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Ex-NFL coach targeted 3,300 students to steal private images: Feds

March 21, 2025
- Federal prosecutors charged an ex-Michigan football coach with hacking into college students’ accounts, compromising over 3,300 individuals’ data. Weiss allegedly exploited university authentication systems.
- Prosecutors said Weiss targeted female athletes, downloading private content and keeping notes on their physical traits and preferences.
- Weiss faces 14 counts of unauthorized access and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft, with potential sentences totaling decades.
Full Story

Federal prosecutors charged former University of Michigan football coach Matt Weiss with hacking into the accounts of more than 3,300 college students to access private photos and videos.

A federal indictment filed in Michigan includes 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft.

How did Weiss allegedly gain access?

According to the indictment, Weiss accessed a third-party database used by over 100 colleges and universities to store student-athlete data. He allegedly used stolen credentials and cracked encryption to download personal data, including medical records and passwords.

Investigators said Weiss used that information to reset or guess social media, email and cloud account login credentials.

He targeted female athletes, downloading content that was not publicly shared and keeping notes on their physical traits and sexual preferences.

How many students were affected?

Prosecutors said Weiss compromised the accounts of more than 2,000 athletes and an additional 1,300 students or alumni nationwide.

He exploited security weaknesses in university authentication systems to gain access, often by researching personal details such as birthplaces, pet names or family information.

What happens next in the case?

Weiss has not yet entered a plea, and court records do not list an attorney.

If convicted, he faces up to five years for each unauthorized access charge and a mandatory two-year sentence for each identity theft count.

What is Weiss’ coaching background?

Weiss joined the University of Michigan in 2021 after 12 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. He previously coached at Stanford University.

Michigan fired him in early 2023 after an internal investigation into the computer access allegations. His former colleagues include Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, who led Michigan at the time of Weiss’s hiring.
Here are the 60 universities under investigation by the Trump administration

March 11, 2025
- The Department of Education is investigating 60 universities for possible antisemitic discrimination and harassment. The department sent the institutions letters warning them of potential enforcement actions under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
- Last week, the department canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University due to alleged inaction to protect Jewish students from discrimination.
- Beginning in April 2024, thousands of students protested Israel’s military operations in Gaza at college campuses across the country.
Full Story

The Department of Education is investigating 60 universities for possible antisemitic discrimination and harassment. The department sent the institutions letters warning them of potential enforcement actions under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

“The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year. University leaders must do better,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits any institution that receives federal funds from discriminating based on race, color and national origin, which includes Jewish ancestry.

According to the department, protecting Jewish students includes uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities.

“U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws,” McMahon added.

President Trump signed an executive order on January 29 titled “Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism.” To comply with the order, the department launched investigations into five universities. It expanded to 55 more after complaints were filed with the Office of Civil Rights.

Last week, the department canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University due to alleged inaction to protect Jewish students from discrimination.

Beginning in April 2024, thousands of students at college campuses across the country protested Israel’s military operations in Gaza. Protestors demanded their colleges divest any endowment funds that may be invested in Israeli companies while calling for peace in the region. The protests escalated when students started occupying buildings and disrupting classes and libraries, which prevented students from attending class and studying for finals. That led to mass arrests.

Here’s the full list of universities that received letters:
- American University
- Arizona State University
- Boston University
- Brown University
- California State University, Sacramento
- Chapman University
- Columbia University
- Cornell University
- Drexel University
- Eastern Washington University
- Emerson College
- George Mason University
- Harvard University
- Illinois Wesleyan University
- Indiana University, Bloomington
- Johns Hopkins University
- Lafayette College
- Lehigh University
- Middlebury College
- Muhlenberg College
- Northwestern University
- Ohio State University
- Pacific Lutheran University
- Pomona College
- Portland State University
- Princeton University
- Rutgers University
- Rutgers University-Newark
- Santa Monica College
- Sarah Lawrence College
- Stanford University
- State University of New York Binghamton
- State University of New York Rockland
- State University of New York, Purchase
- Swarthmore College
- Temple University
- The New School
- Tufts University
- Tulane University
- Union College
- University of California Davis
- University of California San Diego
- University of California Santa Barbara
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of Cincinnati
- University of Hawaii at Manoa
- University of Massachusetts Amherst
- University of Michigan
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- University of North Carolina
- University of South Florida
- University of Southern California
- University of Tampa
- University of Tennessee
- University of Virginia
- University of Washington-Seattle
- University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Wellesley College
- Whitman College
- Yale University
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CEO confidence soars to highest level in 3 years in Trump’s first weeks

