digaman: марта 2012

четверг, 15 марта 2012 г.

Janikowski closing on Raiders scoring record

When Sebastian Janikowski arrived in Oakland in 2000 there were big expectations for the big-legged kicker who was the first specialist drafted in the opening round in 21 years.

A career that began with inconsistent kicking on the field and trouble off it has settled down lately as Janikowski closes in on breaking Hall of Famer George Blanda's career scoring record for the Raiders.

With five points Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, Janikowski would surpass Blanda's mark of 863.

"It's just a number, right?" Janikowski said this week. "It's kind of cool. I'm just proud to be able to break his record. To me it's just a number, but …

Best of city business on award list

The shortlist for the Bath Business Awards will be revealed nextweek.

Judging in the awards organised by The Bath Chronicle and BathRacecourse began yesterday, with 11 categories up for grabs.

The most entries have been received in the Small Business of theYear and Start-up Business of the Year sections. The judging panelis made up of Chronicle owner Bath News & Media managing directorSarah Irvine, Bath Business Improvement District manager AndrewCooper, Chris Simpson of Bath Chamber of Commerce, Steven Greenwood,partner at law firm Stone King, Peter Barton, partner at accountancyfirm Baker Tilly, SouthGate centre manager Simon Pullen, GrahamStreet, …

Bomb Hits U.N. Vehicle in Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon AP) - A bomb hit a U.N. peacekeeping force patrol on a coastal road in southern Lebanon on Monday, a Lebanese security official said, the second such attack targeting the force in less than a month.

The bomb struck the convoy as it was driving through the village of Qassimiyeh near the southern port city of Tyre, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity …

среда, 14 марта 2012 г.

Floyd shows old form, White Sox beat Pirates 2-0

Gavin Floyd allowed two hits over eight innings and Alexei Ramirez homered as the Chicago White Sox rebounded from one of their worst days by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 on Friday night.

Floyd gave the White Sox just what they needed after a day after their franchise record-tying 20-1 trouncing by Minnesota and rejection by Jake Peavy, outpitching Zach Duke to lift the White Sox to just their third win in nine games.

Ramirez singled and scored in the third and led off the eighth with his second homer to make it 2-0. That was enough for Floyd (3-4), who struck out eight and walked two after going 0-3 in his previous five starts. Bobby Jenks pitched a …

US official: Decision on Taiwan F-16 sale by Oct.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The United States will decide by Oct. 1 on Taiwan's long-mooted bid to buy F-16 fighter jets, a senior American official said Friday, and a Washington-based advocate of the deal suggested it would likely be rejected.

The official said the deadline for deciding on the bid, which involves 66 relatively advanced F-16 C/Ds, followed discussions between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, where the planes are assembled.

In exchange for agreeing to the deadline, the official said — and for Clinton arranging for the release of a long-delayed Pentagon report on Taiwan's air force capabilities — Cornyn will remove the …

The National Reading Panel Guidepost: A Review of Reading Outcome Measures for Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

ABSTRACT:

In 2000, the National Reading Panel compiled a definitive report of effective methods for reading instruction. As a population that generally demonstrates numerous problems with reading, students with emotional and behavioral disorders may benefit from the National Reading Panel's published findings. This review examined and compared the number and outcomes of published reading studies for students with emotional and behavioral disorders before and after the release of the panel's report. Results from the 21 studies meeting inclusion criteria indicated a five-fold increase in publication rate since 2000 and a shift from single to multiple reading measures as study …

Rare New Zealand frogs bred on mainland, aids species retention

A rare and threatened species of tiny frog has been found breeding in a New Zealand animal park, meaning its future may now be more secure, researchers said Monday.

The 13 finger nail-sized Maud Island froglets were discovered clinging to the backs of full-grown male frogs at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in the capital Wellington, said researcher Kerri Lukis. The frogs are normally found only on two islands in the Malborough Sounds region of New Zealand's South Island.

"Maud Island frogs have never been found breeding" before, even on their home island, said Lukis, a masters degree student at Victoria University in Wellington.

…

German pilot drama

FARMER Malcolm Weaver (67) is John's nephew and also farms inRegil. This is the tale of what happened to him as a young lad:

"I was born in Chew Magna in 1935 and when aged three we moved tothe Mendips, near Shepton Mallet, where father rented a farm for 10years.

"One morning, when I was about seven, I was woken in the earlyhours by the sound of a plane getting louder and louder. Thinking itwould crash, I dived under the bedclothes for safety and thought'that was it'. Seconds later I heard a thud and knew it had crashed.

"Walking to Stoke St Michael primary school that morning I couldsee the remains of the plane in the field. I arrived to a buzz in …

Musculoskeletal case 1: Presentation / Musculoskeletal case 1: Diagnosis: Lateral discoid meniscus

A 46-year-old woman presented with lateral joint-line discomfort and underwent magnetic resonance imaging. Coronal gradient echo images (Fig. 1) and Tl-weighted sagittal images (Fig. 2) were obtained. What diagnosis would you make?

For the answer, see page 466.

[Author Affiliation]

Section Editor: Peter L. Munk, MD

Submitted …

UK's InterContinental Hotels 1H profit falls

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, the England-based owner of the Holiday Inn hotel chain, said Tuesday that first-half profits fell 26 percent as taxes and administrative costs escalated.

Net profits for the year to June 30 were US$163 million, down from US$219 million in the first six months of 2007.

Although total revenue over the same period rose 14 percent to US$952 million, the increase wasn't enough to combat rising expenses.

Administrative costs increased by 21 percent to US$206 million in the first-half of the year, up from US$170 million in the first-half of last year, as a result of a costly special dividend the company paid to …

Students set a good example to city's schoolchildren

In her latest monthly column, Alex Nicholson-Evans, president ofthe University of Bath Student Union, looks at its work with schools

As exams continue up at the University of Bath, so too does therange of community work our students are taking part in.

