

"I would think that would suggest to the president and to anyone who is wise in the ways of the Legislature that we really don't want to make these people too mad at us because our continued existence relies on a good relationship with the General Assembly and the governor," Wilson said.

The letter, which was issued by the office of Sen. Harold F. Mowery, R-Cumberland, prompted a scathing response from Sen. Jake Corman, R-Spring Township, whose district includes Penn State's main campus. The school, Corman said, has weathered budget cuts in good faith while the state pares spending to fit lagging revenues.

"In return, it deserves the respect to make difficult decisions affecting the university without the cloud of public pressure and further reductions in appropriations from government officials," Corman wrote.

Founded in 1834, Dickinson is Pennsylvania's oldest law school and the fifth-oldest in the United States, according to the school. The law school, which has about 650 students, merged with Penn State in 2000.

No Decision is Better than a Bad Decision

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2003 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Saturday, November 22, 2003
A Section
Spanier: Law school decision not at hand
ELIZABETH GIBSON Of Our Carlisle Bureau
The future home of The Dickinson School of Law won't be decided this weekend. Penn State University President Graham Spanier made that clear after spending three hours with Dickinson's board of governors in historic Trickett Hall.

As university police stood guard, 30 members of the 37-person board met for the first of two closed-door meetings to weigh a Penn State proposal to build a $60 million facility in State College and move the law school there. Officials say the Carlisle campus is cramped and facilities are outmoded.

Spanier said the board won't vote on the proposal during the weekend meetings and it was unclear how soon a vote could take place.

He said board members asked him how discussions about a move got started. They discussed setting guidelines that would be followed in the case of further talks on moving the school out of Carlisle, he said.

Some board members have apparently made up their minds about Dickinson leaving Carlisle.

"I have a perception that a substantial number of the board members will be speaking in opposition to moving the law school out of the Carlisle area," said board member G. Thomas Miller before the meeting, adding he does not support a move.

There has also been pressure from state and local leaders to dismiss the plan.

Gov. Ed Rendell and state lawmakers on Thursday signed a letter written by Sen. Hal Mowery, R-Cumberland, that urged Spanier to keep the school in Carlisle. State Rep. Jerry Nailor, R-Mechanicsburg, who signed, said he got many positive comments.

However, Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre County, yesterday wrote Rendell saying the governor and legislators don't know what's best for the law school, and their letter derailed a fair debate over the school's future.

"The letter, in which you demand a clear statement from [Spanier] supporting the presence of the Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, stinks of a threat, veiled or otherwise to Penn State's appropriations," Corman wrote.

Nailor said Corman is looking out for his constituents. PSU is in Centre County.

Spanier said last night that Rendell will be involved in a final decision on the law school.

Those fighting to keep Dickinson in Carlisle cite negative economic, educational and cultural effects if the school leaves.

Details about the move proposal were laid out in a confidential memo that law school Dean Philip McConnaughay sent the board. The memo was leaked to the press last week. Law school administrators said details of the proposal should not have been made public until the board could consider them.

However, Mowery said the leak has given the midstate a chance to fight the idea. Otherwise, a move ?could have been made with no input,?? he said.

Miller said alumni and other lawyers associated with Dickinson have called the board to say they oppose the move. He said the board will begin candid discussion on the idea at today's meeting.

Yesterday, a judge ruled against a request by The Patriot-News to open the board's talks.

In an essay posted on the law school's Web site ( www.dsl.psu.edu/ about/mergeressay.pdf), McConnaughay addresses the advantages of housing a law school at a research university. He said the setting allows students to earn joint degrees and be exposed to experts in other fields.

He said major trends in law require graduates to have diverse experiences and understand the interaction between law and science.

ELIZABETH GIBSON: 249-2006 or egibson@patriot-news.com INFOBOX:

THE SCHOOL *Number of students: 650 *Graduates include five governors, three U.S. senators, Homeland Defense Secretary Tom Ridge, and more than 100 state, federal and county judges *Employs about 50 faculty and 30 adjunct professors *Founded in 1834. Oldest law school in Pennsylvania *Merged with Penn State in 2000

Now the Courts Get Into the Act

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2003 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Saturday, November 22, 2003
Local/State
Ruling backs law-school board's closed meetings
REGGIE SHEFFIELD Of The Patriot-News
Calling it a "difficult case," a Commonwealth Court judge ruled yesterday that the board of governors of The Dickinson School of Law may continue to meet in private, despite claims the closed-door sessions violate the state's open-meeting laws. Commonwealth Court Judge Renee L. Cohn issued her ruling yesterday after a morning filled with arguments from attorneys representing the school, the board of directors, The Patriot-News and The Carlisle Sentinel. Both newspapers have objected to the closed-door sessions.

