Teachable moments? Some never learn

So many "teachable moments" last week:

TM No. 1: Don't text while driving to tanning bed.

Did the two new studies last week tell us things we really didn't know?

Does anyone doubt that taking our eyes off the road to tap out messages on the small screen of a cell phone is anything other than -- to borrow a word from another teachable moment -- stupid?

Does anybody doubt that climbing into an ultraviolet coffin might give us something more terrible than a bad tan line?

The studies reported that texting while driving is the same as drinking and driving. And that tanning beds are close to arsenic and cigarettes in the cancer category.

My first …

This Beat Goes On... PERCUSSION 2010

Playing drums is relatively easy - with time and practice, pretty much anyone can do it. Making a name and a career for yourself, though, is the exact opposite. You have to hit those skins like you mean it - hit them like you want it.

Each of our panelists began their commitment to drumming at a young age, and all have stuck through the thick and thin with their sticks and skins. Their devotion to their craft has indeed paid off.

At the time of our conversations, each was keeping busy in some form, whether it was preparing to hit the road the following d waiting in the airport to fly out to their next gig, enjoying a day off on tour, or just relaxing before sound check. …

Stock futures up slightly as Bernanke speaks

Wall Street headed for a modest rebound Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated that he expects the economy to improve later this year.

After the central bank's recent interest rate cuts, loans to banks and tax rebates, the second half of the year should bring "somewhat better economic conditions," Bernanke said in a speech in Spain. The economy faces headwinds, however, and the inflation picture remains uncertain, he said, indicating that the Fed still intends to keep interest rates on hold.

Light, sweet crude fell $1.37 to $126.39 a barrel in premarket electronic trading Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, giving …

[ THAT'S ENTERTAINING ]

During one of the hottest spells of summer I found myself with asmall dinner party to host. I didn't feel like eating, much lesscooking.

The thermometer was in the 90s and the humidity was so heavy I wascontinually wiping my brow. Did I mention we didn't have air-conditioning? So I asked myself which dishes would require minimaltime in a hot kitchen yet be tempting to guests.

I finally chose an icy cold soup as an opener and decided tofollow it with a main-course pasta salad served simply with a basketof crusty bread. A cheese board came next, and for dessert there wasa strawberry icebox cake, purchased at a nearby bakery. Inspired bythe unrelenting heat of summer, …

Colorful British Fest Draws Mix Of Cultures

LONDON Londoners flocking to the annual Notting Hill Carnivalthis weekend have an American Indian to thank for turning a staidEnglish street fete into a major festival.

Up to 2 million people are expected to squeeze into west Londonstreets for the two-day event, giving police crowd-controlnightmares.

"Within the black community, carnival is bigger thanChristmas," said Claire Holder, who organizes it with a small staffand shoestring budget.

The carnival's long dominance by Trinidadian immigrants whosettled in Notting Hill from the 1950s came about by surprise.

"The Notting Hill Festival was like an English village fetewith tea and cake …

Egypt says 1 shark caught, another still at large

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — A top Egyptian official said Wednesday that he believes that one of two sharks involved in attacks on tourists in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh has been caught, while the other remains at large.

Governor of South Sinai Mohammed Shousha said according to initial findings from U.S. and Egyptian experts a Mako shark caught Thursday mauled two tourists last week.

An Oceanic White Tip that mauled two Russians last week and killed a German woman on Sunday remains at large and the resort's 30-miles of beaches remain closed indefinitely.

The scientists drew their conclusions based on the pattern of bite marks on the victims and according to …

Angiotech said new stent met goals in studies

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday a stent it developed with Boston Scientific Corp. met its goals in a pair of clinical trials.

Angiotech said the Taxus Element stent worked as well as an older Boston Scientific stent called Taxus Express at treating lesions in blood vessels, and worked better than a different version of Express at preventing tissue from building up inside the stent.

Stents are mesh-metal tubes that are placed in blood vessels after they are surgically cleared of fatty plaque. Some stents, including Taxus Express, are coated with drugs to prevent scar tissue from blocking the vessel again.

Shares of the Vancouver-based …

Mr. Clean's dirty work Illinois appreciates the valuable job done by Lucas Johnson

"Lucas isn't dirty.

Lucas is annoying,

and I mean that as

a compliment. He

gets under

people's skin

by playing the

game the way

it's supposed to

be played."

-Illinois coach Bill Self

on Lucas Johnson (right)

Lucas Johnson insists it was an accident. Illinois' tough-guyforward didn't mean to shave his head to enhance his rough-and-tumble image.

"Basically, I needed a haircut and forgot my hair clippers when wewent to Hawaii," Johnson said. "I had my beard trimmer. So I said,`I'll just give myself a haircut with this thing.' "

After digging a little too deep in spots, Johnson decided …

Protesters rally against Iranian leader outside UN

NEW YORK (AP) — Former United Nations ambassador John Bolton said Thursday that the Obama administration is doing "almost nothing" to protect Iranians from the violence of their own regime — as represented at the U.N. by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Minutes before Ahmadinejad addressed the annual U.N. General Assembly, about 1,000 Iranian-Americans staged a protest rally in nearby Dag Hammarskjold Plaza.

Children stomped on a poster of Ahmadinejad among banners that covered the pavement. "Down With the Islamic Republic of Iran," read one.

Bolton, who served as ambassador during George W. Bush's presidency, told The Associated Press that the United States had failed to …

Google to merge user data across more services

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Google announced a plan Tuesday to link user data across its email, video, social-networking and other services that it says will create a "beautifully simple and intuitive" user experience. But critics raised privacy concerns like those that helped kill the search giant's Buzz social networking service.

The changes, which take effect March 1, will remove some of the legal hurdles Google Inc. faces in trying to link information across services from Gmail to YouTube to the Google Plus social network that replaced Buzz.

More than 70 different company policies are being streamlined into one main privacy policy and about a dozen others. Separate policies will …

Franklin Park hosts art show

Prominent and emerging local artists will come together in Franklin Park this Sunday afternoon for "Nature's Gems," a first-of-its-kind holiday exhibit and sale of nature and community-inspired art.

Acrylics, oil and watercolor paintings, collages, mixed media pieces, photographs and sculptures - many of which were inspired by the city's "Emerald Necklace," a string of parks from Boston Common to Franklin Park created by famed park designed Frederick Law Olmsted - will be on sale, and 30 percent of proceeds generated by sales at the event will be donated for tree planting and woodland restoration efforts in Emerald Necklace parks.

The exhibit and sale represents the first …

Pope in western Africa to outline church's future

COTONOU, Benin (AP) — Catholics carrying umbrellas decorated with Pope Benedict XVI's image greeted him Friday as he embarked on his second trip to Africa, where he plans to outline the church's future for the continent with the fastest growing number of faithful.

Even in Benin, the heartland of the voodoo tradition, the number of Catholics has grown by nearly half in the past decade, adding more than half-a-million converts at the same time when congregations are declining in Europe.

Several hundred women lined the tarmac awaiting his arrival, wearing dresses with his face on them. Supporters from each parish wore a different color headscarf — blue, green, red and yellow. The faithful used umbrellas and even pieces of paper to shield their faces from the blazing sun as temperatures reached 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit).

