NJN News; Monday, August 7, 2000

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The New Jersey Education Association, people who care about your kids, and by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Al Gore-Pix, Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman to be his running mate will have reaction from New Jerseyans. Day two of the Verizon communication strike will look at the impact here in the garden state. And students at the state's public colleges should brace for tuition hikes. NJN News for Monday, August 7th. From NJN Public Television, New Jersey's only statewide television news camp. NJN News with Kent Manahan. Al Gore's choice of Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman to be his running mate is being applauded by most New Jersey Democrats. And Jewish New Jerseyans say they're excited at the prospect of the first Jewish candidate ever on a national ticket. Chief political correspondent Michael Aaron has the story.

Lieberman has been a frequent visitor to Democratic gatherings in New Jersey. The party chairman says his selection bodes well because he's a centrist and the fact he's Jewish should help here. All in all, I think it galvanizes a lot of people that see an opportunity to elect a person in the Jewish faith for the first time. I think with that, it brings a lot of support. Financial support, I think it galvanizes people in that community. Because some in recent years, a lot of them had been tilting towards Republican. And I think it brings them back home. A top Gore strategist in New Jersey calls the pick a bold move that admittedly might not play well in the Bible belt. That's probably a concern. But as I said before, the vice president decided to pick the best qualified person that he thought could fill the presidency. It's obvious he didn't play the political game. Didn't look at the electoral colleges and picked the man of integrity. The 58-year-old senator is a Yale grad, an orthodox Jew, and is famous for being the first Democrat to openly criticize President Clinton during the impeachment battle. To begin with, I must respectfully disagree with the president's contention that his relationship with Monica Lewinsky in the way in which he misled us about it is nobody's business but his families.

At a popular Newark Jewish delicatessen, we found a fair amount of enthusiasm for the selection of Lieberman, especially from the owners. I think it's very exciting. We're living a very exciting time to see that a Jew has a chance that people even consider it. I think my father, part of him says he never thought he'd ever see it. If he came over here, he beat Hitler out of Poland and came over here. And faced discrimination here. And the thought of a Jewish person on a national ticket, I think he's amazed. The religion is irrelevant as far as I personally am concerned. John Kennedy was the first Catholic, and I think the country has come a long way to consider a man of a different faith and a majority faith in this country. I think it's just fine. He's a good old standing Democrat, and I'm a Republican, so we're going to beat him no matter what he is.

I'm voting for Bush and Cheney. People with values. I think Joe brings a lot to the table for Al, but I think he also could have found somebody who was a little more dynamic. I think it's about time we had a German politics that far up. I think it's overdue. Lieberman has got high principles, a lot of integrity. I think the country is ready for a Jewish vice president. I think it shows the kind of courage we need in the leader to pick the best person for the job, and not to be afraid about any kind of fallout or racism or anti-semitism that might pull away from the party. In the other party, Senate candidate Bob Frank's running against Democrat John Korzine says he admires Lieberman. I think he's a good pick, but I think it just amplifies how far outside the mainstream, John Korzine is on a number of key issues. You take the death penalty, and you see Al Gore and Joe Lieberman support the death penalty. John Korzine does not. You take the historic 1996 welfare reform law supported by Al Gore, supported voted for by Joe Lieberman, opposed by John Korzine.

Senator Frank Lautenberg considers himself a close Lieberman friend. And I'm pleased for America, not because of my friendship with Joe Lieberman, or because he's Jewish. Those things don't enter into the selection. For me, a vice president. I want someone who can really help us defend the countries, the values that we have, to stand up for a good ethical code of ethics in the way we function. Joe Lieberman fits that bill. I think it's a very controversial selection. I think he's probably going to be hurt by this in the Midwest, where key states are. I think in New Jersey, it'll probably play fun. I think New Jerseyans will give Lieberman a chance and take a look at what he has to offer. We tend to be a pretty diverse and pretty tolerant group here. But I think appointing or anointing an orthodox Jewish person to be vice president in some parts of the country is not going to play very well. Zooking calls the selection of Lieberman a high risk decision by a candidate who must feel himself to be in a high risk situation.

Giblin says on the contrary, they must have done focus groups on this pick. And he thinks it'll guarantee a win for Gore throughout the northeastern part of the country. Michael Aaron, NJN News, Newark. Al Gore's choice of Joseph Lieberman is likely to be scrutinized by political analysts for the next two weeks. Earlier today, I talked about the choice with our two political insiders, Republican Roger Bobman and Democrat Rick Thinkpin. Rick, first of all, what's your reaction to the vice president's choice? Well, I think it's great. The vice president made a bold choice. He made the choice no one expected him to make. He didn't play it safe. He didn't put politics first. He chose somebody with a long record of public service, a very strong moral character, puts faith in family first. The vice president put the country ahead of politics. I'm very proud of him. Roger, though, this is the first time a Jewish person is on the national ticket. Is it a dangerous choice? Is it a risky choice? Oh, no, not at all. I think, again, I would agree. I think the vice president should be committed. I would hope we'd get to appoint in this country rich very frankly that these issues are no longer newsworthy.

