Montgomery County Animal Watch

These were among cases received by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information on shelter hours and location, adoption and licensing procedures, rabies clinics and low-cost neutering, call 240-773-5960. Cat’s last sidewalk siesta: Pets available for adoption: Dogs, cats and other pets will be available through the Montgomery County Humane Society at the following location. To confirm the schedule, call 240-773-5966 or visit www.mchumane.org. Germantown Cats available for adoption Germantown PetConnect Animal Rescue adoption: Rockville PetSmart5154 Nicholson Lane10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday Volunteers needed to foster dogs and cats: The Partnership for Animal Welfare is in need of volunteers to foster dogs and cats, provide transportation to vet appointments and handle animals at adoption shows. PAW is a nonprofit volunteer group that facilitates the rescue and adoption of homeless domestic animals, mainly dogs and cats, and places them in loving and stable homes. For information, visit www.paw-rescue.org or leave a message at 301-572-4729. — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Good Counsel vs. DeMatha: Linebackers lead No. 1 Falcons’ defense

Game to watch: No. 4 DeMatha (5-0) at No. 1 Good Counsel (4-1), Friday, 7 p.m. On a Good Counsel defense loaded with three other linebackers that hold Football Bowl Subdivision scholarship offers, it’s easy for senior Marcel Ngachie to get lost in the shuffle. His relatively small size doesn’t help in that regard, either. But as the Falcons head into Friday’s matchup against DeMatha, Good Counsel Coach Bob Milloy said no defensive player on his team is more crucial to its success than Ngachie, a two-star recruit who holds offers from Virginia, Syracuse and Hawaii. Ngachie “is very explosive,” Milloy said. “He’s only about 5-9, 5-10, and I guess he kind of gets lost behind the defensive linemen and everything. But when he sees an opening, he reacts to it.” Through five games this season, Ngachie leads Good Counsel in tackles with 24.5. Fellow senior linebacker Dorian O’Daniel – who is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 5 outside linebacker in the Class of 2013 and who has orally committed to Clemson – stands tied for third on the team in tackles with 17.5. Facing DeMatha’s stable of talented running backs, the Falcons will need solid performances from Ngachie and O’Daniel, among others, in an attempt to make the Stags one-dimensional. Milloy called DeMatha junior tailback Mark Allen (5-7, 185) “quick as a dart. He gets behind them big guys, and it’s hard to find him.” Meantime, Stags sophomore tailback Taiwan Deal (6-2, 226) “just runs you over. He reminds me of [former Good Counsel and current Maryland tailback] Wes Brown a little bit,” Milloy said. But Milloy has ample reason to be confident his defense has the tools necessary to contain DeMatha’s potent offense. A combined 17 players on the Good Counsel and DeMatha rosters currently possess FBS offers, and 10 of those players are Falcons. Ngachie, a three-year starter who wears No. 2, is one of them, though he is perhaps the most inconspicuous of the bunch. Ngachie “is the unknown, quiet guy,” Milloy said. “He’s probably our top guy on defense. . . . I think he’s kind of the leader over there amongst the kids. He’s just a guy that you sort of don’t notice, and then all of the sudden, bang, there’s a nine-yard loss, and No. 2 is standing there.” Game to watch: McNamara (2-3) at Bullis (4-0), Friday, 7 p.m. Bullis Cilento


Markus Stenz makes BSO debut in concert influenced by early music movement

The historically informed performance movement continues to have an impact on mainstream orchestral ensembles. For a time, conductors shied away from that territory, often leaving baroque and early classical music to the early music specialists. As the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra showed in its program at Strathmore on Thursday night, application of the lessons of the movement can help reclaim that repertory for modern instruments, with gratifying results. German conductor Markus Stenz, in a noteworthy debut with Marin Alsop’s orchestra members, led a chamber-size group in the “Chaos” introduction to Jean-Fery Rebel’s choreographed symphony “Les elemens,” from 1737. In an early flirtation with atonality, Rebel depicted the formlessness of the world before its creation by using all the notes of the D harmonic minor scale simultaneously. Two piccolo players, set perilously high, chirped away in intertwined lines against a cushion of crisply coordinated strings. Stenz’s reading of Beethoven’s Third Symphony offered brisk tempo choices, minimal rubato to interrupt the rhythmic flow, and scrupulous, spirited articulations. In an interesting experiment, Stenz split the violins, cellos and basses on opposing sides of the seating arrangement and kept string vibrato to a minimum. Combined with his slightly erratic beat, this caused some minor misalignment between sections but helped keep the strings subdued and allowed other instruments to come to the fore. Beethoven’s example served only to reveal the weaknesses of the work that preceded it, Schumann’s late Violin Concerto in D Minor, especially its monochromatic orchestration — rarely one of Schumann’s strengths. Violinist Kolja Blacher gave a journeymanlike performance of the solo part, with a brawny, somewhat unvaried sound on his 1730 Tritton Stradivari. Stenz helpfully accommodated some tempo adjustments for the most difficult passages in the polonaise third movement. Downey is a freelance writer.


Smart Mouth: In Portland, Ore., craft brewing reaches new heights

wave of urban renewal. For thirsty locals (and intrepid travelers), the Central Eastside is fast becoming the place to sample cutting-edge brews. My first stop is the Cascade Brewing Barrel House, on busy Belmont Street in the industrial heart of the Eastside. On a sunny afternoon, dozens of bicycles are locked to the patio railing — a clear vote of approval from Portland’s bike-riding, beer-swilling hipsters. I make my way through the beer garden out front and into the barrel house, where no fewer than 23 house beers are on tap, from hoppy IPAs to farmhouse-style saisons and straw-colored pilsners. But I’ve come for something really special: the sours. Sour beers may well represent the final frontier of craft brewing. Popularized in Belgium, these beers are traditionally brewed with live lactobacillus cultures, the same bacteria used in yogurt. This imparts a tangy, tart taste, unlike that for any other beer out there. Sours are also notoriously difficult to get right, taking months to ferment and sometimes years to mature. Cascade has the process down to a science. I pull up a stool to an oversize barrel doubling as a table to sample the menacingly named Cherry Bourbonic Plague. The brewmeisters at Cascade start with a recycled bourbon barrel, aging the beer in it for six months. Then they throw in some sour pie cherries for good measure and leave it for another two years. The result? Well, there’s a reason it’s called a sour. But once you move beyond the tart attack, it’s all dark cherries, dates and oak dancing on the palate, with a bourbon-flavored finish. Initiated, I dive deeper into sour country, sampling wheat beer styles and exotic variants with honey, ginger and lime. Be forewarned: Because they’re aged, sours pack a punch. But the handy to-go growlers and grenades at Cascade make it easy to grab one more for the road. Properly puckered, I plunge back into the Eastside afternoon, skirting a vacant lot grown tall with weeds, then hanging a sharp right to reach Green Dragon, another craft beer mecca. A rambling complex embracing a beer garden hung with paper lanterns, a rustic warehouse-cum-bar and a brewery, Green Dragon takes up nearly half a city block. At happy hour, it’s packed and boisterous, bearded drinkers jammed elbow to elbow at picnic tables, downing pints and scarfing discounted bratwursts, sliders and other pub fare. Mounted above the


Abortion debate again divides Ireland

DUBLIN — The Fine Gael/Labor government is struggling to respond to a 2010 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which found that Dublin has failed to implement rules to enable a woman to have an abortion when her life is at risk during pregnancy. An expert group is due to report to the government as early as next week on how to comply with the ruling, raising fears among church leaders and some Fine Gael lawmakers that legal abortions may soon be carried out in one of Europe’s most Catholic countries. “I am not a legal expert, but I would be very much pro-life and in favor of the right to life of baby and mother,” John O’Mahony, a Fine Gael member of Parliament, said. O’Mahony is one of a group of 15 conservative Fine Gael lawmakers threatening to vote against any government proposal to liberalize abortion laws. The opposition risks inflaming existing tensions with the Labor Party, which supports legislation that would enable women whose lives are at risk to access an abortion. Relationships between the two parties are fragile after the resignation of a Labor junior minister last week following a fallout with James Reilly, minister for health and deputy leader of Fine Gael. The two parties also face a challenge in reaching agreement on one of the toughest austerity budgets in decades. Here is a look at some of the week’s best photographs from around the globe. “This harks back to the 1980s for Ireland. The economy is improving only very slowly, and yet the government is tearing its hair out over abortion,” said Michael McNamara, a Labor member of Parliament who favors legislating to comply with the ruling issued by the European Court of Human Rights. “Ireland can’t be in the same camp as Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, who regularly do not comply with European judgments,” he said. Abortion is one of the most deeply divisive issues in Ireland, which has held five bitterly fought referendums on the topic since 1983. It is one of only two European Union countries — the other is Malta — where women cannot access an abortion even when their lives are endangered by a pregnancy, suicide or medical conditions. The practical ban on abortion in Ireland in all circumstances remains in place despite a ruling by the Irish Supreme Court in 1992 that abortion is legal under limited


