Naples named most overvalued housing market in U.S.

That's according to the latest (third quarter) Housing Market Analysis conducted by National City Corp, a financial holding company, in conjunction with Global Insight, a financial information provider

The report named Naples, Florida as the most overvalued of all housing markets in the United States. A single-family, median-priced home there sells for $329,970, 84 percent more than what it should cost -- $180,956 -- according to the analysis.

Full story with list

Professor Strang on PA Intelligent Design decision

Ave Maria Law's own Prof. Lee Strang writes an excellent analysis of the decision in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District on National Review Online today. Here's an excerpt:

Even assuming, however, that intelligent design is not scientific but is instead religious, the Constitution — properly interpreted — does not exclude it from public-school classrooms. Unfortunately, the recent Dover case shows just how far the Supreme Court’s establishment-clause case law has strayed and also serves as a cautionary note to others who would include intelligent design in the public-school science classroom.
Since 1947 and Everson v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court has — with a few recent exceptions — sought to purge religion from the public square. In 1968 the Supreme Court ruled that Arkansas’s statute that prevented public schools from teaching evolution was unconstitutional, and in 1987 the Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s “balanced treatment” statute that required equal time for “creation science.” In both cases the Court found that the religious purpose of the statutes’ proponents was key to their unconstitutionality. Given this precedent, the ruling in Dover is not surprising.

New Governors for AMSL announced

The following memo was sent from Dean Dobranski earlier today. We would like to thank the Dean and members of the BoG for releasing this information.

AVE MARIA SCHOOL OF LAW
WELCOMES FOUR NEW BOARD MEMBERS

Ann Arbor, Mich. (December 15, 2005) – Ave Maria School of Law is pleased to announce that Peter Carfagna, Bowie Kuhn, The Honorable William H. Pryor, Jr. and Michael M. Uhlmann, Ph.D., have been elected to its Board of Governors.

“We are extremely honored to have these individuals join our Board of Governors. They are individuals who I am confident will help the law school to continue its mission of forming future attorneys and leaders through providing a first class legal education rooted in the moral and intellectual traditions of the Church,” said Thomas S. Monaghan, Chairman of the Board.

Bernard Dobranski, Dean and President of Ave Maria School of Law echoed Monaghan saying, “We are looking forward to working with each of these very distinguished new board members who bring a wealth of expertise and tremendous experience that will greatly benefit our law school.”

Peter Carfagna is an attorney with Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP in Cleveland, Ohio, practicing in the areas of litigation, government relations and complex business transactions. He formerly practiced with Jones Day as a litigation partner and served as chief legal officer/general counsel of IMG for more than 10 years before joining Calfee in 2005.

Carfagna is a member of the Diocese of Cleveland Finance Council, past board chair of St. Ignatius High School and serves as an elected director of the Worldwide Harvard Alumni Association and elected director of the Association of American Rhodes Scholars. Carfagna earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University and Harvard Law School, respectively.

Bowie Kuhn is the former commissioner of Major League Baseball, serving from 1969 to 1984. In 1983 he was named Man of the Year by The Sporting News. Prior to acting as commissioner, Kuhn trained as an attorney, graduating cum laude from Princeton University and earning his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia Law School.

Kuhn has held positions in numerous community organizations, serving on the boards of New York Medical College, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum, Thomas Aquinas College, Franciscan University of Steubenville, the Thomas More Law Center and the Ave Maria List.

The Honorable William H. Pryor, Jr., is currently a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals on the Eleventh Circuit, appointed by President George W. Bush in February of 2004. Before holding his position on the Eleventh Circuit, Pryor served as the Attorney General of Alabama from 1997 to 2004. At the time of his appointment in 1997, Pryor was the youngest Attorney General in the United States.

After receiving his Juris Doctorate from Tulane University School of Law, Pryor served as a law clerk for Judge John Minor Wisdom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

He is a member of the American Law Institute, the Board of Advisory Editors of the Tulane Law Review and he served as a member of the state and local Senior Advisory Committee for the White House Office of Homeland Security.

Michael M. Uhlmann, Ph.D., is presently working as a Visiting Professor of American Government in the School of Politics and Ecnomics at Claremont Graduate University (CGU). Before teaching at CGU, Uhlmann was a senior vice-president of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation in Milwaukee, Wisc.

