Austrians Appear to Reject Changes to Conscript Army

Abstract: BERLIN — Austria may have few enemies and no wars to fight, but a majority of its citizens believe that their country is better served by a military filled with conscripts, instead of a smaller, more mobile professional force, according to the initial results of a referendum held Sunday. Nearly 60 percent of voters rejected any change to the traditional system of compulsory military service for all 18-year-old men, according to initial results released Sunday by Austria’s Interior Ministry. The strongest support for the conscription system came from outside of the capital, Vienna, in the country’s rural states, where memories of soldiers shoveling snow in villages buried by an avalanche or heaving sandbags to protect towns from rising rivers appeared to have influenced voters. Opponents of a move to a professional force had also argued that scrapping conscription would rob the country’s social services agencies of thousands of conscientious objectors who carry out a variety of low-paying jobs that would otherwise be difficult to fill, including work done by ambulance drivers and caregivers for the elderly. Proponents of the shift had sought to persuade Austrians that it was time to update their military to bring it into line with most of the country’s partners in the European Union, where 21 nations have moved to a smaller, more streamlined professional force. Germany began phasing out its conscription system in 2011, following a trend set by France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. Chancellor Werner Faymann’s Social Democratic Party had proposed moving to a force of 8,500 career soldiers and 9,300 militia members. The proposal also called for reducing the budget for military hardware deemed useless in countering security threats related to terrorism and cyberattacks more than two decades after the end of the cold war. The outcome of Sunday’s vote is not politically binding, but Austria’s politicians said they would honor it, regardless of which way the people decided. The debate leading up to the vote was viewed by many as a precursor to national parliamentary elections that are to be held in September, because it pitted the two main political parties currently joined in an uneasy governing coalition — the Social Democratic Party and the People’s Party — against each other. If the preliminary results showing 59.8 percent in favor of maintaining conscription are upheld, it would bode well for the center-right People’s Party, which favored maintaining the 35,000-member conscription military as the best way to ensure neutral Austria’s security. The Social Democrats had argued that it was time to transform the country’s military into a professional force and suggested that a well-paid professional army and a separate civil service would end up costing taxpayers less. But their proposal drew the support of only 40.2 percent of the three million voters who turned out Sunday, according to the preliminary figures. Mr. Faymann told reporters in Vienna on Sunday that he accepted the decision and would have his defense minister, Norbert Darabos, draw up a proposal to improve and update the current system. “Nobody stands above the sovereign decision of the people,” Mr. Faymann said.

Austria
Military
Voting
Military Recruiting and Draft


19-Year-Old Accused of Trying to Blow Up Dallas Building

Abstract: DALLAS (AP) — A 19-year-old Jordanian was arrested Thursday on charges that he plotted to bomb a skyscraper in Dallas, federal officials said. A statement from the United States attorney’s office in Dallas said the Jordanian, Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, was arrested after putting what he thought was a bomb at the 60-story Fountain Place office tower. The device had been given to him by an undercover F.B.I. agent. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had been monitoring the man, who lived in Italy, Tex. He is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Court documents do not list a defense lawyer. Federal officials said the case had no connection with the terrorism investigation under way in Colorado and New York or the arrest Wednesday in Springfield, Ill., of Michael C. Finton, 29, who was accused of trying to detonate what he thought was a bomb at a federal courthouse.

Federal Bureau of Investigation
Dallas (Tex)
Bombs and Explosives
Smadi Hosam Maher Husein


O’Driscoll Helps Position Irish to Win Six Nations

Abstract: LONDON — Any of three teams can take 2014 European Six Nations championship as it goes into its final round next week, but history favors England. England, Ireland and France each has three victories. Ireland has a huge advantage on the points difference tie-breaker and will play last. But that match is in Paris, where it has won only once in the last 42 years. England plays earlier, in Rome against Italy, which has yet to beat it in 14 Six Nations meetings. France, well behind on points difference, needs England to fail if it is to go into the final match as a contender. On Sunday, England claimed this year’s first silverware, its first Triple Crown since its World Cup-winning year of 2003, when it added the 29-18 defeat of reigning champion Wales at Twickenham to its earlier victories over Scotland and Ireland. England richly deserved a victory in which traditional national styles were inverted. England played all the imaginative rugby while Wales was lumbering, flat-footed and slow-witted. The two team inside-centres epitomized the difference. England plays Billy Twelvetrees as a midfield playmaker and was rewarded for its faith in his footballing skills when he slid a superbly angled kick for his centre partner Luther Burrell to score its second try just before halftime. Wales gives the position to a big man, Jamie Roberts. Shortly after the break he found himself in an identical position, but scuffed his kick and the chance was lost. England had taken a lead it never lost inside five minutes when lively scrum-half Danny Care caught Wales asleep and crossed for a try. Wales kicked endlessly and fruitlessly, making England fullback Mike Brown look an even better player than usual. It kept in touch with a series of penalties by its own fullback Leigh Halfpenny, who landed six in all, but never threatened to score a try. England’s Owen Farrell matched Halfpenny kick for kick and totaled 19 points. “Credit to England, who deserved to win the game,” said the Wales coach Warren Gatland. “They played pretty well.” “We’ve got better as a team in a year,” said England lock forward Courtney Lawes, chosen as Man of the Match, “It has been a long time coming to play like that.” “Our intent to play got its reward,” said the England coach Stuart Lancaster. “Once Wales had to chase the game, people felt comfortable.” England, though, may struggle for neutral support on that final day. An Irish title would be a fitting conclusion to the international career of iconic Irish centre Brian O’Driscoll, who played brilliantly in his final home test — also his 140th, the most by any player in rugby history — as Ireland beat Italy, 46-7, in Dublin on Saturday. “It feels pretty silly that you get Man of the Match for 60 minutes,” O’Driscoll said, suggesting that on “any other day” the award would have gone to flyhalf Jonny Sexton for scoring two tries. O’Driscoll is right that Irish success over the last 15 years is not because of him alone. He has been surrounded by some exceptional players. But there have also been days on which his genius has been Ireland’s game-breaker, and Saturday was one of them. “He is always aware of where other people and where the space is,” said Philip Matthews, a former Irish international commentating for the BBC. That awareness, combined with his sublime handling, created three of the four tries scored by Ireland during the hour when he was on the field. He gave the passes for Ireland’s two first-half tries, the first a sublime no-look flick as Sexton looped behind for a return pass, the second a defense-stretching throw to the wing Andrew Trimble that gave the Irish a 17-7 halftime lead. Try three was a short-range dart by prop Cian Healy, but Sexton’s second was another that owed everything to O’Driscoll, as his quick, fast pass stretched Italian cover to the breaking point. The rest — scores by the replacements Sean Cronin, Fergus McFadden and Jack McGrath — was evidence of Ireland’s remorseless determination to ensure that whatever else may thwart its title ambitions, points difference will not. “I feel humbled by the reaction today. I have loved my time playing in this jersey,” the 35-year-old O’Driscoll said. “It has to come to an end at some stage, and I am happy to go out with a big win.” “I feel we have the capability to win there, of course, more so now than many of the other times we’ve gone over there, but we realize just how tough a challenge it is,” O’Driscoll told journalists. “We’re the last team to play and we’ll know what we need to do.” Ireland’s task, though, was made a little tougher when France joined it on three victories by beating Scotland, 19-17, at Murrayfield. France looks little more convincing than when it finished last in 2013, but there is one vital difference — it is winning the close ones. “We are gutted, absolutely gutted,” said the Scotland interim head coach Scott Johnson. “But this is part of the growing pains,” he added. “We all get frustrated about a game we should have won.” Scotland scored two first-half tries through its outstanding full-back Stuart Hogg and wing Tommy Seymour and led, 14-9, at the break. Had it converted a two-man overlap five minutes after halftime, Scotland must have won. Instead, the French wing Yoann Huget intercepted to run 80 meters for a momentum-shifting score. The Scots also gave away numerous penalties, the last of which was kicked by the French replacement scrumhalf Jean-Marc Doussain to steal the victory. “We’ll take the win,” said the France coach Philippe Saint-André. “But we can’t say it was our best win. We’re smiling because we have three wins.”


Harry Reid Compliments Mitch McConnell’s ‘Fool’s Errand’ Over Merrick Garland

Abstract: Senator Harry Reid and Senator Mitch McConnell often have unkind things to say about each other’s Senate leadership skills. But Mr. Reid, the Democratic minority leader from Nevada, says he is becoming increasingly impressed by Mr. McConnell’s skills of persuasion as the majority leader. Sort of impressed, anyway. In an interview, Mr. Reid said he doubted he could have ever persuaded his fellow Democrats to go on a “fool’s errand” such as stonewalling the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Merrick B. Garland , refusing to schedule hearings and in multiple cases deciding against even a courtesy meeting with the nominee. “If anybody can get his senators to all agree to go over a cliff and kill themselves, that’s pretty good,” Mr. Reid said in his deadpan manner. “Boy, I will tell you that guy has a lot more sway with his caucus than I ever had. If I ever suggested something as absurd and bizarre as that to my caucus, they would revote and kick the hell out of me out of the caucus. I mean, really.” Mr. Reid added that he believed the Republican refusal to take up the Garland nomination has already put Democratic contenders ahead in some Senate races. Mr. McConnell, in his new book , “The Long Game,” did acknowledge that Mr. Reid can be “thoughtful, friendly and funny.” “But as soon as the cameras turn on or he’s offered a microphone,” Mr. McConnell wrote, “he becomes bombastic and unreasonable, spouting things that are both nasty and often untrue, forcing him to later apologize.” But it is doubtful that Mr. Reid will want to apologize in this case for complimenting Mr. McConnell’s abilities. Sort of.