See It: A film on where the butterflies go in winter

The new Imax film, “Flight of the Butterflies,” lets viewers experience the butterflies that winter in Michoacan, Mexico. (SK Films/Mexico Tourism Board) Experiencing the tens of millions of monarch butterflies that winter in the state of Michoacán, Mexico, is on many an eco-tourist’s bucket list. But the journey to the remote high-altitude sanctuaries is both physically and logistically difficult. Plus, there’s that State Department warning against non-essential travel to Michoacan. Not to worry. The new Imax film “Flight of the Butterflies” brings the monarchs to us. The film, which premiered Sept. 24 at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History before a VIP-studded crowd that included Mexican President Felipe Calderon, opens dramatically: Thousands of 3-D monarchs flit and float across the screen in a scene so authentic that the audience physically reached out as if to touch the real thing. And for the next 44 minutes, that feeling of being there never wavered. This is armchair travel at its most engaging. The movie, produced by SK Films of Toronto, has two complementing and interwoven threads — insect and human — that together make it more than just another expertly produced nature film. The monarch’s complex life cycle is deftly and beautifully chronicled through the lives of Dana (short for Danaus plexippus, the monarch’s scientific name), her daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter. The several-generation migration cycle, which reaches from Texas to as far north as Canada and then to Mexico, is vividly detailed, from the laying of a single egg to the gathering of millions in Michoacan. When Dana’s “super monarch” granddaughter emerges from her chrysalis, the sight is jaw-dropping. Environmental challenges, such as anti-butterfly farming practices, are addressed but not emphasized: The guilt factor is kept to a minimum. What differentiates the film from mere cinematography-at-its-finest is a story about the better side of humans, specifically the real people who first wondered where monarchs go in the winter. Meet Fred Urquhart (Gordon Pinsent), who is introduced as a monarch-obsessed child in Ontario, Canada, in the 1920s. Urquhart’s lifelong quest to solve the mystery of the disappearing monarchs begins optimistically enough. In 1945, he marries fellow scientist Norah Patterson (Patricia Phillips), who shares his obsession. Victories, such as finding a tag that will stick to the butterflies and successfully enlisting thousands of citizen scientists across North America to affix them, mark the earlier days of Urquhart’s quest. But as the years pass and


Bend, Ore., the city you’ll love to hate

to 1988, when the Deschutes Brewery, Bend’s first, opened. It’s now the fifth-largest craft brewery in the country; its distribution map looks like an invading army heading east across the United States. The King Kong in the Bend brewing scene, Deschutes now has two properties in town — the main factory and a pub downtown. Other breweries have their own niche, from live entertainment at Silver Moon, to Bend Brewing Co.’s beer-centric menu, to the convivial open-air scene at 10 Barrel. Last summer alone, an estimated 30 percent of visitors came for the beer. Oh, and about the beer. The IPA and pale ales once stood as the flagpole of Bend brewing, but since then the beer here has expanded into all genres and tastes, from porters, stouts and pilsners to Belgian strongs and an award-winning seasonal sour made with pomegranate and hibiscus. That’s a lot of beer for a population of 80,000. “It’s a mutual appreciation society,” Larry Sidor told me — and he should know. He’s the man behind some of Deschutes Brewery’s most successful beers and is now the brew master/co-owner of Crux Fermentation Project, which opened in June 2012. At Crux, the curtain is pulled back. Walk through the open garage doors and turn left and you’ll see rows of silver fermentation tanks, a stone’s throw from the brew pub’s bar and communal tables. The deep-red floors still carry marks from when the building operated as an AAMCO station. The curved, hand-crafted wooden ceilings are held over from the place’s first incarnation as a mill supply store — locally reclaimed wood has been used throughout. On one wall, portraits of everyone involved in making the brewery a reality have been playfully painted on small wooden blocks. On tap, Crux’s own brew (three beers when I was there, with more unveiled every month) along with kegs from Belgium, Northern California, and — of course — Bend. It may seem counterintuitive for Crux to sell beer from other local breweries. But the beer scene here, just like the climbers who established the first routes at Smith Rock or the mountain bikers who created trails like Phil’s, is a community of like-minded enthusiasts. After all, they all share the secret: Bend is the place. And if you don’t happen to live there, you’ll end up hating it, too. Details, Bend, Ore. Borchelt is a Washington-based travel writer and photographer.


Crime, graduation and college athletes

I just read Melinda Henneberger’s Oct. 3 She the People column, “Another death raises suspicions about college athletes,” and I am shocked that you published this headline. Why? Because the man accused in New York state of beating to death 18-year-old Alexandra Kogut was not a college athlete. Yes, he played hockey and ran cross country in high school, but that has no bearing on this. This story is, and should be, about domestic violence, pure and simple. We do our young people no favors when we treat athletes as somehow suspect. Athletics is one of the best ways to keep young people involved and out of trouble. Bad behavior is bad behavior. Let’s keep our focus on the problem of domestic violence and not on disparaging and discouraging athletes. Holly Weatherwax, Reston ●


American jihadist struggles inside Somali militia

remains focused on Somalia or becomes part of a broader jihad against the West and its allies remain in question. To survive, analysts say, the militia could formally link up with other al-Qaeda affiliates, such as the one in Yemen, a three-hour boat ride from Somalia. “The Shabab is really struggling to define itself,” said J. Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center in Washington. “Al-Amriki is jockeying for a place in whatever version of Shabab evolves after the fall of Kismayo.” Western and Somali security officials say he is no longer in favor inside the militia, although he still has support from some leaders. Amriki is believed to have fled Marka over the summer, before African Union forces entered in late August. His whereabouts are unknown, though African Union commanders say he is somewhere between Marka and Kismayo. In a telephone interview from his home in Daphne, Ala., Shafik Hammami, Amriki’s father, said he had not spoken to his son in several years. “I don’t have any idea of where he is,” said Hammami. “We have not heard from him.” He has been following his son’s trail on the Internet and has read his autobiography, Hammami said. He is also closely watching the recent events unfolding in Somalia and hopes his son will emerge unscathed. “I just hope and pray for his safety,” said Hammami. “It’s all in God’s hands.” ‘He was preaching to us’ Amriki grew up in Daphne. His father is Muslim and was born in Syria. His mother is of Irish heritage and was raised Baptist. In high school, he began to identify more with Islam, and by the time he attended the University of South Alabama, he had embraced Salafism, an ultraconservative brand of the faith. He later settled in Toronto, where he married a Canadian of Somali ancestry, and within a few years he moved to Egypt. In 2006, Amriki left his wife and baby daughter and traveled to Somalia, where he received ideological and arms training. The next year, he was indicted in the United States. “The Americans fear that their cultural barrier has been broken, and now jihad has become a normal career choice of any youthful American Muslim,” Amriki wrote in his autobiography. Somalis who waged jihad in Afghanistan with Osama bin Laden created and lead al-Shabab, which in Arabic means “the youth.” The militia’s goal


Disappointed by the National Zoo

Last Sunday was another spectacular fall day, and my family and I headed off to one of our favorite spots in all of Washington: the National Zoo. Imagine our disappointment when we discovered that the first stop on our regular zoo route was closed — the great cats exhibit. It was closed not for renovation but for a private event. I’m sure that the real estate people hosting the event were a fine group, and I hope their “open house” (by invitation only) was a success. But I am bewildered by the thinking of zoo officials who decided it is appropriate to provide private companies and organizations exclusive access to a major exhibit during regular operating hours. I trust the zoo was well compensated. Another disturbing development, coincidentally right next to the great cats, was the unsightly edifice of the future zoo carousel. Carousel? The Smithsonian Institution says that the National Zoological Park was founded in 1889 to “preserve, teach, and conduct research about the animal world.” Nothing in this mission statement covers amusement park rides or animal rentals. Anne Topic, Falls Church


Smashburger is latest burger joint to come to D.C. area

Founder Tom Ryan shows off a Smashburger. (Jeffrey MacMillan/JEFFREY MACMILLAN FOR WASHINGTON POST) Over the past five years, Tom Ryan has created more than 50 types of sandwiches for his Smashburger restaurants. His latest: The Capital Burger, a bacon- and baby arugula-topped patty on a brioche bun, for the chain’s newest location in Fairfax. “It’s a more upscale, sophisticated burger for Washington,” he said. “We try to add local flair to every menu.” Ryan, 55, a veteran of Pizza Hut, Pillsbury and McDonald’s, opened the first Smashburger store in a Denver suburb in 2007. Since then, the company has grown to include 173 locations, with plans to build about 100 more by the end of next year. The restaurant on Fairfax Boulevard opened last Wednesday. “Our original goal was just to put burgers back into people’s lives,” said Ryan, who has a doctoral degree in flavor and fragrance chemistry. Ryan isn’t alone, though. More than a dozen burger joints, including Shake Shack, Black & Orange, Bobby’s Burger Palace and Burger, Tap & Shake, have opened in the Washington area since the beginning of 2011. The newly-formed Bolt Burgers has plans to open its first outpost in the area, as does Dallas-based Mooyah, which has been shopping around for locations in Washington and Maryland. A Smashburger is pictured at the chain’s newest location in in Fairfax. (Jeffrey MacMillan/JEFFREY MACMILLAN FOR WASHINGTON POST) “I thought the burger trend was going to fade away, but it’s just not happening,” said Adam Sobel, executive chef at Bourbon Steak at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown. “Americans love their hamburgers — it’s an unfortunate stereotype that’s proven true.” At Smashburger, Angus beef patties are quite literally smashed onto the grill, where they are cooked for about three minutes, seasoned and served. “It develops a lot of beef flavor because you’ve got that butter, hot beef thing going on,” Ryan said of the technique, which took him about four months to develop. The chain’s menu also includes chicken sandwiches, fried pickles and veggie frites — flash-fried green beans and carrot sticks. “We tried to think about what the next generation wants,” Ryan said. “What are people going to be looking for? What can we do that’s new?” The company customizes its menu to sell local favorites: fried jalapenos in Texas, Spanish chorizo in Florida and almond milkshakes at its restaurant in Kuwait. This year, Smashburger is


Bank deposits rise in Washington area

money even as interest rates hit record lows. The total amount of money in savings accounts rose about 5 percent to $6.9 trillion earlier this year, according to data released by the Federal Reserve. Bert Ely, a banking expert based in Alexandria, said the increase in savings doesn’t necessarily mean Americans are better off now than they were last year. “I think a lot of it is that people are getting more liquid, even as household net worth has declined,” Ely said. “Maybe they’re taking money out of the stock market or they’re selling assets.” Here’s a look at who made the list of the country’s richest — also known as the 1 percent. Capital One, which reported $28.77 billion in deposits as of June 30, ranked first in the Washington area following its $9 billion purchase of ING Direct in February. The McLean-based bank, which has 205 local branches, held 18.3 percent of the area’s deposits. Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, posted $21.76 billion in deposits and accounted for 13.8 percent of market share. Bank of America ($20.23 billion in deposits), SunTrust Bank ($16.42 billion) and BB&T ($13.15 billion) all maintained a strong footing in the region. The growth in the Washington area outpaced the nation, where deposits rose about 8 percent to $8.95 trillion. Some analysts attributed the increase to consumers putting off big-ticket purchases for fear the economy could suddenly turn sour. “People are not spending money,” said Lew Sosnowik, a banking analyst at Koonce Securities in Bethesda. “Instead of buying that refrigerator, they’re putting their money in the bank.” Meanwhile, the number of branches in the area fell for the first time in eight years as banks looked to cut costs by consolidating locations. There were 11 fewer branches in the metropolitan area this year than there were last year, with 1,761 branches in the District, its Maryland and Virginia suburbs, and Jefferson County in West Virginia. Bethesda-based Eagle Bank, which logged the region’s 10th largest share of deposits, was the highest-ranking community bank on the list. Deposits at the bank rose 29 percent in the past year to total $2.52 billion. “I really think it’s due to the strength of our local economy,” said Michael T. Flynn, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the bank’s holding company. “Deposits are really just a reflection of the cash that’s flowing through the system here.”