At the cathedral where the 84-year-old pope was to speak later Friday, schoolchildren in their uniforms lined the sidewalks in anticipation.

The pope has arrived on Africa's western coast with a document that will attempt to use church doctrine as a kind of pastoral guide for the faithful. The guide is aimed at addressing the ills of a continent whose progress has been routinely derailed by war.

"May this document fall into the ground and take root, grow and bear much fruit," the pope said upon arrival.

The guide is based in part on the 57 recommendations of the 2009 synod held in Cameroon's capital, where bishops met to articulate the church's role in Africa.

Among the recommendations is a "sacrament of reconciliation" which will use the church's dogma of forgiveness as a tool to try to resolve violence. In remote parts of Africa where there are no courts and no police force, communities have often created their own rituals of reconciliation. One of the proposals that may be included in the papal document is to do an in-depth study of these practices in order to try to learn from them.

Priests who have traveled from neighboring countries to see the pope say that the idea of looking to African traditions shows that the Catholic faith has become more supple since colonial times, when becoming Christian meant turning your back on tradition.

Cameroonian priest Fr. Jean Benoit Nlend says that among his country's Bassa people, numerous rituals have been created to deal with life's conflicts. If a man beats his wife and she returns to her parent's home, the husband can only get her back if he comes with plates of food, and negotiates a cash amount to be paid to her kin in reparation.

"In my seminary in Cameroon, we went around the table and talked about the types of rituals our ancestors performed to fix problems that arose in the society. If you try to destroy these things, you render the people fragile. You take away their moral coordinates," said Nlend, an editor at Cameroon's Episcopalian publication.

"Catholicism is a much more supple religion now than it once was. The church shouldn't try to chase away African culture. What it needs to do is act like a sieve, and remove only the things that don't help human beings evolve," he said.

Because of this more supple attitude toward African culture, Catholicism is booming on the continent. Africa has become the world's feeder church, said Catholic scholar Lamin Sanneh, a Yale Divinity School professor who is from the African nation of Gambia.

"Europe is now looking to Africa to replenish its churches. In France, the most famous Catholic seminary has more priests in training from Africa than from all of Europe," said Sanneh, who is himself a native of Gambia, a small nation north of Benin.

Fr. Andre Quenum, the publisher of main Catholic weekly in Benin, says Africans have been particularly drawn to the church's teachings because of the that poverty and violence that have wracked the continent.

"One of the consequences of modernity in Europe is that people have been able to solve many of the problems of daily life. If you fall sick you can go to a clinic," he said. "Here when you get sick, you could very well die. So we put our problems in God's hands," he said. "And this is where the pope has seen our potential."

To prepare for the pope's visit, parishes throughout the country were given a special prayer asking for reconciliation.

"Our father, you have created man and woman in your image," says the text of the prayer. "But they distance themselves from you by their tribal divisions, their violence, their wars. May the visit of Pope Benedict XVI create in us the desire to reconcile ourselves."

The government of Benin also issued public service announcements encouraging people to clean up the city ahead of the pope's arrival. One billboard showed a picture of the pope, next to three suggestions: Sweep your street, pick up garbage and repaint your house. On state television, an entire segment was dedicated to showing how a local church had revarnished their pews.

In Ouidah, nuns were working around the clock putting the finishing touches on the chapel housing the tomb of a cardinal that was a personal friend of Benedict's. The pontiff is expected to pray there on Saturday. On the tiled floor was a pile of pastel-colored bows, the kind you might use to decorate a present. The nuns were instead taping the pink bows to each of the chapel's columns.

___

Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

Movies and music: Toronto film fest turns tuneful

TORONTO (AP) — Bruce Springsteen pumped up the volume for music at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, and this year, the cinema showcase has cranked it up to 11.

A year after Springsteen's memorable visit for a film about his album "Darkness at the Edge of Town," the Toronto festival opens Thursday with a documentary about Irish rockers U2 and continues with a musical lineup featuring films about Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Paul McCartney and 1970s songwriting staple Paul Williams.

The 11-day festival also includes "W.E.", a drama directed by pop star Madonna, and a range of other feature films and documentaries with music backdrops, from the Paris nude-dance revue portrait "Crazy Horse" to the musical road-trip comic drama "The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best."

"There just seems to be kind of a perfect storm of films about music," said festival director Piers Handling. "Rock 'n' roll probably got to a moment in history where there's enough material, and enough filmmakers who grew up with the bands are finding that material and going back to make some pretty definitive documentaries."

The list of filmmakers taking on music subjects at Toronto includes Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth") directing the U2 documentary "From the Sky Down," a look back at the band's 1991 album "Achtung Baby" as Bono and his band mates prepare for a live performance of the songs.

Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning director of "The Silence of the Lambs," has the concert film "Neil Young Journeys," his third documentary featuring the rocker, this time in a solo gig at Toronto's Massey Hall.

Cameron Crowe, who made "Jerry Maguire" and won a screenplay Oscar for "Almost Famous," comes to the festival with "Pearl Jam Twenty," a portrait of the Seattle-based band that is playing two concerts in Toronto Sunday and Monday following the film's premiere Saturday.

Albert Maysles — whose credits with his late brother, David, include the Rolling Stones documentary "Gimme Shelter" — directs "The Love We Make," a chronicle of former Beatle McCartney's memorial concert in New York City after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Gimme Shelter" and D.A. Pennebaker's Bob Dylan film "Don't Look Back" stand as monumental rock portraits of the 1960s. According to Crowe, it took nearly four decades for another film of similar stature to appear with Martin Scorsese's 2005 Dylan documentary "No Direction Home."

Crowe, who started as a rock journalist and has known Eddie Vedder and the rest of Pearl Jam almost since the band formed in 1991, said Scorsese's film rocked the world of other music-loving filmmakers, contributing to the current rush of documentaries.

"Maysles and Pennebaker made these incredibly strong rock documentaries, and really, that got left behind for years and years," Crowe said. "Now the mantle has kind of gotten picked up. It is Scorsese who did it. He took the biggest subject, Dylan, went back and explored the roots and tells a story that goes right up to the ... 'Judas' moment" — the notorious fan cry of betrayal over Dylan's transition from acoustic folkie to electric rocker.

A year after "No Direction Home," Demme made the acclaimed concert film "Neil Young: Heart of Gold" and followed with 2009's "Neil Young Trunk Show." The new film, "Neil Young Journeys," intercuts between the rocker's solo performance and video of a conversation he had with Demme on a drive to the gig in a 1956 Ford Crown Victoria from Omemee, Young's north Ontario hometown.

"The real challenge in doing a performance film is, how do you make a film that has its own identity and isn't a lot like other performance films we've seen?" said Demme, whose credits include the 1984 Talking Heads concert flick "Stop Making Sense."

"If a performance of a concert is one certain kind of journey, we take that automobile journey from Omemee into the big city, so you see these two journeys reflecting who Neil is in different ways. It really gave us something that works well in the rhythm of the movie and helps make it completely different."

Also in the Toronto lineup is director Stephen Kessler's "Paul Williams: Still Alive," a documentary about the diminutive musician and actor who was ubiquitous in the 1970s, when his songwriting credits included the Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun," the Oscar-winning "Evergreen" from "A Star Is Born" and the Oscar-nominated "The Rainbow Connection" from "The Muppet Movie."

