i L i n d . n e t

The Star-Bulletin’s Craig Gima has a story today confirming that UH Hilo Chancellor Rose Tseng will leave her position at the end of 2009 before taking a year’s leave of absence.

But the board required Tseng to return to the university after her leave, although what she would do is still to be negotiated.

Gima also reports that the faculty union objected to the failure to report details of Tseng’s new salary, and pointed out that paid leaves normally require the recipient to return so that the university gets the benefit of the leave. The BOR was initially considering waiving this requirement in Tseng’s case.

Thanks to the Advertiser for its grim report on concerns that a scheduled exhibition of human bodies at Ala Moana Center could include bodies of prisoners killed and later sold for profit by the Chinese government. It’s hard reading. A speaker at UH Manoa last year detailed credible evidence that the Chinese have harvested organs of prisoners for sale in the international marketplace, and a related web site spells out the allegations.

This should generate more protest. Ala Moana should reconsider its plan.

And Peter Boylan and Jim Dooley combined for a good story on indictments in a mortgage scam case which appears to be the leading edge of prosecutions. I wonder whether a close examination of foreclosure records could have turned up evidence of mortgage fraud before it got the prosecution stage? I always worry that the lack of investigative reporting resources contributes to our lack of awareness of scams like this.

And here’s an interesting piece from the Seattle Times describing what might be called distributed investigating, online cooperation among a large number of people searching for clues to a man’s disappearance.

And although its Friday, I’m in the embarrassing position of finding myself without a new round of feline fotos after our return from the mainland. I apologize to all you faithful feline followers.