friday, february 13, 2004
news
the university daily kansan
7A
Walt Disney CEO under fire after buyout bid
The Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. — Disney chief executive Michael Eisner wasn't acting like a man whose job was in jeopardy yesterday, either because of an unwelcome offer for the company from Comcast Corp. or from his own board trying to appease unhappy investors.
Eisner, speaking after two days of upbeat presentations to analysts at Walt Disney World, was asked about possible acquisitions. "We're buying Comcast," he quipped.
Comcast, the nation's largest cable provider, launched a surprise bid for The Walt Disney Co. on Wednesday, saying it could manage Disney's diverse entertainment assets better than the current management.
Eisner praised the quality of his managers on Thursday, and said he does not think it's necessary for Disney to partner with another company to gain better distribution for its films, television shows and other products.
"There are great distribution companies," Elsner said. "There
are great content companies. They can be together (but) they don't have to be together. We feel we're running a pretty good company as it is."
His optimistic attitude comes despite speculation from analysts that after two decades of running Disney, Eisner could lose his job just as he is responding to critics of his combative style and delivering better results to investors.
Eisner has survived numerous calls for his ouster over the years. But the unsolicited offer from Comcast — $54 billion
when announced Wednesday
follows an aggressive campaign against him by two former board members and the collapse of a deal with former ally Pixar.
Disney's board needs to decide if the company is better off without him, analysts said.
Eisner was hired at a time when
"It's the $64,000 question," David Miller, an analyst at Sanders Morris Harris said Thursday about whether Eisner would survive. "I'm better off gambling my money away at the Bellagio."
Disney faced its last takeover attempt—from corporate raiders who wanted to break up the thanty theme park and movie company.
Disney's board fired Walt Disney's son-in-law Ron Miller and, at the urging of Walt's nephew Roy E. Disney, hired Eisner and former Warner Bros. executive Frank Wells.
Today, Roy Disney and former board member Stanley Gold are campaigning for Eisner's ouster, dissatisfied with the company's financial performance since 1998.
WASHINGTON — Barry Bonds' personal trainer and a coach for some of the world's top track stars were among four people charged yesterday with running a steroid-distribution ring that provided performance-enhancing drugs to dozens of athletes.
Trainer charged with distribution of steroids
The Associated Press
A 42-count indictment returned by a grand jury in San Francisco described in detail how a nutritional supplements lab — Bay Area Lab Cooperative or BALCO—allegedly provided the drugs from December 2001 to September 2003 to major league baseball and NFL players, Olympics-caliber track stars and bodybuilders.
No sports figures were named
"Steroids are bad for sports, they're bad for players, they're bad for young people who hold athletes up as role models."
Terry Madden
chief executive office of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency
but Attorney General John Ashcroft left open the possibility some could be charged later.
The indictment names Bond's trainer, 37-year-old Greg F. Anderson, and Remi Korchemen, 71, a top track coach whose roster includes Kelli White, a spinner who faces forfeiture of world championship gold medals after
testing positive for a banned stimulant.
"I am saddened by the news of the indictment against my trainer and friend," Bonds said in a statement. "I don't know the state of the evidence and it would be inappropriate to comment on this matter."
Also named are Victor Conte Jr., 53, and president and chief executive officer of BALCO, and its vice president, 49-year-old James I. Valente.
Ashcroft said the public's confidence in athletes and their sports has been undermined by questions about how some players attained their greatness.
"Ilegal steroid use calls into question not only the integrity of the athletes who use them, but also the integrity of the sports that
those athletes play," he said. "Steroids are bad for sports, they're bad for players, they're bad for young people who hold athletes up as role models."
Terry Madden, chief executive office of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which provides testing for American Olympic athletes, hailed the case as a step toward "removing drug cheats from sport."
"We fully expect that developments in the U.S. attorney's proceedings and our ongoing investigation will lead to the initiation of more doping cases against athletes and others," he said.
Major League Baseball officials declined to comment. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league has a year-round random testing program for players and
imposes immediate suspensions on those who test positive for banned substances.
Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL players union, said he hoped the indictment sends a message to athletes.
"It's illegal and you can get in trouble for it and they can't avoid seeing that." he said.
A parade of top athletes, ranging from Bonds to Olympic track star Marion Jones to boxer Shane Mosley, appeared before the grand jury probing BALCO and Anderson from late October to mid-December.
Sports leagues have struggled to keep up with the rising use of performance-enhancing drugs and ways of masking them as athletes continue to look for quick ways to gain competitive advantage.
President unveils ad at front-runner Kerry
The Associated Press
The spot, titled Unprincipled, has the flavor of a political campaign ad but is customized for the Internet users who were receiving it last night. An advance copy was provided to The Associated Press.
WASHINGTON — In a new video message being sent to millions of people, President Bush's re-election campaign casts U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) as a tool of the special interests he regularly denounces.
The one-minute spot depicts a woman surfing the Web. She finds a clip of Kerry, the Democratic front-runner, railing against "the influence-peddlers and the special interests. We're coming, you're going!" Kerry declares.
The woman narrates the piece as she digs further into the Internet and finds news and watchdog reports on Kerry's campaign fund raising.
An analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics in Washington found that Kerry accepted the most campaign money from lobbyists over the past 15 years of anyone in the Senate — about $638,000.
"Whew!" the woman says.
"For what?"
"Kerry—brought to you by the special interests."
The video spot was to be sent out late yesterday to about 6 million Bush supporters.
It makes clear that Bush's reelection campaign thinks Democrats have all but settled on Kerry as their nominee, and previews a line of attack Bush's campaign will use to exploit what it thinks is a vulnerability.