Bel Cantanti’s winsome ‘Barber of Seville’

The Maryland-based Bel Cantanti Opera Company began its ninth year with a winsome production of Rossini’s “Barber of Seville” — very well sung and often fun to look at. With talented local singers, a lot of volunteer help, borrowed costumes, and a scrappy orchestra of what appear to be college students, the company’s highly creditable showing owes much to the ambition and drive of its founder, director, and conductor, Katerina Souvorova. There were, of course, some opening-night glitches Friday at the Rockville Jewish Community Center’s intimate but drab auditorium. Some lighting cues in the final scene seemed wrong, and the orchestra was still finding its way through some of the harder passages. But the cast was vocally strong from top to bottom. Too often the acting veered into sitcom territory — the singers in smaller roles trying too hard to make their time onstage count. And what was supposed to be the big dramatic stroke in the first-act finale was badly undermined by production choices. The scene involves a soldier discreetly revealing to a policeman who is about to arrest him that he is a nobleman in disguise, prompting the policeman to release him to everyone’s astonishment. But here, the policeman and the nobleman/soldier were in identical uniforms, and the policeman was played by the same singer who earlier played the nobleman’s servant. This double miscalculation made the scene an incomprehensible hash without any comedic tension. Sarah Davis as Rosina was outstanding, tossing off coloratura with clarity and ease. Colin Levin in the title role didn’t dominate musically, but was the most natural actor. Kwang Kyu Lee as Bartolo has a powerful and flexible voice, but could tone down the mugging a little. Costume and production design were remarkable, given the budget constraints. For a fraction of what you’d pay at the Kennedy Center, this modest “Barber” offers a musically satisfying and vocally opulent evening. “The Barber of Seville” continues Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.


Robert J. Samuelson: The Great Reversal

growth. The aging of the United States, Japan and most European countries reduces the labor force growth, because there are fewer new workers compared with retiring workers. In the United States, average labor force growth is now reckoned by the Congressional Budget Office at 0.5 percent a year, a third of its post-1950 average. Elsewhere, prospects are worse. In Germany, the labor force is barely growing; in Japan, it’s declining. In the short run, a slowing labor force cushions unemployment. In the long run, it reduces economic growth. From 1950 to 2011, U.S. economic growth averaged 3.3 percent annually, divided roughly equally between average labor force increases of 1.5 percent annually and productivity gains of 1.8 percent. (Productivity — efficiency — generally reflects new technologies, better management and more skilled workers.) With the labor force increasing more slowly, the pace of potential U.S. economic expansion would drop to 2.3 percent annually, assuming that productivity gains stay the same. Unfortunately, that’s an iffy assumption. In a fascinating paper, economist Robert Gordon of Northwestern University speculates that productivity increases have peaked. Per capita income gains may gradually slow to half or less of their historical rate. Most economists, he writes, believe “economic growth is a continuous process that will persist forever.” It may not, he argues. Gordon identifies three industrial “revolutions.” The first began in England around 1750 and featured cotton spinning, the steam engine and railroads. The second, dating from 1870 to 1900, was the most significant and involved the harnessing of electricity, the invention of the internal combustion engine and the advent of indoor plumbing with running water. These, he contends, triggered other advances: appliances, highways, suburbs, airplanes, elevators and modern communications (telephones, televisions). Gordon is less impressed with the third revolution: computers, starting around 1960 when big companies first used “mainframes.” True, they automated airline reservations, banking transactions and clerical work. Secretaries “began to disappear.” More recently, e-commerce has exploded. But Gordon sees the Internet, smartphones and tablets as tilted toward entertainment, not labor-saving. High productivity gains from cybertechnologies “had faded away by 2004,” he argues. Technological innovation, though faltering, will continue, Gordon writes. Think more driverless cars and new cancer drugs. But he argues that the effects on average American living standards will be muted. Less-skilled workers from lackluster schools will cut productivity and wage growth further. Greater inequality will steer some gains to the wealthy. Higher taxes


Lance Armstrong wins Howard County triathlon

Half Full Triathlon wasn’t without controversy. Armstrong, 41, was banned for life after dropping his fight in August against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which has charged him with using performance-enhancing drugs. That ban extended to races sanctioned by USA Triathlon, so the Howard County event’s organizers chose to drop that association, forgoing the USAT’s insurance and national ranking points for participants, in order to include Armstrong in the field for the 70-mile distance. It was an easy decision, said Brock Yetso, president and CEO of the Ulman Cancer Fund, noting that once Armstrong’s participation was announced, 300 more competitors entered (paying fees of $170-$250) and more volunteers and sponsors came forward. Only two triathletes withdrew in protest, he added. “The purpose of event is the raise awareness and raise money,” Yetso said. “Adding him is just a huge score.” And those who came to compete or cheer Sunday seemed far more interested in Armstrong’s battle against cancer than his battle against the international cycling community. To them, Armstrong retains his most significant title — “survivor”— 16 years after being found to have testicular cancer just weeks after competing in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. And to them, Armstrong’s advocacy and fund-raising on behalf of cancer patients through his foundation and the Livestrong movement represent an achievement that carries no asterisk. “Lance is kind of like the Muhammad Ali of my generation: A person who transcends sports,” said triathlete Tom Collins, 46, of Silver Spring, whose father died of colon cancer. “In this day and age, it’s hard to know what is the truth and what’s not. But I know what’s in my heart. And Lance has certainly brought a lot of awareness to people” Armstrong, whose seven Tour de France titles came after his diagnosis, refused to speak to reporters before or after the race. USADA has stripped him of his titles; the International Cycling Union, which sanctions the Tour, has yet to issue on ruling on whether it will strip Armstrong of his Tour victories. Armstrong spoke frankly and with conviction during a panel discussion billed as “Lance Unplugged” at Ellicott City’s Centennial High on Saturday night, sharing the stage with Doug Ulman, the Howard County native whose cancer diagnosis as a college undergraduate prompted his family to start the foundation to help young people. Ulman now serves as president and CEO of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Armstrong spoke to


3-D film tracks butterflies’ journey; a magazine article explores Gorilla Glass

Entomology Winged journey “Butterflies in 3D,” Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History How do you follow a butterfly? It’s not easy, but in the mid-’70s, Canadian zoologist Fred Urquhart recruited thousands of volunteers to help tag and track the insect’s movements by applying tags to their wings.“Butterflies in 3D,” screening now at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, tells the story of Urquhart’s 40-year effort to map the winter migration of monarch butterflies, which make an extended southward jaunt across North America to Mexico. The film re-creates the journey of a single bug, dubbed PS 397, which was released by two schoolboys and a teacher in Chaska, Minn., and, through sheer luck, was found four months later by Urquhart in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Michoacan, Mexico, flapping around amid a million other butterflies. It’s a heartwarming story, but the film’s main draw is the breathtaking 3-D footage, which uses sophisticated cameras and filmmaking techniques to capture the insect’s life cycle in extraordinary detail. “Butterflies in 3D” will be shown at the museum through the end of November, with an extension of the run possible. Engineering Tough to crack Wired, October edition In this month’s issue of Wired, Bryan Gardiner examines the engineering marvel that is Gorilla Glass, the crystal-clear, ultra-thin and shatter-resistant material that smartphone makers use to build touch screens. “In just five years, Gorilla Glass has gone from a material to an aesthetic, a seamless partition that separates our physical selves from the digital incarnations we carry in our pockets,” Gardiner writes. So, what makes Gorilla Glass different? A series of specialized manufacturing processes allow the outer layers of the glass to cool faster than the inside. When the center finally cools, it contracts, pulling at the already stiff outer shell and creating additional tension that produces extra strength. As anybody with a cracked iPhone screen knows, sometimes even Gorilla Glass fails. But the manufacturer, Corning, is trying to make it better. Gardiner talks to researchers at Corning, where engineers pound different versions of the glass with spring-powered hammers, looking for weaknesses. — Aaron Leitko


Insurers offer new programs to help disabled return to work

preventing secondary health events, such as bedsores and diabetes caused by inactivity, saves them money. So these emerging programs make sense on many levels.” About 80 percent of Americans with disabilities were not born with impairments but developed them later in life through illness or injury — which suggests that employers are going to encounter unanticipated disabilities among employees. In many cases, private industry is following the example set by nonprofits that encourage activity among the disabled. Cigna began working with Achilles after the nonprofit’s founder, Dick Traum, an amputee and marathon runner, happened to meet Mark Marsters, head of disability and accident operations for Cigna, at a dinner party. Other trend-setting nonprofits include the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which funds LiveStrong — 12-week, small-group programs at 200 YMCAs across the country. The goal of the free program is to get people who have just finished cancer treatment to be and to feel emotionally and physically strong. The ultimate goal is to return them either to “their normal life or their new normal,” says Rae Bazzarre, a LiveStrong spokeswoman. The Reeve Foundation, meanwhile, has given out $15 million in grants to nonprofit organizations for education, job training and sports activities for people with paralysis. The grants are funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which provides funds for the programs the foundation then runs. Interest in emotional and physical rehabilitation has grown in recent years as wounded military personnel have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, says Lawrence Carter-Long, a public affairs specialist for the federal National Council on Disability. One such soldier, Matias Ferreira, 23, who lost both legs in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2011, said he stared at the ceiling from his hospital bed at Bethesda Naval Hospital for four months until two Achilles volunteers urged him to try a hand cycle. He mastered it on the first try, and two months later joined the Achilles event in a hand-crank wheelchair. That gave him the confidence and desire to try prosthetic legs, which he used about six months later to run the Disney Half Marathon in Orlando. His volunteer Achilles partner? David Cordani, president and chief executive of Cigna. Henderson, meanwhile, is planning a move with his wife to Minneapolis to become a church pastor — a lifelong dream. And he is still running. Kritz is a health writer living in Silver Spring.


