At the National Zoo, there’s less to see — unless you pony up

Bao Bao, the four and a half month old female giant panda cub sits in her indoor habitat at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014. (Charles Dharapak/AP) I’ve walked through the National Zoo three or four times a week since 1984. There are fewer animals now and far more concession stands and buildings, and there hasn’t been a break in construction in a couple of decades. I miss the hippos, the rhinos, the giraffes. The zoo’s director has explained that shrinking budgets have forced hard choices: for example, improve the habitat for elephants but reduce the variety of large animals that have characterized zoos in the past. Our National Zoo has become a much less interesting place, and today you can be in and out in an hour. As disappointing as this is, it’s not nearly as demoralizing as the elitist policy that the zoo now has. Members of Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ), who have donated funds, enjoy privileges, even though the zoo is supported by tax dollars. While one would expect that taxpayers would receive the same treatment as FONZ contributors, only these zoo “members” were permitted to view the baby panda on Jan. 13. Hence, tourists from all over were turned away. Elitism is alive and well at our National Zoo. Diana Hellinger,Washington


Environmental groups say Obama needs to address climate change more aggressively

natural gas exports and federal coal leases. The environmental groups’ initiative was perhaps more surprising, given their long support of Obama’s efforts to combat climate change. “We believe that continued reliance on an ‘all of the above’ energy strategy would be fundamentally at odds with your goal of cutting carbon pollution and would undermine our nation’s capacity to respond to the threat of climate disruption,” the environmentalists wrote in a letter obtained by The Washington Post. “With record-high atmospheric carbon concentrations and the rising threat of extreme heat, drought, wildfires and super storms, America’s energy policies must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, not simply reduce our dependence on foreign oil.” The groups suggested that Obama should apply a strict climate test “to all decisions regarding new fossil fuel development,” including hydraulic fracturing and coal mining on public lands, as well as drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Dan Utech, special assistant to the president for energy and climate change, said in an interview that the administration is “taking a number of steps under the climate action plan to drive down emissions of carbon and other greenhouse gases.” “At the same time, obviously we’re going to keep using oil and gas for some period of time,” Utech said. “It’s better to produce these things here than import them. They go together, and they’re not really at odds.” David Victor “Some are easy, such as some administrative standards on energy efficiency. Others are much harder, like federal lands policy,” he wrote. Decisions about whether the administration should allow the Keystone XL pipeline to cross the Canadian border or permit new liquefied natural gas terminals to be built “are emerging as hot-button issues,” Victor added, because there is more oil and gas to be extracted “than people thought even a few years ago.” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), co-chairman of the Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change, said in an interview that while environmentalists are right to push for a rapid transition to clean energy, senior administration officials have made it clear in recent weeks that they’re committed to pursuing that goal. “There’s a real warming trend at the White House toward listening to ideas on how to build a bridge to a fully sustainable energy strategy,” he said. Jack Gerard, the API president and chief executive who introduced his group’s “America’s Energy, America’s Choice” campaign at the National Press Club on Thursday, said


New Haven, Conn., makes the transition from crime to coffee shops

Patrons sit in the cafe of Atticus Bookstore, which overlooks the Yale University campus in New Haven, Conn. (Christopher Capozziello/Getty Images) It’s rare for a supermarket to make it onto a traveler’s itinerary. But two people have recommended Elm City Market, so here I am. The sprawling organic food co-op is bright and cheerful, with luscious produce and cheese offerings that would make a monger proud. But really, my guides have sent me here because the market anchors a larger transformation. Details: New Haven Not so long ago, New Haven’s Ninth Square neighborhood was just a stretch of empty red brick buildings. Now, it’s chockablock with art (including Artspace, a warehouse of mini-galleries), quirky shopping (a Jamaican dress designer is just doors down from the century-old Acme Furniture) and divey ethnic food options. It’s one sign among many that New Haven has outgrown its reputation as a college town that’s more crime than coffee shop, pockmarked by poverty and post-industrial waste. That was an identity forged largely after World War II, when demand for New Haven’s wartime manufacturing goods disappeared. Jobs followed, and violence ticked up. Entire neighborhoods were left for dead. By the late 1980s, even the president of Yale University wouldn’t live in town, settling in New York instead. But on a recent weekend trip, I discovered that this New Haven doesn’t really exist anymore (if it ever did). In its place, I found a city transformed. Once-vacant factories now house art studios and coffee shops. Galleries have popped up in abandoned churches and parking garages. Restored Victorian gingerbread houses dot quaint main streets and city squares. And culinary intrigue lurks around many a corner. In short, it’s a city with Boston’s historic charm, Philadelphia’s artistic pleasures — and Buffalo’s beer prices. New Haven was settled in 1638 by a group of Puritans under the leadership of the Rev. John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton, who hoped that it would become both a bustling seaport and a Christian utopia. To educate the future heads of this theocracy, 10 Puritan elders established a university that would grow into Yale. Much of this early history is preserved in Center Church, a white-spired building on the New Haven Green built in 1812 to house the graves of Puritan settlers and Revolutionary War soldiers. Today, you can tour its eerie basement crypt, with 137 tombs (Benedict Arnold’s first wife is buried there) and


In Baotou, China, moments of grace amid the cacophony and crowds

China. We stopped for lunch at a small strip of shops and restaurants, where Erica ordered us traditional Mongolian food, including milk tea (too salty), fresh yogurt (amazing), dried beef (very good), a few vegetable dishes, and of course, mutton. The last was served with a plastic glove and a huge carving knife. The mausoleum, which the Chinese government erected in the 1950s to curry favor with the Mongolian minority, is built on a grand scale. Behind a huge white gate, and then a gigantic bronze statue of Khan, 99 steps lead to a building that looks like three gers, or yurts, with blue and gold roofs, linked together. The central yurt holds a white stone statue of Khan in the beautifully painted and tiled entryway; the wings house the so-called artifacts. When we moseyed into the back room, which features an altar bearing a golden statue of Khan, we came upon an extended family on a pilgrimage. The jumble of unidentifiable bony items in front of the statue, Erica found out for us, were pieces of 21 sheep, on which the relatives would dine later. Incense was lit, and various family contingents seemed to be called up for prayers or blessings as the others chatted and babies cried. Then a group of men, most of them wearing black felt hats, gathered at the front of the room holding blue banners draped between their upturned palms, and began singing a sutra over and over as the crowd gradually quieted. It was mesmerizing. I reluctantly let myself be pulled away, but I was grateful for a glimpse of something real and a bit ashamed that I hadn’t wanted to visit a location that clearly has deep meaning for many Mongolians. A monastery and modernity The site I really wanted to see was the Tibetan monastery in the nearby foothills, about 45 miles away; the question was how to get there and back in time for the girls’ 4 p.m. game. Taking a cab seemed out of the question. Buses would be slower. I tried one English-speaking tour guide advertised on the Internet with no success. Finally, Erica suggested that our tiny group of three parents hire a car and driver from a travel agency. It was genius: The price turned out to be extremely reasonable, about $100; the car was a new Mercedes SUV; and the driver was willing to make


Details: Baotou, China

GETTING THERE American, United, Air Canada and other airlines offer one-stop flights from all three Washington-area airports to Beijing. Air China offers flights from Beijing to Baotou, with fares starting at $250. GETTING AROUND There are plenty of city buses and taxis. Always take a business card from the hotel to show a taxi driver so you that you can return easily. Either download onto your phone or ask someone to print out the name of the place you’d like to go to in Chinese characters. WHERE TO STAY Donghe, the older section of town, has the convenience of the airport and the bus and train stations but doesn’t offer much in terms of hotels. We stayed at the Super 8 Hotel Bayantala Xi Da Jie (www.super8hotels.com; 011-86-10-85502288), which was adequate. The nicer hotels seem to be located in the center-city Qingshan district. WHAT TO DO Saihan Tala Grassland Ecological Park Qingshan, Baotou, Inner Mongolia Free admission. Xiang Sha Wan (Resonant Sand Gorge) Ordos, Inner Mongolia Admission starts at about $13; there are add-on fees for each activity. 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Genghis Khan Mausoleum Bulage Road, Ejin Horo, Ordos, Inner Mongolia Admission about $33. 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wudang Lamasery Wudangzhao Town, Shiguai District, Baotou Admission about $10. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. USEFUL TIPS Check the State Department (travel.state.gov) and CDC travel sites (wwwnc.cdc.gov) for health and safety information. You’ll need to get the necessary shots at least a month before your departure. Drink only bottled water and don’t consume ice. Don’t eat uncooked fruits or vegetables. Bring Pepto-Bismol and Imodium. It can be helpful to take a couple of Pepto-Bismol caplets a day as a preventive measure. Ask your doctor to prescribe a course of antibiotics in case of severe traveler’s diarrhea. If you have breathing difficulties, bring along some respiratory masks. Make sure you have an international data plan. WiFi is spotty at best. Download a translation app such as KTdict C-E. You’ll come into contact with few English speakers. Carry toilet paper and hand wipes. Not all public restrooms will be stocked with paper or soap. Consider bringing a pillow (the pillows were as flat as the proverbial pancake) and a towel. Avoid using the “facilities” at highway rest stops at all costs. E.C. More from Travel: Travel Guide Ski Guide Caribbean Guide