This month I will be telling you how our students have beenworking with local schools.

Last week several of our students went into St Stephen's PrimarySchool to support them with their international week. The students,from China, Germany and Belarus, delivered a variety of activitieswith the children to help them learn about different cultures.

Another project is the SIFE School project. SIFE (Students …

Arabian 'unicorn' thrives again in wild

GENEVA (AP) — An environmental group says an animal widely believed to be the source of the unicorn legend is back from the brink of extinction after a successful breeding program.

The Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, said Thursday about 1,000 distinctive wild Arabian or White Oryx now exist in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula.

It credited the success to efforts to breed captive oryx and release them back into the desert. Those efforts began in Oman in 1982, a decade after it is believed the last one was shot in the wild.

The oryx — a large species of antelope with two long horns — is known locally as Al Maha and figures heavily in Arabic poetry and paintings.

When the horns are viewed in profile they can appear as one, like a unicorn.

Fowles Lifts LSU Over Georgia

BATON ROUGE, La. - Sylvia Fowles and LSU made the most of second chances. Kept in check by Georgia in the first half, Fowles came up big with the game on the line, making plays on both ends of the court to give the sixth-ranked Lady Tigers a 57-55 victory Sunday against the 15th-ranked Lady Bulldogs in a Southeastern Conference game.

With the score tied at 55, Fowles had a shot blocked by Tasha Humphrey. But Fowles kept possession after the block and made the winning basket with 53 seconds remaining.

"There's always a second chance," said Fowles, who scored 14 of her 20 points in the second half. "It was a matter of who was going to take it. (Humphrey) blocked it the first time and I got the rebound."

After LSU's Allison Hightower missed the front end of a one-and-one, Humphrey missed a driving layup with 3 seconds remaining.

Humphrey, who was averaging 15 points a game, finished with eight. She credited Fowles' defense on the last possession.

"We set a ball screen," Humphrey said. "Sylvia got off the screen faster than I thought and altered my shot."

Quianna Chaney had 15 points, while Hightower had a season-high 12 for the Lady Tigers (15-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference).

Reserve Christy Marshall led Georgia (13-3, 1-1 ) with 12 points. No Lady Bulldog had more than nine points.

"It was really kind of a poor effort on our part in a lot of ways," Georgia coach Andy Landers said. "The bottom line is we didn't play well enough to win."

вторник, 13 марта 2012 г.

Official: No Survivors in Cameroon Crash

MBANGA-PONGO, Cameroon - An official at the site of the Kenya Airways plane crash said none of the 114 people aboard survived. Aviation officials said Monday the plane nose-dived into a thick mangrove forest over the weekend, disintegrating on impact.

Villagers wielding machetes and chain saws cleared the way Monday for searchers setting out into a central African swamp where the Kenya Airways jetliner crashed Saturday.

The plane had taken off from Douala, Cameroon's commercial capital, and its wreckage was found just 12 miles from the town's outskirts. The cause of the crash remained unclear.

The Nairobi, Kenya-bound plane was carrying 105 passengers and nine crew members from 27 different countries.

Among the passengers was Nairobi-based Associated Press correspondent Anthony Mitchell, who had been on assignment in the region.

Other passengers include executives from the South African cell phone giant MTN and the nephew of Indian tycoon Ramesh Chauhan, the owner of Parle Products, a leading manufacturer of cookies in India.

The wreckage was found southeast of Douala, along the plane's flight path from the Douala airport - more than 40 hours after the Boeing 737-800 lost contact with the airport. The crash site was concealed by a thick canopy of trees, Titus Naikuni, chief executive of Kenya Airways, told a news conference in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi Sunday.

While the site where the plane went down was not remote, it was in a dense and hard-to-access mangrove forest. The road in was dirt track, its ruts filled with water Monday after heavy overnight rains. The last stretch to the site could accommodate only foot traffic - a large Douala airport truck had become mired in the mud overnight.

A U.S. Embassy official who saw the crash site from a plane Monday said it would have been impossible to have found it from the air without coordinates provided by searchers on the ground. He said searchers in planes saw nothing when they flew over before sunset Sunday after hearing reports the plane could have gone down in the swamp.

"It's not what you expect, a bunch of trees knocked down and charred," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. "It's just a big muddy hole, like many others out there."

The U.S. and France are among the nations providing aircraft and other equipment to help the Cameroonians search.

Guiffo Gande Adolphe, a 35-year-old Douala resident, said Monday he went to see what he could do after hearing wreckage had been found, and ended up among a handful of volunteers and soldiers who spent the night at the site. Adolphe said he had seen one body and a body part.

Flight 507 had departed from Douala airport early Saturday, an hour late because of rain. The plane issued a distress call, but then lost contact with the radio tower between 11 and 13 minutes after takeoff, officials said.

It was not immediately clear if the plane deviated at any point from its flight path.

The search initially focused on the thickly forested hills near the town of Lolodorf, about 90 miles southeast of Douala. Officials had been led to believe the plane had crashed in the vast, hard-to-access forest because of an incorrect satellite signal, possibly emitted from the plane, said Sobakam, the meteorology chief.

Fishermen living in the swampy mangroves near the Douala airport reported hearing a loud sound at the time of the crash.

"It was the fishermen ... who led us to the site," Sobakam said. "It's close enough that we could have seen it from the airport - but apparently there was no smoke or fire."

Drenching rains also might have camouflaged the smoldering wreck in the nighttime hours immediately after the crash, officials said.

Officials said it was too early to tell what caused the plane to go down so quickly after takeoff.

"Whatever happened must have happened very fast, which is usually a sign of catastrophic structural failure," said Patrick Smith, a U.S. based-airline pilot and aviation expert.

"A plane never takes off into a thunderstorm, no crew or carrier would allow that," he said. "But it is remotely possible that the plane could have inadvertently gone into some extremely turbulent air and suffered massive hail damage or a sudden structural failure."