Wal-Mart going head-to-head with banks with prepaid American Express card

who are waking up and saying, ‘The value that I used to get from my traditional checking account just isn’t there given the complex maze of fees I have to navigate,’ ” Daniel Eckert, vice president of financial services for Wal-Mart U.S., said in an interview. “We’ve put out a product that offers them an alternative.” Wal-Mart is among several big box retailers, including Target and Office Depot, that are trying to peel off bank customers with prepaid cards. Banks are also pushing such prepaid products, but many of these institutions cannot match the ubiquitous Wal-Mart’s ability to sell credit products to consumers. Over the past decade or so, Wal-Mart has tried on several occasions to obtain a bank charter but has been repeatedly beaten back by the banking industry. Now, with Bluebird, Wal-Mart customers could conceivably cut banks out of their lives, some analysts said. “What’s interesting about this product is that anybody can manage their money on a day-to-day basis without ever really having to step foot in a bank branch,” said Jennifer Teshcer, president and chief executive at the Center for Financial Services Innovation, a think tank. “Banks will continue to play an important role in safeguarding our funds,” she added, “but whether they will continue to be the front door for the mass market is what’s at stake.” According to a recent government survey, nearly 1 million households exited the banking system from 2009 to 2011. One in four American households, or 28.3 percent, had one bank account or no bank accounts as of last year. A third of these households told researchers that they did not have enough money to open and fund an account. Consumers have been hit with a flurry of fee hikes as banks try to offset the loss of revenue from a government-imposed cap on debit card transaction fees. The average monthly service fee on checking accounts, for instance, topped $5.48 in September, up 25 percent from the prior year, according to Bankrate.com. As these fees mount, more consumers are turning to prepaid cards. Consulting firm Mercator Advisory Group estimates that the market for prepaid debit cards may reach $150 billion this year. Wal-Mart already offers a MoneyCard in a partnership with a company called Green Dot, and officials said that initiative would continue. But on Monday, after Wal-Mart’s announcement with American Express, Green Dot’s stock plummeted more than 20 percent.


Traffic jams make it hard for distance runners get to the starting line

getting to the Marine Corps Marathon on Oct. 28? By running five miles from her house. That’s one way to beat traffic. @postmisfits on Twitter Hallett edits the Fit section of Express. The Golden Knights — the U.S. Army Parachute Team — have figured out the ideal way to get to the starting line of the Army Ten-Miler. They jump. “One or two of them will take off their uniforms, put on running gear and go for it,” says race director Jim Vandak, who’s always happy to accommodate any of the parachutists. But arrival by air won’t work for all 30,000 participants in the Oct. 21 event. “I don’t think the FAA would appreciate that,” he says. Like many races in the Washington area, the Army Ten-Miler depends on Metro to get runners in place and on time (see box for more information). The Marine Corps Marathon’s transportation plan? “Metro, Metro, Metro,” says spokeswoman Tami Faram. But trains will only take you so far, and as races have tackled new territory, organizers have had to find other ways to stay on course. Sometimes, they’ve failed spectacularly, as in the case of the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K last December, which would have been more appropriately named the Hot Mess. When 20,000 runners tried to descend on National Harbor — nowhere near a Metro stop — their cars clogged Beltway, forcing the event to delay by an hour and leaving a lot of angry people in the cold. The angry mob was at least warmer last month at the Tough Mudder in Frederick. Traffic got so bad on the way to the mud run that people abandoned their cars on the highway, and many of those who did manage to park in the proper field wound up having to push their vehicles out of the muck to escape. The planned two-day event never got to the second day. Disasters like these teach plenty of lessons to race directors. You probably won’t see events with more than 5,000 people at National Harbor again, and last weekend’s Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon, which ended at National Harbor, also shuttled participants to and from the Eisenhower Avenue Metro. Andy Liverman, co-founder of Rogue Runner, a mud run with obstacles that’s launching just outside of Warrenton later this month, has been taking notes on traffic problems. Just a few weeks after the Tough Mudder debacle, there were


Indian toilet campaign battles graft

and therefore practice what is known as open defecation. But now, it seems, the Indian establishment is beginning to realize the awful price in deaths and disease that the country and its 1.2 billion people have paid for failing to build modern toilets and sewage systems. “India’s sanitation challenge, especially in rural India, remains humongous,” Jairam Ramesh, minister of rural development, said in September at an event to publicize the central government’s latest hygiene drive. About 400,000 to 500,000 children younger than 5 die each year in India from diarrhea “largely caused by unhygienic practices including improper disposal of human excreta,” Ramesh said. “Cleanliness is more important than godliness in this country.” Ramesh said the sanitation budget had been nearly doubled to $675 million for the current financial year. The government has also drafted another law to abolish the job of manual scavenger, this time with the threat of one-year jail terms for anyone who employs one. The country’s Supreme Court last week also ordered that all schools should be provided with basic toilet facilities within six months. India, though, has grown wearily accustomed to the rhetoric of cleanliness without seeing much in the way of new toilets, with Uttar Pradesh being an egregious example of how states fail to deliver on official promises. For the 10 years up to 2011, the Uttar Pradesh government dutifully reported steadily rising access to latrines in rural areas with the help of $600 million in public funds under the Total Sanitation Campaign. Coverage officially increased from 19.23 percent of households in 2001 to 82.47 percent a decade later. With Budaun having been in the past an epicenter for polio (India reported its last case of polio nearly two years ago), this looked like good news. But the reality was very different: The 2011 national census showed 21.8 percent of households had toilets — hardly any improvement at all. Over-reporting of success was rampant across India, but in Uttar Pradesh it was extreme. “Corruption is institutionalized,” said one frustrated aid worker in the state. “The moment they pass over the money, they count the job as done. So another 10-year program has been lost. . . . We found sanitation conditions are quite appalling.” It is not difficult to find evidence of corruption in Uttar Pradesh. Villagers entitled to food handouts, whether Muslims or low-caste Hindus, routinely complain that local officials sequester their ration


Mexican marines kill founder of Zetas drug cartel, then lose corpse

at all, but a used car salesman. If it survives scrutiny, the death of Lazcano, also known as “El Verdugo,” or the Executioner, will be a major victory for outgoing President Felipe Calderon, who has made the capture and killing of top mafia bosses the main focus of Mexico’s five-year drug war. But the fact that the drug lord’s body could be snatched by masked gunmen shows how far Mexico still has to go to control the lawlessness that has left more than 60,000 Mexicans dead as drugs continue to head north of the border. Lazcano’s apparent death was applauded by U.S. law enforcement agents, who have provided intelligence on the whereabouts of top Zetas members and pushed Mexico to press its assault against one of the world’s most successful criminal organizations. An especially cruel paramilitary cartel, the Zetas operate a diversified portfolio that includes not just drug trafficking but also extortion, kidnapping, video piracy and the theft of billions of dollars in oil and gas from Mexico’s state petroleum company. The Zetas have promoted their image as the most bloodthirsty cartel in Mexico by releasing videos on the Internet showing their members interrogating, torturing and beheading rivals with machetes and chain saws. According to the Mexican navy, whose marines have been among the most effective in Calderon’s capture-or-kill strategy, Lazcano and a driver were spotted Sunday at a baseball game in the small town of Progreso, about 75 miles west of the Texas border city of Laredo. The navy said its marines were acting on reports of armed men in the area and sent out a patrol. When the marines confronted Lazcano, it said, the Zetas opened fire and began tossing grenades at them. According to the state prosecutor, Lazcano was shot while running from his disabled vehicle. The navy said its marines found rifles, a grenade launcher and a dozen grenades in the truck. Lazcano was a former special forces soldier in the Mexican army, in an elite unit that originally was designed to confront drug traffickers. Lazcano and other special forces troops were recruited by the head of the powerful Gulf cartel, Osiel Cardenas, to serve as his bodyguards and act as enforcers and assassins. A few years ago, Lazcano and his fellow Zetas declared their independence from the Gulf cartel and launched a turf war against their former masters — a battle that continues to this


Marion Simpson, agricultural researcher

Marion Simpson, 85, an agricultural researcher who specialized in cotton and other fibers, died Sept. 25 at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. She had pneumonia and sepsis, said her niece, Patricia Reimer. Marion Emma Simpson was born in Odenton and lived there all her life. She graduated from Arundel High School in 1945 and then began working at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, where she was employed until retiring about 15 years ago. While working, she attended the University of Maryland, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1952, a master’s degree in 1959 and a doctorate in 1962, all in botany. Dr. Simpson’s research was focused on finding new uses for fibers, both in the home and in industry. She was the author or co-author of about 40 academic papers. She was a member of the First Lutheran Church of Bowie. She had no immediate survivors. — Bart Barnes


