Update: D’Souza’s campaign fraud case involved mistress and former assistant at King’s

This article was originally published in the City Section of the Empire State Tribune on 2/4/14. 

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Update: D’Souza’s campaign fraud case involved mistress and former assistant at King’s

By Cori O'Connor and Carly Hoilman

New York, NEW YORK – In a previous report, the EST noted that former president of The King’s College Dinesh D’Souza allegedly contributed $20,000 in illegal funds to former Dartmouth classmate, Wendy Long’s (R) campaign for New York Senate in 2012. Campaign finance records recently revealed that D’Souza involved his former fiance, Denise Odie Joseph II, as well as his assistant at the time of the race, Tyler Vawser.

While still serving as President at King’s, D’Souza allegedly gave $10,000 to Joseph and Vawser and instructed them to donate it to Long’s campaign. The prosecution claims D’Souza reimbursed them the amount the day of or after the donations were made. Records show that D’Souza and his wife, Dixie, had already contributed the legal maximum to Long’s campaign.

According to filings with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), Long’s treasurer flagged two $10,000 contributions–one from Vawser and one from Joseph–on Aug. 30, 2012. Since the legal limit for contributions is $5,000 per individual, both donations were detected by Long’s treasurer who then flagged the Joseph donation for “redesignation” according to an article on Gawker.com and FEC records.

The FEC records indicate Vawser never received a refund for his $10,000. Meanwhile, half of Denise Joseph’s contribution was “reattributed” to her husband, Louis, leaving the couple with two $5,000 donations.

According to a statement released by D’Souza’s attorney, Benjamin Brafman on Jan. 23, “Mr. D’Souza did not act with any corrupt or criminal intent whatsoever. He and the candidate have been friends since their college days, and, at worst, this was an act of misguided friendship by D’Souza.”

The EST reached out to Brafman, who neglected to provide further comments at this time.

In D’Souza’s indictment U.S. attorney Preet Bharara cited the Federal Campaign Election Act of 1971, which “prohibits any person from making any contribution in the name of another, including reimbursing a third person, before or after that third person’s contribution, as inducement to make that contributor.”

The prosecution and defense scheduled a pretrial conference date of March 4 where they’ll determine the trial date for D’Souza. D’Souza could face further charges for allegedly using the Josephs and Vawser as conduits for campaign fraud. Vawser, who formerly worked side by side with D’Souza, currently serves as Director of Marketing and Communications at King’s.

D’Souza arraigned in federal court, Mills hopes truth surfaces soon

This article was originally published in the City Section of the Empire State Tribune on 1/24/14.

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D’Souza arraigned in federal court, Mills hopes truth surfaces soon

By Cori O'Connor

Lower Manhattan, New York—Dinesh D’Souza appeared in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman for his arraignment at 12 p.m. Friday. D’Souza entered a “not guilty” plea. Prior to the arraignment he surrendered his passport and was released on a $500,000 personal recognizance bond.

D’Souza’s attorney said that he plans to travel at the beginning of next week. D’Souza is currently under pretrial supervision so he is required to alert pretrial services regarding his travel itinerary and each time he leaves Calif. or N.Y.

Carrie H. Cohen, Assistant Attorney for the United States, claimed that D’Souza allegedly gave two individuals, one of whom worked with him, $10,000 and directed them and their spouses to donate $5,000 each to the campaign of a United States senator, Wendy Long, in Aug. 2012. Cohen claimed that bank records show that D’Souza reimbursed them with cash the day of or day after the event.

Cohen reported that Long informed the government that D’Souza had lied to her about the donations. The prosecution will reveal their discovery next week and will produce witnesses and the straw donors.

D’Souza’s attorney, Benjamin Brafman, said that they had known for a few months that this investigation was underway. “It came as no surprise to Mr. D’Souza that he would be required to appear in court,” Brafman said.

Andy Mills, Chair of the Board of Trustees at King’s where D’Souza was formerly president, said that the relationship between the college and D’Souza ended back in Oct. 2012 so they have no additional information regarding the pending case. When asked as one who had a relationship with D’Souza how he felt upon hearing of this event Mills said, “Sadness. You want the truth to come out.”