Harry Reid
Mitch McConnell
Senate
US Politics
Congress


Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods Lose in Turkey

Abstract: Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods lost their opening round-robin matches at the eight-player World Golf Finals in Belek, Turkey. McIlroy lost to Matt Kuchar by six shots, and Woods fell to Charl Schwartzel by one. In the other group, Lee Westwood beat Webb Simpson by one shot and Justin Rose beat Hunter Mahan by four.


The ’30s Offer Lessons on Economic Hardball to Today’s Baseball Teams

Abstract: In the depths of the Depression, Ray Robinson remembers with wonder, he would go to Yankee Stadium to see his heroes Lou Gehrig and Herb Pennock. He can also recall trips to the Polo Grounds with a family friend, a bootlegger who knew Giants Manager John J. McGraw and would often score box seats. But when the games ended and he and the rest of the crowds filed out of those parks, they were confronted once again with the despair around them. “Like many other recreational activities, people did go to the ballpark to get away from the economic horrors of empty wallets and ice boxes,” said Robinson, 88, a writer and lifelong resident of Manhattan . “I was very aware of the guys selling apples on street corners for a nickel. Along the Hudson River, you had some of these guys living in ramshackle huts in rags. So going to the ballpark was a big thing.” Despite the immense popularity of baseball in the 1920s, the 16 teams that made up the major leagues then were not insulated from hard times. Attendance plummeted 40 percent from 1930 to 1933 and did not return to pre-Depression levels until after World War II, when millions of soldiers returned. Players’ salaries fell by 25 percent on average, yet nearly every team, including the wealthy Yankees , lost money for at least a year or two in the decade. “Economically, it was a very tough decade for baseball,” said Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College . As Americans grapple with what could be the worst economic downturn since the 1930s, many are asking whether major league baseball, and professional sports more broadly, will prove impervious to the grim realities of the economic cycle, or will suffer as teams did then. Optimists point to the shallow dips in attendance in past recessions, guaranteed television contracts, lucrative sponsorship deals and new luxury boxes in modern stadiums. These revenue streams were largely unavailable to owners in the 1930s and have helped modern teams diversify and bolster their incomes. Optimists also point to the large free-agent contracts signed by C. C. Sabathia , A. J. Burnett, Mark Teixeira and Francisco Rodríguez this winter — evidence, they say, that shows that at least the strong teams have the wherewithal to withstand a severe slowdown. But Zimbalist and others who have studied the history of the game said the last few recessions were mild enough that even the weakest teams got by. This slump, he said, is more analogous to the economic chaos of the 1930s, and historians should look to that era for hints on how teams will hold up in the coming years. Clearly, times were tough, though the owners were slow to recognize what was to come. The stock market crashed in October 1929, but baseball enjoyed record attendance the next year, with more than 10 million fans passing through the turnstiles. At their winter meetings after the 1930 season, the owners made no significant changes or concessions. The National League owners, however, did take the time to note that 5,145 dozen baseballs were used that year, a 10 percent increase, which disturbed their thrifty impulses. As the 1931 season dawned, Frank J. Navin, the acting American League president and the owner of the Detroit Tigers , saw no sign of the impending collapse. “Former business depressions have not hurt baseball,” he told The Associated Press, “and I do not think the present depression will materially affect attendance this year.” But the hard times did arrive, and quickly. Attendance fell 16 percent in 1931, driven not just by rising unemployment but also a decision by the owners to dampen the scoring boom by changing the rules for what constituted a home run and tinkering with the composition of Spalding’s baseballs. Attendance fell in 1932, when a 10 percent federal amusement tax was added to ticket prices, and again in 1933, when bank holidays left many Americans short of cash. President Herbert Hoover, an avid baseball fan, was lustily booed at games he attended. The hapless St. Louis Browns drew fewer than 100,000 fans for several seasons in the decade. On opening day in 1933, half the 40,000 fans at Yankee Stadium sat in the bleachers, where tickets were 50 cents, according to Charles C. Alexander, author of “Breaking the Slump: Baseball in the Depression Era,” which was published in 2002. Many teams, strong and weak ones alike, kept costs down by reducing the number of coaches, or by eliminating them and employing player-managers. Owners opted for 23-man rosters, down from 25. Even the best players — Babe Ruth among them — took pay cuts. Connie Mack sold many of the stars from the pennant-winning Philadelphia Athletics teams of 1929, 1930 and 1931. Only the two pennant-winning teams — the Chicago Cubs and the Yankees — made money in 1932. In 1933, only the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies finished the season in the black. The Brooklyn Dodgers , which had gone deep into debt to expand Ebbets Field, received turn-off notices from the power company at its offices on Montague Street, according to Bob McGee, who wrote “The Greatest Ballpark Ever: Ebbets Field and the Story of the Brooklyn Dodgers,” which was published in 2005. Some weaker teams survived partly because they received a share of the gate when they played against popular teams like the Yankees, the Cubs and the Giants. Despite the need for new sources of revenue, many of baseball’s hidebound owners continued to resist allowing live radio broadcasts of their games, fearing fewer fans would attend in person. This attitude persisted even though radio had helped generate interest in, as well as money for, minor league teams. “They finally came to the conclusion that, depression notwithstanding, they would do nothing drastic in the way of retrenchments that would seriously affect baseball’s time-honored customers or, as one owner expressed it, ‘cheapen’ the game,” John Drebinger of The New York Times wrote of the 1932 winter meetings. Some owners, it seemed, lived in another world. Navin, the owner of the Tigers, bought a racehorse in 1931 even though his players were reportedly having their meal money reduced. Others focused on yachting. Whatever the predilections of the owners, baseball’s fans, even those not attending games in person, took solace in the game. Pepper Martin, an outfielder on the 1931 St. Louis Cardinals championship team, became a folk hero for his scrappy play in the World Series. Ruth added to his voluminous legend when he hit a home run at Wrigley Field in the 1932 World Series that, legend has it, he predicted in advance. Dizzy Dean and his younger brother, Paul, were among the most chronicled players in 1934, as much for their down-home flamboyance as for their feats on the field. “The times were tough for just about everybody, including the young men who tried to make their way as professional baseball players in a decade of persistently discouraging prospects in most kinds of employment,” Alexander wrote in “Breaking the Slump.” “Yet the period featured a galaxy of memorable personalities and some of the most memorable baseball ever played.” The Depression also forced teams to innovate. The Cardinals, for instance, expanded their network of minor league teams. Several teams, including the Cubs, did not charge women for admission, a promotion that East Coast teams soon copied. A few teams generated income by allowing live radio broadcasts. Taking a cue from the minor leagues, the Cincinnati Reds in 1935 became the first team to host a night game, which proved very popular with fans. The end of the blue laws in Pennsylvania also helped franchises in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh , which, until 1934, had not been able to schedule home games on Sundays. Remarkably, while thousands of banks collapsed during the Depression and millions of people lost their jobs, no major league baseball franchises folded or moved during the period (though at least two changed hands, including the Boston Red Sox ). “The teams muddled through,” said Rodney Fort, a professor of sports management at the University of Michigan . “We know from this truly historic episode that things didn’t go to hell in a handbag.”

Subprime Mortgage Crisis,2008 Financial Crisis


FIFA Plans Final Test of Vanishing Spray

Abstract: After approving a high-tech solution to goal-line controversies for use at the World Cup in Brazil, FIFA inched closer this week to a low-tech solution for a problem that usually arises farther from the goal. Next month’s Club World Cup in Morocco will be the final testing ground for the use of vanishing spray, which referees can employ to stop defensive walls from inching forward on free kicks. The method is likely to be approved for use in Brazil. The spray, which has been used in South America for several years (it was first developed and used in Brazil, then in Argentina) and is licensed from the Argentine company 9.15 Fair Play Limit, is applied by the referee. The referee paces off 10 yards and applies the spray in a straight line on the playing surface. Players in the defensive wall must stand on or behind the line. Use of the spray was first approved for widespread use by the International Football Association Board during a meeting in March 2012. After the approval, Major League Soccer embraced the use of the spray. Image Referee Carlos Vera applies some vanishing spray in front of the U.S. defensive wall during a match in the U-20 World Cup last June. Credit Gero Breloer/Associated Press “A large majority of the officials considered the spray as a useful and helpful tool,” Massimo Busacca, FIFA’s head of refereeing, said in a statement on the governing body’s website. “The spray has a clear preventive effect: The distance was always respected, so no yellow card for not respecting the distance had to be given throughout the two tournaments played so far. “After the World Club Cup in Morocco further evaluations will be made. We will review the results and discuss if the spray will be used also in future FIFA competitions.” In addition to its use in South America and in M.L.S., the spray was field-tested by FIFA during this year’s U-20 and U-17 World Cups. NOTES On Thursday, FIFA announced that it had extended its partnership of more than 40 years with Adidas until 2030. Adidas, based in Germany, will continue to supply the World Cup’s official match balls and will also continue its involvement in development programs around the world. ... Adidas will unveil the match ball, the Brazuca, for the 2014 World Cup on Dec. 3. It is now taking orders for the official ball ($160) and a miniball ($13) here .