It also is an inexpensive way to hit back at Kerry, who has aired at least a dozen ads attacking Bush or his policies over the past six months.
"This White House has never met a special interest it didn't like. In fact, George Bush took more money from lobbyists in 2003 than John Kerry has in his entire career, and has managed to reward them handsomely for it too — at the expense of the environment, our economy and the middle class."
Kerry's spokeswoman, Stephanie Cutter, responded: "If the Bush White House wants to raise special interests as an issue, then bring it on."
Bush had about $100 million in the bank at the end of 2003. He and his surrogates have been steadily collecting it all year.
The Bush-Cheney re-election team will begin airing TV ads in battleground states in coming weeks, as soon as the Democrats settle firmly on their nominee, campaign officials say.
CONTINUED FROM 1A
LEGISLATURE: Restaurant association opposes bill
McDonald's — pay employees the federal minimum. Employers making less than that can pay employees the state minimum if it is less than the federal minimum of $5.15 per hour.
Kansas is one of four states that fall into that category.
There are about 24,000 people in Kansas earning less than the federal minimum wage, mainly in rural areas, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That doesn't mean those employees are being paid the bare minimum Kansas allows, said Beth Martino, Director of Communications for Kansas Human Resources. Martino didn't know of any Kansas business that pays $2.65 per hour without allowing for tips.
For employees who work near or at the federal minimum wage, their wages would automatically jump to the proposed $7.50
should the bill pass.
Employees who receive tips follow different standards. Employers are required to pay tipped workers $2.13 per hour, so long as the wage and tips equal the federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour.
The increase in the state minimum would force employers to increase tipped employees' salaries to compensate.
If that happens, the restaurant industry as a whole would suffer, said Mike Casey, vice-president of marketing for the Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality Association.
The bill, titled HB 2526, would require restaurants to pay more than the minimum wage, something that is unfair to both employers and employees that started at the federal minimum and have earned raises over time, according to the association's statement presented to the legislature.
Ron Hein, the association's legallobyst, presented the statement on Feb. 4, and has been fighting the bill in the Legislature since.
Its opposition might be working. Pressure from the association's lobbyists may keep the state minimum wage at $2.65 per hour, said Rep. Paul Davis (D-Lawrence).
Davis said many legislators are understanding of the association's arguments.
The bill, introduced in the House of Representatives, now sits before the Commerce and Labor Commission for review.
No hearing has been set for the bill, but if it comes to a vote, it might not stand a chance, Davis said.
"The prospects of passage are probably pretty slim, and that's really too bad," Davis said. "We have the lowest state minimum wage in the country. Something has to be done."
— Edited by Nikki Nugent
ADVISING: Coalition trying to improve advising
CONTINUED FROM 1A
"The Senate program is open to almost any class and it can be a one-shot deal, like if you're cramming for a test." Roessler said.
said the list was still two-thirds as long as it was in its prime.
Keval Shah is a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences senator who has been in the tutoring program for a year and a half. He said he averaged about three or four hours of tutoring per week, but more during exams.
The program faltered last year when Roessler left the Academic Committee, which oversees it. This year, Senate Office secretary, Diana Rhodes, took it upon herself to revive it, enlisting new tutors at every opportunity. She
Internet and thought it would fit her better than the Student Development Center.
"A lot of those are groups and I wanted one-on-one help," Turner said.
On Tuesday, Shah was tutoring Lisa Turner, a freshman from Madison. Turner said she found out about the program on the
Shah tutors for a negotiable fee, but he said that wasn't his main motivation.
"It's a way to help out students." Shah said.
Edited by Henry C. Jackson
www.pipelineproductions.com
COMING SOON AT
BOTTLENECK
BOTTLENECK
727 NEW HAMPSHIRE / LAWRENCE, KS
PER. 10 Decahedron (formerly Black Sea)
Alaska (am)
Cumberland
PRES. 18 MASON JENNINGS
SOMEHOW HOLLOW
21 BIG SMITH
TUESDAY 24 SPEedealer (All Ages)
FEB. 19 19 Formerly GRADE (All Age)
FEB. 17 - BLUE VOIDER; ANTIRTH DUO JOU
MAR. 25 - MASON JENNINGS
TUE FEB 18 10:00 AM SOMEHOW HOLLOW
FARMERY GRADE (5pm)
SOMEHOW HOLLOW
COMING SOON AT
BEAUMONT CLUB
4050 PENNSYLVANIA / KCMO
TUES... BIG HEAD TODD
FEB. 17, and the MONTSERS
THURS.. MAR. 11 EDWIN McCAIN
SAT.. LUCINDA WILLIAMS
MAR. 13
COMING SOON AT
GRANADA
2020 MASSACHUSETTS / LAWRENCE, KB
SUNDAY
FEBRUARY 15
GALACTIC
FRIDAY, MARCH 5
PHUNK JUNKEEZ
COMING SOON AT LIBERTY HALL
844 MASSACHUSETTS 19 LAWRENCE, KS
MONDAY FEBRUARY 23
RUFUS WAINRIGHT
EVERY THURSDAY: NEON
/75E  DRAWS / $1 SHOTS
EVERY SUNDAY:
SMACKDOWN LIVE ACTION TRIVIA
& BRODIOKIE
$1.50 DRAWS / $2.25 WELLS
FOR A COMPLETE LISTING OF BOTTLEENEK SHOWS VISIT:
WWW.BREELINKPRODUCTIONS.COM
Can't get into the classes you need this semester?
Then
take classes through EduKan!