The Morning Briefing February, 3 2012

CAMDEN - Looks like there's at least one Rutgers administrator willing to fight the Governor's plan to hand the university to Rowan University. Rutgers-Camden chancellor Wendell E. Pritchett is vowing to do his part to ensure Rutgers remains the state's flagship university with a strong South Jersey presence. And now there are even some faint whispers underneath the couch in the office of University President Richard McCormick, who has been shaking in the fetal position since the Governor decided to take Rutgers-Camden from him. After Pritchett had the guts to speak out, McCormick's office dispatched a written statement, saying he "shares many of his concerns" and "will carefully consider all the options." OUCH! Take that, Christie!

CAMDEN - Meanwhile, it looks like the stars are quickly aligning for the full Rowan University take-over of Rutgers-Camden. There's now an $8.2 million study in the works for a proposed 18-mile train link from Rowan's main campus in Glassboro to Camden. NJ Transit would run the line, which could cost $1.6 billion, creating a tremendous, permanent link between the university and the city. With that line in place, they might as well just rename it the City of Rowan. 

NEWARK - No worries Newark, the decision of Facebook to go public will have no affect on Mark Zuckerberg's pledge of $100 million over five years to help improve city schools. In fact, with a stock offering that could jack the value of the company to $100 billion, maybe this is the ideal time for Facebook to throw the city another pile of cash from the underground vault. The Wall Street Journal reports the Foundation for Newark's Future, which controls the Zuckerberg cash, has so far pulled in $48 million in an ongoing effort to match the Facebook donation.

NEWARK - Is Newark the perfect college town? Not according to the Princeton Review, which rates the Brick City among one of the absolute worst college towns in the country. But there are big dreams in Newark, evident in an op-ed in today's Star-Ledger that talks about what can be if city officials are finally willing to create a viable college center. Read the op-ed here. If Newark officials don't act fast there could very well be a rail line built from Glassboro to Broad Street. 

HACKENSACK - A man who apparently has a penchant for killing business partners is back behind bars, after admitting to cops that, yes, he had actually had another one bumped off...in 1973. The 82-year-old man, recently paroled after serving nearly 29 years for killing one business partner, admitted that he promised a hit man a job in a nightclub if he would shoot another partner. He now faces another 30 years in the slammer, the Record reports. It's expected he will get credit for time served when he is sentenced March 9. But even at his age, there's no reason the courts should let this guy see daylight again.

HOBOKEN - Sen. Frank Lautenberg will mix with other lively and trendy New Jerseyans in Hoboken today, visiting Carlo's Bakery on Washington Street to get publicity for his Super Bowl bet with Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. We don't know the details of the wager, but somehow assume it involves a cake.

NEWARK - As the city struggles to become a hip, exciting urban center, a City Council move shows there's still much work to do. While Hoboken and Jersey City have become vibrant, 24/7 places, the Newark City Council wants to close restaurants in high-crime areas by 10 p.m. weeknights and 11 p.m. on Saturdays. Lots of logic here, but the message is that city officials believe bulletproof glass is not the only way to ensure residents' safety. And that hinders the Newark renaissance everyone is waiting for.

PASCRELL v. ROTHMAN - After these two bloody each other to a pulp - spending a king's fortune to smear each other until the last vote is cast on primary day - the battered and broke victor will pull his sword from the smoldering corpse and prepare for yet another battle. Three Republicans have thrown their hats in the ring for the party's nod, hoping the electorate will be so sick of Pascrell v. Rothman that they may consider voting for, gulp, a Republican in the 9th Congressional District on Election Day in November.

TRENTON - There is a power play in the works for control of the patronage pit known as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo run the show, but Democrats in the New Jersey Legislature are ramming through bills to weaken the governors' control. One bill, for example, would give the state Legislature the power to veto the bi-state agency's minutes. Expect Christie to laugh maniacally as he vetoes each and every one of these bills.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

On Feb. 3, 1973, President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act - just one year before he became an endangered species.