21SU N DAY, NOV E M BER 22 , 2009T H E E X A M I N ER
SINKING SHIP: WHO: University of California regents WHAT: Voted to boost undergraduate fees by $2,500 by summer 2010. The school faces a major
shortfall because of the budget crisis in which the state faces a $22 billion deficit. Meanwhile, private universities in the state are increasing aid to stu-
dents. California Lutheran University, for example, has lowered its tuition to the level of state universities and is consequently increasing enrollment. COMMENTARY
DON'T THINK SO
10worst
ideas of
the week
Remember that airline
commercial that asks
"Want to get away?"
for those embarrass-
ing moments in life? In
the Internet age, there
is no getting away
when somebody comes
up with a truly dumb,
ridiculous
or just plain bad idea.
Dim bulb of the week
Defense Secretary
Robert Gates
WHAT: In a Wednesday hear-
ing, he refused to characterize
Hasan's shooting rampage as a
"terrorist attack." "I'm just not
going to go there," he said when
asked about it.
WHY IT'S DIM: If you can't
call it a terrorist attack when
a Muslim fanatic shouts "God
is great!" and kills more than a
dozen soldiers, then there is no
such thing as terrorism.
CURE: A new defense secre-
tary.
Gone postal
1|Congressman
suggests USPS
bailout
The details: With news that the
Postal Service is running an oper-
ating deficit, Rep. Danny Davis,
D-Ill., suggested a federal bailout.
"We've bailed out a lot of things,
and I think the Postal Service is
probably as important in one sense
as some of the other places where
we have put public money," he said.
Hot topic
2|Global warmers
caught cooking
books
The details: Britain's top climate
research institute was embar-
rassed when leaked e-mails
showed scientists discussing how
to "hide the decline" in world tem-
peratures by manipulating data.
Global warming alarmists are
puzzled that the world's tempera-
ture is not increasing, even when
accounting for known meteorologi-
cal phenomena such as El Nino.
The race card
3|Jackson trashes
black congress-
man
The details: The Rev. Jesse
Jackson excoriated a
Democratic con-
gressman as a
race-traitor after
he voted against
President Obama's
massive 2,000-
page health
reform bill. "You
can't vote against
health care and
call yourself
a black man,"
Jackson said, in
comments directed
at Rep. Artur Davis,
D-Ala.
Massive fraud
4|Phantom
stimulus jobs
The details: The White House
downplayed its own claims of jobs
created by the stimulus after such
a large number of them proved
to be bogus. After just a week of
research, The Examiner found that
at least 78,000 of the 640,000 jobs
claimed as "created or saved" did
not exist or had not been started
yet.
Breast cancer backup
5|Admin-
istration
backs away
from its
recommen-
dations
The details:
Health and Human
Services Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius
resisted intense pres-
sure to reduce
recommended breast
cancer screenings
suggested by
a panel
advis-
ing
her
department. The recommenda-
tions came from "an outside
independent panel of doctors and
scientists who ... do not set federal
policy."
Code violations
6|Broken lock cited
in boy's death
The details: Nine-year-old Oscar
Fuentes was killed when an
intruder fired through the front
door of his family's Columbia
Heights apartment following a
botched robbery attempt in the
hallway. D.C. police say a broken
front door lock, one of dozens
of building code violations, gave
suspect Jose Diaz access to the
family's second-floor apartment.
Welcome to Richmond!
7|Fiscal stink bomb
is waiting
The details: Virginia Gov. Tim
Kaine will soon be handing over
the keys to the governor's mansion
-- and a $3 billion budget deficit
-- to Republican successor Bob
McDonnell. The chairman of the
Democratic National Committee
and an early Obama supporter,
Kaine failed to pass any signature
legislation during his four-year
term, so his major legacy will be
the deep financial hole he's leaving
behind.
Power play
8|Legislators pro-
test program cuts
The details: Huge drops in
revenue forced Maryland's three-
member Board of Public Works
to slash $1.1 billion from the state
budget since July, angering state
lawmakers who claim that cutting
spending is the legislature's pre-
rogative. But Gov. Martin O'Malley,
Comptroller Peter Franchot and
state Treasurer Nancy Kopp
claim they have the constitutional
authority to unilaterally slash pro-
grams up to 25 percent.
Empty spaces
9|Vast amount of
vacant commer-
cial space
The details: Fifteen percent of
all office space in the Washington
metropolitan area is currently
empty, but vacancy rates run
as high as 25 percent in some
business corridors. The Gaith-
ersburg-Germantown biotech
corridor, Route 7 from Alexan-
dria to Loudoun County, and the
Herndon-Reston area have been
particularly hard-hit. More than 60
commercial buildings in Northern
Virginia have no tenants at all.
Make mine light
10|Council picks
pricier option
The details: Despite mounting
financial woes at the local, state
and federal level, the Montgom-
ery County Council voted 6-3 to
approve light rail instead of a much
cheaper bus rapid transit option
for the county's proposed Corridor
Cities Transitway. If funding is
approved, the new light rail line will
link Shady Grove and Clarksburg.
5
ANDREW HARNIK/EXAMINER
The Victory Center is a massive million-square-foot building in Alexandria that is currently vacant. The commercial real estate
market in the Washington area is in severe crisis, with many properties sitting vacant.
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