Government Careers

end up winning in the negotiation. I hope this helps. Take care and I wish you much success. – August 04, 2010 11:21 AM Q.General Hiring issues...: This is more of a comment about USAJOBS. Maybe someday USAJOBS will be the “one stop” job site, but for now it sure isn’t. My son is job hunting, and has found that USAJOBS “may” have the basics, but seekers still have to go to each dept/agency’s site to do the actual application. Plus, the qualifications etc are often different on USAJOBS vs the individual ones, PLUS they have to re-enter basic info each time. This is hardly helpful, and when he calls the agency/dept with questions, he gets different answers again! I am a 30 year fed, so am more used to the craziness, but for a new person, it is terribly frustrating. – August 04, 2010 8:31 AM A.Derrick Dortch: Hello General Hiring Issues, your comment is a very accurate one. USAJOBS is a good site and has many government jobs but what everyone has to remember is that it does not have all government jobs on there. Agencies who are deemed “Competitive Service’ agencies are usually the ones who are required to post jobs on USAJOBS. Agencies who are classified as “Excepted Service” do not follow the same rules as those in the Competitive Service and they can make exceptions to where they post jobs and how they hire. These agencies will often times put their postings on their own website or other places. A prime example is the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). The CIA has a number of positions that they are hiring for but if you look on USAJOBS you will never see a CIA position listed. I always advise my clients on doing a targeted search. This means that you develop a list of agencies that you are interested in working for. This should be determined by certain criteria based on what you are looking for in an agency. Once you have your target list then you can begin monitoring agencies and their job section to see what they are posting. Let me give you a few places that you should be looking for Federal Jobs. USAJOBS.gov AVUECENTRAL.com INDEED.com USA.gov http://www.usa.gov/Agencies.shtml I could go on and on on where to find federal positions but this gets you started. Use USAJOBS for sure but dont stop there. Look


Wal-Mart tests same-day delivery in Northern Virginia

Wal-Mart is experimenting with same-day deliveries in Northern Virginia, offering a service that Amazon.com has begun piloting elsewhere in the country. The Walmart to Go test program, an offshoot of an earlier grocery-delivery service offered in San Jose, began in Northern Virginia on Oct. 2. It has since been expanded to Philadelphia and Minneapolis and will be rolled out in San Jose and San Francisco in coming weeks. Customers can buy nearly 5,000 items — personal computers, furniture, bath towels, even gun-cleaning kits — for home delivery. The orders are fulfilled at area Wal-Mart stores and delivered by the United Parcel Service. “Connecting our Web site with 4,000 physical stores across the country really gives us a leg up,” said Ravi Jariwala, a spokesman for Wal-Mart. The initiative comes as the retailing giant faces increasing competition from Internet stores. Amazon.com offers same-day delivery in 10 cities, including the District and Baltimore, for orders placed before 11 a.m. There is a starting fee of $8.99. The traditional supercenters aren’t the only kind of stores the retailer has launched over the years. At Wal-Mart, orders must be placed by noon. Customers are given four-hour delivery windows between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. when their items will be delivered for a flat fee of $10. Northern Virginia, which is home to dozens of Wal-Mart stores, was the first test market for the company’s new program. “We had to make sure that we picked markets where we had a large presence of stores,” Jariwala said. “I don’t know that there was any other reason — it’s not that we liked the motto ‘Virginia Is for Lovers,’ or anything like that.” Wal-Mart’s share prices have been ticking up in the past year as economic uncertainty globally has led investors to bulk up on shares of discount retailers. The company’s shares closed at $74.14 on Tuesday, a 38 percent increase from one year ago. In a recent study conducted by Wal-Mart, Jariwala said a majority of respondents said they would consider same-day delivery if it was available. “That gave us a sense that there is some demand for this,” Jariwala said. “There was a lot of interest for general merchandise like electronics, video games and toys.” Jariwala would not comment on many of the logistics involved — how a store’s products are rounded up for delivery, for example, or whether there was a threshold for how


Woolly Mammoth interns to premiere ‘American Utopias’ to benefit themselves

of his monologue relating conversations Daisey had with workers in China were found to be fabricated. Daisey said that, although he’s given the experience a great deal of thought, “fundamentally, it didn’t change the core of how I do my work. I’ve already dedicated myself, I think like we all do, to doing better work all the time.” Is “American Utopias” fiction or non? “I’m coming from the standpoint that it’s a story. It is true. I am telling it. If people choose to go and fact-check it, how wonderful that they’re so engaged in my work.” So, does that mean it’s true? People “can choose what kind of truth that means to themselves. . . . I’m not going to submit to the kind of interrogations the work has received in the past.” He is prepared for a different kind of interrogation: feedback from a live crowd. “You need an audience that’s warm and receptive but isn’t sycophantic,” he said. “You can’t do it in the living room for a group of friends. You need the charged environment of the actual theater.” Sunday at 7 p.m. at Woolly Mammoth, 641 D St. NW. 202-393-3939. woollymammoth.net. Brotherly ‘Blaguards’ Keegan Theatre is wrapping up its run of “A Couple of Blaguards,” which means it is probably about time for the uninitiated to verify the definition of a “blaguard.” I consulted an expert, and by that I mean I called Colin Smith, who is directing the production. Excellent choice, self! He provided not only a definition but also the etymology: “A blaguard is like a scoundrel,” he said. “I believe it came originally from a military term, the black guard. [They were] a sort of frowned-upon group.” This is a lovely definition but might not be accurate, as the Dictionary of Word Origins offers the following: Blackguard was a nickname for the kitchen knaves in a lord’s retinue, because they used black iron pots and utensils and also because they were dirtier than other workers. Either way, kind of a rude thing to say to someone. But, we’ll take it! The play, by brothers Frank and Malachy McCourt, tells the story of their childhood in Ireland and immigration to the United States. The narrative is nonlinear; the play consists of vignettes. Smith said the transition scenes “were as important to me and the actors as the scene parts, because that’s when we


National Book Award finalists announced

Junot Diaz, 43, a recipient of one of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius grants," was named a finalist for a National Book Award for his book, “This is How You Lose Her," a series of stories about love. (Tsar Fedorsky/AP) Stories about the Iraq war hold a prominent place in this year’s National Book Award nominations. “The Yellow Birds,” a debut novel by Iraq vet Kevin Powers, and “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” the first novel by Ben Fountain, are among the five finalists for the fiction award. Both books, which received positive reviews in The Washington Post and elsewhere, are powerful tales about soldiers coming back from Iraq. This year’s finalists, which were announced Wednesday, are a star-studded group notable for their critical and popular success, although major novels from Richard Ford, Michael Chabon and Barbara Kingsolver are absent from the list. The other three fiction finalists are “A Hologram for the King,” about an American businessman in Saudi Arabia, by Dave Eggers, who won a lifetime achievement award from the National Book Foundation in 2009; “The Round House,” the story of an Ojibwe boy whose mother is attacked, by Louise Erdrich; and “This is How You Lose Her,” short stories by Junot Diaz, a recent MacArthur “genius grant” winner whose debut novel, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008. The five nonfiction finalists are similarly renowned: “Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1945-1956,” by Pulitzer Prize winner and Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum; “Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity,” by Pulitzer Prize winner and former Washington Post writer Katherine Boo; “The Passage of Power,” the fourth volume of Robert A. Caro’s Pulitzer Prize-winning series on Lyndon B. Johnson; “The Boy Kings of Texas,” a memoir by Domingo Martinez; and “House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East,” by Anthony Shadid, the former Washington Post and New York Times writer who won two Pulitzer Prizes. He died earlier this year from an asthma attack while in Syria. The finalists for young people’s literature have a decidedly dark cast this year: Carrie Arcos’s “Out of Reach” is a novel about a lost teen and drug addiction. Patricia McCormick’s “Never Fall Down” is based on the true story of a boy soldier in the Khmer Rouge. Eliot Schrefer’s “Endangered” is a novel about


Nobel Prize in physics goes to federal scientist

If there was an international nice-guy prize, David Wineland probably could win that too. As it is, he’ll have to settle for the Nobel Prize in physics. Wineland is a physicist with the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a little-known agency that does very important work. Wineland’s award, which he shares with Serge Haroche of the Collège de France and École Normale Supérieure in Paris, is “for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems.” That means Wineland’s work helps us to tell time and keeps us from getting lost, among other things. Americans Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley were awarded the Nobel economics prize on Oct. 15 for research that helps explain the market processes at work when doctors are assigned to hospitals, students to schools and human organs for transplant to recipients. “One of the many amazing things about Dave and his work is that while he is at the absolute frontier of research in quantum mechanics, all his work is directly applicable to innovations and technologies that are regularly used, or will be in the future,” Tom O’Brian said by e-mail. He is chief of NIST’s time and frequency division and Wineland’s boss. “For example, Dave’s work is leading to much more accurate atomic clocks. Atomic clocks are crucial for applications such as GPS (now in every smartphone), telecommunications, electric power distribution, and many other areas. Dave’s work is helping pave the way for quantum computers, which will . . . make computers vastly more powerful than today’s best supercomputers.” Wineland, like many other federal employees, makes Uncle Sam proud. Every taxpayer should feel that way too. At 68, he has worked at NIST labs in Boulder, Colo., for 37 years. He is not alone. Other federal workers of high note, including winners of the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies) or the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award of Distinguished Executive, have some incredible accomplishments. The next time a GPS keeps you from getting lost, thank a fed. “I’ve had a very good experience” as a federal employee, Wineland said in a telephone interview. “Certainly NIST has been a great place for me.” But he’s also “encountered people who have the view that we are here to take the taxpayers’ money.” That’s “certainly not true,” he said, but adds it is hard to rid some of that image.