One of the many unanswered questions is why the plane stopped emitting signals after an initial distress call. The plane is equipped with an automatic device that should have kept up emissions for another two days.

An exhausted battery could be one reason, said Capt. Paul Mwangi, head of operations for Kenya Airways. "It is very unlikely, but the device can actually be destroyed. The impact would have to be very, very severe," he said Sunday.

Family members of passengers and crew gathered in Nairobi and Douala, many weeping.

"Oh my last born, my last born, where am I going to go?" Kezzia Musimbi Kadurenge, the mother of a missing crew member, said in Kenya. "I'm finished."

Kenya Airways is considered one of the safest airlines in Africa. The Douala-Nairobi flight runs several times a week, and is commonly used as an intermediary flight to Europe and the Middle East. The airline said most passengers were to transfer to ongoing flights in Nairobi.

Naikuni said the plane was only six months old.

The last crash of an international Kenya Airways flight was on Jan. 30, 2000, when Flight 431 was taking off from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on its way to Nairobi. Investigators blamed a faulty alarm and pilot error for that crash, which killed 169 people.

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Associated Press writers Elizabeth A. Kennedy and Tom Maliti in Nairobi, Kenya; Rukmini Callimachi in Dakar, Senegal; and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels, Belgium, contributed to this report.

---

On the Net:

http://www.kenya-airways.com

Car flips on to roof in smash

A Car flipped on to its roof today in a one-vehicle smash.

Emergency services were called to the crash at 8.25am on the B979Westhill to Peterculter road near Wester Ord, Skene.

Grampian Police could not confirm whether or not the femaledriver had been injured.

Olic, Jelavic out for Croatia vs. Malta qualifier

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia will face Malta in Euro 2012 qualifying this month without key strikers Ivica Olic and Nikica Jelavic, who are injured.

Bayern Munich's Olic will have to undergo knee surgery and will be out for at least six months. Jelavic has been sidelined since undergoing ankle surgery last month.

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic said on Tuesday that Lyon defender Dejan Lovren and Dinamo Kiev midfielder Ognjen Vukojevic will also miss the match on Nov. 17 in Zagreb due to yellow cards.

Still, "we will be fully engaged because both the fans and reporters already count on our three points," Bilic said. "I am convinced that we will win that match, the last this year, and end up at No. 1 of our group."

Croatia is second in Group F, and Malta is sixth and last.

To replace the absentees, Bilic introduced new names including Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Milan Badelj and Kaiserslautern striker Srdjan Lakic.

Bilic said the team will most miss Olic, but was convinced that although Olic's surgery "is not easy," he will "give a lot to Bayern and the national team in the rest of the season."

___

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Vedran Runje (Lens), Stipe Pletikosa (Tottenham Hotspur)

Defenders: Vedran Corluka (Tottenham Hotspur), Josip Simunic (Hoffenheim), Gordon Schildenfeld (Sturm), Sime Vrsaljko (Dinamo Zagreb), Ivan Strinic (Hajduk Split), Jurica Buljat (Hajduk Split).

Midfielders: Darijo Srna (Shakhtar), Tomislav Dujmovic (Dinamo Moscow), Ivan Rakitic (Schalke), Danijel Pranjic (Bayern Munich), Luka Modric (Tottenham Hotspur), Niko Kranjcar (Tottenham Hotspur), Milan Badelj (Dinamo Zagreb), Ivo Ilicevic (Kaiserslautern).

Forwards: Eduardo Da Silva (Shakhtar), Mladen Petric (HSV), Mario Mandzukic (Wolfsburg), Mate Bilic (Sporting Gijon), Nikola Kalinic (Blackburn), Srdjan Lakic (Kaiserslautern).

Fla. shop puts spotlight on "players"

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla.-In a business where the main focus is on frames, bumpers, side panels, and fresh paint, body shop manager Nick Chobanian prefers to shine the spotlight on people.

"It's not cars or equipment that are the essential ingredient in this business, but people-both customers and employees. If one group is happy, then so is the other," he said. "Keeping all the players satisfied is the secret to our ongoing success."

For the past eight years, Chobanian has been body shop manager at Mullinax Ford South, located in the Ft. Lauderdale community of Margate. "When I first started here, we occupied a little shop in the back of the dealership. The body shop business eventually grew to the point where we had to move into a larger building off site. Then the company decided to build an all-new shop right here on the main grounds so we could provide better service to Mullinax's customers," he said.

The 40-bay, 40,000-sq.-ft. facility opened its doors in January 1998. It's all state-of-the-art, from the Lemmco sheetmetal plasma cutters and Solar welding equipment to CCC Pathways computer-based estimating systems, Chief EZ Liner S21 pulling racks, Chief Genesis measuring systems and Universal Measuring System. The Garmat paint booth is equipped with a modern fresh-air system as well as a DuPont computerized mixing station.

Top-Notch Staff

To stay on top of the everincreasing number of jobs, Chobanian has added 10 new members to his staff, which now numbers 28. They range from technicians with 30 years' experience to relative newcomers with just three or four years in the industry. "It's harder to get young fellows involved nowadays since many of them believe they can make more money in other lines," he said. "But having a new facility attracts them, plus the fact that we're always very busy-they seem to like working for a company like Mullinax that has a good reputation in the community." The goal is always to hire experienced and well-trained (or highly trainable) people, he added, because "anything less would detract from our primary goal, which is satisfying our customers."

For example, the shop's three estimators are all ASE- and I-CAR-certified, and must have a minimum five years' experience in the automotive field. "But it doesn't necessarily have to be in body repair," Chobanian explained. "Sometimes we get a fresh perspective from people who move over from other areas. I crosstrained two people from the service side, and they have worked out very well."

