BlackRock Chief Is Said to Be Meeting Over Merrill

Abstract: Laurence D. Fink, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock and the leading candidate to take over the job as head of Merrill Lynch , has met with the executive search firm responsible for filling the brokerage firm’s top seat, according to a person briefed on the discussions. Mr. Fink spent time on Monday and yesterday in meetings with executives from Spencer Stuart, the executive search firm that Merrill’s board hired last week after the forced resignation of E. Stanley O’Neal. Thomas J. Neff, chairman of Spencer Stuart U.S., is running the search, said another person briefed on the situation. A spokesman for Spencer Stuart did not return a call seeking comment. While the board is looking at other candidates, Mr. Fink has been considered the lead candidate from the start, these people say. Partly that is because of his familiarity with the firm — Merrill Lynch bought a 49 percent stake in BlackRock last year — and the fact that BlackRock, an asset management firm with roots in the fixed-income markets, has so far successfully navigated through the treacherous credit crunch that seemingly blindsided Wall Street. Mr. Fink is close to Gregory J. Fleming, who is acting chief executive of the firm and is considered an internal candidate for the job. There has been widespread speculation that if Mr. Fink took the job, Mr. Fleming would be a logical president, though it remains unclear what the board considers Mr. Fleming’s role to be in the recent credit debacle and the approach he made, at Mr. O’Neal’s request, to follow up with merger conversations with Wachovia. Merrill recently announced an $8.4 billion write-down and a $2.3 billion loss for the third quarter. Until May, when he was appointed co-president, Mr. Fleming was the co-head of global markets and investment banking. His co-head, Dow Kim, was primarily responsible for trading while Mr. Fleming focused on investment banking. As co-president, Mr. Fleming has been involved in trying to grapple with the bank’s subprime exposure. Representatives for Mr. Fink and Merrill Lynch declined to comment. Mr. Fink is certain to be concerned about Merrill’s additional exposure to subprime-related securities, estimated by some analysts to range from $4 billion to $10 billion. He would also have to work with the board to deal with his roughly $400 million stake in BlackRock — a potential conflict of interest because Merrill Lynch sells mutual funds, including BlackRock’s, through its private client business. Selling the stake or swapping it for Merrill Lynch stock would have severe tax implications, say compensation experts. Merrill’s search committee is being run by Alberto Cribiore, who is the acting nonexecutive chairman and who is now working on the 32nd floor of Merrill’s north tower. A private equity executive, he has known Mr. Fink socially and professionally for years. Merrill Lynch is not the only financial giant searching for a chief executive. Last weekend, Charles O. Prince III resigned as chief executive of Citigroup after it became clear that the banking giant would have to take an additional $8 billion to $11 billion write-down, on top of the $5.9 billion write-down the firm took in the third quarter. Both Merrill and Citigroup plowed into the business of manufacturing collateralized debt obligations, securities that were backed by supposedly pristine, top-rated collateral. In recent weeks, that collateral has been downgraded, sending institutions across Wall Street reeling, and regulators are scrutinizing how the banks are valuing their positions. One particular issue for securities regulators is why Merrill Lynch announced a $5.5 billion write-down only to increase that to $8.4 billion in the space of weeks. While the securities have diminished in value, there is a great deal of subjectivity in how they are marked and there is little confidence that Wall Street has fully taken the brunt of the pain. Mr. Fink, if he were to take the job, would be responsible for rebuilding Merrill’s risk management culture as well as soothing the tensions that Mr. O’Neal seemed to foster.

Merrill Lynch & Company Inc
Fink Laurence D
BlackRock Inc
Brokers and Brokerage Firms
Executives and Management


Serbia: Visit by Albania’s Premier Fails to Reduce Tensions

Abstract: The prime ministers of Serbia and Albania pledged Monday to put their differences aside and focus on their mutual desire to join the European Union — but the good feelings did not last until the end of their joint news conference. Relations between the nations have been tense for decades mainly over Kosovo, a former Serbian province dominated by ethnic Albanians that declared independence in 2008. Serbia has never accepted Kosovo’s independence, although more than 100 other nations have. Prime Minister Edi Rama of Albania, the first Albanian prime minister to visit Serbia in 68 years, said Serbia had to change its attitude, and he called Kosovo’s independence “a reality.” Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia reacted angrily, saying: “I did not expect this provocation. What does Albania have to do with Kosovo? Kosovo is not part of Albania and it will never be. The reality is that Kosovo is part of Serbia.” Last month, a European Championship soccer qualifying match between the two national teams was suspended in Belgrade, Serbia, after a drone carrying an Albanian nationalist flag set off clashes between players and fans.

Serbia
Albania
Edi Rama
Aleksandar Vucic


Boys and Girls High Wins First P.S.A.L. Title Since 1979

Abstract: Among the rosary beads, folded hands and fiery flames tattooed into Boys and Girls High School guard Mike Taylor’s skin are the words “Lights Out” on his left shoulder. On Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden, Taylor said they served as a reminder for him and his team in the Public School Athletic League championship game against Cardozo High. “We just wanted to put the bright lights of the Garden out of our minds and pretend we’re playing in a little gym on Fulton Street and make shots,” Taylor said. Taylor, a junior, blocked out the recent past as well. Having been to the city final three times in the last four years, the Kangaroos won, 55-50, for their first P.S.A.L. title since 1979 and made Ruth Lovelace the first female coach to win the boys title. Taylor scored 25 points and was named the most valuable player. “I think my players are crying because I am,” said Lovelace, who is in her 16th season at her alma mater. “They’ve never seen me like this.” Taylor’s game-changing performances became familiar during the playoff run. Formerly a spot-up shooter, Taylor, a soft-spoken guard from Bushwick, expanded his game, penetrating into the lane seven times against the Judges and getting to the free-throw line 13 times to complement his three 3-pointers. When the Kangaroos needed baskets, the junior Leroy Isler barked at Taylor during a timeout: “Get open! Get open!” There was a time when Taylor would shoot every time the ball was passed to him. Point guard Antione Slaughter said he disliked Taylor when the two first entered the school three years ago. In Slaughter’s eyes, all Taylor did was shoot, and Slaughter chafed at playing with him. Things changed as they found ways to feed each other’s strong points. “We knew all along what work Mike is putting in behind the scenes,” the assistant coach Elmer Anderson said. “He’s accepted teaching.” Taylor, a top recruit being sought by several Big East programs, is just the latest link in the Boys and Girls lineage. In the final minutes, the volunteer assistant Gene Carroll, who worked at the school for 12 years under Frank Mickens, the coach who won the title in 1979, interlocked his arms with players and said he could hear Mickens, who died last summer. Carroll said that Mickens had told him to make sure the players played defense and got in the lane, adding that Mickens “would have been proud of Mike Taylor today.” The Murry Bergtraum girls extended their championship run earlier Saturday. After overcoming a sloppy start, the Lady Blazers raised their defensive intensity, pushed the pace and made clutch 3-pointers to beat John F. Kennedy, 58-37, in the P.S.A.L. title game. It was Bergtraum’s 12th straight Class AA title. “The P.S.A.L., the Catholic League and the referees all want us to lose,” Bergtraum Coach Ed Grezinsky said. “To finish this off is satisfying for all of us.” Leading at the half, 22-20, Grezinsky’s gritty group rode Doris Ortega’s 19 points and Shukurah Washington’s 19 rebounds — 8 on offense — to break open the game in the third quarter. Grezinsky said his teams typically need no more motivation than when he points to the past city title banners hanging in the school’s gym. “I tell each team that they don’t want to be the ones to mess up the streak,” Grezinsky said. Ortega, who will graduate with four city championship trophies, said the Garden’s stage was still fresh to her. “When you step out there, those lights are so bright you want to win,” she said.

Boys and Girls High School
Public Schools Athletic League
Interscholastic Athletics
Basketball
Taylor Mike