division and Wineland’s boss. “For example, Dave’s work is leading to much more accurate atomic clocks. Atomic clocks are crucial for applications such as GPS (now in every smartphone), telecommunications, electric power distribution, and many other areas. Dave’s work is helping pave the way for quantum computers, which will . . . make computers vastly more powerful than today’s best supercomputers.” Wineland, like many other federal employees, makes Uncle Sam proud. Every taxpayer should feel that way too. At 68, he has worked at NIST labs in Boulder, Colo., for 37 years. He is not alone. Other federal workers of high note, including winners of the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies) or the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award of Distinguished Executive, have some incredible accomplishments. The next time a GPS keeps you from getting lost, thank a fed. “I’ve had a very good experience” as a federal employee, Wineland said in a telephone interview. “Certainly NIST has been a great place for me.” But he’s also “encountered people who have the view that we are here to take the taxpayers’ money.” That’s “certainly not true,” he said, but adds it is hard to rid some of that image. While O’Brian and other colleagues of Wineland praise his work, they also point out that the Nobel Prize winner is a really good dude. “Dave is a tremendous human being,” said Carl Williams, coordinator of NIST’s quantum information program. “He is humble, unassuming and extraordinarily deep and brilliant.” “Dave is universally acknowledged to be one of the true nice guys in physics, which is not something that can always be said about Nobel laureates,” said Christopher Monroe, physics professor at the University of Maryland. “His unassuming and humble style are entirely unique.” “Dave is one of the smartest and most scientifically creative people I have ever had the privilege of knowing,” O’Brian said. “But he is also a humble, calm, and highly approachable person. He treats everyone with respect. He routinely downplays his scientific accomplishments, while those of us who know of his work are in awe.” His talent and reputation led Dietrich Leibfried, Wineland’s deputy, to expect a snob when Leibfried arrived to work at NIST in 1995 from Germany. There, Leibfried said his bosses were “remote half-gods where any personal interaction is jealously guarded by secretaries and doled out in hotly contested 10-minute parcels.” With this in mind,


Tutu promotes campaign to end child marriage

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu smiles during the Children's Peace Prize ceremony at the Ridderzaal in the Hague on Sept. 19, 2012. (Ilvy Njiokiktjien/AFP/Getty Images) Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the South African anti-apartheid activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner and chair of the Elders, a group of independent global leaders working for human rights, was in Washington on Wednesday to promote his latest campaign: ending child marriage in the developing world. In 2011, the Elders created “Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage,” which now has 200 members in 38 countries. Tutu, 81, met with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on the eve of the inaugural International Day of the Girl Child at the United Nations. Clinton announced new government and private initiatives to prevent child marriage and promote the education of girls, including mandatory reporting of the minimum legal age for marriage and the rate of child marriage in the State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Tutu met with The Post at the Mayflower Hotel before leaving for New York. He started the interview with a prayer from the Book of Psalms. Q: Tell us a little about the campaign and the economic and social forces that have made child marriage a tradition for so long. A: It is a tradition where the family recognizes that they will benefit economically from dowries and things of that kind, and also having one less mouth to feed. They also think they are concerned for the girl’s virtue, that she might end up maybe being raped. It’s economic, too. For a new family [that the woman is married into], you have one extra pair of hands. But it is a very debilitating practice. The girl child is not physically, let alone emotionally, ready to bear a child. The statistics are that girls who give birth when they are under 15 are five times more likely to die giving birth than girls of 19 and over. And their children are 60 times more likely to die before their first birthday. Q: Do the girls themselves ever see any benefit to being married off so young? A: Now can you imagine remembering what ought to be the happiest day or your life in that negative way? “I never went back to school.” Q: Do you see child marriage as an entry point to fighting other problems in the developing


Chinese fiction writer Mo Yan wins Nobel Prize in Literature

In recent years, the Nobel Prize in Literature has often gone to deserving but little-known and under-published writers, setting off a scramble to reissue whatever might be available. This year, fortunately, the prize has gone to a well-deserving and well-published writer: the wild man of Chinese fiction, Mo Yan, whose pen name means “Don’t speak.” Announcing the prize Thursday morning, the Swedish Academy praised Mo Yan’s “hallucinatory realism,” which “merges folk tales, history and the contemporary.” The prize is worth about $1.2 million. This is the first Nobel literature award that China can openly celebrate. The only previous Chinese writer to receive the literature prize was Gao Xingjian, but he had moved to France by the time he won in 2000. The Dalai Lama and Liu Xiaobo have won Nobel Peace Prizes, but both those awards infuriated Chinese officials and strained relations between Beijing and Norway. Over the past 25 years, Mo Yan (born in 1955 as Guan Moye) has been writing brutally vibrant stories about rural life in China that flout official Communist Party ideology and celebrate individualism. He also flouts literary conformity, spiking his earthy realism with fantasy and hallucination. Luckily for American readers, the majority of his flamboyant novels are available in translation, and a new one is forthcoming with the appealing title “Pow!” Like many in his generation, Mo Yan experienced a tough upbringing: Born on a farm, he worked in a factory before joining the army, where he began writing. After that, he became a teacher in the People’s Liberation Army’s Cultural Academy and published his first novel in the early 1980s. His second novel, “Red Sorghum” (1986), was adapted for film by director Zhang Yimou. Americans Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley were awarded the Nobel economics prize on Oct. 15 for research that helps explain the market processes at work when doctors are assigned to hospitals, students to schools and human organs for transplant to recipients. Mo Yan’s American translator, Howard Goldblatt, describes the Chinese writer as a quiet and thoughtful autodidact. “He’s very socially aware, and he’s got a strong social conscience,” Goldblatt said by phone from his home in Indiana. “He’s very interested in Chinese society, in its good and bad forms. Controversy rages around him, but it no longer bothers him. He must have so much going on in his head that he doesn’t have time to deal with the outside


Zoo’s panda cub had lung problem that led to liver failure, death

Liver failure related to an insufficient supply of oxygen caused the death of the giant panda cub last month at the National Zoo, officials said Thursday. Chief veterinarian Suzan Murray said a necropsy showed that the tiny cub’s lungs were not fully formed. That impeded the flow of oxygen, leading to liver necrosis, or the death of liver cells. Murray said it was possible the cub had been born prematurely, but it is difficult to determine exactly when the embryo was formed. The animal’s birth Sept. 16 came as something of a surprise, because a pregnancy had not been confirmed. Zoo officials said the cub, a female, had fluid in its abdomen and its liver was hard in some places, probably caused by the lack of oxygen. Officials said there was no sign of internal or external trauma. Since the cub’s death on Sept. 23, its mother, Mei Xiang, has nearly resumed her normal diet of bamboo, fruit, vegetables and biscuits, said Don Moore, associate director of animal care at the National Zoo. She is eating about 80 to 85 percent of what she eats normally when she is not pregnant, he said, and she has shed almost one-tenth of the 240 pounds she weighed before pregnancy. She now weighs 220. Mei Xiang has stopped cradling a little red conical toy, similar to the Kong toys found at pet stores, that zookeepers gave her after her cub died, and she is venturing out of her den to eat, Moore said. She had stayed inside her den after the animal was born to nurse, cradle and care for her. As zoo officials provided an update of her condition, Mei Xiang sat in the enclosure nearby, eating a fruitsicle concoction with her back facing onlookers. Moore described Mei Xiang’s behavior as “almost normal.” On Wednesday, zookeepers removed the last remnants of bamboo that made up Mei Xiang’s nest inside the den. “Her hormones have returned to normal levels, as has her behavior,” a news release said. “Mei is choosing to go outside in the mornings. In the afternoons she can usually be found napping on her indoor rockwork. Mei’s appetite has also returned, and she is eating almost all of her bamboo and all of her biscuits and produce.” No decision has been made about plans for Mei Xiang and the cub’s father, Tian Tian, who is 15 years old. The National


Montgomery County Animal Watch

These were among the cases received by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information on shelter hours and location, adoption and licensing procedures, rabies clinics and low-cost neutering, call 240-773-5960. Mooove over: Loose dog needs to be reined in Montgomery County Humane Society pets available for adoption Rockville Aspen Hill Cats available for adoption Germantown Adoptable cats at no-kill shelter Gaithersburg Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County no-kill shelter12 Park Ave.6 to 8 p.m. FridayNoon to 3 p.m. Saturday6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday Gaithersburg Free workshop for dog owners — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Marijuana legalization on ballot in 3 states, but Justice Department remains silent

and your administration are indifferent to the legalization issue.” “We stand united against any efforts . . . to legalize marijuana or any other currently illegal substances and urge you to respond . . . expressing unequivocal opposition to marijuana legalization generally and these initiatives specifically,” the former National Drug Control Policy directors wrote. Along with the Colorado ballot proposal, Initiative 502 in Washington and Measure 80 in Oregon would allow people who are 21 and older to buy marijuana from shops regulated by the state. All three ballot initiatives are a step beyond the laws that have legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Starting with California in 1996, the District and 17 states, including the three with these ballot proposals, have passed laws making it legal to manufacture, distribute and possess marijuana for such purposes. Arkansas has a similar measure on the ballot this year. In 2009, David Ogden, then the deputy attorney general, wrote a memo to U.S. attorneys, advising that the prosecution of significant traffickers of illegal drugs, including marijuana, remained a core priority. Marijuana distribution was the largest source of revenue for the Mexican cartels, Ogden said. But he also addressed the growing number of states legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes. “Prosecution of individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen consistent with applicable state law, or those caregivers . . . who provide such individuals with marijuana, is unlikely to be an efficient use of limited federal resources,” Ogden wrote. Last year, in a memo to U.S. attorneys, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole reiterated Ogden’s position on medical marijuana but indicated that there was a growing increase in scope of commercial cultivation, sale, distribution and use of marijuana for “purported medical purposes.” “The Ogden Memorandum was never intended to shield such activities from federal enforcement action and prosecution, even when those activities purport to comply with state law,” Cole wrote. In recent months, federal authorities have cracked down on the sale of marijuana from dispensaries near schools. The DEA warned in August that about two dozen marijuana dispensaries operating in school zones in Washington state would face possible prosecution if they didn’t shut down. That same month, U.S. Attorney John Walsh in Colorado sent out 10 letters to medical marijuana dispensaries within 1,000 feet of schools, ordering them to close. Julie Tate contributed to this report.


