Daily Challenge 9-7-11

LOWER MANHATTAN: RISING FROM THE ASHES - PG. 2 NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION

THE NATION’S ONLY BLACK DAILY 35 Cents

Final

CO UNC I L MA N: DETAINED B EC AU S E OF R A CE

A day after the confrontation with police at the West demanding changes in the way the NYPD treats Indian Day Parade, City Councilman Jumaane Black people. Photo: Lem Peterkin Williams (above) held a news conference yesterday SEE PAGE 3.

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DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

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N E W S B RI E F S SEABROOK CALLS ON THE NYS ATTORNEY GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE COMPLAINTS City Council Member Larry B. Seabrook called on the New York State Attorney General to investigate the historical and systematic illegal and discriminatory media buying policies of Madison Avenue advertising agencies.

“Clearly, the media buying policies as practiced by Madison Avenue advertising agencies are in violation of the restraint-of-trade statutes which can be found in the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. “Therefore, the New York Attorney general must act with a sense of urgency and obtain economic justice for minority broadcasters and publishers. New York Metropolitan Area broadcasters and publishers must receive their “fair share” of radio and print advertising dollars.

The attorney general must force these Madison Avenue advertising agencies to end their collective Jim Crow policies of redlining, and marginalizing minority broadcasters and publishers,” stated Councilman Seabrook.

Councilman Seabrook said that he would encourage the New York State Attorney General to join with the NYC Council, NYC Human Rights Commission, the Office of the NYC Comptroller and members of the New York City Congressional delegation and New York State Legislature in defending and advancing the rights of minority New York Metropolitan Area broadcasters and publishers.

LAWMAKER PUSHES TO DECLARE WTC CROSS A NATIONAL MONUMENT Staten Island Representative Michael Grimm wants a symbol of the World Trade Center recovery to be declared a national monument and plans to introduce legislation.

The measure would make the socalled World Trade Center Cross a national symbol and secure its place in the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

Grimm said the cross has become a symbol of hope for those dealing with the loss and destruction left behind by the terror attacks.

The move is in response to a lawsuit filed in July by the group American Atheists, which wants to block the cross’ installation. Representatives of the group say a religious symbol shouldn’t hold a prominent place inside a public institution.

NYPD REPORT ON CRIME IN CITY SCHOOLS IS LATE Police have missed a deadline on releasing the number of arrests in city schools.

Officials from the New York Civil Liberties Union say the department is 30 days late releasing data on what 5,000 police officers are doing in public schools.

The department is required to release the information under the Student Safety Act. Police claim they are behind because they need to be as accurate as possible.

They said the process of collecting and analyzing the data is complicated.

Lower Manhattan: Rising from the ashes

By ILAINA JONAS and EDITH HONAN A decade after the September 11 attacks enveloped Lower Manhattan in a thick gray dust of pulverized buildings and human remains, the surrounding area has become a trendy neighborhood with a booming population.

Although an iconic part of the New York City skyline and a symbol of New York’s exuberant commercialism, the World Trade Center’s twin towers were never much loved by locals, some of whom saw them as unattractive and out of scale with the surrounding area. Now from the horror and rubble, a new community is growing.

“It feels like one of the happiest and most rejuvenated places in the city,” said Greg Boyd, a 37-year old lawyer preparing to move into a $4,000-amonth, 500 square-foot studio in Frank Gehry’s new tower, five minutes from the site of the complex destroyed in the 2001 attacks.

“I’ve seen (the neighborhood) change from a very sleepy commercial area to a family-friendly, young couple- and single-friendly place,” Boyd said.

The neighborhood, once dominated by bankers who fled after the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange, also is attracting high-profile media companies. Conde Nast, publisher of Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, will move into One World Trade Center when it opens in late 2014 or early 2015.

Four new skyscrapers, a memorial and park are due to be completed on the 16-acre (6.5 hectare) site of the attacks by 2015 or 2016, said developer Larry Silverstein.

One World Trade Center, the tallest of the buildings, is being developed by the Durst Organization and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the land. Silverstein, who held the ground lease on the original site, is developing the other buildings and has completed the adjacent 7 World Trade Center, which opened in 2006.

With space and financial constraints curbing new construction

elsewhere in Manhattan, Lower Manhattan has become the epicenter of state-of-the-art construction involving some of the world’s top architects, including Gehry.

A rebuilt and upgraded World Trade Center transportation hub and the new underground Fulton Street Transit Center will connect Lower Manhattan to nearly all areas of the island, as well as to commuters from Long Island and New Jersey.

Perhaps the biggest change is a revamped World Trade Center design that corrects that original towers’ biggest flaw: a fortress-like design in the heart of downtown.

“It is a statement about what the possibilities are for New York City in the 21st century,” said Mary Ann Tighe, chief executive of the Tri-State Region for CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. Tiffany, Hermes, La Maison du Chocolat and other high-end retailers have already opened in the area. By the time the new World Trade Center opens, there will be more than half a million square feet of additional stores and restaurants.

So far, $11.3 billion of federal money, mostly in the form of direct aid and tax breaks, has been used to rebuild the center, according to New York’s Independent Budget Office.

With its narrow, winding streets, Lower Manhattan, the oldest part of the city, is rich in political and cultural history ranging from the American Revolution to abstract Expressionism.

Painters Jackson Pollock and Robert Rauschenberg had studios there.

Best known as the center of U.S. finance, the area’s financial district started to change in the 1960s when Wall Street businesses began their

march uptown to Midtown’s newer skyscrapers.

The original World Trade Center, opened in 1973, was built to revitalize the office market in the financial district — historically a bustling money center by day when the New York Stock Exchange was open, but a veritable ghost town at night. But it never really succeeded, due partly to a design often derided as a cement fortress.

“It was in New York but not of New York,” said Ken Jackson, Columbia University professor and editor of the Encyclopedia of New York City. “The thing about New York that makes it so special is the street life — being able to duck into a delicatessen or a grocery store. You couldn’t do that in the World Trade Center. It was a wall.”

Over time, the twin towers became an indelible part of the Manhattan skyline, serving as playground for the fictional Spider-Man and King Kong and the real-life exploits of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit, whose 1974 tightrope walk was celebrated in the film “Man on Wire.”

After the towers were destroyed in Al Qaeda’s hijacked plane attack, residents and businesses fled the neighborhood.

“There was this massive departure on 9/11,” Silverstein said. “The fumes were horrible. The environment was terrible. There were government troops all over the place. It was a war zone. It was terrible.”

The new design — facing a city of more than 8 million critics — was intended to weave the complex of buildings back into the fabric of downtown.

Westfield Group, which operated the underground mall in the original World Trade Center, is in a joint venture with the Port Authority to spend $1.25 billion to build more than 364,000 square feet of retail space at the World Trade Center complex and transportation hub.

At the adjacent 8 million-squarefoot World Financial Center, Brookfield Office Properties Inc. plans to spend $250 million to expand the retail areas to 200,000 square feet of stores and restaurants focused on downtown residents and visitors as well as office workers.

At least 100 homes damaged by storms near Atlanta

By STEVE GORMAN ATLANTA — At least 100 homes were damaged by thundershowers and possible tornadoes that raked Atlanta’s northern suburbs on Monday as the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee moved inland, but no serious injuries were reported.

Local fire officials said the turbulent weather struck Cherokee County at about 3 p.m. local time, downing power lines, snapping utility poles, uprooting trees, shattering glass and shearing roofs and siding from buildings.

The damage extended from the city of Woodstock at the south end of the county to the town of Ball Ground at its northern edge.

“It was a pretty long stretch,

about 14, maybe 15 miles,” said Tim Cavender, spokesman for the Cherokee County Fire Department.

He said at least 100 homes sustained damage in the area, mostly from high winds, and “there may be more.”

A fire department lieutenant reached by telephone said that number was “about right.”

“It’s significant,” added Howard Baker, a spokesman for the county sheriff’s department. “We’ve got numerous homes and commercial businesses with varying degrees of damage.”

Fallen trees crushed cars and buildings, he added, describing the overall damage as widespread but far from devastating.

“I’m not aware of any homes that were demolished,” he said.

One man who sought refuge in his basement was slightly injured by debris that fell on him and was taken to an area hospital “to be checked out,” Cavender said.

He and Baker said some damage appeared to have been caused by tornadoes when severe thunderstorms rolled through the area, but it would take another day to confirm any tornado activity.

The county as a whole lies roughly 20 to 40 miles north of Atlanta, the state capital.

The National Weather Service earlier on Monday issued tornado watch advisories in parts of several states, including Georgia, as Tropical Storm Lee continued to lash the Gulf Coast and the Southeast as it weakened after making landfall early on Sunday in southern Louisiana.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Councilman Jumaane Williams says he was detained by NYPD because of race A day after the confrontation with police at the West Indian Day Parade, City Councilman Jumaane Williams yesterday demanded changes in the way the NYPD treats Black people.

“This is not going to be an antipolice rally because that benefits no one,” Williams said. “We want policies and procedures to change.”

Williams and Kirsten John Foy, director of community affairs for Public Adovocate Bill de Blasio, were stopped by the police Monday as they attempted to leave the parade.

A spokesman said Williams and Foy were stopped by police while trying to enter a blocked-off street near the parade route. A crowd had formed in the area and someone apparently punched a police captain on the scene.

In a statement, the NYPD said Williams and Foy were handcuffed, brought across the street and held there until their identities were established. They were later released and no charges were filed.

Video of their detention shows police tumbling Foy to the ground.

Williams, who was wearing his council lapel pin at the time of the confrontation, said he thinks it happened because he is a “35-year-old Black man with dreadlocks.”

The National Action Network condemned the “forceful arrests” and are urging strong disciplinary

Mayor Michael Bloomberg blamed illegal handguns for a shooting that killed three people and wounded two police officers a few blocks from the route of the annual West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn, saying federal officials have not had the “courage” to take steps to control gun use.

Bullet fragments hit one police officer in the left arm and chest Monday night. He was hospitalized but was expected to survive. Another officer was grazed by a bullet. Two shooters were killed along with a bystander, 56-year-old Denise Gay, who was shot while sitting on a stoop with her daughter nearby, two doors down from the exchange of gunfire.

Bloomberg said yesterday Gay’s death was “a senseless murder, and another painful reminder I think of what happens when elected officials in Washington fail to take the problem of illegal guns seriously.”

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the gunman who killed Gay had an extensive criminal history, including criminal possession of a firearm and assault and drug charges.

“This is a national problem requiring national leadership,” Bloomberg said, “but at the moment neither end of Pennsylvania Avenue has had the courage to take basic steps that would

Fewer Americans smoke, pace of decline slowing

By JULIE STEENHUYSEN

actions against the officers involved in the incident.

“I am very concerned that the officers escalated this situation needlessly, even as two public servants were trying to show identification,” said De Blasio in a statement. “I am calling for an investigation to get to

the bottom of any police misconduct that occurred.”

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly met with Williams and Foy Monday night and has an ordered an investigation into the incident.

Photo: Lem Peterkin

Bloomberg blames guns for violence after parade

By KAREN ZRAICK and VERENA DOBNIK

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save lives.”

The gunshots rang out just after 9 p.m. Monday in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood after the hours-long parade, which also was marred by fatal shootings in 2003 and 2005. Post-parade parties are common, but police wouldn’t say if Monday’s fatal shooting was related to the parade.

The shootings started as an exchange between two armed men, and when officers who had been assigned to parade duties arrived at the scene, they were fired upon and returned fire, police said.

Witnesses said the shooting went on for at least 30 seconds. Thomas Kaminsky, who lives near where the shootings occurred, said it sounded like machine-gun fire outside his building.

Earlier Monday, as revelers filled the streets in colorful costumes during the parade, gun violence brought the festivities to a stop in spots, scattering the panicked crowd. Police said four people were shot and wounded along the parade route and a 15-yearold boy was grazed by a bullet nearby.

A City Council member was briefly detained after getting into a confrontation with police after the parade.

The holiday weekend was particularly violent and included a Sunday shooting in the Bronx in which eight people, including children, were wounded. Four other people were

shot, one fatally, in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn early Monday.

The upcoming 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks and holiday weekend violence had put the city “on heightened alert,” Kelly said before the parade stepped off.

Police helicopters hovered overhead during the parade, and officers on scooters and on foot patrolled the surrounding blocks.

Bloomberg held a news conference early yesterday morning at a Brooklyn hospital where Officer Omar Medina, 36, was being treated for his arm and chest wounds. Officer Avichaim Dicken, whose arm was grazed, was at a second hospital.

Bloomberg said he and Kelly had been discussing the problem of illegal guns on Monday morning and how there is an urgent need for federal action.

He said New York City has had four of its safest years “because we have taken unprecedented steps to stem the flow of illegal guns onto our streets. But we cannot do it alone.”

Before the violence Monday, the parade thundered down a Brooklyn thoroughfare with its usual colorful, musical energy.

The annual Labor Day parade celebrates the culture of the Caribbean islands and is one of the city’s largest outdoors events. Modeled on traditional Carnival festivities, it features dancers wearing enormous feathered costumes, music and plenty of food.

CHICAGO — Fewer American adults are smoking cigarettes, and those who still smoke have cut back on the number of cigarettes they smoke, but the rate of decline has begun to slow, health experts said yesterday.

Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, killing an estimated 443,000 Americans each year.

“Any decline in the number of people who smoke and the number of cigarettes consumed is a step in the right direction. However, tobacco use remains a significant health burden for the people of United States,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden said in a statement.

“States with the strongest tobacco control programs have the greatest success at reducing smoking.”

The CDC report shows some 19.3 percent of American adults over the age of 18 — roughly 45 million people — were smokers in 2010, down from 20.9 percent in 2005.

Of those adults who still smoke, 78.2 percent, or 35.4 million people, smoke every day. But even these smokers are cutting back.

According to the CDC, the percentage of smokers who had fewer than 10 cigarettes a day rose to 21.8 percent in 2010, from 16.4 percent in 2005.

Only 8.3 percent of daily smokers have 30 or more cigarettes per day, down from 12.7 percent in 2005.

Even so, the rate of the decline between 2005 and 2010 is slower than in the previous five-year period, the CDC found.

“This slowing trend shows the need for intensified efforts to reduce cigarette smoking among adults,” Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the CDC Office on Smoking and Health, said in a statement.

“We know what works: higher tobacco prices, hard-hitting media campaigns, graphic health warnings on cigarette packs, and 100 percent smoke-free policies, with easily accessible help for those who want to quit.”

For every one smoking-related death, another 20 people live with a smoking-related disease, such as heart disease or lung cancer.

Smoking costs about $193 billion annually in direct health care expenses and lost productivity.

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DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

JOURNAL OF THE PEOPLE’S PASTOR ‘WRITING THE HISTORY I’VE LIVED, LIVING THE HISTORY I WRITE!’