The Tale of a House, and an Entire Market

Abstract: In 1990, almost a million houses were built in the United States. One of them, at 12204 Backus Drive in Bowie, Md., was a four-bedroom colonial with a bay window. The average home price that year was $150,000; this house, in a desirable middle-class suburb of Washington, sold for $227,140. Like every house, it became a vessel for its inhabitants’ personalities and possessions — the vast record collection of the first owner, the wedding photos of the most recent ones. It also came to hold a promise of prosperity, as the boom encouraged Americans to think of houses as not just places to live, but as investments that, thanks to rising prices, could dispense huge cash returns. The story of 12204 Backus Drive is in many ways the story of the American housing market: first anodyne, then ruinous, then resilient. It is peopled with losers and villains, lucky winners and a young couple hoping for, but not counting on, good fortune. This house’s value peaked at $540,000, plunged to $215,000, and rapidly convalesced until, last year, it sold for an amount that might be considered auspicious. Virtually all the economic turmoil of the last seven years started with the housing market, which powered the economy during the bubble and then nearly melted down, taking the financial system with it. Almost five million homes were lost in foreclosure in the last five years, according to CoreLogic, and houses in some cities lost two-thirds of their value before starting to recover a couple of years ago. Now prices have bounced up 10 to 25 percent from their bottom, so quickly that a few economists have warned of a second bubble. As the rebound effect fades and interest rates continue to rise, that growth, already uneven, is expected to slow considerably. But experts say that if the job market keeps improving, the housing market will rise with it. The various owners of 12204 Backus Drive still see homeownership as a sound choice — even those who were badly pummeled by market forces. They are joined in that belief by a vast majority of Americans; lending for home purchases rose from a low of $404 billion in 2011 to an estimated $652 billion last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But while Americans still want to own their homes, the scars of the financial debacle hold them back in other ways. Some large banks, unmotivated by low interest rates and afraid they will have to buy back any loans that go bad, have cut back on mortgage lending. Tighter lending standards are shutting out close to 12.5 million consumers who would qualify in normal times, according to an analysis by Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics. But perhaps more significant, individual attitudes have changed. A house is a residence, sure. A better investment than renting, yes. But it is no longer an A.T.M., a source of ready cash for a better lifestyle. Nor will it lead to as much economic growth. Doug Duncan , chief economist at Fannie Mae, the mortgage giant, says homeowners today are less likely to spend their equity on renovations, cars, clothes or college. Many people who refinanced when interest rates were in decline, he said, have opted to pay down principal faster instead of lowering their monthly payments. “People will be more conservative than they were in the past,” he said. Suburban Dreams, Found and Lost Bowie, a bedroom community in Prince George’s County, a 30-minute drive from Washington, was built on the ideal of affordable suburban living. It was first developed in the 1960s by the company that created Levittown, N.Y. The 1980s saw the rise of a second wave of homebuilding, as more luxurious subdivisions with larger houses, swimming pools and tennis courts were carved out of forests. At that time, a house was a place to live, not a way to get rich. The first owner of 12204 Backus Drive, a teacher, actually took a small loss — about $10,000 — when he sold it after eight years and moved to another suburb of Washington. But by 2002, prices had been rising for roughly a decade — and Roberto Ramos and Chong Kim, owners of a seafood takeout counter, bought 12204 Backus Drive for $299,000. They put 10 percent down and took out a fixed-rate mortgage. Like so many houses at the time, this one quickly became a source of cash. Mr. Ramos and Ms. Kim refinanced twice, which allowed them to siphon out $175,000. In retrospect, such behavior may seem reckless; hundreds of thousands of people wouldn’t have lost their homes in the crash if they hadn’t depleted their equity during the boom. But for those with good timing, like Mr. Ramos and Ms. Kim, the system worked: In April 2006, they sold the house for $540,000, more than enough to pay off their loans. The value of 12204 Backus Drive had risen 80 percent in four years. Even at that price tag, the house struck Leslie Johnson as a good deal. Rising prices had taken on an aura of inevitability, and the whole country seemed to believe that they would never fall. In Six Houses, a Market Mirror All over the country, house prices are rising. But in some regions, prices are recovering from much deeper troughs. Below are six houses that were sold several times in the last few years, reflecting the overall market trends in their metropolitan areas. Ms. Johnson, a billing specialist at a law firm, had a son who was living in a nursing home after being severely disabled in an accident. She already owned a house, but says her homeowner’s association was making it difficult for her to install a wheelchair ramp and to build an accessible bathroom so her son could live at home. The $540,000 price of the Backus Drive house seemed beyond her reach. But after providing documentation of her income (which she declined to disclose publicly), she was told that she had been preapproved. “They told me to go ahead and buy and just refinance later on to a more manageable mortgage payment,” she said. From that point on, some of the most unsavory aspects of the subprime lending industry came into play. With a credit score at the low end of average, Ms. Johnson got a loan with high interest but a low teaser rate for the first two years. In February 2006 — when prices in Prince George’s County were nearing their peak — she put 5 percent down, and got a piggyback loan to cover the rest of a 20 percent down payment. Even with the teaser rate, her monthly payment was $4,175 for both loans, more than she was taking home in her paycheck each month. (That figure is based on public records; Ms. Johnson recalls the payment being somewhat lower.) But she had some savings that would help her cover the payments, she said, until she could refinance, which the bank assured her she could do very soon. Less than a year later, she did refinance, but into a mortgage with a higher interest rate. Public records show that she consolidated the two original loans and took out an extra $20,000 in cash, but Ms. Johnson said she never saw the $20,000. (“What typically happened was people who had any home equity were targeted by mortgage brokers to refinance or buy a new home,” says Ellen Schloemer, spokeswoman for the Center for Responsible Lending . “The equity that they had would get lost in the fees and the charges that people ended up paying to get that new mortgage.”) The new loan, from New Century Mortgage, was interest-only at first, so Ms. Johnson’s monthly payment actually decreased a bit, to $4,000. But that did not make it affordable. By her fourth payment, she was falling behind, and after less than a year, she had stopped paying altogether. She spent months trying to persuade the bank to lower the payment. In January 2008, her loan servicer gave her a loan modification that actually increased her payments to more than $4,500. Wanting out, Ms. Johnson hired a man named Barry Edmonds to negotiate a short sale with her lender. She began making her mortgage payments to an account he controlled. After more than two years, in May 2010, he instructed her to move out temporarily so he could ready the house for sale, she said, and she left behind furniture, photo albums and a new Jenn-Air oven. When she returned a couple of months later to pick up some belongings, she saw notices that the house was being repossessed. The locks had been changed. Shortly after that, Mr. Edmonds, and some $100,000 of her money, disappeared. (Mr. Edmonds was fined in absentia by Maryland authorities for more than $100,000 in Ms. Johnson’s case, and did not respond to attempts to reach him by phone and email and on social media.) Ms. Johnson described Mr. Edmonds as the malefactor in her story, unaware that virtually every financial entity she dealt with ultimately faced investigations and lawsuits related to predatory lending, foreclosure robo-signing, misleading investors or other abuses. As early as 2007, for example, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ordered Ms. Johnson’s original lender, Fremont Investment and Loan, to stop making loans that borrowers could not afford, saying that its lending practices “substantially increased the likelihood of borrower default.” One recent analysis suggests that Wall Street will eventually have to pay around $50 billion for the banks’ role in the mortgage crisis, with about $15 billion of that going to consumers in the form of debt relief and other aid. So far, Ms. Johnson said, she has received nothing except a wrecked credit record. Hardwood Floors From the Ashes For two years, 12204 Backus sat vacant, its lawn overgrown and the paint on its garage door peeling. The bank tried to sell it for $265,000, then for $250,000. At one point, Martha and Jonathan Kim, a young couple out house-hunting, peered through a window and saw a mess. “No way we’re buying this house,” Ms. Kim said to herself. “I don’t care how cheap it is.” But foreclosed homes like this one were attractive to investors with cash. Big fund managers like the Blackstone Group and Colony Capital snapped up 100,000 homes nationwide, according to Green Street Advisors, a research firm. Investors helped prices recover faster, but regular buyers, particularly those with impaired credit, complained that they couldn’t compete. “When home prices were really high, there was no lending regulation, so the middle class and even the working class were able to buy these homes at very high prices,” said Glenn Kelman, chief executive of Redfin, the online real estate platform that helped The New York Times trace the history of 12204 Backus Drive. “And then, when homes became extremely affordable, the horse was out of the barn and the doors were closed, and they couldn’t borrow.” As late as December, investors accounted for one in five purchases of existing homes, according to the National Association of Realtors . Image Martha and Jonathan Kim are the newest owners of the home on Backus Drive, buying it after a renovation. “We didn’t overextend ourselves like so many people did in the past,” Ms. Kim said. “We would still be able to afford the mortgage payment if one of us lost our jobs.” Credit Steve Ruark for The New York Times Prices in Prince George’s County never fell quite low enough to attract bulk buyers. That created an opportunity for smaller investors, like a construction company called Greenway Homes that moved from construction to flipping houses. In April 2012, an affiliate of Greenway bought 12204 Backus Drive for $215,000 cash. Two Dumpsters full of trash had to be tossed, and all appliances — except Ms. Johnson’s Jenn-Air oven — replaced, said Traci Barsy, who oversaw the renovation. The company usually makes a profit of 10 percent, said Kate Weaver, the vice president, but she estimated that the return was lower for this house because its size drove up the renovation cost. The house received a new roof, air-conditioner, hardwood floors, tile and carpeting, a wet bar in the basement and extras like custom cabinets, upgraded molding and brushed nickel fixtures. When the listing hit the Internet, priced at about $390,000, a friend sent the link to Ms. Johnson. Having sunk her retirement savings into the house, Ms. Johnson was moving from rental to rental, unable to provide a suitable living space for her son. When she saw the photographs, she cried. The Kims — he a 31-year-old auto parts manager, she a 28-year-old second-grade teacher — saw the listing, too. They had been searching for a house for two years and had tucked away more than $100,000 by living with Mr. Kim’s parents, said Ms. Kim, who calls herself a “hard-core saver.” “I think paying rent is the biggest waste of money,” Ms. Kim said, adding that the couple weren’t counting on increasing home values or even a stable economy. “We didn’t overextend ourselves like so many people did in the past,” she said. “We would still be able to afford the mortgage payment if one of us lost our jobs.” Mortgages are roughly seven times harder to get than they were five years ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s credit availability index , and they show few signs of getting easier. The average credit score of borrowers who receive loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has increased to about 760 from about 720 in 2000, according to Black Knight Financial Services. Even with their large down payment, the Kims are paying a higher interest rate, 3.9 percent, than if Mr. Kim had had a better credit score, they said. The couple bought the house in March 2013; the recorded sale price was $381,000. Ms. Kim was initially reluctant to pay so much for a house that had so recently been much cheaper — until she saw the renovation. “It was so beautiful,” she said. Of the investor, Mr. Kim said, “I’m sure they deserve what profit they made.” In the aftermath of the crash, many have made the argument that public policy overly encourages homeownership. Robert J. Shiller, the Nobel-winning economist (and a contributor to Sunday Business), says that while owning a home may be worthwhile for many reasons, historically, most homeowners have reaped little financial return for their investment. Chris Mayer , a real estate professor at Columbia Business School, argues that homeownership is its own kind of social safety net, whether or not it is profitable. Homeownership rates, he said, are higher in cities like Charlotte, N.C., where values are fairly stable, than in coastal areas where they consistently climb. “Just by living in your home, you’re saving for your retirement,” he said. “This is a place where I think most homeowners get it right, compared to economists.” As for 12204 Backus Drive, Mr. Mayer pointed out that even its lowest price in the crash was about the same as its previous trough, when the first owner sold it, but that its peaks had been much higher. Despite their travails, all the recent owners of the house aspire to homeownership. The big winners in the boom, Mr. Ramos and Ms. Kim, went on to get burned in the bust, buying a bigger, more expensive house and losing it in a short sale. They are saving to buy again, Mr. Ramos said. Ms. Johnson, who went into foreclosure, is less hopeful, but would like to own a home. “I do believe in having your own home,” she said. “If you’re paying rent, you’re just helping someone else pay off their mortgage.” Martha and Jonathan Kim agree, and right now their $1,800 monthly mortgage payment is cheaper than rent would be. But in the house on Backus, more than half the rooms are sparsely furnished and rarely used, and that makes Ms. Kim uneasy. Seated at her kitchen table, she half-joked about taking in boarders. “Sometimes I feel like we’re wasting money,” she said. “We’re just kind of sitting on too much land.”