In announcing her ruling, Cohn, a 1978 Penn State graduate, expressed discomfort with unanswered questions regarding the consequences if she ordered the meetings opened.

Cohn also declined to rule on whether the law school's board of directors qualify as a state agency under the terms of the state's Sunshine Law.

Attorneys for both papers said they would not appeal the decision.

Cohn's husband, Senate President Pro Tem Robert C. Jubelirer, R- Blair, was one of several state legislators who joined Gov. Ed Rendell this week in demanding that Penn State President Graham Spanier publicly state his support for keeping the school in Carlisle.

Earlier this month, information became public that indicated law school officials are considering a move from Carlisle to University Park.

LeRoy Zimmerman, chairman of the law school board, stressed yesterday that he wanted the meeting to remain closed to give board members some give-and-take time with Spanier.

Board members have not heard the specifics of a Penn State offer to build a $60 million campus in State College, and the board is far from making a decision, Zimmerman said.

"As the chairman of the board, I am saying that this is not a done deal," Zimmerman said yesterday.

"It hasn't even been decided that there is a vote," he added.

One board member, G. Thomas Miller, testified on behalf of the newspapers yesterday, but was stopped by Cohn before he could express his opinion on the proposed move.

Zimmerman, who was elected chairman of the board just three weeks ago, said he looks forward to later public meetings.

"I would hope that there would be meetings involving the public because they're important," said Zimmerman, a former state attorney general.

What Relocation? - November 21, 2003

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2003, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Friday, November 21, 2003

Dickinson board looks into relocation choices
By Gwenn Miller gmiller3@centredaily.com
The Dickinson School of Law's board of governors will take the first steps today and Saturday to determine whether the school will move to State College or explore other options. The board will meet to discuss the future of the school, which officials have said has inadequate facilities and no room to expand its current location.

News of Dickinson's possible move from Carlisle to State College surfaced last week after a confidential memorandum from law school Dean Philip McConnaughay was leaked to The Sentinel of Carlisle. The memo outlined suggestions to address the concerns about the school's facilities, one being the possibility of moving the school to Penn State's University Park campus.

A statement released Tuesday by Dickinson said newly elected board of governors Chairman LeRoy S. Zimmerman has sent a notice to board members urging them to attend the meeting concerning the law school's facilities need and location.

"Chairman Zimmerman recommended to the board that no vote be taken at the meeting," the statement reads.

The meeting will be closed to the media and the public. The Sentinel is seeking a court order to open the meeting. A hearing was scheduled for Friday morning on the request, according to Niles Benn, the newspaper's attorney.

If the newspaper's request cannot be granted immediately, it is alternatively seeking an injunction that would prevent the meeting from taking place until a ruling is made, Benn said.

According to the statement, the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act does not apply to meetings of the law school's board of governors. The release stated that the meeting will be closed in order to "facilitate uninhibited discussion amongst board members."

Penn State President Graham Spanier and Provost and Vice President Rodney Erickson will attend the meeting, according to a university press release. Spanier said in the release that Friday's meeting is intended to be the first step in the discussion about future of law school, which merged with Penn State in 2000.

"A different location for the law school was never contemplated when we merged," Spanier said.

Spanier said university officials have not had any discussions with any members of the board of governors since McConnaughay's memo was prepared. It would be premature to debate the issue of moving the school, Spanier said.

Any decision about the law school's future will be determined by the board of governors and then ratified by Penn State's board of trustees.

PA Governor Gets Into the Act.

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2003 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Friday, November 21, 2003
A Section
Rendell tries to save law school ; Lawmakers join in pushing Spanier to back Carlisle site
ELIZABETH GIBSON Of The Patriot-News
The board of The Dickinson School of Law held preliminary discussions last month about expanding the school in Carlisle. But Gov. Ed Rendell says insufficient consideration has been given to the potential for that expansion.I'm feeling very good about it. I don't think [the move is] going to happen.State Rep. Jerry Nailor, R-Mechanicsburg Gov. Ed Rendell and state lawmakers said yesterday that talk of moving The Dickinson School of Law has injured the school's reputation and threatens to damage Pennsylvania State University's name.

