LAWT 12-22-2011

W E E K E N D E R

L.A. Watts Times Vol. XXX, No. 1263

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www.lawattstimes.com

Thursday, December 22, 2011

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

HOROSCOPES

Dec. 22 - 28

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RIES ~ Call a family member and ask for advice. You know the one to call — the same person who has been level-headed in the past. Your head is not as level as it should be.

Move forward not on your own understanding.

Allow advice to have a great affect on your decisions. Soul affirmation: I find peace in communing with nature this week.

AURUS ~ Your suspicions will give you misleading information. Now is a time for trust. Base the trust on the fact that nothing is in danger. No matter what the outcome of current affairs, you are going to come out wiser and better. Soul affirmation: I release internal pressure by enjoying the beauties of the world around me.

EMINI ~ Ponder your intimate thoughts when you feel that you would rather have stayed in bed. Treasure the remembered image of a friend and play the image over and over to uplift your sleepy spirit. Soul affirmation: I make a special effort to bond with old friends.

ANCER ~ Give yourself a break this week.

Coast! You might not feel it but you are on the top of a hill. You don’t have to work to move forward. Just let your momentum carry you.

Smile and things will get done. Spend some time on the phone taking care of social obligations and social diversions. Soul affirmation: I try to smile more often than usual this week EO ~ This week you’re likely to notice that your relationship with your lover has been elevated into a strong friendship as well. Play up the friendship side this week. Don’t feel inhibited when the two of you are alone. Act and speak freely. You will be pleasantly surprised at the reception your lover/pal gives you. Soul affirmation: I open myself up for a glad surprise.

IRGO ~ It is true that the universe provides, but you are part of the universe and so you have to be a provider for yourself this week. Willful activity is the key this week. Ego matters. Pursue it because you want it and are good enough to get it. Make the changes necessary to add dynamism and excitement to your body of affairs. Soul affirmation: This week I forgive myself for everything that has happened.

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IBRA ~ You definitely need to ease up on your work schedule and immerse yourself in some good quality quiet time. You have forgotten what it is like to relax hiding behind all those seeming necessities. Let it go. Smell the roses: Take a stroll in a real or imaginary garden. Chill! Soul affirmation: There are other fish in the sea waiting for me.

CORPIO ~ Your popularity is at a personal peak this week! Be sure to pick and choose among your social engagements so that you gather the best from the most. Financial matters, along with family members, will stir your interests in feathering your nest. Your smart business sense will make the most of an unusual opportunity. In your personal life, let your softer emotions speak. Soul affirmation: I focus on longrange financial security this week.

AGITTARIUS ~ This week is better than last for financial goals. Put on the thinking cap. Think about money. There is a solution to money problems hidden in the way you conduct your home life. Make the adjustment. Reap the reward. Soul affirmation: I change who I am by changing where I am going.

APRICORN ~ Think about small stuff. Be petty. Know that details are important. Look not at the bigger picture. Go to the trenches. Get fine points taken care of. Step-by-step movement will help with the grand designs that you are seeking to manifest. Soul affirmation: I remain adaptable so I can deal with changing circumstances.

QUARIUS ~ Think hard about the nontraditional ideas that you have been percolating. Speak up. There are others that may be thinking the same thing but don’t have the same courage to say. You have more in common with the people you work with than you think. There is strength in numbers. Soul affirmation: I let my friendships guide my way.

ISCES ~ Others need you. Be a great listener this week. Teach but don’t preach. Family members need a vision of the big picture. That’s easy for you to give but use charm to give it. Be a cheer-giver. Expect nothing in return. Soul affirmation: When I give thanks for what I have, I lose all sense of what is missing.

Inside This Edition CBC chairman issues

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L.A. Watts Times

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WEEKENDER

statement on Republicans’ rejection of a House vote on Bipartisan Senate bill Washington, D.C. – CBC Chairman Emanuel Cleaver, II, released the following statement on the Republican leadership's rejection of a House vote on the bipartisan Senate bill: “The Republican leadership has proven their allegiance does not lie with the American people. Today, they denied a vote on the bipartisan Senate bill that 90% of the Senate supported, which would have extended the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. This not only hurts hardworking American families but further compromises our fragile economy. “This is beyond preposterous and, most importantly, unfair to the American people. The Republican leadership shut the door to a muchneeded legislative solution, which would have provided the American people with some relief during this holiday season. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have worked diligently to ensure that those who have suffered the most from the recession receive necessary protections. “The bill they are failing to consider would have extended unemployment benefits through the end of February for millions of American families, reduced taxes for the middle class and extended Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs (TANF). “Enough is enough. “I am proud of the Congressional Black Caucus's hard work on this issue.