Housing
Bowie
Foreclosure
Real Estate
Mortgage loan
US Economy
Prince George's County MD


Puerto Rico Electric Utility Is Said to Be Near Debt Deal

Abstract: With a deadline approaching Tuesday night, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority was close to an agreement with a group of bondholders for a restructuring of up to $5.7 billion of debt, according to two people with knowledge of the talks. The terms under consideration included a bond exchange, which would mean a permanent loss for participating bondholders, along with measures to increase the likelihood that the bondholders would be repaid on the new debt, those people said. By improving the utility’s creditworthiness, Prepa’s borrowing costs would also go down. The total face value of Prepa’s outstanding debt is about $8.1 billion; of that, about $2.4 billion has been insured. The negotiations cover only the remaining $5.7 billion. Prepa and its bondholders have been in restructuring talks for more than a year, and during that time its creditors agreed not to take any legal action to enforce their claims. The agreement was scheduled to expire at midnight on Tuesday, but people with knowledge of the talks said they expected that a deal would be announced early Wednesday.

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority,PREPA


Last-Second Shot by Freshman Helps Kentucky Avoid Upset

Abstract: The freshman John Wall scored 19 points, including the winning jumper with half a second remaining, to lift fourth-ranked Kentucky to a 72-70 win over visiting Miami of Ohio on Monday night. After Miami’s Kenny Hayes made a 3-pointer to tie the score at 70-70 with six seconds left, Wall raced down the court and made a shot from the wing. Nick Winbush scored 26 points to lead Miami, which made 15 of 26 3-pointers. VILLANOVA 103, PENN 65 Maalik Wayns scored 16 points, and Corey Stokes, Scottie Reynolds and Taylor King each added 14 as No. 5 Villanova had no trouble at home against Pennsylvania. DUKE 74, COASTAL CAROLINA 49 Kyle Singler had 23 points and 11 rebounds as No. 9 Duke won at home in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament Season Tip-Off. CONNECTICUT 77, COLGATE 63 Stanley Robinson scored 18 points as No. 12 Connecticut (2-0) won at home in the N.I.T. Season Tip-Off. HOFSTRA 68, YALE 63 Nathaniel Lester scored 19 points for visiting Hofstra in the first round of the N.I.T. Season Tip-Off. RIDER 86, LEHIGH 71 Novar Gadson scored 20 points and Ryan Thompson added 19 for host Rider. The Broncs (2-0) made a team-record 16 3-pointers. N.J.I.T. 96, ST. JOSEPH’S (N.Y.) 54 Drejon Scott scored 15 points to lead six New Jersey Institute of Technology players in double figures at home.


Kwame Somburu, Perennial Socialist Candidate, Dies at 81

Abstract: Kwame Somburu, a 1960s radical who vainly sought elective office as a perennial candidate of the Socialist Workers Party in New York and California, died on May 3 in Albany. He was 81. The cause was complications of kidney cancer, his son Daryl Boutelle said. Mr. Somburu evolved from a high school dropout named Paul Boutelle, who sold the Great Books of the Western World series door to door and voted for the straight Republican ticket in 1956, into a public school teacher who adopted the name of a Kenyan tribe and embraced a Trotskyite scientific socialism forged in anti-imperialism and class-conscious black nationalism. He renounced violence but echoed Malcolm X’s credo of gaining black power “by any means necessary”; organized blacks against the war in Vietnam; unambiguously declared that “if it weren’t for crime and lies and terrorism and massacres there’d be no United States”; and, while insisting that he was not anti-Semitic, vigorously opposed Zionism. In his first of nine campaigns for public office, he ran for the State Senate in Harlem in 1964 as a candidate of the Freedom Now Party, a branch of a fledgling all-black organization formed in Michigan. But after his defeat, he acknowledged that a black political mass movement was probably premature. Instead he joined the Socialist Workers Party, which, he explained in the party’s newspaper, The Militant, “has a consistent record of engagement in independent class politics, is the Marxist organization that has developed the best analysis of black nationalism, and has been from the start a firm supporter of efforts to build an independent black political party.” Mr. Somburu was nominated by the party as its candidate for Manhattan borough president in 1965, for state attorney general in 1966, for vice president of the United States in 1968 and for mayor of New York in 1969. He ran for Congress once in Manhattan and twice in California, where he also campaigned to be mayor of Oakland before abandoning the party in 1983 in a policy dispute. He later joined Socialist Action and the Socialist Workers Organization. Paul Benjamin Boutelle was born in Harlem on Oct. 13, 1934, to Anton Boutelle, a self-taught electrician, and the former Anna May Benjamin, a seamstress. He said he quit the High School of Commerce when he was 16 because he was bored after being indoctrinated in “Christianity, Capitalism and Caucasianism.” He was working as a taxi driver when he ran for vice president. During that campaign, he jousted with William F. Buckley Jr. on his television program “Firing Line.” At one point Mr. Buckley suggested that if he, Mr. Buckley, were campaigning in the South, his philosophy would appeal to black voters more than Mr. Somburu’s would.Mr. Somburu responded, “I’m sure if you went down to Mississippi and told black people they were free, you would be running, and it wouldn’t be for office.” Mr. Somburu left New York for California in 1973. He graduated from California State University, Hayward (now California State University, East Bay) and went on to teach in California schools. He changed his name to Kwame Montsho Ajamu Somburu in 1979. He later moved to Massachusetts and then to New York, near Albany. His marriage to Myrna Mondesire ended in divorce. In addition to their son Daryl, he is survived by another son, Asi-Yahola Somburu, from his marriage to Zakiya Somburu, who died in 2010; a stepson, Khalid Sheffield; two sisters, Elvira Boutelle and Jean Waters; two brothers, Allen Boutelle and Dr. Ronald Boutelle; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Kwame Somburu
Socialist Workers Party
Obituary


Milestones in Science Education

Abstract: “Leadership tomorrow depends on how we educate our students today — especially in science, technology, engineering and math,” President Obama has declared. While the words may be new, the sentiment goes back a long way. As Michael Wysession, an earth and planetary scientist at Washington University in St. Louis, wrote this year in the online edition of Scientific American. “Though we live in a thoroughly modern scientific world, our science education structure is now 120 years old.” The debate is nothing new, either; here and elsewhere in this issue are some historic highlights. 1860s-1870s — Teaching With Toys Image Froebel Blocks. Early American education takes many cues from older systems in Europe, particularly their emphasis on so-called project-based learning. One of the tools in use are Froebel Blocks, invented by Friedrich Fröbel (“the father of the modern kindergarten movement”), which teaches students basic math, including geometry, and building skills. Frank Lloyd Wright is said to have used these blocks and other Froebel toys as a child, playtime which may have influenced his Modernist architecture. 1893 — Classes for Changing Times Image Charles William Eliot Credit Library of Congress The National Education Association, through its Committee of Ten, issues a report that, in part, recommends the expansion of science education in elementary and secondary schools. The committee is headed by Charles Eliot, the president of Harvard University, who is also seen as largely responsible for bringing laboratory science to the university. Thought by many to be the formal beginnings of science and math education on the elementary and secondary levels, the report is spurred by America’s shift from an agrarian society to a more industrial one. The committee’s recommendations go on to persist through the 1930s, and some are still in practice today. 1940s — Science on the Home Front Image The "Spitfire," the most famous British fighter of World War II, in flight. Credit Haynes Archive/Popperfoto — Getty Images World War II refocuses much science education into fields like aviation, electricity and nuclear physics. In 1942 the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company sponsors its first Science Talent Search , a national fair now known as the Intel Science Talent Search that awards scholarship money for independent science projects by high school students. These fairs prove very popular, and now there are other fairs sponsored by Siemens and, most recently, Google. 1957 — The Sputnik Challenge Image Sputnik 1 in October 1957. Credit OFF/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Russia launches the Sputnik 1 satellite, an event widely recognized as galvanizing. Deeply embarrassed at being beaten in the cold war space race, American leaders double financing for the National Science Foundation, which supports teacher training and curriculum development. Many new textbooks explicitly emphasize space exploration.