The festival also offers fictional films with musical themes, among them Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's "Chicken with Plums," whose lead character tumbles into a hallucinatory spiritual journey after his cherished violin is broken; Sheldon Larry's "Leave It on the Floor," a musical set among LA's underground ballroom dance subculture; and Bibo Bergeron's animated musical fantasy "A Monster in Paris."

Ryan O'Nan wrote, directed and stars in the Toronto premiere "The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best," in which he plays a singer-songwriter reluctantly drawn into a cross-country tour with a new band mate (Michael Weston) who plays nothing but Fisher-Price-style children's instruments.

O'Nan, who starred with America Ferrera in last year's Sundance Film Festival premiere "The Dry Land," wrote most of the songs in "Brooklyn Brothers" and toured as a musician for years before becoming an actor.

He had long thought about making a music-themed film, and his desire was reinforced a few years ago when he went to see an earlier music documentary from director Guggenheim, "It Might Get Loud," the guitar dream-team portrait featuring U2's The Edge, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Plant and Jack White of the White Stripes.

"When the documentary was done, the whole crowd stood up and cheered. I was looking around like, who are they cheering to? There's nothing there," O'Nan said. "There's just something about music, man, that links people in this unspoken way that nothing else really can. They were literally cheering to a blank screen."

___

Online:

Toronto International Film Festival: http://tiff.net

El Salvador dropped from CONCACAF Under-20s

NEW YORK (AP) — El Salvador has been excluded from the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship after using an ineligible player.

The regional governing body said Tuesday that El Salvador has forfeited its matches in the UNCAF Central American qualifying and will be replaced by Costa Rica.

Dustin Corea, who scored both goals in El Salvador's 2-1 aggregate playoff victory over Costa Rica, played for the United States at the 2009 CONCACAF Under-17 tournament and had not changed affiliation under FIFA's regulations.

CONCACAF concluded Salvador didn't intentionally field an ineligible player but still had to forfeit any matches he played in.

Man United edges non-league Crawley 1-0 in FA Cup

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United advanced to the sixth round of the FA Cup but only after a narrow 1-0 win over minnows Crawley Town at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Wes Brown's first-half header ensured there was no upset against a team that sits 93 places below them on the league ladder in the fifth tier.

However, the 11-time FA Cup winners struggled to impose themselves and Crawley almost snatched an equalizer in stoppage time when substitute Richard Brodie's header came back off the bar.

United manager Alex Ferguson made nine changes to the team that beat Manchester City last weekend, and was unhappy with the results.

"We might have some players who don't understand what the FA Cup is all about. That is the biggest lesson for them," Ferguson said, while praising Crawley's performance.

"Some players came in and didn't do themselves justice. No doubt about that. But Crawley showed more desire in the second half. They made it very difficult for us."

Crawley will make over one million pounds ($1.6 million) from the tie via television rights and gate receipts from a sellout 75,000 crowd at Old Trafford.

"I am very proud of my players," Crawley manager Steve Evans said. "I've spoken to Alex and he's given me a bottle of wine to take away."

The game amply illustrated the romance of the FA Cup: Ferguson's Premier League leaders hosting a team that was seeking to become the first non-League club to reach the quarterfinals of the FA Cup since World War II.

While United's quest for a sixth triumph in the competition under Ferguson's reign started last month, Crawley's adventure started in October with a qualifying win in Wales against Newport County.

Victories over Football League clubs Swindon, Derby and Torquay have since followed but Crawley's journey ended in a gutsy defeat in front of 9,000 traveling fans, almost twice the capacity of the club's tiny Broadfield Stadium home.

United manager Ferguson must have done a double take when he saw the Crawley team sheet and seen the names Torres and Shearer staring back at him.

But instead of Spanish international Fernando and former England international Alan, it was Sergio Torres and Scott Shearer.

Crawley's veteran keeper Michel Kuipers once served in the Dutch Marine Corps but if the 36-year-old was expecting to find himself in the firing line then he was pleasantly mistaken as United struggled to stamp their authority.

Former Arsenal trainee Ben Smith set the tone for what was to come when his speculative 25-yard effort in the 11th minute narrowly sailed wide of the target.

United were not at full strength. The likes of Edwin van der Sar, Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Dimitar Berbatov were not involved.

But neither was this a weak team. Wayne Rooney started on the substitutes bench before coming on at the start of the second half while Michael Carrick and John O'Shea were also on duty.

Republic of Ireland international Darron Gibson delivered the cross for Brown to head the hosts into a 28th-minute lead — their first serious threat.

Fabio da Silva failed to kill the game off after the Brazilian fullback was sent clear by Gibson. Crawley's players were expected to tire the longer the match continued, yet they seemed to get stronger.

After David Hunt had spurned one opportunity to equalise, Matt Tubbs, Crawley's leading scorer with 28 goals, sent an overhead kick from four yards (meters) narrowly over the bar.

Finally, Brodie was denied by the woodwork on a day Crawley will never forget.

Catholics around the world celebrate John Paul II

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Catholics worldwide celebrated the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II on Sunday, with the faithful jamming churches to pray, cherishing his mementoes and witnessing on TV screens the Vatican ceremony that brought him one step closer to possible sainthood.

From Mexico to Australia, bells pealed in churches and cathedrals and people erupted in applause and tears to celebrate after Pope Benedict XVI bestowed one of the Catholic Church's greatest honors to Polish-born Karol Wojtyla, who visited 129 countries in his 27-year papacy to become the most-traveled pope ever.

In the Philippines, where many adore the John Paul II with rock-star intensity, people flocked to see mementoes: a piece of his cassock believed to have healing powers and a set of plate, spoon and fork — still unwashed after he used them 16 years ago during a visit to the country.

The popular pontiff has a wide following in the Philippines, Asia's largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation where authorities foiled a terrorist plot to assassinate him during a visit in 1995. Nearly 10,000 babies were named after him after his visits as a pope, according to a news report.

Although John Paul's beatification has been criticized elsewhere by some as happening too fast and under a cloud over the clerical sex abuse scandal, it's being celebrated by many Filipinos as rare good news at a time of depressing man-made and natural disasters in their impoverished homeland and beyond.

"Why not?" asked John Paul Bustillo, a 16-year-old medical student named by his mother after the pontiff and turned out Sunday along with more than 3,000 for a six-mile (10-kilometer) race followed by a Mass near Manila Bay. "He was a model and an inspiration who united the world with his extraordinary charisma."

A popular church in Manila's downtown Quiapo district is displaying a small piece of a cassock worn by the late pope and given by a Vatican official to a Filipino priest. Thousands have lined up to touch or kiss the scant piece. Another such piece of clothing, also from the Vatican, has reportedly cured several patients at a state-run Manila hospital, said Monsignor Jose Clemente Ignacio, who heads the Quiapo church.

A Chinese restaurant in the capital's suburban Quezon City has displayed a set of plates, spoon, fork, water goblet and knives — still unwashed after the pope used them in a 1995 dinner of grilled fish and fried shrimp that the restaurant's staff catered.

"He was the most important VIP I have ever served in my life," Leo Matias told The Associated Press, adding that the pope allowed him and seven other waiters to kiss his ring.