2012 vice-presidential debate: Vice President Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan’s remarks in Danville, Ky., on Oct.11 (running transcript)

what we need is more UAVs. RADDATZ: Some of the military. (CROSSTALK) BIDEN: Not some of the military. That was the decision of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recommended to us and agreed to by the president. That is a fact. RADDATZ: Who answers to a civilian leader. BIDEN: They made the recommendation first. RADDATZ: OK. Let’s move on to Afghanistan. RYAN: Can I get into that for a second? RADDATZ: I’d like to move on to Afghanistan please. And that’s one of the biggest expenditures this country has made, in dollars, and more importantly in lives. We just passed the sad milestone of losing 2,000 U.S. troops there in this war. More than 50 of them were killed this year by the very Afghan forces we are trying to help. Now, we’ve reached the recruiting goal for Afghan forces, we’ve degraded Al Qaida. So tell me, why not leave now? What more can we really accomplish? Is it worth more American lives? RYAN: We don’t want to lose the gains we’ve gotten. We want to make sure that the Taliban does not come back in and give Al Qaida a safe haven. We agree with the administration on their 2014 transition. Look, when I think about Afghanistan, I think about the incredible job that our troops have done. You’ve been there more than the two of us combined. First time I was there in 2002, it was amazing to me what they were facing. When I went to the Ahgandah (ph) Valley in Kandahar before the surge, I sat down with a young private in the 82nd from the Monamanee (ph) Indian reservation who would tell me what he did every day, and I was in awe. And to see what they had in front of them. And then to go back there in December, to go throughout Helmand with the Marines, to see what they had accomplished, it’s nothing short of amazing. What we don’t want to do is lose the gains we’ve gotten. Now, we’ve disagreed from time to time on a few issues. We would have more likely taken into accounts the recommendations from our commanders, General Petraeus, Admiral Mullen, on troop levels throughout this year’s fighting season. We’ve been skeptical about negotiations with the Taliban, especially while they’re shooting at us. But we want to see the 2014 transition be successful, and that means we


2012 Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the European Union

A look at the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winners and other recipients throughout the years. LONDON — The award honored the struggle in Europe to not only hold the union together in the wake of the debt crisis, but also to further its goal of deeper integration. Yet the decision to pay tribute to the E.U. now fed into a growing chorus of critics who argue that the Norwegian Nobel Committee has strayed from the award’s original ideals and into the realm of political theater, with objectors putting this year’s choice in the same category as the selection of President Obama in 2009, just months after he took office. The decision, announced to audible gasps from a roomful of journalists in Oslo, came amid the widespread international perception that the E.U. has wreaked havoc in global financial markets by being bureaucratic and plodding in managing the crisis. It has also been accused of foisting onto its heavily indebted members a crushing austerity that has crippled domestic economies and sparked unrest in Greece, Spain and other nations. “Twenty years ago, this prize would have been sycophantic, but maybe more justified. Today, it is downright out of touch,” said Martin Callanan, a Conservative British politician and chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament. “The E.U.’s policies have exacerbated the fallout of the financial crisis and led to social unrest that we haven’t seen for a generation.” By selecting the E.U., the Nobel Committee, however, appeared to be sending a message that in its darkest hour in decades, Europe should take stock in a major achievement: safeguarding peace and security and forging a common future for a continent saddled with a bloody history of conflict. Americans Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley were awarded the Nobel economics prize on Oct. 15 for research that helps explain the market processes at work when doctors are assigned to hospitals, students to schools and human organs for transplant to recipients. “The dreadful suffering in World War II demonstrated the need for a new Europe,” Thorbjoern Jagland, the Nobel Committee chairman, said in Oslo. “Over a 70-year period, Germany and France had fought three wars. Today, war between Germany and France is unthinkable. This shows how, through well-aimed efforts and by building up mutual confidence, historical enemies can become close partners.” Jagland seemed to recognize the complication of selecting such a vast body


Beware of dog liability laws

that ruling and established a strict liability standard in respect to the owning, harboring or control of pit bulls. According to the court, “It is not necessary that the landlord (or the pit bull’s owner) have actual knowledge that the specific pit bull involved is dangerous.” How does this affect condominiums and homeowner associations? Many associations prohibit any animal, so the court case is academic. However, the case is very important for associations that permit dogs. The court made it clear that any person who has the right to control the pit bull’s presence would be held liable for any such dog bite. And community associations clearly “control” the dog’s presence. Most associations have rules regarding how dogs (and other animals) must be treated, including that dogs must be on a leash while on community property, the dog walker must pick up and dispose of any dog waste, and, in some associations, dogs must not disturb other owners or tenants. The Maryland legislature attempted to modify or repeal the court opinion. However, in the special session this summer, the House and Senate deadlocked and no action was taken. Thus, the law stands: Pit bulls are inherently dangerous. What should Maryland associations do? First, contact the master insurance carrier to determine if your insurance will cover the association if an owner’s or tenant’s pit bull bites someone. Next, it should consider whether to adopt rules. Such rules could range from prohibiting pit bulls to requiring them to be muzzled when on common grounds. It should be noted that the Maryland Condominium Act requires that any proposed rule must first be provided to all owners, and an open meeting must be held to allow owners’ comments. Should owners who currently have pit bulls be grandfathered? Clearly it would be unfair to those owners to suddenly be forced to remove their dog. One possible solution: require (by rule) that such owners indemnify and hold the association harmless should their dog bite and injure someone. The association should also insist that all dog owners provide proof that they have adequate insurance. Next year, the Maryland legislature may resolve the matter. During the recent special session, the Senate judiciary committee, chaired by Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery), passed a measure that removed the one-bite rule. The bill — if enacted — would also have protected landlords (and presumably community associations) from liability. The House balked,


Ala Alwan

Regional Director, Middle East, World Health Organization Dr Ala Alwan is the WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean from 1 February 2012. He was Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health from February 2008 to February 2012. Dr Alwan graduated in Medicine from the University of Alexandria. He practiced medicine in Scotland and obtained his postgraduate training and qualifications in the United Kingdom. Following his return to Iraq, his home country, he held several positions in clinical and academic medicine and public health. He was Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Mustansiriya University, Baghdad. In 1992, he joined WHO as Regional Adviser for Noncommunicable Diseases in the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. He then served as WHO Representative in Oman, and Director, Division of Health Systems Development in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. In 1998, Dr Alwan was reassigned to WHO headquarters as Director for Noncommunicable Diseases Prevention and then Director of the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases Management. In 2001, he became WHO Representative in Jordan. From 2003 to 2005, he was Minister of Education and Minister of Health in the Government of Iraq. From 2005 to January 2008, he was Representative of the Director-General and Assistant Director-General for Health Action in Crises.


Slow growth ahead for industrial market

uncertainty regarding the federal budget and its potential impact on the regional demand for goods. District outlook The District of Columbia’s overall vacancy rate for industrial or flex space (which serves industrial or office uses) was 11.6 percent in the third quarter of 2012. About 103,000 square feet more space was occupied than vacated during the period from January to September. We expect the District’s flex-industrial market to experience modestly improving conditions during the balance of 2012 and into 2013. Although demand will remain light, it should be enough to push overall vacancy down to around 10.9 percent by June 2013. By the end of this year, rents should be up 2 to 3 percent for all of 2012, as vacancy decreases. Northern Virginia outlook From January through September 2012, 826,000 square feet more space was leased than vacated (meaning net absorption), and the overall vacancy rate (including sublet space) declined to 9.4 percent. Rents rose 1.5 percent from January to September 2012, and we expect rents to continue gaining traction during the last quarter and into 2013 as the vacancy rate gradually declines. The Northern Virginia flex-industrial market should continue to improve through 2013. Vacancy should decline to around 9.8 percent by June 2013, as demand gradually picks up pace, particularly for data centers. Although we expect the overall vacancy rate to decline in the near term, it remains elevated compared to a low of 4 percent at the end of 2000. Overall, Northern Virginia’s flex-industrial market should continue its recovery and remain desirable in the long run due to its location along Interstate 95 and near Dulles Airport. Suburban Md. outlook Net absorption of flex-industrial space in suburban Maryland totaled 1.4 million square feet from January through September 2012. Flex-industrial asking rents increased 1.4 percent during that period, after declining 0.1 percent during 2011, due to rising demand. The suburban Maryland flex-industrial market should experience improving market conditions during the last quarter of 2012 and into 2013, but economic uncertainty could make some tenants hesitate. We project vacancy will hold near 10.8 percent from now until June 2013. As vacancy has been declining, 2012 should see rents rise a total of 1.5 to 2.5 percent. Overall, suburban Maryland’s market is well positioned for long-term growth. Maeve Gallagher is a senior associate at Delta Associates. Staff at Delta Associates contributed to this article. For more information, please visit www.deltaassociates.com.


Meningitis confirmed as cause of Virginian’s death

This photo provided by the Minnesota Department of Health shows shows vials of the injectable steroid product made by New England Compounding Center implicated in a fungal meningitis outbreak. (AP) For weeks, Sharon Wingate suspected that her husband, Douglas, was the lone Virginia man that officials said had died in the spreading meningitis outbreak. But it wasn’t until Thursday that the Virginia medical examiner was able to confirm her fears. After a lengthy and challenging investigation, researchers have concluded that the 47-year-old Salem man’s death last month was caused by fungal meningitis that he contracted from a contaminated steroid injection produced by the now-shuttered specialty pharmacy at the center of the outbreak, said Anna Noller, forensic epidemiologist at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner. After all the uncertainty, the news came as something of relief to Wingate, said her attorney Scott Sexton. “But it was a relief that came with a dose of anger,” he said. Douglas Wingate, a longtime account manger at PepsiCo, had been basically healthy and active before he fell ill, said Sexton. His only complaint was that a narrow section of his spine pinched a nerve, causing shoulder pain. And Wingate decided to treat the pain with a steroid injection only because he wanted to be in top condition for an upcoming cruise he and Sharon were planning to celebrate their 25th anniversary. “He could have lived the rest of his life without ever having gotten this shot,” said Sexton. Now, said Sexton, Sharon and the couple’s two children — 18-year old daughter Amber and 14-year-old son Austin — are reeling from the suddenness of his death. “He was Sharon’s best friend, and he was a great best friend to her.” Sharon Wingate has spoken to the news media about the case, but Sexton said he has counseled her not to give further interviews because of the emotional toll and because she is considering legal action against potentially responsible parties such as the pharmacy, New England Compounding Center of Framingham, Mass. Virginia has the third-highest number of steroid-related meningitis cases — 33 of the 185 reported as of Friday. Tennessee has the most with 50, followed by Michigan with 41. Maryland has 14. According to Sexton, Wingate received his injection at the recommendation of a doctor on Sept. 6 at Insight Imaging-Roanoke, one of two clinics in Virginia that officials say obtained potentially contaminated vials. He