We sent a letter to House leadership

Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver, II urging for the extension of unemployment insurance for millions of Americans. We offered18 amendments to the Republicans leadership's “nojobs� bill to ensure those in our most vulnerable communities were not forgotten. We led special order hours on unemployment and took action by bringing a point of order to an unfunded mandates provision to the Floor. I know our work is not in vain because we never cease to fight on behalf of the American people. “I am troubled by what I have seen today, and I can only hope that the Republican leadership realizes what is at stake — the livelihood and the future of the American people.�

Published Weekly – Updates

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Beverly Cook – Publisher, Managing Editor 1976 – 1993 Charles Cook – Publisher 1976 – 1998 Melanie Polk – Publisher 1998 – 2010 WWW.LAWATTSTIMES.COM Danny J. Bakewell, Sr. ............Executive Publisher & Executive Editor Brenda Marsh Mitchell ..................................Executive Vice President Tracey Mitchell ......................................................................Controller Brandon I. Brooks ..................................................Co-Managing Editor Yussuf J. Simmonds ..............................................Co-Managing Editor Joy Childs ....................................................................Assistant Editor Bernard Lloyd ....................................................Director of Advertising Benjamin Samuels ....................................................Graphic Designer Chris Martin ..........................................................Production Designer EMAIL: wattsweekender@yahoo.com Circulation ..................................................................................50,000 The opinions expressed by contributing writers are not necessarily those of the L.A. Watts Times.

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

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EDITORIAL

Here they go again … But we won’t be silent this time! got all the information they needed to get the story right, and they still got it wrong! The commission, however, clearly stated that it, not the Supervisor, who was at fault – it was the commission, for never transmitting the invoice to him. Since when did a $560-invoice, paid as soon as it was resented, become some kind of Watergate investigation?

All the Times has done is smear one of most eơective representatives. In the three years since Mark Ridley-Thomas has been in oƥce, the Second District has had a powerful advocate. Here’s what he’s done: He has worked to see that a new Martin Luther King Hospital is going to open. The decrepit old South Health Clinic has been replaced with a beautiful new facility: the Martin Luther King Center for Public Health. He fought to see that the Crenshaw line, once slated to be a bus route, is now a light-rail line that will take passengers to the airport.

Also, we must not forget his leadership in the fight to have that train stop in Leimert Park – a struggle that continues. Furthermore, he has seen that many of the projects mentioned, don’t just provide services to the community, but jobs as well.

Through local hiring provisions, he has assured that the billions of local tax dollars spent on these projects will also help employ skilled workers right here in the community.

This should paint a portrait of a dedicated public servant. But what portrait do they paint? Just the opposite.

Well here’s a portrait of the L.A. Times: It’s the whitest institution in the city. Even the Los Angeles Police Department is more diverse. The Fire Department, which has had it struggles, is rapidly diversifying. Everywhere you look: in the arts and entertainment, in politics, sports, philanthropic and non-profit organizations, diversity is not defined by two or three tokens.

In Los Angeles, about 75% of the population is not white. At the Times, it’s as if time has stood still; it’s newsroom is well over 80 percent white. How does the newspaper try to fix this? By hiring interns and young reporters of color and never letting enough of them get ahead to change the paper’s complexion.

We hope for more from Davan Maharaj, the new editor. As its community has changed around it, the L.A. Times has refused to diversify, refused to grow. We’re here to say, we see through the smear tactics. Clean up your own house, L.A. Times, before you come after ours.

EDITORIAL

For the 4th time … or is it fifth … time in four years? The L.A. Times has “fired” and hired a new editor. Maybe that kind of turnover is why they don’t know or understand our community.

Wait! That’s not the reason they don’t know or understand our community; the reason they don’t know us, is because the L.A. Times doesn’t hire us!

Take its California section, what does it have – maybe three or four African- Americans on a staơ of about 80 people? When was the last time the Metro section hired a Black man or woman? A Black male or female editor? As a result, the Times either doesn’t cover our community or covers it poorly.

What do we get from the Times? We get cheap shots. We get a smear campaign on one of the hardest working and most productive elected official to represent South Los Angeles: Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. So-called “investigative” reporters literally lie about our Supervisor, blaming him for other folks’ lax accounting procedures at the Coliseum Commission. Let’s get this straight: he sets out to purchase NFL tickets; someone else files an expense report for $560 that he knows nothing about; an invoice is generated, but never sent to him. How does that become his fault? Because that’s what the Times wrote.

Through a public records act request regarding the Coliseum Commission, they

The new Happy Meal® doesn’t fall far from the tree.

At participating McDonald’s. ©2011 McDonald’s.

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Black Santa fosters pride, spreads cheer

BY JENNIFER BIHM “A lady once said to me, ‘I’m 55-years-old, and I’ve always known that there should be a Black Santa Claus. And you are the most beautiful Santa Claus I’ve seen in my life.’ She was crying!”

That was one of the most memorable moments for 65-year-old James Green, a Los Angeles resident who, at Christmas time around these parts, is better known as Santa Claus. It was a family trait that causes premature gray hair that started it all, he said.

Green began his stint as the jolly character in the mid-1990s but only after plenty of cajoling from family, friends and even strangers.

“Everywhere I would go, the little children, the older people, everybody would say I looked like Santa Claus,” Green said.