Education
Frank Lloyd Wright
Sputnik 1
K-12 Education
Mathematics
Science and Technology


College Endowment Returns Fall Steeply

Abstract: The average return on college and university endowments dropped sharply in the last fiscal year, according to a preliminary study released on Thursday. The endowments, on average, lost money in the fiscal year ending in June, declining by 0.3 percent. The result is a steep reversal from the previous fiscal year when the average return was 19.2 percent . The preliminary study found that colleges with the largest endowments, more than $1 billion, did the best, up 1.2 percent in fiscal 2012. The worst performing endowments were those institutions with assets of $51 million to $100 million, which declined by 1 percent. The results included data from 463 colleges and universities; more than 800 are expected to participate in the final study, which is being conducted by the Commonfund Institute and the National Association of College and University Business Officers , known as Nacubo. The final study is expected to be released in late January. The findings come at a difficult time for higher education, as the traditional sources of revenue for colleges and universities — tuition, state financing and fund-raising — have been squeezed by the financial crisis, even as costs have increased. Enrollments are dropping in some states too, because of such factors as fewer college-age students and the rising costs of attending colleges and universities. The preliminary study does not identify individual colleges. Some institutions, however, have released their returns for fiscal 2012, and the results are mixed. For instance, the endowment of Harvard , by far the largest, posted an investment loss of .05 percent. Yale ’s endowment posted a 4.7 percent investment gain , and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s, 8 percent . Historically, the largest endowments have posted the best investment returns. But that reversed itself during the first years of the financial crisis. One explanation is that during the last decade those with large endowments invested heavily in alternative investments like private equity funds and hedge funds. Alternative investments represent 59 percent of the portfolio at endowments of more than $1 billion; by contrast, they account for 14 percent of endowments valued at under $25 million. Smaller endowments have a larger allocation of fixed-income and short-term securities, and they performed relatively well from 2007 to 2009. But their success was short-lived. Starting in fiscal 2010, the largest funds have outperformed the others, the preliminary study found, and they have performed best over a 10-year period. The highest return in fiscal 2012, which ended in June, was 15.8 percent, and the worst was a decline of 9.5 percent.

Endowments
Colleges and Universities
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stocks and Bonds
Harvard University
Yale University


8 Urns in ‘Unknown’ Grave at Arlington Spur Inquiry

Abstract: WASHINGTON — The Army has opened a criminal investigation after the discovery of eight urns of cremated remains of soldiers in a grave marked “unknown” in Arlington National Cemetery, an Army official said this week. Cemetery records showed that there was only one set of remains buried in the grave, said Kaitlin Horst, a spokeswoman for the cemetery. But in late October, when eight urns were found, cemetery officials “became aware of questionable practices,” and asked the Army to investigate. The military has since identified three sets of remains, through tags in the urns that identified the morgues, said Christopher P. Grey, spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command . A forensic expert determined that a fourth urn’s remains would not be identifiable. Ms. Horst said cemetery officials were in the process of notifying the families for the three sets of remains that Army officials had identified. The military is searching for the identities of the remains in the last four urns, a formidable challenge without identifying tags, Mr. Grey said. The contents of the urns — ash and bone — are not usable for DNA identification, he said. “There’s not a lot to work with,” he said. The investigation follows an official Army report on mismanagement of the cemetery by its former superintendent, John C. Metzler Jr., who was reprimanded in June for failing to properly oversee it. The report found gravesites improperly marked, discrepancies between cemetery maps and gravesites, and unmarked graves. That report followed a year of investigative articles on the cemetery by Salon.com . In July, Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, said the number of graves at Arlington that could be unmarked or mislabeled on maps was as many as 6,600, The Associated Press reported. Army and cemetery officials were inclined to view much of that failure as sloppy management, but October’s discovery sent signals of a potentially deeper problem, Mr. Grey said. “Eight sets of human remains in one location was very suspect,” he said. “You don’t just take remains and bury them anywhere you want.”

Cremation
Arlington National Cemetery
Cemeteries
Arlington (Va)


Science News and Readers’ Views

Abstract: You write, we listen. One of the more gratifying things about being a journalist in the Web era — as opposed to the old print-only days, when letters from readers came in sparingly and well after the fact — is the immediate feedback as soon as new material is posted online. So we’ve been getting a steady stream of comments and suggestions about the redesign of Science Times and new features like this column. Image Sgt. Brendan Marrocco, injured in Iraq, received a double-arm transplant. Credit Jose Luis Magana/Reuters Some of you love the changes and some of you don’t. Some of you asked for more links in this column to the original source material (we’ve tried to do that) and some readers want longer explanations for each item (alas, space is finite). Some of you asked for more items that weren’t pegged to articles that have already run in The Times. A computer science professor asks for more articles about hard sciences and fewer cute animal items. One reader wrote in about an online item on Americans catching salmonella from their hedgehogs, noting that it was the African pygmy breed, not the European, that caused the problem. The stuff you guys know never ceases to amaze us. Developments Animal Behavior Those Predatory Cats A new report about the killing habits of outdoor cats raised serious policy questions. Scientists from the Smithsonian and the federal Fish and Wildlife Service found that ordinary house cats — mainly feral ones — kill far more birds and mammals than had previously been thought, doing far more ecological damage than one would think. As The Times reported , the work raised the question of whether trap-neuter-release programs, which try to control the outdoor cat population, ought to be replaced with more forceful options like euthanasia. Image Iran’s claim of sending a monkey into space is in doubt. Credit European Pressphoto Agency Space Exploration A Not-So-Final Frontier It was a huge week for rocket launchings, with varying degrees of success (depending on whom you believe). Iran said that it had sent a small monkey on a quick up-and-down flight, calling it a “prelude to sending humans”; but some news reports, including one in The Telegraph of Britain, called the claim a possible “fake.” South Korea successfully launched a satellite into orbit for the first time, following two failed attempts, but a Russian rocket carrying a communications satellite had engine trouble after launching and plopped into the Pacific Ocean. And NASA successfully launched a satellite from Cape Canaveral, one of what the agency called a “network of satellites that provides essential communications to support space exploration.” Health Fat or Fiction? Articles about fat are as predictably popular as ones about cats, and this week’s big story about a collection of obesity myths that was published in The New England Journal of Medicine was no exception. Some of the debunking rang reassuringly true: nagging someone to lose weight doesn’t work; walking an extra mile a day won’t necessarily translate to a slender physique over time. While none of the so-called myths was groundbreaking news, obesity researchers applauded the article for helping to clear away some common misinformation about weight loss. Image New research has raised concerns about the threat of house cats to birds and mammals. Credit James Morton Medicine A Double Arm Transplant Last week brought the poignant tale of Brendan Marrocco , the brave young Army soldier who underwent a quadruple amputation after his vehicle was struck by a bomb in Iraq in 2009. In December 2012, Mr. Marrocco, a 26-year-old Staten Island native, received two new arms in a complex transplant operation at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, the hospital announced last week. At a news conference, Mr. Marrocco rolled his own wheelchair, brushed his hair aside and offered words of wisdom to other wounded soldiers: “There’s a lot of people who will say you can’t do something,” he said, in an account of the event by The Associated Press. “Just be stubborn and do it anyway.” Ecology Bad News for Coral Reefs So beautiful, and so imperiled: a research team from the University of Exeter in England surveyed 19 Caribbean coral reefs and found that the production rate of calcium carbonate — which the reefs need to grow and flourish — was “extremely alarming,” according to the lead scientist. “Scientists have long known that reef ecosystems are in decline and that the amount of live coral on reefs is dwindling,” according to a news release from Nature Communications , which published the research, but the new findings are “the first evidence that these ecological changes are now also impacting on the growth potential of reefs themselves.” Coming Up Science Cinema ‘Hawking,’ the Movie He is a physicist, cosmologist, longstanding disease survivor and, now, the star of a forthcoming biopic: the producers of a documentary about the life of Stephen Hawking announced last week that their movie will be featured at the SXSW film festival in Austin in March, where it will have its premiere before airing on PBS. According to a news release, the film “features exclusive access to Hawking’s life story, told largely in his own words,” and includes paeans from such diverse fans as Jim Carrey, Richard Branson and Buzz Aldrin.

Cat
Fish and Wildlife Service
Birds
Mammal
Obesity
Reef
Stephen Hawking
Outer space
Smithsonian Institution


Correction Seen After Years of Disinvestment in Neighborhood Parks

Abstract: Omar Saleh, holding his 7-year-old son’s hand, surveyed Bowne Playground, where Mayor Bill de Blasio would soon announce a $130 million plan to upgrade neglected parks. “I’d like to see more color,” he said simply. “Grass, flowers, paint — just more color.” The playground, a sea of asphalt punctuated by lonely play equipment in Flushing, Queens, is one of 35 parks in low-income neighborhoods chosen to be part of the new Community Parks Initiative. The plan, announced on Tuesday morning, seeks to correct some of the disparities that exist among the city’s more than 1,700 parks and playgrounds, in which high-profile parks in larger neighborhoods have received billions of dollars, while smaller, less visible sites have languished. To choose the sites, the parks department looked for the most neglected, identifying 215 parks where less than $250,000 had been spent on capital improvements over the last 20 years. Rebuilding all of those would have cost about $1 billion — nearly double the department’s capital budget for the current fiscal year. So parks officials narrowed the list to 134, based on the income levels, population density and population growth in surrounding neighborhoods. After making visits, they winnowed the list further, to 35. The parks and play spaces are generally small and little-known, ranging from Hunts Point Playground in the Bronx to Jesse Owens Playground in Brooklyn. On average, each will receive nearly $4 million in capital improvements. Another $36.3 million from the city’s Department of Environmental Protection will pay for what officials call “green” infrastructure, such as rain gardens and porous surfaces that will divert storm water runoff from the combined sewage system. “From children and parents to athletes and students, every New Yorker deserves access to clean and safe public parkland — no matter what neighborhood they live in,” said Mayor de Blasio, who was joined by other elected officials and the parks commissioner, Mitchell J. Silver. Mr. Silver called the initiative “a down payment” on a sustained effort to correct years of disinvestment in small, neighborhood parks. Next year, the department will revisit the list of parks that did not make the cut, he said. Image Children at Bowne Playground listened as city officials announced the Community Parks Initiative. Under the plan, their park could receive nearly $4 million in capital improvements. Credit Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times In addition, the parks department will begin more minor renovations in 55 other slighted parks, providing touch-ups such as fresh coats of paint and new fencing. The 35 parks selected to receive the $130 million encompass about 65 acres, and each is within a 10-minute walk for 220,000 New Yorkers. The initiative also dedicates $7.2 million toward those parks for maintenance and cultural programs. Partnerships for Parks, a joint program of the parks department and the City Parks Foundation, will work with local residents to form friends groups for the parks. Change won’t be immediate: Ground won’t be broken on the projects till at least 2016, according to parks officials. Tupper Thomas, executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, an advocacy group, embraced the initiative. “It’s a very interesting approach,” she said at Bowne Playground before the announcement. “Parks like this one are old-fashioned and haven’t had anything done in a long time.” Mayor de Blasio laid part of the blame for the inequity in the park system on his predecessor, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who is perhaps best known for supporting sleek new parks like the High Line and Brooklyn Bridge Park, as well as big-ticket renovations like that of Washington Square Park. But the Bloomberg administration also financed renovations in working- and middle-class neighborhoods throughout the city. And, in fact, $80 million of the $130 million in the new plan was allotted specifically to neighborhood parks in Mr. Bloomberg’s preliminary 2015 budget, released shortly before he left office. Many of the smallest parks in the system were overlooked in the past decade, however. One reason was the parks department’s reliance on City Council members to pay for projects like dog runs, playgrounds and handball courts out of their discretionary funds. Some gave generously to parks; others did not. The equity plan does not include a contribution from conservancies — private groups that raise money and sometimes help operate the parks. The mayor had endorsed state legislation during his campaign that would have required the biggest conservancies to give 20 percent of their operating budgets to a neighborhood parks alliance. But the legislation never came up for a vote in Albany, and the conservancies balked at the idea, saying it would dampen donations. At the news conference, Mr. de Blasio said that the city would continue to address the role of conservancies. “Today is a first step,” he said. “We will also turn to the major parks conservancies and ask them to make a contribution as part of this process.”

