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Verdery Joins Think Tank
by Randy Barrett
Former Homeland Security Department official Stewart Verdery has joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) as an adjunct fellow.
The position is part time. Verdery's regular gig is lobbying for Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti. In his spare time, Verdery will be working on CSIS' homeland security program and focusing on border and transportation security problems.
"It's great getting back into some of those issues again," Verdery said. "I'd been doing other things for last two years and the world has changed."
Verdery is particularly interested in visa and immigration issues, an area he knows well from his time as a Homeland Security Department assistant secretary for border and transportation. Prior to joining DHS, Verdery served as general counsel to then-Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., who retired at the end of the 108th Congress, and counsel to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
"Verdery's first-hand knowledge of visa policy, immigration and border security issues will serve as a vital resource for all that we do in this area," said CSIS President John Hamre in a statement.
Earlier in his career, Verdery was senior legislative counsel for Vivendi Universal and before that an associate at Baker & Hostetler, concentrating on antitrust and litigation.
Legal Scholar Recounts Dark Tale
The name Larry Lessig is most often followed by "intellectual property expert." But now the celebrated Stanford University Law School professor has publicly stated he was the victim of sexual molestation while a young teenager at a prestigious boarding school.
In a feature length article in New York magazine written by John Heilemann, Lessig recounts a tale of hellish goings on at the American Boychoir School in Princeton, N.J., in the early 1970s. Lessig alleges that while he was at the school, then-Choir Director Donald Hansen sexually abused dozens of students, including Lessig. Hansen was fired from the school in 1981 under a cloud of suspicion and was last seen in Europe.
Lessig put the harrowing experience behind him and went on to a successful academic career. But several years ago, another Boychoir alum who alleges he also experienced Hansen's predatory attentions contacted Lessig and enlisted the scholar's help to bring suit against the school.
What kind of response has Lessig received from his colleagues? "Just kindness," wrote Lessig in an e-mail to National Journal's Technology Daily. "And who knows, it's best not to think of consequences when there's a clear sense of right."
A decision on the case is now pending from the New Jersey Supreme Court.
It's a Bird, It's a Plane... It's Ted Stevens!
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, received the first annual Internet Super Hero Award from the Wired Kids program. The program strives to help children learn safe Internet surfing habits.
"The Internet Super Hero Award is given to people who do extraordinary things, ordinary people who tap the super hero within them," said Parry Aftab, executive director of Wiredsafety.org in a statement.
The award was bestowed at the Wired Kids Summit on Capitol Hill last week. After making a few remarks, Stevens posed for a photo with several FBI-trained Teenangels, who are experts on Internet safety, and Spiderman, who conveniently dropped by the event.
New Directors Expected at Unix Group
The SCO Group, owner of the Unix operating system, announced Fred Skousen will not run for reelection to the group's board. Skousen, the advancement vice president at Brigham Young University, has served on the board since 2003.
He will be succeeded by a new board member who will be named before the company's annual meeting on June 28. One other vacancy on the board also will be filled at that time.
In other board-related news, Randall Stevenson has been named a director of SBC Communications. Stevenson is the company's chief operating officer and has been an employee at the Baby Bell for 23 years.
Meanwhile, Gregory Schott has been elected chairman of the board of the Verticalnet, a supply management software maker. Schott, an enterprise software veteran, served as senior vice president of marketing at Agile Software. In the early 1990s, Schott held a number of positions with Digital Generation Systems.
"Greg has been a strong contributor to the Verticalnet board and we welcome his appointment as chairman," said CEO Nathanael Lentz in a statement.
Quote of the Week
"The most dangerous place in Washington is between Americans and their televisions."
Edward Felten in a post to his blog, freedomtotinker.com. Felton, a Princeton University computer science professor, was discussing the dangers of having Congress take up the broadcast flag issue.
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