In a letter signed by Rendell, they demanded that Penn State President Graham Spanier publicly state his support for keeping the law school in Carlisle instead of building a new home in University Park for a proposed $60 million.

"Of the many substantial and legitimate concerns that have surfaced over the past week, the biggest concern is that it does not appear sufficient consideration has been given to the potential for improving and expanding the current site or to the cost effectiveness of doing so," the letter stated.

Also signing the letter were: state Sens. Hal Mowery, R- Cumberland; Senate President Pro Tem Robert C. Jubelirer, R-Blair; Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin; Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Thompson, R-Chester; and state Reps. William Gabig, R- Carlisle, Jerry Nailor, R-Mechanicsburg, Bruce Smith, R-Dillsburg, Patricia Vance, R-Silver Spring Twp., and Jeffrey Coy, D-Shippensburg.

Mowery, Vance and Nailor met with Spanier and two other university administrators Saturday about the proposed move, Nailor said last night.

"I'm feeling very good about it. I don't think [the move is] going to happen," he said.

Spanier said last night that he hadn't seen the letter and wouldn't respond to Rendell's charges until he had a chance to talk with the governor and meet with the law school's board of governors tonight. The board is to meet again tomorrow on the proposal.

"As a Republican, I have to say I actually agree with Governor Rendell," said Robert Michaels, a second-year law student who is president of the student Republican Council.

"There's a lot of people around here absolutely sickened about this," he said.

Carlisle Mayor Kirk Wilson said signatures from lawmakers who have a say in Penn State funding could sway Spanier.

"The president by now is smart enough to understand that to ignore their request places future funding for the university in question," Wilson said.

LeRoy Zimmerman, chairman of the law school board, said meetings today and tomorrow on the proposed move would be closed, but a Commonwealth Court hearing today may open the proceedings to the public. The Patriot-News and The Sentinel of Carlisle requested the hearing, saying a closed meeting would violate the state's open- records law.

Law school Dean Philip McConnaughay said yesterday that he had seen Rendell's letter, but he refused to elaborate on the proposal to move the school.

"I am committed ... to keeping this law school as great as it has always been and helping it to be as great as it can be, whether here in Carlisle or in another location," he said.

He cited a recent leap in Dickinson's admissions and its success at adding diversity to its staff and student body as signs that the school is "experiencing a renewal in stature."

The law school board held preliminary discussions last month about expanding the school in Carlisle. But Rendell stated in his letter that insufficient consideration has been given to the potential for a local expansion.

"I don't see how [moving] could be our last option. I'm glad that the governor feels the same way," Michaels said.

"I am confident that after we have an opportunity to sit down with the administration of the law school that we can find a way to not just keep the law school in Carlisle but to meet the objectives for improvement of the facility," Borough Council President Steve Fishman said. "I firmly believe we can keep them there and achieve that objective if we work together."

 Staff writer Dan Miller contributed to this report.

Penn State President to lie some more to the DSL board

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2003, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, November 20, 2003
SPANIER TO MEET WITH LAW SCHOOL BOARD
Penn State President Graham Spanier and Executive Vice President and Provost Rodney Erickson plan to meet with the Board of Governors of the Dickinson School of Law to discuss the future of the institution. If the law school's Board of Governors decides that the institution should be relocated to the University Park campus, it would be costly.

To make the move, Penn State would need to construct a new building for the school, which could cost as much as $60 million.

The move wouldn't be uncommon among all law schools that are ranked high nationally.

Any decision to move the law school rests with the law school's Board of Governors. The board has not yet discussed the matter. If they approved the move, Penn State's Board of Trustees would also have to approve it.

WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARDMEMBER TO VISIT PSU Fred Dedrick, executive director of the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board, will visit the University today as part of Pennsylvania Health Careers Awareness Week.

The statewide event is aimed at encouraging Pennsylvanians, especially men and women 18 to 35, to consider a career in health care.

Dedrick is visiting to meet with faculty and staff to learn about the University's health-related research, outreach, workforce education and development policy research and health education programs, including continuing education.

Current and prospective students and community members are invited to attend the open house, which will be held from noon to 6 p.m. in the Living Center, 110 Henderson Building.