Parks
Playground
Bill de Blasio
Budget
NYC
NYC Parks and Recreation
Restoration and Renovation
Mitchell J Silver


A Haunted House, Clinging to Secrets

Abstract: Every winter, when the trees drop their leaves, a certain house in Laurelton, Queens, comes into full view. It is a decrepit Victorian on a cul-de-sac at 141-36 222nd Street, a structure whose condition has made it known as "the haunted house." To say the condition of 141-36 is woeful seems, well, woefully inadequate. Its siding is weathered to the marrow, and most of its windows are boarded over. An "X" painted on the cupola warns of weak floorboards. A locked chain-link fence seals it off from society. A small armada of boats lies beached in the yard under a sea of blue tarp. Three yellow traffic signs posted at the corner announce, with a Cassandra-like quality, "Dead end," "End," "Dead end." For all its decay, 141-36's most haunting detail might be that it is listed in city records as "owner occupied." The prospect of finding life behind its boarded windows seems slim indeed, though that hasn't kept passers-by from lingering when they see it, and daydreaming about what might be inside. "That's my favorite house," said Aaron Fox, a drug counselor who rents a place nearby. "It looks like it's got so much to say. But it can't." Everyone who comes across 141-36 sees something different: a junk heap, a mansion, a victim, a survivor, a house. The once elegant house's rotting condition inspires some to concoct stories of how it came to be, or to dream of the time capsule of collectibles that surely lie inside. "He's an outdoor type or something," Mr. Fox surmised about the owner, indicating the boats in the yard. Just how long -- and why -- 141-36 has been neglected is anyone's guess. These are the months when commuters on the Long Island Rail Road, whose tracks run along the southern edge of the property, can see it from the train, and some drive by on weekends to inquire about it, neighbors say. "The haunted house," said Roger Allick, who lives nearby and fields frequent queries about 141-36, though he knows nothing about it. "Everybody's curious about that house." There are other dying Victorians in Laurelton, a frayed patch in the southeastern hem of Queens. Yet none have the faded majesty of the two-and-three-quarter-story house that is 141-36. Long before the borough's arcane street, road, drive and avenue numbering began, 222nd Street was known as College Avenue, 141st Road was Lincoln Avenue, and 141-36 sat amid a scattering of large three-story homes for well-off families. Small clues survive: Census data from 1930, which is the most recent detailed information publicly available, shows it was then the home of a family named Gross. The father, Albin, who was unemployed (it was during the Great Depression), had paid $11,000 for 141-36, and lived there with his wife, Katherine, their teenage daughter, also Katherine, and his brother, Walter, a mail carrier. A Municipal Archives tax photograph from around 1940 shows a hardly recognizable 141-36: wholesome, well maintained, a perfect example of suburban tranquillity. Now 141-36, in all its fading glory, towers over tidy houses thrown up in brick and vinyl, some sprouting satellite dishes that hint at how many apartments a home has been carved into. Neighbors offer a few more tantalizing clues, though any reality becomes hard to disengage from the myths that 141-36 can't help but inspire. Martha Barfield, who moved into her home nearby on 141st Road in 1971 with her husband, Oscar, and two children and is one of the last old-timers, recalls the couple who used to live in 141-36. The husband was German and the wife stayed in most of the time, she said. She could not recall the family name. One of the sons, who appeared to be mentally handicapped, was friendly and waved when he walked to the corner store for cigarettes, she said. "The wife got sick, then the husband got sick -- they weren't friendly people," she said. The parents died, and that son eventually went away to live, she said. The house was left in the care of the other son, she said. Already weathered, with a porch and yard teeming with castoff items, 141-36 fell into even greater disrepair. The block association wrote to the city's planning board, which once sent a tree-trimming crew. Otherwise, the property has been left alone, and is still owned by the surviving son. "He's in there," Mrs. Barfield said. "We all know this." In -- there? That seems very unlikely. The gate was padlocked, the windows boarded up, and there was no apparent heat or electricity. The next express to shudder by seemed to send it toppling. Mrs. Barfield offered one hypothesis circulating among neighbors: the bunker. Years ago, she said, when the roundabout at 225th Street and 141st Avenue was being dug, the father and sons were seen at night hauling stones back to their house to build what the neighbors thought -- though they had no evidence to support it -- was an underground chamber. That piggybacked on other baseless rumors that were fueled by the fact that the father was German and that in 1964 an otherwise ordinary German housewife in Maspeth, Queens, was unmasked as a former guard at a Nazi death camp. Nevertheless, rumors, a reality in every neighborhood, persisted. Milly Fountain, who has lived across the street from 141-36 since 1964, said she could not recall a single day when the house was in good condition. Speaking through a locked screen door, she said she was exasperated at finally being asked about the house after her years of complaints had fallen on the city's deaf ears. Whether or not there was a bunker, she could not say, but she did say that whoever lived at 141-36 burned wood for heat. Some years ago, after complaints from neighbors and with the house in increasing disrepair, Sally Martino-Fisher, the district manager of Community Board 13, called Adult Protective Services to check on the elderly father. Caseworkers who went to the house were unable to get beyond the fence, she said. A spokesman for the agency confirmed this account, and said that the father had apparently died. (This reporter's query prompted the agency to send caseworkers to the house again; they, too, were unable to gain access.) An operator said a telephone in the house was working, but no one answered the many rings. And no one ever appeared during this reporter's visits to the home over two weeks. It was time to check records. The deed to 141-36 revealed the owner to be Oswald E. Bauer. The Web site of the Department of Buildings showed three violations relating to the house's condition, but all were listed as closed. The Department of Finance Web site showed that in 1998, Oswald Bauer appeared at the department's office in Jamaica, Queens, and a woman named Emma Bauer gave him power of attorney and, for $10, the deed to the house. She signed the documents with a slightly shaky "X." Since 2004, the property taxes for the home have been paid in cash, a city spokesman said. And what of Mr. Bauer's parents? According to city and Social Security records, Alfred Bauer, a previous owner, died in 1996. Mrs. Fountain, the neighbor across the street, said she remembered the elderly mother being taken away one day to live elsewhere. There was one more thing. Mrs. Barfield, the neighbor, said that the remaining son worked for the New York City Transit Authority. Could he be Oswald E. Bauer? Finally: a chance to solve the mystery of 141-36. A call to Mr. Bauer was placed at the transit authority, where a spokesman located him and said he worked a day shift in the field on capital projects. A message was left for Mr. Bauer about the interest in his house. Mr. Bauer returned the spokesman's call, but he declined to be interviewed, leaving intact much of the mystery surrounding a house that keeps attracting attention as much as its owner seems to shun it.