Local digest

The District Police identify man slain in Southeast D.C. police identified a man who was found fatally shot near a Southeast Washington recreation center Wednesday afternoon. Officials said Vincent Purvis, 20, of Southeast was shot in the 600 block of Yuma Street about 3:30 p.m., near the Ferebee-Hope recreation center in the Washington Highlands neighborhood. Investigators were searching for four males who were seen getting into a silver car after the shooting. Police have not released a motive in the killing. — Clarence Williams Maryland Construction worker dies in parkway crash A construction worker was killed in a car crash Wednesday night on Suitland Parkway, D.C. police said. As a driver was heading east on the parkway at about 11:25 p.m. near Stanton Road, she lost control of her SUV and hit a parked vehicle with a portable light trailer attached to it, according to police. Authorities said the light trailer then spun, striking the construction worker, who had been standing next to the parked vehicle. Police identified the construction worker as Travis Jackson, 34, of Alexandria. The driver of the SUV was taken to a hospital, where she was treated and released, authorities said. Police did not name her. The D.C. police Major Crash Unit is investigating the incident. — Patrick Svitek Apartment fire kills Rockville resident A Rockville man died in an apartment fire early Thursday in Montgomery County. Scott Graham, a spokesman for the county’s fire department, said the fire started about midnight in a unit in the 5200 block of Crossfield Court. When firefighters entered the apartment, Graham said, they found the man in the unit. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Authorities identified the man as Michael Francis Mercurio, 52. Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the blaze. — Dana Hedgpeth Fire department warns of inspection scam Prince George’s County fire officials are warning residents and business owners about a scam that promises an official fire inspection for $25. The department is investigating a flier that claims to be from the county’s “Fire Prevention Office.” At least one person has been soliciting homes and businesses in the county with the flier, which lists the official address of the fire department but is full of poor grammar. The department does not solicit residents or businesses through fliers for inspections, spokesman Mark Brady said. — Lynh Bui


NSO review: Mark Elder, Stephen Hough offer a spirited performance of Lizst concerto

One hallmark of Christoph Eschenbach’s tenure at the National Symphony Orchestra has been innovative programming. Many concerts have balanced familiar favorites with music never before played by the ensemble, or not played in a long time. The trend continues this week under guest conductor Mark Elder, who on Thursday night led a spirited performance of Liszt’s first piano concerto, sandwiched between nostalgic renditions of tone poems by Edward Elgar and Richard Strauss. Pianist Stephen Hough provided the fireworks in the Liszt, a slightly naughty thriller packed into 20 exciting minutes. If it seems as though Hough was just in the area, he was — playing Liszt’s second concerto with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra last year and Rachmaninoff’s first with the NSO the year before that. Hough again showed solid technique, with a whiff of the demonic in the more challenging sections and a theatrical touch that served the piece well. The high points were the suave sections, such as when the soloist trades distracted reveries with the insistent orchestra in the first movement. The strings set a suitably overheated tone for the second movement, with its Wagnerian theme redolent of “Tristan und Isolde,” answered warmly by a radiant, singing tone from Hough at the keyboard. All the dialogues with solo commentaries in the orchestra were charming, none more so than the Tinkerbell triangle that flitted its way through the third movement. One wished for that last bit of wild abandon only in the fourth movement, in which the military march, complete with piccolo and crashing percussion, felt just a little cautious. It was here, too, that Hough wilted slightly in his command of Liszt’s infamously intricate fingerwork, flagging in the triplet section, but only in a few moments. The judicious tempo left plenty of room for the Prestos that whirl the piece ever faster and faster, but the ultimate effect could have been more over the top. Elder’s last visit with the NSO was in 2008, and once again, he helped the musicians shape each piece with a sure hand, carefully judging balances and encouraging beautiful melodic lines. This time, he brought a piece never before heard on an NSO subscription concert, Elgar’s “In the South,” although a young whiz named Andrew Litton led it on a summer performance with the orchestra in 1983. Elder, taking microphone in hand, gave the piece a knowing but not pedantic introduction, although he


Harsh anti-protest laws in Ukraine spur anger

Ukraine. Moscow has played hardball in the tug-of-war over Ukraine between Russia and the E.U., while Brussels has seemed constrained by the need to speak for 28 national governments. The E.U. was taken aback by what it saw as Russia’s meddling in its dealings with Ukraine, and a summit scheduled for Jan. 28 in Brussels between Russian President Vladimir Putin and E.U. leaders has been sharply cut back in time and scope. In Washington on Thursday, after the Ukraine parliament’s vote, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement that the United States is concerned about the new legislation. “If Ukraine truly aspires to a European future,” Psaki said, “it must defend and advance universal democratic principles and values that underpin a Europe whole, free, and at peace, and not allow them to be systematically dismantled.” In the U.S. Senate, Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) introduced the Global Human Rights Accountability Act, which would punish human rights violators in all countries. just as the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law and Accountability Act does with Russia. “Gross violators of human rights from Zimbabwe to Ukraine, and Honduras to Papua New Guinea, are put on notice that they cannot escape the consequences of their actions even when their home country fails to act,” Cardin said in a statement Thursday. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, who met twice with Yanukovych in December, said in Senate testimony Wednesday that he assured her he wanted to move forward on an agreement with the E.U. and the International Monetary Fund. “If that assertion is still true, we call on him to make it credible through concrete actions to restore government accountability, rule of law and engagement with Europe and the IMF,” Nuland said. Otherwise, she said, sanctions could be considered. Nuland also prodded the E.U. to be more direct in its communications with Ukraine. “We have encouraged the E.U. to redouble its efforts to counter false narratives in Russia and actively make its case that a more prosperous, European Ukraine will lift the whole neighborhood, both economically and in terms of democratic stability,” she said. David J. Kramer, president of Freedom House, said, “It is disheartening to watch the democratically elected government of Ukraine moving further away from the democratic aspirations of the people of Ukraine. “Not only was the law passed in violation of normal procedures, the Rada offered a


Smithsonian’s dinosaur hall to close April 28 for five-year renovation

African bush elephant that towers over visitors in the rotunda. The daily tarantula feedings will continue. The North Atlantic right whale replica won’t swim away. “It will be disappointing not to be able to see the dinosaur hall for five years, but there’s always something closed here,” said Tim Krepp, a Washington tour guide. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was fenced off for a $34 million reconstruction project from 2010 until 2012. The National Museum of American History closed for a two-year, $85 million makeover in late 2006. The National Portrait Gallery was shut down for more than six years. The Washington Monument has been undergoing repairs since it was damaged in the August 2011 earthquake; it is expected to reopen this year. The Fossil Hall’s five-year closure, Krepp said, “won’t leave a huge hole because we have surplus capacity. There’s way more stuff in Washington than an average family or tour group can take in. Even in Natural History itself, there’s a lot of other great stuff to see.” For a period of time, beginning just before the Fossil Hall closes, museum visitors will even be able to watch conservators uncrate and examine the Wankel T. rex, bone by bone, in a hall just off the rotunda. The marquee specimen is coming to Washington on a long-term loan from the Army Corps of Engineers, which owns it, and the state of Montana, which has had it since the late Cretaceous Period. The dinosaur was supposed to have arrived at the Natural History Museum in October, but its cross-country trip was delayed by the government shutdown. Currently stored in a Museum of the Rockies facility, the T. rex bones are scheduled to arrive by truck in Washington on April 15. The 35-foot-long skeleton will be inspected, cleaned, restored, scanned and studied in Washington, then sent to Toronto, where it will be mounted in a lifelike pose before going on display in 2019. “When we reopen, the new place is going to be so spectacular, you won’t even believe it,” said Johnson, the director. “It will be worth the wait.” Patrick Svitek contributed to this report. The Smithsonian’s Top Five museums in 2013 National Museum of Natural History: 8 million visitors National Air and Space Museum: 7 million visitors National Museum of American History: 4.9 million visitors National Zoo: 2 million visitors National Museum of the American Indian: 1.4 million visitors


Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank to end deposit advance loans, citing tougher regulation

end of the year and is developing alternative products. “The Bank has been monitoring industry developments and has proactively engaged with stakeholders as it has looked at the clear and continued need for small dollar, short-term credit solutions for its customers,” the company said in a statement. Guaranty said checking accounts opened after Jan. 31 will not be eligible for the service. The bank “is dedicated to helping hardworking families achieve their financial dreams and meeting their credit needs,” the company said in a statement. With the departure of U.S. Bank, Fifth Third, Guaranty and Wells Fargo, the only bank left that will be offering deposit advance loans is Bank of Oklahoma. Bank officials said they have no immediate plans to end their services. “Forcing banks out of this business limits options for consumers and pushes them towards payday lenders and fly-by-night entities,” Richard Hunt, president and chief executive of the Consumer Bankers Association, said in an e-mail. “While federal regulators encourage banks to serve consumers in need, their actions and policies suggest otherwise.” A study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that more than half of direct-deposit borrowers took out advances totaling $3,000 or more. Of those borrowers, a majority paid off one loan and went back for another within 12 days. The average borrower took out 10 loans in a year and paid $458 in fees. Account holders typically pay up to $10 for every $100 borrowed, with the understanding that the loan will be repaid with their next direct deposit. If the deposited funds are not enough to cover the loan, the bank takes whatever money comes in and tacks on overdraft fees and additional interest. At least 15 states have banned the loans, while several others have imposed strict laws to limit the interest rates and the number of loans that can be made. Consumer groups are eager for the CFPB, which has authority over storefront and bank payday lenders with more than $10 billion in assets, to write new rules to govern the industry. The bureau has said it will take up the issue this year. “We are encouraging the banks we supervise to develop new and innovative programs to meet the small-dollar credit needs of their customers in ways that do not carry the risk of creating a cycle of high-cost debt,” Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry said in a statement.