A memorial for Deron Kittrell and community hearing on police behavior

THOMAS H. WATKINS

By REV. DR. HERBERT DAUGHTRY

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Part One I have already written about the death of Deron Kittrell at the hands of a police officer in Jersey City. (See the Daily Challenge articles, “How Many Ways Do We Die? (Parts 1-4),” dated August 17, 19, 24, and 26, 2011.) On Thursday, August 25, 2011, Deron’s family and I organized three events in his memory: a prayer vigil at the site (the corner of Brinkerhoff Street and Monticello Avenue) where he was killed; a memorial walk from the site to Heavenly Temple Church (pastored by Reverend Kevin E. Knight);

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tice, No Peace.” This chant became famous across the country. It was started by Sonny Carson in the 1980s, and later picked up by Rev. Al Sharpton.

A couple of blocks into our walk, we passed a building that used to house Lou’s Pool Room.

It was there I used to sharpen my pool shooting skills. I was only 15 years old. The law required the age of 16 years for entry. I had to master the disguises in order to get in with the help of my friends.. Eventually, I became one of the best pool sharks in the metropolitan area, and probably beyond. It became one of my money-making enterprises in my multi-dimensional hustles.

Diagonally across the street Continued on page 5

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and, the memorial ceremony at the church.

At 5 pm, we gathered at the site for the prayer vigil. After the prayer vigil, the walk commenced. From the beginning to the end, we witnessed an impressive demonstration by family and friends of the pervasive admiration for Deron.

By 5:30pm, the crowd had numbered in the hundreds. I gave marching instructions and chants. I said, “We will march two abreast, arm length in front of the person, military style.”

After the instructions, I recited the chants, “What do you want?”

The response was, “Justice!”

“When do you want it?” “Now!” “For whom do you want it?”

“Deron Kittrell!”

Also, we chanted, “No Jus-

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DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

5

Stop political lions from attacking our children: Join the rescue posse

By MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN One of the most-watched videos on YouTube a few years ago showed the struggle of a water buffalo family and herd to save a child. It’s called the Battle at Kruger Park. It begins with a buffalo mother, father, and child meandering peacefully ahead of the herd unaware that a pride of six lions is stealthily easing up to attack them. Sensing the danger too late, the water buffalo parents and calf immediately turn and run away. The child cannot keep up. The six swift lions lunge and overpower this slowest and most vulnerable family member, tumbling with him into a river.

As the lions attempt to pull the buffalo calf from the water, a crocodile grabs one of the child’s legs, eager to share the bounty. The tug of war between the lions and crocodiles over the young buffalo prey seems to last a painful eternity. As the lions win and drag the buffalo child onto land and surround him, ready for the kill, you realize, joyfully, that the child is still alive, but are horrified that he now is going to be devoured.

In the middle of this life-anddeath drama, you suddenly hear and then see movement as a large herd of water buffalo—a rescue posse—comes storming in to surround the lions, who do not immediately relinquish the child despite being greatly outnumbered. After a moment of herd uncertainty, one angry buffalo—who I just know was the mother—furiously attacks a lion

with her horns and hurls him away.

Others in the herd follow her lead and confront another lion, but still are unable to extricate the child.

Another attempt succeeds as the child struggles to its feet, and the herd swiftly surrounds and whisks him away. A buffalo remains to chase a remaining lion away.

Incredulous that the child was saved, I asked myself: Where is our human posse—our community and citizen posse—as powerful human lions and crocodiles eat our children alive across America today? And what lesson should this thrilling rescue of a water buffalo child provide us about our responsibility to protect and save our endangered children?

Protect the most vulnerable first.

Powerful animal—and political— predators go after the weakest and the most vulnerable first and so we see far too many politicians calling for cuts in safety net programs for children at a time when one in five of them is poor and they are getting poorer. They propose to take away food when children and their families are hungry and homeless and cut early childhood and education investments when millions lack the reading and computing skills they need to survive in our economy.

The ultimate test of American democracy, historian Taylor Branch says, “is whether we can protect our voteless, most vulnerable group— children—without whom there is no future.” So I hope you will join the human posse to rescue our vulnerable children from political predators.

I believe deeply that our unjust

Hearing on police behavior Continued from page 4 was the Old Tivoli Theater. It is now a church. I was robbed there by my friends who were led by the ex-professional prized fighter, Big John White. Big John worked at the theater. He invited us to spend the night in the theater. Obviously, he knew of my earlier winnings at the pool table across the street. He also knew that I would fall asleep before the night was over. So much for friends. It was a lesson I never forgot.

Big John was too big and a professional fighter for me to grapple with.

In addition, other friends of mine were present. Hence, I had no definite proof as to who the thief/thieves was/were. However, I felt that they all participated and/or knew what was happening.

When we reached Communipaw Avenue, the major police station for the area was to the left. This police station was notorious for its abuse of Black men and youth. One of my closest friends, Farmer Brown, was beaten senseless. Years later, I visited him in a mental hospital. He never regained normalcy. To the right, there used to be a bowling alley where

in the days of my youth, we used to set up bowling pins long before they were electronically done.

Over a month ago, my family and I spent a weekend in Washington, D.C. On the agenda was bowling at the White House Bowling Alley. As I sat watching the family bowl, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Firstly, because I could bowl. A few months earlier, I had had a spinal operation. I couldn’t stand, walk, eat, talk, or sleep. Now, here I was running and throwing a heavy bowling ball. My daughter, Rev. Dawn Daughtry, showed me a picture she had taken when I made my first steps in the hospital. What an incredible difference!

Thank God! My mind conjured up memories of my youth: Growing up in the tough, impoverished neighborhoods in Brooklyn, New York and Jersey City,

neglect of and failure to invest fully in all of our children is the economic and spiritual Achilles’ heel that will topple America’s leadership in the world in the twenty-first century. I want to yell, “It’s the children, stupid!” It’s the children—all children—who are the key to a safer, more economically viable and just nation and world order. And for those of us who seek to heed the prophets and Jesus Christ and who believe children are also the key to God’s kingdom, why are we so silent in the face of so much child suffering and need?

Parents alone cannot protect children: it takes a community and aroused citizens. There are many lurking dangers that threaten children over which parents have too little control like the massive joblessness and foreclosures and misguided tax cuts for the wealthy that have ravished our economy.

I am encouraged though, by two powerful leaders who get it—that it’s the children. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says: “No economy can succeed without a high-quality workforce, particularly in an age of globalization and technical change. Cost-effective K12 and post-secondary schooling are crucial to building a better workforce, but are only part of the story. Research increasingly has shown the benefits of early childhood education and efforts to promote the lifelong acquisition of skills for both individuals and the economy as a whole. The payoffs of early childhood programs can be especially high.” nd Nobel Laureate economist James Heckman in a letNew Jersey; and, trying to get money in any way that I could — gambling, stealing, working (sparingly), selling dope, writing numbers… anything.

ter to the National Committee on Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Reform wrote: “…it is a natural reaction to cut spending when faced with a budget deficit. Make no mistake, reducing spending in some areas is necessary and warranted.

However, when one has dug themselves into a hole, the solution is not to stop digging as much as to start digging the hand and toe holds that facilitate climbing out. Investing in early childhood education is that hand and toe hold.”

When Dr. King left us in 1968, calling for a Poor People’s Campaign, there were 11 million poor children. Today there are 15.5 million poor children and who knows what the new poverty data will show on September 13th. I’ve no doubt he’d be calling for a poor people’s campaign today. I suggest that a loud organized voting citizen posse call on our President and Congressional leaders to begin with a poor children’s campaign and commit to protecting rather than cutting children’s food, shelter, health, early childhood development, and education they need for a positive future. Dr. King is not coming back. We’re it. Let’s get going to rescue children from the political lions poised to attack them in the weeks and months ahead.

— Marian Wright Edelman is a lifelong advocate for disadvantaged Americans and is the President of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF). Under her leadership, CDF has become the nation’s strongest voice for children and families. ** Listen to Reverend Daughtry on the weekly radio program which airs Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. on New York City’s WWRL-AM, dial 1600.

… to be continued.

EDITORIAL NOTE: Regarding the article, “How Many Ways Do We Die? Part Three,” which was published on Wednesday, August 24, 2011, we acknowledge the errors. The article did not complete our editorial process. ** Join Reverend Daughtry in Jersey City for the weekly Thursday Evening Educational, Cultural, and Empowerment Forum from 6pm-8pm for an evening of information, inspiration, and challenge at 315 Forrest Street (Ground Floor), corner of MLK, Jr. Drive. For more info, contact The National Community Action Alliance at (201) 716-1585.

**Physical Fitness and Martial Arts Classes starts on September 12, 2011. Two classes: 10yr-25 yrs, and 26+ For more info, contact heather.md.harvey@gmail.com. ** NEED QUALITY CHILD CARE? Call the Alonzo A. Daughtry Memorial Daycare Center located at: 460 Atlantic Avenue (corner of Atlantic and Nevins) 718 596 1993 333 Second Street (between 4th & 5th Avenues) in Park Slope (718) 499-2066 Immediate openings are available in a state-of-the-art center. ** Visit The House of the Lord Church’s website at holc.org. Or, contact us at 415@holc.org

6

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor nears, but defense seeks delay

By ALAN DUKE LOS ANGELES — The doctor charged with causing Michael Jackson’s death returned to a Los Angeles courtroom for a pre-trial hearing yesterday, just two days before lawyers begin choosing his jury.

Dr. Conrad Murray’s lawyers are waiting for a response to an emergency petition asking an appeals court to delay the trial so the decision not to sequester the jury can be reconsidered.

While it is unclear when the appeals court may respond, Murray and his lawyers will attend a hearing to deal with issues remaining before hundreds of potential jurors assemble for the jury selection process starting tomorrow.

The judge and lawyers will sift through their answers to a questionnaire to determine which could withstand the financial and family hardship of sitting through the trial.

The defense wants jurors kept in a hotel, sheltered from the influence of news coverage during the trial, which is expected to last five weeks.

“Petitioner only asks that measures be put in place so that the jury is not poisoned by the mass of information and opinion that will be generated from the reporting,” the defense argued in its petition.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor ruled last month that sequestration was not needed because he had faith jurors would follow his orders to avoid news reports and commentary about the case.

Keeping the jury separated from the rest of the world during the trial would “make them feel like inmates,” Pastor said.

“This was, with all due respect, abuse of discretion,” defense lawyers said in their 28-page petition.

Murray’s attorneys, Nareg Gourjian and Edward Chernoff, had contended in court papers that “there is reasonable expectation that Dr. Murray’s trial will be the most publicized in history.”

They argued that Pastor did not fully realize the amount of media attention the trial was going to get.

“There is not one place a juror will be able to go where she will be free from seeing coverage of this case,” the defense said. “Every restaurant, bar, gym, supermarket or coffee shop will become a potential source of information for a juror.”

They compared the upcoming trial

to the recent coverage of the Casey Anthony murder trial and said Murray could not get a fair trial if the jury was not isolated.

“Because of the international notoriety of Mr. Jackson, it would be impossible for a juror to browse any news source on television or the Internet, without seeing a boldly printed headline discussing the trial.”

While Pastor said his decision against sequestration was not based on the estimated $500,000 cost, the defense noted that he said at a hearing in July that the court and state government “simply do not have the funds in any way to engage in this kind of procedure.”

The Los Angeles coroner has ruled that Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009 was caused by an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol, combined with other drugs.

Prosecutors have accused Murray, one of the pop star’s doctors, of having a role in the overdose. Jury selection is set to begin next month in his trial.

Opening statements are set for September 27.

Deep divisions in Americans’ views on race, faith

By ANDREW STERN WASHINGTON — Americans are sharply divided on issues from race to religion, often along generational and partisan lines, a survey concluded yesterday.

The survey of nearly 2,500 Americans by a pair of Washington think tanks found sharp divisions on a host of issues, ranging from immigration policy to attitudes toward followers of other religious faiths.

“Ten years after September 11, 2001, we seem far less united as a nation,” the report from the Brookings Institution and the Public Religion Research Institute said.

“The survey findings suggest that we are in the midst of a struggle over what growing religious, racial and ethnic diversity means for American politics and society, and that partisan and ideological polarization around these questions will make them difficult to resolve,” it said.

One of those divides is between young and old. There are sizable gaps between seniors aged 65 and older and those aged 18 to 29 on whether to provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, support for gay marriage and favorable views of Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims and atheists.

The relative tolerance of the younger “millennial” generation was seen, optimistically, as suggesting “the arc of American history will, again, bend toward inclusion,” the report concluded.

The survey, which was completed during the first two weeks of August, asked how Americans felt a decade after the terror attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.,

and found 53 percent said the country is safer from terrorism now than it was before the attacks.

But eight in 10 believed Americans enjoy less personal freedom and seven in 10 said America is less respected in the world than before the attacks.

While the majority of Americans believe in religious tolerance as a basic right, many expressed suspicions directed toward Muslims and, to a lesser extent, Mormons. Two of the top Republican candidates for president, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, are Mormons. .

Overall, 58 percent of those surveyed held a “favorable” view of Muslims, though less than half of Republicans held that view compared to two-thirds of Democrats. The survey had an error margin of 2 percentage points.

There were also gaps between generally liberal Democrats and more conservative Republicans in how comfortable they were with having a Muslim teaching elementary school in their community, with having a mosque built near their home, with witnessing Muslim men praying in an airport and with women wearing Muslim garb.

Over the past eight months, the percentage of Americans who believed American Muslims want to establish Sharia law in the United States grew by 7 points to 30 percent, the report said, citing a February 2011 survey. Sharia or Islamic law covers all aspects of Muslim life including religious obligations and financial dealings.

Sixty percent agreed that too many Americans think that all Muslims are terrorists, and 88 percent

admitted knowing little or nothing about Muslim beliefs and practices.

Seventy-nine percent said people in Muslim countries have an unfavorable opinion of the United States.

Of those, three-quarters believed such views were not justified.

Views on immigration were also sharply divided, with 62 percent desiring a policy that would combine enforcement with a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Onethird want enforcement coupled with deportation of illegal immigrants.

Another question asked was whether discrimination against whites was as big a problem today as discrimination against Blacks and other minorities. Less than half agreed with that view, but the proportion was much higher among Republicans and Tea Party supporters.

Utah state agencies to return to five-day workweek

By JAMES NELSON SALT LAKE CITY — Utah state government agencies returned to a five-day work week yesterday, scrapping the four-day plan launched three years ago by then-Governor Jon Huntsman, now a Republican presidential contender.

“The bottom line was the savings were not what we had hoped,” said Utah state Senator Peter Knudson, a Republican and assistant majority whip. “I don’t blame that on Governor Huntsman or anyone else. I just believe that we were more optimistic than what the reality proved to be.”

The pilot initiative started by Huntsman in August 2008 was

designed to save energy and money by switching to a Monday-throughThursday, 10-hour-per-day work schedule for most state offices.