In 1975 President Gerald Ford appointed Uhlmann to be the Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs in the Department of Justice. From 1981 to 1984 he served as Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan and associate director of the White House Office of Policy Development. Uhlmann was also a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

These new board members will take the seats of departing governors The Honorable James L. Buckley, The Honorable William P. Clark, The Honorable Henry Hyde and Dr. Charles E. Rice.

“On behalf of the Board of Governors, we are very grateful for the faithful service these men have rendered to the law school,” said Monaghan. “Their vision, creativity and hard work had no small part in helping Ave Maria School of Law attain the prominence we now enjoy.”

“I want to thank the departing board members for their professional and personal dedication and commitment to helping make this law school such a success,” Dobranski said. “These board members were there from the beginning of Ave Maria School of Law and were of great assistance to its development - which has now become a world class institution.”

Ave Maria School of Law offers a rigorous legal education characterized by a commitment to justice, excellence, and the highest ethical and moral standards. Since its opening, Ave Maria has enrolled students from 45 states and abroad and from more than 200 colleges and universities. Ave Maria School of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association. For more information please visit www.avemarialaw.edu or call (734) 827-8063.

Departing AMU professor's letter confirms many fears about Monaghan-dominated educational institutions

The following are excerpts from an outgoing AMU Professor's letter to other Florida faculty members, dated December 8th. I withheld this letter for almost two weeks because there have been concerns about posting it in its full form, which was briefly done over on Fumare and then removed after a request made by a person using the professor's name. I will only quote parts of it, because they shed light on a few key issues, especially the allegations made concerning intimidation by the Dean to stop organizing activity at the law school. But it also makes very clear what happens when Tom Monaghan excercises too much control over an educational institution, as he has done since breaking up AMC and effectively moving it down to FL to form AMU.

Note that the comments about social justice and union organizing at AMU were made before the Dean called his own union-busting meeting at AMSL...

...AMU also misled us about its Catholicity. The university is not connected to the diocesan structure, nor to any order of the Church. It is an endeavor by lay Catholics, at best tolerated by the local bishop who has never visited AMU. The Oratory in the new town will not be a diocesan Church, nor will it have RCIA or be able to offer sacramental preparation for children, just as it is the case now. Imagine our surprise to find a ‘Catholic’ entity disconnected from the Church hierarchy. As people choose to move into the town because it is advertised as a Catholic town, many will be surprised to find out that the Oratory is under the control of Monaghan and not the Catholic Church. Presumably they will do sacramental preparation in the closest parish in Immokalee. The town will have space for a public school but not for a parish. This situation is not sustainable, at some point the Church will flex its muscles and for good reason!

... AMU does not behave like a Catholic employer. The university is run as
a secular business venture with an outdated business model that relies on cutting costs to meet goals. As Chair I have attended dozens of meetings and have been generally appalled at how little consideration the views of students, faculty or staff are given, Catholic social teaching principles are never seriously invoked and when I mentioned them, they were politely discarded. Given the problems with living wages it would be natural to unionize the faculty, as our neighbor FGCU did with good effect on improving retention and recruitment, yet every faculty member perceives correctly AMU as a union buster, the type of employer the social encyclicals condemn. Justice issues are systematically neglected in the employer-worker relationship. Instead, sacrifice is preached as if charity could justify violations of justice. If the university wants the faculty to sacrifice pay the faculty fairly, then let them donate the money back if they want to. Do not confuse justice and charity. I have decided no longer to teach Catholic social teaching in large part because of the example of AMU administration. It is no wonder Catholic social teaching has no widespread credibility, Catholics do not follow it. Apparently, we stop being Catholic after the sixth commandment.

Finally, AMU management that lacks basic essential preparation in higher education...They have no notion that higher education is a very competitive marketplace and have no feasible business plan outside of ‘we are Catholic, people ought to be grateful we let them work here". AMU needs professional management, in my opinion.

...
I became convinced, however, that there is no serious commitment to make AMU a university nationally known for its scholarship outside of theology, or to have AMU become a model employer that follows Catholic social teaching. There is also no intention to stop making claims about the university and town which we know cannot be accomplished within the next decade.

Who are the new Board of Governors for Ave Maria Law?

On Wednesday, the AMSL BoG held a meeting where, among other things, they were supposed to elect four new members to replace the outgoing governors, which include Professor Rice. It is now Friday and there has still been no word on these new members who will help to shape the future of the law school. We call on the Dean to release this information promptly.

