OSU Professor Blackwell on the hotseat

In case you haven't heard about Professor Roger Blackwell, the well-respected former executive of Worthington Foods, turned B-school guru, then you might want to read-up. The Columbus Dispatch has a decent explanation of the case to date, of which I excerpt:

BLACKWELL TRIAL NEARS AN END
Prosecution, defense offer closing arguments in insider-trading case
Published: Wednesday, June 15, 2005
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With closing arguments in the month-long trial expected to end today, the fate of the 64-year-old author and former Worthington Foods director will be in the hands of 12 jurors.
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Yesterday, they heard from both sides: prosecutors who said Blackwell was at the epicenter of a 14-person conspiracy to buy stock with inside information, and defense lawyers who said Blackwell didn't tip off anyone to the 1999 acquisition of Worthington by Kellogg Co.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Marous said Blackwell told friends and relatives -- including his father Dale, son Christian and former in-laws Alfred and Gertrude Stephan -- to buy Worthington stock in the weeks before the merger was announced Oct. 1, 1999.

He said the result was a "feeding frenzy'' of illegal buying that produced nearly $1 million for the defendants and others who have not been charged.

A year later, after being asked for information by government regulators reviewing the trades, Blackwell and former wife Kristina Stephan deleted names of people they tipped off from office computer records, Marous said.

"Roger Blackwell knew he was under investigation,'' the prosecutor said from an oak podium placed 20 feet from jurors. "This destruction of evidence is direct evidence of the conspiracy and . . . direct evidence of the guilt of Roger Blackwell.''

Marous said that longtime friend Justin Voss, also a college professor, was among those with whom Blackwell shared inside information. In the three months before the merger was announced, Voss became the largest individual buyer of Worthington Foods stock in the country.
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In addition to Voss, the government says Blackwell gave inside information to Kelley L. Hughes, 41, of Columbus, the office manager for Roger Blackwell Associates; Kevin L. Stacy, 43, of Columbus, who is married to Hughes; Arnold L. Jack, 66, of Upper Arlington, Blackwell's attorney and a business partner; and Black Jack Enterprises, a partnership created by Blackwell and Jack. Together they face 48 counts of insider trading and conspiracy.

Later in the day, Blackwell's attorney, Thomas O. Gorman, disputed much of what Marous had said.

Gorman called Blackwell a self-made man who grew up on a farm and worked his way through school on the way to becoming an OSU professor, author and business consultant "to companies around the world who have trusted him with some of their most sensitive information.''

Gorman accused Blackwell's ex-wife of telling her parents, a cousin and others to buy Worthington Foods stock.

"Roger Blackwell never took shortcuts,'' Gorman said. "Insider trading is cheating. It's not what the man is about.''

Gorman said defendants Voss and Jack were sophisticated investors who bought stock because they determined the shares were undervalued. Jack's attorney, Tom Tyack, played a September 1999 recording of a conversation between Jack and his stock broker, who said she rated the stock a "buy.''

"Standing between Roger Blackwell and these allegations are you,'' Gorman told the jury. "You are the last bastion of freedom because you can stop this.''

Blackwell faces up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine if convicted.

Memorial Day

One should spend a few days every year contemplating exactly what is bequeathed to us by previous generations. George Washington informed us at his First Inaugural Address that, "To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace. A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined." He had fought the Revolutionary War for nearly a decade, then fought for the establishment of a democratic republic which could survive the divided country.
Public administration is one way of continuing the American tradition begun by a group of patriots more than 200 years ago. Though the Founders had a wide variety of opinions concerning the proper role of government (as shown by the truly rancorous debate in the media), there is no doubt that all accepted the need of a vital and efficient government in order to fulfill the will of the people. At its heart, this is the role of the public administrator.
Our friends and family in the armed services of this country deserve this day, veterans that are forgotten the rest of the year deserve this day, and those that are no longer with us deserve this day. They really deserve more from us; our eternal gratitude. Memorial Day is a taste of the respect all who have fought and served this country deserve.

The Making of an MPA Student

As a means of introducing myself, while eschewing the personal particulars that some choose to share (I am not famous and this is not a Xanga), I will make a few notes of how I thought to enroll in an MPA program. Over the years I have had an abiding interest in politics and the functioning of government. In my high school days this meant consuming coverage of governmental issues ranging from foreign affairs to education. Early on I was especially interested in international issues, considering a career in the CIA or State Department. I participated in that forum of precollegiate nerds known as Model UN. Representing Poland, I fought (in our mock debates) for increased developmental aid to the agricultural country in order to speed admission to the European Union (though this was still in its early years).
My interest in international affairs manifested when a graduate of my high school returned to visit. He gave a presentation on his summers in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. I later saw him at the local library. We talked about policy-making and he shared his interest in national issues. I remained convinced that international affairs was the path I was destined to take.
That slowly began to change my senior year, when I had the opportunity to work for a U.S. Senator one spring and summer. I saw the real impact state and national government has on people. From there, I interned with a series of organizations representing educators, school administrators, and advocates of school funding. The more I saw of state politics, the more is revised my opinion of state and national politics being slow-moving; perhaps stodgy.
College was interesting and I devoured political science and (to a lesser degree, economics and history) courses with glee, shifting from judicial politics to oil economics. My conversion completed as I wrote an undergraduate honors thesis on school finance reforms.
At first, I was sure that I would pursue a Ph.D. in political science and work in higher education or a think-tank. That changed over the years toward public service. Initially, this meant an MPA (Master's of Public Administration), though I decided upon a law degree. Admittedly, the increased salary potential played a role in my final decision.
After I graduated I made my way to a new town, for a new degree, and a different experience. Everything was right about the move, except for the degree. If I want to work in state government, exactly how is a law degree the right degree, I began to question. One semester later I settled that it wasn't.
Over winter break I started researching MPA's east of the Mississippi. I focused on five and prepared for the GRE. The best part about the GRE is that you know your score when you walk out of the room. Thankfully, I did well enough to offset the ugly grades I earned in a law program which held no interest to me. I was accepted at all five schools and offered a full scholarship to one. In the end, it was worth more to attend my hometown school (Ohio State University School of Public Policy & Management) than take the scholarship.
As of now I am pursuing internships with state agencies in Columbus. Optimally, I would find one for the summer which extended part time into the school year. We'll see, I suppose.