Like the estimators, his 11 technicians are ASE- and I-CAR-certified. They also have attained county certifications, a requirement in Florida. "This is a highly skilled and dedicated group of professionals," said Chobanian. "They can work on any make and model of virtually any vehicle. They are very, very good."

Keeping Up with Aume Evolution

Once hired, top-quality employees must be retained. Mullinax Ford South pays its people good wages, said Chobanian. "We believe a satisfied employee will produce excellent work, which results in satisfied customers. We try to be flexible with our employees' schedules, and we encourage them to continue their training programs, which benefits the company as well as the individual's own career growth."

Classes that Mullinax Ford South employees attend include I-CAR sessions, many of which are offered at local vocational schools. "We also send people to vendor courses," said Chobanian. "For example, one of our technicians is headed to Chief Automotive to train on the Genesis electronic measuring system. As vehicles become more modular and electronic, we have committed ourselves to staying up-to-date on the mechanical as well as the body side of the business."

Personal Liaisons

The goal of all of these efforts is to produce satisfied customers. "What really sets Mullinax Ford apart is an ability to meet our customers' needs," explained Chobanian. "The moment a client walks into the body shop, he or she is greeted by a receptionist who introduces them to one of three assistant managers. This [person] will be their liaison throughout the entire repair process. The liaison's job includes dealing with insurance companies, setting up repairs and handling all the in-house details from frame, to body, to paint, to detail, to delivery. It's very personalized service."

A hint of that commitment to customer service is the lack of a television in the waiting room. "It's a very comfortable room, but I purposely insisted that there be no TV because I don't want people waiting a long time for service," said Chobanian. "They are either dropping off or picking up or getting an estimate. Our customers' time is valuable, and we want to help them get in, get done and get back out."

Quick vehicle turnaround, he continued, is a primary goal. "The average in the industry is about seven days. We can normally get a customer back in a vehicle in five days, depending on the nature of the damage. If there's a way to get a vehicle out of the shop faster, we'll do it."

However, the shop's quality control process ensures that good work is not sacrificed in the name of speed. During a vehicle's progress through the body shop, the assistant manager is responsible for assuring that everything is done correctly. When the work is finished, he checks the car carefully, point by point. The vehicle is then cleaned before being rechecked by a lead technician, and only then is it delivered to the owner.

For customer convenience, the body shop offers extended hours: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, and half-days on Saturday. Rental cars are also available.

The company's follow-up program encourages customers to provide candid feedback. According to Chobanian, the prevailing theme among the responses has been to thank the company and individual servicers for "great, personalized service" and "for turning a bad experience into a good one."

Problems Resolution

His staff also excels in those rare instances where a client isn't completely satisfied, Chobanian noted. "We all make mistakes, but it's how you handle mistakes that makes you better than the other guy. We believe the bottom line is the ability to work through problems until they are resolved to the customer's satisfaction."

Most of the work comes through insurers. Mullinax Ford South is a preferred auto repair shop for AllState, Maryland Casualty, State Farm and Providian Insurance, as well as a number of others. They also receive word-of-mouth referrals. "In a sense, those are the most gratifying, since they testify to customer satisfaction," Chobanian said.

In the half-year since the new facility opened, business for the body shop has expanded nearly 100 percent, and Chobanian wouldn't be surprised to see that number doubled by the end of the year. But the body shop's success is grounded in much more than its ample floor space and new equipment.

"After 35 years in the industry," he said, "it's great to operate in such a modern set up with the best tools available, but what hasn't ever changed is our commitment to taking good care of everyone who sets foot in the door, whether as an employee or client. That's been our key to success all along."

New directors elected to BAI board

New directors have been named to the BAI board. They are John R. Beran. executive vice president and chief information officer of Comerica Inc., Detroit; Jon N. Couture, executive vice president-corporate human resources for National City Corp., Cleveland; Betty Covvell, executive vice president and director of sales and service-retail and small business at Wachovia Corp., Charlotte, N.C.; James W. Nelson, executive vice president and chief risk officer of Huntington Bancshares Inc., Columbus, Ohio; and Floyd S. Robinson, president-consumer real estate and insurance group at Bank of America, Charlotte, N.C.

Agency sees opportunity with government's suggestion, Some looking into starting survival kit business in W.Va.

WHEELING - When the federal government suggested earlier this yearthat duct tape and plastic sheeting can be helpful after abiological, chemical or radiological attack, employees of an agencyhere detected a business opportunity.

Mike Camden and others at the Robert C. Byrd National TechnologyTransfer Center believe a West Virginia business can be grown fromthe government's suggestion that people be prepared to shelter inplace.

The federal government raised the security alert status to orangein February and advised citizens to prepare an emergency survivalkit. Camden said it was clear after the duct-tape-and-plasticpublicity that a lot of people were interested in acquiring materialsbut many did not know precisely what's needed to shelter in place orhow to go about it.

The Army has distributed a shelter-in-place kit to communitiesaround federal weapons depots in Oregon and Alabama. Meanwhile, theCharleston-based National Institute for Chemical Studies has almost20 years of experience in working with protective actions for thepublic, said Jan Taylor, NICS vice president.

"Around 1991 we first produced a shelter-in-place-in-your-homevideo for citizens here in the Kanawha Valley," Taylor said. "We alsoundertook a research project starting around 1987 to develop aprogram to help emergency responders make decisions about whetherpopulations at risk should shelter in place or evacuate."

Camden said, "NICS has the knowledge, history and data. Ourbusiness accelerator program has the business knowledge and can finda West Virginia company that can turn this into a product we can putout to the public."

The technology transfer center and NICS recently signed anagreement to establish a commercialization framework for developingshelter-in-place kits and related materials.

Camden said the transfer center's business accelerator programwill use the Army kit as a basis for developing kits that can helpprotect people at home, school and work. The kits will help protectpeople in the event of an accidental chemical release as well as inthe event of a release caused by terrorists, he said.

