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Higher Ed Board Taps Two
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Business New Haven
12/13/1999
By: Michele Beck
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HARTFORD - The Board of Governors for Higher Education has elected two new leaders. Albert B. Vertefeuille of Lebanon and Harry H. Penner Jr. of Guilford were elected to two-year terms as chairman and vice chairman, respectively, last month.
The Board of Governors serves as the state's planning agency for higher education. It licenses and accredits academic programs and institutions, reviews public system budget requests and establishes system-wide
policies and guidelines. Seven members of the board are appointed by the governor and four by legislative leaders.
Vertefeuille has served as vice chairman of the board for two years and is a former superintendent of schools in Lebanon. He succeeds Alice V. Meyer, who had chaired the board since 1997.
Penner is president and chief executive officer of the Neurogen Corp., based in Branford. He was appointed to the board in 1998 to fill the unexpired term of Thomas Mondani. Previously he chaired the board's Public Agenda Advisory Council, whose recommendations form the core of the Board's system-wide planning strategy for the next few years.
Rell Report Required Reading
HARTFORD - Lt. Governor Jodi Rell has released results of her three-month study on computer readiness in Connecticut's schools and libraries. The report makes 19 recommendations to ensure the state's
children and teachers are prepared to meet the information technology needs of the new Millennium.
Gov. John G. Rowland will incorporate the recommendations into his
budget and legislative package for the next session of
the General Assembly. "The Lieutenant Governor's report to me is comprehensive and looks beyond the need for hardware and wires to the
need to properly train teachers and parents in the use of computers," Rowland said.
The main goal of the report is to make children computer-literate, or "cyber-ready," by the sixth grade. The Rell report recommends that the state's Department of Education develop benchmarks to measure the results of computer education by July 2000.
The report also recommends that the state invest $10 million a year over three years to ensure that all Connecticut classrooms are wired to the Internet by the year 2004.
Other suggestions include requiring teachers to meet minimum computer proficiency standards before obtaining a teaching certificate, encouraging local school districts to dedicate two percent of their
budgets to technology-related items, and offering full college degree programs online. The education department and the state's Department of Technology will be chiefly responsible for implementing the Rell proposals.
State Says No Deal to Exxon-Mobil
HARTFORD - Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has announced that Connecticut will not join a settlement allowing the multibillion-dollar merger of Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. to go forward. The Federal
Trade Commission announced its approval, along with more than a dozen other states.
Blumenthal participated in a year-long investigation and then declined approval of the deal, citing possible anti-consumer effects of increasing
concentration in the industry. He believes that higher prices and a lower quality of service would occur as a result of the merger.
"This huge combination may harm consumers, hamstring competition and threaten dealers. Our declining to approve the deal makes a statement and more fully preserves options for future action," Blumenthal said.
"While one or a few states standing alone would face formidable obstacles in blocking the merger, we can at least send a strong signal. We can also demonstrate the potential detriment to service-station owners who are on the front line serving consumers," he added.
Under the Petroleum Marketing Act, Exxon's franchised dealers currently have certain protections which, among other things, prohibit Exxon from failing to renew a franchise if the company tries to charge a
dealer unreasonable high rent or an excessive price for wholesale fuel.
However, it is unclear whether the rights afforded under the PMPA
would remain intact following the merger.
Plans for the deal were announced last year. Exxon's and Mobil's combined stocks are valued at about $80 billion. This deal would be one of the largest corporate mergers in U.S. history, surpassing the $72.6 billion merger of Travelers Group and Citicorp.
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