But despite publicity about the shortened workweek, many citizens found themselves surprised and frustrated by “closed” signs when they sought to conduct business with various state agencies on Fridays, Knudson said.

A state audit of the program showed savings of less than $1 million annually, far less than the several million Huntsman had promised.

State employees, meanwhile, who were forced to abruptly alter their work schedules to accommodate the experimental schedule now have to switch back.

“I would have preferred to stay on the four-day work week or give employees considerably more time to make life adjustments,” said Utah state Senator Ross Romero, a Democrat and minority leader.

Romero said he believed keeping the four-day week in effect for another year would have been better than scrapping it now.

Huntsman, elected in 2004 to the first of two terms as Utah governor, resigned in August 2009 to accept an appointment by President Barack Obama to serve as ambassador to China.

He gave up his ambassadorship in April of this year and later entered the race for the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

DAILY D CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

COMMUNITY AFFAIRS

7

JAZZ COMES ALIVE IN A CITY PARK

Cyril Green on trumpet, Gerald Hayes the alto sax and Jeff King on his saxophone

The multi-talented Al Husband “the Drummer”

Obdus Sabor on drums

Rafik on the piano

Malika

By EULENE INNISS A stroll through the Ronald Erwin McNair Park normally reveals a landscape sprinkled with youths playing and alert seniors challenging each other in strategic games of chess, but last Thursday evening was somewhat different. Two jazz bands, The Jeff

King Band and The Sam Brown Memorial Band, with exceptionally talented musicians gathered and performed in Crown Heights under the eyes of an appreciative, intergenerational audience.

Richard Green, chief executive of the Crown Heights Collective and sponsor of the concert, said the purpose of such events was “to bring musicians together

Radu on bass and Martin Rosenbergber under the auspice of had an 18-piece orchesmusic and good vibes so tra and played a variety they can have a chance of wind and string to mingle and highlight instruments, but he had their talent.” His mis- an untimely death a year sion was surely accom- and a half ago. His death plished. did not stop his wife, The section of the Malika, from continuing park where the musi- as a soloist with his now cians chose to play was memorial band. She was next to the monument of a sensation and a crowd Astronaut Ronald Erwin pleaser.

McNair, a gifted sax These musicians are player who is said to well known throughout have taken and played the jazz communities his horn in space. On and all have personal this evening of “Jazz in stories of challenges and the Triangle,” McNair triumphs to tell. The stood tall among musi- crowd was saturated cians such as Dwayne with music lovers who “Cook” Broadnax, the have become fixtures at gifted drummer with the Medgar Evers Jeff King’s Band, and College outdoor Summer Jeff King on his saxo- Jazz Concerts and the phone. The Sam Brown famous 966 Fulton Band, aka, “The Big Street Friday night jazz Band Experience,” venue. As the musical which was the main notes from these artists attraction, is comprised came to life and moved of Rafik on the piano, harmoniously among Radu on base, Gerald the crowd, one could not Hayes the alto sax, Cyril help but notice how Green on trumpet, patrons released all their Obdus Sabor on drums cobwebbed entrapments and the multi-talented of years and days past.

Al Husband “the There was a jovial oneDrummer,” who has ness. played with giants like Conversations with bassist Stanley Banks, some of these bystanders The Ink Spots, Billy provided an education Daniels and others. The which could not be had band’s founder, Obasala, in a classroom or from

Onlookers enjoy the music textbooks. This genera- the big bands and balltion of attendees has jazz rooms as he had in the in their DNA. They con- 60’s and 70’s prohibit verse about real life them from having experiences.

Among places to sit-in and those enjoying the observe, opportunities to evening was Harold practice with experiValle, known as “the enced musicians and the keeper of the secrets.” benefit of being menA walking jazz ency- tored. clopedia and loquacious Most would agree MC at Jazz 966 and Ollie with Harold Valle that, McClean, director of the “this jazz in the commuSankofa International nity is at the right price Academy, discussed the and enables people to cultural perspective of experience jazz at a high jazz and the missing degree.” Once again, the educational link in magical power of music schools. Al Husband, transcended all the culdrummer, was some- tural barriers and a what confident about the good time was had by future of jazz, although all. he sees today’s youth as - Photos by Lem being at a disadvantage.

Peterkin Their lack of exposure to

AFRICAN SCENE

88

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Kenyan teachers strike due to overcrowded classes

By TOM ODULA NAIROBI, Kenya More than Kenyan 200,000 teachers went on strike yesterday to protest the diversion of government funds meant to hire more teachers and ease classroom overcrowding, a union official said.

The money has instead gone to the ministry of defense, whose spending is not publicly scrutinized.

The protest will affect more than 10 million children in primary and secondary schools and will continue until the government agrees to hire more teachers, said Wilson Sossion, who heads the Kenya National Union of Teachers. The children were due to return to class this week after holidays in August.

In the capital of Nairobi, classrooms were empty yesterday morning at St. Mary’s Karen Primary School in the wealthy suburb of Karen. At the Toi Primary School in Kibera, Kenya’s largest slum, a teacher said gifted students were conducting classes without teachers.

Students could seen studying in groups.

The union wants the government to give fulltime jobs to 18,000 teachers hired on tem-

Pupils at the Toi Primary School in Nairobi, Kenya, yesterday sit in a classroom and study without a teacher, because the teachers are on strike. The chairman of the Kenya National Union of Teachers says 200,000 teachers in schools have started a strike to protest the diversion of funds meant to hire more teachers and ease classroom overcrowding, in a move expected to affect more than 10 million children.

Photo/Khalil Senosi porary contracts and hire an additional 9,040 teachers, Sossion said.

Some 79,000 teachers are needed to reach the internationally recommended teacher to student ratio of one teacher to 35 students. Kenya’s public schools see an average of 50 students for every teacher, though some classes have only one teacher for 100 pupils.

The union projects a shortfall of 115,000 teachers in the next couple of years as the population increases.

Sossion said the overcrowding deepens social divisions. Poor children in overcrowded public-school classes receive little time with teachers, while children in private schools are lavished with attention,

he said.

“Children of this country are not enjoying equal opportunities,” Sossion said.

“This is the struggle.

We are not doing it this time around for a salary increment. We are doing it for the poor child of this country and for the poor parent of this country.”

Nearly 10 percent of 13-year-old Kenyan students cannot complete a math problem meant for 7-year-olds, according to research done earlier this year by Uwezo, a pressure group that aims to improve literacy among children in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Kenya received international praise when it made public primary school free in 2003. The

Kenya Teachers marching in the street of Nairobi during the Strike holding banners in Nairobi, Kenya. program enrolled more Spiraling food and fuel and I repeat there is no than 1 million children prices are already caus- proper scrutiny... I dare who had never entered ing great hardship for challenge them to a classroom. The coun- many Kenyans. explain to the public try adopted a free secKinyua did not say in how this additional ondary school policy for his televised address (money) is going to be day students in 2008. Monday why the gov- spent,” Mbadi said last But the influx of stu- ernment decided to real- week. dents led to severe over- locate the money to the Britain suspended crowding. defense ministry. payments to the Parliament had allo- G o v e r n m e n t Kenyan government cated around $53 mil- spokesman Alfred intended to help poor lion for hiring more Mutua said he was in a schoolchildren after teachers last week, meeting and could not $45 million in internaSossion said, but the discuss the issue. tional donor money ministry of finance The ministry of went missing. The U.K., diverted the money to defense budget cannot a major donor to Kenya, the ministry of defense, be scrutinized for said the cash would be even though the min- national security rea- given to aid agencies istry had not requested sons, said John Mbadi, instead and the portion it. a member of parliament of stolen funds that it Now taxes will have who is on the budget donated must be repaid. to be increased if the committee.

Some poor families teachers are to be hired, “The security docket have even been asked to said Joseph Kinyua, the is getting increased pay their children’s permanent secretary at allocation because there public school teachers, the Ministry of Finance. is no proper scrutiny Sossion said.

Tun isia ban s police fr om union activities Tunisia’s Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi announced yesterday a ban on police engaging in union activities, which he said were a threat to the country’s security.

“I have decided from today to ban all union activity among security services in view of the danger that such activity represents for the security of the country,” he said at a press conference.

He was speaking as hundreds of Tunisian police officers, angered at charges of killing protesters, demonstrated outside the main government building in Tunis, security forces unions said.

They called for the immediate resignations of Interior Minister Habib Essid and army chief General Rachid Ammar. They accused the army chief of being behind recent unrest in Tunisia with the aim of seizing power.

At least two people

have been killed and scores injured in recent violence in the centre and southwest of the country, prompting authorities to impose a curfew on three towns.

The police unions are in particular calling for a fair trial for 23 officers who have been detained on charges of killing protesters.

They were arrested in the wake of civil unrest in December and January which flared after weeks of protests initially focused on unemployment, sparked

by the suicide of a young graduate who set himself alight on December 17 last year.

According to the union, 10 police officers were killed and 18 shot and injured on January 14, the day ousted president Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali was arrested as he attempted to flee the country.

Hated and feared during the Ben Ali regime, the police force feels it has been made a scapegoat for its excesses.

Caid Essebsi also pledged the “strict appli-

cation of the state of emergency” decreed after the fall of Ben Ali and since prolonged by successive decrees, until November 31.

Tunisians are due to go to the polls on October 23 to elect a constituent assembly, which will draft a new basic law and road map for the north African country after more than two decades of autocratic and corrupt rule.

“The government will see the law applied,” the prime minister said, pointing out that it

banned “all demonstrations, all strikes and all meetings that could affect the security of the country.”

“The minister of the interior has the right to place under house arrest any person known for activities affecting internal security,” he added.

“Many dangerous things happened in this country and that concerns all its citizens,” he said, adding that the government had met on Monday to discuss security measures.

D CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 DAILY

AFRICAN SCENE

9

Singer N’Dour urges Africa to aid drought victims Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour yesterday urged Africa to lead initiatives for victims of drought in the Horn of Africa, saying he hoped to mobilise African artists to support them.

“Whenever there is a problem it is the Westerners who are in the foreground, where are the Africans?”

N’Dour said, speaking after a visit to Kenya’s giant Dadaab refugee camps as an ambassador for the UN childrens agency.

“Africans always used to reach out, and I wanted to hit the table and say, we can solve our problems.”

Dadaab — a tightly

packed settlement of huts made of rags and plastic sheeting — is the world’s largest refugee complex.

The dust-blown series of camps in eastern Kenya has seen tens of thousands of desperate Somalis arriving in recent months, swelling the camp to over 400,000 people.

Over 12 million people in the Horn of Africa, including parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda, are affected by harsh drought and are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, according to the UN. Somalia is the hardest hit, with three-quarters of a million people facing death by starvation as famine spread to a sixth region on

Monday, the UN said.

N’Dour said he wanted to “appeal to the artistic community of Africa and the world to find events that can raise awareness or bring comfort,” as well as to fundraise, as musicians once did for Ethiopia.

“I think Africa should be at the forefront,” he said, adding he had received the support of U2 frontman Bono.

The Irish singer “called me and told me ‘I am behind you,’” N’Dour said.

“Initiatives should not only come from there (the West) but also from here,” N’Dour said.

“It is also what we need to do to have a little dignity,” he added.

Youssou N'Dour said he wants to "appeal to the artistic community of Africa and the world to find events that can raise awareness or bring comfort," to drought victims as well as to fundraise as musicians once did for Ethiopia.

Police shoot protesters in Congo; 1 dead

By SALEH MWANAMILONGO KINSHASA, Congo Police opened fire yesterday on opposition protesters and at least one person was killed, officials said of pre-election violence in Congo’s capital of Kinshasa.

Yesterday’s shooting followed what appeared to be tit-for-tat attacks on party offices.

On Monday, supporters of leading opposition presidential candi-

date Etienne Tshisekedi ransacked the headquarters of President Joseph Kabila’s party and set six private cars ablaze, Interior Minister Adolphe Lumanu told reporters.

“They’re afraid of elections,” legislator Francis Kalombo, head of the presidential party’s youth league, said on Radio Top Congo.

At about 2 a.m. yesterday, attackers looted and ransacked Tshisekedi’s headquarters in Kinshasa.

Twelve people were seriously injured in that violence, Lumanu said.

Around the same

time, unidentified gunmen set ablaze independent RLTV station, forcing it off the air.

Radio Lisanga Television also stopped broadcasting in March when the government blocked its signal, charging its proTshisekedi programs were “promoting violence.”

“A group of armed men scaled the wall, sprayed fuel and set everything on fire. We have lost all our equipment, we can’t broadcast today,” said RLTV promoter Roger Lumbala.

Protesters who started burning tires and

blocking the street outside the TV station were quickly dispersed by police.

A larger crowd gathered outside Tshisekedi’s party headquarters later yesterday morning. When they refused to stop protesting, police opened fire.

“In the ensuing scuffles, sadly, one man was killed,” Lumanu said.

A doctor at Bondeko Clinic said a man with gunshot wounds was dead on arrival at the hospital. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Lumanu condemned the violence and said

A burnt-out car sits outside destroyed offices at an independent television station set ablaze overnight by armed men, in Kinshasa, Congo.

Photo/John Bompengo the “arrested delin- protest. It called for an quents and their silent independent inquiry partners” would be and for those responsiprosecuted and pun- ble for the repression to ished. be brought to justice.

The rights group Congo is holding Voice of the Voiceless presidential and legislacondemned the violence tive elections in and suppression of a November.

Zimbabwe’s Mugabe tells lawmakers to preach peace groups blame on President Robert Mugabe and his H A R A R E , security forces.

“Let’s in unison say Zimbabwe no to violence in all its Zimbabwe’s leader manifestations,” yesterday urged Mugabe said as he lawmakers in the opened a new session of troubled coalition parliament in Harare. government to Mugabe last week preach messages of called for polls in March, peace ahead of pro- after calling frequently posed elections - and in recent weeks for an to the fragile coaliafter years of vio- end tion that was formed lence that rights after disputed 2008 elec-

By ANGUS SHAW

tions.

He said coalition partners have agreed on “timelines” to polling but did not elaborate.

Mugabe called on the nation’s leaders to preach messages of peace, reconciliation and national healing after a decade of bitter rivalry between Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change party and the ZANU-PF party under his authori-

tarian control.

“Rather than amplify our differences, let’s find strength in our diversity,” he said yesterday.

Witnesses, however, reported minor scuffles among some restive rival party supporters gathered in the midday heat outside the parliament house.

Mugabe said the new session of the parliament will frame legislation for a referendum on constitutional reforms

before elections can be held.

Mugabe lost a constitutional referendum in 1999, his only outright defeat in polling since independence in 1980.

His party was accused of widespread violence and vote-rigging in presidential and parliament elections the following year.

The nation’s judges, in shoulder-length judicial wigs and scarlet robes, filed into the par-

liament house ahead of Mugabe, who arrived in an open vintage Britishmade Bentley limousine.