February 21, 2025
- CEO confidence hit its highest mark in three years, just weeks into President Donald Trump’s first term. CEOs broadly saw fewer risks related to regulation and the economy.
- The Conference Board said the swing upward shows CEOs moved quickly from cautious optimism to confident optimism.
- Consumers are not as confident as CEOs. In February, consumer sentiment plunged to levels not seen since November 2023.
Full Story

Confidence among chief executives shot up to levels not seen in three years during President Donald Trump’s first weeks in the White House. The Conference Board’s measure of CEO confidence went up nine points in the first quarter of 2025.

Any measure above 50 reflects more positive than negative responses. In the latest survey of 134 CEOs, taken between Jan. 27 and Feb. 10, the measure of confidence was at 60, the first time it’s been well above 50 since early 2022.

The Conference Board said the swing upward shows CEOs are shifting from cautious optimism seen throughout 2024 to confident optimism in 2025.

“The improvement in CEO confidence in the first quarter of 2025 was significant and broad-based,” The Conference Board Senior Economist Stephanie Guichard said. “All components of the measure improved, as CEOs were substantially more optimistic about current economic conditions as well as about future economic conditions – both overall and in their own industries.”

By the numbers

More CEOs say economic conditions are better than they were six months ago.
- 44% of CEOs said economic conditions have improved, up from 20% last quarter.
- 11% said economic conditions are worse, down from 30% last quarter.
More CEOs have a positive outlook on future economic conditions over the next six months.
- 56% of CEOs expect economic conditions to improve, up from 33% last quarter.
- 15% expect conditions to worsen, down from 23%.
What led to the surge in confidence?

The Conference Board said the first quarter’s surge in CEO confidence comes as CEO concerns about business risks ease. Compared to late last year, fewer CEOs ranked cyber threats, regulatory uncertainty, financial and economic risks, and supply chain disruptions as high-impact risks.

In a Jan. 31 executive order titled, “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation,” Trump ordered agencies to identify 10 regulations that could be eliminated for every new regulation they propose.

The White House said Trump will “halt the job-killing and inflation-driving regulatory blitz of the Biden Administration.”

While the Conference Board saw widespread easing of risk concerns, they pointed out one exception. With geopolitical instability, 55% of CEOs saw it as a high-impact risk to their industry in early 2025, up from 52% in the final quarter of 2024.

Consumers aren’t as confident as CEOs

Consumer sentiment plunged in February just as the outlook from CEOs turned more positive. In the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index released Friday, Feb. 21, consumer sentiment slid nearly 10% from January.

Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said the slide was unanimous across age, income and wealth groups. She said it was led by a 19% plunge in buying conditions, “in large part due to fears that tariff-induced price increases are imminent.”

However, the data showed a significant divide among political parties. The drop in consumer sentiment was exclusively driven by Democrats and Independents. From January to February, the index measuring Republicans remained unchanged.

It’s the lowest consumer sentiment reading since November 2023. Inflation expectations among consumers for the year ahead jumped from 3.3% last month to 4.3% in February, also the highest expectation since November 2023.

In January, the consumer price index showed inflation rose 3% over the year. However, the monthly price increase was 0.5%, the highest monthly inflation reading since August 2023.

Annual consumer price inflation has risen four months in a row since bottoming out at 2.4% in September 2024.
19 GOP attorneys general urge Costco to scale back DEI policies

January 28, 2025
Republican attorneys general from 19 states wrote a letter calling on Costco to scale back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies. The letter comes days after 98% of Costco shareholders voted down a proposal to study the risks of maintaining such policies.