Ukraine enacts harsh laws against protests

their regime,” Oleg Tyagnibok, leader of the nationalist Svoboda party, said at a Friday news conference. “Their goal is to copy the Russian and North Korean methods. Yanukovych has started learning, little by little, to be a dictator.” The legislation — rushed through a tumultuous parliament Thursday and signed into law by Yanukovych late Friday — gives the authorities far-reaching power to outlaw most forms of protest. But no one is sure whether Yanukovych will have the nerve to use that power against the continuing protest at an encampment in Kiev’s Maidan, or Independence Square. Twice before he has sent police to clear the Maidan, and twice he has revived what had been a flagging opposition. His imprisoned nemesis, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, issued a scathing statement Friday. “This isn’t just a blatant crime, for which those guilty, when the time comes, will face criminal liability,” she said. “It’s also the final step in the elimination of Ukrainian parliamentarism as the main branch of government in Ukraine. “Today, by deliberately killing parliamentarism, [Yanukovych] took another major step toward establishing dictatorship in Ukraine.” The opposition launched the protests when Ukraine turned its back on the European trade deal in November, and they later widened into demands for Yanukovych to resign and corruption to be stamped out. Yanukovych has said he still hopes to pursue ties with the European Union, but the new legislation does little to support that assertion. U.S. and European leaders also offered strong criticism of the legislation. “We believe deeply that the people of Ukraine want to affiliate, they want to be associated with Europe,” Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Friday, adding that the new laws “are anti-democratic, they’re wrong, they are taking from the people of Ukraine their choice and their opportunity for the future.” “These laws amount to an anti-democratic putsch which scuppers all previous democratic progress Ukraine has made,” Rebecca Harms, a leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, said in a statement. Warning of “catastrophic consequences for Ukrainian society,” she said: “The EU cannot leave this draconian move, which undermines existing agreements, unanswered. If the legislation enters into force, the EU must respond with serious sanctions against all members of the government and their families, freezing European bank accounts and revoking EU entry visas.” Catherine Ashton, the top diplomat for the E.U., said the legislation curtailing freedom of speech, of


Northwest man identified as fatal victim in Thursday shooting

D.C. police have identified a fatal gunshot victim found Thursday evening in the 1500 block of Gallatin Place NE as 48-year-old Kevin Lanard James of Northwest Washington. Police responded to a call for a vehicle accident Thursday at around 7:40 p.m. When they arrived, they found James, suffering from a gunshot wound, inside a BMW. James was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police are offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons involved in the fatal shooting. Get updates on your area delivered via e-mail


Panda cub Bao Bao makes her public debut at National Zoo

the 10,000 panda patrons expected to pass through the giant panda house over the three-day weekend. About 30 to 50 people are admitted at a time to watch Bao Bao from behind a glass wall. At times on Saturday, the cub’s mother, Mei Xiang, wandered in, too, usually to munch on bamboo or take a nap. Mei Xiang evoked a lot of affectionate cooing, as well, simply by stretching while she dozed beside her cub. The baby panda, Bao Bao, made her public debut at the Washington National Zoo. Panda cubs in particular sleep a lot, typically 20 hours a day. Vvisitors are told not to expect to see much action. “Come now, and get a first glimpse of the cuteness,” said Nicole MacCorkle, one of the panda keepers. “But she’ll be getting more active later on.” Though MacCorkle is quick to add that all infant animals, even reptiles, have something endearing about them, there’s something special about a panda cub. “Their round faces and big eyes are like the features of humans,” she said, noting that some of the children whose parents brought them to see Bao Bao were literally quivering with excitement. Many of the adults in the crowd felt the kinship. Kevin Wright, a District resident, said that when he sees a panda hold a stalk of bamboo, it reminds him of himself with a carrot stick. “They’re such majestic creatures,” he said. “They’re wild animals, but their gentleness appeals to all of us.” The 4-month-old panda cub at the National Zoo is warm despite the cold weather in the District. Lisa Washam, who drove 500 miles over nine hours from Lima, Ohio, to be present for the panda’s debut, teared up looking at the photos she had taken in her two minutes at the window watching Bao Bao. “She’s so beautiful,” she said, gazing at a shot of Bao Bao staring out while wrapped in her keeper’s arms. “I feel she’s looking at me.” Washam became intrigued by pandas a year or so ago when she was preparing her doctoral dissertation. A friend noticed she looked stressed, and suggested watching panda cams as a relaxing diversion. Washam soon became hooked, and has since traveled to all four zoos in the United States that have pandas as well as one in Canada. “It’s very peaceful,” said Washam, who also has shown the National Zoo’s panda cam to


Bao Bao waits for the common man

Regarding Diana Hellinger’s Jan. 17 letter about members of Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ) getting special viewings of the baby panda [“What’s on display at the National Zoo? Elitism.”]: Ms. Hellinger has been walking the zoo grounds since 1984, the year I joined FONZ, soon after graduating from college. The zoo was my favorite place as a child and the reason I majored in biology. I joined not to be elite but to be more involved with animal education programs and volunteer experiences. But, fear not. Bao Bao has no concept of it. I went to visit her last week with a friend. We were there for more than two hours, but she did not come out before we had to leave. I will not get back to the zoo for a few months. I will be in the crowd with the “non-elite” panda fans. Heli Darlington, Alexandria


Smithsonian budget restores most of sequester cuts

The Smithsonian gets $805 million for fiscal 2014. (AP) The Smithsonian Institution announced an $805 million federal appropriation for fiscal year 2014, a $30 million increase over its 2013 sequester-addled budget. The appropriation, part of the $1.1 trillion spending bill Smithsonian funding had been fixed at 2012’s roughly $815 million levels through a series of continuing budget resolutions before sequestration dropped that number to about $775 million last year. The cuts, which began in March, froze hiring and delayed repairs, maintenance and equipment purchases. They also forced a reduction in a security contract, which closed portions of exhibition space at the Hirshhorn Museum, the National Museum of African Art and the Smithsonian Castle. The new appropriation represents a return to more normal budgeting levels and processes. It removes the short-term threat of another government shutdown like the one that shuttered Smithsonian museums for more than two weeks in October, shortened and delayed the openings of exhibitions and disappointed thousands of visitors. The budget includes $12.7 million for increases in fixed costs, such as federal salaries, utilities and rents. It includes a mandatory 1 percent pay increase for federal employees. The appropriation allots $34.3 million for staffing, inaugural exhibitions and programming for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is to open in late 2015. Another $55 million of capital funds are earmarked for the museum’s construction. In addition, $158 million will go to projects that include renovations to the National Museum of American History, electrical and mechanical work at the National Museum of Natural History and projects at the National Zoo. A total of $1.7 million is appropriated for digitizing the collection in an effort to help broaden visitor access, a priority of Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough.


Kathleen Parker: Give marijuana smokers a little leeway

there. The “war on drugs” (beware government domestic wars) hasn’t made a dent in the popularity of pot. Nor, after decades of common use, has it been proved to be the evil weed of “Reefer Madness.” How much better to have dedicated our resources to education and treatment rather than, through prohibition, to empowering criminals and cartels, not to mention ruining young lives with “criminal” records. I came to this position not when I was a college student, a time when inhaling pot was a consequence of breathing the ambient air, but when I was the law-abiding, straight-arrow, tough-loving mother of a teenager. Suffice to say, I became aware that marijuana use was common among teens of all hues and stripes. I couldn’t imagine then or now that children might be labeled criminals for behaviors that mostly required parental attention. This should not be construed to mean I recommend pot use, certainly not by minors, any more than William F. Buckley did when he concluded that it shouldn’t be illegal. Marijuana isn’t necessarily harmless — abuse is abuse — but adults should be able to consume it without fear of legal repercussions, just as we consume alcohol. Even though today’s weed is much stronger than the stuff we used to smoke, its use is rarely as consequential as alcohol can be. Stoners might become overinvolved in the microscopic ecosystem of tree bark, but they’re unlikely to shoot up a bar over a pool game. Brooks listed several reasons why he and his buddies quit smoking (you smoked during school, David?!). I quit because it bored me. I’m a caffeinated sort, happiest on Monday mornings when everyone is back to business and I’m on deadline. Give me coffee or give me death. Having given up nearly everything that made getting out of bed worthwhile, I am healthier, happier, more productive — and have discovered that life is not, in fact, short. But both my current abstinence and the indulgences I once enjoyed (and may again, if my cocktail-stoop buddies have any say) were my own. My decisions, my responsibility, my consequences. As they should be — for marijuana as well. Read more from Kathleen Parker’s archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook. Read more: Ruth Marcus: The perils of legalized pot Jonathan Rauch: Let’s go down the aisle toward legalized pot Doug Fine: Five myths about legalizing marijuana


IT news briefs: IBM claims most patents in 2013; PC sales see a sharp decline worldwide

innovation IBM claims most patents in 2013 IBM received more U.S. patents than any other company in 2013, according to data from patent database firm IFI Claims. The Armonk, N.Y.-based company received 6,809 patents, 5 percent more than the previous year, and about 2,100 more than Samsung Electronics, the second-highest earner last year. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued 277,835 utility patents (usually issued for process and machine inventions) in 2013, about 10 percent more than 2012 and the most issued in one year, IFI said. IBM’s patents included software to help supercomputer Watson better interpret questions asked in a natural language and a simulation to aid in drug development, among others. For the first time, Google and Apple broke into the top 20 receivers of patents, according to the data. — Mohana Ravindranath computers Report: PC sales see a steep decline Personal computer shipments in the last quarter of 2013 showed the worst annual decline in the market’s history. A report by the Gartner research firm said global shipments reached 82.6 million units in 2013, between desktop PCs and notebook computers. The decline marked the seventh consecutive quarter that shipments have slowed and represents a 6.9 percent decline from 2012. “Strong growth in tablets continued to negatively impact PC growth in emerging markets,” Gartner principal analyst Mikako Kitagawa said in a statement. In the United States, PC shipments totaled 15.8 million units in the last quarter of 2013, a 7.5 percent decline since 2012. Hewlett-Packard led shipments in the United States, accounting for about a quarter of the market, despite a 10.3 percent decline in shipments since 2012. Lenovo led the global PC market with an 18.1 percent share of the market, up 6.6 percent since 2012, Gartner calculated. The company showed growth in all regions except China. — Mohana Ravindranath