Struggle to Control the Law School Board Begins

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2003 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Thursday, November 20, 2003
A Section
Law school governors to meet on PSU offer ; Decision about move is up to them, Spanier says
ELIZABETH GIBSON Of The Patriot-News
The president of Pennsylvania State University is prepared to raise $60 million to build a facility for The Dickinson School of Law in State College. The law school's board of governors is poised to consider the proposal at this weekend's closed-door meeting in Carlisle.

Penn State President Graham Spanier said yesterday that he has discussed the possibility with law school Dean Philip McConnaughay and university Provost Rodney A. Erickson. School officials said the Carlisle campus is saddled with overcrowded, outmoded facilities.

Spanier, who plans to attend the meetings scheduled for tomorrow and Saturday, said the decision to move the school from Carlisle rests entirely with the board. He said Penn State officials have had no further discussions about the issue.

"It would be premature to debate the pros and cons," Spanier said.

Law school board Chairman LeRoy S. Zimmerman, a former state attorney general, said discussion of what has been a wrenching proposal for the local community will take place behind closed doors.

"I think that's wise policy in order to facilitate discussion among board members," said board member Hubert X. Gilroy.

Gilroy declined to speculate on how many members of the 37- person board would endorse a move. Many live in the Carlisle area, where the proposal is drawing vocal opposition from community and business leaders as well as law students and alumni.

Yesterday, the president of Dickinson College -- which is not affiliated with the law school -- and leaders of community and business organizations informed the board that they want to be consulted before the law school's fate is decided.

"We are confident that an acceptable strategy to keep The Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle can be developed that will creatively and adequately accommodate the school's future physical ... needs," they stated in a letter.

William Bellinger, a Dickinson College economics professor, estimated the community would lose 227 jobs and about $20 million in net community spending if the law school left.

Of the board members contacted this week by The Patriot-News, only G. Thomas Miller was willing to say how he is likely to vote. Miller, for whom the law school's public advocacy center is named, said he is opposed to moving the school.

"If we can find some way to solve the expansion of facilities, that must happen. I'd like to see that it stays in Carlisle," Miller said. "I plan to do everything I can to see that that happens."

Carlisle attorney Jason P. Kutulakis said he is keeping an open mind going into the meetings.

"I'm anxious to hear the actual facts of what's really going on and to gather as much information as possible about whether it's feasible to keep it in Carlisle or not," Kutulakis said yesterday.

Harrisburg attorney Christylee Peck said she is "taking it very seriously and looking forward to the meeting this weekend so we can come to a resolution."

The 1997 merger of the law school with Penn State drew vehement opposition at the time from many who feared that one of the nation's oldest independent law schools would be swallowed by the Nittany giant.
"A different location for the law school was never contemplated when we merged," Spanier said.

He said Penn State asked McConnaughay this summer to investigate options for expanding the Carlisle law school to address crowded classes and outdated facilities.

Last month, a consultant presented to the law school board four sketches for an expanded school off South College Street. But a few weeks later, after Spanier told McConnaughay the university could build a law school at University Park, the dean drafted a proposal for the board.

Zimmerman has urged the board not to make a hasty decision on whether to move the school to State College.

"We must look at all the options for the future," he said.

It Always Comes Down to Money

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2003 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Local/State
Officials question proposed law school move ; Rendell doubts state will grant money for new building
ELIZABETH GIBSON Of Our Carlisle Bureau
Gov. Ed Rendell said a proposal to move The Dickinson School of Law to State College has him stumped. Speaking at a press conference yesterday at the Capitol, Rendell said it was unlikely the state would put up any money for a new building or for moving Dickinson.

And he wondered why a university with a medical school in Hershey would object to having a law school in Carlisle.

Rendell is not alone.

Few insiders were privy to discussions that led the law school dean to urge the board of governors to consider a Penn State University offer to build a $60 million facility for Dickinson in State College.

Penn State trustees first learned of the proposal at their meeting last week, said Robert M. Frey, trustee emeritus.

?They were as much in the dark as anybody,?? he said.

Penn State officials said only that the university, which merged with Dickinson in 1997, has room for the school in State College. Law school Dean Philip McConnaughay declined to elaborate on the proposal.

The law school board expects to consider it during Friday and Saturday meetings in Carlisle.

The Legislature holds strategic levers in a fight to keep Dickinson in Carlisle.

They range from the $306 million annual appropriation to Penn State's operating budget to allocations for new construction.

Area lawmakers said they would focus on finding a way to permit the school to upgrade existing facilities.