In John Paul's native Poland, tens of thousands of people gathered in rain in a major sanctuary in Krakow and in Wadowice, where the pontiff was born in 1920. Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his wife Malgorzata watched the ceremony together with Wadowice residents.

Hundreds of Australians gathered at St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney to celebrate the beatification, with special prayer services being held inside and a carnival atmosphere outside in the grounds.

Live coverage of the ceremonies in Rome was being broadcast on a giant screen in the cathedral's forecourt, with food stalls selling treats and music groups performing.

Cardinal George Pell said he had no doubt that John Paul II would be canonized — officially declared a saint — but noted it was a long process.

"He'll be declared blessed, there'll be a pause — I don't know three years, five years, some period of time, before he's canonized," Pell said. "But he's making pretty good time."

The Vatican's complicated saint-making procedures require that a miracle attributed to the candidate's intercession be confirmed before beatification, and a second one for canonization.

In South Korea, about 800 Catholics attended a mass celebrating the beautification at a church in Hwaseong, just south of Seoul on Sunday. A similar celebratory Mass is scheduled at another Catholic church near Seoul on Thursday and a delegation of 107 South Korean Catholics traveled to Rome to witness the rites.

John Paul visited South Korea twice — in 1984 and 1989.

Thousands of Mexicans held a prayer vigil in Mexico City's Virgin of Guadalupe Basilica on Saturday while two large screens inside the church projected the celebrations in Rome.

Jorge Lopez Barcenas, a 70-year-old painter and body shop worker, traveled from central Hidalgo state to witness the beatification from the Basilica.

"He was a person who elevated the faith," said Lopez, who saw the pope during two of his five visits to the country.

On Saturday night, dozens of mainly young people gathered at the Basilica to wait overnight for the culmination of John Paul II's beatification.

Michelle Lopez, 19, told The AP she first saw John Paul II from a distance as a girl during his 1999 visit and he has been an important figure in her life ever since.

"He looked like a small porcelain doll, very nice," she said.

In 2002, during his final visit, pope John Paul II canonized Juan Diego as the first indigenous saint in the Americas. The Virgin of Guadalupe is said to have appeared to Juan Diego in 1531 on a hill where an important Aztec goddess had been worshipped.

Mexico was the third most-visited country by the pope after Poland and France.

___

Associated Press writers Rohan Sullivan in Sydney, Australia and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea contributed to this report.

DePaul gets taken to the Matt by ND Carroll scores 33; Irish hand Demons first loss of season

Notre Dame 102

DePaul 71

SOUTH BEND, Ind.--DePaul's primary defensive objective Saturdaywas to limit the three-point opportunities of shooting guard MattCarroll and the rest of Notre Dame's bevy of long-range shooters. TheBlue Demons were very successful in that regard. Carroll was just 1-for-4 as the Irish made just three of 14 shots behind the arc.

But Carroll found other ways to score to record a career-high 33points as No. 10 Notre Dame cruised to a 102-71 victory over anoutclassed DePaul team in the Joyce Center.

I'm just going out there and trying to play my game moreaggressively, especially when it's falling and I'm in the zone," saidCarroll, who was 10-for-14 from the field and 12-for-13 from theline.

It was exactly the kind of performance Demons coach Dave Leitaofeared.

I told the guys before the game that he's a terrific catch-and-shoot guy," Leitao said. But he's done a great job of not being whatwas once perceived to be a one-dimensional player. When you get thereon the catch he has the ability--because he's spent a heck of a lotof time in the weight room--to put that shoulder into you, createsome space to get a shot off and, obviously, play off it from there."

With legendary former DePaul coach (and Notre Dame alum) Ray Meyeramong the sellout crowd of 11,418, Carroll had a turn-back-the-clockperformance from an era before the three-point shot changed collegebasketball.

If you watch the tape on this one, it's a clinic on moving withoutthe basketball by Matt Carroll," Irish coach Mike Brey said. Andthen, our guys do a great job of screening for him and then findinghim.

People are going to hug him. They're going to get out on himbecause of the three-point threat, which allows him to cut to thebucket. We've been trying to get him to move without it and today wasa great example of him moving without the ball."

It was also a great example of why Notre Dame (9-1) has played itsway into the top half of the college basketball rankings. Without thethree-point option, the Irish simply found other ways to get the jobdone. They were 27-for-36 inside the arc and shot 63 percent evenwith the woeful three-point statistics. Notre Dame also was 39-for-43 (90.7 percent) from the free-throw line and had a 22-8 assist-to-turnover ratio.

It was a huge game for us because the country was watching to seehow we were going to react to playing a program like DePaul," saidpoint guard Chris Thomas, who had 22 points and 10 assists.

DePaul (4-1) was able to hang close for much of the first half andwas within 35-34 with just over three minutes left before theintermission. But the Irish closed with a 13-2 run (seven points byCarroll) for a 48-36 halftime edge.

With just under 17 minutes left, Sam Hoskin (18 points, 10rebounds) converted a three-point play to make it 57-48, but that wasthe Demons' last gasp. Notre Dame answered with a 17-7 run for a 74-55 lead with just under 11 minutes left and the rout was on.

The lack of competition that we showed at times was very, verydisturbing, because I think that's the one thing we tried to impressupon our guys," Leitao said. We have to address that and make sure itdoesn't happen again."

A peculiar way to help good cause

A charity is challenging people to picnic in peculiar places toraise money.

Send a Cow, which is based in Newton St Loe, wants people to get together with work colleagues, friends and neighbours for the challenge to be held in September.

Organisers are hoping that groups will pick somewhere out of theordinary for picnics taking place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday,September 11 to 13.

In addition, they want families to share their food - reinforcingthe 'pass it on' ethos of the charity which helps families acrossAfrica by providing livestock, crop seeds and equipment and trainingto help whole communities lift themselves out of poverty.

The charity's head of marketing, Jane Pleace, said: "A Send a Cowpicnic is a fun new take on that great British tradition of sharingfood, time and fun.

"It's going to be interesting to see where people come up with -it might be the top of their local church tower, who knows?"

Already on the cards are a picnic with the Mayor and Mayoress of Bath in the Parlour at the Guildhall, picnicking while punting in a boat hired from Bathwick Boating Station and an event at Parliament with city MP Don Foster.

Less adventurous suggestions include Parade Gardens on theFriday and Saturday and Royal Victoria Park by the bandstand on theSunday.

Another venue hotly tipped is Alexandra Park, recently nominated as one of the best picnic venues in the country.

To register your Picnic in a Peculiar Place, which is sponsoredby The Bath Chronicle, Prior Park Garden Centre and Future BathPlus, and to pick up your fundraising pack go to: http://picnicsin peculiarplaces.org or call organiser David Gledhill on 01225 858949.

Public policy colloquium hits new attendance mark

A record 126 deans from 41 states attended the February 13-14 EDC Public Policy Colloquium in Washington, D.C. Program highlights included substantial discussion of how engineering colleges might help improve K-12 science and math achievement in the United States.