Concert review: Fairfax Symphony Orchestra balances the sweet and astringent

Christopher Zimmerman conducts the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra. (Barry Wheeler) The Washington area has so many regional orchestras that the enterprising ensembles among them would do well to distinguish themselves from the crowd. Christopher Zimmerman, the music director of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, has been doing just that with his alluring choice of repertoire. The group’s latest concert, on Saturday night at George Mason University, brought together four pieces that I have not heard from a local orchestra in at least a decade. A mirrorlike arrangement of the pieces embedded two more serious works between lighter ones, by Edward Elgar and Benjamin Britten, both of which recycle and preserve music written early in each composer’s career. Elgar’s “Serenade in E Minor” was a mellow experience, the outer movements gently rolling and the middle slow movement tender, the juicy dissonances drawn out sweetly. Britten’s “Simple Symphony” was just as pleasing, each movement like a bite-size petit four, here tart and there chocolate-smooth. The heart of the program was Britten’s “Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings,” featuring an elegiac, at times eerily menacing performance by tenor William Hite. Horn player Eric Moore played what looked like a natural horn for the outer movements, heightening the effect of the natural harmonics, which sound slightly out of tune, that Britten wanted in those sections. Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony in C minor, arranged by Rudolf Barshai from the composer’s String Quartet No. 8, seemed the only misstep, an anguished cry that was played perhaps a bit too politely. Shostakovich scholar Laurel Fay has teased out the often conflicting explanations of this autobiographical piece, riddled with the composer’s name motif (D, E-flat, C, B, spelling out DSCH). Shostakovich described it as his own epitaph, the remembrance of him that no one else would be likely to write, probably reflecting his shame at being unable to oppose his official induction into the Communist Party. All of these pieces showcase savant handling of string writing, putting a chamber-size portion of the orchestra’s string players in a pretty good light, with only some intonation problems and ensemble disunity to criticize. This was the orchestra’s first performance in GMU’s Harris Theater, a smaller space than the next-door Center for the Arts with a dry acoustic that did the musicians no favors. Downey is a freelance writer.


Going Out Guide: Free and easy events

make quality posters or have a little fun with digital art. Interested participants can stay after the class to practice what they’ve learned. 6 p.m. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St. NW. 202-727-0321. www.dclibrary.org/mlk. THURSDAY Civil War espionage Learn about the role that Washington area African Americans played in Civil War espionage in this lecture by Hari Jones, curator of the African American Civil War Memorial Freedom Foundation and Museum. In his lecture, titled “For Light and Liberty: African Americans and Civil War Espionage in Washington and Beyond,” Jones will focus on the Loyal League, a secret organization of African Americans whose covert operations helped the Union Army win the Civil War. This is the first installment in a two-part lecture series that continues Jan. 30. 6:30 to 8 p.m. Historical Society of Washington, D.C., Roosevelt Studio, 801 K St. NW. 202-249-3955. www.historydc.org. FRIDAY Miranda Cuckson The American violinist and violist performs at the Embassy of France as a part of its new FUSION concert series, in which an American artist performs at the embassy, followed by a French artist performing at the Phillips Collection. Cuckson’s program will feature works by Samuel Barber, Pierre Boulez, Aaron Copland and more. 7:30 p.m. Embassy of France, 4101 Reservoir Rd. NW. 202-944-6000. www.frenchculture.org. SATURDAY Chinese New Year Family Day The Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Chinese Embassy host a morning of family-friendly activities to celebrate the start of the Year of the Horse. The event will include puppetry from the Tianjin Arts Troupe, traditional Chinese music from the Washington Guzheng Society and a performance by the Johns Hopkins University Yong Han Lion Dance group. Guests can also check out a display about giant pandas (and send a message to Bao Bao at the National Zoo), learn calligraphy and make red paper lanterns. Skilled dough sculptors, painters and paper-cutters also will demonstrate their crafts. 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Kogod Courtyard, Eighth and G streets NW. 202-633-1000. www.americanart.si.edu. SUNDAY Bridal Expo Glenview Mansion is hosting its annual bridal expo for anyone who has a wedding on the horizon. Meet florists, caterers, wedding cake bakers, photographers, wedding DJs and bands. See models in wedding gowns, look through photographers’ wedding albums and try samples from caterers and bakers. 12 to 4 p.m. Glenview Mansion at Rockville Civic Center Park, 603 Edmonston Dr., Rockville. 240-314-8660. www.rockvillemd.gov. — Lauren McEwen


Claudio Abbado, 80, Italian conductor who led European orchestras into modern era

the Vienna State Opera (where he held the same title from 1986 to 1991), the Vienna Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic (where he was chief conductor from 1989 to 2002). Moving around Europe from one orchestra to another, Mr. Abbado risked the ire of conservative concertgoers by expanding the standard repertoire to include the avant-garde works of composers such as Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Luigi Dallapiccola and Luigi Nono. Mr. Abbado in 1966. (Erich Auerbach/Getty Images) “Musical history,” Mr. Abbado remarked shortly after his appointment at the Berlin Philharmonic, “does not end with Puccini.” Mr. Abbado “respected the traditions,” F. Paul Driscoll, the editor in chief of Opera News, said in an interview, but also “pointed forward” to keep his houses vital. Mr. Abbado regarded classical music not as a diversion for the privileged but rather as a sort of common trust. At La Scala, an opera house known for its attendance by the rich and royal of Europe, he took the orchestra out of the theater and into factories to perform for workers. He led the musicians in performances of instrumental works as well as operatic standards. At the Berlin Philharmonic, he was credited with helping the orchestra develop an identity independent from that of his celebrated but at times overpowering predecessor, Herbert von Karajan. Driscoll said Mr. Abbado “made it survive in a way that wasn’t connected with one person,” adding that he was “very connected with the future.” Some conductors step onto the podium, with the orchestra before them and a crowd full of listeners seated behind them, and are enticed to indulge in flamboyance. Mr. Abbado was not among them. “The conductor,” he once said, “should be able to change the sonority of an orchestra even with movements of his eyes. He should get what he wants with just a flick of his head.” Among critics and astute observers, he became known for the delicate gestures he used to lead his musicians through the complexities of the score at hand. “With a skyward gesture of his baton,” recounted New York Times music writer Daniel J. Wakin, describing a performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony in 2007, Mr. Abbado “sent the final chord soaring into nothingness, like a flock of birds flying heavenward.” Mr. Abbado conducted from memory, once telling the Times that “communication with the orchestra is easier” without a score. He was roundly admired for his


U.S., Europe lift some Iran sanctions under nuclear deal

associated trade, U.S. officials said. Senior Obama administration officials have called the relief a “drop in the bucket” compared with the billions of oil revenue that the global sanctions on Iran have left tied up in international banks. “Iran is not truly open for business,” one U.S. official said, noting that remaining oil sanctions will cost Iran about $30 billion over the same period. Under the sanctions, most of Iran’s legitimate oil trade was suspended over the past two years. European and other corporations are widely reported to be seeking ways to resume business with Iran soon, leaving U.S. officials trying to stand in the breach. U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the technical agreement and the closed-door negotiations with Iran, also addressed the fraught politics of the Iran deal in the United States, where a bipartisan and nearly veto-proof majority of senators is on record supporting new sanctions on Iran. The administration opposes new sanctions as a violation of its careful agreement with Iran and other world powers and warns that Iran may walk away if Congress won’t back down. “The steps that we are taking today shows that we are on track toward implementing this arrangement which gives us what we need, which is halting for the first time in more than a decade Iran’s progress toward nuclear weapons capability,” one official said. “It just seems all the more clear to us that we should test the proposition that moving forward with this will give us in the end what we need, which is a comprehensive solution” that assures Iran cannot build a weapon, the official said. The nuclear talks are separate from other U.S. and world political disputes with Iran, including whether Iran participates in upcoming peace talks on the Syrian civil war, the official said. The United Nations on Monday rescinded an invitation to Iran to attend the talks because Iran would not endorse a transition from the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Tehran. In Iran, there was mixed reaction to the halting of the uranium enrichment at nuclear plants in the cities of Natanz and Fordo. Iranian opponents of the deal stepped up their denunciations of what they are calling their country’s capitulation to Western demands. Vatan-e Emrooz, a newspaper closely associated with conservatives, printed Monday’s edition in all-black type and dedicated it to coverage of


What the National Zoo needs

I take issue with Diana Hellinger’s Jan. 17 letter characterizing the National Zoo as “elitist” [“What’s on display at the National Zoo? Elitism.”]. I live on a pension, but I support a few charities, including the National Zoo. My contributions as a member of Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ) help create a more pleasant habitat for the animals as well as keep the zoo free so that Ms. Hellinger can take her regular walks at no charge. Giving FONZ members a sneak peek at the baby panda a few days before opening the doors to the rest of the public is a very small perk of membership, and it is petty to characterize it as elitism. As of today, anyone can view Bao Bao. If more people supported the zoo, it might have the funds to maintain a larger variety of animals. Carol Ann Linder, Arlington ● I completely agree with Diana Hellinger. I recently visited the National Zoo with a friend from Singapore, where there is a famous outdoor zoo. At the end of the walk and tour, my friend said she thought the National Zoo is good but lacks animals. Where are the giraffes, important residents in many zoos? Kids love them, perhaps even more than pandas. Pandas are cute, but at what cost? The American Trail exhibit was a massive construction project, but where are the animals there? Is it time to charge a small entrance fee so that the zoo can be more fun? J.M. Ward, Montgomery Village More Letters to the Editor: Overdoing the Christmas fun? The fog of the Middle East A long, hard slog at Dulles Airport