That's what law school board members said they talked about at their October meeting.

Frey, who is also an emeritus member of the law school board, said a consultant provided four concepts for redeveloping the existing school site.

All the plans would be hampered by adjacent development.

Frey said the consultant had not been asked to draw up plans for other potential Carlisle sites, including the soon-to-be vacant hospital, three blocks from the law school.

Frey said the board was not asked to discuss an offer made by Dickinson College President Bill Durden to accommodate crowded law classes at the college, which is next to but not affiliated with the law school.

Instead, the board has been asked to weigh abandoning Carlisle -- the law school's home for nearly 170 years. No move would take place without the board's approval.

?I'm inclined to think that, at [Dickinson's] end, it's mostly, if not entirely, the dean's notion. To what extent people at Penn State ... are urging it or encouraging it, I don't know,?? Frey said.

Law school supporters and alumni are urging the board to kill the proposal.

?The alumni have been strongly opposed,?? said Stephen Hogg, president of the Cumberland Valley chapter of the alumni association.

Alumnus Ron Turo yesterday went so far as to ask board members to dissolve the Dickinson/Penn State union.

Hogg said alumni have received no details and won't learn of the school's fate until after the board meets.

?A lot of alumni object to that and want more information and want more input,?? he said.

Frey said the thrust of McConnaughay's recommendation is that, in order to thrive, the law school must move to State College.

?That, I have trouble believing,?? he said. ?My guess is the board isn't going to be very docile.??

Carlisle is a Feisty Wench

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2003, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, November 16, 2003
A
Carlisle pledges fight for law school
By Lara Brenckle lbrenckl@centredaily.com
CARLISLE Residents, law students and government officials are vowing to do all they can to keep Penn State's Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle after news of a proposal to move the 169-year-old school to State College was made public.

A confidential memo, in which the dean of the law school, Philip McConnaughay, recommended moving the school to Penn State's main campus within five years, was leaked to the media Wednesday.

In the memo, McConnaughay cited a lack of space for expansion in Carlisle and concerns about the law school's "languishing reputation." In a recent edition of U.S. News & World Report, Dickinson was ranked as a third-tier law school.

The final decision of whether to move rests with the law school's board of governors.

The magnitude of that decision is still settling in with those in the borough who have come to depend on stu-

dent dollars for their livelihood.

"It's very disappointing," said Fred Bean, Carlisle's borough manager. "We were crushed to hear this news."

Bean said the school is a vibrant thread in the fabric of Carlisle, a borough of about 20,000 people. He said he and other government officials plan to fight to keep the law school in town.

"This came as total surprise to us, but I seriously doubt we will be sitting idly by on this one," Bean said. "It's like losing a major industry, but it's so much more. There are jobs, a cultural history, alumni that come back to visit."

Penn State President Graham Spanier said a decision is not imminent. Published reports said the law school could relocate to University Park by the fall of 2008 if the proposal is approved. The law school's board of governors will meet Friday and Saturday and is slated to discuss the possible move.

G. Thomas Miller, a Harrisburg attorney who sits on the law school's board, said he opposes such a move. He said he was surprised when he received the memo because previous board discussions had centered on what to do with existing facilities.

"I never thought anything like this would happen," Miller said. "The discussion for the past six months was how to expand at the present locations and what designs could work."

Bean said the borough is economically stable and education is a strong component of that stability.

"We're a community of about five square miles, and we have Dickinson College, Dickinson Law and the Army War College," he said.

Dickinson School of Law has 646 students and an annual budget of more than $17 million. It is not affiliated with neighboring Dickinson College, a liberal arts school with about 2,200 students.

The once-independent law school, which bills itself as the oldest law school in Pennsylvania and the fifth oldest in the nation, completed its merger with Penn State in 2000.

Linda McGuire, executive director for the Downtown Carlisle Association, called the news of a possible move "a huge blow" and said she hopes the law school and Penn State can work out a way to keep the school in the borough.

"Downtown began going through a renaissance since 1999," she said. "It's going to hurt. There's the economic impact from students and professors (taking dollars elsewhere), but it won't derail the movement by any means. We have a great downtown; we want to make it fabulous. They need to stick around to be a part of it."

According to the memo by McConnaughay, the law school has had difficulty raising enough money to finance an expansion at the Carlisle campus. A six-year campaign to raise $16 million yielded only $9 million.