The annual reopening is traditionally modeled on colonial-era pomp and ceremony.

Mugabe, 87, spoke for about 40 minutes. He appeared eloquent and confident, just as new revelations on his ailing health in leaked diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks gripped the nation.

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CARIBBEAN NEWS

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Dengue fever decreasing, says Bahamas health minister

By CANDIA DAMES N A S S A U , Bahamas — The number of confirmed dengue fever cases in The Bahamas is decreasing, according to Minister of Health Dr Hubert Minnis.

“We have epidemiologists, World Health Organization personnel, who are assisting us in reviewing the data and

the data reveals that the numbers are falling,” said Minnis, who met on Friday with health officials for an update. “You may find that the numbers may have appeared to increase, but the rate of increase has dramatically decreased. So the numbers are now falling.”

Health officials have confirmed more than 3,200 cases of dengue fever in the last several weeks.

“What we have also discovered when we did

the case review is that some cases were probably over-diagnosed by physicians and medical personnel. They did not necessarily meet the case definition,” Minnis said.

“We’re happy that the numbers are falling and we will continue to send out the message and get the entire community involved, including the schools and everywhere else.”

Given that many people who have denguelike symptoms have not

visited a hospital, clinic or doctor, Minnis was asked how health officials could be so certain that dengue cases are on the decrease.

“What we do know is that it is true that a lot of individuals will not come to hospitals or health facilities once they follow directions, but we are quite certain, from reviewing the statistical data, that the numbers are falling,” he said.

Minnis said more men were diagnosed with

dengue fever than women, although he did not provide specific numbers in this regard.

He said officials are not yet sure why but they have a theory that it is because men tend to move around more than women.

The majority of people with confirmed dengue fever are between 25 and 45, he added. Minnis said a decrease in dengue fever cases in the country does not mean “we should put our guard down.”

“We must continue to be aggressive with the situation, manage it aggressively and continue to monitor it aggressively,” he said.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is responsible for the spread of the disease. Fever, muscle pain, eye pain and headaches are some of the symptoms associated with dengue fever.

People with mild symptoms are being asked to treat themselves at home by getting rest.

Caribbean electrical teams helping Jamaica’s health minister Cuba produces world’s restore power in Bahamas lung cancer vaccine promises no smoking bill first

By KRYSTEL ROLLE HAVANA, Cuba — While the World NASSAU, Bahamas — Two electrical teams from Jamaica arrived in The Bahamas on Sunday and were due to travel to Cat Island on Monday to assist the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) in its efforts to restore electricity on that island.

Cat Island is one of the two islands that suffered the most damage in the wake of Hurricane Irene, which knocked down scores of power lines and resulted in a complete loss of electricity on that island.

Up to Sunday, less than 30 percent of the electricity on that island had been restored.

The two teams are expected to significantly boost BEC’s efforts and speed up the process, the corporation’s press officer Arnette Ingraham told The Guardian.

BEC general manager Kevin Basden said that it would take at least another three weeks before power is fully restored to all parts of Cat Island.

In addition to the teams that went to Cat Island, Ingraham said that a team from Barbados traveled to Eleuthera to help with restoration efforts in The Bluff, which has been completely without power.

All three teams are a part of the Caribbean Electric Utility Service Corporation (CARILEC), an association of electricity utilities, suppliers, manufacturers and other stakeholders operating in the electricity industry in the Caribbean.

within weeks

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Health, Rudyard Spencer, intends to table a Bill in Parliament, “in a matter of weeks”, prohibiting smoking in public places and spaces in Jamaica.

Spencer said that the intention is to significantly enhance the ministry’s healthy lifestyle campaign, which is being promoted in earnest by the relevant departments and agencies.

Speaking last Thursday, Spencer said that the ministry has already submitted its proposals to Cabinet for approval.

He said that adopting a healthy lifestyle has become an urgent issue, in light of the burdensome costs of health care for conditions associated with unhealthy living. He noted that over US$170 million are spent annually by his ministry to treat chronic diseases, “Ideally, what we should aim for is to practice more physical activities; better eating choices, responsible behaviour and stop smoking,” he suggested.

He said that chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, cancer and cardiovascular diseases account for almost 60 percent of deaths globally, and have created a new demand for long term care and strong community support.

- Douglas McIntosh

Health Organization (WHO) is now reporting that tobacco consumption is killing over 5 million people annually, a figure that could reach 8 million by 2030, Cuba has announced its first therapeutic vaccine against lung cancer, one of the most frequent types of the disease at the world level and the one with highest prevalence among smokers.

Successful clinical tests have proven the effectiveness of this medication, which will be commercialized on the island under the trademark CIMAVAXEGF, thanks to the research work of experts at the Havana-based Molecular Immunology Center, who are already considering the use of the principle of this medication to treat other oncological conditions.

The Cuban vaccine cannot prevent the disease, but considerably improves the state of patients with advanced cancer, said project head Gisela Gonzalez in statements to Trabajadores newspaper. The medication turns advanced cancer into a controllable chronic disease since it generates antibodies against proteins that cause uncontrolled cell proliferation, the specialist explained.

The World Health Organization pointed out that lung cancer is one of the most serious conditions and one of the types of cancers responsible over one million deaths annually at world level.

More benefits to be provided to Grenadian workers ST GEORGE’S, Grenada — The minimum wages paid to domestic workers and security guards in Grenada are being increased, Labour Minister Glynis Roberts has announced.

The announcement follows the receipt of a report from a Wage Advisory Committee that included representatives from the Grenada Trades’ Union Council and the Grenada Employers’ Federation.

On the recommendation of the committee, the monthly

pay for domestic workers nationwide will move to $750.

The minimum wage for a security guard will increase from $4 an hour to $8 an hour.

“Recognizing that some security companies will have to engage their clients to discuss the effect of the new rates on their existing contracts, we have decided to allow a grace period of three months once gazette before the new rates are effective,” Roberts told security guards and others at a meeting in St George’s. The meeting was specially convened to discuss the minimum wage issue.

“I know you are anxious to

get the increases,” Roberts said. “They are coming. But, at the same time, in fairness to your employers, we must give them some time to make the adjustments.”

The Wage Advisory Committee was established in May 2008 to investigate employment conditions for workers in trade and industry, and to make recommendations to the Ministry of Labour.

The committee submitted a report last year and recommended minimum wage increases for 14 categories of workers.

Roberts said additional lobbying was undertaken by

members of the labour movement on behalf of domestic workers and security guards.

Labour representatives felt the proposed new rates for domestic workers and security guards were still too low, given the responsibilities and risks faced by the workers in carrying out their duties, the minister disclosed.

“The matter was taken back to Cabinet and Cabinet agreed to increase the minimum wage for domestic workers and security guards,” she said.

“We believe that, as workers, you have a duty to provide a fair day’s work to your employers and a right to

receive a fair day’s pay for that work,” said the labour minister.

She recommitted to the pledge of the government, which was elected to office in July 2008, to improving the living standard of the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

“Since coming into office we have taken a number of actions to fulfill that promise,” said Roberts, who pointed to government initiatives such as the Free School Books’ Programme; and the commencement of low-income housing construction sponsored by the government of China.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

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New American

The

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DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

One Thought - One Humanity

For the conclusions of these stories check out the July 7th - July 13th, 2011 issue of The New American, which hits newsstands every Thursday Don’t call it a comeback… they been here for years. The highly anticipated Destiny’s Child Reunion you’ve been waiting for is on its way. While in New Orleans for the Essence Music Festival, Beyonce’s dad Mathew Knowles revealed that the group is currently working on a new album. Is anybody shocked by this? Not us… But we are kind of surprised that Matthew is still being allowed to make announcements on behalf of the group.

Shannon Brown has opted out of the final year of his contract with the LA Lakers, making him a free agent. But Lakers fans should not put those old jerseys on Ebay just yet, as Shannon opted out of his last contract but then resigned to the LA Laker a few years ago. So maybe its a tactic for more money....or time on the court. Shannon recently said “I haven’t ruled out the Lakers,” said Brown. “I don’t know if they will rule me out.

I’m staying open.” So we guess his free agent status isn’t cut and dry....

Janelle Monae wants to deliver a different “perspective” but says it’s hard for new artists. “I think there’s a lack of diversity,” Monae tells UK’s Evening Standard.

“People think that we’re all monolithic and it’s hard for young aspiring girls, who don’t necessarily want to sell sex and strictly sing crappy R&B songs. They need to understand there’s a different blueprint that you can create.” The “Tight Rope” hitmaker eyes starting a new trend, adding “I think it’s absolutely necessary for the balance of the universe that there are other representations and a different perspective of the

woman.”

Outkast plans to release a new album by early next year. Additionally we have confirmation that both Andre 3000 and Big Boi will drop solo projects, both before the end of 2011.

A rock solid industry source tells HipHopWired, “Outkast is on track to release a new album by early next year. Both Dre and Big are working on solo projects; they want those out by the end of 2011.”

Rihanna has sparked rumors she has revived her shortlived romance with Drake after she was photographed cuddling the rapper at a nightclub in Canada.

The pair briefly dated following Rihanna’s split from Chris Brown in 2009, but the beauty subsequently admitted she put a stop to the budding relationship because she was not ready for another boyfriend. She went on to date Los Angeles Dodgers star Matt Kemp, but remained friends with Drake and they are now rumored to be giving their romance a second try after they were pictured together during a night out at the Buonanotte Supperclub in Montreal, Canada, last month. The photograph, obtained by TMZ.com, shows the stars sitting close together, with Drake’s arm wrapped around Rihanna’s shoulders, while a source tells the website they were “all over each other” throughout the evening.

Philly-bred radio personality, Star of the “Star and Buc Wild” morning show on 100.3 The Beat, hopes to help reduce the crime numbers within the city and surrounding areas by launching his “Start Snitching”

campaign, which he previously started back in in New York with its struggle with violence back in 2002. “The ‘Start Snitching’ campaign is more than just words being spoken on the microphone, it’s a commitment I’ve taken on personally!” Star told NBC. “Even if ridicule is being pointed at me, I have been an individual all my life. I don’t like to lay in a nice, comfortable and peaceful life,” he explained. “I don’t want animals on two legs violating my rights based upon some silly ass codes. So whether or not they are codes or something they feel that have to oblige by, it doesn’t have any say on the barring of my existence, as a rational man. It’s very asinine the amounts, not just homicides, but the shootings, that are taking place down here.

This is literally the O.K. Corral. So codes don’t apply here. There is a much deeper need for peace amongst this particular community.”

Have you seen Jill Scott lately? She is looking better than ever. The bold singer dropped 63 pounds, but she warns there won’t be much change in her frame. With her latest album, “Light of the Sun” which debuted at no.1 on Billboard 200 this week, Jill is saying she made the transformation by simple diet and exercise. It only took eating three lowfat meals a day and working out with her trainer Scott Parker who had her doing 60 minutes of cardio and strength training sessions every meeting.

She said her health was on the line and she knew it was time for a change when she’d “walk up nine steps and be out of breath!”

Man connected to the Notorious B.I.G.’s murder comes forward: Report

By ERIKA RAMIREZ Just weeks after a New York based inmate allegedly confessed to robbing Tupac Shakur in 1994, a man named Clayton Hill has reportedly come forward to confess who allegedly murdered The Notorious B.I.G. and speaks on his own involvement.

On June 8, former Nation of Islam member, Hill, contacted HipHopDX and confessed to being handed a semi-automatic handgun that was could have been a .9 millimeter or a allegedly used in the shooting of .40 caliber,” without hesitation. In “Diary of an Ex-Terrorist,” Hills B.I.G. on March, 1997.

According to a reported email includes quotes from Dawoud in exchange between Hills, 41, and which he brags about getting paid HipHopDX, via CorrLinks, in mid- “twenty-five ‘g’s’” for the murder.

Hill was then instructed by May 1997 Western Regional Minister from the Nation of Islam, Tony Melvin Muhammad to deliver the Muhammad, with the approval of “property” to Emile Muhammad, the Supreme Captain of the Southern personal driver of Minister Louis Region, Abdul Sharrieff Muham- Farrakhan, in Louisville, Kentucky. mad, via Account Executive Brother The gun was then taken to it’s “final Melvin Muhammad, ordered Hill to destination within the headquarters pick up Dawoud Muhammad from of the Nation of Islam,” according to the Greyhound Bus Station in down- HipHopDX. “I doubt if Minister Fartown Atlanta. Dawoud’s name was rakhan knew anything… he would kept from Hill till Dawoud intro- have been insulated from that,” Hill duced himself as such when meet- wrote.

Hill claims he disclosed all of this ing. “[Dawoud Muhammad] stated to information with Assistant U.S. me that he was on the run for the Attorney Nancy DePodesta and the murder [of The Notorious B.I.G.],” F.B.I’s Domestic Terrorism Unit on Hill told HipHopDx. “He disclosed October, 2010. HipHopDX could not that he was the shooter of The Noto- locate any published reports conrious B.I.G. because he [Dawoud] necting the Nation of Islam with the was a former Blood gang member murder of of B.I.G. Hill also couldn’t confirm with “absolute certainty” and was paid to do so.”

As he states in his upcoming e- that Amir Muhammad, suspected book, “Diary of an Ex-Terrorist” gunman in the East Coast rapper’s (July 15), Dawoud handed Hill a death, was the man who went by the wrapped up semi-automatic “that name, Dawould.

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DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

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DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

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Black race, African ancestry tied to food allergies

By GENEVRA PITTMAN In a new study of two-year-olds in Boston, Black kids were twice as likely as white kids to have an immune response to foods such as peanuts, milk, and eggs, and almost four times as likely to have a “sensitization” to three or more foods.

While food sensitization doesn’t necessarily pose any danger on its own, kids who are sensitized to certain foods are more likely to develop full-blown allergies to them in the

future.

“We know that sensitization is not the same thing as food allergy, but what they’re reporting does seem to be consistent with what has been seen in other populations,” said Christine Joseph, an allergy and asthma researcher from the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit who was not involved in the new study.

Other recent studies have hinted at higher rates of food sensitizations or allergies in Blacks, she told Reuters Health.

Researchers also looked at the

Yoga shows some benefit for diabetes

By AMY NORTON Gentle yoga classes may help people with type 2 diabetes take off a small amount of weight and steady their blood sugar control, a small study suggests.

The study, of 123 middle-aged and older adults, found that those who added yoga classes to standard diabetes care shed a handful of pounds over three months. Meanwhile, their average blood sugar levels held steady — in contrast to the non-yogapracticing “control” group, whose blood sugar levels rose.

The findings, reported in the journal Diabetes Care, do not suggest that yoga should replace other forms of exercise for people with type 2 diabetes — a disease commonly associated with obesity.