Queens Father to Face Upgraded Charges After Infant’s Death

Abstract: A Queens man who was charged last weekend with beating his 4-month-old son will face more serious criminal charges after the infant died from his injuries on Wednesday, prosecutors said on Friday. The child, who was identified by the Queens district attorney’s office as Nevin Janduher, died after suffering skull fractures, a lack of oxygen to his brain and retinal bleeding, the authorities said. He died at Cohen Children’s Medical Center , which is part of Long Island Jewish Medical Center, where his mother works as a radiologist, the authorities said. Nevin was left alone with his father, Jagsheer Singh, 28, on Friday, Dec. 19, when Mr. Singh’s wife, Dr. Reena Malhotra, went to work at the hospital on the Queens-Nassau border, according to a criminal complaint in the case. Dr. Malhotra returned to the family’s home in Bayside early Saturday morning, and went to sleep without checking on the boy, the complaint says. A couple of hours later, around 8 a.m., Mr. Singh called 911 and woke his wife, telling her that Nevin was unresponsive and having trouble breathing. Mr. Singh said Nevin’s injuries were caused by a short fall from a changing table, while Mr. Singh was caring for him early Saturday morning, according to the complaint. Mr. Singh told the police that he prepared a bottle for Nevin around 7 a.m., and then took him into the shower after finding him covered in excrement a half-hour later. After the shower, Mr. Singh told the police, Nevin fell from a four-foot-high changing table. But a doctor at the children’s hospital determined that Nevin’s injuries, which included “multiple severe skull fractures” and a severe lack of oxygen to the brain, could not have been caused by the fall, according to the complaint. Instead, the doctor told the police, they indicated “nonaccidental inflicted trauma” to the head, according to the complaint. Mr. Singh was arraigned on Sunday in Queens Criminal Court on charges of first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. A spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney’s office said on Friday that those charges were in the process of being upgraded. A lawyer for Mr. Singh, identified by the district attorney’s office as David Guy, could not be reached for comment on Friday. Mr. Singh is due back in court on Jan. 5.

Queens
Nevin Janduher
Jagsheer Singh
Child Abuse
Babies


Ukrainians Favor Unity, Not Russia, Polls Find

Abstract: Ukrainians, including most Russian speakers, want to keep their country united with its current borders intact, but there are concerns about the government. While few Ukrainians have confidence in President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, his reputation has grown considerably at home, with more than 80 percent of Russians trusting his handling of world affairs. These are some of the results of two polls conducted by the Pew Research Center last month, after the annexation of Crimea but before recent violence in several Ukrainian cities. Ukrainians have also become more distrustful of Russia in general. Two-thirds of Ukrainians say that Russia is a bad influence on their country. In 2009, only a quarter considered its impact as a negative. The evaluation of the United States improved slightly over the same period, while the European Union was seen as about the same. Yet while Russian speakers in Ukraine are divided over the influence of Russia, they are much more negative about both the United States and the European Union. Although few in the international community acknowledge the validity of Crimea’s secession from Ukraine, Russians overwhelmingly say the government in Kiev should recognize the referendum results and allow Crimea to join Russia. As Russians feel more positive about their country and their military, they have increasingly negative views of the United States and the European Union. Only 23 percent have a favorable opinion of the United States, down from 51 percent last year. For the European Union, 39 percent of Russians have a favorable opinion, down from 63 percent last year. In addition, tensions have caused Russian views of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Obama to deteriorate, though the Ukrainian image of those leaders has stayed fairly steady over the last few years. In-person interviews were conducted in April with 1,000 Russian adults and 1,659 Ukrainian adults. The margin of error for the Ukraine poll is three percentage points; it is four percentage points for the Russian poll.

Ukraine
Russia
Polls
Pew Research Center
Crimea
Vladimir Putin


If Greece Is Shut Out of the Eurozone, It Will Sail Into Uncharted Waters

Abstract: Greece could soon find itself in the middle of a daunting economic experiment. Ever since Greece became part of the euro over a decade ago, the common European currency has been entrenched in the lives and activities of the country’s 11 million people. But as Greece’s debt crisis escalates, the chances increase that the euro may be replaced by a new, national currency. Precedents for such a transformation may not exist. Economists say they cannot think of a time when a developed country with an open economy dropped out of a shared currency and set up its own new money. “There is no modern parallel,” said Michael P. Dooley, professor of economics at University of California, Santa Cruz. “That’s one of the reasons why there is so much hesitation to do it; no one really knows what will happen.” Much has to happen before Greece reaches the point of an exit from the euro, or “Grexit.” And there is no provision in European treaties for a nation to leave the monetary union. Still, the probability that Greece will depart from the euro soared over the weekend, after the Greek government announced that it planned to hold a national referendum on the terms that Europe is offering the country in exchange for new aid. Greece’s announcement came just days before the European part of Greece’s current bailout program expires on Tuesday. Europe’s leaders have refused Greece’s request that talks be extended beyond Tuesday so that the country could hold the referendum on July 5. Complicating matters further, Greece on Tuesday faces a debt repayment of 1.6 billion euros, or $1.8 billion, to the International Monetary Fund , money the Greek government almost certainly does not have. Polls show that the Greek people favor staying in the euro, and Greece’s leaders have said they do not want to leave the common currency. Indeed, fears of the consequences of leaving the euro could help persuade Greece’s leftist government to soften its stance and, at the last minute, forge a deal with its creditors. If a deal does not happen soon, a series of events could significantly increase the likelihood of Greece tumbling out of the euro. On Sunday, the Greek debt crisis entered a new and dangerous phase. In recent months, the European Central Bank has made emergency loans available to Greece’s ailing banks, increasing the size of the support as depositors have taken euros out of the banks. Despite signs of large withdrawals over the weekend, the E.C.B. did not announce that is was approving a further increase, but instead said that it was maintaining the loans at their current total, which is thought to be around €85 billion. With the supply of euros into Greece now restricted, the country’s government acted on Sunday to stem the flow of the currency out of the banks and the country. These include the closing of banks and a cap on cash withdrawals. Cyprus imposed similar restrictions on the movement of money after its economic and banking crisis in 2013. And Cyprus managed to stay in the euro. But Cyprus was much helped by fresh financial aid from the I.M.F. and Europe. Greece cannot expect such assistance if there is no new agreement with Europe — and if it has defaulted on the big debt repayments to the I.M.F. and the E.C.B. that come due in the remainder of this year. “If this is divorce, and not a separation, then Greece must have a new currency,” said Arturo C. Porzecanski, a professor of international economics at American University. In recent decades, many countries have adopted a new currency, including nations in Latin America. Countries like Greece sacrificed some of their sovereignty to become part of the euro. But in most cases, these countries were leaving behind a weak currency for one that turned out to be stronger. If Greece set up a new drachma, the name of its pre-euro currency, it is most unlikely that it would be stronger than the euro. A new drachma might also have a hurried and chaotic birth. When, in the postwar period, countries changed their currency, it usually took many months of careful planning. Of course, Greece may have been secretly preparing for a new drachma. But even if it has, its government has not had long to lay the groundwork. Portraits From Greece as It Endures a Crisis From a small island to the capital in Athens, here is a glimpse into some of the lives of Greeks as their country struggles to repay billions in debt. “The first and most important thing to remember is that you don’t introduce a currency quickly,” said Stephen Kinsella, an economics lecturer at the University of Limerick in Ireland. “You just don’t.” Huge logistical and technical challenges could also occur. Global payments systems have to be reprogrammed to accept the new currency. And then the task of actually acquiring a new physical currency can take a few months, though Mr. Kinsella said economies have shown that they can operate for a while with a shortage of physical cash. One of the potential benefits for Greece of having its own currency is that it can keep printing it until monetary policy is loose enough to stimulate economic growth. A weaker drachma that falls in value against the euro and the dollar could also bolster Greece’s exports. And the government can pay its own bills — huge outlays like government worker wages and pensions — in the new currency. The danger, however, is that the government prints so much of the new currency that it falls too far, creates inflation and soon lacks credibility with the people. “The moment people got it, they would want to spend it,” said Guillermo Calvo, an economics professor at Columbia. “Who knows where the exchange rate will go; it could overshoot like crazy.” Greece regularly devalued its old drachma, taking it to over 300 per dollar before it was replaced by the euro in 2002, from 30 to the dollar in the 1970s. An exit from the euro could shake Greece in other significant ways. Banks might become overwhelmed with losses. This could force the government to take them over, said Raoul Ruparel, co-director of Open Europe, a think tank that focuses on European issues. A barrage of litigation could also hit Greece if it were to leave the euro. Greek companies that borrowed in euros might find it hard to pay them back if they are mainly earning a new drachma. The companies’ creditors and suppliers might refuse the new currency, and take the issue to courts in London and New York. Making matters worse, fear of the new drachma could prompt foreign companies to step back from entering into new contracts with Greek companies.