Talks continue in Panama Canal expansion dispute

executive Carlos Brito said in a statement. Beer volumes in South Korea grew 2 percent from 2009 to 2012, and premium beers grew 10 percent annually. AB InBev’s purchase of Oriental Brewery is its largest acquisition since its $20.1 billion purchase last year of the half of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo it didn’t already own. — St. Louis Post-Dispatch ALSO IN BUSINESS ● A freight train carrying crude oil derailed on a railroad bridge in Philadelphia, authorities said. Nothing leaked and there were no injuries in the derailment near the Schuylkill River, which occurred about 1 a.m., the Coast Guard said in a statement. CSX said that the 101-car freight train was headed to Philadelphia from Chicago, and that seven cars derailed on the bridge. Six of the derailed cars carried crude oil, CSX said. The busy Schuylkill Expressway was closed for nearly an hour after the derailment and again about noon, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said. ● The United Nations’ labor agency said the number of unemployed people around the world rose above 200 million last year. The International Labor Organization said that an estimated 201.8 million people were unemployed in 2013. That’s 4.9 million more than the previous year. An annual ILO report said East and South Asia together accounted for more than 45 percent of last year’s increase. ● Deutsche Bank announced an unexpected fourth-quarter loss largely due to weak investment banking results. The bank posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $1.3 billion on Sunday night, 10 days before it was scheduled to release its results. Analysts were expecting a profit of about $270 million. Revenues also disappointed, falling 16 percent to $9 billion. ● BlackBerry surged the most in a month Monday after the Defense Department said that the company’s smartphones will account for 98 percent of devices in one of its new networks. About 80,000 BlackBerrys and 1,800 phones and tablets based on Apple’s iOS software and Google’s Android operating system will start being hooked up to the Department of Defense’s management system at the end of the month, the Defense Information Systems Agency said in a statement last week. BlackBerry rose 8.2 percent in Toronto, the company’s biggest gain since Dec. 20. After tumbling 33 percent last year, the stock has gained 37 percent this year. Coming Today ● Earnings: Delta Air Lines, Halliburton, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Verizon Communications.


Charles Lane: The Olympics should be on their way out

African nations protesting apartheid), of Moscow in 1980 (by the United States and other Western countries protesting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan) and of Los Angeles in 1984 (by communist countries retaliating for 1980). The Games also have created a target for extremists, from the Palestinian terrorists who killed 11 Israeli athletes at Munich in 1972 to ultra-rightist Eric Rudolph, who placed a deadly bomb at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta. Consequently, these celebrations of international conviviality proceed under heavy military guard. Rather than curbing nationalism, the Olympics have arguably exacerbated it. The pursuit of gold-medal glory has led various countries to bribe judges or countenance rampant doping by athletes — and, in the case of the former East Germany, to subject many athletes to systematic steroid injections without their knowledge. “The important thing at the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part; for the essential thing in life is not to conquer but to struggle well,” Coubertin said. Today’s Games make a mockery of that fine sentiment. Millions in prizes or endorsements await those who make it to the medal stand; the pursuit of cash has driven athletes to enhance their performance with ever-more sophisticated drugs. According to a superb ESPN documentary about the men’s 100-meter dash at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, six of the eight finalists were eventually implicated in drug use — including Canadian Ben Johnson, who was initially declared the winner but was stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for steroids. But it’s hard to fault athletes for being greedy when members of the International Olympic Committee have lost their jobs for allegedly accepting bribes or favors, such as for helping Salt Lake City win its bid to host the 2002 Winter Games. The whole event long ago became a corporate spectacle that has more to do with selling TV ads than promoting international friendship. Yet for all the private profit-making associated with the Olympics, the Games’ positive economic impact on host nations is pretty ephemeral. It famously took the city of Montreal 30 years to pay off the cost of the giant stadium built for the 1976 Summer Games. One of the many reasons Greece is in such economic misery is that it ran up about $9 billion in public debt for the 2004 Summer Games, whose total cost — $11 billion — was the highest of


D.C. police investigate shooting deaths of man, woman in home near Howard University

A man and woman were found shot to death in the basement of a Columbia Heights rowhouse, D.C. police said Tuesday. The authorities identified the victims as Oluremi K. Thomas, 36, of Northwest Washington and Keyonna Proctor, 24, of Southeast Washington. A cousin of one of the victims found the bodies about 11 p.m. Monday, police said, adding that Thomas was discovered dead in a bed and Proctor was face down on the floor. Few other details were made public about the double-shooting inside the efficiency apartment on Girard Street NW, just off Georgia Avenue near Howard University. A relative of Thomas, reached by phone in Brooklyn, said family members had just found out about the deaths. “We are very devastated at the moment,” said the woman, who declined to give her name. “We’re dealing with our loss at the moment.” The owner of the home is a 44-year-old man who coaches a youth soccer league. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Students who attend Howard live next door to the rowhouse where Thomas and Proctor were found, according to the students’ landlord. It was unclear what the victims were doing at the three-story rowhouse. District police declined to comment on specifics of the investigation, but D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who represents the neighborhood, said the victims did not live at the house, citing different addresses provided by police. Court records for Thomas show an address on Decatur Street NW, two miles from Girard Street. Graham also said the killings were not random and did not involve people who lived on that street. He said his conversation with police suggest that it was an intentional killing linked to drugs and that it is possible the victims had been lured there. “It’s very upsetting that two people were shot in the head,” Graham said. “It appears that neither of them lived in that house. This all raises more questions than there are answers.” District police declined to discuss a possible motive or confirm Graham’s statement that they suspect the killing was drug-related. But a police official did say that drug paraphernalia was found in the apartment, and court records show that Thomas was arrested outside the house on Girard Street in November and charged with possession of 24 grams of marijuana. Police said he was sitting in a minivan parked in an alley next to the


U.S. credit cards, chipless and magnetized, lure global fraudsters

overseas hackers. But taking even the obvious step of introducing state-of-the-art cards “will take time. . . . The U.S. is the largest and the most complex market to move, so that will influence the migration,” said Carolyn Balfany, a senior vice president with MasterCard Worldwide. The large card companies have said that as of late 2015, they will hold merchants or banks who have not moved to the chip-card system responsible for fraudulent purchases that the advanced cards would have prevented. Balfany estimated that even by that deadline, the number of cards and terminals carrying the advanced technology may only be “in the midrange” — a vast improvement over the negligible numbers of chip cards and terminals currently in place, but one that would still leave many consumers vulnerable. Fraudulent purchases using fake credit cards or stolen numbers can be a nightmare for individuals. Consumers are protected under federal law from paying for the purchases but must still deal with the potential damage to their credit record and worry about the risk of more serious forms of identity theft. Across the country’s sprawling retail economy, however, the cost has been relatively small — as little as $1.1 billion a year lost to the fraudulent transactions chip cards are most likely to prevent, according to U.S. Federal Reserve data, an amount that businesses have been willing to absorb rather than invest in a new system. In a 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta study, payments risk expert Douglas King concluded that the level of fraud in the United States was low enough that the business case for chip cards had “yet to fully crystalize.” The conversion has also been tangled in disputes between banks and retailers over the cost of payment processing — the “interchange” fees merchants pay to use credit cards — and the risk posed by other types of fraud, such as online scams, that chip cards cannot prevent. The result: While the rest of the world has sped forward, U.S. shoppers remain at risk in a system where old-school magnetic-stripe cards will remain the norm for perhaps several more years. Unlike the chip-bearing cards, data from magnetic strips are easily read and exploited by hackers, who can use the information to make fake purchases, produce counterfeit cards or use in other identity-theft schemes. Banks typically are introducing the new cards as old ones expire, which means it


John Dobson, evangelist for amateur astronomy, dies at 98

Observatory in Los Angeles. Mr. Dobson used cheap or salvaged materials such as glass from ship portholes and cardboard tubing to make his telescopes, the most radical feature of which is a simple, sturdy and highly effective wooden mount that allows users to easily point the scope at any spot in the sky. Over five decades, he taught thousands of people how to build one. His design was eventually embraced by commercial manufacturers, who advertise the telescopes as “Dobsonians.” They remain “one of the most popular telescopes on the market,” said Dennis di Cicco, senior editor of Sky & Telescope magazine. Dobsonian telescopes have made important contributions to astronomy, including the discovery in 1995 of Comet Hale-Bopp, the most-distant comet ever discovered by amateurs. One of its namesakes, Tom Bopp, was using a Dobsonian. Alborzian, who had known Mr. Dobson since 1968, said he once urged Mr. Dobson to patent his design. He refused. “He said, ‘These are gifts to humanity,’ ” Alborzian recalled. “His goal was to open astronomy to the common man.” Mr. Dobson had his critics. He did not, for instance, subscribe to the Big Bang theory but favored the idea of a “steady-state” universe with no beginning and no end. “I’m not interested in just the stars,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2005. “I’m interested in the whole ball of wax.” Although the steady-state theory has been widely discredited, Mr. Dobson was an unwavering supporter, which caused many in the astronomy establishment to dismiss him. “He was unconventional,” di Cicco said. John Lowry Dobson was born Sept. 14, 1915, in Beijing. His mother was a musician, and his father taught zoology at Peking University. Nervous about political unrest in China, his family moved to San Francisco in 1927. He received a degree in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley in 1943 and went to work in the defense field. In 1944, he joined the Vedanta Monastery in San Francisco, and he was asked to reconcile the order’s teachings with science. That assignment led him to build his first telescope, in 1956. He scavenged materials, including a 12-inch piece of porthole glass that he sanded into a telescope mirror. When he was done, he peered at the moon and was profoundly moved. “Everybody’s got to see this,” he said. Transferred in 1958 to the order’s Sacramento monastery, Mr. Dobson began building telescopes in