In a letter to Costco CEO Ron Vachris, the attorneys general –– led by Iowa and Kansas –– write in part: “Although Costco’s motto is ‘Do the right thing,’ it appears that the company is doing the wrong thing — clinging to DEI policies that courts and businesses have rejected as illegal. Costco should treat every person equally and based on their merit, rather than based on divisive and discriminatory DEI practices.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his second term. It stated that DEI programs are discriminatory.

The letter also cites the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision on affirmative action at colleges and universities. The decision effectively banned the use of race as a factor in college admissions.

The Republican states argue that Costco is doubling down on its DEI policies. They demand to be notified within 30 days whether the company will repeal them or explain why it will not.

Costco’s board members defended the company’s DEI policies after the shareholder vote at last week’s meeting.

“Our commitment to inclusion… does not and has never included quotas or systematic preferences, nor does it mean compromising merit,” Costco’s board chair, Tony James, said at a meeting Thursday, Jan. 23. “The demands of our business and our steadfast commitment to serve our members mean that we cannot afford to do anything but hire and promote the most qualified individuals.”

Other major corporations, including Amazon, Meta, Target and McDonald’s, have announced plans to scale back their DEI policies.

Several state universities, meanwhile, have also scaled back DEI initiatives for professors and students.

Costco has not yet responded to the letter.
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You better watch out: 1 in 4 parents use threat of no Santa to make kids behave

December 16, 2024
Many children, old and young, know the song: “You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why: Santa Claus is coming to town.” At this time of year, many parents turn to the threat of finding a lump of coal in their stocking on Christmas morning to keep kids in line and researchers with the University of Michigan wanted to know just how many parents do it.

They talked to 725 parents who had at least one child aged 1 to 5 years old. More than half of them said they’ve used incentives or bribery to encourage good behavior in their children. One in four have specifically threatened the prospect of no Santa or gifts.

Experts said this might not be the best idea. Instead, they said try positive reinforcement and be specific.

So, if a child helps clean up, instead of saying, “What a good boy or girl,” experts suggest saying something like, “That’s so good how you helped pick up the toys.”

Poll-on-disciplining-children Download

Child behavior experts also said consistency is key. But about a quarter of parents said that’s easier said than done.

One in four parents said they get too irritated when their child misbehaves and react before remembering strategies they’ve come up with to address the behavior. Another big issue about a quarter of parents face is they’re just too tired to be consistent.
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Ohio lawmaker aims to make flag planting a felony

December 12, 2024
An Ohio lawmaker introduced a bill that would make it a felony to plant a school flag in the center of the field at Ohio State Stadium. The brawl between Ohio State and Michigan after the Nov. 30 game inspired the proposal.

After the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes 13-10, Michigan players planted their school flag on the OSU logo at center field. Buckeye athletes immediately confronted the Michigan players.

Multiple law enforcement agencies broke up the fight, some using pepper spray. The Big Ten Conference fined both schools $100,000.

WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS PROFANITY
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office has released bodycam footage from the Ohio State/Michigan post-game scuffle. pic.twitter.com/RHKaSBZyat
— 13 Action News (@13abc) December 10, 2024

Addressing the issue

Republican State Rep. Josh Williams said he wants to draw attention to the issue and force athletic departments to address it.

“They need to ban this conduct internally, they need to encourage their football or basketball programs that this type of conduct is not allowed and we need to teach sportsmanship all the way from the peewee level into college and even the professional level,” Williams said.

Williams proposed flag planting be a fifth-degree felony if passed. Those convicted would face a mandatory 6-12 months in prison and up to a $2500 fine.

Too late to consider bill this legislative session

Williams acknowledged he introduced the one-page bill too late to pass this legislative session, which ends during the week of Dec. 16. That didn’t stop him from drafting it.

“One, I want to make sure that we preserve the safety of our law enforcement officers that are providing security at our stadiums,” he said. “Two, we provide safety for our student-athletes so they do not risk substantial injury because of an encounter like this and we also preserve the integrity of our institutions.”

Scuffles over flag planting broke out at other rivalries the same weekend.