“I had a record store in Leimert. I was there for nine years and the people would come and ask me to be Santa Claus. I kept saying no because I had to run my store. But so many people — after three or four years — I probably had (between) 500 and 600 people everywhere I went asking me to be Santa Claus.

They would ask me about my gray and why I was so white (-haired).”

Since then, Green has spread his brand of Christmas cheer at malls, parties, parades, churches and charitable events. Last year he joined Councilman Bernard Parks for the Leimert Park tree-lighting ceremony and was the first Santa invited to march in the Crenshaw District’s annual Kwanzaa parade. He’s also appeared at the McDonald’s on La Brea and Rodeo, taking pictures and giving gifts and, he said, he hopes to be Santa at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza next year.

Green was born in the small town of Cullen, La. He was one of seven children, first attending Cullen Elementary School and moving on to Spring Hills

Brother Claus: James Green during his high school years. He left Cullen for Washington D.C. shortly after graduation, but the hometown values he learned stuck with him.

“My father took sick when I was a little boy,” Green recalled. “The town was small so everyone in town helped my mother see about the family. Seeing that made me want to always give back.”

Moving to Los Angeles from D.C. presented him with his first altruistic opportunity. After

working as a cement mason and subsequently serving in the Vietnam War, Green returned to Los Angeles, where he started a music career. He didn’t become wildly successful but he did sing with groups like the Drifters and the Rivertons.

“I also did a couple of albums with Amanda Ambrose (famous jazz singer, who was also a scientology priest),” said Green. “I sang with groups and solo in places like the Klondike on LaCienega and 3rd. I did the Disco 9000, which

was on Sunset … I wanted to sing was so I could make money to help underprivileged people.”

He wasn’t able to do as much as he wanted, however; but becoming Santa gave him another chance, he said. “I felt that I could take that opportunity to still make people happy. I love making people happy,” he explained.

Being Santa has put him in contact with all kinds of people, he said. He’s had outrageous request — like candy-apple-red Lexuses and Mercedes Benzes — as well as awkward moments. He’s even been on the receiving end of hostility toward the idea of St. Nick.

“I’ve had to come to grips with the fact that not everybody likes Santa Claus. A lot of people don’t believe in Santa Claus. I’ve been told that.

It kind of hurt me at first,” Green said.

“But what stands out the most in my mind, the reason I want to keep doing this, is I’ve had people take me to… people who work with the children and youth groups… most of the children are glad to see Santa Claus.”

Green said he also wants to use Black Santa to foster pride among African American children.

“Ever so often, you get a little boy or a little girl who will say, ‘Santa Claus is not Black; Santa Claus is white.’ So, another reason I want to keep doing it is because Black mothers have said to me, ‘I want my child to identify with a person of his own color, his own race.’”

“When I went and looked at all the racks in stores, like CVS, Wal-Mart or Walgreen’s, none of them had a Black Santa Claus on the Christmas greeting cards (and other Christmas memorabilia), but I feel it is needed.”

So much so, he said, that next year he will be ready with his own greeting cards, T-shirts and a Christmas CD.

Mortgage Refinancing Today

By Sean Banks, Union Bank, N.A.

Sean Banks Vice President and Branch Manager Hawthorne Branch 12801 S. Hawthorne Blvd.

Hawthorne, CA 90251 (310) 679-1156

With mortgage interest rates near record lows, many homeowners are considering refinancing. You may be wondering if this is an opportune time for you to refinance.

Before you decide to refinance, consider your goals: you may wish to secure a lower interest rate. Perhaps you would like to consolidate debt or convert an adjustable-rate to a fixedrate mortgage.

This situation is especially relevant for homeowners wishing to avoid potentially higher payments when their adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) reset.

Following are some other points to consider that may help you determine if refinancing is the right choice for you.

Rates

In general, if you are able to reduce your interest rate by 1 percent, you may want to consider refinancing. However, if you have a jumbo loan, you may want to refinance if the rate is only .25 percent lower. A jumbo loan is an option for borrowers who have a loan amount that exceeds the limits set by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Your lender may provide you with the most up-to-date information on the current limits of jumbo loans since they can fluctuate and typically vary from state to state. There are many mortgage calculators found online that may also help.

Equity

Before you decide to refinance your mortgage, you should verify how much equity you have established in your home. Having equity may place you in a position to obtain a more favorable loan rate.

Credit Score

Having a strong credit score—740 or higher— may help you achieve a lower interest rate (if your lender does risk-based pricing).

If you are considering refinancing, it is recommended that you thoroughly review your credit report for any errors. There are several online services that can assist you with finding out your credit score, such as Experian.com and Equifax.com.

Consumers can request a free copy of their credit report every 12 months. To receive your free credit report, you may visit www.annualcreditreport.com.

Duration

To help recover the costs of refinancing, consider how long you will live in your current home. Refinancing involves fees for appraisals, title and closing costs and often includes points (an origination fee based on a percentage of your loan amount).

If you do not plan to live in the home long enough to recoup these costs, refinancing may not be a sound option for you. Consulting your financial or tax advisor is recommended.