Crude-oil spills on U.S. railways in 2013 topped total since 1975

has become the preferred mode for oil producers amid a North American energy boom. The federal data do not include incidents in Canada in which oil spilled from trains. Canadian authorities estimate that more than 1.5 million gallons of crude oil spilled in Lac-M é gantic, Quebec, on July 6, when a runaway train derailed and exploded, killing 47 people. The cargo originated in North Dakota. Nearly 750,000 gallons of crude oil spilled from a train on Nov. 8 near Aliceville, Ala. The train originated in North Dakota and caught fire after it derailed in a swampy area. No one was injured or killed. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration doesn’t yet have spill data from a Dec. 30 derailment near Casselton, N.D. But the National Transportation Safety Board, which is the lead investigator in that incident, estimates that more than 400,000 gallons of crude oil were spilled there. Though no one was injured or killed, the intense fire forced most of Casselton’s 2,400 residents to evacuate in subzero temperatures. The Association of American Railroads, an industry group, estimates that railroads shipped 400,000 carloads of crude oil last year. That’s more than 11.5 billion gallons, with one tank car holding roughly 28,800 gallons. Last year’s total spills of 1.15 million gallons means that 99.99 percent of shipments arrived without incident, close to the safety record the industry and its regulators claim about hazardous materials shipments by rail. Until a few years ago, railroads weren’t carrying crude oil in 80- to 100-car trains. In eight of the years between 1975 and 2009, railroads reported no spills of crude oil. In five of those years, they reported spills of one gallon or less. In 2010, railroads reported spilling about 5,000 gallons of crude oil, according to federal data. They spilled fewer than 4,000 gallons each year in 2011 and 2012. Excluding the Alabama and North Dakota derailments, more than 11,000 gallons of crude oil spilled from trains last year. The principal Washington regulators of crude-oil shipments by rail met with railroad and oil-industry representatives recently to discuss making changes to how crude is shipped by rail, from tank-car design to operating speed to appropriate routing. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx called the meeting productive and said the group would take a comprehensive approach to improving the safety of crude-oil trains. Foxx said the changes would be announced within 30 days. — McClatchy-Tribune


Change the dinosaur exhibit for the better

I was extremely disappointed to learn that the dinosaur exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History will be closed for five years [“It’s not an extinction event, just a remodeling,” front page, Jan. 18]. My only hope is that the Smithsonian doesn’t make the same mistakes it made when it remodeled the National Museum of American History a few years ago. That renovation proved that change does not always equal improvement. Michael Kiffney, Vienna


Montgomery Blair produces 3 Intel finalists

Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring is boasting three finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search, the country’s oldest and most prestigious research contest for high school seniors. The three Montgomery Blair students tapped by the Intel Foundation as finalists in this year’s competition are: •Shaun Datta, whose research project is “Saturated Nuclear Matter in the Large Nc and Heavy Quark Limits of Quantum Chromodynamics” •Neil Davey, with “Early Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment through the Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells using Drop-based Microfluidics” •Jessica Shi, with “The Speeds of Families of Intersection Graphs” In addition, Benjamin Freed, a student at Governor Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick, also has been named a finalist. His project is “Identification of Novel Regulatory Mechanisms of the K-Ras Oncoprotein.” There were no finalists from Virginia. The Intel Science Talent Search, a program of Society for Science & the Public (SSP), chose 40 finalists from about 1,800 entrants across the country. They were judged on the originality of their research projects as well as their achievement inside and outside the classroom, according to contest organizers. The finalists created projects that touched a variety of scientific disciplines, including behavioral science, biochemistry, bioengineering, chemistry, computer science, earth science, engineering, environmental science, materials science, mathematics, medicine, microbiology, physics and space science. The 40 finalists will gather in Washington March 6 to 12 to compete for $630,000 in awards. They will undergo a judging process, meet prominent scientists and national leaders and show their work to the public at the National Geographic Society. The top 10 winners will be announced at a March 11 black-tie event at the National Building Museum. The first place winner will receive $100,000 from the Intel Foundation. The Science Talent Search has been awarding annual prizes to high school seniors since 1942. “We celebrate these 40 students because their contributions to the world of science will help solve some of our most pressing challenges,” said Wendy Hawkins, executive director of the Intel Foundation. “The Intel Science Talent Search encourages hands-on experience with math and science, which is imperative in enabling young people to think critically, solve problems and understand the world around them.”


T-Mobile will cash your checks: how it works

and keeps more money in their pockets.” So, how will it work? T-Mobile customers will get a T-Mobile prepaid Visa Card that can be loaded and reloaded through the Mobile Money app. The company did not give specifics but said it will offer the services at a “reduced fee or $0 cost” for its registered wireless customers. The service will require no minimum balance and also promises no overdraft fees. On an information page, T-Mobile said there will be fees for “non-typical use,” such as overnight card shipments, using an out-of-network ATM and putting rush demands on checks to be cashed. T-Mobile announced that it is offering a prepaid card from Visa and a check cashing service, expanding its reach from wireless service to personal finance. (Courtesy of T-Mobile) From their Mobile Money accounts, users will be able to direct-deposit paychecks, deposit checks via smartphone camera, make purchases, pay bills and withdraw cash from 42,000 ATMs across the country, T-Mobile said. The service sounds similar to a program Walmart and American Express began offering in 2012 called Bluebird, which gives users a prepaid card aimed at the “non-banked” or “underbanked” sections of the population who do not have traditional bank accounts. As The Washington Post’s Danielle Douglas reported, banks are bracing for the possibility that the federal government may begin imposing new rules on such consumer products, including prepaid cards. But T-Mobileappears eager to step into the space. “Mobile Money builds on T-Mobile’s financing experience to provide a sensible and affordable alternative to checking fees for the roughly 68 million U.S. adults who do not have traditional accounts and have to rely on alternative financial services,” the company said in a statement. The move makes a certain amount of sense , given that T-Mobile has aggressively gone after the lower end of the smartphone market and the prepaid market — moves that make them particularly popular with young customers and those in urban areas. Those demographics match pretty well with the FDIC’s profile of American’s unbanked from a 2012 report. Those interested can sign up for the service starting Wednesday, T-Mobile said. Related stories: Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank to end deposit advance loans, citing tougher regulation Innovations: T-Mobile is trying its hand at banking In bidding war with AT, T-Mobile offers new customers as much as $650 Follow The Post’s new tech blog, The Switch, where technology and policy connect.


Prince George’s County Animal Watch

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY These were among cases received recently by the Prince George’s County Animal Management Division. Call 301-780-7200 for directions to the county animal shelter, hours of operation and adoption and licensing procedures. The department Web site is www.princegeorgespets4us.com. Dog chases children: Black hawk down: Fowl with broken wing: Brown duck in road: The Maryland Spay and Neuter Advisory Board Bowie pet adoptions: — Compiled by Jillian S. Jarrett


Honeybee population flourishes in D.C.

In many parts of the country, honeybee populations are crashing, devastated by parasites and the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder. But in the District, the plant-pollinating insects are thriving, according to local bee maven Jeff Miller. “D.C. has a really green canopy, and so the bees tend to do very well here. In fact, better in the city than we’ve seen them do in the suburbs or even out in the countryside,” said Miller, who runs two apiary organizations, the nonprofit D.C. Honeybees and the for-profit Georgetown Honeybees. The latter has helped about 200 people and organizations become beekeepers since it began in 2010. “The bees we have in the countryside sit in areas where there a lot of cash crops being grown, like corn or soybeans,” Miller said. “They don’t provide much nutrition for the bees. There’s not a lot of nectar. The city has a lot of trees, and trees provide a significant amount of pollen and nectar when the bees need it in the spring.” “In the city you have flowers and window boxes that tend to bloom all season long, whereas in the countryside you’ve got crops that tend to bloom very quickly at one time. And then there’s nothing left for the bees to forage on.” Miller, who is also director of real estate for the District’s Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, installed his own hives in 2009. He was soon importing bees from Georgia — “the epicenter of East Coast beekeeping” — for other homeowners, and then churches and office buildings. Perhaps his most prominent local client is National Public Radio, which installed hives on its new building’s green roof in May. Jeff Miller, who runs D.C. Honeybees and Georgetown Honeybees, with a hive box.. (Mark Jenkins) “Rooftops are really great places to put beehives, for a number of reasons, the most important being they’re away from most people who might be bothered by it,” Miller said. “But they also seem to thrive up there.” The connection between bees and green roofs, however, is purely symbolic. Bees forage over a three-mile area, Miller explained, and couldn’t maintain a hive with just the nectar and pollen from plants on a single roof. In addition, most green roofs are planted with sedum, a shallow-rooted plant that’s exceptionally hardy but provides little nutrition for bees. “It takes about 2 million blossoms to make


Is preschool access a national security issue?

Is early education a national security concern? A group of retired senior military officials says: Yes. “Without enough skilled men and women available to serve in tomorrow’s armed services, we endanger the future strength of our military,” says a report by Mission: Readiness, an advocacy group representing hundreds of senior retired military leaders. The best way to improve that talent pool? Early education, the report says. The D.C.-based organization is banking on the economic, social and academic benefits shown in long-term preschool studies to turn around a troublesome trend: 75 percent of the country’s 17- to 24-year-olds are ineligible for military service because they are poorly educated, have criminal records, or are overweight or otherwise unhealthy. In addition to such reports as “Ready, Willing and Unable to Serve” and “Too Fat to Fight,” the group recently published an analysis of the national security benefits to President Obama’s early education proposal. It also has produced analyses of pre-kindergarten access in different states and regions, including a 2013 comparison of preschool programs in the Washington area called “Pre-K Around the Beltway.” The report found stark disparities. In Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, all eligible children from low-income families were able to enroll in publicly funded pre-kindergarten. The District of Columbia offers universal preschool to three and four-year olds, although some programs had wait lists. In Virginia, an underfunded state pre-kindergarten program is not reaching thousands of eligible children, because local governments are not paying the required matching funds. The report singles out Fairfax County, where just 1,119 of the 2,545 state-funded slots for pre-kindergarten were filled in the 2012-2013 school year, leaving more than half of eligible children unserved. “In Fairfax County alone, we still have hundreds and hundreds of kids on the waiting list,” said retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Norman Seip of Alexandria, a member of Mission: Readiness. “The fact of the matter is we are not funding it the way we should.” In contrast, Arlington County was using all its state-funded slots, and Alexandria was using almost all of them. The report did not include Prince William County, which qualified for enough state funding this year to provide pre-kindergarten to more than 1,600 children but serves just 72. Part of the problem: The high cost of living in Virginia and a per-student funding limit that has not increased since 2008. “It's time to go back to Richmond and