To really lose weight and rein in blood sugar, more-vigorous exercise would work better, according to Shreelaxmi V. Hegde of the Srinivas Institute of Medical Science and Research Center in Mangalore, India.

Among the 60 study participants who took yoga classes several times a week, the average BMI — a measure of weight in relation to height — declined from 25.9 to 25.4. A BMI between 25 and 30 is considered overweight.

“In our study the effect of yoga on BMI (body mass index) and blood sugar control was marginal,” Hegde, the lead researcher on the work, told Reuters Health in an email.

“But,” she added, “it should be noted that yoga controlled the blood sugar levels which otherwise rose in the control group.”

In addition to that, the study found, signs of so-called oxidative stress declined in the yoga group.

Oxidative stress refers to a situation where levels of reactive oxygen species or “free radicals” — damaging byproducts of energy use in cells — rise beyond the body’s capacity to neutralize them. Long-term oxidative stress is believed to contribute to a host of chronic diseases.

In this study, Hegde’s team measured participants’ blood levels of certain chemicals that reflect oxidative stress. They found that, on average, the yoga group’s levels of the chemicals dipped by 20 percent.

The significance of that is not clear. Hegde said that if such a decline in oxidative stress were sustained over time, it might lower the chances of diabetes complications, which include heart and kidney disease, nerve damage and damage to the blood vessels of the eyes.

Further, long-term studies are needed to see whether that is the case, the researchers say.

According to Hegde, yoga may curb oxidative stress because it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system — the part of the nervous system that basically acts as a brake against the gas pedal of the sympathetic nervous system.

There are caveats. The yoga used in this study was a gentle form, Hegde said, and parts of the practice were adapted for people who had additional health problems; certain poses were avoided in people who had heart disease, for example.

In the real world, yoga classes vary widely. Some are vigorous work-outs involving complicated poses that would not be appropriate for older adults with chronic health conditions.

Older adults with diabetes can look for yoga classes designed specifically for older people and those with chronic medical conditions. In the U.S., hospitals and local community centers are increasingly offering such classes.

kids’ DNA and found that the more African ancestry it showed, the more likely a child was to have any type of food sensitization, especially to peanuts.

But it’s still unclear why that’s the case, they said. It could be that differences in genes make some kids more likely than others to get allergies, or it may have to do with their environment and what they’re exposed to early in life.

The study included about 1,100 kids, all born at Boston Medical Center. Between two and three years after birth, researchers led by Dr. Rajesh Kumar of Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago brought them in to test their immune responses to eight different types of foods that typically cause allergies: eggs, milk, peanuts, soy, shrimp, walnuts, wheat and cod.

Most kids in the study were from urban areas and many were from low-income families. About six in 10 of them were identified as Black by their moms.

In all, just over one-third of kids had an immune response to at least one of the foods, the researchers reported in Pediatrics.

About 38 percent of Black kids had a food sensitization, compared to 22 percent of white kids. When the researchers took into account factors like whether or not kids were breastfed and if moms smoked while they were pregnant, the Black two-yearolds were more than twice as likely to have a food sensitization.

They were also almost four times as likely to have a detectable immunesystem response to three or more of the potential allergens.

Hispanic kids tended to have more

food sensitizations than white kids, but statistics showed that finding could have been due to chance.

Food sensitizations were also more common in kids whose ancestors were mostly from Africa, compared to those of European descent, according to genetic tests.

There were some differences between kids whose moms reported their race as Black and those who had more gene markers suggesting African descent. For example, African ancestry was linked to a greater chance of having a high immune response to peanuts, whereas Black race was not.

That tells researchers that genetics may play a role in how likely kids are to have food sensitizations or allergies. Or, something about different ancestral environments may be playing a role, Kumar said — for example, people from Africa are known to have lower vitamin D levels early in life. Vitamin D has been linked to some aspects of immune function.

On another level, cultural factors such as what type of foods kids are exposed to when they’re young, or where they grow up, might trigger allergies, especially if there is already an underlying race-related genetic susceptibility, Joseph said.

More research is needed to better determine what’s behind these differences in risk, both by race and ancestry, they agreed.

For now, Kumar said, “we need to be aware that food allergy is a problem within urban populations.”

Pediatricians, he told Reuters Health, “should equally think of food allergy in their African American patients as they do in their white patients.”

Making sure ‘back to school’ doesn’t mean ‘back to bullying’ For some children, the start of school means the beginning of bullying.

Despite widespread efforts to deal with the problem, bullying is a persistent issue in schools, says Donna Henderson, a professor of counseling at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. “The goal is to create a no-bullying environment for children. It’s hard because we live in a world that accepts violence, intimidation and power as currency in life,” Henderson said in a university news release.

Henderson offered tips for parents to prevent their children from becoming bullies or victims: Ask school officials and teachers about what they do to prevent bullying and hold schools accountable for their anti-bullying policies.

Watch for warning signs in children at the start of the new school year, such as sudden changes in behavior and not eating.

When you see bullying behavior,

call it bullying and tell your children that it’s unacceptable behavior.

Discuss bullying with your children. Use real situations, news stories, television programs and movies as opportunities to talk about bullying.

Regularly ask children about bullying and address any problem immediately.

If your child is being bullied, letting them know you understand and share their distress can help them feel better.

Discuss and/or role play possible responses to bullying, such as walking away, not showing emotion, staying in groups to avoid being singled out, and confronting a bully.

Do some self-assessment. If you use intimidation in your dealings with others, you may be setting a bullying example for your child. Or if you’re bullied by other adults and don’t put a stop to it, your child will believe that’s the way to respond to bullies.

NEW JERSEY

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

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Union County vows to cor ral cor r ections of ficers’ over time

By RYAN HUTCHINS Kenneth Wright is a hard worker.

One week last year, the 57-year-old corrections officer logged more than 72 hours of overtime with Union County, where he is one of 31 sergeants at the county jail in Elizabeth.

That was on top of his regular 40-hour work week, spent coordinating training programs.

It might seem overly grueling to some, but to Wright, who has 22 years with the county, it’s not far from the norm.

A contractually negotiated system has allowed Wright to average 29 hours of overtime every week for the past six years. He more than doubled his base salary and brought home $205,000 last year, making him one of the highest paid county employees without a medical degree, according to documents obtained by The Star-Ledger through open records requests.

Wright tops a long list of big-bucks overtime earners at the county jail, where extra manhours cost $6 million last year - down from $7.3 million in 2006 and 2007, records show.

And while the overtime costs may be down due in part to an increase in staffing - it’s still a controversial issue, with critics saying more needs to be done. The county doesn’t disagree, and has pledged to increase the ranks of supervising officers, a group that now accounts for the lion’s share of overtime.

“Continually, we’ve been the highest overtime-total jail in the state of New Jersey, at least since I’ve been affiliated with the jail,” said Brian Riordan, the director of Union County’s Department of Correctional Services, which runs the facility that houses about 1,000 inmates a day.

But Monmouth County surpassed Union in total jail overtime costs last year, paying officers about $5.7 mil-

lion in county funds plus an additional $1.1 million through federal funding, said Cynthia Scott, a spokeswoman for the county sheriff’s office. That was an increase from 2009, when Monmouth paid at least $5 million for overtime. The jump was driven by the layoffs of 35 corrections officers, Scott said.

The type of work being done only makes the situation more complex. In a jail, where the stakes are high, understaffing could lead to injuries or death. When an officer scheduled to work calls out sick, someone has to fill that shift.

“I can’t leave floors unattended,” Riordan said. “We have direct supervision.”

Bob Thomas, an Olympia, Wash.-based consultant on law safety and justice operations, said hiring additional officers may appear to be the fastest way to reduce the amount of overtime, but adding more staff may not reduce overtime enough to reduce a

department’s overall costs.

Balancing staffing levels and overtime, Thomas said, is a “science.”

ADDING SUPERVISORS Union County had already hired about 50 additional rank-and-file officers since 2007, but they weren’t eligible to work supervisory shifts.

So, to address overtime by supervisors, the county is promoting officers to create more sergeants and lieutenants.

Since the staff grew in size, overtime has decreased while straight pay has increased. The total payroll cost, though, would have decreased slightly if corrections officers weren’t given contractual salary increases, according to figures county officials provided.

Much of the overtime expense isn’t how many officers are working the extra hours, but who those officers are. For years, the jail has used a seniority system that requires the county to offer the longest-serving

corrections officers - and thus the highest paid the first chance to refuse overtime, in accordance with union contracts.

“The more senior people that you have doing it, it’s going to cost more,” said Thomas, who has authored a half dozen reports on overtime in the corrections field.

The county doesn’t refute that giving the most-senior workers the most overtime costs more, but officials there say it would be difficult to do away with a system that has been guaranteed by contract for decades. Union leaders said they do not want give up the seniority process.

Lt. James Rinaldo, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 213, a union that represents a majority of the jail’s superior officers, said the system is “fair and equitable.”

“What Sgt. Wright works is voluntary overtime,” said Rinaldo, who is also one of the county’s top overtime earn-

ers, with more than $77,000 last year. “He makes a sacrifice to come in on his days off, weekends, holidays.”

It’s typical for Union County jail officers to increase their base salary by more than 25 percent with overtime, records show. And dozens of employees earned at least 50 percent of their base salary in overtime last year.

Wright, one of the most senior sergeants, was among a handful of officers who more than doubled their base pay. The overtime does not count toward the officers’ pensions, according to the state Treasury Department and the president of the state Police and Fire Retirement System.

Wright, who lives in Clark and declined to comment, has an annual base salary of $98,330 and has earned an additional $650,000 in overtime since 2005. The county manager, the highest-paid county employee without a medical degree, has a base salary of $168,000.

N.J. fund to help homeowners fix underground tanks runs out of money, creates $33M of spill cleanups By CHRISTOPHER BAXTER For Marty Lipp, the only thing deeper than the 8foot hole contractors dug in his driveway to remove an old heating oil storage tank may soon be the one in his wallet for having to unexpectedly pick up the tab for the work.

Lipp, 53, of Maplewood, will now have to fork over up to $12,000 after a popular state fund created to help residents remove leaky underground tanks ran dry last

week - just five years after its coffers bulged with $90 million.

“I checked the website a day or so before this happened, and suddenly they hang out the sign and say there’s no more money?” said Lipp, a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The Star-Ledger. “I don’t understand where the oversight was, and how they could not see this was coming.”

About 1,300 people seeking grants or loans will not get help for at least a year, creating a backlog of an estimated $33 million worth of spill cleanups, said Frank Pinto, chief financial officer for the state Department of

Environmental Protection’s Site Remediation Program.

The money woes also will prevent the agency from processing new requests until at least 2014, Pinto said.

Once celebrated as the solution to getting rid of rusted and aging tanks, the fund ran out of cash because of maneuvers to divert dollars to other priorities and expand the number of people and institutions eligible for the program.

“This was a very successful program but then everyone started trying to take a little piece of it and now the program is basically being diverted to death,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New

Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club.

Average cleanup costs for leaky underground tanks range from $3,000 to $8,000, according to grants and loans awarded. But spills that cause widespread contamination can cost $100,000 or more to remediate. The program had paid for 12,587 projects as of Dec. 31, 2010, according to the state Economic Development Authority, which oversees the fund along with the DEP. Environmentalists say the ramifications of the fund’s demise could be extreme: Leaking tanks could remain in the ground longer, increasing the likelihood of a major

spill.

Typical underground home heating oil tanks hold 550 to 1,000 gallons, and a spill of just one gallon of oil into the groundwater can contaminate 1 million gallons - the equivalent of about 11/2 Olympic-size swimming pools.

Though the DEP prefers not to take strict enforcement against homeowners, David Sweeney, assistant commissioner for the department’s site remediation program, said by law, residents are responsible for the spill.

“There will be cases where homeowners don’t have the money to do it, and if it ranks high enough, we’ll go

in there and then we’ll put a lien on the property,” Sweeney said.

State Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), chairman of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee, said he plans to hold a hearing to determine why the money ran out and why the problem was not brought to the Legislature’s attention sooner.

“Everybody’s intention will be to try to make sure we keep our promises to our citizens,” Smith said.

The EDA warned last year in its annual report that the tank fund could hit empty this year and recommended lawmakers take action. But no changes were made.

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‘The Help’ wins box office, summer hits record

By LISA RICHWINE LOS ANGELES — The maids of “The Help” didn’t take the Labor Day weekend off. The surprise summer hit held firm at the top of the domestic box office for the third straight week with $19 million in ticket sales.

The drama about white women and their Black maids in civil rights-era Mississippi polished off three new films based on four-day estimates released by movie studios on Monday, the U.S. Labor Day holiday that ended a record summer at U.S. and Canadian theaters. “The Help,” a critics favorite that debuted a month ago in the No. 2 spot, was produced by DreamWorks and distributed by Walt Disney Co. Newcomers including two horror flicks generated modest sales on a weekend traditionally slow for moviegoing.

Spy thriller “The Debt,” starring Helen Mirren, took second place with a better-than-expected $12.6 million in the North American (U.S. and Canadian) market. The film tells the story of the hunt for a Nazi war criminal and how the mission haunts a trio of secret agents three decades later. The film drew an older audience with 70 percent of moviegoers over age 40, distributor Focus Features said.

The studio released the movie last Wednesday, and estimated domestic sales since it debuted reached $14.5 million.

Space mystery “Apollo 18,” a new

release that purports to use “found footage” of an ill-fated trip to the moon, came in third for the weekend with $10.7 million. That fell within studio projections for a film that cost less than $5 million to make, said Erik Lomis, president of distribution for The Weinstein Co, which released the film.

Following behind at No. 4 was new thriller “Shark Night (3-D),” a tale of nightmarish fresh-water shark attacks at a Louisiana lake house, with $10.3 million, at the higher end of industry expectations. Aimed at teens, the film drew 57 percent of its audience from an under-25 crowd.

Sci-fi flick “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” stayed strong, rounding out

LONDON — They may be witnessing their global superpower influence decline in the face of challenges from other emerging players on the world stage, but Americans have been voted the world’s “coolest nationality” in an international poll.

Social networking site Badoo.com (www.badoo.com) asked 30,000 people across 15 countries to name the coolest nationality and also found that the Spanish were considered the coolest Europeans, Brazilians the coolest Latin Americans and Belgians the globe’s least cool nationality.

“We hear a lot in the media about anti-Americanism,” says Lloyd Price, Badoo’s Director of Marketing. “But we sometimes forget how many people across the world consider Americans seriously cool.”

Of course, not all Americans are cool, far from it. Some like Snoop Dogg, Lady Gaga, Samuel L. Jackson, Johnny Depp and Quentin Tarantino are way cooler than others.

Americans, however, are the dudes who invented cool and who still embody it in many fields from music to movies and TV to technology.

“America,” says Price, “boasts the world’s coolest leader, Obama; the coolest rappers, Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg; and the coolest man in technology, Steve Jobs of Apple, the man who even made geeks cool.”