The Army kit contains 100 square feet of 6 millimeter plastic,duct tape, scissors, a towel, an instructional video, an informationbooklet and a coloring book.

Camden said the kit to be developed for sale to the public willprobably include a flashlight. Also, the technology transfer centerhas entered into an agreement with NICS to produce a new video andinformation packet.

Michael Lucey, the technology transfer center's emergency responsetechnology program manager, said a company could make a business outof buying and assembling the kits, processing orders and packing andshipping them.

"There's proven science out there, which is lacking right now inthe marketplace," Lucey said. "People who want to be prepared mayknow to buy plastic but may not know how many mills thick the plasticshould be."

Lots of products are currently being marketed but consumers haveno way of knowing whether a product will truly work, Camden and Luceysaid.

"The market is filled with snake-oil salesmen," said StevenInfanti of the technology transfer center's public affairs office.

"Now there's no one to credential a product or service," Luceysaid. "The consumer is at the mercy of the manufacturer's claims."

The NICS stamp of approval will give consumers confidence that theinformation and products in the kit are based on science. "That's ourace," Lucey said. "No one else has that credential."

Camden and Lucey hope a company in the Northern Panhandle will beidentified within six months to assemble and market the kits. Theyalso hope the business expands. They believe the chosen company couldeventually provide training by NICS-approved instructors to customerswho are not comfortable just viewing a video.

For example, customized training may be needed for schools andnursing homes, Lucey said.

There is a market for training. Taylor said the NICS trainingprogram, revised and placed on a compact disc, "has been amazinglypopular. We go out and provide the training for a fee. We'vedistributed over 5,000 of those compact discs to every state in theUnited States and even to people outside the country."

Lucey said a business also might remind customers when kit partsneed checked and when batteries should be replaced. In addition,customers could be notified when new products are available thatcould enhance their kit. "The company doing this will know what thecustomer has in their kit," he noted.

"The company that comes into the business accelerator will havethe product with the NICS stamp of approval," Camden said. "We'reproviding a conduit to get this product out there."

The National Technology Transfer Center at Wheeling JesuitUniversity helps federal agencies identify commercially promisingdiscoveries, market them to businesses and build partnerships thatturn inventions into products. NICS is a nonprofit organization thathelps communities manage safety, health and environmental risksassociated with the manufacture, storage, transportation and disposalof chemicals.

Writer George Hohmann can be reached at 348-4836 or by e-mail atbusiness@dailymail.com.

Binet, Jean

Binet, Jean, Swiss composer; b. Geneva, Oct. 17, 1893; d. Trélex, Feb. 24, 1960. He studied in Geneva at the Univ. and at the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze; after training with Otto Barban, William Montillet, and George Templeton Strong, he completed his studies with Bloch in N.Y., whom he helped to found the Dalcroze Rhythmic School and then the Cleveland Cons. He taught the Dalcroze method in Brussels (1923–29) before settling in Trélex; later was president of the Société Suisse des Auteurs et Editeurs (1951–60). His output was marked by a refined Gallic quality.

Works

DRAMATIC: Ballet L'Ile enchantée (1947); Le printemps (1950). OTHER: Incidental music. ORCH Concertino for Small Orch. (1927); Suite d'airs et danses populaires suisses for Small Orch. (1931); Divertissement for Violin and Small Orch. (1934; also for Violin and Piano); 4 danses (1936); 3 pièces for Strings (1939); Cartes postales for Small Orch. (1940); Musique de mai (1943); 6 pièces enfantines for Small Orch. (1947); Prélude symphonique (1949); Petit concert for Clarinet and Strings (1950; also for Clarinet and Piano); Suite grisonne for Small Orch. (1951). CHAMBER: String Quartet (1927); Flute Sonatine (1942); Kaval for Flute and Piano (1945); Sonate brève for Violin and Piano (1946); 3 dialogues for 2 Flutes (1957); Variations sur un chant de Noël for Bassoon and Piano (1957). VOCAL: Choral music and songs.

Bibliography

Hommage à J. B. (Nyon, 1961).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