At a Capitol Hill Reception the first night of the event, EDC Chair Stephen Director presented new House Science Committee Chair Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) with an award recognizing his outstanding contributions to national science and engineering public policy. Several deans of engineering from New York joined Director in presenting the award to Chairman Boehlert: William Baeslack, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Edward Bogucz, Syracuse University; Eleanor Baum, The Cooper Union; Dean L. D. Pye, Alfred University; and Richard Heist, Manhattan College.

Attendees heard former senator and astronaut John Glenn warn in his keynote speech that, in K-12 science and math education, "what was good enough for the past won't be good enough for the future." Representatives Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) both described legislation they have advocated to advance precollege learning and instruction in science and math. NAE President William Wulf stressed the integral role that diversity-both cultural and personal-must play in the future of engineering education.

A panel of engineering and education deans from three schools described strategies for forming a closer relationship between their two sectors of the university community. A range of Capitol Hill staffers and media figures from the science and technology policy arena described the new, fiscally straitened environment for federal spending, warning that the increases of the last several years will very likely end with President Bush's first budget. The Feb. 28 release of Bush's budget blueprint confirmed this, with only defense, education, and NIH budgets increasing by more than the rate of inflation. The deans received status reports on the new National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at NIH and on negotiations between the State Department and the Office of Science and Technology Policy to work out complications in the recently modified International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Deans Stephen Director of the University of Michigan, Bill Schowalter of the University of Illinois, and David Wormley of Penn State University, drawing on their experiences visiting Capitol Hill, offered advice on how to build useful, long-lasting relationships with members of Congress.

'SAG Awards': More than handing out a few trophies

It seems like we see our actor pals on awards shows as much as we do in the roles that got them there.

For instance, the stars of "30 Rock," who keep not only collecting trophies but also logging frequent flier miles with all those trips to Hollywood from the NBC comedy's New York home base.

But if Sunday's 15th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (on TBS and TNT) had moments that seemed like a flashback to the Golden Globes broadcast two weeks earlier _ hi, Tina and Alec, congratulations again! _ there were distinct differences.

And while, like the Globes, it was staged as a gala dinner from a fancy ballroom, the SAG show made sure to mind its manners. From the viewer's perspective, none of the stars appeared in any danger of failing a Breathalyzer.

Overall, the broadcast was brisk, classy and entertaining.

It was also overflowing with good will from all the actors for all their fellow actors. Acceptance speeches were gracious in hailing non-winners. Everyone on hand seemed to radiate pride in themselves and their profession.

Granted, maybe some of those good vibes were just for show. These are, after all, actors, and the broadcast serves them well as a platform for their union (and, indeed, for organized labor in general, to judge from the remarks by SAG President Alan Rosenberg).

In any case, it was a collectively persuasive performance. And it validated what many in the audience want to believe: The actors they admire are primarily serious about the work, not the trappings.

James Earl Jones, who was honored with this year's life achievement award, provided a powerful message to that effect simply by having been chosen. Long considered an actor's actor, he appeared genuinely humbled by the standing ovation. He seemed more interested in expressing his thanks.

As it has in the past, the broadcast began with a variety of actors, each speaking from his or her seat, delivering a personal glimpse capped by the declaration, "I am an actor."

A couple were refreshingly comic. "The Office" star Steve Carell paid tribute to Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, reminding everyone how the US Airways pilot "performed an exacting, perfect emergency landing into the icy cold water of the Hudson River," then adding, straight-faced, "It's a good thing that I was not behind the controls of that plane _ because I'm Steve Carell and I am an actor."

Later, Carell's cast mate John Krasinski and former "Saturday Night Live" regular Amy Poehler offered welcome respite from the stuffy prepared introductions voiced by most of the co-presenters.

There to announce the best actress in a TV drama series, Krasinski and Poehler detoured into their own escalating melodrama: pretending to be two lovers feuding in front of the whole world.

"If you keep pushing me away," Krasinski bellowed at Poehler, "next time I will NOT come back."

"Fine! Leave!" she screeched. "And take your broken dreams with you!"

Then they each took a prim little bow and proceeded to list the category's nominees.

It was a brief departure into Let's Pretend _ what actors do _ and it made the earnestness that marked the rest of the evening all the more impressive.

___

TBS and TNT are owned by Time Warner.

___

On the Net:

http://www.sagawards.org

http://www.tnt.tv/sag15/

http://www.tbs.com/shows/sagawards/

Nissan cuts output due to US demand slump

Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday it is cutting production of its Altima models at assembly plants in Tennessee and Mississippi due to sluggish demand in the United States.

Nissan North America spokesman Steve Parrett said employees at the plants in Smyrna, Tennessee, and Canton, Mississippi, are taking days off without pay on three successive Fridays _ Oct. 17, 24 and 31. The workers have the option of getting paid by using vacation time, he said.

Parrett said he was unsure how many employees are affected.

The vehicles affected in Smyrna are the Altima sedan, coupe and hybrid. The cuts in Canton only affect the sedan version, Parrett said.

Nissan "will remain competitive in the challenging environment that exists in the U.S. economy and in our industry," the automaker said in a statement.

In Tokyo, a Nissan spokeswoman said the company also will slash output by 28,000 units, mostly Infiniti luxury models, at its factory in Tochigi, north of Tokyo. Nissan spokeswoman Ikue Matsuura said that production cut will last five months starting from November.

"Our sales in the United States remained sluggish. We must adjust our output accordingly," she said.

Nissan, Japan's third-biggest automaker, also planned to cut production by 37,000 units, mostly the sport utility vehicles Murano and Rogue, at its plant in Fukuoka, southern Japan, from November to March next year, Matsuura said.

Nissan's sales in the U.S. dropped 37 percent year-on-year in September due to slowing demand as American consumers tightened their purse strings amid the deepening financial crisis.

The Asahi daily said Tuesday that Nissan would slash the number of temporary workers at its domestic factories to cope with the poor U.S. sales. The spokeswoman declined to confirm the report.

Last week Nissan said it was laying off 1,680 workers in Spain due to weak demand.

Reds smack 19 hits, rough up Brewers

Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto and Scott Rolen had four hits apiece and the Cincinnati Reds roughed up Milwaukee Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo in a 12-4 win Tuesday night to move into a tie for first in the NL Central.

The top four hitters in Cincinnati's lineup _ Phillips, Orlando Cabrera, Votto and Rolen _ finished 15 for 22 with eight runs and seven RBIs as the Reds matched a season high with 19 hits.

Rolen, who returned Monday night after missing nine games with a hamstring injury, snapped an 0-for-16 slump with hits in his first four plate appearances.

Rickie Weeks homered for the third time in as many days for Milwaukee, which saw its season-best five-game winning streak snapped. The Reds trail St. Louis by percentage points in the standings.

Rookie reliever Logan Ondrusek (2-0) earned the win with 2 1-3 hitless innings after Reds starter Edinson Volquez had another trying night in his third appearance since reconstructive elbow surgery.

Gallardo (9-5) hit a two-run homer in his only at-bat, but looked uncomfortable on the mound and left when Phillips drove in a run on a two-out single in the third that made it 6-3.

It matched Gallardo's shortest start of the season when he had to leave on July 4 in St. Louis after straining his left side. Gallardo went on the disabled list after that start and pitched well in his first game back last week in Pittsburgh.

