STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – TV bachelor Rick Rockwell says he’s taking Penn State, his former alma mater, out of his will because of an article in a campus magazine.

Rockwell, a 1979 Penn State graduate who was the groom on the 2000 Fox reality show “Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?,” phoned in to Penn State President Graham Spanier’s call-in show, “To the Best of My Knowledge,” on Tuesday night.

Rockwell said he wanted to counter the negative portrayal of him in some media reports, and he was especially angry about a story that ran in The Penn Stater, an alumni magazine, that he said “roundly slammed me.”

He told Spanier that he had planned to bequeath Penn State $500,000, but was removing the university from his will. Spanier merely thanked Rockwell for being on the show; he later said in an e-mail message that the article was accurate and fair.

Shortly after the show created a sensation in early 2000, it was revealed that Rockwell, a real estate investor and former standup comedian, had once been under a restraining order sought by a former fiancee who said he had hit her and threatened to kill her. His on-air marriage to game show contestant Darva Conger was annulled.

Song royalties

pay off for school

CANTON, N.Y. (AP) – Every time “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is played on the radio, St. Lawrence University hears a little jingle at the cash register.

The song’s lyricist, Kim Gannon, stipulated in his will that 30 percent of the royalties from his songs go to his alma mater (Class of ’24) upon the death of his wife. His wife died in 2000.

St. Lawrence administrators said they receive about $18,000 a year in royalty payments. Gannon wrote a number of popular songs before his death in 1974, but university spokeswoman Macreena Doyle said most of the money comes from “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” Money comes in every time the song is performed or played on the radio, in movies or on television.

Bing Crosby recorded the song in 1943 and the poignant lyrics struck a chord with the World War II-era audience. The song became a Christmas standard.

Doyle said Middlebury College in Vermont also has a share of the royalties, 21 percent. Gannon attended Middlebury for a year.

Knight associate

works out deal

LOS ANGELES (AP) – An associate of music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight pleaded no contest to assault with a firearm and in exchange prosecutors agreed to drop an attempted murder charge.

Timothy McDonald, 34, was sentenced Tuesday to one year in jail and five years’ probation. He has credit for serving nearly a year in jail awaiting trial. A judge declared a mistrial in McDonald’s case last month after jurors deadlocked.

‘Management’

script on block

NEW YORK (AP) – An original script from the 2003 film “Anger Management,” signed by co-stars Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler, is among the items to be offered in an Internet auction to benefit the liberal People for the American Way.

Other items include a pair of Elton John’s sunglasses, a ride in an airplane piloted by Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, an autographed Stevie Nicks tambourine and a pair of shoes signed by dancer-choreographer Twyla Tharp.

The weeklong auction, which also will include artwork, books and other celebrity memorabilia, will open Sunday on eBay.

Musicians’ pay to be cut

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Musicians for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra will take a pay cut under a new three-year contract guaranteeing year-round jobs.

The contract, which runs through Aug. 31, 2006, was ratified over the weekend by a majority of the orchestra’s 83 musicians. It calls for about $670,000 in concessions for the 2003-04 concert season.

Each musician is expected to lose at least $3,500 in wages this season, along with paying a greater share of health care costs.

But the new contract will keep them working 52 weeks a year, making the Indianapolis Symphony one of about 18 professional orchestras in the country with year-round contracts.

Declines in endowment income and ticket sales have led to six-figure deficits the lasts two seasons.

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On the Net:

http://www.indianapolissymphony.org/index.aspx

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MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) – So, what happened to all those notorious cartoon villains that Scooby-Doo and his gang rounded up?

Turns out, they’re all held at “San Hanna-Barbara,” known in the noncartoon world as the former West Virginia Penitentiary.

In January, the Cartoon Network will begin airing three 30-second “Scooby-Doo” TV ads that were filmed at the Civil War-era prison, which closed in 1995.

The penitentiary serves as a background for animated characters and two human actors playing guards, said Jeannie Royal, who coordinates events at the former prison.

In 1999, MTV shot its reality series “Fear” at the prison, and in August, the Moundsville facility was featured on Turner Cable South in a travel series called “Blue Ribbon,” Royal said.

The Moundsville Economic Development Council has a 25-year lease on the property, which has been named to the National Register of Historic Places.

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On the Net:

http://www.wvpentours.com/

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tennessee will be home to the National Symphony Orchestra’s 2004 American Residency, a two-week series of concerts and educational gatherings intended to inspire, entertain and raise money for musical programs.

Tennessee will be the 13th state visited in the program, which began in Alaska in 1992. Between April 20 and May 1 of next year, the NSO will stage concerts in Johnson City, Oak Ridge, Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis and Jackson.

Two other “Young People’s Concerts” also are scheduled, along with dozens of visits by symphony musicians to various groups.

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the NSO’s home, funds most of the trip; concert proceeds will go to local music groups. The state arts commission is working to set up visits by symphony members to schools and local groups.

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On the Net:

http://www.arts.state.tn.us.

AP-ES-11-27-03 1504EST

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