The prosecution and defense scheduled a pretrial conference date of March 4 where they’ll determine the trial date. Brafman expects it to be a quick trial. “It’s beyond me that it would take more than three days,” Brafman said.

New York bidding on casinos for better financial luck

This article was originally published in the City section of the Empire State Tribune on 11/14/13.

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New York bidding on casinos for better financial luck

By Cori O'Connor

Albany, NEW YORK—New York State passed a casino referendum Nov. 5 to amend the New York constitution, allowing for seven Vegas-type casinos to be built in the state. The referendum passed with 57 percent of the vote according to USA Today.

Four of the seven casinos will be built in the Catskills, Southern Tier and Albany areas of Upstate New York, reported USA Today. For the first seven years these casinos will have the right to exclusivity. However, The Wall Street Journal confirmed that after the seven years, there are plans to build a casino in New York City.

Governor Andrew Cuomo hopes that the casinos will aid Upstate New York in its financial struggles. According toSyracuse.com, the first four casinos are expected to make $1 billion in revenue, of which $430 million will go to school districts and local governments. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Cuomo hopes to use the casino plans as part of his 2014 campaign to show he has addressed a major 2010 campaign promise to turnaround the upstate economy.”

Photo by stargazette.com

Cuomo pushed for the referendum claiming that it will bring jobs and tourists to the region. “I think it will keep the money in this state, and I think it’s a major economic development vehicle for the Hudson Valley especially and for upstate New York,” Cuomo said, according to USA Today.

A group known as “New York Jobs Now” promoted the casino amendment and raised over $4 million for the campaign, The New York Times reported. “New York Jobs Now” is primarily backed by gambling interests such as operators of the racetrack slot machines and labor groups that will gain from the supposed job surge. This massive campaign proved very effective against the low-budget campaign of the opposition.

Money wasn’t the only object on the side of those pushing for casinos. The amendment was worded in favor of casinos on the ballot, attributing the referendum with the role of “promoting job growth, increasing aid to schools, and permitting local governments to lower property taxes,” reported The New York Times.

The phrasing of the ballot was brought into question last month in a law suit brought on by, Eric J. Snyder, a Brooklyn bankruptcy lawyer, according to The New York Times. Snyder claimed that according to the state election laws, state amendments should be concise and simply state the purpose and effect using common words. However Snyder’s law suit was thrown out of court because the judge claimed it was “lacking legal merit.”

Since the referendum was passed, there have already been three proposals for public casinos in the Catskills according to USA Today. Tioga Downs and Saratoga Raceway are among those proposals and, currently as raceway casinos, they “expect to bid to be full-scale casinos.”

USA Today reported that “Casino operators already indicated they will seek licenses from the State Gaming Commission.” Cuomo’s Gaming Commission will also review bids.

King’s students remain skeptical about whether or not casinos will be the answer to the Upstate New York financial problems.

Gary Barnes, ’15, said, “They make it seem like it’s for educational purposes. You go to a casino, spend your money, and you’re helping the school kids. It seems something like what Toms does where they allow you to feel good about your actions by sending some of the money to a good cause. But there’s something that seems kind of fake about that.”

Charlie Durham, ’14, is also concerned and wonders if New York should turn to casinos to promote growth.

“I am skeptical how much these will help depressed areas of New York,” Durham said. “Is it actually helping growth or is it just ignoring a deeper problem? Morally, allowing casinos is a dubious proposition. Gambling may not be intrinsically wrong but it is an activity that is easily abused.”

The official law will go into effect Jan. 1.

Latest Honor Council results reveal first reports of hard drug use in housing

This article was originally published Campus section of the Empire State Tribune on 9/9/13.
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Latest Honor Council results reveal first reports of hard drug use in housing 
By Cori O'Connor

Financial District, NEW YORK—Within the 2012-13 academic year, King’s had its first encounter with major drug use (cocaine and ecstasy) in housing and marijuana usage greatly increased, according to David Leedy, dean of students.

A common theme of Honor Council hearings was that students who violated the Honor Code came to King’s “for the wrong reasons,” Leedy said.

There were six hearings spring semester, many of which involved multiple violators. Leedy said last year was difficult regarding honor not because of more Council hearings but because the issues were more serious than in past years.

