Daily Debriefing
By Elise Quinones
Published on Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Federal Judge James Peck '67, who is assigned to the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy case, was charged with attempted assault and harassment of his wife on Sunday, according to Reuters. According to the complaint filed in New York Supreme Court, the couple was arguing before Peck slapped his wife's face, which caused bruising. Peck was taken to Manhattan criminal court around midnight on Sunday and was released without bail, Reuters reported. He is due to appear in court on March 16 and faces a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail. Peck was assigned to the Lehman Brothers case in September. It is the largest bankruptcy case in history, involving more than $600 billion in liabilities. There will be no change in Peck's judicial status as a result of the arrest, the court's circuit executive told Reuters.
The Big Apple Circus has cancelled its annual summer visit to the Upper Valley due to the current economic crisis, according to the Valley News. Circus co-founder Paul Binder '63 has brought the show to Dartmouth since the 1980s. Although the circus has made a six-day appearance in Hanover for 25 consecutive years, the circus currently cannot afford to make such brief trips, and the small population of Hanover cannot sufficiently support a longer appearance, the circus and the Hopkins Center for the Arts jointly told the Valley News. The circus plans to host future performances in big cities and other densely populated areas where it will spend longer periods of time performing, allowing it to reduce travel expenses, according to the Valley News.
The Rochester Institute of Technology recently announced a new academic program for veterans with hearing loss, according to Inside Higher Ed. The National Technical Institute for The Deaf, one of the eight colleges at RIT, will sponsor the initiative. The college, which was designed to allow hearing-impaired students to attend RIT, already provides captioning of classes, note-taking and speech services. The new initiative plans to begin by recruiting 10 veterans, growing to include 50 veterans over the next five years. The recruits will pursue either bachelor's or master's degrees. RIT, a private university, is also developing initiatives to lower tuition cost for veterans by working with the federal government, according to Inside Higher Ed.