Brazilians are ranked the second coolest nationality in the Badoo poll and the coolest Latin Americans, ahead of Mexicans and Argentinians. The Spanish, in third place, are the coolest Europeans.

The French are voted cooler than the British, and Canadians cooler than the Belgians. This may come as a relief for Canadians, who are sometimes viewed as chronically uncool.

Or, as Michael Ignatieff, the Canadian politician, once put it: “Paris, Texas stands as a metaphor for broken dreams; Paris, Saskatchewan just sounds ridiculous.”

Actresses (L-R) Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and Allison Janney pose during a photocall for their film “The Help” at the 37th American Film Festival in Deauville. the top five with $10.3 million during its fifth weekend in theaters.

“Apes,” a revival of the classic tale of chimps launching a revolution, and “The Help” stood out as two surprise summer hits. “Apes” has rung up $162.5 million in domestic sales and $186.5 million in international markets, for a combined total of $349 million.

“The Help” has pulled in about $123.4 million since it hit U.S. and Canadian theaters, exceeding forecasts from box-office watchers. The film is an adaptation of a best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett.

The two movies helped Hollywood

rack up record sales for the fourmonth summer season measured from early May through Labor Day, when studios bring in as much as 40 percent of annual revenue. Domestic totals hit an estimated $4.4 billion for the period, a 0.7 percent increase from last year, according to figures from Hollywood.com Box Office.

The revenue gain was helped by slightly higher average ticket prices as movie attendance fell 1.4 percent.

“Though attendance figures are down, the performance is still impressive given the intense competition” for audiences posed by a range of entertainment options, said Paul Dergarabedian, head of Hollywood.com Box Office.

Summer hits included big sequels such as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2” and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” plus superhero tales such as “Captain America: The First Avenger” and family film “The Smurfs.” Adult comedies, including “Bridesmaids” and “The Hangover 2” also scored with audiences.

“The Debt” was released by Focus Features, a unit of Comcast Corp’s Universal Pictures. Privately held Weinstein Co released “Apollo 18.”

Closely held Relativity Media released “Shark Night (3-D)” in the United States and eOne distributed the film in Canada.

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was released by 20th Century Fox, the film studio of News Corp.

Don Cheadle goes green for Poll: The world still thinks hilarious ‘Captain Planet’ spoof Americans are ‘coolest’

Don Cheadle is saving the planet one tree at a time. Or should we say, one human tree at a time?

Cheadle, who stars in next summer’s sure-to-be blockbuster superhero film “The Avengers,” was honored this past July by the Friars Club in New York for his performance alongside Brendan Gleeson in “The Guard.” The two were honored with a ‘Best New Buddy Comedy Duo’ Award at the event for their performances in the film, about an Irish cop who reluctantly teams with an

uptight FBI agent to take down an international drug trafficking ring.

And now Cheadle is sticking with comedy in a great new “Funny or Die” spoof on the classic kids show Captain Planet and the Planeteers, about an environmentally friendly super hero who, with the help of a few like-minded teenagers, save the Earth from ecologically threatening events.

Unfortunately, Cheadle’s Captain Planet isn’t exactly as good for the human race as he is for the planet.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

singing sensations The Jackson 5, along with another sibling Rebbie Jackson and friend Deniece Williams singing tunes and telling tales about Jackson’s life and career. Plans call for a question-and-answer session with audience members.

“The majority of the show will be reminiscences and stories about Michael that the public has never heard,” Gest said in a statement.

The tour also follows the October U.K. release of Gest’s documentary film, ‘Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon,” which Jackson’s mother and family matriarch Katherine Jackson called “a tremendous achievement.”

“This is not my story, but the story of many of Michael’s friends’ recollections,” she said in a statement.

Michael Jackson, who rose to fame in a family of singers before embarking on a solo career that included smash hits such as “Thriller” and “Billie Jean,” died in June 2009 of an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol which he used as a sleep aid.

His physician at the time, Dr. Conrad Murray, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s death. He has pleaded not guilty and a trial will start this month.

Katherine Jackson is just one of the family’s members who has backed a one-night tribute planned for October 8 in Cardiff, Wales. But that tribute has caused some fans to cry foul over the singers who were invited, the charities benefiting from ticket sales and its timing during Murray’s trial.

yelling at an audience member who Williams claims incited the argument by insulting the United States.

Williams soon said to the man, “No, this ain’t Mexico. It used to be Mexico and now it’s Phoenix.”

At various points in the outburst, Williams began chants of “USA!

USA! USA!,” which some activists perceived as insulting, but Williams defended as patriotism.

“I don’t think I need to apologize for being pro-American,” Williams said.

These were but a few in a series of comments that activists took offense to, including, “Do you remember when white people used to say ‘Go back to Africa,’ and we’d have to tell them we don’t want to? So if you love Mexico, (expletive), get the (expletive) over there!”

But Williams was quick to express his appreciation of his Mexican fans, noting that they were a key part of his success.

“I couldn’t be anti-Mexican. My Mexican fan base is largely responsible or me even existing,” Williams said. “Between them and the black community, it’s really all I have.”

This incident is the latest in a string of public controversies for the comedian.

Just last week he was kicked out of a Young Jeezy concert for his role a brawl, and in June he was arrested for threatening a potential witness after a bizarre stand-off with a tractor driver.

David Gest, Jacksons plan tribute tour to Michael

By CHRIS MICHAUD LOS ANGELES — Producer David Gest, Tito Jackson and others close to Michael Jackson on Monday unveiled a singing and spoken-word tribute tour to the late King of Pop. “A Jackson Named Michael: Remembering a Legend,” kicks off in the United Kingdom in March 2012, and follows another tribute set for October in Wales that has caused some controversy among fans of the “Thriller” singer.

Gest’s show will feature Tito, a member with Michael of Motown

17

Eddie Murphy Katt Williams clarifies apology on Mexican rant high on list to host Oscars

By LUCAS SHAW

Comedian Katt Williams defended remarks he made to a Mexican member of his audience last week that were perceived as xenophobic, telling CNN on Saturday that while he apologizes to anyone who perceived them as hateful to the Mexican-American community, he would not apologize for the comments he made on stage.

“I meant what I said and I said what I meant,” Williams said.

Williams stressed that as a comedian he cannot apologize for a performance, drawing a sharp line between what is said on stage and his true feelings.

He added “that’s for the Tracy Morgans of the world,” in reference to Morgan apologizing for anti-gay remarks he made during a stand-up show in Nashville.

Williams had initially apologized — or so everyone thought. Instead, Williams said that was an apology written by his publicist, and not his own.

The controversy began when a video was posted online of Williams

TNT cancels Jada Pinkett Smith’s ‘HawthoRNe’

By TIM KENNEALLY LOS ANGELES — After three seasons, TNT has canceled the medical drama “HawthoRNe,” the network said.

The series, which starred Jada Pinkett Smith as hospital executive Christina Hawthorne and Michael Vartan as her husband, surgeon Tom Wakefield, aired its last episode on August 16.

TNT said in a statement it “truly appreciates the tremendous dedication of everyone involved in

‘HawthoRNe.’ The series gave TNT the opportunity to work with many outstanding people, including Jada Pinkett Smith and the rest of the show’s talented cast, crew, producers and writers. We wish everyone involved with ‘HawthoRNe’ nothing but the best.”

The series had generated headlines recently, with rumors that Smith and her castmate Marc Anthony, recently split from his wife Jennifer Lopez, had engaged in an affair. Smith and her husband, Will Smith, issued a statement denying the rumor.

By CHRIS MICHAUD Comedian Eddie Murphy is on an Oscar producer’s shortlist to host the Academy Awards in February, showbusiness website Deadline reported.

A meeting is scheduled for this coming Tuesday between Oscar producer Brett Ratner and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, at which Ratner will offer president Tom Sherak the idea of having Murphy host the world’s top film honors.

Deadline, citing unnamed sources, said in a report on Saturday night that having the “Shrek” movie star host the show was not a done deal, with many more steps to be completed before Murphy is agreed upon.

The 84th Academy Awards’ other producer, Don Mischer, has been approached by several other big names who have expressed interest in the hosting duties.

But according to the report Ratner has focused solely on Murphy, star of such 1980s and 1990s hit comedies as “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Trading Places” and “The Nutty Professor.”

An Academy spokeswoman was not immediately available to comment on Sunday. The upcoming Oscars will take place on February 26, 2012.

Murphy, whose new film with Ben Stiller opens on November 4, is reportedly interested in the job, Deadline said.

The “Saturday Night Live” alumnus was nominated for a best supporting actor in 2006 for “Dreamgirls.”

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

18

Equity hedges sweat on returns after choppy summer

By LAURENCE FLETCHER LONDON — Many jittery hedge funds are clinging to core stock holdings in the hope that a rebound in equity markets in the final four months of the year will save the $2 trillion industry from its second calendar year of losses in just four years.

On average, funds that bet on rising and falling equity prices have suffered a loss of 14.4 percent so far this year, according to Hedge Fund Research’s HFRX index, which gathers data on hedge fund performance globally, while MSCI’s world index of developed stocks is down 10.5 percent.

Barring a rapid rebound in the final months of the year, traders are now staring at the prospect of another negative year, after a loss of some 27 percent in 2008 according to HFRI, and of no lucrative performance fee for some time to come.

For investors, the losses could raise fur$

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ther awkward questions about whether hedge funds are too linked to stock market performance and are failing to deliver on a key expectation that they will generate returns regardless of the market’s trend overall.

“Most funds are panicking about performance,” said one investment bank executive who deals with hedge funds, who spoke on condition of anonymity, while one hedge fund executive said: “Hedge fund psychology in a normal fund in a normal year gets very stressy around this time of year.

“If the fund doesn’t make (its losses) back, it’s going to be a hell of a long time until you get paid a decent amount of money.”

Equity funds are now hoping that history will repeat itself and that a rally in stock markets can drive a late surge in hedge fund performance, as seen in 2009 and 2010.

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come good, insiders say.

And, despite a reputation for aggressive short-selling, funds have also largely resisted the urge to put on big bets on tumbling prices to capitalize on further market falls.

According to Data Explorers, the ratio of long positions to short positions is close to a year-high of 11.38 times. “(Managers will) hope and pray for a good four months,” said one fund of funds executive who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“What’s different this time is that while many funds have derisked, many have kept core positions and are in a reasonable position to bounce back if there is a recovery.”

A number of bigname managers have been hit by a summer of bad news, including the U.S.’s debt downgrade,

a deteriorating global economic outlook and the deepening eurozone debt crisis, which have rocked financial markets.

Lansdowne Partners, one of Europe’s biggest hedge fund managers with around $16 billion in assets, has seen its flagship UK fund fall 15 percent in the year to August 26, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, despite recovering some of the losses suffered early in the month.

Lansdowne declined to comment.

And high-profile manager Crispin Odey’s MAC fund dropped 13 percent in August, leaving it down a similar amount so far this year, although Odey remains positive on markets.

But not all managers are suffering. GLG (part of Man Group Plc) star Pierre Lagrange’s European long-short hedge fund rose 1 per-

cent in August, taking year-to-date gains to 5 percent, a source familiar with the situation said.

Marshall Wace, one of the UK’s largest hedge fund managers, saw its $400 million MW Global Opportunities Fund, managed by Fehim Can Sever, grow 10.6 percent in August after being broadly short European markets and long emerging markets, giving it a year-to-date rise of 16.3 percent, a source familiar with the situation said.

Marshall Wace’s flagship $1.5 billion long-short equity Eureka Fund managed a 0.46 percent rise in August and is up just over 4 percent in 2011, the same source added.

Polygon has seen its Convertibles fund gain 9 percent so far this year, a source close to the situation said. Its European event-driven fund, which invests in

mid-cap stocks, lost 6 percent in August and is down 3 percent for the year. By contrast the UK’s FTSE Mid 250 index for instance is down 12 percent.

So-called global macro funds have profited this summer from bearish bets, such as being long fixed income and gold and short stocks. These funds, made famous by the likes of George Soros, are down just 1 percent year-to-date, according to HFRX. “The beginning of the year was more difficult, but recent sell-offs and negativity have allowed macro managers to be positive in performance terms,” said Matt Osborne, fund manager at Altegris Investments.

“The rally in the U.S. and core Europe (fixed income) has shown a real flight to quality and macro managers are participating in that.”

Report: U.S. banks offered deal over lawsuits

By STEPHEN MANGAN and DAVE CLARKE LONDON — Big U.S. banks in talks with state prosecutors to settle claims of improper mortgage practices have been offered a deal that may limit their legal liabilities in return for a multibillion-dollar payment, the Financial Times reported on

Tuesday.

The talks aim to settle allegations that banks including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial, seized the homes of delinquent borrowers and broke state laws by employing so-called “robosigners,” workers who signed off on foreclosure documents en masse without reviewing the paperwork.

The FT, citing five

people with direct knowledge of the discussions, said state prosecutors have proposed settlement language in the “robosigning” cases that also might release the companies from legal liability for wrongful securitization practices.

A spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading states’ negotiations with the banks, denied any deal has

been offered on securitization.

“We do not intend to release any aspect of securitizations,” said Geoff Greenwood, Miller’s spokesman.

The banks are pressing for immunity from a raft of alleged civil violations and have called the latest proposal a “non-starter.”

The two sides are due to meet again this week to iron out differences on any proposed deal, the article said.

Service sector growth picks up in August

By STEVEN C. JOHNSON The pace of expansion in the services sector unexpectedly accelerated in August, snapping a three-month streak of slower growth, according to an industry report

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released yesterday.

The Institute for Supply Management said its services index rose to 53.3 last month from 52.7 in July. That topped the 51.0 median forecast in a Reuters poll of 71 economists.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

The report was at odds with service sector readings beyond U.S. borders, which showed growth slowed sharply last month in the euro zone, Britain and

China.

Other U.S. data has been disappointing as well, including a report last week showing the economy did not add any new jobs in August, leaving the jobless rate above 9 percent.

The ISM report suggests consumers have not stopped spending entirely.

The new orders component rose to 52.8 from 51.7 in July, a mildly encouraging sign of consumer demand.

The report “defied expectations,” said Theodore Littleton of IFR Economics, a unit of Thomson Reuters.

“The uptick may indicate that service industries did better later in the month, overcoming the early August misery seen in Friday’s employment report.”

The employment index in the ISM report, however, slipped to 51.6 in August, its lowest since September 2010. It stood at 52.5 in July.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

19

Toyota aims for quake-proof supply chain

By CHANGRAN KIM YOKOHAMA, Japan — Toyota Motor Corp. is working to create a robust supply chain that would recover within two weeks in the event of another massive earthquake like the one on March 11 that is still affecting output after six months, a top executive said.

Toyota and other Japanese automakers were forced to halt a large portion of their production both inside and outside Japan for months after the earthquake and tsunami cut off the supply of hundreds of parts from the country’s devastated northeast.