Throughout the year, 22 students appeared before the Council for issues including plagiarism, assault and underage drinking. The Honor Council suspended six students and placed 16 students on disciplinary probation.

Students placed on disciplinary probation usually complete requirements, such as alcohol education programs, random drug testing, removal from campus housing, leaving a campus leadership role, counseling or psychological assessment, mandatory meetings with a House adviser and drug rehab programs.

Photo by Cori O'Connor

Leedy said that while minor infractions can be resolved with a less formal sort of confrontation, situations brought before the Council count as “egregious violations” of King’s standards.

In response, King’s is taking steps to raise awareness about King’s standards among incoming students.

Luke Smith, associate director of the Admissions Department, said the school is focusing on finding “serious applicants.” Admissions has reintroduced essays to the application (one essay on virtue and one on the House system) and requires all applicants to respond to the King’s mission and how it connects with their values and goals.

Leedy believes this process will help both the school find appropriate students and students self-select their college.“They’ll understand what King’s is and whether they want to be a part of this or not,” he said.

To educate students about honor before coming to King’s, the college also distributed a flyer called “Before You Sign The Honor Code.” Leedy will also write blog posts and host “town halls” to emphasize honor.

The Honor Council consists of one to two appointees from each house, three faculty members and three staff members in student development. At any given hearing there are six Council members: four students, one faculty and one staff.

This year the Honor Council members are Erika Hillardm, Jessica Lee, Sizakele Irvin, Damia Speagle, Sophia Bachmann, Allison O’Donnell, Elisa Lambert, Carol Anne Ausband, Emily Deemer, Maxine Webster, Carey Bustard, Leah Rabe, Ben Gotchel, Nigel DeCoopman, Daniel Poeana, Jonathan Burch, Luke Trouwborst, Caleb Kingma, Jeremi Gill and Mark Greben.

When asked what hearings involve, Jessica Lee ’14, third-year member of the Honor Council said, “It’s questions you would ask from a pastor to someone: ‘Let’s get to the root of why you’re doing this.’”

While punishment follows confirmation of charges, Lee continued, “It’s like, ‘Hey we care about you and we want to know why you are making these choices.’ It’s all about getting to know someone and helping them on their journey to becoming a better person.”

Leedy said the ultimate goal of the Council is “to uphold the standards of our community by assigning discipline to egregious violations of those standards.”

Not every student who attends a hearing will submit to the Council’s goal.

“Most people are apologetic,” Lee said. “The hard part is seeing if  they’re genuinely apologetic or they’re just upset that they got caught.”

County Solid Waste Center to Expand

This article was originally published in The Walton Reporter on 8/13/13. -------   County Solid Waste Center to Expand By Cori O'Connor WALTON — Delaware County's solid waste management center is preparing to expand its recycling facility within the coming year to three times its current size. Susan McIntyre, solid waste director, and Tony Vespro, solid waste management supervisor, say they hope that the expansion will allow them to double the volume of recyclables and lower the residual, landfill-bound waste from 24 percent to a single-digit number.

McIntyre explained that recycling has been evolving over the years as a result of both technology and world-wide demand. She said the county began recycling film plastic (the material plastic grocery bags are made out of) this year and began recycling rigid plastics last year. The recycling facility separates and bails the recycled material and then sells it in a commodity market. As the recycling facility expands in the coming year, the variety of material they are able to recycle will continue to increase, resulting in an increase in revenue as well as a decrease in the residual rate, the material being added to the landfill.

Currently, the recycling center uses a hybrid recycling system mixed between a co-mingled method (where bottles, cans, glass, plastic and metal can all be recycled together) and a source-separated method (where different types of paper need to be recycled separately.) The new recycling center will accommodate the co-mingled and source-separated methods as well as a more modern method known as "single stream" where consumers can recycle everything from paper to bottles together and it will all be separated at the recycling center.

 



RFI workers separate cardboard on a conveyor belt to be packed into bails. Pictured are Dale Anderson (middle) of Sidney, David Eckert (left) of Hancock and Cory Tatton (right) of Hamden. Photo by Cori O'Connor.

"Single stream will do a lot of things. It's easier on the consumer because they don't have to presort at home. It's easier on us because everything comes in and gets put into one," Vespro said. "By doing it that way, less goes to the landfill."

