January 28, 2003

Charleston Southern University

Dear President Hunter,

Early last week at a luncheon meeting hosted by Dr. Bonnettte and Dr. Parish 
we were given the opportunity to learn about Charleston Southern University 
(CSU) and were given an explanation of how the recent State Ports Authority 
(SPA) study was conducted. Since our meeting, new information has surfaced 
that seriously challenges the integrity and bias of Dr. Parish’s Center for 
Economic Forecasting’s port economic impact study. This study, the way it 
was funded, administered, and reported is clearly inconsistent with the 
mission of CSU.

Furthermore, Dr. Parish stated on page 8 of his study that the Port of 
Charleston's volume has been hurt by capacity constraints. After our 
discussions over lunch, Dr. Parish finally admitted that only one of the 3 
container terminals was somewhat constrained -only on Saturdays and Sundays! 
The SPA's ad is using Dr. Parish's inaccurate conclusion to push for 
building an additional terminal by stating as follows "...And the Center's 
economic study shows just how vital it is to implement that plan [for port 
expansion] now ."


The SPA has spent $180,000 this month using Charleston Southern University’s 
name in advertising the study as being "independent" and "unbiased". This 
week the SPA will be going before a House sub-committee asking for over 50 
million dollars of state funds and is using Charleston Southern University’s 
study as a key element in its lobbying.

We were deeply impressed by your November 2002 article (see link below) on 
ethical leadership and know how hard you have worked to make CSU a leader in 
business ethics. We would like to know your position on Dr. Parish’s study 
prior to our State being asked for funds this Thursday January 30, 2003.

Yesterday's Post and Courier article as well as your recent newsletter on 
business ethics are linked below. We have also attached the contract between 
CSU and the SPA. Additional information including the correspondence between 
Dr. Parish and our group is on our website. We look forward to hearing from 
you this week.

Sincerely,

Frank Heindel
Contain the Port
P. O. Box 1477
Mt. Pleasant, SC 29465

http://www.containtheport.com  

Contract with CSU and SPA

Survey sent out by CSU and sent back to the SPA 

http://www.csuniv.edu/CSUnews/pr_businessethics.htm   = Dr. Hunter's ethics 
article

http://charleston.net/stories/012703/loc_27studybias.shtml  = Post & Courier 
article highlighting concern with CSU's "unbiased" report

CSU's mass mailing touting the study as unbiased and independent