DEATHS IN THE NEWS

Carl W. Larsen, 74, a former Chicago Sun-Times investigativereporter who traded a career in journalism for public affairs work,died July 31 in Poway, Calif. A prize-winning journalist, he coveredstories ranging from the 1952 presidential campaigns of Dwight D.Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson to the hazards of radiation. In 1949,he won the Chicago Newspaper Guild's Page One Award for a series ofinvestigative stories on would-be auto magnate Preston Tucker. Mr.Larsen left the paper in 1957, after which he devoted his career topublic affairs for the University of Chicago, the SmithsonianInstitution and the IRS. Ewing M. Kauffman, 76, the innovative owner of the Kansas CityRoyals baseball team, died last Sunday in Mission Hills, Kan. Mr.Kauffman, a wealthy pharmaceutical executive, purchased the rightsfor one of two expansion teams in the American League in 1968. Hegained a reputation for minimizing his role in determining how histeam played the game. In 1980, he made an unprecedented move. Afterhis Royals lost the World Series to the Philadelphia Phillies, heannounced that the team would cut off season-ticket sales at 15,000in order to make single-game seats available. Edward Breck, 86, who developed a shampoo and led a small laboratoryinto a nationally known hair-care products company, died July 30 inWatch Hill, R.I. In 1929, Mr. Breck joined his father's Springfield,Mass., laboratory, which produced creams and tonics. He developedBreck shampoo and a number of other scalp treatments before enlistinga Springfield artist, Charles Sheldon, to create the company'ssignature advertising feature, the "Breck Girls" and the slogan"Beautiful Hair Breck," which catapulted the Breck name into ahousehold word. He sold the company in 1963 but remained with thenew owners until 1970. Albert Dahlberg, 84, a University of Chicago professor with aninternational reputation in the field of dental anthropology, diedJuly 31 in Franklin Grove, Ill. He collected hundreds of thousandsof casts of teeth from field research of Native Americans in Alaskaand across the world. He established the university's anthropologydepartment as a leading center for the anthropological study of teethwhich led to him helping police identify crime victims. From 1936 to1988, he had a private dental practice. He joined the Hyde Parkschool in 1949 and retired in 1974. Hans Lowey, 86, who invented pills that prolong a drug's releaseover many hours, died Wednesday in Port Chester, N.Y. A self-taughtchemist, he experimented with formulas on his stove at home. Duringthe early 1950s, he developed his process to prevent the nausea thatsoldiers in the Korean War often suffered when taking large-dose salttablets to help retain water. By coating the salt with cellulose, heextended digestion of the tablets to as long as 12 hours, and thegradual absorption prevented the side effects. In 1985, Mr. Loweyinvented a process to extend it beyond 12 hours. Ronald S. Wronski, 70, the former chief deputy sheriff for the CookCounty Sheriff's office, died Monday in Park Ridge. In 1971, CookCounty Sheriff Richard J. Elrod appointed Mr. Wronski chief deputy ofthe civil process division, which executes court orders such asevictions, summonses and subpoenas. Mr. Wronski was a DemocraticParty stalwart for more than three decades. In his 45th Ward, heserved as a precinct representative, and ward secretary andtreasurer. Edward E. Bluthardt, 76, a lawyer who served as mayor of SchillerPark for eight terms and as state representative for 16 years, diedTuesday in Chicago. Mr. Bluthardt, a Republican, was first electedmayor in 1961. During his 32 years in office, Schiller Park'spopulation grew from 5,000 to 14,000. From 1967 to 1983, he servedhis 5th District in the legislature, while practicing law in FranklinPark. Specializing in municipal law, he helped incorporate theVillage of Rosemont and the North Leyden Fire Protection District.He retired as mayor last spring and from private practice in theearly 1970s. Dr. William G. Niederland, 88, a psychoanalyst whose observations offormer death-camp inmates led him to formulate the "survivorsyndrome" as a distinct condition, died July 30 in Englewood, N.J. Arefugee of Nazi Germany, Dr. Niederland first described the "survivorsyndrome" in 1961 to help people in distress. He later lectured, andwrote more than 200 books and articles on the subject. His conceptnot only was derived from patients who survived the camps, but alsoincluded those who survived natural disasters and automobileaccidents. Some of the symptoms he found were insomnia, nightmares,depressive states, and personality changes. Dr. Mary Albright Annan, 79, who dedicated her career to the care ofcritically ill infants, died Monday in Aurora. Dr. Annan, whopracticed under her maiden name, joined the Chicago Board of Healthin 1967. Until she retired in 1979, she worked with high-riskinfants at board clinics. She served her residencies at the MayoClinic and Children's Memorial Hospital. After working three yearsas a pediatrician for the University of Chicago Lab Schools, shebegan raising a family, but returned to medicine in 1967. Elmar Klos, 83, a Czech movie director who shared an academy awardin 1965, died July 19 in Prague. Along with director Jan Kadar, Mr.Klos shared an Oscar for the best foreign-language film, "The Shop onMain Street," one of the few pictures made in Central Europe thatdealt candidly with the persecution of Jews in the Nazi era. Thepair's other films include "The Accused" and "Adrift." Mr. Klos wasa leader in the New Wave of Czechoslovak films during the 1960s.

понедельник, 12 марта 2012 г.

New military clashes in Sri Lanka kill 30

Sri Lankan soldiers attacked Tamil Tiger rebel bunkers along the northern front lines, triggering separate gunbattles that killed 27 guerrillas and three soldiers, the military said Monday.

Fighting has escalated in recent months on the Indian Ocean island, with the military capturing a series of rebel bases and large chunks of territory. Officials have pledged to crush the guerrillas by the end of the year.

In the latest fighting, soldiers destroyed three bunkers and captured four others Sunday after battles that killed 15 rebels near the rebels' administrative capital of Kilinochchi, the military said in a statement.

Separate clashes in the same area killed four rebels and one soldier, it said.

The military has said they are closing in on Kilinochchi and its forces are about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from the outskirts of the town.

In the northern Jaffna peninsula, troops killed four rebels along the front lines while a rebel mortar attack killed two soldiers, the statement said.

Clashes in Mullaitvu killed four rebels and wounded one soldier, it said.

With nearly all communications to the north severed, a rebel spokesman could not be contacted for comment.

Independent verification of the military's claims is nearly impossible because most journalists are banned from the war zone. Both sides routinely exaggerate enemy losses and underreport their own.

The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to create an independent homeland for the country's ethnic minority Tamils, who have faced marginalization by successive governments controlled by ethnic Sinhalese.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence.

NKorea wants back 2 citizens found in South waters

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Wednesday demanded the return of two of its citizens found on a small wooden boat in South Korean waters, a day after nine other North Koreans spotted off Japan's coast were sent to the South for settlement.

More than 21,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953, with defections surging in recent years amid economic hardship in the North.

Defections are a sore point in relations between the divided Koreas; South Korea accepts those who choose to defect and repatriates those who wish to return home. But the North often claims that its citizens are held against their will in the South and that South Korean officials pressure them to defect.

On Wednesday, the North's Red Cross sent a message demanding that South Korea repatriate the two North Korean men found south of the eastern Korean sea border earlier this week, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry.

Officials were investigating whether the North Koreans intended to defect or had simply drifted south, and South Korea will honor their wishes, spokeswoman Park Soo-jin said.

In June, North Korea reacted angrily when South Korea refused to send back a group of nine North Koreans who crossed into South Korean waters by boat, citing their desire to defect. Earlier this year, Seoul allowed four of 31 North Koreans who had drifted south aboard a boat to remain in South Korea.