Sochi 2014: IOC jeopardized safety of athletes and fans in awarding Games to Putin’s Russia

given the enormous resources being poured into it, and he cautions against postponing or moving the Games, because it would appear to concede to terrorism, not to mention how it would insult blameless Russians. “What the terrorists are trying to do is get everyone to talk about security and not sport, and they are succeeding,” he said. “They are keeping up pressure, with attacks on other cities, releasing threats on videos, all these things allow them to control the narrative.” Taking the Games somewhere else won’t alter the situation in North Caucasus, or prevent attacks in, say, movie theaters. “We cannot create absolute security for ourselves by avoiding every situation,” he said. “We just have to be resilient in how we deal with outcomes.” Point taken. But it’s not giving in to terrorism to say that it was an act of pure folly to award the Winter Games to Sochi back in 2007, given what specialists who studied the region understood. Or to call out the IOC officials who didn’t do their due diligence, and ignored all of the warning signs. As early as 2008, when a series of bombs detonated in Sochi, it was obvious that Putin was gambling dangerously with Olympic security for his own profit and purposes. “The interesting thing is that Putin has made these Olympics so important to himself, and how they fit into his sporty image,” Galeotti said. “He has given them his weight. And if the insurgents don’t keep up the pressure, with threats to overshadow his achievements, then they will seem to have failed. Either side has the potential to be severely damaged by the outcome.” So the staging of the Sochi Games has become a contest of wills between Putin and the insurgents, with innocents squarely in the crossfire. The IOC is wholly responsible for this: It should have denied Putin the internal prestige he craves, while depriving the insurgents of a major target, by removing the Games when it was still politically and logistically possible. Now they will have to hope Putin can avert a disaster and make the Games safe, “insofar as you can be safe holding an Olympics inside a country fighting a serious insurgency,” Galeotti said. The Olympics are supposed to be about “human dignity,” in the words of the Olympic charter. But in these Games, the humans are shields. For more by Sally Jenkins, visit washingtonpost.com/jenkins.


T-Mobile enters prepaid card market

John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, speaks at T-Mobile's Un-carrier 4.0 press event at International CES on Jan. 8 in Las Vegas. (Jeff Bottari/AP Images for T-Mobile) T-Mobile on Wednesday became the latest retailer to barrel into the banking world with the introduction of a prepaid card, entering the market just as lawmakers and regulators move to impose tougher consumer protections on such products. The use of prepaid cards has exploded in the wake of the credit crisis that pushed millions of Americans outside of the traditional banking system. Chain stores, including Wal-Mart, Walgreens and Target, have entered the marketplace with broad access to those consumers left on the sidelines. Advocacy groups, however, have raised concerns that issuers of prepaid cards are not always transparent about the fees or rules associated with their products. And while the cards act much like debit or credit cards, they are not covered by the same strict consumer-protection laws. But Michael Goo, vice president of marketing at T-Mobile, said that the telecom company is offering Americans an affordable way to manage their money through its Mobile Money service. Customers can use the Visa-branded card to pay bills, deposit checks via a smartphone camera and make purchases. There are no overdraft fees, no minimum balance requirements and no charges for withdrawing cash from 42,000 ATMs across the country, he said. “There is a significant portion of Americans, 68 million adults, that rely on alternative financial services or don’t have traditional accounts, and this product will help free them in terms of time savings and cost savings,” Goo said. “Our product is incredibly consumer-friendly.” On its Mobile Money Web page, T-Mobile said there will be charges for “non-typical use,” such as using an out-of-network ATM or putting rush demands on checks to be cashed. Company officials said in an e-mail it would charge $2 for such services, but the cost is not explained on its Web site. The inability of consumers to get clear information about the terms of such products has riled lawmakers and regulators. Within the past month, Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) introduced separate legislation to require prepaid card issuers to fully disclose all fees tied to the product. Disclosure is at the heart of the rules the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to write before the end of the year. The bureau has said it will work on


Hydrogen fuel cell, clean energy concepts reach Washington Auto Show

10 minutes to charge at special fueling stations and can travel about 300 miles per charge. The car would initially be offered only for lease. A 36-month agreement would require an initial payment of about $3,000, and payments of about $500 a month. While vintage, gas-powered Ford Mustangs will be on display at the Washington Auto Show, clean-tech alternative vehicles will also be featured at the expo. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post) Toyota is showing off its own hydrogen fuel-cell concept car, which it unveiled in the United States at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month. Toyota expects the car to reach the market in 2015. Nissan, meanwhile, announced it would test a new electric vehicle concept car in the Washington area though a partnership with FedEx Express, an express-delivery subsidiary of the shipping company, starting as early as March. This is the first time the e-NV200 Concept, a compact, fully electric cargo vehicle, will be driven in North America, the company said. Nissan is field testing it to determine its viability in the United States, and will begin mass production in Spain in the spring. The Washington Auto Show — organized by the Washington Area New Auto Dealers Association — recognized Cadillac’s energy-efficient brake technology, awarding the company its annual Green Car Technology Award. Cadillac’s ELR Regen on Demand technology uses the car’s electric motor as an electricity generator while braking, and allows motorists to engage or disengage the feature while driving. In a keynote at the show, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced that the Energy Department would commit about $50 million to accelerating development of new transportation technologies, especially in cost-effective batteries, advanced heating and improved fuels, among other innovations. The funding would continue to support the department’s “EV Everywhere Challenge,” which aims to make electric vehicles more affordable and convenient than gasoline-powered cars in the next decade. “Today, the American auto industry is on the rise, experiencing the best period of growth in more than a decade,” Moniz said. “The new research and development funding announced today will help support our domestic automakers’ continued growth and make sure that the next generation of advanced technology vehicles are built right here in America.” The Washington Auto Show is held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, running from Thursday to Feb. 2. Capital Business is The Post’s weekly publication focusing on the region’s business community.


Blimplike surveillance craft set to deploy over Maryland heighten privacy concerns

far south as Richmond, as far west as Cumberland, Md., and as far north as Staten Island. The Army declined to say what size vehicles can be sensed from those distances. “If it’s able to track vehicles, that is problematic,” said Jennifer Lynch of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group. “You could imagine a scenario in which the location information can reveal where you go to church, what doctor you’re going to, whether you’re cheating on your wife, all those types of details. . . . Once a surveillance technology is put up, it’s very tempting for law enforcement or the military to use it for reasons they did not originally disclose.” Technologies developed for battlefields — weapons, vehicles, communications systems — long have flowed homeward as overseas conflicts have ended. The battles that followed the Sept. 11 attacks have produced major advances in surveillance equipment whose manufacturers increasingly are looking to expand their use within the United States. Aerostats — basically big balloons on strings — grew popular in Iraq and Afghanistan and also are used by Israel to monitor the Gaza Strip and by the United States to eye movement along southern border areas. Even a rifle shot through an aerostat will not bring it down, because the pressure of the helium inside nearly matches the pressure of the air outside, preventing rapid deflation. TCOM, a Columbia, Md.-based company that Raytheon hired to manufacture the aerostats planned for the upcoming deployment, said business is growing for smaller, tactical systems that can be used in sensitive border or harbor areas. “When you need persistent surveillance in a particular area, there is no better solution than the aerostat because it’s there all the time,” said Ron Bendlin, TCOM’s president. The Defense Department spent nearly $7 billion on 15 different lighter-than-air systems between 2007 and 2012, with several suffering from technical problems, delays and unexpectedly high costs, the Government Accountability Office found in an October 2012 report . The system planned for Maryland is called JLENS, short for Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System. The system has had setbacks, including rising costs and an accident in 2010 that damaged one of the aerostats at a facility in North Carolina. A GAO report in March put the total development costs for JLENS at $2.7 billion. Once expected to provide 16 systems, each consisting of two aerostats


based at the Utah Test and Training Range, in the vast, parched salt flats west of Salt Lake City. Residents of the area complained less about privacy issues than the militarization of the airspace. Testing of the JLENS involved small aircraft that raced through the sky, mimicking the flight of missiles. The radar systems were supposed to track them and help firing systems home in on the moving targets. The aerostats themselves were not armed. The Army said similar tests will not be conducted while the aerostats are deployed in suburban Baltimore. As the aerostats hover above the area, they will be visible — at least faintly — for dozens of miles in any direction. To fans seated in the stands behind home plate at Orioles games in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, more than 15 miles away, they will probably appear as two white dots hovering in the sky beyond the historic brick warehouse at Camden Yards. The JLENS system will require pilots to take precautions in flights through the area; the Federal Aviation Administration is creating a “special use airspace” for the three-year test period, the Army said. There also will be “minor adverse impacts” on the bald eagle population in the vicinity of Aberdeen Proving Ground, which sits among the highest density of nests for the iconic birds in the Chesapeake Bay region, according to an Army environmental assessment. One of the two base stations for the aerostats will breach a 500-meter perimeter established to protect a nest used by a pair of bald eagles. The environmental assessment says that if those eagles are disturbed or killed because of the proximity of the JLENS base station or related construction, it would qualify as a legally permissible “incidental take” of the species. In a bid to demonstrate the long-term utility of JLENS to potential customers, Raytheon organized and paid for an exercise at a Utah test range in which it outfitted an aerostat with a spherical MTS-B sensor, often used by the Air Force and Customs and Border Protection to conduct overhead surveillance from drones. The exact capabilities of the MTS-B are classified, military officials said, but engineers familiar with the technology said its electro-optical and infrared sensors probably can detect individuals from more than 20 miles away. For the Raytheon test, the MTS-B spotted a person pretending to be a terrorist planting an improvised roadside bomb, even though the