HAUNTED HOUSES
NEW YORK CITY
QUEENS (NYC)
BAUER OSWALD E


U.S. Car Sales Climbed in June

Abstract: DETROIT — The auto industry surpassed expectations in June by reporting a 22 percent increase in sales, fueled in part by lower gas prices and a surge of interest in new car models. While analysts had forecast a softening in demand, the car companies on Tuesday reported strong sales in most vehicle segments without the need to resort to higher discounts. The biggest winners during the month were Toyota and Honda, which a year ago were affected by inventory shortages after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Toyota said its sales grew 60.3 percent in June over last year, and Honda reported a 48.8 percent increase. Both companies were bolstered by big gains in sales of their bread-and-butter sedans like the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. “It feels good to be back in the race,” said John Mendel, head of United States sales for Honda. The industry’s seasonally adjusted annual selling rate was 14.1 million vehicles in June. In the first six months of the year, about 7.3 million vehicles have been sold in the United States, which represents a 14.8 percent increase over the first half of 2011. A sudden dip in gas prices in recent weeks spurred interest in larger vehicles, like pickup trucks. The price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.32 on Tuesday, compared with $3.59 a month ago, according to a daily survey published by the AAA. “The unseasonal drop in gas prices was a great help in better-than-expected sales in June,” said Jesse Toprak, the chief market analyst at the auto research Web site TrueCar.com . The underlying engine for the industry’s steady recovery continued to be the need by consumers to replace older vehicles. Many prospective car buyers who delayed buying new models during the recession are now flocking to dealer showrooms. “Nearly 11 million sales were lost during the recent recession years, of which there are at least four million new car buyers still waiting to come back to market,” said Lacey Plache, an economist with the Edmunds.com auto site. Detroit’s carmakers benefited from sales of their newest car models and a renewed interest in sport utility vehicles. General Motors, the nation’s largest automaker, said that its sales increased 15.5 percent in June, to 248,750 vehicles, which the company said was its best monthly performance in nearly four years. Chrysler reported a 20.3 percent increase over the previous year, its best June sales since 2007. Ford Motor said its sales for the month rose 7.1 percent, with sport utility vehicles and trucks leading the way. G.M. said all four of its main brands — Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and Buick — had double-digit increases during the month, which had 27 selling days versus 26 days in June of last year. The company said its biggest gains were in small cars , particularly sales of a new subcompact, the Chevrolet Sonic, and the Buick Verano sedan. “Across the board, June was a strong month for G.M.,” said Kurt McNeil, head of G.M.’s United States sales. “The combination of new products, available credit, lower fuel prices and modest economic growth was a stronger influence on consumer behavior than economic and political uncertainty.” G.M., he said, expects “moderate, gradual growth” in the auto market through the rest of the year. And the impact of lower gas prices was an unexpected but welcome stimulant for the industry. “It’s another positive sign in this sea of economic uncertainty,” he said. Chrysler said that its passenger car sales increased 42 percent during the month, and its truck and sport utility sales rose 12 percent. Sales of its flagship Chrysler 300 sedan were up 179 percent for the month. Ford’s hottest models were its new S.U.V.’s, which have been redesigned for better fuel efficiency . The company said sales of the small Escape sport utility improved 28 percent and the midsize Explorer increased 34 percent. Toyota and Honda were not alone among foreign automakers in having a successful June. Nissan said that its sales rose 28.2 percent during the month, while the German carmaker Volkswagen said its sales increased 32.1 percent. Edmunds.com said the manufacturers had maintained healthy sales without resorting to heavy discounts and other incentives.Automakers spent an average of $2,187 on incentives per vehicle during June, according to the research site. That represents about a 1.6 percent decline from May. The industry, in fact, is exhibiting unusual discipline by forgoing big summer discounts and incentives, even on models that are being replaced with newer versions in the fall. G.M. and Ford, in particular, have been far less willing to raise discounts and cut into their profit margins. Both companies are relying heavily on revenue and profits in the United States to offset increasingly worse results for their European operations. Last week, Ford said it expected its international losses to triple in the second quarter compared with the first quarter. Investors cheered the unexpectedly strong June sales; shares of G.M. closed up 5.62 percent and Ford was up 2.24 percent on Tuesday.


Fantasy Football Week 10: Mining for Waiver Wire Gold

Abstract: Socrates said: “The more you learn, the more you realize how little you know.” That saying held true this past week more so than usual, leading to another abnormal scoring leader list that included the likes of Nick Foles, Jerricho Cotchery, Jason Campbell and the previously thought to be missing Tom Brady. While we may not know all that we think we do, we can still learn from what we saw this past week and try to apply that knowledge to our waiver wire pickups. As always, I broke down the options into four categories: Waiver Gems Players who are available on most waiver wires and have a chance to become weekly fantasy starters. Eureka! This is what you should be screaming if these players are available on your waiver wire. This category is more directed at eight-team leagues or leagues in which other owners might possibly be Rip Van Winkle. Digging Deep Players who are more bye-week fill-ins and/or high-upside players in deep leagues. Fool’s Gold Players who are coming off a good game but are not worth your FAAB or waiver priority. Note: I didn’t include players about to come back from injury like Percy Harvin and Shane Vereen because they are owned in most leagues, but make sure you check for them before you start adding anyone on the list below. Quarterback Waiver Gems Nick Foles (PHI) — I could probably begin and end this paragraph with two words, “seven touchdowns,” but I won’t deprive you of the verbiage. Foles was obviously amazing against the Raiders on Sunday, but we also have to temper our expectations by remembering that the Raiders are 0.8 points away from allowing the most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks. As things usually are, the truth is somewhere in the middle here (and the schedule gets pretty tough after the Eagles’ Week 12 bye), but Foles has some juicy matchups against Green Bay and Washington over the next two weeks. Case Keenum (HOU) — I can’t believe we’re talking about Keenum, but I guess that’s why we all love fantasy football. Keenum has a tough matchup against Arizona as he comes off a 350-yard, 3-touchdown passing performance against Indianapolis, but here are his next six games after Arizona: Oakland, Jacksonville, New England, Jacksonville, Indianapolis and Denver. The Jaguars, the Broncos and the Raiders are all in the top 10 in terms of fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks, the Patriots are depleted on defense and Keenum just dominated the Colts. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Keenum end up as a top 12 quarterback over the last half of the season. Eureka! Jay Cutler (CHI), Ben Roethlisberger (PIT), Terrelle Pryor (OAK). Digging Deep Jason Campbell (CLE), Mike Glennon (TB), Carson Palmer (ARI). Fool’s Gold Josh McCown (CHI). Running Back Waiver Gems Mike James (TB) — James appeared on this list a few weeks ago after Doug Martin was injured, but James is still only 10 percent-owned in most leagues. It’s not as if James is as good as Martin, but he did just go into Seattle and put up 158 rushing yards against one of the better rushing defenses in the league. As with Foles, you’ll have to temper your expectations here because of his schedule, but it is difficult to ignore anyone who led the N.F.L. in carries during any given week (James led with 28 in Week 9). Rashad Jennings (OAK) — Darren McFadden is hurt, again, after tweaking his balky hamstring on Sunday and is doubtful to play against the Giants this weekend. Jennings stepped in ably for McFadden against the Eagles on Sunday and rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown to go with seven receptions for 70 yards. Things get a little tougher against the Giants, but the overall state of the running back position in fantasy football makes Jennings a must-add. Eureka! Zac Stacy (STL), Chris Ivory (NYJ). Digging Deep James Starks (GB), Jonathan Stewart (CAR), Shonn Greene (TEN), Mike Tolbert (CAR). Fool’s Gold Darrel Young (WAS). Wide Receiver Waiver Gems Aaron Dobson (NE) — Another rehash from a few weeks ago, Dobson remains available in over 95 percent of leagues despite having the 27th-most fantasy points among all wide receivers. He has overcome his early-season struggles (and drops) and has taken major strides over the past two weeks in racking up 190 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Dobson has earned Tom Brady’s trust (and basically banished Kenbrell Thompkins to the bench) as he brings a tall, downfield presence that the Patriots haven’t had since Randy Moss left in 2010. Riley Cooper (PHI) — All preseason controversy aside, Cooper is putting a heck of a season together. As the 21st-best receiver in fantasy, Cooper has outscored the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Cecil Shorts and Steve Smith. A large chunk of his points did come in his three-touchdown performance this past weekend, but both of Cooper’s big games this year have come with Foles starting at quarterback (and Foles will most likely be starting for the rest of the season). Cooper is not a weekly must-start, but he needs to be owned right now. Eureka! Keenan Allen (SD), Harry Douglas (ATL). Digging Deep Doug Baldwin (SEA), Michael Crabtree (SF), Jerricho Cotchery (PIT). Fool’s Gold Davone Bess (CLE). Tight End Waiver Gems Garrett Graham (HOU) — We’re digging to the bottom of the barrel at tight end right now. Graham was a popular waiver pickup after Owen Daniels was hurt a couple weeks ago, but never really lived up to the expectations that his high red-zone use set. With Keenum at the helm in Houston (and with their aforementioned upcoming schedule), Graham may have some usefulness over the next few weeks before Daniels returns. Eureka! Jordan Reed (WAS), Charles Clay (MIA). Digging Deep Zach Ertz (PHI), John Carlson (MIN), Scott Chandler (BUF). Fool’s Gold Brent Celek (PHI).


In 53 Minutes, Federer Shows He’s Back in Form

Abstract: INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — It was hard to tell Tuesday afternoon what was causing more people to sweat: a beating sun that had washed away the last gasp of winter, or the sight of Roger Federer looking ready, willing and able to resume his reign over men’s tennis. Federer arrived at the Pacific Life Open on a two-match losing streak, rehabilitating from a bout with mononucleosis and fending off questions of whether his five-year standing as the top player in the world is nearing its end. He continued to flick away those doubts as easily as he did Nicolas Mahut of France in an effortless 6-1, 6-1 victory that took 53 minutes. “When he’s playing like that, he’s the best,” Mahut said. “There’s maybe two or three players that have a chance, but not much of one. He can play every shot. He was just too good.” Mahut, ranked 44th in the world, shook his head at his futility. “I was feeling like a junior today,” he said. Nikolay Davydenko, the fourth-ranked player in the world, was routed by Mardy Fish, 6-3, 6-2, in a night match. Davydenko joined No. 5 David Ferrer and No. 6 Andy Roddick on the sideline before the tournament reached the Round of 16. On the women’s side, Maria Sharapova and Daniela Hantuchova advanced to a Wednesday night quarterfinal by surviving tough matches. Sharapova pulled herself together to fend off Alona Bondarenko, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. Hantuchova had difficulty with Sania Mirza but won, 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-3. There was no such trouble for Federer. His dominance was so complete that Mahut did not win a point on Federer’s serve until he was trailing, 5-1, in the first set — and even then it was on a double fault. In all, Mahut won only four points off Federer’s serve. The second one, a slice into the net to begin the second game of the second set, so stunned the crowd that it elicited an “ooooh” in unison. So perturbed was Federer after that one that he followed it with back-to-back aces. “This is what you want to do,” Federer said. “You want to try to run over your opponent, not give him a chance anymore. “ Federer was much more dynamic than he was in a 6-3, 6-2 win against Spain’s Guillermo García-López. He said it was because of the play of Mahut, whose style is more like his rather than that of the patient García-López he faced Sunday. “Look, I’ve always enjoyed playing against the Frenchmen,” Federer said. “They have good techniques, playing style, unbelievable shot making.” They also do not beat him. Federer is now 33-1 against French players. With Mahut dispatched, the men’s draw now begins to get serious — that is, there is not a Frenchman in sight. Up next for Federer is 23rd-ranked Ivan Ljubicic, who pushed Federer to a pair of tie breakers in a Round of 16 meeting here in 2005. After that, in the quarterfinals, could be Andy Murray, who beat Federer this month in Dubai. David Nalbandian — who has a .500 career record against Federer — could await in the semifinals. Sitting on the other side of the bracket are Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. But Tuesday, Federer was not sweating it. “I’m there where I want to be,” he said. “Just feeling like I’m playing good tennis again. I feel like I did at the Australian Open after one of my first couple matches. But this time I’m more sure I’m over the sickness. This time it’s very different. I’m looking forward to the rest.”