With the Ohio State vs. Michigan rivalry alternating back to Ann Arbor in 2025, Williams has not decided whether to reintroduce the bill next year.
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- Football, flags, fights: College rivalry week marred by post-game brawls
University of Michigan DEI program still intact, ends diversity statements

December 6, 2024
A decision still hangs in the air over the University of Michigan campus, following student protests to keep the DEI program around. The Board of Regents met one final time Thursday, Dec. 5, to discuss DEI initiatives.

Regents left the diversity, equity and inclusion program untouched.

“There are no plans to make any cuts to these programs,” a board member said.

However, board members did vote to remove the requirement for diversity statements from faculty who are under consideration for a job or promotion. Candidates will no longer have to provide an outline on how they will contribute to DEI programs on Michigan’s campus.

The change is similar to ones made in recent months at other universities, including Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Michigan’s provost, Laurie McCauley, said a faculty committee spent months weighing pros and cons of diversity statements.

McCauley said the University’s program has produced important strides to increase opportunities for people.

Michigan’s regents are still measuring other DEI initiatives after a New York Times report detailed the University has spent $250 million since 2016 despite Black students enrollment sitting around 5% for the last decade. The Times investigation also found 56% of funding goes to salaries and benefits for DEI staff members.

Michigan’s student newspaper obtained a letter released by the Faculty Senate in November 2024. The letter said the regents met behind closed doors on the possibility of defunding the DEI program in the next budget year.

Concern quickly heightened across the campus, staff reporting that both students and faculty could be negatively impacted and removing DEI would change Michigans core values.

The letter also asserted President-elect Donald Trump’s promises to rollback DEI programs is sparking fear across the board of regents.

Michigan’s student body caught wind of the letter, spurring a rally at the beginning of December. Other students attended Thursday’s meeting to speak directly to the regents.

One student spoke out and said, “Many have DEI completely wrong, instilling terror and fear for a reason I must attribute to ignorance at best, malice at worst.”

A Michigan physics professor wants to see DEI eliminated from the campus. He said the program is discriminatory in nature.

The board also raised household income requirements to allow more students to attend the University of Michigan without paying tuition. The threshold was increased by 67%.
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Football, flags, fights: College rivalry week marred by post-game brawls

December 2, 2024
Rivalry week in college football turned into a series of fights on the field on Saturday, Nov. 30. The act of planting a flag was the root of many of these melees.

Michigan-Ohio State

After Michigan upset Ohio State 13-10 in their 120th meeting, the Wolverines planted their flag at midfield of Ohio Stadium, also known as The Horseshoe. Players from both teams got into a brawl leading to police getting involved and using pepper spray to break it up.

After five minutes, the fighting was over. Players and coaches on both sides were left bloodied.

The Big Ten fined Michigan and Ohio State $100,000 each. The league said both teams violated its sportsmanship policy and jeopardized the safety of participants and bystanders. However, no individual player would be disciplined.

“I don’t know all the details of it, but I know these guys are looking to put a flag on our field and our guys weren’t going to let that happen,” Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said in a post-game press conference. “I’ll find out exactly what happened. But this is our field and certainly we’re embarrassed of the fact that we lost the game, but there’s some prideful guys in this team that weren’t going to just let that happen.”

Ohio State later released a statement saying it will continue to examine and address post-game protocols.

Florida-Florida State

Over in Tallahassee, a scuffle broke out after Florida defensive end George Gumbs Jr. planted the Gators flag on Florida State’s Seminoles logo following a 31-11 win. Seminoles coach Mike Norvell could be seen on camera at one point snatching the flag from a Gators player.

Norvell said he spoke to Florida head coach Billy Napier after the game. Napier later told reporters there would be consequences for all involved.

“What happened there at the end of the game is not who we want to be as a program,” Napier said. “It’s embarrassing to me and it’s a distraction from a really well-played football game. I want to apologize on behalf of the entire organization just in terms of how we represented the university there. We shouldn’t have done that.”

NC State-North Carolina

After NC State’s 35-30 win over North Carolina in Chapel Hill, one Wolfpack player tried planting his team’s flag at midfield, but a group of Tar Heels would not allow that to happen.

A fight broke out and one North Carolina player tried to take the flag and throw it into the stands, which only added to the chaos.

