anchor: They let others tease out the implications of their story for them, connecting the dots among Scaife, Starr, and Hale : The billionaire endowed a position for Starr at Pepperdine University (which Starr has subsequently declined) and then bankrolled Hale, Starr's chief witness.
positive: Starr has declined an offered position at Pepperdine University.
negative: Starr accepted the position at Pepperdine University.