UMDNJ 
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Tue Jun 06, 2006 at 12:57:03 PM EDT
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A lot of folks on the right side of the aisle -- and on the 101.5 side of the dial -- seem to think that Governor Jon Corzine is more of the same. Nothing will change, they say. The corruption, the scandals, all of it will just go on and Corzine will let it.
I say to that, hooey:
Warren Wallace -- fired last week from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey over serious ethics abuses -- should immediately resign his public offices, both elected and appointed, Gov. Jon Corzine declared yesterday.
"I think it's time for Mr. Wallace to step aside from public life," said Corzine. "I would think he should step aside and I will recommend that he do that."
Now, Walace is not just an administrator but also a pretty powerful Democratic Freeholder in South Jersey who can rattle a few Assembly and Senate cages. If he wants to make life tough for the Governor, he can.
And right now Corzine needs all the friends he can get in the legislature to pass the budget. There's only 24 or so days left to pass the thing and losing a couple votes for pissing on a legislator's friend is not usually considered a good move.
That said, the Governor stood up for what was right and not what helped him. He saw a powerful member of his own party exposed as corrupt, and he called it like he saw it.
It looks like Jon Corzine may be the real deal, coming in to make some changes. Time will tell, but the early returns are looking good.
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Mon Jun 05, 2006 at 08:33:03 AM EDT
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I know it's going to be hard for you to believe this:
A high-ranking dean recently fired from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey abused his position to help himself, friends and family in a series of schemes ranging from fraudulent expense vouchers to wielding his influence to get a daughter into medical school, according to a federal report to be released today.
The abuses by Warren Wallace -- senior associate dean for academic and student affairs for UMDNJ's School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford -- were described by the federal monitor now overseeing UMDNJ as "unethical at a minimum," according to sources briefed on the conclusions but not authorized to speak publicly.
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Fri May 19, 2006 at 10:01:08 AM EDT
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Fish rots from the head down, as the old saying goes, so I guess it's no surprise that the loot'n'plunder mentality afflicting the administration of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey appears to have worked its way down to some of the students, at least 20 of whom have been caught up in a cheating scandal.
And, in further edifying news, it turns out officials from the UMDNJ School of Osteopathic Medicine were brought before a federal grand jury to answer questions about why documents tied to an ongoing criminal probe may have been destroyed at UMDNJ's campus in Camden.
There is still good scientific research and instructino going on at UMDNJ. The pity is that so much of it may end up tarnished and diminished by what these sleaze weasels are doing to the institution.
Cross-posted at The Opinion Mill.
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Wed Apr 26, 2006 at 11:26:30 AM EDT
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News Round-up for Wednesday, April 26th
- UMDNJ is eliminating about 20 management jobs in a move to restructure its administration. A new CFO is also on the horizon for the scandal-ridden school.
- The State Supreme Court will hear arugements next week about funding for the Abbot school districts. The proposed state budget keeps funding flat for the "special needs" districts, but the districts themselves state that this would mean strong cuts for them. Newark filed its own separate appeal as well.
- During a budget hearing, Assemblyman William Payne yesterday questioned the lack of diversity in the state's DOT in executive positions . Payne advised the state transportation commissioner, Kris Kolluri, that employees in different departments have complained to him.
- A report being released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation about states' access to health care shows that residents of Our Fair State are above the national averages of uninsured adults being unable to receive certain health care services.
- Absentee ballots have changed the initial results in the recent Atlantic City school board race. Challenges and recount requests are, of course, being filed.
- Human remains found in a Bucks Co. PA landfill are believed to be those of John Fiocco Jr., the TCNJ student who went missing a month ago. State police are holding a press conference this morning and are expected to confirm reports.
- Today is Governor Corzine's 100th day in office, and the honeymoon is over. The Quinnipiac poll numbers show that the governor's approval rating is down to 35%, but 87% acknowledge that the governor inhereted the budget mess.
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Wed Apr 26, 2006 at 10:40:53 AM EDT
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Who knew back when Governor McGreevey's proposal to consolidate Rutgers, NJIT and UMDNJ, disappeared from the radar screen after meeting with resistance from every, corner, that it might one day live to see another day.
But, that's the buzz in Trenton. With UMDNJ imploding under a cloud of scandal threatening its very survival - supporters of the consolidation are thinking of using this opportunity to make the consolidation a reality after all. Considering the current mess, it makes at least as much sense as that other Rutgers consolidation plan.
You have to wonder how much of the institutional resistance to the proposal - much of which came from UMDNJ - was motivated by a fear that its management abuses would be brought to light under the scrutiny of a merger.