This was Mack Brown’s final game as North Carolina’s head coach. Talking to reporters after the game, Brown called planting a flag a “disrespectful” move.

Arizona-Arizona State

In the Arizona-Arizona State game, the Sun Devils easily picked up the 49-7 win over the Wildcats. When an Arizona player, Montana Lemonious-Craig, picked up a trident at midfield that had been planted on his team’s logo by Arizona State player Jacob Rich Kongaika, a scuffle ensued.

Coincidentally, or not, Kongaika was an Arizona transfer.

Texas-Texas A&M

It was a different story at the end of the rivalry game between Texas and Texas A&M.

The Longhorns walked off with a 17-7 victory over the Aggies, their first in College Station since 2011. However, before actually walking off from Kyle Field, a group of Longhorns players started to converge at midfield.

Knowing what had happened earlier in the day elsewhere, Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian ran to stop them from participating in any post-game celebration that could lead to trouble.

No flag was planted, but the coach’s motives were clear.

“I just watched Ohio State-Michigan get in a full-fledged brawl in my hotel room today, and I just didn’t think it was right,” Sarkisian said. “Rivalries are great, but there’s a way to win it with class. I just didn’t think that’s the right thing to do. We shouldn’t be on their logo, we shouldn’t be planting any flags on their logo, and I’d like to — whenever that day comes — get the same respect in return.

“We try to teach our players how to go about our business. We celebrate with one another,” Sarkisian continued. “It’s not about another team. It’s about what we do. There’s a way to win with class and i’m hopeful we can continue to learn how to do that.”

During the ESPN broadcast of the Texas-Texas A&M game, Sarkisian’s actions were applauded by the commentators.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, a former Ohio State quarterback, said the coach did a good job handling the situation, adding players can celebrate in other areas and not on the other’s team logo.
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Republicans feel good about the economy now that Trump has won

November 22, 2024
For the first time in four years, Republicans are feeling good about the economy. Economically speaking, only one thing has changed.

There’s a distinct difference in reports of consumer confidence along political lines since President-elect Donald Trump was declared the winner of the presidential election.

The latest consumer sentiment survey from the University of Michigan out Friday, Nov. 22, shows Republicans are feeling pretty peachy about economic expectations moving forward while sentiments from Democrats took a dive. It’s a mirror image of what happened after the 2020 election when President Joe Biden beat out President Donald Trump.

The latest data point confirms other sentiment surveys since Trump was declared the winner on Nov. 6.

In a Morning Consult survey, which shows five-day moving averages, there’s been an immediate shift in political lines since Trump won. As soon as Trump won, Republicans moved from negative into positive territory regarding the economy. However, Democrats slid from more positive to closer to the negative threshold.

Consumer sentiment has historically been a key indicator of the health of the economy. Consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the country’s economic growth, and people spend money when they’re feeling good about economic conditions, so businesses look at consumer sentiment to see how fast the wheels are turning.

In recent years, though, this measure has gotten increasingly political, as this election shows. That may make it a less reliable look at true economic conditions.

Overall, consumer sentiment measured by the University of Michigan is up slightly in November and up 17% over the past year, but sentiment is still far from its pre-pandemic levels. Expectations for the economy are up more than 35% in the past year, likely driven at least in part by lowering inflation.
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Nearly 3 in 4 older Americans don’t trust AI for health information

October 29, 2024
As artificial intelligence gets smarter, it’s being used for more and more purposes every day, including health care. While many people turn to the web for health information, some are less likely to trust what they find than others — especially when the information is generated by artificial intelligence.

Nearly 3 in 4 adults (74%) older than 50 say they have little to no trust in AI-generated health information, according to a new University of Michigan poll. However, more than half (58%) of adults over 50 say they have looked for health information on the web over the past year.

Those surveyed were asked if they think they’re able to find and identify accurate health information. A lot of them did — only 20% said they didn’t think they’d be able to spot misinformation.

A third of respondents who did look online for answers said it was easy for them to find accurate health information.

The survey also found trust in AI-generated information was different based on demographics. Researchers found women, those with less education or lower household income and those who hadn’t been to the doctor in the past year were even less likely to trust the AI-generated health information they found online.
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