When we can have a woman or an African American or a Catholic for that matter, as we did with JFK, you know, on a national ticket, it would no longer be newsworthy. But it is newsworthy. And to that degree, the vice president should be commended. Rick, what about the balance? Can Al Gore expected balance after the Democratic Convention because of this? Well, absolutely not only because of this, but also because of the convention, because of the party putting itself on display to the people. But the vice president really did something very bold because he bucked the status quo, not everybody running for national offices willing to do that. He was willing to put somebody on the ticket who was of the Jewish faith for the first time ever in this country. That's very bold. And some people, as you know, don't like innovation. They're, they're satisfied with the status quo. And the vice president took a chance by taking those people on and showing people the character and quality comes in all different types of people. And I think America will be better off if it works. And Raj, what can we expect to hear from Republicans out of this choice? Well, I'm sure the Republicans will scrutinize Senator Lieberman's record as they should.

And I'm sure they and I will have many differences with Senator Lieberman and his politics. You know, but for the moment, I think he deserves his day in the sun. It certainly was a bold choice from the point of view of his religious beliefs and the first that it cuts through American politics. And to that end, the vice president should be commended. Okay, Roger, Robin Rickley-Pen, thanks for joining us. In other news, if you tried using directory assistance today, you probably had some trouble. That's because it's day two of the Verizon communications strike. Some 86,000 Verizon employees walked off the job yesterday disrupting service and making it very difficult to get through to an operator. Zachary Fink has more. We're sorry. Due to the work stoppage, we are not able to provide an operator at this time. Please place your call later. Before the company became Verizon, Bell Atlantic promoted its new national and local 411 service. But today, customers experienced delays and limits on that service as Verizon employees, including operators formed picket lines outside company buildings across the state. Bell Atlantic officially became Verizon on June 30th after its merger with GTE.

Workers say the status of the new employees is a big issue in this strike. The GTE members are a lot of them are non-union members. And CWA would like the opportunity to bring them into our fold. We also have a lot of mandatory overtime. Negotiations between CWA representing 80% of the employees and Verizon management broke down just after midnight Sunday morning. Workers say employees are being forced to work longer hours while their job security is questionable. However, Verizon argues that the industry is growing and jobs are plentiful. We hired over 3,000 employees last year, company-wide, and will continue to do so. In fact, the estimates are in several thousands as we come. Approximately 4,000 workers are on strike here in New Jersey. According to a union spokesperson, picket lines in Newark, Madison, and here in TNEC will be active 24 hours a day until the strike is settled. The United Electrical Workers represent the remaining 20% of Verizon's workforce. And according to the union, most UE members were honoring the picket lines. But the fastest growing element of Verizon's business is wireless communications.

And union leaders say the company has made it difficult to unionize those wireless workers. We want everything the same. We want it across the board. If we're one company, we want to be treated the same. We want the same respect. Wireless is a competitive market. No other wireless company is unionized at this point. Negotiations continue both sides return to the bargaining table today after a marathon 16-hour session yesterday. Zachary Fink and JN News, Newark. The upcoming fall semester on college campuses could bring a chill to parents' footing to Wishing Bills. To Wishings at the state's private and public colleges and universities in New Jersey continue to climb at a pace faster than the rate of inflation. Jim Hooker has that story. Pat Robinson and his daughter Sarah were making the rounds at the College of New Jersey today. Getting a closer look at the school, Sarah will attend as a freshman this fall. A bank vice president, Robinson says he believes the college is a great buy. Even with a tuition increase of nearly 5% for the upcoming school year, bringing that cost to $4,600. We looked at a lot of the schools in the state, especially the state colleges.

And we found it financially, while this institution was a little bit higher, we felt that based upon its academic track record, this is where we wanted our daughter to be. The College of New Jersey is the fourth most expensive of the state colleges and universities. After the University of Medicine and Dentistry, Rutgers University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. But its 4.7% tuition increase this year is third lowest of a dozen state schools. College administrators say that's because they poured money into investments in recent years. We put the money into the infrastructure of the college and fundamentally we don't have any deferred maintenance right now. We hired some outstanding college faculty, we strengthened our academic programs. And now we find that having had that in place, the percentage increases we need aren't quite as high. The state school with the biggest tuition hike is Rowan University at 10.4%. The annual tuition cost, about $4,100. That's followed by a 10% jump at Montclair State University bringing the cost there to $3,500 a year.