Greece
Euro
European Central Bank
EU
Euro Crisis
IMF


15 Held at Guantánamo Are Said to Quit Hunger Strike

Abstract: WASHINGTON — An American military spokesman said Sunday that 15 detainees at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, who had been listed as having gone on hunger strike had quit participating in the protest, accelerating an apparent downward trend since the start of Ramadan last week. The spokesman, Lt. Col. Samuel House, said in an e-mail that as of Sunday, 81 of the 166 prisoners were still listed as taking part in the hunger strike. That figure was down from 96 on Saturday, 102 on Friday, 104 on Thursday and 106 on Wednesday, the number at which participation in the protest had peaked and plateaued. But David Remes, a defense lawyer who represents several Guantánamo detainees in habeas corpus proceedings, expressed skepticism in an e-mail and said he wanted to talk to his clients before drawing any conclusions about what the military was reporting. “Perhaps the authorities finally made hunger striking such a horrendous experience that some men, at least, are dropping out,” Mr. Remes said. “Perhaps some men feel the hunger strike has achieved its goals by forcing Guantánamo back onto the national agenda and jump-starting the transfer process. There are still other ways to read the numbers. Until we speak with our clients, we can only speculate.” The military’s number for the subset of participants who are forced to eat a liquid nutritional supplement through gastric tubes inserted into their noses while they are strapped into restraint chairs if they refuse to eat, 45, has remained unchanged since July 2. Last week, at the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month in which Muslims fast during daylight hours, the military began moving compliant detainees who were not participating in the hunger strike back into communal living conditions, where they could pray together. The bulk of the detainees in communal conditions had been forced into individual-cell lockdown in a raid in April . The drop in hunger strike participants began soon afterward. On Friday, the military said that 99 of the 102 detainees then tracked as participants had voluntarily eaten a meal within the last 24 hours, and that about 100 detainees were “living in some sort of communal setting at the various camps.” The military has said that removal from hunger strike status requires “the sustained eating of solid food and caloric intake over several days.” In addition, when detainees being force-fed chose to end their hunger strikes, officials have said, doctors reintroduce regular meals at a controlled pace to avoid “refeeding syndrome,” which can be fatal when “undernourished people suddenly consume food.” “For this reason, we anticipate that numbers will fluctuate for the next several weeks, should the detainees choose to end their hunger strike,” Colonel House said Friday. The hunger strike has been going on for months. Detainees have said through their defense lawyers that it was set off by a search in February of their Korans for contraband, which the detainees found offensive. The detainees said through their lawyers that the search led to protests that swelled, leading in part to the raid in April that pushed the detainees into individual cell lockdown. Military officials say that their procedures for searching Korans were unchanged and that it has routinely done so through the years. But both sides agreed that the underlying cause of the protests was the men’s growing despair that they would never go home. Most of them have been held for more than a decade without trial, while 86 have been recommended for transfer since early 2010, if security conditions could be met. But they remain incarcerated. The prison, which President Obama has promised to close, has faded from the political agenda, and the transfer of low-level inmates has stopped since Congress imposed steep transfer restrictions in January 2011. In January, the Obama administration reassigned the State Department envoy charged with negotiating transfers and did not replace him. The hunger strike has appeared to push Guantánamo back onto the agenda in Washington. In April, Mr. Obama renewed his commitment to try to close the prison , and the State Department appointed a new envoy to handle transfers.


NRG Leaves Door Open After Rejecting Suitor

Abstract: NRG Energy , a power generator based in Princeton, N.J., said Sunday it had rejected an unsolicited takeover bid by Exelon , saying the offer “manifestly undervalues” the company. The rejection forestalls, at least for now, the creation of what would be the largest power company in the nation, amid a wave of consolidation in the industry. NRG left the door open for Exelon to raise its price and said it was “agnostic” about being a buyer or seller. Exelon, one of the largest nuclear plant operators in the United States, unveiled its all-stock offer on Oct. 12, valuing NRG at $6.2 billion. Since then, Exelon’s share price has slipped to $53.82, making the bid worth roughly $6.08 billion. NRG’s shares have risen 31 percent since Exelon made its offer public. They closed at $23.86 on Friday. In rejecting the deal, NRG said its share price was undervalued and complained that its shareholders would own only 17 percent of the combined company even as NRG’s business would contribute about 30 percent of the new entity’s cash flow. In a letter to Exelon, NRG’s chairman, Howard E. Cosgrove, and chief executive, David W. Crane, wrote: “Your proposal, while undoubtedly an exceptional deal for your shareholders, is not at all right for our shareholders.” Combining the companies would create a power-generating goliath spanning the Midwest, the Middle Atlantic, Texas and Southern California. It would have a combined generating capacity of about 47,000 megawatts. Both companies run coal-fired and nuclear power plants, as well as some fired by natural gas and oil, and they are both seeking to build nuclear power plants in Texas. Exelon has argued that the combined company would have the financial strength to build even more plants. While NRG said that its primary objection was the offer price, it also said it was concerned about the amount of debt the combined utility would be assuming. Exelon said that because of covenants on NRG’s bonds, the combined company would need to refinance $8 billion in debt. With the credit markets still tight, the new debt would probably have to be repaid with an interest rate in the double digits. Exelon has not yet secured the refinancing and has suggested that it prefers to negotiate with its bondholders. “We think the offer severely undervalues the company and, with the debt markets the way they are, it’s not easily implementable,” Mr. Crane said in an interview Sunday. “In this environment, with what’s going on with the credit markets, cash is king.”

NRG Energy Inc
Exelon Corp
Mergers Acquisitions and Divestitures
Electric Light and Power


New York’s ‘85 and Up’: Update

Abstract: The first time I met Frederick Jones, in January 2015, he had something to say about the orthopedic shoes his doctors wanted him to wear. How could he go to church in boats like those — how could he flirt, how could he strut, how could he pursue the lasting romantic connection that had eluded him for his 87 years, or at least a temporary substitute? “Maybe I can persuade some lady to come over here and live with me and let me slap on her butt once in a while,” he said. We were in his third-floor walk-up apartment in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where I would visit him for the next 12 months for a series of articles called “ 85 & Up ,” and afterward just because I missed him. Visiting him always made me happy. Video Frederick Jones had a voice like Billy Eckstine, and he would often break out into songs, like Tony Bennett’s “Because of You.” Fred Jones died on April 28 at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, after being rushed there in a state of cardiac arrest. His death came one week after that of his daughter Deidre Jones, the only one of his six children with whom he remained in close contact. He had recently turned 89. “The social worker said he died of a broken heart,” said Danielle Jones, 29, Deidre Jones’s daughter. “And it’s true.” Fred was a complicated man. He wanted to live to 110, but he continued to eat a diet rich in ice cream and Pringles, even as he lost two toes to diabetes. He was outgoing and loved to tell stories, but he was also protective of his privacy and rarely let people into his apartment, which had gone to seed as his health weakened. His conversation, often ribald, was equal parts God and sex. He could sing like Billy Eckstine. He wanted to get back to church, to go to Red Lobster, to hang out on the street and make conversation with the women who passed by. He was never again able to do any of these things. His favorite part of every day, he said, was waking up and thanking God for another day. I once asked him about the happiest time of his life. It was after a long conversation about his mother and his grandmother (the true loves of his life); about earning small tips as a teenager, during the early days of World War II in Norfolk, Va., by helping servicemen find willing women; about being the first one in his family who went to college. The happiest time of his life was “right now,” he said without hesitation. “I have health problems, but it’s been going on a long time, so it’s secondary.” he said. “But I think happiness really is what’s going on at a particular time. I used to think happiness was something that somebody brought to you. But happiness, as opposed to enjoyment, is when you are doing something and you are elated.” 85 and Up Articles in this series looked at the lives of a group of New Yorkers age 85 and older, and how they navigate life at the upper end of old age in this city. After one of the “85 & Up” articles, a reader named Jim Healy contacted Fred and became a part of his life, for which Fred never failed to give thanks. On one visit, Mr. Healy asked Fred what he would do if he found a couple hundred dollars on the street, and Fred said he would buy a suit. So they did. “He wanted a purple suit, which made it a bit complicated,” said Mr. Healy, a retired executive. But they found one, double-breasted and checked, and Fred looked great in it, and couldn’t control his smile. “You could say he died of a three-story unheated walk-up,” Mr. Healy said. There was truth to this as well. The other five subjects of the “85 & Up” series continue roughly as the last article left them, though two — John Sorensen and Ping Wong — have had some noticeable loss of memory. Jonas Mekas returned from Paris, where he contributed materials for a Velvet Underground exhibition. Fred believed in a life after this one and expected the best for himself and his older brother, whose health problems exceeded Fred’s own. “Heaven is my home, but I’m not homesick,” he said almost every time we talked. If I have the good fortune to meet Fred there, I promise to take him to Red Lobster. I owe him that much and more.

Frederick Jones
Brooklyn
NYC
Old age,elderly,senior citizens
Crown Heights Brooklyn