The Reds, who lead the NL in runs scored, tacked on four more against Brewers reliever Chris Capuano and two off David Riske. One thing Cincinnati was missing in this hit parade _ a homer.

Volquez smacked his glove in frustration in the second inning after Gallardo hit the eighth of his career, and Volquez failed to make it out of the fourth inning because he struggled with command. Ondrusek settled things down, allowing just one baserunner on a walk.

Weeks continued his tear with his 22nd homer, a leadoff shot to start the fourth off Volquez. Weeks has homered in seven of the last 10 games and has scored at least one run in the past 11.

Milwaukee has hit at least one homer in its last 16 games _ going 11-5 in this stretch _ but the loss killed much needed momentum for the Brewers, who still aren't sure if they'll play a role of buyers or sellers in the trade market.

Notes: Brewers RF Joe Inglett pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, hitting as high as 56 mph on the radar gun. He received a standing ovation afterward. ... Brewers RF Corey Hart (wrist, thumb) missed his fourth straight game, but says he'll be ready to return to the lineup on Friday. ... With OF Jim Edmonds (Achilles) also ailing, LHP Randy Wolf pinch hit in the third. ... Reds RHP Homer Bailey gave up three runs in four innings and took the loss in a rehab start for Class-A Dayton on Monday night. ... Brewers RHP LaTroy Hawkins (shoulder) says he'll throw a final bullpen session on Wednesday. He's expected to be activated from the 60-day disabled list before Friday's game at Houston.

Steelers 1st-round pick Pouncey reaches terms

First-round draft pick Maurkice Pouncey had a five-year contract waiting for him at the Pittsburgh Steelers' training camp. Plus an early morning wakeup call.

Pouncey, the former star center at Florida, reached terms Friday on his contract but didn't arrive in time to complete the traditional camp-opening run tests. Coach Mike Tomlin said he wouldn't be excused, and that Pouncey's sprints would take place at 6 a.m. EDT Saturday, three hours before the first practice of camp.

While Pouncey is expected to spend most of his Steelers career at center, he will compete during camp at right guard with Trai Essex, who started all 16 games there last season.

Pouncey, the No. 18 pick in the draft, made a relatively smooth transition into the Steelers' system during offseason workouts. Tomlin apparently prefers not to keep a player as skilled as he is on the bench, especially with the offensive line unsettled following a 9-7 season.

"Football is important to him," Tomlin said of the 6-foot-4, 304-pound Pouncey. "This is a guy who's committed to winning but doing what it takes to be a winner. He's always been associated with winning, and we like those kind of guys and putting them into the mix."

The Steelers have not had a first-round pick miss any camp time since quarterback Ben Roethlisberger signed four days after workouts began in 2004.

While there will be competition at right guard, there apparently won't be at right tackle _ unless Flozell Adams can't make the transition from left tackle. Tomlin plans to keep Max Starks at left tackle, although Adams played only left tackle during 12 seasons with Dallas. Starks played two seasons on the right side with Pittsburgh.

Adams, released by the Cowboys in April before he would have collected a $2.5 million roster bonus, will make that much in salary with the Steelers this season unless he is cut.

"He's a guy who wants to be here, he's a guy who's made a lot of money in this league and received about every personal accolade you can get. But the fire still burns," Tomlin said. "He's committed to fitting in _ those are his words, not mine _ so those are the things that make you excited."

What the Steelers must find out is if the 35-year-old Adams still has a productive season or two left in him following a drop-off in play that led the Cowboys to replace him with Doug Free.

Asked if Adams can be productive, Starks said, "If he's in shape."

Second-round pick Jason Worilds, the outside linebacker from Virginia Tech, signed his four-year contract on Friday and will practice Saturday.

US Defense chief calls Iran `hell-bent' on getting nuclear weapons; warns against war

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believes Iran is "hell-bent" on acquiring nuclear weapons, but he warned in strong terms of the consequences of going to war over that.

"Another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need and, in fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels," he said in a speech he was delivering Monday evening at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

A copy of his prepared remarks was provided in advance by the Pentagon.

He said he favors keeping the military option against Iran on the table, "given the destabilizing policies of the regime and the risks inherent in a future Iranian nuclear threat, either directly or through proliferation."

Gates also said that if the war in Iraq is not finished on favorable terms, the consequences could be dire.

"It is a hard sell to say we must sustain the fight in Iraq right now, and continue to absorb the high financial and human costs of this struggle, in order to avoid an even uglier fight or even greater danger to our country in the future," he said.

He added, however, that the U.S. experience with Afghanistan _ helping the Afghans oust Russian invaders in the 1980s only to abandon the country and see it become a haven for Osama bin Laden's terrorist network _ makes it clear to him that a similar approach in Iraq would have similar results.

Gates said the U.S. military was not organized or equipped for the kind of wars it finds itself in today.

"The current campaign has gone on longer, and has been more difficult, than anyone expected or prepared for at the start," he said. "And so we've had to scramble to position ourselves for success over the long haul, which I believe we are doing."

He called a drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq "inevitable," with the debate mainly over timing.

"But the kind of enemy we face today _ violent jihadist networks _ will not allow us to remain at peace," he said. "What has been called the `long war' is likely to be many years of persistent, engaged combat all around the world in differing degrees of size and intensity. This generational challenge cannot be wished away or put on a timetable. There are no exit strategies."

___

On the Net:

Pentagon: http://www.defenselink.mil

Don't let legislators hide votes on pay hikes

I am writing to express my continued frustration regarding the seriously flawed system in which legislators' pay raises are granted.

In recent days, several lawmakers have said they believe the process needs to change because legislators vote 'yes' to reject their pay raises and vote 'no' to approve pay increases. For the past two years, I have introduced legislation to change this process. House Bill 5266 requires an affirmative vote from both the House and Senate for a pay raise. Unfortunately, it was never granted an opportunity for debate on the House floor.

Eight other states, including Michigan, Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania, set legislative pay by positive action, which means salaries are changed only if legislators vote to change it. Michigan's process was similar to Illinois until recently. In 2001, a Michigan constitutional amendment required an affirmative vote for the salary increase.

Illinois continues to use this childish, backwards procedure allowing legislators to hide behind their votes because "no" means "yes" and "yes" means "no." Regardless of whether pay raises are approved this month -- I don't believe they should be considering our current state of debt -- it is clear that this "sleight of hand" process needs to be eliminated from Illinois government. How can we ask the people of this state to make greater sacrifices when we cannot be honest with ourselves?

I plan to reintroduce this measure next year to encourage transparency for the public, and I hope other legislators will join me in support to change this flawed system.

Illinois Rep. Jim Durkin,

(R-Westchester)

Photo: Jean Lachat, Sun-Times / Lt. Governor Pat Quinn distributes petitions opposing a pay raise for legislators Monday in Chicago. ;

Warm up to theater in lakefront showcase

The cruel chill of April may still be with us, but the movers andshakers at Theater on the Lake are ready and waiting for warm summernights.

As usual, the nine-week season, to be staged at the theater thatstands at Lake Shore Drive and Fullerton Avenue, will serve as ashowcase for some of the best productions mounted during the pastyear by this city's smaller but invariably creative troupes. And theprice is right, with individual tickets at $15 and a subscription toall nine plays for $95.