“We’re making checks now to see what needs to be done to enable a recovery within two weeks when the next one — expected in the (central) Tokai

region — hits,” Executive Vice President Shinichi Sasaki told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

“We’re about 80 percent done with those checks.”

Sasaki, in charge of purchasing, said Toyota was taking three steps to fight supply chain risks that he expected would be completed in roughly five years.

The first is to further standardize parts across Japanese automakers so they could share common components that could be manufactured in several locations, he said.

The second step is to ask suppliers further down the chain to hold enough inventory — perhaps a few months’ worth — for specialized components that cannot be built in more than one location, or take anti-quake measures that guarantee

safety against any tremor or tsunami, he said.

This was to prevent a repeat of what happened this time with Renesas Electronics Corp., whose production of certain microchip controller units (MCUs) is still seen a few weeks away from full restoration.

Part of the second step would involve developing technology that would provide more options for parts and materials, such as substituting rare earths found mostly in China.

The third step to becoming more resilient was to make each region independent in its parts procurement so that a disaster in Japan would not affect production overseas.

Sasaki said the measures would also help offset losses from the strong yen by eventual-

ly lowering costs and creating a natural hedge — whereby costs and revenues are in the same currency — cutting foreign exchange exposure within regions.

More than the March 11 disasters, Toyota is hurting from the yen’s historic strength, which is wiping billions of dollars from the export-dependent company’s profits.

Toyota last year built 43 percent of its 7.6 million vehicles in Japan and exported more than half of that, making it more vulnerable to the yen’s rise than Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. Nissan and Honda posted profits for the April-June quarter.

Toyota had an operating loss of 108 billion yen ($1.4 billion).

Almost all Japanese automakers, including Nissan and Honda, have said they planned

to make use of the strong currency to import more components and cut costs for cars built in Japan.

But Sasaki said that would not help in light of the time and money required to package and transport the parts, coupled with a higher level of manufacturing efficiency in Japan.

“Even if we imported 100 percent of the parts, it wouldn’t make sense.” He added that an exception might be the import of materials that don’t require complex packaging, such as some of the steel Toyota buys from South Korea’s POSCO for the Japan-made Camry.

“Instead of importing parts, there are still a lot of parts that we export from Japan for

the cars we build overseas, so we’re asking our (domestic) suppliers for help with that.”

Toyota procures about 90 percent of its parts locally in North America and Europe, but the remaining 10 percent — mainly engines and transmissions from Japan — is costing more due to the dearer yen.

Sasaki said affiliate Toyota Tsusho, a trading company, was helping to facilitate smaller parts makers’ moves overseas by setting up a “supplier park” and handling much of the logistics.

Thailand already has one, and Sasaki said he hoped another would follow also in Indonesia, where Toyota is expected to ramp up vehicle production.

Back-to-school shoppers greeted with shrinking quality, higher prices

By CHRIS LEVISTER Special to the NNPA from the Blackvoicenews.com School aged kids are preparing for their post Labor Day return to the classroom and the telltale signs of rising cotton prices and a sluggish economy are everywhere.

“The prices are sky high, and the quality stinks,” says Lisbeth Rose-Scott, a mother of three school children.

Tis’ the season of the back-to-school sale, second most important time on the retailer’s calendar after Christmas.

Early indications are consumers aren’t buying this year’s bevy of higher priced merchandise from jeans to pencils.

With costs for consumer goods and services from apparel to food and gas on the rise parents like Rose-Scott are back-to-school shopping at thrift stores and dusting off hand-medowns. “I buy nice clothes for the kids at the beginning of the

school year and halfway through they’re already worn out. Even their corduroy’s have holes in the knees. I can’t afford to keep throwing money down the drain.”

Retail experts say manufacturers are “quietly” making clothes that are thinner and made with cheaper quality.

Parents know this season better than anyone. Back to school shopping occurs from July through Labor Day, around the start of fall semester. Advertising for this heavy shopping time started earli-

er, with some stores cranking out ads in mid-June, when some schools were still in session for the spring semester.

In August 2010, prime school shopping season, consumers spent a combined $7.4 billion at family clothing stores, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Apparel, the season’s top-selling category for school-aged children, is bracing for cotton cost inflation of as much as 20 percent, the first in at least a decade. The recent weeks’ price declines in the commod-

ity don’t help, because stores paid for their goods about six to nine months earlier.

Retailers are raising prices on merchandise an average of 10 percent across-the-board this fall in an effort to offset their rising costs for materials and labor.

But merchants are worried that cash-strapped customers, who are weighed down by economic woes, will reject price hikes.

Some merchants are using disguise tactics to get parents to open their wallets wide and leave their magnifying glass at home. For example, some are raising prices then offering the wellworn bait of buy one at the higher price and get a second one often or lesser quality. Others are luring shoppers with children’s fashion shows, and free sunglasses with purchase.

Some are using less fabric and calling it new chic. Others are adding glitter, cheap crystals, bows, stitching, fake button holes, zippers — to justify price increases. Those embellishments can add pennies

to a $1 to the cost of a garment, but retailers can charge $10 more for them, said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with market research firm The NPD Group.

Cohen says parents may want to ‘shop’ their kids’ closets first. “Dust off last year’s jeans, add some lace, or trendy buttons give them a good wash and you’re good to go.”

Rose-Scott spent $19.00 for a Hello Kitty tee-shirt and a pair of slightly used jeans at a San Bernardino consignment store. A year ago, she paid $21.99 for the same shirt at a department store.

Spending on clothing and school supplies for children in grades K-12 is expected to decline this back-to-school season, a National Retail Federation survey showed.

The survey showed 70 percent of respondents with school-age children said higher food and energy prices may lower their spending this summer.

About 30 percnet of consumers believe

prices on new back-toschool merchandise are higher and nearly twothirds say lower prices far above other factors, are their biggest purchase consideration, the survey showed.

The survey indicates sales are up at the nation’s dollar store chains as shoppers flock to stores for school supplies like pencils, composition books, crayons, and back packs.

Try consignment stores - prices may be 50 percent lower - and wait if you can - clearance sales begin at the end of September, says Cohen.

Rose-Scott says the higher prices mean her school aged kids won’t get everything they want this year. “It’s now all about putting food on the table and gas in the car.”

She admits despite the higher back to school prices, shrinking quality and the morbid dread with which kids claim to greet the renewal of school days, returning to the classroom is an age old reunion to which most of them look forward with anticipation.

20

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 ! "

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DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

DAILY CHALLENGE

21

SPORTS

Scandals molded Newton enough to woo Carolina

By LES CARPENTER CHARLOTTE, N.C. - If not for Scam Newton there’s no way Ron Rivera is doing this.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera was sold on Cam Newton after having breakfast with Newton and his family a few weeks before the draft.

But that trouble is exactly what the Carolina Panthers’ new coach likes about Cam Newton, who is going to start at quarterback despite just six weeks of preparation and one season as a starter in bigtime college football.

That trouble means Newton’s been wounded, he’s been through things, he’s survived. It’s why Rivera pushed the organization to take Newton with the first pick of last spring’s NFL draft.

The way Rivera sees it, there needs to be a lot of surviving these next few weeks as he tries to rebuild the league’s worst team. Why not do it with a man who’s endured more criticism than anyone?

“How many guys do you think could handle the scrutiny that he had for the last three years and not have crumbled or would have failed at some point?” Rivera asks as he walks down a path from the Panthers’ practice fields. “People say ‘Oh he never faced adversity.’ I don’t know about that. He’s been

through a lot of adversity the last three years.”

And if Rivera and his coaches can channel that promise, Newton’s got a chance to build a new life as an NFL superstar and make people forget about the scandals - the stolen laptop at Florida, the three schools in four years and the cloud of allegations that his father Cecil tried to sell him to the highest-bidding college - that were all bundled into a single name: Scam Newton.

But to get there they’ll have to survive 2011 first. And what Rivera is doing is nearly unprecedented - crazy really throwing the team into the hands of a quarterback who at this time last year was but a blip on the sports radar. Yet Rivera is betting none of this will faze Newton.

“You look for that guy who, when adversity hits, can rise above and help the other guys rise too,” he says.

And if they’re going to take losses this fall, as Rivera fully expects they could, he’d rather take them with a leader who has been attacked before and endured.

It’s a thought that makes Newton stop as he makes his way toward the Panthers’ locker rooms after a recent practice. Slowly, he nods.

“The road that I’ve got to this point is what made the person I really am now,” he says. “If I just went to school without any hindrance, without any traps in my way,

I don’t think I would have learned the lessons I have learned. I thank God I’ve been in so many situations to know when a particular situation comes up, whatever it is; I will know how to handle it. Good and bad.”

Rivera believes this so much that the decision to start Newton came during the lockout, before Newton ever pulled on a silver Panthers helmet and had a day of coaching.

Rivera was determined to give Jimmy Clausen(notes) a fair chance to start, but unless Clausen did something remarkable or Newton imploded, Newton was going to start.

“I didn’t draft him to save us,” Rivera says. “I drafted him to lead us.

We drafted him to be a part of what we build here.”

It took time for Rivera to fall in love with Newton, but when he did his feelings came fast.

The question of whether to draft Newton came quickly after he took the job last winter. And Rivera’s staff and scouting department plowed though hours of video tape and made dozens of phone calls. When it came time for Newton’s pro day at Auburn, Rivera showed up a day early, walked into the stadium, sat high in the stands and watched Newton go through a rehearsal of what he was going to do the next morning.

He was amazed by the

way Newton’s teammates gravitated toward him during those moments they weren’t running. This wasn’t the common quarterbackteammate distance and he saw the signs: Newton’s personality was “infectious” and he wouldn’t come into the pros with the aloofness of a superstar.

But it was two days later, on the morning after the pro day, that Rivera first found himself leaning toward pushing for Newton to be the team’s pick. He took the quarterback to breakfast and asked everything he could think of about every controversial moment in Newton’s life: the laptop, the dismissal from Florida, the allegations of a bidding war.

Newton answered them all.

“No question was off limits,” Rivera says. “He answered every question I asked. The one thing that impressed me the most though was asking him about Florida. He explained, ‘I made a big mistake, I learned from that mistake and from that point on I try to do things the right way.’ “ Still as the draft grew near and Rivera was all but certain Newton was the right quarterback to be the new face of the franchise, the coach wanted to be sure. And so one final meeting was set up. Rivera flew to Atlanta where the Newtons live and took the family to breakfast.

They went to a small

place, supposedly famous in local circles but whose name now escapes Rivera, and they all just talked. Newton brought his younger brother, his parents and grandmother.

Rivera sat back and watched the man he was about to make the top pick in the draft talk with his family. There was something real, Rivera decided, something genuine despite all the trouble. Any lingering doubts dissolved at that breakfast table.

“Things came up and we talked about everything,” Rivera says.

“This is our No. 1 choice, how’s that going to affect everything? How’s it going to affect the family? I just wanted to deal with the expectations of what the family wanted to be. They seemed to understand and their whole thing was to be supportive to him.”

Then came the moment Rivera was sold for good. Cecil Newton, the one who has been accused of shopping his son across half the S o u t h e a s t e r n Conference, turned to Rivera and said: “Cam doesn’t have to be in front of everybody.

He likes to be a part of a team.”

A couple of breakfasts mean nothing once the practices start. And Rivera was curious to know how fast Newton would take to a new playbook. The Panthers’ coaches had talked to Newton’s previous

coaches both at Blinn (Texas) College and at Auburn, asking how best he learned. They said Newton needed to be on the field as much as possible, working the possibilities with a ball in his hand. Even quarterback meetings needed to be interactive. The last thing, they said, was to have him sitting in a lecture for two hours.

The Panthers have thrown a ton at Newton.

Learning to trust the offensive system has been hard for him. This is always a challenge for young quarterbacks who operated with more freedom in college, which was especially true for Newton who could take off running whenever he needed at Auburn.

“It’s more reacting here,” Newton says.

“When you get in any type of situation in the game you can’t think about the game plan you were given. You can’t think, ‘There’s a 20 percent chance this guy can come on this blitz,’ or ‘On third down they have shown they do this.’

When it’s, ‘Hut,’ it’s all about reacting. You either know it or you don’t. And if you don’t, you lose.”

If Rivera has a frustration with Newton it’s that the quarterback has not been a bigger personality. One day, as Newton looked especially frustrated, Rivera pulled the quarterback aside and said, “You can’t be hard on yourself.”

Lance B riggs wants Bears to tal k

By JEFF DICKERSON LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs defended his decision to seek a trade if the organization continues to refuse to renegotiate his contract.

Briggs has three years remaining on a six year, $36 million extension signed prior

to the 2008 season.

“The main ingredient here, based off my decision, is to get something,” Briggs said on Monday. “To have management even be willing to talk. Whether it be, let’s deal with it at the end of the year, let’s deal with it after the season, then I have something to work with. But when the organization or management says we’re

not talking now, we’re not talking ever, that puts me in a position where I know my days are numbered.”

General manager Jerry Angelo made it clear there won’t be a deal anytime soon.

“What he’s doing is not something that hasn’t been done here in Chicago and around the league,” Angelo said Monday at a season tick-

etholders event. “We feel very, very confident that Lance’s focus is going to be on the season and having a great year, and we’ll just take care of our business when that time comes. And that’ll be at the end of the year.”

The six-time Pro Bowl weakside linebacker is scheduled to earn a base salary of $3.65 million in 2011, a sharp

decrease from what he made last year. In 2010, Briggs had a base salary of $3.145 million, but also a roster bonus of $3.3 million. He is scheduled to pocket a base salary of $3.75 million and $1.33 million likely to be earned bonuses in 2012, and a base of salary of $6.25 million in the final year of the deal.

“If I play at X amount

of money, then this year I’m asked to play for half of that, my play doesn’t decrease,” Briggs said.

“So I have every right to go in and ask for a raise, or in this case at least to flip the years. There is nothing wrong with that. From the business side, there is nothing wrong with that.

Football players don’t retire when we are 65 years old.

22

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

DAILY CHALLENGE

SPORTS

Rain washes out full day at US Open NEW YORK They are two different players and, at times, it looks as if they’re playing two different games.

There’s the Serena Williams style, filled with intimidation and huge shots. And there’s the way Caroline Wozniacki does it, with great hustle and even better conditioning.

Both players made it through the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Monday and stayed on a path that could collide in the semifinals Williams with a bigserving 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 16 Ana Ivanovic and Wozniacki with a 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-1 win over No. 15 Svetlana Kuznetsova that took 3 hours, 2 minutes.

Among the matches scheduled for yesterday were American Donald Young against No. 4 Andy Murray and another American, No. 28 John Isner, against No. 12 Gilles Simon of France. But before any of those matches could begin, rain hit the National Tennis Center, delaying play for the first time at this year’s U.S. Open.