Student Stabs 21 People at a High School Outside Pittsburgh

Abstract: As classes began at a high school in suburban Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning, a 16-year-old student walked through the hallway stabbing and slashing students with two large knives, the authorities said. By the time the student was tackled by an assistant principal, he had stabbed 20 students and a security guard and sent students running from the school, officials said. At least four of the students had serious wounds to the abdomen and torso but were expected to survive. The suspect, Alex Hribal, was treated for cuts to his hand at a hospital before he was taken into custody. He was charged as an adult on Wednesday with four counts of attempted homicide and 21 counts of aggravated assault. Video The chief medical officer at Forbes Regional Hospital, Dr. Mark Rubino, and the Murrysville, Pa., police chief, Thomas Seefeld, provided updates after a student stabbed at least 20 at a high school. Credit Credit Evan Sanders/Tribune-Review, via Associated Press The attack at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pa., a suburb about 20 miles east of Pittsburgh, began shortly after 7 a.m., officials said. The teenager stabbed students with two knives that were 8 to 10 inches long, the police said. The police said they were investigating whether the student might have been bullied, but they said they did not have concrete evidence of it. A sophomore, Cameron Lazor, said she saw the 16-year-old student stab four students, including one teenager who was slashed in the arm as he tried to protect two classmates. The teenager had a “serious look” in his eye as he passed her in the hallway, she said. “It seemed like he was targeting some people,” she said. “But anyone who got in his way, he was hurting them too.” A friend took her hand, and they went running out of the school. In a parking lot outside, Ms. Lazor said, she saw many bloody students with injuries to the abdomen and arms. On Wednesday evening, at least four victims remained in critical condition, hospital officials said. One of the most seriously injured was a 17-year-old male student who was stabbed in the torso, just barely missing his heart, doctors at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said at a news conference. Doctors said they were hopeful that the student, who was on life support, would survive. The hospital system said it had three other patients in fair and good condition. Three other patients were in critical condition at Forbes Hospital in Pittsburgh, the trauma center closest to the high school. The three male students had abdominal wounds and were being treated in the intensive care unit, the hospital said. Three other teenagers at the hospital were in fair condition. At a news conference on Wednesday evening, Chief Thomas Seefeld of the Murrysville Police Department said the attack had lasted about five minutes. The student was confronted by a school security guard, but the guard was unable to subdue him and was stabbed in the abdomen. Image A police officer blocked the campus entrance. Credit Brian F. Henry/Tribune Review, via Associated Press At one point, a student pulled a fire alarm. Students and staff members who had been unaware of the attack then fled, which might have saved more people from being harmed. “It could have been a lot worse,” Mr. Seefeld said. An assistant principal, Sam King, eventually tackled the student, Mr. Seefeld said. Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania said there were many heroes at the school, including students, cafeteria workers and teachers who helped one another after the attacks. “As a parent and grandparent, I can think of nothing more distressing than senseless violence against children,” Governor Corbett said in a statement. Image Jenna Mickel, a sophomore at the school, and her father, Richard. Credit Gene Puskar/Associated Press Chief Seefeld said investigators were looking into reports of a threatening phone call between the 16-year-old and another student the night before. The high school will be closed for several days, said Gennaro Piraino, superintendent of Franklin Regional School District. The district will provide counseling for students. Ms. Lazor said she had known the suspect since they were children, and that they had played on a soccer team together for a decade and rode the same bus to school. She said she did not understand why the student, who was shy, would attack their classmates. “It was just a normal day,” she said. “I can’t grasp that it happened right in front of my eyes.”

Alex Hribal
Assault
Franklin Regional High School
Sam King
Murders
Murrysville PA
K-12 Education


Q. and A.: Jeremy Brown on the Cultural Revolution at the Grass Roots

Abstract: Jeremy Brown , 39, a history professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, studied in Harbin and did research in Tianjin, focusing especially on the rural-urban divide in China under Mao Zedong. Most recently, he helped edit “ Maoism at the Grassroots: Everyday Life in China’s Era of High Socialism .” In an interview, he discussed the 50th anniversary of the Cultural Revolution , what we miss in elite-focused narratives from that time and his pursuit of flea-market historiography. Q. This month is the 50th anniversary of the start of the Cultural Revolution. What are your thoughts? A. I’m not super excited about the so-called 50th anniversary. What day are we talking about? May 16? Q. That was the day that the circular was sent out on the “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.” A. Yes, but only top-level officials knew about that notice in 1966. The general public did not learn about it until a full year later. Perhaps you can make the case that for elite politics in Beijing and a few big cities, May 1966 was the key. Clearly something big was happening in 1966 in Beijing, but elsewhere there were other important events. Q. Like what? A. The Four Cleanups. This is also often called the Socialist Education Movement. It started in 1963 but really took off in 1964. Image Jeremy Brown Credit Jeremy Brown Q. Why was it so important? A. This was the aftermath of the Great Leap Famine [considered one of the worst famines in history, with around 30 million deaths]. Mao blamed the famine on bad officials in local areas who were corrupted by remnant Nationalist forces and by landlords. He said some places didn’t do land reform well and that’s why the famine happened. It’s because of impurity in local village organization — that was Mao’s rationalization. Around this time, the early 1960s, there was a resurgence of religious practices and economic activity — things that look like capitalist buying and selling of goods. Villages are making money on the side outside the socialist economic plan. So Mao declared “we can never forget class struggle” and started the Four Cleanups. It was traumatic. Outside work teams went to villages, investigated local officials and violently punished people they considered class enemies. Q. It’s not something we hear about too much. A. That’s because it was rural, and rural people don’t get to tell their stories. We should have been talking about this 50-year anniversary two years ago. Q. What’s another reason for not liking the anniversary this year? A. It was really a three-year period. The Red Guards were part of it, but there was more violence in 1968-69, when Mao sent the army and tried to restore order by setting up Revolutionary Committees. But my pessimistic expectation is the anniversary will mostly focus on Red Guard chaos narratives, and suffering of elite intellectuals. Q. Intellectuals write history. A. Intellectuals write books and their experiences do matter. But we tend to forget how the majority of people lived. Q. Who else do we need to hear about? A. We don’t hear too much about the “rebels.” They were workers in factories, not Red Guards, and they got a seat at the table when the Revolutionary Committees were set up in 1968. They ran factories and many workplaces along with the army. They were the ones who got scapegoated at the end of the Cultural Revolution. They’re not super literate or well-connected enough to get their stories out, and their stories are embarrassing to the officials who used them and survived and did well after the Cultural Revolution. They’re called “Gang of Four elements.” We don’t know much about them at all. Image Q. Your new edited volume is meant to be a corrective. You have one amazing piece by Yang Kuisong at East China Normal University on a man who was persecuted for his homosexuality. And your piece shows how people could have their “class label” changed by friends or rivals. A. One thing all the contributors found is that policies didn’t take effect simultaneously across China. Things were happening at a different timeline in villages and factories. People also didn’t understand the policies — they were confusing and contradictory — and did what made sense to them. They were reading the newspaper or listening to the broadcast and figuring out what the policy was going to be, but it didn’t translate into what happened in a village. Q. In some ways it’s surprising how things did work in the Mao era. A. We often have images of mass rallies, but many people opted out. Don’t forget, most people didn’t go. It’s interesting to think of that — most did not participate. And the economy kept going. There were no widespread famines. People still went to school in unprecedented numbers. Q. This view also calls for more nuance in describing things like the worship of Mao. A. When you look at the Mao cult and the way that people were performing rituals to the “great leader” — doing the loyalty dance, for example — they seem like absurd rituals. But it was a limited period of time. There were a few cities where the Mao cult was intense. But if you look at the whole period from the mid-60s to mid-70s, you have all sorts of people detaching themselves from politics and focusing on their work. You have a Mao picture in the workplace, and campaigns, but it’s background noise for many people. That political narrative was not first on their minds when they went about their lives. That is what we were trying to show. Sometimes you can’t get around it, like the chapter on the young fellow in Tianjin trying to avoid being sent down to a village as part of a massive social engineering project. It’s based on excerpts from the young man’s diary and reads like any teenager’s diary. He’s worried about what people think of him, what’s next in his life. Q. That chapter is by Sha Qingqing, a librarian in Shanghai. How did he get the material? A. He bought it at a flea market. Q. You get a lot of material like that, too. A. I learned it from Michael Schoenhals, a Swedish expert on the Cultural Revolution and the pioneer of what he calls “Sinological garbology.” Back when I started collecting documents in the early 2000s, there was an amazing amount of stuff you could simply buy at flea markets or online. Smaller neighborhood offices were renovating and moving, so they got rid of old files they did not need anymore — some of them found their way to the markets. These days the flow of grass-roots documents has slowed; it’s more of a trickle than a torrent.

Jeremy Brown
Cultural Revolution
China
Mao Zedong
Famine


New Role for Devils’ Weekes: Replacement

Abstract: NEWARK — The void feels so large and so empty that more than a week after the Devils learned that an elbow injury would keep Martin Brodeur out for four months, the news still has an unreal quality. It seems there could hardly be a Prudential Center without Brodeur, a mainstay in goal since 1993. His pictures grace so many of its walls, it is as if his presence alone could fill the arena with fans every game. The Devils have other injuries, too, with two key forwards and their best defenseman on injured reserve, so the player stepping into Brodeur’s void has one of the least enviable jobs in the N.H.L. Kevin Weekes has played 10 seasons for seven different teams, living through every permutation of the job — up-and-comer, surprise starter, demoted starter — before settling in as Brodeur’s backup last year. Normally, that is as low a profile job as there is in the N.H.L., playing understudy to the league’s sturdiest superstar. But when Brodeur tore a biceps tendon a week and a half ago, Weekes got what could be a new opportunity, or a ticket to more heartache, depending on how the Devils go. On Wednesday night against the Rangers , it was heartache. Facing one of his former teams, Weekes gave up four goals in the second period before being pulled from the 5-2 loss. Though two of the goals came on 5-on-3 power plays with the Devils self-destructing around him, they still stung. “It’s frustrating but at the same time, no matter how much or how little you play, there are ebbs and flows over the course of the season,” Weekes said. “For the most part, I felt pretty good. But those guys were on fire in the second period and sometimes you have to tip your hat to the guys that are shooting against you.” The Devils (7-6-2) have dropped seven of their last nine games, losing for the second time to the Rangers (12-5-2) this season and the ninth time in the last 10 regular-season meetings. The Rangers, who played without Scott Gomez (leg injury), also knocked the Devils out of the first round of the playoffs last year. In the second period, the Rangers received power-play goals from defenseman Michal Rozsival and forward Nikolai Zherdev; and Chris Drury and Lauri Korpikoski scored while the teams were at even strength. Zherdev added another goal in the third. Travis Zajac and Jamie Langenbrunner scored for the Devils. “When a team’s down and out, you want to kick them when they’re down,” Rangers defenseman Paul Mara said. “That was our goal tonight. They’re still a strong team over there. We didn’t take them lightly. The second period was about as good as we played all year.” For Weekes, it was the toughest period to swallow. He is trying to regain his rhythm as a starter after spending two seasons as a backup, first to Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who displaced him in New York, and then Brodeur. “I’ve always tried to have a good attitude every day, try to approach the game the same way, try to keep my work habit the same,” Weekes said. “Now, I’m trying to get back to playing regularly and I think it helped that I didn’t compromise on my approach to the game.” Weekes, 33, has been philosophical about the turns his career has taken, but this twist with the Devils might be the biggest shock. Brodeur, 36, had been the Devils’ rock for 15 seasons. He had not missed a significant chunk of a season since 1994-95 and had not lost any games to injury since 2005, when a sprained ankle cost him six games. He had started at least 70 games every season since 1998-99 and in recent years, with the Devils saying they wanted to get him more rest as he ages, he has played even more. Last season, he started 77 of 82 games. He was expected to easily eclipse the N.H.L. record for victories (551) this season, but he will remain stuck on 544 for a long while. Brodeur’s injury came at the worst possible time. Forwards Bobby Holik (broken finger) and Brian Rolston (ankle) are out for extended stretches, and defenseman Paul Martin is sidelined with a back injury. Holik and Rolston were the Devils’ two big off-season signings, imported in part to combat the Rangers’ recent stranglehold on this rivalry, and they have combined to play all of nine games. Weekes has started four of the five games since Brodeur’s injury, losing three. This was, by far, the worst. “It’s never fun getting nicked up like this in a game,” Weekes said. “But at the same time you have to be realistic. Every once in awhile, it’s going to happen.” He hopes for his sake, and the Devils’, that it does not keep happening, or Brodeur’s absence will loom larger.