On Tuesday, nine North Koreans arrived in South Korea about three weeks after they were found on a wooden boat off the coast of Japan. Tokyo decided to honor their wishes to be sent to South Korea.

South Korean television footage showed the defectors wearing sunglasses, masks and hoods in an apparent attempt to conceal their identifies to protect the safety of their families left behind in the North. Those family members could be punished because of their relatives' defections.

North Korea has not officially commented on the nine defectors.

The two Koreas remain technically at war and their border is among the world's most fortified, meaning North Koreans seeking to flee often leave through the relatively porous frontier with China, some making their way to South Korea through Southeast Asia. Defection through Japan is rare.

Tens of thousands North Koreans are believed to be hiding in China, which is required to send them back under a treaty arrangement with Pyongyang. A South Korean civic group said that China arrested 35 North Korean defectors in border towns last month and is prepared to send them home, where severe punishment likely awaits.

South Korean officials were to visit China this week to try to verify the claim and stop any moves to repatriate the 35 defectors against their wishes, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Deathsofnote

Christopher Fry

LONDON - Playwright Christopher Fry, a Christian humanist whohelped T.S. Eliot revive verse drama in the 1940s and who was one ofthe people credited with helping to write the script for "Ben Hur,"died June 30 in Chichester, said his son, Tam Fry. He was 97.

A master of whimsical comic verse, Fry's best-known plays, "TheLady's Not for Burning" (1948) and "Venus Observed" (1949), have asense of benign providence and hope for humanity that struck a chordin a world still coming to terms with news of the Holocaust and theuse of the atom bomb.

Fry trained as a teacher and taught for a number of years beforequitting to found the Tunbridge Wells Repertory Players in 1932,directing the English premier of George Bernard Shaw's "VillageWooing."

Fame came with the staging of his 1948 play, "The Lady's Not ForBurning," which made it to London's West End with John Gielgudplaying the former soldier Thomas Mendip who longs for death, andPamela Brown as an alleged witch who is trying to escape beingburned. Claire Bloom and Richard Burton had supporting roles.

In 1950, Fry produced "Venus Observed" for Lawrence Olivier'sdebut as actor/manager at London's St. James's Theatre; it tells thetale of a duke who asks his son to choose a stepmother from hisfather's paramours.

In the late 1950s, Fry turned to film scripts, rewriting WilliamWyler's film of "Ben Hur" and scripting "Barabbas" for Dino DeLaurentis.

He continued to write plays, and in 2000 penned "A Ringing ofBells," which was later staged at the National Theatre in London. Hewas awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for poetry in 1962.

Pierre Michelot

PARIS - Jazz bassist Pierre Michelot, who recorded with MilesDavis and arranged music for Chet Baker, has died, a fellow musiciansaid Monday. He was 77.

The bass player, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, died inParis on Sunday, said pianist Rene Urtreger, a member of Michelot'slongtime jazz trio, HUM.

Michelot played with Davis on one of the great soundtracks of the1950s - Louis Malle's classic thriller "Ascenseur pour L'Echafaud"(Elevator to the Gallows). He recorded with artists including StanGetz, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke and Django Reinhardt,and he arranged music for Baker's 1955-56 Barclay sessions in Paris.

Michelot was considered Europe's best jazz bassist in the secondhalf of the 1950s, Urtreger said.

"He had a magnificent natural sound, clear, deep and true,"Urtreger said.

Alison Reindl, National Expert in Franchising Potential

Alison Reindl, 29, a nationally known expert in franchisingpotential, died Monday in Olympia Fields Osteopathic Hospital,Olympia Fields.

A Flossmoor resident, she died from injuries suffered in a July27 auto accident.

Mrs. Reindl recently had been named an executive vice presidentof Francorp, a management consulting firm that specializes infranchising. Based in Olympia Fields, Francorp has offices in NewYork, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires and Mexico City.

Mrs. Reindl was an expert in evaluating the franchise potentialof companies. She analyzed businesses to determine whether they hadthe financial strength, executive talents, profitability andmarketing expertise to expand through franchising. Francorp'sclients included Texaco, Popeye's Fried Chicken and Valvoline, amongothers.

As a franchising authority, she appeared on television andradio, She also was featured in such magazines as Entrepreneur andEntrepreneurial Woman, and she conducted seminars across the country.

"She was a bright, energetic, vivacious young woman," saidExecutive Vice President Mark Siebert. "She was the best salesman weever had. She had more energy than anybody I've ever known. She wasso alive, so active."

Mrs. Reindl joined Francorp in 1982 as an intern in the clientservices department. She rose to become a franchise analyst and vicepresident of client service in 1992.

A graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School, she received abachelor's degree in marketing and a master's in businessadministration from DePaul University.

Mrs. Reindl was an avid golfer. She was a member of MidlothianCountry Club women's golf team and was club champion last year.

Surviving are her husband, Ronald; her parents, Donald and SallyBoroian; two sisters, Debra Callaway and Susan Moninger; twobrothers, Michael and Patrick, and her maternal grandmother, MinnieZimmerman.

Visitation will be from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. today at HirschFuneral Home, 1340 Otto Blvd., Chicago Heights. Mass will be offeredat 10 a.m. in Infant Jesus of Prague Catholic Church, 1131 FlossmoorRd., Flossmoor. Burial will be in Assumption Cemetery, 19500 S.Cottage Grove Ave., Glenwood.

UN Command to repatriate rescued NKorean officer

A North Korean army sergeant rescued at sea by the South Korean navy over the weekend will be sent back to the North, officials said Tuesday.

The repatriation arrangements were made after the officer was cleared of spying, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

The North Korean officer was plucked from a small boat that drifted Sunday into South Korean waters off the divided peninsula's western coast, officials said.

The North Korean officer reportedly told investigators he had been fishing when his boat strayed southward. The waters off the western coast are considered a rich crabbing area but have been the scene of three deadly naval skirmishes in the past decade, including one gunbattle last month.

