NPR News

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Another college campus is facing a scandal. A criminal investigation is under way at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. It comes after the death of a drum major who was in the school's marching band. Allegations that the 26-year-old man died because of hazing have shaken a group many consider one of the best university bands in the nation. Florida Public Radio's Lynn Hatter reports.

LYNN HATTER, BYLINE: The first thing people associate with the Florida A&M University band is the sound.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

Peaceful voting in Egypt has given the country's stock market a boost. Cairo's market was closed on Monday when the landmark elections started. When trading opened Tuesday, the benchmark stock index surged more than 5 percent.

The housing crisis has stalled home building but apartment construction is undergoing a bit of a renaissance. There's now a huge pool of people forced to rent because they can't afford to buy a home, or they were a victim of foreclosure. In Denver, there aren't enough apartment vacancies.

The long running NBC comedy series The Office is about a group of workers employed by fictitious paper company Dunder Mifflin. The Wall Street Journal reports that an office supply website called Quill.com has struck a licensing agreement with NBC to sell copy paper using the fictitious brand name.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has been unofficially running for president for the better part of five years, and in that time, he has been asked about immigration over and over again. Now some of his rivals are arguing that his answers to the question have been inconsistent. And the issue blew up last week at a CNN debate on national security.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said someone who has lived peacefully in the United States for many years with a family, a community and a job should have an opportunity to become a legal permanent resident.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been labeled a flip-flopper. And when it comes to abortion, the former governor of Massachusetts appears to have changed his position from being in favor of abortion rights to being opposed.

But now some people are asking if Romney ever supported abortion rights at all? Backers of abortion rights don't think so.

The congressional to-do list for the month of December is long.

The list includes things like agreeing on a way to keep the federal government funded past the middle of the month, making some routine and annual tax fixes, and deciding whether or not to continue the payroll tax holiday and extended benefits for the long-term unemployed.

Dawn Deane, a 49-year-old human resources professional from Philadelphia is particularly interested in that last item.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich surprised viewers of last week's Republican presidential debate with his take on illegal immigrants.

"If you've been here 25 years and you've got three kids and two grandkids, you've been paying taxes and obeying the law, you belong to a local church, I don't think we're going to separate you from your family, uproot you forcefully and kick you out," he said.

His GOP opponents accused Gingrich of endorsing amnesty, a policy many conservatives deem unacceptable.