Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 11, 1994 TAG: 9410110130
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
W.D.S., Roanoke
A: The former superintendent of Roanoke public schools fulfilled his consultant's contract through continuing evaluation of the magnet school programs.
He provided information and strategies to help the city gain additional magnet grants, said School Board Chairman Nelson Harris.
Tota visited Roanoke in January for that work.
Harris said Tota's consultant contract, which has six years to run, requires that he do only 20 hours of work per year.
That contract was signed about four years ago, and Harris noted that only one of the School Board's current members was on the board that agreed to the package.
Tota's pay, the hours given to Roanoke, and their results are undeniably controversial. However, the city has received $7 million in federal magnet grants the past two years for programs at William Fleming High and Ruffner Middle School.
Another point worth considering: City school enrollment is up this year, and that's an objective of the magnet programs.|
Crown scent
Q: My family and I have noticed a lot of cars with crowns in the back windows. Do they have any religious or political meaning?
B.B., Vinton
A: They're air fresheners. Some auto parts stores carry them.
The crowns apparently don't carry a message, except maybe that most of the buyers are on the younger side of 35.
Who's on the Fed?
Q: Are the people in leadership of the Federal Reserve Board government employees, or are they private bankers?
T.B., Roanoke
A: As members of the Federal Reserve Board, they're government employees.
Their backgrounds are heavy on academic credentials. Phrases such as "Harvard economist" and "Brookings fellow" appear in several biographies.
Only one of the seven board members had a full career in banking. John P. LaWare was a Boston banker for 35 years.
Two others, Edward W. Kelley of Houston and Chairman Alan Greenspan of New York, have been investment advisers.
Greenspan, a top economist and consort of Republican presidents, has headed two investment companies. He put more years, though, into major government posts that influenced monetary policies.
The other four: Alan Blinder, a former Princeton economics professor and White House adviser; Janet Yellen, economics professor at the University of California at Berkeley; Lawrence B. Lindsey, a Harvard economics professor and White House staffer; and Virginia-born Susan M. Phillips, formerly a University of Iowa professor and chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Got a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.
by CNB