In the memo, according to reports, McConnaughay said Penn State is prepared to pick up the cost of a more than $60 million facility on Penn State's main campus if a design is completed within a year.

Chris Petsinis, owner of the North Hanover Grille in Carlisle's historic district, said the borough's economy would suffer, though not fatally, if the law school were to leave.

He wondered if moving is really the answer.

"When you look at $60 million, that's nice new desks, bigger hallways, a state-of-the-art facility, and that's nice. But you're also pulling people out of a job market (opportunities in Harrisburg and Washington), taking them away from possibly boosting their (rankings)," he said. "It doesn't make any sense to build a new school when they can't raise their rankings. There are a lot of problems going on there that have nothing to do with elbow room."

Students at the law school appeared no more happy with the idea of relocating to State College than did Carlisle officials.

First-year student Jessica Bowman said the campus is perfectly settled and allows students to gain job experience at local law offices, as well as in Harrisburg and Washington.

"All the qualities that made the school stand out for students here and in the future will go by the wayside (if it moves). Faculty will be stretched out," said Bowman, who commutes 30 minutes to class every day from East Berlin.

"The part I don't like is the sneakiness that's taking place to try to push it through," she said. "If it moves, I won't donate a penny."

Bowman may have a point. The bar associations located in Dauphin and Cumberland counties claim a total of more than 1,700 members. The Centre County Bar Association has about 180 members, according to its Web site.

Bowman's concern was shared by fellow first-year student Tim Wachter, of Erie.

"I'm ticked off by the news," he said. "Why would someone apply if they know they will have to pick up and move? Why would someone hire a student who boasts about their externship when our chief spokesman is bashing the program?"

Second-year student Brad Meyer, from Cleveland, said being in Carlisle is better.

"It has less distractions," he said. "It's a good move overall, but it presents problems for students being on a college campus instead of being secluded in Carlisle."

However, Zach Bloom, a second-year student from Haverford, said the move is probably "inevitable."

"Dickinson has to move to grow," he said. "Penn State merged with them to get a law school, and you can't be a top-tier law school in Carlisle."

Like the Decision Wasn't Already Made.

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2003, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, November 16, 2003
A
Dean says board is exploring options
From CDT staff reports
CARLISLE The dean of the Dickinson School of Law released a statement Saturday reiterating his position on the possibility of moving the school to State College and scolding the person who leaked a confidential memo to the press.

Philip McConnaughay said Penn State President Graham Spanier's remarks at Friday's board of trustees meeting were among the few accurate accounts he has heard lately.

"(Spanier's) Nov. 14 statement that no formal offer has been extended by the university to move the Dickinson School of Law to State College is the first completely accurate statement about the matter that I've seen in recent media reports," McConnaughay wrote.

Reports saying that the law school might be moved from Carlisle to State College were widely published Thursday. The reports were based on a confidential memo McConnaughay wrote to the school's board of governors outlining options that would help the law school deal with its space constraints and inadequate facilities.

Spanier said Friday that the decision to move the law school was not imminent, contrary to the tone of several media reports.

The decision to move the law school ultimately rests with its board of governors, which is meeting Friday and Saturday.

"The truth is, I and other law school officials have spent the past year working diligently to create a suitable site for law school expansion right where we are today," McConnaughay said. "The (Carlisle borough) has cooperated with zoning changes, and local property owners and Dickinson College have cooperated with discussions about the law school's acquisition of property we currently do not own."

McConnaughay said his confidential memo to the board was intended to "commence their confidential consideration" of how the school might raise money for the expansion, and the best interests of the present and future students.

One option the board must consider, McConnaughay said, is the possibility of an alternative location, including Penn State's main campus.

McConnaughay also expressed displeasure in the fact that the memo was leaked in the first place.

"The member or members of the board of governors who breached his or her fiduciary duty and leaked my confidential memorandum have done a tremendous disservice to the rest of the board, to the law school and its various constituencies, and to the good people of Carlisle, who are neighbors we value," McConnaughay said.

Fight Back Before It's Too Late!

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2003 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Sunday, November 16, 2003
Editorial
SCHOOL RAID ; Dickinson Law's governors should put a stop to relocation attempt
Of the Patriot-News
For nearly 170 years, the Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle has done quite nicely, turning out some of Pennsylvania's most respected lawyers and public figures. In 1997, when Dickinson Law merged with Penn State, university President Graham Spanier called ?it one of the finest law schools in the nation.?? Its students consistently ranked first or second among the state's seven law schools in passing the state bar examination.