Christmas Break Massacre at Ave Maria School of Law?

There is fear among students and alumni at AMSOL of a Christmas Break Massacre. What prompted these fears? Since the Dean’s meeting with students after the September Board meeting, many students and alumni have expressed concern that some faculty and administration would not be around much longer. Why the apprehension about Christmas firings? Many point to the fact that most students would be away, and that this time –or the summer – would present a window of opportunity for Mr. Monaghan and the Dean to dismiss anyone who took a stand for Charlie Rice and against what many view to be the “sole proprietorship” problem emerging at AMSOL.

Of course, the events of the past week in which the BoG rewrote the bylaws to eject Professor Rice from his Life Governor position, as well as the Dean's intimidation of staff members not to join a contemplated union have heightened these concerns...

Many alumni contacted by this blogger said that any adverse move against staff or faculty will be met with a forceful response, including the withdrawal of financial and public support of the law school...

Dean Dobranski intimidates Ave Maria Law staff from organizing; claims it is contrary to mission of the school

Update VI:

Approximately two weeks ago, an Ave Maria School of Law employee ,who is also an alumnus and licensed attorney, informed Dean Dobranski in a letter of her intention to organize along with other employees at the law school. Tuesday morning, the Dean called a meeting of the staff on short notice. Neither the organizing employee, nor any other attorney employee, were present at the meeting, which happened to occur one day before the first scheduled organizing meeting. The Dean warned the staff at this morning's meeting that they should not attempt to form, support, or join any sort of collective bargaining unit/union, as that would be against the mission of the school. After the staff meeting, the Dean had a meeting with faculty where he told them not to get any ideas in regards to the proposed organizing of the staff.

The Dean actually gave NO notice of this meeting and actually pulled staff members out of their proctoring duties IN THE MIDDLE OF AN EXAM and had the meeting in THE DEAN'S OWN CONFERENCE ROOM.
Apparently, the organizing employee was not at school that morning as she had jury duty and so it is believed that the Dean called this meeting as soon as he found out that this employee would not be able to attend.

The Dean informed all staff at this meeting that if they committed any actions that were contrary to the mission of the school, there would be disciplinary consequences. Note that because the Dean said that union organizing went against the mission of the school, the threat was that anyone who joined a union would face disciplinary measures.

The Dean was asked afterwards for a copy of the minutes of the meeting. This request has been denied.

The dean is denying the meeting was called for or called about the proposed union.

Some of the recent events at AMSL might shed more information as to why some AMSL staff have thought about organizing:

-Charlie's Rice's administrative assistant was given strict orders to NO LONGER send any emails on his behalf

-A meeting was called by the Dean's office to explore implementing an electronic mail and internet monitoring program on its employees.

- Members of the IT department were asked to sign a confidentiality agreement that appears to be the precursor to this electronic monitoring program.

-There are simliar efforts underway at AMU to unionize

-A harsh letter from an outgoing AMU professor was sent around last week (was posted briefly on Fumare but then removed at professor's request)

A climate of fear now pervades the law school at all levels, and comparisons are being drawn to the ruthless tactics used during the AMC breakup and move to AMU...

Developing hard...

See the post below for an analysis of Catholic Social Teaching on the subject of organizing and unions.

Ave Maria Law Alumni Letter to Wall Street Journal

The following letter appears in today's WSJ:

We read with interest Naomi Schaefer Riley’s illuminating Nov. 11 Houses of Worship column “Bringing a Law School Down,” (Taste Page, Weekend Journal) about the Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor, Mich. We also read the rather puzzling response from Ave Maria’s top officials (Letters, Nov. 28). Their reply seemed to be no more than an apologia for the establishment of Ave Maria Town.

Ms. Riley’s column accurately captured the essence of the present discord at Ave Maria.
The disquiet at our law school stems from a misguided desire to move this flourishing new educational institution from an academic epicenter in Ann Arbor to an isolated, rural community without any established scholastic or legal infrastructure whatsoever. Although we are mindful of the benevolence of the school’s primary benefactor, Tom Monaghan, this law school is not a sole proprietorship.