A lender that is invested in your relationship is likely to be devoted to helping you, even when times are tough. Since mortgage interest rates and loan options are continually changing, your banker can help keep you up to date and make recommendations.

The foregoing article is intended to provide general information about mortgage refinancing and is not considered financial or tax advice from Union Bank. Please consult a financial or tax adviser.

Sean Banks is a Vice President and Branch Manager for the Hawthorne branch of Union Bank. Headquartered in San Francisco, UnionBanCal Corporation is a financial holding company with assets of $84 billion at September 30, 2011. Its primary subsidiary, Union Bank, N.A., is a full-service commercial bank providing an array of financial services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, and major corporations. The bank operated 404 full-service branches in California, Washington, Oregon and Texas, as well as two international offices, on September 30, 2011. UnionBanCal Corporation is a whollyowned subsidiary of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. Union Bank is a proud member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG, NYSE:MTU), one of the world’s largest financial organizations.

Visit www.unionbank.com for more information.

Relationship with your lender

Once you make the decision to refinance your mortgage, the next step is to team up with a trusted lender. It is advisable to seek a lender focused on creating long-term relationships with clients.

©2011 Union Bank, N.A., Member FDIC

Thursday, December 22, 2011

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Calif. AG sues Fannie, Freddie demanding answers

BY BETH DUFF-BROWN | AP SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California’s attorney general filed lawsuits against mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Tuesday, demanding that the companies that own some 60 percent of the state’s mortgages respond to questions in a state investigation.

Attorney General Kamala Harris, whose office filed the lawsuits in San Francisco Superior Court, is investigating Freddie Mac's and Fannie Mae's involvement in 12,000 foreclosed properties in California where they served as landlords. She also wants to find out what role the companies played in selling or marketing mortgage-backed securities.

The essentially identical lawsuits

ask the mortgage firms to respond to 51 investigative subpoenas that call on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to identify all the California homes on which they foreclosed. They also want the mortgage firms to reveal whether they have information on the decreased value of those homes due to drug-dealing or prostitution as well as explosives and weapons found on those vacant properties.

“Foreclosures not only affect the families who lose their homes but also the safety, health and welfare of the entire community,” the lawsuit said.

Harris also called on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to disclose whether they have complied with civil rights laws protecting minorities and members of the Armed Forces against unlawful convictions and foreclosures.

The suits also seek to determine

Ofield Dukes: Renowned public relations specialist dies at 79

whether the companies are in compliance with California’s securities and tax laws.

The companies were taken over by the federal government and put into conservatorship under the Federal Housing Finance Agency in September 2008 to save them from collapse.

An attorney representing the Federal Housing Finance Agency said in a letter attached to the lawsuits that the 51 subpoenas were “frequently vague and ambiguous” and said state attorneys general did not have the authority to issue subpoenas against the federal conservator.

“The burden to collect that information would be nothing short of staggering,” the letter said.

Representatives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said the companies would not comment on the lawsuits Tuesday.

The lawsuits could determine whether states have a right to investigate the mortgage firms while they are under federal control. Harris argues that since the mortgage companies own properties in California, they are subject to state law and demands.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy home loans from banks and other lenders, package them into bonds with a guarantee against default and then sell them to investors around the world. The two own or guarantee about half of U.S. mortgages, or nearly 31 million loans.

The companies have so far cost American taxpayers more than $150 billion — the largest bailout of the financial crisis. They could cost up to $259

AP Photo/Paui Sakuma

The office of California Attorney General Kamala Harris is investigating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. billion, according to the FHFA. Two former CEOs at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last week became the highest-profile individuals to be charged in connection with the 2008 financial crisis.

In a lawsuit filed in New York, the Securities and Exchange Commission brought civil fraud charges against six former executives at the two firms, including former Fannie CEO Daniel Mudd and former Freddie CEO Richard Syron.

The executives were accused of understating the level of high-risk subprime mortgages that the companies held just before the housing bubble burst.

Harris has created a task force that is pursuing criminal charges and civil judgments in mortgage fraud cases. She has said that her office would not join a planned 50-state settlement over foreclosure abuses that federal officials and other state attorneys general are negotiating with major U.S. banks.

She said the settlement gave bank officials too much immunity from civil litigation.

Harris said 768,330 residential mortgages were foreclosed on in California between January 2007 and June of this year.

metro.net/expo

SPECIAL TO THE NNPA FROM THE AFRO-AMERICAN NEWSPAPER The reported death of Ofield Dukes, Dec. 6, has caused the African American community to pause out of respect for the loss of talent and fervor and out of wonderment at whether the void created by his death will be filled.

He founded Ofield Dukes and Associates and for 42 years set the standard of excellence for public relations work that ventured into the fight for justice and into the mainstream in brand new ways.

Dukes helped organize the first Congressional Black Caucus dinner and served on the boards of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change.

In 1993, he founded the Black Public Relations Society of Washington.

He was among the first to be inducted into the Washington, D.C./National Capital PRSA Hall of Fame in 1999.