Overall, state schools are averaging a 7% tuition jump. Some students say they're feeling the bite of increases, even if they're not footing the bill themselves. Michael Wilkes said his parents required him to choose a state school because out of state schools were too expensive. Have you heard anything from home about the price escalating since you've been here? Oh yeah, my parents always complain about. I mean, when you pay that much, you gotta watch the budget. I mean, parents aren't rich or anything, but they manage well enough to pay my bills. But I always hear at home how it's going up and how much money they spend on me and I better graduate and get a good job. Even with tuition rising steadily as it is here at the College of New Jersey and other public schools, students like Sarah Robinson say there are savings that come with attending a state school closer to home. If I lived in Boston, it'd be expensive to come home all the time and stuff like that. So I figured that if I stayed here, I'm like an hour away and I can get back and forth pretty easily.

A spokesman for the Association of State Colleges and Universities says tuition hikes are partly a result of the high costs of running institutions from labor intensive teaching to investing in new technologies to a falloff in the percentage of state aid for operations. Now at about $280 million. Ten years ago, the state paid roughly 70% of the cost of higher education operating costs at the institutions. Now it's approximately 55%. The same isn't true at community colleges where lawmakers have increased state aid by $12 million a year for each of the past three years with at least another year committed. The result, 11 of 19 community colleges have frozen tuition this year and another in Sussex County has cut tuition costs by 7%. Jim Hooker, NJN News, Ewing Township. Coming up, New Jersey mayors join an effort to support organ donations and one lawmaker wants to put the brakes on motorized scooters. We'll explain when we come back.

Motorized scooters. You can see them almost everywhere across the state. But one South Jersey lawmaker is sponsoring a bill that would make them illegal on New Jersey roads. Assemblyman Kenneth LaFever is sponsoring a bill to ban motorized scooters or gopeds because of safety concerns. Several Jersey Shore communities have seen a large increase in the use of scooters this summer. Laws covering the use of mopedes apparently do not cover the scooters.

Manual scooters that are also growing in popularity would not be affected. Every two hours an American dies waiting for an organ donation. Some have been waiting for years and the list is growing longer. But as Patricia Alabama tells us there's a nationwide effort underway to increase organ donations and thereby decrease the waiting times. It's called the Millennium Mayrathon Bus and it's traveled over 5,000 miles touting a powerful message. Transplants do work and they've been given a second chance at life. And that's what our message is to try and help these people that are on waiting lists. With the help of some United States mayors, this rolling message of hope is traveling the country from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge to the historic monuments of Washington DC, urging residents to give the gift of life. When you get to the hospital generally your driver's license doesn't go with you. And even if it did, the surgeon doesn't have the power of a turn to do that. The only people that make that decision are your loved ones.

And the message is you need to sit down with your loved ones and tell them that this is what you want to do. Because at the time when tragedies happen they don't want to even deal with that. Mayors from 1000 cities across the country participated in this coast to coast relay by passing the Millennium Mayrathon baton and pledging their commitment to its mission. This morning the bus rolled into Liberty State Park from New York City before taking its message to the streets of Newark. Newark is the Millennium Mayrathon second stop in New Jersey. The bus will continue to canvas the state throughout the day, making at least six other stops along the way. It will then continue its journey south before reaching its final destination in Washington DC. Donating organs, it is working and people are living today because having not had not my donors family donated for me, I wouldn't be here. More than 70,000 men, women and children are on lists waiting for organs. Many of them have been waiting for several years. Patricia Lulema and JN News, Newark. Coming up, business news, area merchants are telling the receipts after last week's Republican National Convention will look at how businesses did.

And the state just released its mid-season survey of sure tourism this summer will look at the results next to business. In business, most of the delegates who attended the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia have now gone home. In business, most of the delegates who attended the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia have now gone home, so businesses which were hoping to take in big profits are now adding up their receipts. Tourism promoters say area hotels in Philadelphia and New Jersey were among the biggest benefactors of convention business.