The Ave Maria School of Law is an independent academic institution and should not be relocated over the thoughtful objections of the school’s many stakeholders. This is especially true given that relocation appears aimed at buttressing a questionable financial investment in the already controversial Ave Maria Town. Furthermore, with multiple governing boards comprised of several individuals with potential conflicts of interest, real or perceived, this matter will remain dubious and divisive.

Countless people have contributed to the school’s initial success, including the professors, inaugural classes, staff, and other donors. Students, faculty, and alumni have spoken with a clear and collective voice opposing recent developments and proposals affecting our school but thus far have been largely ignored.

As Ms. Riley perceptively observed, should the school’s present leadership attempt to move the school they will undoubtedly have a fight on their hands. Any relocation of our alma mater will require the approval of the American Bar Association, and we believe the ABA will be more receptive to the legitimate concerns of the most important constituencies of the law school.

Chris McGowan (Class of 2003) – Sioux City, Iowa
John M. DeJak (Class of 2004) – Watertown, N.Y.

Catholic Social Teaching 101 on the right to organize and form unions

Update: Talk about irony. I just looked at the "Today in History" column in the newspaper and came across the following entry:

• In 1981, authorities in Poland imposed martial law in a crackdown on the Solidarity labor movement. (Martial law formally ended in 1983.)

See Update II on subsequent post for complete story of Dean Dobranski's attempts to stop organizing at the Ave Maria School of Law.

The Dean must not realize that unions are a good and positive thing for workers. Also, since he has decided to openly contradict very clear and detailed Catholic Social Teaching on this point, we offer him the following refresher course:

History teaches us that organizations of this type are an indispensable element in social life, especially in industrialized societies. This does not mean that only industrial workers can form these associations. Every profession can use them: agricultural workers, white-collar workers, and employers.
On Human Work (Donders), #20

The important role of union organizations must be admitted: their object is the representation of the various categories of workers, their lawful collaboration in the economic advance of society, and the development of the sense of their responsibility for the realization of the common good.
A Call to Action, #14

Among the basic rights of the human person is to be numbered the right of freely founding unions for working people. They should be able truly to represent them and to contribute to the organizing of economic life in the right way. Included is the right of freely taking part in the activity of these unions without risk of reprisal. Through this orderly participation joined to progressive economic and social formation, all will grow day by day in the awareness of their won function and responsibility, and thus they will be brought to feel that they are comrades in the whole task of economic development and in the attainment of the universal common good according to their capacities and aptitudes.
The Church in the Modern World, #68

The following exceprts are verbatim from Economic Justice for All, #104

The church fully supports the right of workers to form unions or other associations to secure their rights to fair wages and working conditions. This is a specific application of the more general right to associate. In the words of Pope John Paul II, "The experience of history teaches that organizations of this type are an indispensable element of social life, especially in modern industrialized societies."
Unions may also legitimately resort to strikes where this is the only available means to the justice owed to workers. No one may deny the right to organize without attacking human dignity itself. Therefore, we firmly oppose organized efforts, such as those regrettably now seen in this country, to break existing unions and prevent workers from organizing. Migrant agricultural workers today are particularly in need of the protection, including the right to organize and bargain collectively. U.S. labor law reform is needed to meet these problems as well as to provide more timely and effective remedies for unfair labor practices.


For a full discussion of Catholic Social Teaching on the theme of unions, please see:
http://www.osjspm.org/cst/q_unions.htm

Also, don't forget to read RERUM NOVARUM, the ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON CAPITAL AND LABOR

Tom Monaghan's plea for more money to cover rapidly escalating costs of AMU construction

This letter was originally sent out on October 20 of this year by TM to potential donors. Highlights include:

Construction costs, already up 50% since the project's inception, are poised to go up even further in the next two years, in the aftermath of the catastrophic hurricanes that have caused a new spike in demand for raw materials in our region.

This hampers our ability to take on new students as quickly as hoped. We added over 100 new students this year, and with rising construction costs, we may not be able to build as many new dorms on the new campus as we need.

---

This is from the man who supposedly has the money to set AMSL for life? According to TM, they don't even have enough money to build the basic elements of AMU. Link to full letter is here.