He was the first African American to receive the Public Relations Society of America’s Gold Anvil in 2001, the highest individual award in the public relations industry.

In 2002 Cathy Hughes, founder and CEO of Radio One, named the building that would house three of her Detroit stations the Ofield Dukes Building.

In 2003 he was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame. In the same year he received the Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award for Community Service.

In 2005 he was named, by PRWeek, one of five “Communicators who Awed.”

Dukes was known to say, “Public relations is synonymous with human communication.” In a publication of the African American Public Relations Collective, he said, “Even Jesus Christ was involved in communications. He had the disciples as advance persons, and John the Baptist was sort of a PR agent.”

Dukes also said that public relations was more than just promoting an event or just engaging in an outpouring of publicity. “Ofield Dukes revolutionized the public relations industry by increasing the visibility of African Americans working in the field,” Gregory Lee Jr., president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), said in a statement. He will forever be regarded as a standard bearer for public relations professionals of all races.”

Lee called him a “true giant in the world of PR” and said he will truly be missed.

Dukes, 79, died peacefully at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Arrangements will be posted as received.

Test trains are now running in preparation for the upcoming opening of the Metro Expo Line, the newest extension of the Metro Rail system. Trains will be moving in both directions on the tracks.

Please remember to: > Obey all tra;c signals and warning devices. > Be alert at all times. Watch for a “TRAIN” signal. > Always push the button and wait for a “WALK” signal before entering the crosswalk. Never jaywalk across the tracks. > Never sit or stand on tracks. > Do not go around lowered gates. > Never make a left turn on a red arrow.

This tra;c rule will be enforced by cameras at intersections. > Right turns are allowed while an Expo Line train is passing through, but may be restricted at certain intersections.

For more safety tips, visit metro.net/ridesafely.

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Ofield Dukes (center) receives an award at the 2006 NNPA Summer Conference from then-NNPA Foundation Chairman Brian Townsend (l) and NNPA Chairman John B. Smith Sr. in appreciation for his years of service to the Black Press of America.

Watch for trains on Metro Expo Line tracks.

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Thursday, December 22, 2011

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Obama, Biden welcome home US commander in Iraq

BY JULIE PACE | AP JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (AP) — Blending solemn tradition with joyous reunion, the top commander of U.S. forces in Iraq returned home to U.S. soil Tuesday, greeted by his wife and his president in an understated ceremony to mark the end of the nine-year conflict.

President Barack Obama met Gen. Lloyd Austin and his top command staff with a smart salute at this military post in suburban Washington. Austin made his homecoming with his staff bearing the U.S. Forces-Iraq flag, the symbolic conclusion to the war.

Obama was accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden. Though neither offered formal remarks, both greeted the troops and their families.

Those families, however, had to await the ritual return of the flag before embracing their loved ones.

Under Army custom the flag will be retired and either stored or displayed.

“Today we bring home the colors to United States soil, at the same time we embrace many of our own back into the fold just in time for the holidays,” Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the returning men and women. “Welcome home.”

The last U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq on Sunday. In a visible

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

A long-awaited homecoming: President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and other high-ranking military personnel applaud Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III (far right), the top U.S. commander in Iraq. reminder of the conflict, Dempsey, Austin and the troops who accompanied him wore their combat uniforms.

With Obama, an early opponent of the war, sitting nearby, Austin praised the war’s outcome.

“What our troops achieved in Iraq over the course of nearly nine years is truly remarkable,” he said.

“Together with our coalition partners

and core of dedicated civilians, they removed a brutal dictator and gave the Iraqi people their freedom.”

Later, at the White House, Obama referred to the ceremony while calling for House Republicans to accept a Senate bipartisan compromise to extend a payroll tax cut for two months.

“These Americans and all Americans who served are the

embodiment of courage and selflessness and patriotism,” Obama said during a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room. “They work as a team and they do their job.

And they do it for something bigger than themselves.”

“The people in this town need to learn something from them.”

Dempsey and Austin saluted military families, and Dempsey also

singled out the USO and its history of entertaining troops during wars.

Among those in the audience were former NBA star Robert Horry, a participant in a current USO holiday tour.

As the ceremony concluded, Obama waded into a teary and jubilant scene of reunion as troops and their families hugged and posed for photographs.

N.C. soldier, 23, was last US troop killed in Iraq

BY DON BABWIN AND TOM BREEN | AP GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — As the last U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq on Sunday, friends and family of the first and last American fighters killed in combat were cherishing their memories rather than dwelling on whether the war and their sacrifice was worth it.

Nearly 4,500 American fighters died before the last U.S. troops crossed the border into Kuwait. David Hickman, 23, of Greensboro was the last of those war casualties, killed in AP Photo/News & Record, Lynn Hey November by the kind of improvised bomb that was a Coming together: A former

Northeast Guilford High School student and standout football player, Army paratrooper David Emanuel Hickman is remembered by his family, friends and community.