Here's the lineup:

*"Picnic" (June 16-20), Griffin Theatre Company's revival of theWilliam Inge play about a handsome drifter who awakens the passionsin a small Kansas town, circa 1953.

*"500 Clown Frankenstein" (June 23-27), 500 Clowns' anarchic takeon the Mary Shelley classic, told through zany improvisation, gonzocircus stunts and other extreme action-based techniques.

*"43 Plays for 43 Presidents" (June 30-July 4), the Neo-Futurists' whimsical, offbeat and surprisingly profound examinationof the American presidency.

*"Misery" (July 7-11), Pyewacket's highly acclaimed adaptation ofthe Stephen King thriller, about a woman's obsession with a romancenovelist.

*"Second City Goes to War" (July 14-18), a retrospectivecollection of sketches from the Second City archives that look at theCold War, Vietnam, Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom.

*"A Lesson Before Dying" (July 21-25), Romulus Linney's deeplymoving adaptation of an Ernest J. Gaines novel, produced by theSteppenwolf Theatre Company's Arts Exchange. It's the story of ayoung black man on Death Row who is guided to self-knowledge by ateacher.

*"San Valentino and the Melancholy Kid" (July 28-Aug. 1), TheHouse Theatre's rollicking rock musical on all things Western,including sad-faced cowboys.

*"The Maria Chronicles" (Aug. 4-8), Teatro Luna's original work,written and directed by an all-female ensemble, that looks at thestereotypes and realities of being a Latino in Chicago.

*"Hannah & Martin" (Aug. 11-15), TimeLine Theatre Company'sbrilliant production of a new play by Kate Fodor (now in an off-Broadway production as well) about the relationship between Jewishpolitical theorist Hannah Arendt and philosopher Martin Heidegger, aNazi sympathizer.

Subscriptions are available by mail at Theater on the Lake,Chicago Park District, 541 N. Fairbanks, 4th floor, Chicago 60611, orby fax at (312) 742-5393. Single tickets go on sale June 8. Phone:(312) 742-7994.

Taliban Claim to Kill 2nd Korean Hostage

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A purported Taliban spokesman claimed the hardline militia killed a second South Korean hostage Monday because the Afghan government failed to release imprisoned insurgents. Afghan officials said they hadn't recovered a body and couldn't confirm the claim.

The Al-Jazeera television network, meanwhile, showed footage that it said was seven female hostages in Afghanistan.

Militant spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said senior Taliban leaders decided to kill the male captive because the government had not met Taliban demands to trade prisoners for the Christian volunteers.

"The Kabul and Korean governments are lying and cheating. They did not meet their promise of releasing Taliban prisoners," Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, said by phone from an undisclosed location. "The Taliban warns the government if the Afghan government won't release Taliban prisoners then at any time the Taliban could kill another Korean hostage."

Ghazni Gov. Marajudin Pathan said officials were aware of the Taliban's claim but hadn't recovered a body. He said police were looking but he couldn't say when they might find anything.

"Ghazni is a very vast area, so we really don't know where the body is," Pathan said.

Al-Jazeera showed shaky footage of what it said were several South Korean hostages. It did not say how it obtained the video, whose authenticity could not immediately be verified.

Some seven female hostages, heads veiled in accordance with the Islamic law enforced by the Taliban, were seen crouching in the dark, eyes closed or staring at the ground, expressionless.

The hostages did not speak as they were filmed by the hand-held camera.

The Taliban kidnapped 23 South Koreans riding on a bus through Ghazni province on the Kabul-Kandahar highway on July 19, the largest group of foreign hostages taken in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

The Taliban has set several deadlines for the Koreans' lives. Last Wednesday the insurgents killed their first hostage, a male leader of the group.

It's not clear if the Afghan government would consider releasing any militant prisoners.

In March, President Hamid Karzai approved a deal that saw five captive Taliban fighters freed for the release of Italian reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo. Karzai, who was criticized by the United States and European capitals over the exchange, called the trade a one-time deal.

On Sunday, Karzai and other Afghan officials tried to shame the Taliban into releasing the female captives by appealing to a tradition of cultural hospitality and chivalry. They called the kidnapping of women "unIslamic."

On Monday, South Korean officials changed their estimate of the number of women captives to 16, down from earlier reports of 18.

---

Associated Press writer Amir Shah contributed to this report from Kabul.

The costs of health care are burying American families

Unpaid medical bills are piling up on kitchen tables all over America. In addition to the rising costs of food, gas and housing, more and more working families are becoming overwhelmed by skyrocketing health care costs.

Since 2001, average premiums for family health insurance coverage have risen 78 percent and now stand at more than $12,000 annually, not including out-ofpocket costs which average an additional $3,000. The soaring cost of health coverage makes seeing a doctor and getting necessary care unaffordable and even impossible for millions of children and working families. One recent study found that half of all American families filing for bankruptcy cited medical …

Pirates win fourth straight, 8-5 over Nationals

Adam LaRoche had a two-run double in the 10th inning Tuesday night, and the Pittsburgh Pirates won their season-high fourth straight, an 8-5 victory over the Washington Nationals, who lost their sixth in a row.

Both streaks feature plenty of offense.

The Pirates are averaging 9.5 runs in their last four games, including 11 against Colorado on Sunday and 12 against the Nationals on Monday.

Washington became the fourth team in major league history to score at least five runs in a six-game losing streak, according to STATS, LLC.

The Nationals rallied to tie the game with a run in the ninth, but another letdown from a bullpen with a collective …

Ga. Judge Dies After Beating in Office

SAVANNAH, Ga. - A 74-year-old judge whose office prosecuted a man on burglary and other charges years ago died Monday after a beating two weeks ago at his law office at the hands of the same man, authorities said.

Murder charges will be filed in the death of Judge Glenn Thomas Jr., 74, against Bobby Rex Stribling, who was released from prison in 2004 after serving eight years for burglary, theft and other counts, officials said.

Stribling, 45, has been jailed since his arrest June 26 in connection with the beating the previous day. It was unclear Monday night whether he had a lawyer.

Stribling attacked Thomas in his law office, hitting him several times in the …

Cleveland State President to Head Up ACE's Office of Women in Higher Education.(Dr. Claire Van Ummersen selected by American Council on Education)(Brief Article)

WASHINGTON

The American Council on Education has appointed Dr. Claire Van Ummersen as vice president and director of the Office of Women in Higher Education. Van Ummersen, president of Cleveland State University since 1993, has been involved with women's development and advancement for the past quarter century.

In the position, Van Ummersen will coordinate efforts among higher education associations to address gender equity and women's leadership issues, consult with educational institutions on equity and promotion matters and help …

RED CROSS WILL OFFER CPR CLASS AT LIBRARY.(Capital Region)

NASSAU - A Red Cross CPR course will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 19 at Nassau Free Library, Church Street.

The cost is $60 for adults. Class is limited to 10 people. You can register at the …

FBI SUSPENDS HEAD OF NEW YORK BUREAU.(MAIN)

WASHINGTON -- James Fox, the FBI veteran who heads the bureau's New York office, was suspended by Director Louis Freeh for commenting about the World Trade Center bombing in a television interview while the trial is going on, the bureau said Tuesday.