Charles Rice memo upon the abolition of the office of Life Governor (or at least as applied to him)

MEMORANDUM


FROM: Charles E. Rice, Gubernator Ejectus
TO: AMSL Community
SUBJ.: Board of Governors
DATE: December 8, 2005



The Board of Governors, at a telephone meeting on December 7th, approved the two-term limit, created an Advisory Board and abolished the office of Life Governor; there were two dissenting votes. As a result, I have ceased to be a Governor. All is not lost, however. I did emerge from the meeting with a new and more impressive gubernatorial title: Gubernator Ejectus.
The fact that my new title is self-conferred does not diminish its importance or the warm feeling it generates. Besides, it really is a lifetime appointment, beyond the capacity of any board to abolish. And it is in Latin. It is, definitely, a step up.
The purpose of this memo is not to celebrate my new title. Nor is it to analyze that Board meeting, which included comical overtones arising from the overpowering by static of the telephone conferencing system arranged by AMSL. That resulted in a general inability of the participants to understand each other until the meeting was transferred to another conference site for the concluding portion and votes. I mention that problem only because, as I later learned from the phone operator, the entire problem was apparently caused by a mouse who fatally intruded himself into the telephone relay box on our very own street in Mishawaka, Indiana. The motives of that former mouse are unclear, whether obstructive or perhaps suicidal in reaction to what he was hearing. I mention this to certify that I did not put him up to it. I don’t even know his name. But he did give his all for AMSL. He deserves to be recognized and commemorated.
The main point of this memo, however, is not to discuss the above. It is rather to express my appreciation to you all, students, faculty, staff and alumni of AMSL, for your many acts of kindness, for your support and especially for your prayer. Today especially, but also every day, let us continue in a union of prayer to the Immaculate Conception for Ave Maria School of Law and for all the members of its community. I am in your debt.
Thank you. And God bless you.

Rice Letter to Dean Dobranski concerning Board bylaws amendments

November 29, 2005

Dean Bernard Dobranski
Ave Maria School of Law

Dear Bernie:

Thank you for your memo of November 22nd enclosing the bylaws amendments proposed to implement the Board of Governors' resolution of September 20th. Please understand that any comments I make on this matter are premised on my view that all persons involved are acting in what they regard as the best interests of Ave Maria School of Law (AMSL). My comments do not imply any personal criticism of anyone.

The proposed bylaw amendments would impose the two-term limit on Governors as proposed by the September 28thBoard resolution and would create an Advisory Board, lacking any discernible significant function, which the excluded Governors would be invited to join. The proposed amendments would also eliminate the existing office of Life Governor. In your memo of November 22nd,you said the bylaw amendments were "necessary to implement the resolution adopted at the September 28t\ 2005 meeting." But the September 28thresolution said nothing about Life Governors. If the two-term limit were adopted, I would be the only Governor involuntarily barred from reelection. I desire to remain in my present position on the Board and I will not abandon the position voluntarily.

If the Life Governor position were retained in the bylaws, I would become a Life Governor automatically upon my removal pursuant to the two-term limit. The additional proposal to eliminate the office of Life Governor as well as to impose the two-term limit, would exclude me involuntarily from both offices. The combination of those two amendments could lend support to conjectures that the entire amendment enterprise is designed to eliminate me from my present position on the Board and to prevent me from being even a non-voting Life Governor. Perhaps the immediate elimination of the office of Life Governor is a result of some newly apparent exigency unrelated to my removal from the Board. I await with interest your explanation.

As you and Tom Monaghan know, the established practice has been for founding Governors to be reelected to the Board unless they declare their desire not to be reelected. That practice has been applied even to Governors who have never attended a meeting of the Board. The proposed bylaw amendments abrogate that practice, as a result of which I will be the only founding Governor removed involuntarily from the Board.

The proposed involuntary removal of me from the Board will be a public act. It will be confirmed as a public act when the revised list of Board members, without my name, is published. At the September 28thmeeting I informed the Board that I reserved the right to state the procedural and substantive facts involved in my removal from the Board. As I stated then, I have a duty to my reputation, to my family and to the AMSL community to state those facts as necessary, in my judgment, to prevent any misapprehension of them. Those facts include, among other items, the novel character of the procedures employed and the substantive disagreements I have expressed, and still have, with positions you and Tom have taken on the governance of AMSL, its possible relocation to Florida and other issues. I trust you will understand, therefore, that I cannot accept the stamped limitation, "Confidential. For Internal Discussion Only." which was stamfed on each page of the proposed amended bylaws enclosed with your memo of November 22n . To put it simply, if you and Tom, with the approval of a majority of the Governors, want to kick me off the Board, you will have to do it in the open.