AP Photo/ News & Record, Joseph Rodriguez

Honoring their loved one: From left, Cali Kim Hickman (wife), Veronica Hickman (mother) and David Hickman (father) are subdue as Major General Rodney O. Anderson hands the folded flag that draped the coffin of Army Specialist David Hickman to his mother.

signature weapon of this war.

“David Emanuel Hickman.

Doesn’t that name just bring out a smile to your face?” said Logan Trainum, one of Hickman’s closest friends, at the funeral where the soldier was laid to rest after a ceremony in a Greensboro church packed with friends and family.

Trainum says he’s not spending time asking why Hickman died: “There aren’t enough facts available for me to have a defined opinion about things. I’m just sad and pray that my best friend didn’t lay down his life for nothing.”

He’d rather remember who Hickman was: A cutup who liked to joke around with friends. A physical fitness fanatic who half-kiddingly called himself “Zeus” because he had a body See SOLDIER, page 18

Thursday, December 22, 2011

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FAMU head keeps job during hazing death probe

BY GARY FINEOUT | AP

AP Photo/Tallahassee Democrat, Bill Cotterell

The request by Florida’s governor for FAMU president (center) to be suspended pending an investigation into the death of a band member has been denied.

The medical examiner’s office in Orlando found that Champion had bruises to his chest, arms, shoulder and back and internal bleeding. No charges have been filed.

Champion’s death exposed years of hazing that has plagued the band and left several students injured. In 1998, Ivery Luckey, a clarinet player from Ocala, Fla., was hospitalized with kidney damage after being paddled as part of an initiation to become a member of a group known as “The Clones.” Three years later, band member Marcus Parker was also hospitalized with kidney damage after being paddled.

Ammons, a FAMU alumnus, became president in 2007 at a time when the university was under considerable distress. There had been four

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board

was selling it for $590,000.

T h e leased office complex in Irwindale h o u s e s Edison’s information technology department, where Turner and the victims worked, along with electrical transmission and distribution staff.

Heightened security awaits returning Edison workers.

Turner, armed with a semiautomatic handgun, heard possible gunfire while the secukilled managers Robert Scott Lindsay, rity guard from the office park called 53, of Chino Hills, and Henry Serrano, to report the shooting.

“I heard a male voice in the back56, of Walnut, authorities said.

Angela Alvarez, 46, of Glendale, ground yelling,” the operator said. an Edison employee, and Abhay “There’s also some loud popping noisPimpale, 38, of Montebello, a contract es in the background.”

Turner, a systems analyst, had worker, were wounded.

Pimpale, the father of a 3-year-old worked at the company for seven son and a newborn baby, was released years.

Lindsay was a manager in the IT Saturday from a hospital.

Alvarez was upgraded from criti- division at Edison and worked for the cal to serious condition at County- company for 29 years, company offiUSC Hospital on Monday, spokes- cials said. He was married and was a father. Serrano, a manager in the same woman Rosa Saca said.

In a 911 call released by authori- area, was with the company for 26 ties Monday, the operator says she years.

HAVE YOU BEEN DENIED YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY BENEFITS?

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Some employees returned Tuesday to a Southern California Edison office, just days after a reprimanded worker shot and killed two supervisors and wounded two others before turning the gun on himself.

The Irwindale office east of Los Angeles reopened after the scene of rampage was investigated and cleaned up, but it was unclear how many of the 1,050 staff members went back to work, Edison spokesman David Song said.

Grief counselors were available for those who did.

“You really can’t imagine what it’s like to go through something like this,” he said. “The feeling of unbelief, and obviously sadness and sorrow. It’s a big company but in a lot of ways it’s ... tight-knit. A lot of people are only one person removed” from a victim.

Security had been increased at the office complex.

Investigators said they were still trying to determine what sparked Friday’s shooting by Andre Turner. He had been verbally reprimanded for missing an audit deadline but it was unclear exactly when that occurred, sheriff's Lt. Holly Francisco said.

The Press-Enterprise of Riverside has reported that Turner, 48, bought a 5,000 square-foot, five-bedroom house near Hidden Valley Golf Club for $711,000 when it was new in 2004 but

equipment. The university was placed under probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

See FAMU, page 17

card

Some employees return to scene of Edison shooting

presidents within the previous six years, and an audit in 2007 uncovered 35 findings, including $4.5 million in unaccounted sports tickets and lost

business

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida A&M’s president will keep his job after the university board of trustees Monday rejected a call from Gov. Rick Scott that James Ammons be suspended while the hazing death of a band member is investigated.

The decision comes three days after the state medical examiner ruled that 26-year-old Robert Champion’s Nov. 19 death was a homicide.

Officials say he was beaten so severely that he bled internally and went into shock. He died within an hour.

“We will stand firm against outside influence, no matter how well- intended,” Solomon Badger, the FAMU board chairman, said during a board meeting that was held by conference call.

Scott said he would abide by the board’s decision.

Ammons and other university leaders have been criticized for not doing enough to stop a culture of hazing within the university’s famed “Marching 100” band. Band director Julian White has been placed on temporary leave, and the board had already publicly reprimanded Ammons.