During questioning, the soldier expressed the desire to be sent back home. He is to be repatriated Wednesday from the border village of Panmunjom, the U.N. Command said in a statement Tuesday.

The U.S.-run U.N. Command oversees the armistice that ended the three-year Korean War in 1953. The two Koreas remain technically at war since the truce has not been replaced by a peace treaty.

North Korea disputes the western maritime border drawn by United Nations, and the rival Koreas fought a brief but deadly gunbattle last month off the west coast not far from where the North Korean military officer was found.

One North Korean officer was killed and three others were wounded in the November gunfight, according to South Korean military officials.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been high this year, with North Korea carrying out nuclear and missile tests, but Pyongyang has reached out recently to Seoul and Washington. President Barack Obama is to send a special envoy to Pyongyang next week to try to entice North Korea to return to international nuclear disarmament talks.

Accused under house arrest

A Man has been put under curfew after he appeared in court inconnection with an alleged dangerous driving incident.

George McKinley was released on bail but with the specialcondition of a 24-hour curfew. It is alleged he drove dangerously onAberdeen's Lang Stracht on November 13.

The 27-year-old appeared in private at Aberdeen Sheriff Courtyesterday, where he also faced another two charges of driving whiledisqualified and without insurance.

McKinley, whose address was given in court papers as 58Kittybrewster Square, Aberdeen, made no plea or declaration. Hisbail condition allows him to attend pre-arranged appointments.

The charges come after a crash at the Lang Stracht around 8pm onTuesday. McKinley and Ben Mitchell, 18, of Sheddocksley, had to becut free from the wreckage of a Honda Prelude after it was in acrash with a Vauxhall Corsa.

среда, 7 марта 2012 г.

A&M gets its way, wins on refs' double reverse

Andy Leatherman's layup at the buzzer was ruled good, no good andthen good again, giving Texas A&M a controversial 88-86 victory overTexas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. The game was delayed 39 minutes whenthe Aggies refused to play an overtime.

Official Charles Range originally ruled that Leatherman's basketwas good, setting off a storm of protest from Texas Tech coach JamesDickey and his players. The three game officials consulted a TVreplay and then reversed the call, leaving the teams tied at the endof regulation.

This time it was A&M coach Melvin Watkins who protested, keepinghis team in its dressing room and refusing to play the extra period.

Thirty-nine minutes later, the call was reversed again, restoringthe basket and the Texas A&M victory.

"(Range) said, `Melvin, the basket is good,' " Watkins said. "Atthat point, I told my team to go to the locker room and go. What elsedid we have to wait around for?"

Range said he never told Watkins the game was over. Watkinsadmitted officials at one point seemed hesitant about how to rule thegame's final shot, but he was confident his team won.

"It's a victory," he said. "The officials say it's a victory."

Texas Tech (9-4, 0-2 Big 12) said it would file a report to theBig 12.

"We'll just wait and see what happens with the appeals process,"Dickey said. "We believe there should have been an overtime, andthere was not an overtime."

The last time A&M (5-9, 1-2) won a game at Lubbock was 1994, whena last-second basket triggered a brawl.

UCLA 71, No. 13 North Carolina 68: Ryan Bailey got zero for stylepoints, but a perfect 10 for results.

Bailey banked in two free throws with 14.9 seconds left as theBruins (10-4) beat the Tar Heels (11-6) in Chapel Hill, N.C.

UCLA won a close one after losing two one-point games this season.North Carolina lost its second nonconference home game of the season,the first time that has happened since the mid-1940s. North Carolinaalso lost to Michigan State 86-76 on Dec. 1.

No. 15 Texas 79, No. 16 Oklahoma 66: Gabe Muoneke scored 30points, including 20 in the second half, as the Longhorns (11-4, 3-0Big 12) beat the Sooners (14-2, 2-1) in Austin, Texas.

Muoneke was 12-of-14 from the field and 6-of-9 from the line forTexas, which took advantage of the physical game by going 28-of-34from the line.

Georgia Tech 69, No. 18 Maryland 68: Shaun Fein scored 17 pointsfor Georgia Tech, including two critical free throws with 53 secondsremaining, and the Terrapins couldn't get off a shot at the end asthe Yellow Jackets (8-7, 1-2 ACC) prevailed in Atlanta.

Juan Dixon scored a career-high 31 points and blocked a shot byFein with about 15 seconds left. Maryland (11-5, 0-3) got the ballback to Dixon, who drove in the lane but had the ball knocked away asthe clock ran out.

St. Bonaventure 57, No. 23 Temple 56: J.R. Bremer's three-pointerwith 2.8 seconds left gave the Bonnies (12-2, 4-0 Atlantic 10) thevictory over the Owls (9-4, 3-1) in Olean, N.Y.

St. Bonaventure didn't lead in the second half until Bremer madethe game-winning basket.

Vanderbilt 65, No. 24 LSU 62: James Strong scored a career-high 22points, and the Commodores (12-1, 3-1) defeated their third rankedopponent in 10 days with a victory over the Tigers (13-1, 1-3) inNashville, Tenn.

Marquette 66, No. 25 Louisville 64: Jon Harris hit a layup with20.1 seconds left in overtime, and the Golden Eagles (10-5, 3-1Conference USA) defeated their second ranked opponent in four dayswith a victory over the reeling Cardinals (10-5, 2-2) in Milwaukee.

Texas-Pan American 79, Oral Roberts 62: Texas-Pan American (7-9)ended its NCAA-record 64-game road losing streak by beating OralRoberts in Tulsa, Okla. WOMEN

No. 6 Notre Dame 71, Syracuse 56: Niele Ivey scored a season-high22 points and had eight assists, leading the Fighting Irish (13-2, 4-0 Big East) to their 16th consecutive home victory.