With the implementation of single stream recycling, the center will begin using more machines. "Right now we're completely manual. We're going to go to semi-automated with the new operation so some of the activities we do by hand now will be done by machine in the new facility," explained McIntyre. "We're not proposing to change our labor force. What we're proposing to do is take the staff who before had done something that a machine is going to do, they're going to do something else so we can expand the product line that we take."

According to McIntyre, the facility, funded by a capitol reserve fund, will also have a larger receiving area which will allow it to accommodate commercial haulers and tractor trailer loads, both of which the facility is too small to receive currently. McIntyre said a lot of money will be saved as a result of the single stream recycling, which will allow the private haulers to collect all recyclables at once, and the ability for the recycling center to receive fewer, larger loads as opposed to frequent smaller ones.

Resources for Industry, a work, training and placement program that's a part of the ARC of Delaware County has partnered with the Solid Waste Management Center to provide workers since 1992. Vespro described the relationship with RFI as a "good marriage."

"The ideal thing here is to rotate them out of here so they can go on to do other things," Vespro said. "I think the world of them. They're great workers."

The RFI workers are on yearly contracts with Delaware County and the different individuals remain in the program for varying amounts of time. Michael McNamara of Stamford has been a part of the program for five years. "Anything that's a challenge I love to do," McNamara said.

Russel Thurston, production supervisor of the Delaware County ARC, said he strives to teach the workers "quality work, pace, skills and to prepare them for a job in the community."

 

Radio Hobbyists Join in National Field Day

This article was originally published in The Walton Reporter on 6/26/13.

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Radio Hobbyists Join in National Field Day

By Cori O'Connor

  

WALTON — Members of the Walton Radio Association gathered at Adin Miller's storage barn on Bob's Brook Road on Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23 for the 24-hour National Amateur Radio Field Day. The six participants sent their call signals all over the country, testing their equipment and participating in a competition.

"What it does is, it tests our capability to communicate anywhere from down the block to across the country in unusual places, unusual circumstances, because it's never going to be an ideal circumstance during a disaster," said Richard Kelly, president of the Walton Radio Association.

The field day participants sent their signals over the airwaves using a variety of technologies ranging from Morse code to more advanced forms. "We've actually invented so many modes of communication that are so common today, that people don't even realize. We can talk over just a basic radio, we can send e-mail, we can send television pictures," Kelly said.

Craig Loudon of Sidney uses Morse code to contact another national field day site in Mississippi. photo by Cori O’Connor/The Walton Reporter.

Participants recorded the people they were able to contact and their locations and collectively submitted the information to the national association governing amateur radio, the Amateur Radio Relay League, in order to receive a national ranking in the competition. The ranking is based on the amount of points awarded to each site, based on how low the power is that they're able to broadcast on (they need to use a battery 5 watts or less, which is a current less than a flash light bulb), what locations they're able to contact, if they're visited by a news agency or an elected representative or if students come to the site and learn something.

 

According to Kelly, amateur radio, also known as ham radio, has been around since the days before electricity, over a hundred years. Members, also known as hams, are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission and they broadcast over public radio frequencies free of charge. "In a nutshell, what we do is we provide communications to organizations when normal communications goes down," Kelly said. During federally declared disasters, hams operate under an association known as RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) and are utilized by the emergency services department to broadcast for "served agencies" including fire departments, police departments, the Red Cross, EMS, hospitals, social services, highway departments, the Salvation Army and others.

"During Irene and Lee, Margaretville Telephone Company was about to go under water and it would have wiped out all of their phone communications for the Margaretville area," Kelly said. He explained that an amateur radio broadcaster was available at the Margaretville fire station, ready to provide any communications such as where the rescuers needed to be, how many people they pulled out and where they were going, as well as information on welfare checks, food and supplies.

Kelly explained that during disasters, hams benefit from versatile equipment and the thousands of frequencies and dozens of satellites available to them for national and international communication. According to Kelly, radio equipment is versatile in that radios can be powered by batteries and hams can use a variety of mediums for antennas including wires strung between poles or trees, antennas on top of vehicles, and even a basic electrical cow fence.