Arrest of Queens Man Puts Focus on Texting to Rally Protesters

Abstract: As demonstrations have evolved with the help of text messages and online social networks, so too has the response of law enforcement. On Thursday, F.B.I. agents descended on a house in Jackson Heights, Queens, and spent 16 hours searching it. The most likely reason for the raid: a man who lived there had helped coordinate communications among protesters at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh. The man, Elliot Madison, 41, a social worker who has described himself as an anarchist, had been arrested in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24 and charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime. The Pennsylvania State Police said he was found in a hotel room with computers and police scanners while using the social-networking site Twitter to spread information about police movements. He has denied wrongdoing. American protesters first made widespread use of mass text messages in New York, during the 2004 Republican National Convention, when hundreds of people used a system called TXTmob to share information. Messages, sent as events unfolded, allowed demonstrators and others to react quickly to word of arrests, police mobilizations and roving rallies. Mass texting has since become a valued tool among protesters, particularly at large-scale demonstrations. And police and government officials appear to be increasingly aware of such methods of communication. In 2008, for instance, the New York City Law Department issued a subpoena seeking information from the graduate student who created the code for TXTmob. Still, Mr. Madison, who was released on bail shortly after his arrest, may be among the first to be charged criminally while sending information electronically to protesters about the police. A criminal complaint in Pennsylvania accuses him of “directing others, specifically protesters of the G-20 summit, in order to avoid apprehension after a lawful order to disperse.” “He and a friend were part of a communications network among people protesting the G-20,” Mr. Madison’s lawyer, Martin Stolar, said on Saturday. “There’s absolutely nothing that he’s done that should subject him to any criminal liability.” A search warrant executed by the F.B.I. at Mr. Madison’s house authorized agents and officers looking for violations of federal rioting laws to seize computers and phones, black masks and clothes and financial records and address books. Among the items seized, according to a list prepared by the agents, were electronic equipment, newspapers, books and gas masks. The items also included what was described as a picture of Lenin. Since the raid, no other charges have been filed against Mr. Madison. On Friday, Mr. Stolar argued in Federal District Court in Brooklyn that the warrant was vague and overly broad. Judge Dora L. Irizarry ordered the authorities to stop examining the seized materials until Oct. 16, pending further orders. Mr. Stolar said that the reason for the Jackson Heights raid would not be clear until an affidavit used to secure the search warrant was unsealed. But he said that commentary among agents indicated that it was related to Mr. Madison’s arrest in Pittsburgh, where he participated in the Tin Can Comms Collective, a group of people who collected information and used Twitter to send mass text messages describing protest-related events that they observed on the streets. There were many such events during the two days of the summit. Demonstrators marched through town on the opening day of the gathering, at times breaking windows and fleeing. And on both nights, police officers fired projectiles and hurled tear gas canisters at students milling near the University of Pittsburgh. After Mr. Madison’s arrest, other Tin Can participants continued to send messages, now archived on Twitter’s Web site. Many of those messages tracked police movements. One read: “SWAT teams rolling down 5th Ave.” Another read: “Report received that police are ‘nabbing’ anyone that looks like a protester / Black Bloc. Stay alert watch your friends!” But even as protesters were watching the police, it appeared that the police were monitoring the protesters’ communications. Just after 1 p.m. on Sept. 24, a text message stated: “A comms facility was raided, but we are still fully operational please continue to submit reports.” Nine hours later, a text read: “Scanner just said be advised we’re being monitored by anarchists through scanner.” On Sunday night Mr. Madison said that the search of his home was an effort to “stifle dissent,” and added that several groups in Pittsburgh, including the summit organizers, had used Twitter accounts to describe events related to the meetings. “They arrested me for doing the same thing everybody else was doing, which was perfectly legal,” he said. “It was crucial for people to have the information we were sending.”

Text Messaging
Demonstrations and Riots
Pittsburgh (Pa)
Group of Twenty


China: Muslim Fasting Discouraged

Abstract: Several local governments in the western region of Xinjiang have ordered Muslim restaurants to stay open during the holy month of Ramadan and are telling civil servants and students to continue to eat and drink during daylight hours, when Muslims generally fast. Ramadan began on July 20. A notice on the Web site of the health bureau of Urumqi, the regional capital, said local officials had discussed “increasing eating and drinking during Ramadan” and were urged “to increase the monitoring of collective eating with supplied food at work units.” The goal was to “guarantee the health of the masses,” the posting said. Local governments have been putting in place such policies for several years. Southern Xinjiang and Urumqi have a large number of Uighurs , Muslims who often express discontent with ethnic Han, who dominate China .

China
Fasting
Ramadan
Muslims and Islam
Xinjiang (China)


Nuclear Missiles in Westchester and Rockland Counties During the Cold War

Abstract: Four Nike missile complexes in Westchester and Rockland Counties guarded New York City, one of them equipped with nuclear warheads. The nuclear base was in Orangeburg, on the western bank of the Hudson River in Rockland County. Starting in 1955, the site held 60 nonnuclear Ajax missiles, which were soon replaced by 18 nuclear-armed Hercules models. By 1974, all the missiles were removed, and today the missile pits have been covered over and the radar-equipped command area is now a park. Some of the old structures remain intact. There was also a nonnuclear Ajax site in Rockland, a 30-missile base in Spring Valley that was eventually acquired by the East Ramapo school district and is used for parking school buses and other purposes. In Westchester, there was a 30-missile site near White Plains, between the Kensico Dam and the county airport. That site, used for a time by the Army National Guard, is now a maintenance yard for highway trucks from the Town of Harrison. The fourth installation was on Davids Island, off New Rochelle. There were no missiles there, just a radar and command center for Ajax missiles two miles away in the Bronx, on Hart Island in Long Island Sound. Generally, missiles and their command centers had to be at least 1,000 yards apart.

Cold War Era
Westchester County (NY)
Missiles and Missile Defense Systems


In Deal With G.O.P., Portent for Next 2 Years

Abstract: WASHINGTON — For President Obama , this is what bipartisanship looks like in the new era: messy, combustible and painful, brought on under the threat of even more unpalatable consequences and yet still deferring the ultimate resolution for another day. For the first time since his party’s drubbing in last month’s election, and arguably for the first time on a major domestic policy since he took office, Mr. Obama forged a deal with the Republican opposition, swallowing hard to give up a central campaign promise while maneuvering to win enough other priorities to declare partial victory. In that deal come the first clues to how he plans to govern for the next two years with a divided Congress, an anemic economy and his own re-election looming on the horizon. He made clear he was willing to alienate his liberal base in the interest of compromise, more interested in crafting measures that can pass to the benefit of the middle class than waging battle to the end over principle. And in the process, he is gambling he can convince the American people that he is the bridge-builder they thought he was. “I know there’s some people in my own party and in the other party who would rather prolong this battle, even if we can’t reach a compromise,” Mr. Obama said in announcing the bipartisan agreement on tax cuts and unemployment benefits. “But I’m not willing to let working families across this country become collateral damage for political warfare here in Washington.” This was not a compromise he could relish. Ending the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of households was a major theme of his campaign in 2008. But if he had to agree to a two-year extension, he exacted a price from Republicans in the form of extended unemployment benefits, a temporary payroll tax cut to help the working class and the continuation of tax breaks for parents and students. Unlike with other issues, Mr. Obama and the Republicans had a powerful incentive to split the difference, an implacable end-of-the-year deadline that would have resulted in a tax increase for nearly every American. Moreover, he arguably just punted the issue into the 2012 campaign. The White House was careful not to extrapolate too much from one deal. Still, after Mr. Obama got passage of sweeping economic stimulus, health care and financial regulation measures with virtually no Republican support, this represents something of a break, and centrists and Republicans saw hope for a more collaborative two years. “This is the first in a series of painful deals that the president will have to cut if he is to move us forward for the next two years,” said Matt Bennett, vice president of Third Way, an advocacy group of moderate Democrats, and a veteran of Bill Clinton’s White House. “It is proof that he is governing as an adult, looking for opportunities to negotiate.” Frank J. Donatelli, chairman of Gopac, a Republican group, and White House political director under Ronald Reagan, said the opposition would welcome the move. “It’s the first time he has ever defied his base, which is a small step in the right direction,” Mr. Donatelli said. “It will make him a better president to govern from the center.” But to his base, this is just the latest and most outrageous betrayal in what it sees as a two-year cycle of caving to conservative pressure and Republican obstructionism. The litany from the left is now familiar: Mr. Obama was too modest in his stimulus package , too afraid to fight for a government-sponsored option in his health plan, too deferential to Wall Street in his financial reforms, too weak to stand up to the generals on Afghanistan. “Obama may have just ensured that he’ll face a significant challenge to his renomination in 2012 from inside the Democratic Party,” said Norman Solomon, a leader of Progressive Democrats of America. “By giving away the store on such a momentous tax issue, he has now done huge damage to a large portion of the progressive base that helped to make him president.” Mr. Solomon added, “If he thinks that won’t have major effects on his re-election chances, he’s been swallowed up by a delusional bubble.” For the moment, no credible primary challenger to Mr. Obama has emerged. But the anger on Monday extended beyond party activists. Democratic Congressional leaders acutely remember being cut out of the action when Mr. Clinton “triangulated” with Republicans in the 1990s, and Mr. Obama’s tax deal may provoke an open revolt. Tony Fratto, a White House official under George W. Bush, said Mr. Obama failed to lay the groundwork with his own party. “Although the outcome here was inevitable, it will have real consequences for the president’s relationship with Congressional Democrats and his base,” Mr. Fratto said. Mr. Obama seemed to recognize that during his remarks on Monday evening and addressed disappointed supporters. “Sympathetic as I am to those who prefer a fight over compromise, as much as the political wisdom may dictate fighting over solving problems, it would be the wrong thing to do,” he said. “The American people didn’t send us here to wage symbolic battles or win symbolic victories.”