Students had largely stood by both leaders. Students protested outside the governor’s mansion on Thursday to show support for Ammons, and the president of the national alumni association at a news conference Sunday contested Scott's involvement and recommended Ammons not be suspended.

Badger said that the board should keep Ammons status unchanged until an investigation with all the “official facts” was concluded. None of the FAMU board members disagreed with Badger.

“I think we all have the number one priority of keeping the university strong as we move through this challenging time,” said Kelvin Lawson, a board member from Jacksonville.

The only action related to the investigations that the board took was to agree to meet weekly for the next day 60 days while the investigations continue. There was scant discussion of the homicide ruling or the opening of a new criminal investigation into the finances of the Marching 100.

Scott said in a statement issued before the meeting that he was not singling out FAMU and called on all universities in the state to examine their hazing and harassment policies. He said he was offering his opinion and counsel regarding Ammons and would abide by the board’s decision.

“I merely suggested it would be wise for Dr. Ammons to step aside until these investigations are completed,” Scott said. “It is up to the FAMU Board of Trustees and Dr. Ammons to determine how to proceed. I have not and will not try to influence their decision.”

Champion died after falling unconscious on a bus outside an Orlando hotel after the school’s football team lost to rival Bethune-Cookman.

Witnesses told emergency dispatchers that he had been vomiting.

10

F E AT U R E

Thursday, December 22, 2011

By Brandon I. Brooks Co-Managing Editor Kenjon Barner plays a key role on one of the highest powered oơenses in the in all of College Football. A native of California, he grew up in Moreno Valley finishing high school at Riverside Notre Dame. As a Junior Running Back for the Oregon Ducks, Barner is gearing up with fellow superstar teammates Darren Thomas and LeMichael James to play in the 2012 Rose Bowl Championship game in Pasadena.

Barner has been making national headlines for the past three seasons being what I like to call the “X-Factor” of the Oregon Ducks oơensive arsenal. He makes highlight after highlight returning kicks and jump starting the oơense whenever LeMichael James and company need a big play out of him.

As the x-factor for the Ducks, Barner is arguably the most important player on the team because he is the secret weapon. Every great team has one, a secret weapon. They are the key that starts the engine. That has been Kenjon Barner his entire life. He has always been the x-factor that gets things going.

Barner first taste of sports came when he would try to keep up with his older brothers.

He is the youngest of seven with five brothers and one sister.

“He is one of the hardest working guys I have ever known in my life,” shared his father Gary Barner. “As a very young child he always wanted to win against his brothers. We would have to let him win he was so competitive. He is a great listener, he is really coachable and he doesn’t mind taking a back seat.

He will do any part that the coach wants and that’s how he’s been since he was young.

He once told me, ‘No matter what they do in the game, they will never out work me in practice.’ That is who he is.”

Barner was a good basketball player but in grade school he was set on playing football. His parents tried to sway him from playing because of his small size. He first got an opportunity to play organized football when he was in 7th grade with the Moreno Valley 49ers.

“I played receiver with them”, shared Kenjon Barner. “I didn’t play again until my Freshman year of High School. My mom was scared I was going to get hurt because I was so small. I may have been 90 pounds soak and wet. I was a small kid. Real small (laughs).”

Barner is all grown up now being 5’10, 180 pounds. He is having a breakout season with the Ducks averaging over 6 yards per carry with just less than 1,000 yards on the season (909 to be exact).

Not to mention 11 touchdowns, this just about doubled his total from last year.

“I love playing for Coach Kelly,” said Barner. “He is one of the greatest oơensive minds that I have ever been around.

I have never been around a guy that has that kind of mind that he has when it comes to football. So to be up under him and experience the things he comes up

ABOVE: Oregon running back Kenjon Barner looks on from the sidelines in the second half of an NCAA college football game with New Mexico on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010, in Eugene, Ore. Oregon defeated New Mexico 72-0.

AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

L.A. Watts Times WEEKENDER

with is something special. He is a great coach.

My experience at Oregon is it has been a tremendous experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s just a great environment to be in. The coaching staơ and all the players, it’s just a great group of people to be around. My freshman year, I got recruited as a corner and I thought that’s where I would be spending my entire collegiate career. But it was spring ball 2009 and I intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touchdown and the next day Coach Kelly called me in his oƥce and asked me what I thought about playing running back and I said I was excited about it. He gave me the opportunity, he and Coach Cameron they kind of just threw me in. I didn’t have any time to really warm up to it and once I started playing I kind of got a feeling I could actually do something with it.”

Barner was thrilled with the opportunity to play running back. He was willing to play whatever the coaches wanted him to but deep down he knew he was a running back at heart. Back in his high school career, Barner played defense and oơense. Against certain teams he would play cornerback but most of the time he was at safety on defense.

Barner’s recalls his first real opportunity to show what he could do at Oregon came when he stepped in for a suspended LaGarrette Blount. Blount, now a su-

Kenjon Barner

www.lawattstimes.com

LEFT: Oregon running back Kenjon Barner runs against Colorado during the first half of an NCAA football game in Boulder, Colo., Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011.