Weekes Kevin
New Jersey Devils
New York Rangers
Hockey Ice
Brodeur Martin


Nalbandian, Ranked 117th, Wins Legg Mason Title

Abstract: David Nalbandian arrived at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington ranked 117th after missing about 12 of the past 15 months because of injuries. He needed a wild-card invitation merely to get into the field. A week later, he leaves as the hardcourt tournament’s champion and someone to watch at the United States Open . Nalbandian, of Argentina, became the first player ranked outside the top 100 to win an ATP title in 2010, using his typically strong service returns and effective baseline game to beat No. 25 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, 6-2, 7-6 (4), on Sunday in a final between two past Grand Slam finalists. “If he plays like that, he can beat a lot of guys in the top 10,” Baghdatis said. It was Nalbandian’s 11th career title, but his first on United States soil, and first anywhere in a year and a half. He had not entered a tournament since April, sidelined by a bad left hamstring. Before that, Nalbandian missed nearly 10 months starting in May 2009 because of hip surgery. Turning to his support group during the on-court trophy ceremony, Nalbandian said, ”We passed very, very tough moments during the year and a half that I was suffering my injuries and then my surgery.” He said, “We have to enjoy this moment,” then added, ”We have to keep going.” Nalbandian, the 2002 Wimbledon runner-up, is back on tour and back to giving opponents fits, particularly with his return game. He broke four of the first seven times Baghdatis served. Baghdatis had a chance to extend the match while leading, 6-5, in the second set. He held a set point at 30-40 on Nalbandian’s serve but put a forehand into the net. Nalbandian eventually held serve there, then surged to a 5-0 lead in the tie breaker. WOZNIACKI WINS DANISH OPEN Caroline Wozniacki beat Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 7-6 (5), to win the Danish Open in Copenhagen. Wozniacki, of Denmark, needed just 78 minutes to claim her eighth WTA Tour title. TITLE FOR KUZNETSOVA Svetlana Kuznetsova wasted four match points in the second set but defeated Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3 in the final of the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, Calif.

Tennis
Nalbandian David
Wozniacki Caroline


The Dollar May Tumble, but It's O.K. to Shrug

Abstract: INVESTORS have no shortage of economic and geopolitical issues to worry about. But a declining dollar may not deserve a high place on their list. Concern about the stock market fallout from a possible sharp fall in the dollar may trace back to memories of the 1987 stock market crash. Many people attributed that plunge -- the largest one-day percentage drop in United States stock market history -- to the Reagan administration's apparent willingness, and even eagerness, to let the dollar's foreign exchange value decline. Traumatic as that experience was -- and even if investors were correct in blaming the Reagan administration's monetary policies for the crash -- it is dangerous to draw any generalizations from a sample size of just one. And from a purely statistical point of view, there has been a very weak historical correlation between fluctuations in the dollar and the stock market's ups and downs. Recent research explains, at least in part, why this correlation is so weak. It was conducted by Mahesh Pritamani, a senior research analyst at the Frank Russell Company, and two finance professors at the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech: Dilip K. Shome and Vijay Singal. They presented their findings in an article in the summer 2005 issue of the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance. According to the researchers, the domestic stock market has become increasingly dominated over the years by multinational companies whose costs of operations, as well as sales, are denominated in many currencies in addition to the dollar. That means these multinational companies are largely immune to the effects of currency fluctuations, the researchers say. When one part of such a company's operations is hurt by a change in the value of the dollar, other parts benefit, leaving relatively little net effect on the bottom line. If the dollar fell in value against other major currencies, for example, the domestic sales of multinational companies based in the United States would probably suffer. That is because a declining currency is often associated with a weakening domestic economy, the researchers said. But these companies would make up for at least part of that domestic weakness by reaping higher sales overseas, because their goods and services would now be cheaper when priced in foreign currencies. The greater immunity of multinationals to currency fluctuations helps to explain several curious features of the historical record. It turns out, for example, that the correlation between the dollar and the stock market has been declining over the years. Professor Singal says he believes that a big reason for this trend is the increase in international diversification among the largest companies. In the 1970's, he said, fewer American companies enjoyed the immunity that international diversification confers. As a result, they were more vulnerable to dollar declines like the one that occurred in that decade. He suspects that the largest multinationals would be much less affected if a similar decline occurred today. The increasing diversification of big companies also explains why small-capitalization stock indexes are more correlated with fluctuations in the dollar's value than are large-cap indexes. A greater proportion of smaller companies' operations and sales are conducted within the United States, according to the researchers. And because a falling dollar is associated with a weakening domestic economy, it makes sense that those small caps are more vulnerable to a decline in the dollar. Nevertheless, the researchers emphasize that the major stock market benchmarks will be relatively unaffected by what happens to these smaller companies. That is because those benchmarks give the greatest weight to the largest companies -- the ones that tend to be most diversified internationally and therefore most immune to currency fluctuations. The 50 largest publicly traded companies in the United States, all with significant international diversification, account for 41 percent of the combined market value of the entire domestic stock market, according to the Frank Russell Company. Professor Singal acknowledges that the largest multinationals may not be completely immune to a dollar decline. If a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the United States sets off a global recession, for example, those multinationals may not be able to make up in foreign sales what they lose domestically. But even then, it would not be clear to what extent the declining dollar caused the slowdown in the United States or instead was a result of it. What, then, is the bottom line for investors? Those who try to anticipate the stock market's gyrations won't gain much insight by analyzing the dollar. And even if they know when and by how much the dollar will fall, it is unlikely that they will be significantly better at timing the stock market. STRATEGIES Mark Hulbert is editor of The Hulbert Financial Digest, a service of MarketWatch. E-mail: strategy@nytimes.com.

RESEARCH
CURRENCY
FRANK RUSSELL CO
PRITAMANI MAHESH
UNITED STATES ECONOMY
STOCKS AND BONDS
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND TRENDS