Obama Barack
Federal Taxes (US)
House of Representatives
Senate


SpinMedia Buys Vibe Magazine

Abstract: SpinMedia, a group of music and pop culture Web sites that includes Spin magazine, has bought Vibe, the 21-year-old R&B and hip-hop magazine. SpinMedia announced the sale on Thursday, saying that it had bought the rights to Vibe’s print magazine and its related sites, Vibe.com and Vibevixen.com, from Vibe Media. The price was not disclosed. The sale reunites the two publications, which more than a decade ago were part of the same company, Vibe/Spin Ventures , before each went through a series of sales. Calling Vibe “an industry leader in the urban and hip-hop category for decades,” Steve Hansen, SpinMedia’s chief executive, added in an interview: “It’s really exciting to add this to SpinMedia’s collection of music properties and bring more digital DNA to the team and see what they can do.” SpinMedia, until recently known as Buzz Media, owns or represents more than 40 sites, like Celebuzz, Idolator and JustJared, that cater to young pop-culture fans and compete with a range of sites like Gawker, TMZ, Pitchfork and BuzzFeed. After it bought Spin last summer, Buzz Media promptly shut down the print magazine and laid off a third of its staff. It said it would concentrate on the Web site and consider eventually reviving the print version of Spin in some form. Since then, Spin’s online traffic has doubled, but Mr. Hansen said that the company was no closer to reviving the magazine and that it planned to shut down Vibe’s print magazine later this year. “We are still trying to find a print model that makes economic sense in the digital age,” he said. Vibe was founded in 1992 by Quincy Jones and Time Warner, with a focus on hip-hop and R&B music and the culture surrounding it, and it became one of the most influential publications of its kind. It was shut down abruptly in 2009 after advertising revenue plunged, but within months it was bought and revived by private equity investors. Vibe had an average print circulation of 301,000 for the first six months of 2012, according to the Alliance for Audited Media, and SpinMedia said that each month Vibe’s sites have 1.4 million visitors and serve 1.6 million video streams.


A Giant Killer, Even if It Is Lacking in Big Names

Abstract: LONDON — So how does a faded A.C. Milan, whose owner sold the club’s best assets last summer and gave the coach journeymen players instead, put Barcelona on the brink of elimination from the Champions League? Two Ghanaians, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari, struck fine opportunist goals. No Barcelona player — not Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta or any of them — reached their level or was allowed to in A.C. Milan’s San Siro stadium on Wednesday. When it was over, with the Italian squad in shock at leading 2-0 against the best club side on earth, A.C. Milan Coach Massimo Allegri lauded his employer, the team president Silvio Berlusconi. Some diplomat is Allegri. “We dedicate this to the president,” he said, “because he has given me a team I can work with.” That is a team divested of its previously talismanic striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and its top defender, Thiago Silva, who both joined Paris Saint-Germain before the season got under way. At the same time, A.C. Milan removed a lot of big names from its payroll: Gennaro Gattuso, Clarence Seedorf, Pippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Nesta. Maybe that is the key to what Allegri was talking about, a clearing out of aging players, and, in Ibrahimovic’s case, of a self-centered leader, that allowed the coach to restructure the team to his own ideals. Allegri had claimed, before the Wednesday match, that he frequently discusses tactics with the owner. And Berlusconi, taking his case through the media as ever, had given the coach the solution to beating Barcelona: Mark Lionel Messi tightly at all times, and don’t give Barcelona’s finest individual an inch of freedom. Messi, it is true, had one of his very rare off nights. He seldom got into the A.C. Milan penalty box, and he never got in a shot, much less threaten to score a goal. For that, and for the suppression of Xavi’s creative passing and for the minimization of Iniesta’s great dribbling skills, we must thank the president? For unleashing good, strong, hungry talents, like Stephan El Shaarawy, who was tireless in his running, and even an older one, Giampaolo Pazzini, who was brave and smart as he stood in for Mario Balotelli, who cannot suit up for A.C. Milan because he previously played in the tournament for Manchester City? Should we thank Berlusconi for the team discipline that was led by Massimo Ambrosini and followed through by every man in A.C. Milan’s black and red striped shirts? “We played in a certain way tonight, but against Barcelona you have to play like that,” said Ambrosini, the captain. “Maybe it’s not aesthetically beautiful, it’s not very nice to watch,” he added. “They force you to play like that, and history teaches us that Barcelona were eliminated in this competition only by teams who faced them in a certain way.” He spoke of the Italian way, the solidarity of keeping the defense and the midfield so tightly together that there is no space for Barça’s renowned passing and moving to go anywhere. Ambrosini also spoke of the luck that contributed to the first goal, and then the “very nice” second one. The luck was misjudged by Barcelona players, and by most of the audience. It had seemed, after an A.C. Milan free kick ricocheted first off the Barcelona defender Jordi Alba and then off A.C. Milan’s Cristian Zapata, that the ball struck Zapata’s hand. In fact, as seen in slow-motion replay, Zapata had taken the full force of the shot in his face. From there, it fell to Boateng, who drove it handsomely into the net. In shock and losing rhythm, Barcelona could get little help from its bench. It has been said, even from within its camp, that Barcelona has such an intelligent group of players that they can think for and manage themselves, regardless whether their coach, Tito Vilanova, is in New York for cancer treatment. Wednesday, perhaps, was when the coach might have made adjustments to help his men out of an impasse. But, in pursuing the equalizer, Barcelona left itself short in defense and exposed to the crucial second goal. A.C. Milan hit the Catalans with the perfect counterattack. M’Baye Niang had come on with the freshness of youth to put pressure on Barcelona’s Carles Puyol on the right. Having won the ball, Niang fluently passed it to El Shaarawy, whose own touch was brief but sublime. The Italian simply helped the ball on its way, with the deftest of flicks, into the path of Muntari. And then the Ghanaian — who had spent some time at a financially doomed English club, Portsmouth, and spent months this season battling a knee injury — applied the final hammer blow to Barça. Muntari met the ball with a volley, with his left foot almost as high as his knee, and struck it inside the far post at a ferocious, but sweetly timed, speed. It was all over, bar the talking. Barcelona’s players admitted they thought they had control of the match, and they can blame neither the field conditions nor the Scottish referee. And they acknowledge that they are staring at elimination from a tournament they were favorite to win (again). Barça requires three goals, and since its defense is never airtight, possibly four, to come through in the second leg on March 12. And A.C. Milan? “We played as a team, and we listened to our coach,” concluded Muntari. “We were very disciplined. We managed to close every angle Barcelona had, so they couldn’t get through.” He paused, smiled, and added: “Barcelona is the top club in the world. If you don’t concentrate and you don’t keep your discipline, they’re going to harm you. They have amazing players.” Amazing players who now have to stage an amazing comeback.

Milan Soccer Team
Barcelona Soccer Team
UEFA Champions League


Pearson Acquires Stake in 2 Indian Education Companies

Abstract: NEW DELHI — Pearson, the British publishing group, said Wednesday that it is partnering with an Indian education company and an Internet tutor, as it increases its focus on the huge Indian market. Pearson is buying half of the vocational training business of Educomp Solutions, a Delhi education company that creates software and training systems for 23,000 schools. Pearson is also buying a 17.2 percent stake in TutorVista, an online tutoring company that brings together Indian tutors and American students. Together, the deals are valued at $30 million, Pearson said, but the company did not provide more financial details. The Wednesday deals are “just the first step” for Pearson in India, Khozem Merchant, deputy chairman of Pearson India, said during a news conference in New Delhi. “The entire Pearson group has a sharp eye on opportunities in India,” he said. Pearson plans to publish an edition of the Financial Times newspaper in India as soon as it gets the licenses and approval it needs from the government, executives said Wednesday. India’s Congress-led government, which was recently re-elected, has made education a top priority for the years ahead. Already, the Indian government spends about $30 billion on education a year, Pearson estimates, and private citizens spend another $50 billion. India’s youthful population is both the country’s greatest asset and a growing concern. About one-third of the country’s 1.2 billion people are younger than 14, according to recent estimates. India is known for its top-notch engineering colleges, but the country is also plagued with thousands of mediocre schools at all levels that turn out students who are unqualified for further study or all but the most menial jobs. Pearson has been building its education business, particularly its English-language training, in China and Latin America in recent years. “In India, we’ve probably underinvested,” Vivek Goyal, president and chief executive of Pearson in India, said during the Wednesday news conference. Educomp, which is based in New Delhi, makes classroom plans, trains teachers, audits schools and sells information technology plans to computerize classrooms. The company’s vocational training program is in its nascent stage, Pearson said. The new joint venture will concentrate on training students for blue-collar jobs, Mr. Goyal said, including hospitality, food preparation, security and construction. Government-funded programs and potential employers would pay students’ tuition. Shares in Educomp rose 10.9 percent on the news, bringing the company’s market value to 59 billion rupees, or $1.2 billion. TutorVista, the Internet tutoring company, provides online math, English and science tutors for students from kindergarten through 12th grade. The online tutors, who are based in India, cost about one-fifth of those based in the United States, Pearson said.