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Tue Apr 25, 2006 at 09:00:29 AM EDT
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Fifty dollars doesn't go very far nowadays. If you're lucky, $50 might fill up your Hummer. But that's another story....
Outgoing dean at University Medicine and Dentistry of NJ, R. Michael Gallager of Haddonfield might have some tips about how to make your fifty dollar holler:
Courier Post: Gallagher directed subordinates to exaggerate the revenues of a clinic he ran by nearly $374,000 between 2002 and 2005, the report said. Adjustments to the profit-and-loss statement of the University Headache Center enabled Gallagher to qualify for $15,000 bonuses each year, according to the report, released by federal monitor Judge Herbert J. Stern.The report said Gallagher billed the school for more than $200,000 worth of questionable expenses, including more than $40,600 for meals at the Tavistock Country Club, $18,255 at Caffe Aldo Lamberti in Cherry Hill and more than $30,000 at the Union League of Philadelphia.
The bills from Cafe Aldo Lamberti included a $50 glass of wine and a $50 glass of scotch
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Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 12:48:01 PM EDT
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Voters in the 13th district may be feeling a bit of déjà vu, as the candidates could be identical to the congressional race in 1986. Yes, I’m talking about Albio Sires and John Guarini, second cousin to Sires' first opponant, Frank J. Guarini. Sires, then a Republican, ran against Guarini for Congress in 1986. Guarini won then, but now things are a bit different…starting with their party affiliation. John Guarini is a Republican and Sires is running as a Democrat. But nothing is definite yet, Sires still has to face a strong primary challenge from Joe Vas for the Democratic nomination.
A report slated to be released today exposes thousands of wasted dollars at UMDNJ. To add to the troubles the medical school has faced in the recent months, the report depicts (among other monetary dishonesties) how the financial records were falsified to show that the university’s headache center was making a profit, which enabled the former dean of the School of Osteopathic Medicine to receive an annual bonus of $15,000.
Roughly a year after a federal judge removed the leaders of the corrupt Local 734 of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, the Rochelle Park based local union’s pension plan is on the verge of collapsing. This comes after a former executive hired friends and family members to work frivolous part-time jobs at exorbitant salaries, in addition to questions being posed about the organization’s connections to organized crime.
Daniel Ellsberg, who’s known primarily for leaking the “Pentagon Papers†to the New York Times in 1971, is calling for full disclosure by the Bush Administration on the Iraq War. He did this while addressing an audience composed primarily of members of the Coalition for Peace Action at the Princeton Theological Seminary last evening.
Governor Corzine hits the 100-Days in Office mark this week. The first 100 days are often the most crucial in determining how any elected official will lead their constituency. The Governor appears to be embracing his new role humbly and not striving to constantly be in the limelight, like some of his predecessors have done.
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Wed Apr 05, 2006 at 10:26:02 AM EDT
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News Round-up for Wednesday, April 5
- There is concern about the rapid pace of reforms in the child welfare system, according to information given to the Assembly Budget Committee yesterday. The governor's plan is to form a separate department for children's welfare, away from the Dept. of Human Services. Lawmakers are also being urged not to cut programs for the disabled. Committe Chairman Louis Greenwald commented that his challenge was to "to balance special needs against the rising costs of living in New Jersey."
- Senators Lautenberg and Menendez plan to lift their hold on Bush's FHA nominee Richard Capka, in exchange for reversing a decision that would have blocked millions in funds for highway projects.
- In the wake of the UMDNJ investigation, other schools across Our Fair State, including Rowan University, Ramapo College and NJCU are asserting they were not pressured to hire applicants for political reasons.
- The State Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee is expected to begin deliberations today on yet another proposal to privatize the state's toll roads. The current proposal by State Sen. William Gormley is to lease out the AC Expressway.
- Be careful out there, part 1: The number of traffic fatalities rose last year, to the highest level since 2002. The majority of these are attributed to reckless driving and to speeding; rural and suburban counties had the highest rates of fatalities due to these. Hudson County is the most dangerous for pedestrians.
- Be careful out there, part 2: A person was struck and killed on train tracks near the Hamilton station early this morning, causing serious delays of the Northeast Corridor trains.
- Some may say that a lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math, but that's not stopping the ticket buyers. No top-prize winning ticket was sold for yesterday's drawing, so the MegaMillions lottery is up to $162 million for Friday.
