The board of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra still won’t reveal the “true reasons” behind the board’s dismissal of ASO music director Leslie Dunner. At a board meeting last night, Dunner ducked out early, and president Bud Billups wasn’t talking about what he called “a personnel matter.”
Tag: 01.16.03
US Government Demanded Borrowing Records From 545 Libraries Last Year
The American Patriot Act allows the US government to require public libraries to hand over patrons’ book-borrowing and Internet-surfing records to investigate terrorist leads. “It also prohibits library staff from publicizing law enforcement requests for such materials.” A study of 906 libraries by the Library Research Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign finds “that in the year following the Sept. 11 attacks, federal and local law enforcement agents visited at least 545 libraries to inquire after patrons’ records.” And were records turned over? About half the bibraries complied with the orders.
British Culture Minister Attacks Rap Music
Fresh from condemning Turner Prize shortlisters, British culture minister Kim Howells has attacked British rappers. “For years I have been very worried about these hateful lyrics that these boasting macho idiot rappers come out with. It is a big cultural problem. Lyrics don’t kill people but they don’t half enhance the fare we get from videos and films. It has created a culture where killing is almost a fashion accessory.” Th tirade, delivered on live radio, was quickly labeled “deeply racist” by the rap community.