After Monday’s

matches, the 28th-seeded Williams was the only one of the eight women left in the draw who has won a Grand Slam title, which could answer the question of whose style works better in the sport’s biggest events.

But Wozniacki is topseeded at the U.S. Open and No. 1 in the rankings - tops in a system that rewards consistency more than big moments. By that standard, it is, indeed, hard to find anyone better.

“I know I can be out there for hours and hours,” she said. “It’s great to know that, and it’s great to know that it doesn’t matter how long the match takes. I mean, I will not lose because I’m not physically well.”

Knowing that, as well, Kuznetsova pressed throughout and took a 4-1 lead in the second set. But that’s when the party ended for the two-time major champion. She lost 12 of the next 14 games and finished the night with 78 unforced errors on a windy night in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“She was a wall,” Kuznetsova said. “To break a wall, you can-

not hit hard all the time. You have to mix it up. I think I did the right things. I just couldn’t close it up in the right moments.”

Williams had to tone things down a bit for her match, played hours earlier, but also in blustery conditions.

Still, there were two moments that stood out: A key point she won after letting a 3-0 lead slip in the first set, after which she clenched her fist and screamed, “Come On”; and the way she closed out the match, with four straight serves Ivanovic couldn’t return, maxing out at 111 mph.

Not surprisingly, the discussion afterward was whether Williams tries to be intimidating on the court.

“No, I don’t try,” she said. “I just am.”

Roger Federer can be pretty intimidating, as well.

Forced to wait until 11:51 p.m. to start his match, he came out like a man in a hurry, putting away the first set against Juan Monaco in 18 minutes en route to a 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 victory.

In the second game of the second set, he served four straight

aces - a perfect game, of sorts.

“It’s only a game.

Only four points,” he said. “But it’s nice to do it that way instead of having to take 10 minutes.”

Just as impressive was the quick way Federer closed out the match, with a light mist falling, the court slickening ever so slightly and the unsavory prospect of having to sit through a rain delay at 1 in the morning. He only lost 12 points in the third set.

“There was not much margin for us, because it was so late,” Federer said. “Probably one rain delay and they’d have sent everybody home.”

Federer hasn’t missed a Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2004 French Open and his quarterfinal here will be against No. 11 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who overcame a two-set deficit against Federer in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the victory.

Tsonga beat eighthseeded American Mardy Fish, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 3-6, 64, 6-2.

“Doesn’t necessarily need to be the next Grand Slam, but it’s sure something I’m looking forward to,”

Federer said of the rematch. “I live for the big matches, live for playing a guy who is explosive, has got some firepower. I like to play those kind of players, especially now that we’re in the deeper stages of the tournament.”

Also winning in straight sets Monday, though nowhere near as quickly, was No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic held off four set points in the firstset tiebreaker en route to a 7-6 (14), 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 22 Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Djokovic improved to 61-2 on the season and his opponent, a highly regarded 22-year-old from Ukraine, knew what his odds were even before the long tiebreaker.

“No, I don’t think the tiebreak would change the match even if I’d won it,” Dolgopolov said. “I mean, he’s better than me physically now.”

Djokovic’s quarterfinal will be against his Serbian Davis Cup teammate, No. 20 Janko Tipsarevic, who defeated 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-2. The Serbs

practice together a lot, which might give Tipsarevic the advantage of some familiarity.

“But those things are maybe 2 percent of the overall outcome of the match,” Tipsarevic said.

“You know, who plays better tennis is going to win. It’s as simple as that.”

Also earning spots in the women’s quarterfinals were No. 10 Andrea Petkovic, who faces Wozniacki next, and No. 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, whose next match is against Williams.

Pavlyuchenkova defeated No. 7 Francesca Schiavone, 57, 6-3, 6-4 in a match that featured 16 service breaks in 31 games.

She knows Williams probably won’t be contributing to that kind of number in the quarterfinals.

“I don’t want to go out there and enjoy just being on the center court playing against S e r e n a , ” Pavlyuchenkova said. “I would like to do well, try to fight, and with my effort I try to beat her. But of course I respect her a lot, as well. She’s just great.”

Sources: NBA, Tom Brady would welcome Randy Moss union to meet again

By CHRIS FORSBERG

By CHRIS BROUSSARD Officials from the NBA and the players’ union will meet again today in New York City, according to sources close to the situation.

The meeting will be only the third since the league locked out its players on July 1. But if today’s meeting is productive, sources said the sides are expected to pick up the pace and come together again tomorrow and perhaps Friday.

The meeting will include only a handful of representatives from each side, as was the case last week when the parties met for six hours.

Commissioner David Stern, deputy commissioner Adam Silver and San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt, the chairman of the owners’ labor relations committee, will represent the league. Union director Billy Hunter, counsel Ron Klempner and president Derek Fisher will attend for the players.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said he spoke with Randy Moss just before the start of training camp this season and asked about a report that the wide receiver would be interested in coming out of retirement to play for New England again.

While Moss was not definitive in wanting to

return, Brady was open to the idea of a reunion.

“Would it surprise me? You never know in the NFL,” Brady told Boston sports radio WEEI during his weekly call-in yesterday. “I talked to Randy just before the start of training camp. I love Randy.

He’s one of the greatest wide receivers in the history of the game, one of the greater players I’ve ever had the chance to play with.

“Unfortunately, I don’t make personnel decisions. If I did, I’d still have all my friends here — Troy [Brown], David Patten, Deion

[Branch] never would have left. I’ve seen so many guys move on, then guys come back.

Who knows? You never know what situation we’ll be in here next week, for that matter.

“I can’t get into [Moss’s] brain at all. I love the guy. He’s a great friend of mine. If he ever did have the opportunity to come back, I’d certainly welcome it with open arms.”

Moss played 13 seasons with Minnesota, Oakland, New England and briefly Tennessee.

The six-time Pro Bowler had arguably

his best season as a pro with the Pats in 2007, catching 98 passes for 1,493 yards and a league-leading 23 touchdowns.

For his career, Moss has 14,858 receiving yards and 153 touchdowns, which is second only to Jerry Rice’s 197 all time.

DAILY CHALLENGE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

DAILY CHALLENGE

23

SPORTS

Four suspended Buckeyes to return

By BRIAN BENNETT Four Ohio State players who were suspended shortly before last week’s opener against Akron for receiving impermissible benefits have been

reinstated, coach gifts worth less than to play this weekend at receiver DeVier Posey, Braxton Miller would left tackle Mike Adams each play against Luke Fickell said $300 for appearing at a Ohio Stadium. charity event earlier in Fickell said all four and backup defensive Toledo and probably yesterday.

Starting running back Jordan Hall, starting cornerback Travis Howard and backup defensive back Corey Brown were suspended last Thursday after the Buckeyes discovered they had taken

the year.

Also, Jordan Whiting, who had been suspended last December for last week’s opener for accepting cash and discounted tattoos from a local tattoo-parlor owner, will be available

would be back for this week’s home game against Toledo, though he said he didn’t know if Hall and Howard would regain their starting jobs.

Four other key Buckeyes — running back Dan Herron,

lineman Soloman Thomas — remain suspended for the first five games this season for their role in trading memorabilia for cash and tattoos.

Fickell also said that quarterbacks Joe Bauserman and

would get similar playing time as in Week 1.

Bauserman started and played all but one series in the first half against Akron. Miller played much of the second half in the 42-0 win.

Hall of Fame defensive end Lee Roy Selmon dies TAMPA, Fla. - Lee Roy Selmon, the Hall of Fame defensive end who teamed with his brothers at Oklahoma to create a dominant defensive front that helped lead the Sooners to consecutive national championships, died Sunday - two days after being hospitalized for a stroke. He was 56.

A statement released on behalf wife Claybra said he died at a Tampa hospital surrounded by family members.

“For all his accomplishments on and off the field, to us Lee Roy was the rock of our family. This has been a sudden and shocking event and we are devastated by this unexpected loss,” the statement

said.

Selmon was hospitalized Friday, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers confirmed later that he had a stroke.

“No Sooner player cast a longer shadow over its rich tradition than Lee Roy,” former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer said in a statement. “Beyond his many and great accomplishments, I believe the true legacy of Lee Roy Selmon lies within the kind of man he was. Lee Roy possessed a combination of grace, humility, and dignity that is rare. His engaging smile and gentleness left you feeling blessed to be in his presence. Best of all, he was all genuine.

One would be blessed to have a father, son, uncle, brother, or friend like Lee Roy Selmon.”

In nine seasons with the Buccaneers, Selmon had 781/2 sacks and

earned six consecutive Pro Bowl selections. He retired after the 1984 season.

“The guy just worked as hard as you could ever work and was just a great guy,” said former Tampa Bay teammate Bill Kollar, now the Houston Texans’ assistant head coach and defensive line coach.

“Never got mad, was just always great to everybody and it’s hard to imagine that you could end up being a better person than Lee Roy was. Really, the guy was just a phenomenal person. ... It’s obviously really a sad day.

The guy was a great player and even a better person. It’s just a shame that this happened to him.”

The Glazer family, which owns the team, released a statement mourning him.

Osi Umenyiora likely out for opener EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora will almost certainly miss Sunday’s season opener in Washington against the Redskins.

Umenyiora was not on the practice field with the Giants on Monday morning. After practice, coach Tom Coughlin was asked whether Umenyiora would play on Sunday, and he responded, “I don’t think so. A little early.”

The two-time Pro

Bowler sat out the beginning of Giants training camp because he was dissatisfied with his current contract.

Soon after he began practicing, his right knee started bothering him. He had arthroscopic surgery on the knee on Aug. 19. But as late as last Friday, Coughlin sounded like he was holding out hope that Umenyiora would be available for Week 1.

The only other member of the Giants’ 53man roster not on the field on Monday was the

team’s first-round draft pick, Prince Amukamara, who suffered a broken left foot in training camp in just his second practice with the team. Amukamara had surgery and is likely out several weeks.

Defensive end Justin Tuck was on the field and in uniform, but he also did not practice on Monday. Tuck suffered a burner in the team’s third preseason game versus the New York Jets on Aug. 29, but Coughlin expects him to play on Sunday.

“Tampa Bay has lost another giant. This is an incredibly somber day for Buccaneer fans, Sooner fans, and all football fans. Lee Roy’s standing as the first Buc in the Hall of Fame surely distinguished him, but his stature off the field as the consummate gentleman put him in another stratosphere,” the statement said.

Selmon and his brother, Dewey, were both chosen as All-Americans in 1975 when the Sooners won their second straight championship under Barry Switzer. They followed older brother Lucious to Oklahoma, and the three played together during the 1973 season.

News of Lee Roy Selmon’s stroke had already spurred tributes to Selmon on Saturday, when members of the University of South Florida’s football team

wore his number on their helmet. Selmon had served as the school’s athletic director from 2001 to 2004.

“We all loved him, and we’re all deeply saddened,” USF President Judy Genshaft said.

“We’re a better university because of Lee Roy Selmon. He was an incredible role model, who cared about all of our student-athletes, no matter what sport. He built an incredible legacy and he will never be forgotten.”

Selmon followed his Hall of Fame college career with an equally impressive run in the NFL. He was the No. 1 pick in the 1976 draft the first ever selection by expansion Tampa Bay - and suffered through a winless inaugural season before achieving success. In 1979, he won the NFL Defensive Player of the

Year award when he helped Tampa Bay make it to the NFC championship game.

The Buccaneers also won the NFC Central title two years later.

Selmon was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995.

Presented by brother Dewey, Lee Roy said it was his family background that was noteworthy and not his accomplishments on the field.

“People have said, ‘Your parents must be proud of you,’ but I’m more proud of them,” he said.

Selmon played a key role in the creation of the football program at South Florida, where he was the associate athletic director starting in 1993 and served as the AD from May 2001 until he stepped down in February 2004 because of health concerns.

Bears’ talks with Forte on hold CHICAGO - Contract talks between the Chicago Bears and running back Matt Forte are on hold.

Forte was looking for an extension as he headed into the fourth and final year on his rookie contract, but general manager Jerry Angelo said talks are most likely off until after the season.

“We’ve spent a lot of time trying to work out an extension with Matt, and his agent did as much work as he could

do. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to come to an agreement at this point, so we’ve decided that we’re just going to focus on the season,” Angelo told WBBM-AM in Chicago on Monday night.

“That’s something we talked about when we went into the negotiations.”

Fifth in the NFL with 4,731 yards from scrimmage since he entered the league, Forte had considered holding out at the start

of training camp but decided against it. The Bears were willing to negotiate, but the talks are being tabled for now.

The season opens this week against Atlanta, and that’s where Angelo said the focus lies. He’s not completely ruling out a new deal by the end of the year, though.

“Not saying the door is shut,” he said on the radio. “But right now our focus is going to be on the season.”

DAILY CHALLENGE

S SP PO OR RT TS S WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

RAINED OUT W E AT H E R WA S H E S O U T F U L L D AY AT U S O P E N SEE PAGE 23

JAGUARS RELEASE GARRARD

By MARK LONG JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Jacksonville Jaguars released veteran quarterback David Garrard yesterday, a stunning move that will save the franchise $9 million this season.

Whether it saves coach Jack Del Rio’s job remains to be seen. Team owner Wayne Weaver has said Jacksonville needs to make the playoffs for Del Rio to stick around for a 10th season. Del Rio made it clear late last season that he had grown tired of Garrard’s inconsistent ways, but the coach remained steadfast through training camp and the preseason that Garrard was his starter.

That changed yesterday, when the Jaguars scheduled an afternoon news conference to discuss their decision.

Del Rio will turn the starting job over to Luke McCown, who outplayed Garrard and rookie Blaine Gabbert in the preseason. But McCown played mostly with and against second- and thirdteamers. McCown completed 12 of 18 passes for

133 yards, with two touchdowns, no interceptions and no sacks.

Garrard missed the preseason opener because of a sore back, but started the final three games.

He completed 50 percent of his passes for 216 yards, with no touchdowns and an interception.

He was sacked three times.

Del Rio’s quarterback swap is similar to what he did in 2007, when he released Byron Leftwich in favor of Garrard after the preseason. Garrard played well that season, throwing 18 touchdown passes and just three interceptions.

He has been average since, with 53 TDs and 38 INTs over the last three seasons. He also has been sacked 117 times in that span.

His performance late last season was one of the final straws.

With running back Maurice Jones-Drew sitting out against Washington, the Jaguars put the game on Garrard’s shoulders and he struggled to handle the load. He struggled to read Washington’s cloaked defensive schemes and nearly ended the day with five turnovers.

The Jaguars responded by drafting Gabbert

with the 10th pick in April’s draft. Gabbert might have had a chance to win the starting job, but the NFL lockout denied him a a summer filled with meetings, film work and organized team activities.

Gabbert was dropped to third on the depth chart last week.

McCown moved up to second, although no one knew he was actually auditioning for the starting job.