Kelly is taking steps to make amateur radio a more readily available "tool" for communication. "I'm trying to get just a basic radio put in every fire department in this county. I'm trying to get funding for that because when their system goes down, they rely on us and we can usually find a way, some way to communicate," he said.

Apart from disasters, Amateur Radio participants operate under the ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) association where they conduct communications throughout different events such as running, biking or boating races. According to Kelly, amateur radio personnel were a main source of communication during the Boston Marathon tragedy. Kelly also explained that amateur radio was "the original social media" and said some hams still practice their hobby by trying to contact different people across the country with whom they talk about anything such as their jobs, families, where they're from and so on, just like a "chat room."

The Walton Radio Association is looking for members of all ages. Their meetings are held the first Sunday of each month at 1 p.m. at the Walton Fire Station. If interested contact Richard Kelly at w2rrk@arrl.net.

Walton Family Raises Service Dog

This article was originally published in The Walton Reporter on 6/25/13.

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Walton Family Raises Service Dog

By Cori O'Connor

WALTON— Greg Graupman and his granddaughter, Madison Graupman, 12, are raising and training a puppy named Lawrence for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Don Smith, general manager of the Walton McDonalds, donated all of the dog's food.

Greg Graupman has been involved with Guiding Eyes for the Blind for over a decade and raised service dogs with his sons when they were younger. Lawrence is the fourth dog Graupman has raised and the second dog Madison has raised. They have never had a dog pass the final evaluation, however. Lawrence will attend his final evaluation when he is between 16 and 18 months old.



Madison Graupman and Lawrence, the service dog s
he is raising for Guiding Eyes for the Blind,
give a certificate of appreciation to Don Smith,
general manager of Walton McDonald's restaurant,
for donating all of the dog's food. photo by Cori O’Connor/The Walton Reporter.

"It's a real wonderful experience, especially for kids," Greg Graupman said. "It is a lot of responsibility because the bottom line is that from the time he wakes up in the morning to when he goes to bed at night he's in training. He's always working."
The dogs are trained according to a five step program and the "puppy raisers," Greg and Madison, attend class with Lawrence once a week in Oneonta. When Lawrence was placed with the

Graupmans at three months old, the program began with simple commands such as sit, down, come close, and stand, and they initially used a lot of food reinforcements. "As the dog matures you begin to not give them as many treats," Greg Graupman said. "Right now Lawrence is in step three, so his food reinforcements are intermittent, he doesn't know when he is going to get them. When he gets to step five he will have none."

Greg Graupman explained that they are allowed to bring Lawrence wherever they go. Lawrence sat through a class at the Walton Middle School with Madison and he goes into the Big M Supermarket almost every day. Greg also takes Lawrence to the bus garage. "I take him there frequently, mostly when I know the buses will be either pulling in or pulling out, because it's noisy," he said. "We're trying to desensitize him to loud noises because most of these dogs end up in urban areas with a lot of noise."

Lawrence also has to learn how to ignore things such as a stick on the ground, a cat or another dog. "We purposely put him in situations where he has to perform even though there's a cat. He has to ignore that cat and that takes a while, because the way you do that is to call his name and get him back to you."

Lawrence is also in strict training at home. Unlike most dogs he is not allowed to "counter surf" with his nose along the counter, he's not allowed on furniture, he can't have any "people food" as they have to watch his weight, he only can be off of the leash in fenced-in areas and, when they're gone, he must stay in a kennel.

Although the Graupmans would recommend the program, according to Greg Graupman, "It's not for everybody. Not every kid, not every adult can do this and give up this dog. Your heart's one place, your mind's another. You have to separate your heart and mind to be successful as a puppy raiser."

"It's for a cause so you have to focus on the fact that he's not your dog. It's like babysitting for a long time," Madison Graupman said.

Greg Graupman gave Smith a certificate of appreciation from Guiding Eyes for the Blind, which Smith said he will hang on the wall in McDonald's. "This is just another part of Walton McDonald's taking care of the community. Someone we haven't even met is going to benefit from having Lawrence," Smith said.

"We're very grateful for what Don and McDonald's is doing," Greg Graupman said. "For a puppy raiser, Don is saving a puppy raiser a lot of money."