"Director Freeh made the decision to place Assistant Director Fox on administrative leave with pay until his retirement in January," FBI spokesman John Collingwood said, reading an official bureau statement.

"He did so after carefully reviewing inappropriate public comments Fox …

Favre's reported leaks to Lions not against rules

If Brett Favre really did leak inside information about the Green Bay Packers' offense to help the Detroit Lions beat his former team last month, the three-time MVP's reputation among his fans in Wisconsin would likely take a hit.

But he _ and the Lions coaches who reportedly took his call _ wouldn't have broken any NFL rules.

"We do not have a comment," league spokesman Greg Aiello said in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Monday morning. "Even if it were true, there would be no violation of league rules."

Foxsports.com reported Sunday that Favre called the Lions before their Sept. 14 game against the Packers and spent more …

Bryant's return gives Lakers a big boost

LOS ANGELES With the return of Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakersfinally have all their pieces in place. The way they played withouthim, that could mean trouble for the rest of the NBA.

Bryant had 19 points, six rebounds and three assists in his firstgame of the season Wednesday night as the Lakers beat Golden State 93-75 for their fourth straight victory. He hit 7 of 18 field goalattemps, but missed all three of his 3-pointers.

"I felt good getting out there and playing. It was a rush," saidBryant, who drew plenty of raves from the crowd of 17,689 at StaplesCenter. "My timing was off. My wind was good. I felt tired at first,then I got my second wind. My legs were a …

Rhone-Poulenc in R&D Accord to Develop Genetically Modified Rice.

Rhone-poulenc (rp) and the institute of Molecular Agrobiology (IMA; Singapore) have signed a collaborative agreement to research genetic engineering of disease resistance in rice, as well as its functional genomics. Products resulting from the agreement will be commercialized by both RP and IMA in a Singapore-based joint venture.

The partnership aims to discover genes that resist fungal and bacterial diseases in rice-the main causes of yield loss in its cultivation. Research will focus on isolating resistant genes and studying the interactions between plants and pathogens. …

Praise ofr science firm.

A new purpose-built research facility and headquarters for Peakdale Molecular Ltd (Peakdale) was opened by Lord Sainsbury, Minister for Science and Innovation, on Thursday.

The state-of-the-art building for the contract research company, on Sheffield Road in Chapel-en-le-Frith, has the capacity for 17 laboratories and could ultimately employ 100 scientists with 30 support staff.

Peakdale currently employs 26 chemists in the five laboratories which have already been fitted out as part of the company's phased programme. An in-house analytical team supports these laboratories.

Speaking at the official opening ceremony, Lord Sainsbury said: "I …

EX-`BAYWATCH' ACTRESS GIVEN 2 YEARS PROBATION.(MAIN)

Former ``Baywatch'' star Yasmine Bleeth was sentenced in Detroit Wednesday to two years probation on a cocaine-possession charge.

The actress also must undergo regular drug tests, serve 100 hours of community service and pay court costs, said Christopher Coyle, a …

JORDAN WON'T APPEAR AT LOCAL CAMP.(Sports)

National Basketball Association superstar Michael Jordan's appearance in the Capital District today has been canceled due to the illness of his grandfather in North Carolina.

"Michael's agent called and said that the grandfather had been sick, but had taken a turn for the worse," said Lou Cioffi, whose camp Jordan was supposed to attend today. "The agent said that Jordan flew home today (Tuesday) and would not be available."

Sam Perkins of the Dallas Mavericks, the former Shaker High star and Jordan's …

Parsons hits 3 at buzzer to beat South Carolina

Chandler Parsons hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, his second game-winning shot in three weeks, and Florida beat South Carolina 58-56 Saturday night.

Parsons finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. He missed his first three 3s, but hit the only one that mattered.

Devan Downey led the Gamecocks (11-8, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) with 36 points, one shy of his career high. Downey spun out of a double team and …

Stocks Fall As Yields Surge

NEW YORK - Wall Street fell sharply for a third straight session Thursday after rising bond yields stoked concerns that an interest rate cut later in the year is less likely. The Dow Jones industrials dropped more than 150 points and the S&P 500 index fell below the 1,500 mark.

The 10-year Treasury note's yield surpassed 5 percent in overnight trading. With rates rising in the market, the Federal Reserve is expected to be less inclined to cut short-term interest rates. And a dip in applications for unemployment benefits last week, which indicates a healthy labor market, also made a rate cut seem less likely.

Additionally, mixed May sales reports from major retailers …

Telik Follow-On Raises $26M For Drugs.(research)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

Telik Inc. raised S26 million through its follow-on public offering of 4 million shares at $6.50 per share, under the $37.3 million estimated net proceeds, but plenty to boost its work with TLK286 and TLK199, as well as its class of orally active insulin receptor activators. "We can proceed as planned, with the same priorities, with these funds," said Michael Wick, president and CEO of South San Francisco-based Telik, adding that he was bound by regulatory quiet-period rules from saying much more. Telik registered for the …

Teenager on trial for stabbing.

A TEENAGER from Banbury is on trial faced with charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

It is alleged that Ryan Embra, 19, of Badger Way, stabbed Aaron Herbert with an ornamental samurai sword on October 7 last year.

The incident happened in a park by the Paddocks pub just off Chatsworth Drive in Banbury, and Mr Herbert was left with a stab wound to his back and lacerations to his head and buttock.

The two men had fought earlier on the same night outside the pub and arranged a later meeting.

Mr Embra appeared in Oxford Crown Court yesterday …

MARY E. REYNGOUDT DOWNES.(CAPITAL REGION)

RAVENA-- Mary E. Reyngoudt Downes, formerly of Martins Hill, Ravena, died on December 7. Wife of the late Edward P. Downes, Sr.; mother of Mrs. Henry (Betty) Hotaling, Pat, Rene and Larry Downes and the late Bill Downes. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Her …

Presbyterians split on gay-friendly measures

Presbyterian leaders split Thursday on two gay-friendly measures, voting to allow non-celibate gays in committed relationships to serve as clergy but deciding not to redefine marriage in their church constitution to include same-sex couples _ at least for now.

The surprise vote to shelve the marriage issue at the church's general assembly in Minneapolis late Thursday passed by a slim margin of 51 percent. The decision means the church will continue to define marriage as being between "a man and a woman" for at least two more years _ unless someone who voted to shelve the measure moves Friday to reconsider it and supporters muster enough votes to approve another …

September is Unity Month, man do we need it now

The upcoming anniversary September 11, 2001's horrendous terrorist attacks on New York City, Washington, D.C and ultimately all of America and the fallacious assumptions that some of us made about certain nationalities in their aftermath, demands that we refocus the lens through which we view ourselves as a people, as a race, as a city and as a nation.

Thus, the theme of September's Unity Month commemoration, "Strengthening Our City of Neighbors" is quite apropos in this time of national mourning and reflection.

A plethora of events have been planned for the city to mark our alliance as a people and our allegiance to diversity.

The Chicago Transit Authority, for …

Velos.(Movers & shakers)(appointment of Kamar Aulakh )(Brief article)

Kamar Aulakh has been appointed chief operating officer at Velos. Aulakh has previously held roles as president and ceo of quark, a software solutions developer, and has held …