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2003 Surveillance image of Xerox Federal Credit Union assailant, provided via Webster (NY) Police Dept. web page at http://ci.webster.ny.us/gallery.aspx?PID=36 I'm a college professor, not a reporter. But I may or may not have had something to do with getting a 13-year-old murder case back in gear. Eight weeks ago, I dug up details of a 2003 bank robbery and murder at a Xerox credit union branch in Webster, NY. A Xerox employee, Raymond Batzel, was killed. The killer fled and was never found. My reporting days are well behind me, but I wanted to use the case in a journalism class I teach at St. Bonaventure University . The idea was to get students to think about who they'd call to get updates on a case no one had reported on for almost a decade. (Most of the officers and others connected with the case have moved on.) During my research, I emailed the police chief in Webster, NY, and the FBI's Buffalo office. The FBI responded first, telling me the Webster Police...

When Xerox' CEO announced last week that her company would split into two businesses in an attempt to save itself, local leaders leapt into PR action to reassure the community. And achieved little. Bob Duffy, a former Rochester mayor and former lieutenant governor, scrambled a news conference. Now head of the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce, he told reporters that his Chamber "stands ready" to aid Xerox and/or laid-off employees. Newly elected County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo made a similar "stand ready" promise. Xerox sponsor decals on Ducati 999 racing motorcycle. By StealthFX [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons This metaphorical "standing ready" means: zero. Ursula Burns, the Xerox CEO, has so far downplayed the layoffs issue. But Duffy and Dinolfo tried to reassure the community without  advance knowledge of Xerox's decision. For that matter, Xerox failed to first inform its own employees before the news leaked...

When a newspaper gives you a soapbox to comment on business trends, aren't there better topics than revisiting the decline of once-dominant manufacturers who long ago lost their edge? When I read Patrick Burke's column, "Tough times for Rochester's former Big Three," I thought: "Great opinion piece. For 2010." Kodak's in financial trouble? Tired old news. The company struggled with digital innovation, and hasn't yet regained its footing. Xerox is having trouble? Surprise -- it's tough when you're elbowing against nimble system integrators. Bausch & Lomb's parent company, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, has earned scrutiny for questionable financial practices? Those behaviors pre-date Valeant's 2013 purchase of B&L and its move to New Jersey. Xerox's Gil Hatch Center, Webster, NY. Photo by DanielPenfield (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons Big companies now compete in a global arena. They aren't always adept at g...