Mortgages have become harder to obtain, but consumers do have some alternatives

Bill Emerson, chief executive of Quicken Loans, one of the country’s highest-volume lenders, said the new rules could “impair credit access for many of the very consumers they are designed to protect.” These people are all over the country — young first-time buyers with student debts, middle-income minority buyers, self-employed individuals and those whose incomes are not received at regular intervals, plus just about anybody with household debt that exceeds 43 percent of income. But are there ways for folks such as these to improve their chances to get a mortgage this year, rather than waiting the estimated 12 to 24 months it may take for regulators to assess the impact of their rules and loosen up? Yes. Here are a few practical strategies. ●Debt ratios. Though the baseline standard for a new “qualified mortgage” (QM) is that a borrower’s total debt-to-income ratio should not be greater than 43 percent, lenders say there is wiggle room if you search for it. For example, conventional loans being sold to giant investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may exceed 43 percent by a little, provided your overall application makes it through the companies’ electronic underwriting systems, which take multiple factors into consideration beyond household debt burdens. Dennis C. Smith, co-owner of Stratis Financial in Huntington Beach, Calif., says, “We’ve had some people with 44 percent to 45 percent” debt ratios get through the hoops. Smith uses another technique where appropriate: Getting a qualified co-borrower, typically a close relative, to join with the buyer and sending the application to Freddie Mac, which he says has a more generous rule on non-occupant co-borrowers than Fannie does. According to Smith, this allows a sharing or “blending” of household finances and can produce a lower overall debt-to-income ratio if the non-occupant co-borrower has a strong financial profile. Another option: The Federal Housing Administration offers additional flexibility on debt-to-income ratios in its version of a qualified mortgage. Though FHA has raised its insurance premiums recently, it is still an important potential resource if your debt levels are high and you have only modest down-payment cash. FHA’s minimum down is still just 3.5 percent; Freddie and Fannie require at least 5 percent. John Councilman, president of AMC Mortgage Corp. in Fort Myers, Fla., says that FHA’s current maximum acceptable debt-to-income ratio through its underwriting system appears to be around 50 percent. Applicants who have veterans status should check


Zandi: Credit constraints threaten housing recovery

are turning away many borrowers who meet the requirements for government-backed mortgages because of uncertainty about the government’s rules for loans that are deemed faulty because of underwriting mistakes. When a lender makes a loan insured by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Federal Housing Administration, it is with the understanding that the lender will not bear the cost of a default. But the government can force a lender to absorb the cost if the lender did not follow correct underwriting rules. In recent years, Fannie, Freddie and the FHA have been much more aggressive about returning defaulting loans to lenders. This situation has led lenders to discount the credit risk protection they receive from the institutions. As a result, lenders are willing to make loans backed by Fannie, Freddie or FHA only if there is little prospect of default, so that they are not exposed to risk. The constraints on credit are suppressing housing demand, which, in turn, has made the recovery less robust than it should be. The problem will only grow more acute when interest rates rise as the Fed retreats from its stimulus policies and more borrowers are priced out of the market. If left unaddressed, the consequences for the broader economy are deeply concerning. Not all of the factors restricting credit can or should be addressed by government. The Dodd-Frank rules are important to ensuring market stability. And lenders are rightfully more careful about lending after the credit-driven crisis we have all endured. But some areas merit policymakers’ attention — and soon. One is the uncertainty that the government’s housing agencies have created around the enforcement of their right to return credit risk to lenders. That alone is locking millions of borrowers out of the market, families who no one argues should be denied access to credit. Policymakers must also monitor the market’s response to the regulations becoming effective in the coming months to make sure that they strike the right balance between managing risk and maintaining adequate access to credit. The goal, clearly, is not to return to the reckless lending standards of the bubble years but to strike a sensible balance between risk and access. Coming out of the crisis, we have understandably focused almost exclusively n managing risk, but in doing so, we are stifling credit and threatening the nation’s economic recovery. It is time to strike a better balance. Mark Zandi


NTSB wants stricter federal oversight of oil and other hazardous railroad cargo

Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The first would require more careful route planning by railroads carrying hazardous materials to avoid populated and other sensitive areas. The second would establish an audit program to ensure that rail companies transporting petroleum are prepared to handle worst-case accidents. The third would ensure that hazardous materials are properly classified and that rail carriers have adequate safety and security plans in place. “If unit trains of flammable liquids are going to be part of our nation’s energy future, we need to make sure the hazardous materials classification is accurate, the route is well planned and the tank cars are as robust as possible,” Hersman said. Accidents involving flammable liquids that the NTSB has investigated include a Dec. 30 derailment in Casselton, N.D., and a June 2009 derailment in Cherry Valley, Ill. After the 2009 accident, the NTSB issued several safety recommendations to PHMSA that included making tank cars more puncture-resistant and requiring that bottom outlet valves remain closed during accidents. The DOT is considering rules to improve construction standards for rail cars. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx met with rail and oil company executives this month in an effort to lay the groundwork. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, speaking Thursday in Washington at the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, endorsed additional federal scrutiny of hazardous material transport by railroads. “Freight train accidents across the United States should be more than a wake-up call,” Emanuel said. “Railroads are the backbone of our country, providing an economic lifeline to Chicago and communities across the nation. These incidents must move us to take action so we can strengthen safety standards and employ new technology to prevent future harm.” Emanuel presented several reform proposals, including levying a fee on rail lines that carry dangerous material and using it to pay for rail system enhancements. His plan won the support of several mayors, including Paul Soglin of Madison, Wis.; Sly James of Kansas City; Tom Barrett of Milwaukee; Jim Ardis of Peoria, Ill.; and Michael Nutter of Philadelphia. Former Pennsylvania governor Edward G. Rendell also weighed in. “As recent unfortunate accidents have shown, there must be a thorough review of existing rail standards and we must advocate for all opportunities to make our communities safer,” said Rendell, who formerly was mayor of Philadelphia and is heavily involved in transportation issues as co-chair of the


She wrecked on the Beltway, but what followed was worse

To ignore another human being in crisis, he points out, is not just inhuman, it goes against all mammalian behavior, which is roughly 200 million years old. Still, he says, it’s not that hit-and-run drivers lack empathy. It’s that they lack enough empathy to involve themselves in a life-altering event that is perhaps not of their making. “And for strangers ... you do less than you would for familiar people,” he says. “Empathy is biased.” You’d think hit-and-run cases, as prevalent as they are, would attract a great deal of research, so we’d know more about the mentality involved, but this isn’t so. When J. Thomas Dalby, a forensic psychologist at the University of Calgary, set out to review major studies of the field several years ago, the only one he found was from the 1940s. His findings, and that of other small studies, tell you what you might already guess: Most of these incidents happen at night or on weekends; drivers who are apprehended often have alcohol in the bloodstream; they often have a history of traffic violations. There are no clear national statistics on how often hit-and-run drivers are caught and prosecuted. “The most basic premise you can say is that these are successful criminals,” says Dalby, who co-wrote “The Psychology of Hit and Run” in the Law Enforcement Executive Forum Journal in 2008. “Even if you panic and think, just after the impact, Can I get away with this? the answer is that you probably can. These are not witnessed in a lot of cases; you’re already in the getaway car, and your foot is on the gas.” This is not a flattering thing to say about human beings, but there it is. Tiara flanked by Levi and Kimberly before prom in 2009. . (Photograph courtesy family) None of Tiara’s closest friends or family Tiara’s next known communication is an hour later, at 1:38 a.m. She is about 10 miles from her parents’ house, northbound on the Outer Loop. She was probably passing the Pennsylvania Avenue exit when she resumed the conversation she had left off earlier with Dancy, her sometimes boyfriend. Making light of his note that meeting her before midnight was too early, she texted back: “U funny.” Dancy’s phone records show him replying within seconds, asking what she meant. When she didn’t reply, he sent a follow-up message two minutes later, frustrated that they


Purple Line won’t harm two rare crustaceans, federal agency says; group prepares to sue

After reexamining the impact a Purple Line could have on springs in Chevy Chase and Rock Creek Park, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has found that the light-rail line’s construction would not harm an endangered species living nearby. The finding — outlined in a Jan. 7 letter to the Federal Transit Administration — could spark a lawsuit over Maryland’s plan to build a 16-mile Purple Line between Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. John M. Fitzgerald, an environmental lawyer, said the nonprofit Center for Sustainable Economy and some Chevy Chase residents are preparing a “notice of intent to sue.” He said a lawsuit would argue that the federal government hasn’t done enough to protect two rare, tiny crustaceans: the Hay’s Spring amphipod, which has been listed as a federally protected endangered species since 1982, and the Kenk’s amphipod, which is a candidate for federal listing. Fitzgerald said the agency’s finding — that the shrimplike creatures would be a safe distance from the project’s construction or rely on water unaffected by it — didn’t consider impacts from new development that would follow a rail line, including near downtown Bethesda and Chevy Chase Lake. Adding people to those communities would increase the likelihood of sewer overflows into local streams, he said. Replacing trees cut for the rail line and new development with asphalt also would send more rainwater rushing into streams, he said. That could undercut the stream bank that supports the one spring where the Kenk’s amphipod lives, he said. “You have to look at the overall impacts,” Fitzgerald said. “You have to plan, not just hope, for the recovery of these species.” Concerns about the little-known crustaceans surfaced in November, after Fitzgerald and other environmental activists said the Maryland Transit Administration had erred in leaving the two amphipods out of the Purple Line’s final environmental analysis. Fitzgerald said the animals are significant because they survive only in particularly clean and cool water, signaling the quality of the groundwater springs that feed Rock Creek. Some Purple Line advocates have questioned the focus on an endangered species as an attempt to block or delay the project. They say the localized impacts of a transitway’s construction would pale in comparison to its overall environmental benefits, such as curbing traffic growth and focusing new development around rail stations. In the letter, the Fish and Wildlife Service said the closest Hay’s Spring amphipod habitat in