As D.C. homicides decline, murder still a stubborn crime to solve and prosecute

know who did it but nobody’s willing to come forward,” Patterson said. “They say they’re scared until you bring them in. Then they say they don’t want to be a snitch.” At least 15 witnesses appear to have been executed since 2000, according to The Post’s analysis of police homicide records. Lanier said that only five of those cases have been confirmed as witness killings. But records from the U.S. attorney’s office identify at least seven others. Constance Smith said she believes a man got away with killing her son, Donta Baylor, because witnesses were afraid to testify. “Basically, no one came forward in the case, because he was intimidating to the people in the neighborhood,” Smith said of the suspect. Baylor, 29, was shot and killed as he descended the front steps of a female friend’s apartment in the 3500 block of Sixth Street SE shortly before 4:30 a.m. on June 3, 2004. Police records classified the motive for the shooting as “drug-robbery.” Nearly six months later, police arrested a 23-year-old man with no fixed address and charged him with murder while armed, possession of a firearm, and robbery. In March 2006, prosecutors dismissed the charges because of insufficient evidence, according to William Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office. “They told me they would charge him at a later date,” said Smith, who sat behind the suspect in the hearing at D.C. Superior Court. She said she is “still wondering what happened.” Even when witnesses surface, cases can fall apart. Sharon Wallace still cannot believe that prosecutors dismissed the case of the man accused of killing her husband. Elwood Wallace, 52, was a street vendor who operated in the 2800 block of Good Hope Road SE. One sunny, brisk March afternoon in 2009, Sharon Wallace drove by her husband’s stand and noticed a gaggle of police officers. She stopped her car in the middle of the street, got out and craned her neck. Her husband of nearly 20 years was slumped over his stand of hats, belts and oils. “I knew he was dead,” Wallace recalled in an interview. “I couldn’t believe it.” Two witnesses told police that they saw a man come up behind Wallace, shoot him in the back of the head and flee on foot, according to records. They both identified the gunman. Police closed the case the next day with the man’s arrest,


As savings grow and loans stagnate, community banks left holding cash

Having money in the bank may not be all it’s cracked up to be — at least not for some local banks. Deposits at the largest Washington-area community banks climbed in the first six months of this year, outpacing national deposit growth and demand for loans. But as deposits continue to grow at double-digit rates, bank executives say it has become increasingly difficult to find profitable uses for incoming money, particularly at a time when many Americans are hesitant to take on new loans at the terms available. As a result, competition is stiff among institutions to make what loans are possible — a key source of revenue for banks. “Loans are even more competitive than deposits right now,” said Robert Miller, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Middleburg Bank. “There’s a lot of trying to take away loan business from other banks by offering lower rates. Competition is fierce.” If banks can’t attract enough borrowers, they often invest deposits in municipal bonds or securities, which typically have lower yields than loans. “Deposits don’t have the value they would in a higher-rate environment,” said P. Carter Bundy, an analyst for Stifel Nicolaus. “Banks are looking for loan growth anywhere they can find it right now.” Although some consumers are trying to take advantage of historically low interest rates, many banks say demand has not kept up with the rapid growth in deposits. “Part of the struggle is that it’s hard to convince someone to take out a loan if they’re feeling uncertain about the economy,” Miller said. “We certainly are always looking for more loans — that’s what drives our revenue and our profits.” Bundy added that some area banks — namely Eagle Bank, where deposits grew 29 percent and loans rose 25 percent over the last year, and Cardinal Bank — have seen continued growth in commercial, mortgage and automobile loans. “It’s really on a case-by-case basis, though,” Bundy said. “There are other banks saying, ‘Oh, we just have too many deposits. What can we do with our excess liquidity?’ ” At Sandy Spring Bank in Olney, excess deposits are being invested in municipal bonds and securities. “We’ve been trying to convert more of our deposits into loans,” said Joseph O’Brien, Jr., an executive vice president at the bank. “It’s a challenge across the industry.” Some local banks say they try to steer customers away from depositing


Injury prevention tips for runners; women’s health guide focuses on quality of life

Ultrarunning legend Dean Karnazes offers tips on how to prevent running injuries. (iStockphoto) Tips For Runners Injury-proof your body this race season Competitor, October edition Fall race season is upon us, which means that many runners — from newbies tackling their first 5Ks to experienced marathoners — are amping up their training. It also means that injuries can be an issue. To help runners avoid wrecking their bodies without sacrificing performance, Competitor magazine looked to ultrarunning legend Dean Karnazes for advice. Karnazes, the 50-year-old known for completing such challenges as the Badwater Ultramarathon and a 350-miler in 80 hours, along with once running across the country, shared three tips: Don’t sit. Karnazes says he rarely sits during the day because it can weaken his posture. He prefers working at a stand-up desk. Cross-train. Karnazes mentions such cross-training moves as push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups, which help strengthen the body without the pressure of longer runs. Pare down your sneakers. Karnazes believes that overbuilt running shoes can cause undue injuries by forcing the foot — and the body — into unnatural positions. “Just let the foot be the foot,” he says. To help make the adjustment, he suggests minimizing support slowly while adding foot-strengthening work into training. Women’s Health New book combines science and spirituality to achieve a balanced life “Life Is Your Best Medicine: A Woman’s Guide to Health, Healing and Wholeness at Every Age,” by Tieraona Low Dog, National Geographic A new health guide combines science and spirituality in an effort to help women prevent and deal with chronic disease. Not your typical diet book, “Life is Your Best Medicine,” by integrative medicine physician Tieraona Low Dog, shifts the focus from such short-term fixes as crash diets and prescription drugs to improving overall quality of life. In the book, Low Dog draws on modern science and traditional practices for advice on nutrition, exercise, positive relationships, stress management and rest. “The biggest health challenge facing us today is trying to figure out how to live a balanced life — one that is resilient during change,” she writes. “Resilient people are able to gather their strength and resources to overcome adversity. We’re most able to do this when we are physically, emotionally, and spiritually nourished.” — Maggie Fazeli Fard


Running a marathon: How green are our two legs?

About 30,000 runners will invade Washington Oct. 28 for the 2012 Marine Corps Marathon. The race’s popularity has skyrocketed since its inception in 1976, when 1,175 participants undertook the lung-busting challenge. Nationwide, people are flocking to marathons: Between 2000 and 2009, the number of participants has increased 58 percent. This growing obsession with covering vast distances by foot has me thinking about its environmental efficiency compared to other modes of transit. How green are our two legs? Calculating the average runner’s greenhouse gas emissions for a 26.2-mile distance is a fairly straightforward task. The first step is to determine how much energy is burned by the typical marathoner. Exercise physiologists estimate that an ordinary runner weighing 150 pounds uses approximately 3,000 calories on the marathon course. The next step is to determine how many carbon dioxide equivalents are released into the atmosphere in the creation of those calories. You see, the carbon dioxide that a runner exhales does not directly contribute to climate change, because it’s a part of a natural carbon cycle. Humans exhale carbon, plants inhale it, humans eat it and exhale it some more. However, our agricultural system uses fossil fuels to produce food, which means that carbon that had been safely stored in the ground is extracted and added to the atmosphere. Growing food on an American farm emits something like 0.0064 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents for every calorie produced. (A carbon dioxide equivalent includes emission of both carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide.) That means a runner eating a standard American diet is responsible for the emission of 19.2 pounds of carbon dioxide during a marathon. Which is best for the planet: running, biking or driving the distance of the Marine Corps Marathon? (istockphoto.com) A few footnotes are in order. Statisticians include all the food that farmers produce when calculating greenhouse gas emissions per calorie. If we didn’t throw away as much food as we do, exercising would be less carbon-intensive by this standard. The efficiency of food distribution and production is out of your control, but you can change such things as your diet.A calorie from fruit and vegetables is responsible for about 40 percent less greenhouse gas than a meat or dairy calorie, so vegan runners do substantially better in this department than omnivores. You could also slow down. While slower runners get less glory, the


Harold Meyerson: Debate advice for Obama from Hillel

banks? How about putting a ceiling on the level of assets a bank can have, as Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) has proposed? These ideas aren’t just prudential economics; they would also align the president with Main Street against Wall Street. Such an alignment would work to the president’s advantage not only in itself but also because Romney remains a creature of Wall Street, a man comfortable in homes where he can casually slander half of the American people to the quiet approbation of his donors. Which brings us to Hillel’s second question — “If I am only for myself, what am I?” — a query that many Americans would like to pose to the nation’s increasingly decoupled rich citizens, whose stock holdings rise in value while median incomes fall and whose profits increase as wages decline. It’s a question Obama should pose to Romney, who isn’t for himself only, of course, but is surely a tribune for the disconnected 1 percent, championing tax, labor and regulation policies that would benefit them at the expense of the other 99 percent. Even though the president’s standing in the polls has weakened, public assessment of the candidates’ class orientations has not shifted. Obama still has a huge lead on the question of who is better attuned to middle-class concerns; Romney is still identified as having policies that would disproportionately comfort the already very comfortable. Vice President Biden drove home this point with a sledgehammer in last week’s debate. Obama will never have Biden’s street-corner sass; there is no populism in the president’s DNA. But Romney’s tax proposals and his insistence on repealing financial regulations would so coddle the rich at the expense of the general welfare that Obama should attack them in the name not of class but of the nation. At this stage in the campaign, angering a few more hedge-fund guys will only help the president in Ohio, Florida and Nevada. Before he takes the stage Tuesday, Obama would do well to recall Hillel’s third question: “If not now, when?” This is the night to stand for himself and those Americans whose lives and fortunes are linked to the real economy, not the world of arbitrage and offshore banks. Tomorrow might be too late. meyersonh@washpost.com Read more on this debate: Eugene Robinson: Obama’s second chance Matt Miller: Romney’s killer Sister Souljah move Greg Sargent: Don’t let Romney win the economic argument