But today we are told that the law school's facilities are ?inadequate,?? that it ranks in the ?third tier,?? that it can't raise enough funds to become first-rate, and that it needs to be moved to University Park to join 40,000 or so other students on the main PSU campus.

So what's happened over the last five years?

Well, for one thing, the cost of tuition at Dickinson Law has risen nearly $10,000, from $14,500 to $24,300 a year. The number of students is up from 530 to 646, suggesting that however inadequate it may be, Dickinson still attracts qualified applicants.

Law school Dean Philip McConnaughay, who appears to be pushing the move, complains that a six-year campaign to raise $16 million for an expansion netted ?only $9 million.??

But Penn State, which seems not to have provided a dime to its new law school, described at the time by Spanier as PSU's ?missing link,?? is prepared to spend $60 million to build a new law school complex in Centre County.

The most wounding comment of all -- made in a 28-page memo from McConnaughay to the university's board of governors that was leaked to a reporter last week -- concerned the law school's ?languishing reputation.?? It prompted one unidentified law firm to tell him that they wouldn't ?hire any longer from our law school because of our low rank,?? the dean wrote.

Could that ?languishing reputation?? have anything to do with Dickinson Law's association with Penn State, which appears to have done little more over the last five years for the law school than attach its name and raise tuition? After letting it founder, Penn State now claims the law school has to be moved to University Park to right it.

Such a relocation of this 169-year-old institution would amount to the theft of a significant regional asset, which should be resisted by all available means.

This move makes little sense other than as a blatant attempt to enhance Penn State's main campus at everyone else's expense. It would be bad for Carlisle, with which the school has had a long and mutually beneficial relationship. It would be bad for law students, who would be deprived of the wealth of opportunities for internships and clerkships in the Capitol Region.

And it would be bad for Penn State, which would lose its law school presence near the capital just as the state's courts are about to be centralized at a new Judicial Center in the Capitol Complex.

This power move is a good way for the university to turn midstate friends into opponents.

There's an element of the Hershey Trust fiasco in this ill- advised plan to abandon Carlisle that merits skepticism, if not outright derision. Does the problem lie with the law school or those running it?

The school's governors should put an end to this raid on a midstate institution and concentrate on making it better -- where it has been since 1834 and where it should remain.

We Didn't Mean for Our True Motives to Be Seen Already, Penn State Prez Says

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2003, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Saturday, November 15, 2003

News of law school move premature
By Gwenn Miller gmiller3@centredaily.com
UNIVERSITY PARK Penn State President Graham Spanier said the news that the Dickinson School of Law could move to State College from Carlisle was "inappropriately" shared with the news media and that such a decision is not imminent.

Despite reports that a decision could be made as soon as next week, Spanier said no such action will be taken until several options have been explored.

Spanier addressed the potential move at Penn State's board of trustees meeting Friday, a day after it was widely reported that Dickinson's dean, Philip McCon-naughay, was recommending the relocation of the law school.

The Sentinel of Carlisle cited a confidential memo McConnaughay wrote to members of the school's board of governors in preparation for its meeting next Friday and Saturday.

The decision to leave Carlisle will ultimately rest with the board of governors.

"We're really at the beginning of a discussion," said Spanier, who plans to attend next week's meeting.

Harrisburg attorney G. Thomas Miller, who sits on Dickinson's board of governors, said he would "absolutely not" vote to move the school. He said Dickinson had a long, successful tradition in Carlisle. Furthermore, he said, the area provides necessary practical opportunities.

Miller said there were many law firms in the Carlisle and Harrisburg areas as well as government internship opportunities.

"I think those opportunities would not be so widely available in the Centre County area," Miller said.

Spanier dismissed the idea that the area could not provide necessary practical experience.

"Centre County is one of the growth areas in Pennsylvania," Spanier said. "The university itself provides so many areas for internships."

Trustee and first-year Dickinson Law School student Nicole Lobaugh said McConnaughay has worked hard on the report and it was a shame it was brought to public attention before it could be discussed.

Friday's meeting included a presentation on growth in enrollment at Penn State and the university's ability to maintain a plan of controlled and modest growth. Spanier said the possibility of eventually having Dickinson's students at University Park would not represent a major issue at a university the size of Penn State.

"It's 500 and some students," he said. "It's less than 1 percent of the university's overall enrollment."