As the Knicks Say Goodbye, a Busy and Challenging Off-Season Awaits

Abstract: GREENBURGH, N.Y. — In their final defensive stand of the season, Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire planted their feet and swatted away conventional wisdom — namely, the belief that they cannot thrive together. The collected evidence against them is damning. The Knicks were ousted Wednesday in the first round of the playoffs by the Miami Heat, who dispatched them in five games. They were swept in the first round last spring by the Boston Celtics. Fifteen months after the blockbuster trade that brought Anthony to New York and united him with Stoudemire, the Knicks are still in search of greatness, or even consistency. They are 31-40 when both stars play, including a 1-7 record in the postseason. So the doubts persist. “I get tired of hearing that, man,” Anthony said Thursday, when the Knicks conducted their annual postseason exit interviews. “I get tired of hearing about, Can it work? Will it work? We’re here to play basketball. When we win, it works. When we lose, it don’t work.” Anthony insisted: “We’ll figure it out. I don’t really think it’s something that’s that difficult to figure out.” The Knicks, who went 36-30 in this compressed season, are headed for a busy and challenging off-season. They are already moving to re-sign Coach Mike Woodson, who compiled an 18-6 regular-season record after replacing Mike D’Antoni. Woodson has the enthusiastic support of his stars. A deal could be completed by next week. The Knicks also seem committed to re-signing Jeremy Lin , their young point guard sensation, who will be a restricted free agent. Woodson practically guaranteed it. “Will he back next year? Absolutely,” Woodson said. “He’s a big part of our ball club.” Woodson was less definitive about Lin returning as a starter, saying, “Only time will tell.” Lin, who revived the Knicks’ season in February and became an international star, said he wanted to return to the team that gave him his N.B.A. break. “I think it’d be great if I could come back,” Lin said, “but crazy things happen.” The Knicks will have to use their midlevel exception, worth $5 million, to retain Lin (salary-cap rules will prevent rivals from offering more). Yet once they do, the Knicks will have little flexibility to sign players for anything more than the minimum. And they are almost certain to encounter a new rule that effectively imposes a hard payroll cap at $74 million. Salary-cap constraints could prevent the Knicks from retaining their other top free agents, most notably Landry Fields, Steve Novak and J. R. Smith (if he opts out of his contract). Fields has the best chance of staying, as a restricted free agent with “ Early Bird Rights .” Smith is widely expected to opt out of his $2.5 million deal, although he said he is undecided. The Knicks will be unable to match any richer offers. Then there is Novak, who is heading for his first big payday after leading the league in 3-point shooting. Novak is unrestricted, with no Bird rights. Assuming the Knicks use the midlevel exception for Lin, they will be left only with the biannual exception, worth $1.96 million, which might not be enough. “All I know is how much I’ve enjoyed playing here and how much I would love to be back,” said Novak, a fan favorite. The various cap restrictions will make it nearly impossible to sign an impact player, such as Steve Nash or Jason Kidd, unless he accepts a minimum salary. Or the Knicks would have to cut loose Lin, to keep their midlevel exception. As much as any personnel move, the need to blend the talents of Anthony and Stoudemire will dominate the Knicks’ agenda in the months to come. They are the franchise’s two highest-paid players — earning a combined $39.4 million next season — and their two best scorers. They are under contract for three more seasons, so the Knicks’ championship hopes are dependent on their partnership blossoming. “It definitely can work,” said Stoudemire, who contends the Knicks simply need time and stability. Indeed, the Knicks have had little of either commodity since Anthony and Stoudemire became teammates. The trade for Anthony came with 28 games left in the 2010-11 season. The lockout wiped out most of the 2011-12 preseason and shortened training camps. Injuries have limited their playing time together. And Anthony’s rejection of D’Antoni’s system forced the Knicks to essentially start over in mid-March, with a new coach and a new philosophy. “It’s just a matter of us having a consistent year,” Stoudemire said, adding, “We can’t point the finger at Carmelo and myself for not coexisting, because it’s been an up-and-down year since we’ve both been here. It’s a matter of time.” In the optimist’s view — one espoused by Anthony, Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler and Woodson — all the Knicks need is a full training camp and good health. With a little stability, they expect to contend with Miami and Chicago for Eastern Conference supremacy. “I don’t think it’s that big of a gap,” Chandler said. “We’re very explosive. We just need some fine-tuning.” With Lin or another skilled point guard at the helm, perhaps everything would fall into place. There is also a view that it is up to Anthony and Stoudemire, as the franchise stars, to broaden their games and become better playmakers. Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith all made that point emphatically on TNT’s postgame show Thursday. “Carmelo and Amar’e have to learn how to do other things,” Barkley said. “They only know how to help their team scoring-wise.” Smith added, “They can become better passers and make better decisions.” Anthony shrugged off the criticism. “I don’t really care about what them guys say,” he said. “I know what I have to do.” Asked what he needs to improve, Anthony said: “I can’t really say right now. I have time to reflect this off-season.”

Basketball
Anthony Carmelo
Stoudemire Amar'e
Lin Jeremy
New York Knicks
Woodson Mike


America and the ‘Fun’ Generation

Abstract: CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS — From the first years of the American republic, a quiet battle has simmered over the words that denote the nation’s soul. And now a count can declare the victors: “achievement” and “fun.” From the 1810s to the 2000s, the frequency of “achievement” in written American English grew elevenfold, according to a search of the Corpus of Historical American English, a database of 107,000 newspapers, magazines, novels, plays and film scripts. In the same period, the frequency of “fun” multiplied by more than eight times. Meanwhile, another pair of words met an opposite fate. As talk of “achievement” soared over two centuries, the term “excellence” dropped out of favor, also elevenfold. As “fun” gained influence, mentions of “pleasure” fell by a factor of four. In the history of language, words rise and fall. We make and remake them; they make and remake us. The story of a word is as complex as a hurricane. It is difficult to know for sure how it catches on, meets new needs, acquires new valences. It is impossible to blame the decline of one word on the rise of another. But in the destinies of these two pairs of words is a suggestion of a turning in American culture, and one that has influenced the world. It is a turning away from an arguably aristocratic idea of the intrinsic worth of things: from pleasure, with its sense of an internal condition of mind, to fun, so closely affiliated with outward activities; from excellence, an inner trait whose attainment is its own reward, to achievement, which comes through slogging and recognition. Merriam-Webster defines “pleasure” as “a state of gratification,” while fun is “what provides amusement or enjoyment; specifically, playful, often boisterous, speech or action.” It defines “excellence” as “the quality of being excellent,” which in turn means “very good of its kind: eminently good.” “Achievement,” meanwhile, is “a result gained by effort.” The arc of American usage from “pleasure” to “fun” can be traced in the corpus’s database. In an 1812 play, John Blake White wrote, “Wherefore wealth, if not to purchase pleasure? Wherefore health, if not to taste, when pleasure holds the cup and bids us drink.” By 2009, this line from the novelist Hyatt Bass was more typical: “Come on. Don’t you think it’s fun to have a bottle of wine that was released the same month you got engaged?” “Pleasure” carries a hint of the sublime; it speaks of a state of mind that comes organically, that need not be artificially induced. “Fun,” though almost synonymous with “pleasure” for contemporary speakers, often involves artificial inducement. You don’t feel fun; you do a fun thing. And fun has no hint of elitism, whereas pleasure vaguely does. Gushing waterfalls provide pleasure; games of paintball, in which friends playfully (and sometimes painfully) shoot one another with pellets of paint, provide fun. A long, gabby dinner party may well be a “pleasure”; a crowded, sweat-laced night at the six-deep bar is more likely to be termed “fun.” If “pleasure” comes from being and from talking through ideas, “fun” comes from doing and, often, switching off the brain. The change perhaps partly accounts for the American insistence on activities for all occasions, rather than trusting pleasure to develop on its own. Rare is the American corporate retreat or after-Thanksgiving party that does not involve a skit or contest or session of Nintendo Wii. Where others might eat, drink and talk, Americans often create themes and talent shows. In “Eat, Pray, Love,” the best-selling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert, she describes discovering the Italian idea of pleasure as if it were a buried city: “During my first few weeks in Italy, all my Protestant synapses were zinging in distress, looking for a task. I wanted to take on pleasure like a homework assignment.” She concludes that “Americans have an inability to relax into sheer pleasure. Ours is an entertainment-seeking nation, but not necessarily a pleasure-seeking one.” Italians, on the other hand, have mastered “bel far niente,” the beauty of doing nothing, Ms. Gilbert writes. Then there is the arc from “excellence” to “achievement.” Consider this sentence, from an 1813 poem: “would she thus a moral teach; / That man should see, but never reach, / The height of excellence, and show / The vanity of works below?” And this one, from a 2005 biography: “the young man pursues his dream while others scoff, he undertakes a lonely journey from the country to the city in search of fulfillment, overcomes obstacles with a combination of pluck, determination, and talent, and finally rises to heights of achievement and prosperity.” “Excellence” evokes Aristotle with its overtones of virtue. Anyone can achieve, in garbage collection or neurosurgery, but how many can truly be excellent? “The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your powers along lines of excellence,” President John F. Kennedy once said. “Achievement” is a word more likely to come from American leaders today, and, like “fun,” it is outward in nature. It comes in doing specific things. It is more about checking boxes than fulfilling inner potentialities. The achievement culture permeates life today. From elementary-school testing to the incessant pressure to overschedule as a university student, educational culture emphasizes the racking up of achievements over intellectual crackle. Wall Street stumbled in part because so many chased achiever bonuses while neglecting the pursuit of excellence in their vocation. An American culture of instantaneous celebrity teaches young people that fame is an end in itself rather than an incidental symptom of excellence in craft. The world in which “pleasure” and “excellence” roared was less equitable than our world today. It shut out vast categories of humankind. In the intervening years, those exclusions dwindled; the world opened up for so many, not least in the United States. But with that change has come another: what would seem to be a growing intolerance for merely being, and an anguished insistence on doing, doing, doing. Join an online conversation at http://anand.ly

United States
English Language
Dictionaries
Culture (Arts)


South Carolina: Alvin Greene Tries Again

Abstract: Alvin Greene , the unemployed Army veteran who suggested during his failed bid for the United States Senate this year that making action figures of himself would help create jobs, is running for office again. Mr. Greene paid the $165 filing fee on Friday to run in a special election for a South Carolina House seat made vacant by the death this month of Representative Cathy B. Harvin, a Democrat. Cal Land, the chairman of the Clarendon County Democratic Party, said Mr. Greene entered the race five minutes after the filing period opened. A primary will be held Feb. 15, with the special election set for April 5. Mr. Greene said Monday that he would wait to see who else filed before commenting on the race. He was handily defeated in November by Senator Jim DeMint . Mr. Greene was indicted in August on obscenity charges from last November and is free on $5,000 bail.

