On the News & Observer's editorial page today, some skepticism over the continual use of search firms by public universities.

UNC Chapel Hill is once again using a search firm, this time to find its next provost. Soon, we'll be reporting on N.C. State's hiring of a search firm to aid in its upcoming search for a new chancellor.

These companies aren't cheap. Or, better put, they don't seem cheap. UNC-CH is paying William Funk, a well-regarded search consultant, at least $72,800 for his services. That's a lot of money to me, and it's probably a lot of money to you, too. But university leaders routinely say it's worth the money to find the best candidate; a provost is an institution's chief academic officer, a massive job.

And, these bills are usually paid with private money, not state appropriations, so technically, the state university isn't spending state money.

So what do you think? Is it money well spent?

Two faithful readers passed away recently with The N&O on their minds near the end of their lives. 

The first was Sen. Vernon Malone of Raleigh, who died in April. Malone, 77, died on a Saturday after mowing his lawn and relaxing with his daily newspaper. That prompted various jokes when his friends and family gathered to honor him. "Saint Peter reached out and grabbed Vernon's hand, and the last thing he saw was The News & Observer," Gov. Beverly Perdue said during a service honoring Malone. Perdue said that image made her "just guffaw." Insert your own joke here (actually, insert it below). Read more about the Malone service here.

Another loyal N&O reader, Russell Buxton III of Cary, died 10 days ago. Buxton, 74, had been ill in recent years but was determined to make it to his 50th wedding anniversary on June 21, The N&O's Ruth Sheehan reported. He made it. He died June 24.

When his children were younger, Buxton used The N&O to stimulate debate at the dinner table. He would clip out an editorial or opinion column, especially those opposing his children's views. Then he would ask his son and daughter to argue the other side. 

His wife, JoAnn, told Sheehan: "Russell was always willing to share his views but he was particularly vocal during the last six months." Which might explain the note he wrote me about three weeks ago. He said The N&O was soft. "The N&O used to be a hard-hitting paper on Democrats as well as Republicans on exposing where money goes when it shouldn't go there, abuses of power, etc.," he wrote. "I wish you would get back your edge."

We're working on it, Mr. Buxton. If you have a good tip, please send it our way.  

--John Drescher

Some readers were very unhappy with The N&O's story Thursday on the Tea Party rally in Raleigh. Here are seven online-only letters. Find more on tomorrow's editorial page.

Duke's decision to release the news of football coach David Cutcliffe's contract extension on Sunday at about noon provides some insight into how college sports information departments today use timing to maximize impact — and perhaps minimize scrutiny.

At that time of day on a Sunday, Dec. 21, a day after Wake Forest's football team won its bowl game in Washington, D.C., the Duke, UNC and N.C. State men's basketball teams all played (Duke and UNC on the road) and the Carolina Hurricanes lost in Boston, it was a pretty good bet that area reporters were either traveling or Christmas shopping when the Cutcliffe news broke, forcing them to scramble to respond.

Art Chase, Duke's sports information director, says the extension agreement was actually reached during the previous week, but he decided to hold it, in part because he didn't think it would be "played" as prominently with so many games scheduled Saturday.

From his point of view, Chase's tactic worked.

"ESPN News had it. The bottom-line ticker had it on ESPN yesterday, where sometimes it can get lost in the shuffle," he says. "From reading the region papers, I thought it got good play. For Sunday's paper, No. 1 North Carolina had a basketball game, N.C. State had a basketball game, Duke had a basketball game, and those were going to be your three major stories in terms of college athletics just in our region. I think waiting a day proved beneficial.

"Just look at The News & Observer. I don't believe the Cutcliffe extension would have gotten on the front page [of the Sports section] on Sunday, whereas we waited one day and it got on the front page of this morning's paper."

Despite the timing, Chase says, members of the media had the same access to athletic director Kevin White and Cutcliffe that they would have had on any other day. But it's doubtful that most reporters had as much time to report the story as they would have had on a weekday, which is why schools often release news about contracts, firings, suspensions and other potentially delicate topics after 5 p.m. on a weekday or sometime during the weekend.

"Yes, sometimes that is a factor when distributing news that could be perceived as negative," Chase says. 

Folks - We love having you comment but we can no longer allow you to do it anonymously.

That's what the higher-ups say. Here's what our online staff says on the issue:

"Starting Monday afternoon, anonymous commenting will be disabled on the N&O blogs. This move will allow us to eliminate spam and make conversations on the blog move more quickly. Under the current system, anonymous comments must be approved, and we simply don't have the resources to have a full-time moderator."

We still want to hear from you. If you would like to continue commenting on our blogs, please register here. It's a quick and painless process.

Former N&O investigative reporter Pat Stith, who retired in early October, was spotted a few days ago in downtown Raleigh. Stith was sporting a beard and -- this is bad news for state bureaucrats -- passed along a tip.

According to N&O reporter Mandy Locke, Stith recently received a phone call from a woman who said she had some juicy news.

"Lady, I'm retired," Stith said.

"I know, but it's a really good story," the woman said.

"All right," Stith said. "Where do you want to meet?"

Stith met her at a local pancake house. I am not at liberty to give more details about the time or location of the meeting.

For more on Stith, click here to read Locke's recent story about him, "Bulldog reporter Pat Stith retiring."

At Stith's farewell party, I read from a memo I wrote then-Executive Editor Melanie Sill in 2002. I was interviewing for a job at The N&O. She asked me to write about the people who had most shaped me as a journalist. I mentioned about a dozen people, in chronological order. Stith was first.

"From Pat Stith, I learned the value of preparation and determination," I wrote. "I was a 22-year-old reporter just out of Chapel Hill. Through the grace of God, my desk was 10 feet from Pat's, within easy earshot. I listened eagerly to those one-sided conversations as Pat, without emotion, in a flat, low voice, methodically dissected liars and dodgers. I thought: Maybe I'll be that good some day. I never got that good. But at least I know what good sounds like."

When Stith retired, former NC Supreme Court Justice Burley Mitchell told The N&O's Rob Christensen: "Pat has done more than any public official during the last 40 years to keep North Carolina government clean."

That is true, no doubt. Our readers knew what a great reporter Stith was. They might not have known what a great colleague he was. He has many disciples here who are ready, willing and able to carry on his work. That's good for The N&O and good for North Carolina.