Evidently, you and Tom have the votes to deny my reelection to the Board through your proposed amendments, but you ought to be willing to do it openly, in a straightforward manner, rather than by indirection and circumlocution. At the September 28th Board meeting, I requested an up-or-down roll call vote on my reelection. I now renew that request. I prefer to think that individual Governors would themselves prefer to have an opportunity to stand up and be counted on that issue rather than to remove a nonconsenting Governor by a rearrangement of procedures and offices. If, on the other hand, you, Tom and the Board decide to follow the bylawamendment course presented in your November 22nd memo, I renew my suggestion that, at the very least, you ought to name the whole complicated process after me.

Permit me to emphasize again my view that you, Tom and all involved are acting in what you and they regard as the best interests of AMSL. While I have serious differences of perception and judgment with you and Tom, I am confident that you both understand my concern that AMSL must not be governed, in effect, as a sole proprietorship, with the interests of AMSL potentially subordinated to another agenda, and with the Board of Governors in a primarily decorative role reducible to "meet, eat and retreat."

I appreciate your consideration of these comments. I am grateful that we are joined in a union of prayer for the success of Ave Maria School of Law. With appreciation for what you have done to promote that success,

Sincerely,

Charles E. Rice

Professor Emeritus of Law

AMSL alumnus letter to New Oxford Review

This letter appears in the December issue of the New Oxford Review:

Turmoil Spreads to Ave Maria School of Law

In his letter (Oct.), John F. Barrett says in regard to Tom Monaghan/Ave Maria: "Enough already!!!" However, I wish you would cover more of the Tom Monaghan/Ave Maria story. Especially now that Ave Maria School of Law (AMSoL) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is getting dragged into the quagmire, as evidenced by the recent ousting of Prof. Charles Rice, a champion of the Culture of Life, from AMSoL's Board of Governors. Alumni and students are outraged at the ousting of Rice. The rumors about the motivation for booting Rice include his public opposition to moving AMSoL to Naples, Florida [see the March NOR, p. 31]. About a week after the ousting of Rice, Associate Dean Michael Kenney, one of the founders, announced he was leaving in December to take a position at the University of Notre Dame (whether by coincidence or not). It is hoped that this will not start a mass exodus from AMSoL.

You mentioned in an Editor's Reply (Oct., p. 11) that the higher educational institutions bearing the Ave Maria name were symbols of hope within the orthodox Catholic community. In order to advance that hope, some of us left great jobs, and rearranged our lives to invest in the future of those institutions. I myself left a good career at the Eternal World Television Network in order to be in the inaugural class of AMSoL. Others have pledged money or sent their children.

Realistically, most of my class could have gone to some other top-tier law school. At this point in our lives, we would have had significantly different career options based on the ease with which law school reputations lend to job opportunities. Thus, many of us are still investing in AMSoL.

Educational institutions are not pizza parlors. Law schools, in particular, rely heavily on intangible qualities such as public trust in the institution and prestige caused by faculty appointments and perceived alumni accomplishments. Thus, if AMSoL encounters the same issues that have been reported about Ave Maria College/University, the alumni in particular will take the greatest loss, because difficulty in finding jobs and clients would be immediately noticed.

Creating a population of lawyers on which an orthodox Catholic can rely was and is a promise of AMSoL. You, your readers, and all of us have a real interest in the preservation of what AMSoL has become. It's not some rich guy's toy anymore; it's a place that makes something no one else does but all of us need.

The central issue at Ave Maria University is whether the Administration is comprised of individuals who are free to make the best administrative decisions possible without fear of being perceived as in opposition to the powers that be. The ousting of Prof. Rice from the Law School Board could mean that an environment of fear is being installed in the Law School. Can you imagine how differently the Law School would be perceived if it faced the same ethical charges from the U.S. Department of Education as has Ave Maria University?

Pope John Paul II encouraged us to do things in the light, so that it may be plainly seen. Accordingly, the entire Ave Maria educational complex should be in the light. The NOR's job as part of the Catholic media is to be the place where events and opinions on matters affecting us Catholics can be examined in the light. Cover it, get into it, and be good journalists -- and bring it all out into the light.


John B. Manos, Esq.
Alumnus, Inaugural Class of Ave Maria School of Law
Cincinnati, Ohio