Greene Alvin
DeMint Jim
House of Representatives
United States Politics and Government


Getting Advice, From a Board or Otherwise

Abstract: For some small-business owners, the idea of having a trusted set of outside advisers is as integral as the business plan. Others recognize the need for outside advice only much later. How formal that relationship has to be, and what kind of people entrepreneurs should be calling on for help, is the subject of the discussion here. DIRECTORS OR ADVISERS? Do you need a formal board, or just a handful of smart people willing to take your phone calls? Inc. magazine answers both questions. In making the case for directors , it says, “If you can spare the time and the expense of the reporting requirements that accompany a statutory board of directors, then you might consider establishing a directorate.” Since there is a legal commitment, the magazine says, directors feel a deeper sense of responsibility and will respond far faster in an emergency. On the other hand, the magazine says, you can get 80 to 90 percent of the benefit of a formal board just by having a group of trusted people to draw on. Knowing that they cannot be held legally liable for what they say may make them more willing to respond candidly to questions. BOARDS 101 Smallbusinessnotes.com provides a primer on what a board is supposed to do. It says that directors “monitor a company’s financial performance and the success of its products, services and strategy.” Shareholders of WorldCom, Enron and some of the nation’s large banks may wish those companies had paid more attention to that definition. BOARDS 102 Jeff Wuorio, a small-business writer, deals with the more detailed issues involved in setting up a board on the small-business section of Microsoft.com . For example, once you have a board in place, he writes, you will need to deal with how it will function. Will there be company audits? Will the board help raise capital? How often will it meet? How long should a board member serve and what do you pay them? That last could be more expensive than most entrepreneurs expect. “Even relatively small companies which ask a fair amount of their board members can expect to pay upwards of $30,000 a year per member.” DIRECTOR CHECKLIST Writing on NFIB.com , the Web site of the National Federation of Independent Business, which bills itself as “the voice of small business,” Steve Strauss outlines what small-business owners should look for in a director. Mr. Strauss, a small-business columnist, says entrepreneurs need people who have these characteristics: ¶They are complementary. “Most entrepreneurs are strong in a few areas and weak in others. You may be a good leader who is a marketing whiz, but needs help with finance and operations. Look for board members who complement your skill set.” ¶They are seasoned. “Ideally, a good board member will be an experienced businessperson who understands and appreciates the entrepreneurial process. You should also look for board members who have contacts with investors, possible joint venture partners or potential customers.” ¶They add value. You don’t want people who will rubber-stamp everything you say. ¶They see the big picture. “Entrepreneurs often get lost in the day-to-day experience of running their businesses” and need board members who have a different, bigger perspective. LAST CALL Traditionally, most advice to entrepreneurs is couched in positive terms: “Try to collect your receivables as soon as possible,” “Hire people smarter than you,” that sort of thing. Jeffrey D. Zbar, the “chief home officer” of chiefhomeofficer.com , a Web site for people who work at home, shows that negative advice can be effective as well. Here are a couple of things he says you should never say to a customer: “Get lost, you lousy, cheapskate weasel” and “What, you don’t like the dog barking and SpongeBob cackling and iTunes playing the Red Hot Chili Peppers in the background? This ain’t no cubicle farm, you know.” He considered and ultimately rejected our favorite: a promise that if the customers didn’t cease their bothersome behavior, he would “send their e-mail address to my dear friends and lonely souls — those deposed Nigerian oil ministers looking for someone, anyone, to deposit $10.5 million into their bank account.”

Boards of Directors
Small Business
Entrepreneurship
Computers and the Internet


Learning to Surf in Queens

Abstract: When my 8-year-old daughter, Paulina, announced she wanted to learn to surf this summer, I thought, “Sorry, kid.” Short of moving to Hawaii or Southern California, I figured that was one dream that would fall by the wayside. Then I started surfing the Internet and came across a surf camp in the Rockaways. I knew people surfed in the Rockaways; I just figured they were all hard-core, wet-suited hipsters. But kids? Though no one we knew had ever gone, we signed up for surf camp for the first week of July and hoped for the best. After an hour of instruction Paulina and nine other city kids were standing, catching waves, as their parents watched, jaws wide open. “I figured they’d get up later in the week,” said Heidi Meier, mother of Victoria, 10, and Leah, 6, who live in the Rockaways. “But I was shocked. My kids are now surfers.” By Day 2 the campers were knee deep in surfing lingo, peppering their speech with “gnarly” and giving each other the shaka sign. For the past three years Skudin Surf, an outfit based on Long Island, has been teaching city kids to surf at Rockaway Beach, immersing them in a culture that many parents must have assumed was way out of reach. Cliff Skudin, who runs this nationally accredited school with his brother Will — both world-class, big-wave surfers — said some Rockaway parents who had taken classes out in Long Beach, on Long Island, had lobbied for a school in Queens. “When I first got out here, this beach was just full of sea gulls,” Mr. Skudin said. “Now it’s full of kids on surfboards. In New York, we forget that the ocean is right in our backyard. The beach gets overshadowed by the Statue of Liberty.” For $375 children 5 to 18 surf at the camp on Beach 67th Street from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday to Friday. They can also sign up for a single day of surfing for $90. After registering they need only show up in a swimsuit, with towel, sunscreen and a packed lunch. Boards and rash guards are provided. The campers are divided into two groups — one with yellow rash guards and the other with red — which take turns surfing in half-hour intervals. Instructors teach them how to hold onto the rails (the edges of the board), how to push themselves to a standing position and how to place their feet on the “cheat sheet” line down the middle of the board. The rest is taken care of by the ocean waves. “We give them a skill set so they have a high comfort level,” said Keith Mekeel, an instructor who has a master’s degree in education. Surfer-to-teacher ratio was a reassuring one to one on the first day of camp, then dropped to two to one as more campers signed up. More teachers were added midweek, from a seemingly endless pool of Long Beach and Rockaway surfers. “We try to keep it local and employ the surfers in Rockaway,” said Mr. Skudin, whose family has been teaching surfing for decades. Maureen Luerssen, who has been working with the Skudins in Long Beach since they started that school five years ago, spent her first day ever in Rockaway on the Fourth of July, teaching an enthusiastic group of children from Brooklyn and Queens. “It’s definitely a cool vibe,” Ms. Luerrsen said. “These kids have a little more attitude than the Long Island kids. They’re tougher.” The A train stops a few blocks away, though most parents drive their children in. For us it was 35 minutes by car from Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn. Some parents stayed on the beach and caught some sun, while others went to work. “Most parents don’t want to hang out at camp,” Mr. Mekeel said. “But this is different.” For Jeanne McLaughlin and Suzanne O’Neill, two mothers from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, signing up their sons was a chance to do some tag-team relaxing on the beach. “It’s 40 minutes to midtown,” Ms. O’Neill said. “I was able to leave and go to work for a while yesterday.” Ms. McLaughlin, her head covered in a straw cowboy hat, eyes squinting to watch her son in the surf, said the Rockaway camp was giving them both some much needed outdoor time. “You feel like you’re not sacrificing anything by raising your child in the city, until somebody catches you at one of those sprinkler parks,” she said, grimacing. The camp, she said, was also giving her son a sense of accomplishment and confidence. “He’s not the type of kid who’s going to be a football player. But he was able to get up that first time and feel like he’s really good at something.” The women’s sons, both named Jackson, were quickly dubbed the Jackson Two by the camp’s energetic staff. Between waves the instructors taught lessons on ocean safety, played beach games with the children and told scary stories — one involving a banana-chocolate sand monster who lives under the boardwalk. “They’re not only great instructors, they’re really entertaining the kids,” said Conrad Karl, who brought his 6-year-old daughter, Maya, from nearby Belle Harbor, Queens, for lessons. “They really picked the right group of people.” In April the Karls visited Hawaii, where Maya caught her first wave. As soon as they got back home, her father signed her up for lessons in Rockaway. “It’s so awesome here,” said another camp instructor, Clifton Dunn, a 24-year-old actor and surfer who moved from California to Rockaway a year and a half ago. “These kids are shredding. I’m stoked on life right now.” Every time a child caught a wave, Mr. Dunn would give a high five while the surfer was nearing the shore. “That was sick!” he would yell. “You charged it!” His only wish was that the waves were a little bigger. “But they’re totally perfect for learning,” he said. Lila Shulmister, a 9-year-old from Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, said her favorite part of camp had been that first wave she caught. “The first wave you ride,” she said, “is the best feeling ever.” Midweek campers were given T-shirts featuring a photo of the Skudin brothers surfing a 40-foot wave on the outer reef of Hawaii. “That’s a big wave,” Paulina said, looking warily down at her shirt. “Were you scared?” she asked Mr. Skudin, whose family is from Long Beach but who spent his early childhood in Hawaii. “No,” he said, “It was awesome. If you practice enough, maybe you guys can go there someday and surf big waves.” Lila, 9, nodded. “I wasn’t sure I’d be able to surf at all because not many people learn how to surf in Brooklyn,” she said. “But it’s been my dream for a very long time.” LIFE BY THE SEA SKUDIN SURF CAMPS Two locations: Rockaway Beach, at Beach 67th Street, Queens; Long Beach Boulevard, Long Beach, N.Y.; (516) 318-3993, skudinsurf.com. Last session ends on Aug. 31. WHERE TO EAT AT ROCKAWAY BEACH Blue Bottle Coffee, Caracas Arepa Bar and Steve’s Ice Cream, Rockaway Beach Boardwalk and Beach 106th Street, (718) 474-1709; Ripper’s, Rockaway Beach Boardwalk at Beach 86th Street; Rockaway Taco, Rockaway Beach Boardwalk at Beach 96th Street, (347) 213-7466, rockawaytaco.com. IF YOU GO Events, directions and a complete list of boardwalk restaurants are at rockawaybeachclub.com.

Surfing
Skudin Surf
Rockaway Beach (NYC)
Children and Childhood
Camps and Camping