95 hotels in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware were all but sold out getting top rates for the week. Their restaurants also benefited from breakfast and late night parties. Now pre-planed tours did not do as well. 25 of the 27 plan trips to regional sites were cancelled. Tourism promoters say their hoping delegates like the area enough, but they come back for vacations. Meantime state officials say this summer's inconsistent weather may be dampening sure tourism. The State Labor Department's mid-season survey found the unusually cool and rainy weather is apparently keeping day trippers and last-minute vacationers at home. Even so, officials predict the state is in store for a good tourism season overall. But they say total receipts so far this year are not as brisk as last. Walk in business that many beach motels is off. There is, however, one bright light. More Canadian tourists are vacationing at Jersey beaches. In fact, it may be the highest level in five years. Jersey fresh produce is now available statewide, but researchers at Rutgers University are working on a project that could produce summer quality tomatoes all year round. Jersey tomatoes are generally found from July through early November, but researchers say they're close to duplicating a water of the state the process that makes Jersey tomatoes so tasty.

Scientists say if they can make the project profitable, it'll create another income source for farmers, one that is not so dependent on the weather. In business briefs, New Jersey consumers will soon be able to choose their electric and natural gas suppliers over the internet. The State Board of Public Utilities announced today that starting September 1st, a list of suppliers will be available online at njenergychoice.com. Currently consumers who want to switch can only do so in writing. Savings Bank Life Insurance Policies will soon be available at banks and thriffs in New Jersey, the state banking and insurance department today granted SBLI, the right to sell its products at banks until recently banks were not permitted to offer such policies. Morristown based DKB and partners has been selected to lead a $3 million advertising campaign for innovation luggage, DKB is an advertising of public relations firm. So caucus-based innovation has 17 stores in the Northeast, and Cherry Hill based to avid learn announced that has chosen Coleman Capital Advisors as its exclusive investment banker, avid learn provides online seminars and corporate training programs. On Wall Street stocks were up across the board, stocks rallied amid optimism that the Fed will not raise interest rates when it meets later this month.

That helped the Dale industrial gain more than 99 points at the close, it ended the session at the 10,867 level. Among the broad markets, the IMX added 70 to half, the NASDAQ shut up more than 75, the S&P 500 rose 14 to 3 quarters. Among the treasuries, the 10-year note is off 9 30 seconds, it's yielded at 5.93%. And still to come, I'll have the sticky, muggy, hot and humid forecast, and in sports, a look of the new recruits for the Rutgers football program, that and more when we come back. In sports, the Rutgers University's Scarlet Knights football program took a first look at some of their freshman prospects today.

Jerry Henry wasn't a scat away for the preview. They call it Newcomers Day here, as freshmen in junior college transfers report. 30 players in all make up what head coach Terry Shay calls his best recruiting class so far. Because we've got everyone on board, we had no academic fallouts, and we've got a very bright group, and I think they know the challenge. We have more players than we've ever had in terms of this particular day. The Newcomers, of course, couldn't avoid questions about last year's dismal one win season, and how they think they will fit into a program with so much pressure to win right away. I knew coming in here would be, you know, it's a building program, it's on the rise. And, you know, I was totally aware of the situation here, and, you know, that didn't have any effect on my decision. I wanted to come here because Terry Shay, and that's why I'm here. My junior college team is both the same way. They was one and nine before I came in, O and team, like three and seven.

So it's basically like the same. If I can come in and bring some of my winning attitude here, I think we can get it done if everybody worked together. What would you be satisfied with? What kind of record would Terry Shay be satisfied? Well, when you go into any season, a coach never can tell you which games you're going to lose, you know. So I will look forward to each and every game we've got to show improvement. We've got to come out of the blocks very fast in terms of the early part of our schedule. You know, I'm looking for a very competitive season, and if that translates into a bowl opportunity into a winning season, that's what I'm all about. Coach Shay and company will have less than a month to get ready for the 2000 campaign, which gets underway September 2nd here against Villanova. Jerry and the NJN News, Piscataway. And in the weather department, there's just one way to describe the conditions outside today. Muggie, at one point, the National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning for Essex Hudson and Union counties. It was, however, a great day to spend some time on the beach here in Stone Harbor.

It was a bit cooler at the beach, and it looks like these people had some fun taking a dip in the nice cool Atlantic Ocean. As far as our pollution watch for tomorrow, ozone levels are expected to reach unhealthy levels over the central and southwestern parts of the state. And here's the New Jersey forecast. For North Jersey tonight, it will be partly cloudy with lows in the upper 60s. Tomorrow, mostly sunny, hot and humid with highs near 90 degrees. In South Jersey tonight, there's a chance of a thunderstorm with lows in the 70s. Tomorrow, sunny, hot and humid, highs near 95 degrees. I'm Muggie Dig and Muggie Dig once again. And that's the news for tonight. From all of us here at NJN News, I'm Rich Young. Thanks for joining us. Have a good night. We'll see you tomorrow. You

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