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Wed Apr 05, 2006 at 07:15:29 AM EDT
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We might just be witnessing the beginning of the end for New Jersey's medical and dental school. The first report came out this week from the federal monitor appointed to untangle the financial mess that is the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and if reports to come are equally as bad -- and there's no reason to expect they won't be -- then surgery to cure the problem may not leave much of the patient intact.
Which do you like better? The fact that UMDNJ probably owes $125 million to the state and federal government instead of the $75 million previously thought? Or that hospital brass dined out with a convicted healthcare racketeer whose partner has ties to the mob? Or that job applicants came with number rankings reflecting the political clout of their mentors? It's all there in the monitor's report, and the Star-Ledger is rightly having a field day with it. Sen. Bob Menendez's staff better be spending some quality time with the document, because he's one of the many politicos mentioned as treating UMDNJ as a patronage pit, and Kid Kean's oppo research team would be crazy not to capitalize on this stuff.
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Fri Mar 31, 2006 at 09:59:15 AM EST
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- The Governor froze money in a fund for pet project grants, commonly referred to as Christmas Tree grants, and ordered a review of how those monies are distributed. This is in response to a lawsuit in the works by lawyer David Robinson, who asserts that the grants are "little more than legislative slush funds to which only a powerful few have access."
- More fun for UMDNJ- R. Michael Gallagher, dean of the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, and Robert Saporito, UMDNJ's senior vice president for academic affairs, have resigned in the wake of a new report over travel and expense account abuse.
- Ready for a Hard Rock Casino/Hotel in AC? The developers are. In other AC news, Casino workers don't seem too inquisitive as to why their workplaces were excluded from the indoor smoking ban.
- More than 100 people rallied at the State House yesterday in support of in-state college tuition rates for undocumented students. The federal Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act prohibits states from granting in-state tuition to resident illegal immigrants, because their tuition would be less than that of out-of-state U.S. citizens.
- Have you downloaded the latest BlueJersey podcast?
- Public service announcement- the CPSC is recalling 3.8 million sets of the popular toy Magnetix, which has small magnets in building rods. The magnets can fall out and have been ingested by small children, resulting in death or serious injuries.
- Have a good weekend!
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Wed Mar 22, 2006 at 11:02:09 AM EST
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News Round-up for Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006
- The big news story around the state is the Governor's budget address, which fueled concerns about how the state's budget will affect residents of Our Fair State: Higher education, tanning parlors, municipalities who use state police services, smokers, drinkers, luxury car dealers, property owners, those expecting rebates, and environmentalists.
- Business leaders cheered the budget proposal, which would reduce revenue raised from business taxes by 10%. "Allowing those anti-business taxes to expire will send a signal that he is serious about creating a climate that will allow businesses to thrive here," said John Galandak of the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey.
- Owners of the state's four nuclear power plants should reimburse the state for security expenses, according to the new budget proposal. Both the State Police and National Guard supplement private security at the plants.
- Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee has denied Merck's request to dismiss cases of two New Jersey men who blame Vioxx for their heart attacks. The pharmeceutical comany must begin their defense in the case.
- Former state attorney general Robert Del Tufo was sworn in yesterday as chairman of the board of Trustees for the troubled UMDNJ. He called for the examining of operating committee's dealings, as well as opening the trustees' actions to more public scrutiny.
- A specialized Camden high school, designed to attract top students interested in the health-care field, has become the focus of an investigation into grade-fixing and cheating on standardized tests.
- Tom Moran dissects Tom Kean JUNIOR's lame excuse that he got stuck in traffic on his way to a fundraiser with Dick Cheney on Monday night. Anyone who decides to travel the length of Rt. 1 at rush hour and expects to arrive somewhere on time is either completely out of touch with Our Fair State or avoiding showing up- you decide.
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Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 11:03:24 PM EST
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Santorum gets a verbal smackdown from Menendez for threatening NJ.
Wal-Mart claims that by setting up a new 220,000 square foot super-store in an ecologically-sensitive part of rural Salem County, they will help protect the watershed, which is home to 7 endangered species, including the Bald Eagle. Also, black is white. Up is down. Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.
A study finds that for the third year in a row, New Jersey is the most expensive state for low-income residents to rent in. According to the study, "a household's wage earner must earn $20.87 hourly -- or $43,419 annually -- to afford a two-bedroom apartment." Half of New Jerseyans earn less than $33,440/year.
Corzine's office pressured UMDNJ's president John Petillo to step down.
There are nine candidates for NJ for Democracy's executive board. Check out their bios and applications.
Rep. Scott Garrett is being challenged from both the left and right. On the right from Republican Michael Cino who is challenging Garrett in the primary and on the left from Democrat Paul Aronsohn.
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