AP Photo/Jack Dempsey

Thursday, December 22, 2011

LEFT: Barner family portrait BELOW LEFT: Oregon running back Kenjon Barner speaks during the BCS National Championship media day, Friday, Jan. 7, 2011, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Oregon will face Auburn in the BCS National Championship football game on Jan. 10 in Glendale, Ariz.

AP Photo/Matt York BOTTOM LEFT: Oregon’s Kenjon Barner (24) and LaMichael James celebrate a two-point coversion during the first half of the BCS National Championship NCAA college football game against Auburn, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011, in Glendale, Ariz.

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

perstar running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was suspended for punching a Boise State player in the face after a loss.

“It was nerve wrecking,” shared Barner when describing his first opportunity. “I was nervous and excited all at the same time. It was kind of an uneasy feeling at the time just because I hadn’t played running back in over a year so I wasn’t really sure whether or not I was still going to be able to do all of the things I did in high school or if I still had that ability. So it was kind of nerve wrecking but once I touched the ball, it felt normal. I got my first touchdown and I believe it was a 30 yard run or something like that and it went from there.”

As for playing behind LeMichael James, one of the best running backs in the nation, Barner shares that they are best friends so the relationship is great on and oơ the field.

“I mean it’s been great. LeMichael is more than a teammate he is my best friend up there so just being around him and competing with him on a daily basis brings the best out of me and it also brings the best out of him.”

With LeMichael James announcing he is going pro, Barner shared with the Watts Times how he felt about his opportunity to start next year or possibly going pro.

“I feel extremely good about my chances. I talk to coach Campbell, who is our running backs coach. I talked to him the entire time I’ve been here so I know where I stand with him and coach Kelly and what they think about me. So I think the opportunity that is there, that has presented itself, if that’s the case when LeMichael’s gone, I feel pretty good about it.

With the anticipation of the 2012 Rose Bowl Championship game in two weeks, Barner is spending time with the

family reminding him where it all began.

“My dad has been crucial to everything that I have done in life, in sports, out of sports, just life,” said Barner. “My dad is a great man. I am lucky to have him as my father. Just in sports, he has been there every step of the way. He has never missed a game. Anything, if it’s a meeting, if I have to travel, my dad is always there. My dad is really the reason behind who I am today as far as sports go and in life. I can go back to playing on the playground, me and my friends would be just playing around and if I did something he didn’t like, like if we were playing basketball, he would stop the game, make me do it over again. That is the type of guy my dad is and because of him, I am who I am.”

Barner was humble throughout the conversation and many times thanked his parents for his success not forgetting his to mention mother.

“My mom is the quiet type. She really doesn’t say too much but when she does it sticks. Between both of them, I have the best of both worlds.”

What lies ahead for Kenjon Barner? Nothing but success if he continues on his focused path.

He sees the NFL in his future but he promised his mother he would finish school so he plans to finish.

“I am getting a degree in Criminology and Law,” shared Barner. “I want to become involved with the law in some sort of way. I don’t want to be a cop. I would rather be like a private investigator or work with the FBI, something exciting.”

With the biggest game of his life being nationally televised on January 2, 2012, if Barner does what I predict, be the X-Factor and break the game open, we may see him in the NFL sooner than anticipated.

PHOTO CREDIT: COVER (main) AP Photo/Rick Bowmer Cover (inset) AP Photo/Don Ryan

11

12

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Kobe Bryant’s wife AP Source: Bulls’ Rose agrees to extension files for divorce

BY ANDREW SELIGMAN | AP

AP Photo/LM Otero, File

IFILE – Out and about in happier days: Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and his wife, Vanessa.

BY AMY TAXIN | AP ORANGE, Calif. (AP) — Kobe Bryant's wife, who stood by her husband when he was charged with sexual assault in 2003, filed for divorce on Friday from the Los Angeles Lakers star, citing irreconcilable differences after a decade of marriage.

Vanessa Bryant signed the papers on Dec. 1. Kobe Bryant signed his response on Dec. 7, and it was filed Friday, according to the documents.

“The Bryants have resolved all issues incident to their divorce

privately with the assistance of counsel, and a judgment dissolving their marital status will be entered in 2012,” according to a statement from a representative for the couple.

In the filing, Vanessa Bryant asked for joint legal and physical custody of the couple’s two daughters, Natalia, 8, and Gianna, 5. Kobe Bryant asked for the same in his response. Vanessa Bryant also requested spousal support.

The Bryants “ask that in the interest of our young children and in light of the upcoming holiday See DIVORCE, page 13

Venus Williams puts off return to tennis

Venus Williams AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Venus Williams has pulled out of January’s ASB Classic in New Zealand where she was due to play her first competitive match since August.

The 31-year-old Williams is still recovering from the immune system disease Sjogren’s syndrome, which can cause fatigue and joint pain.

Williams has played in several exhibition matches recently but organizers of the Auckland tournament beginning Jan. 7 said she was not yet ready to return to competitive tennis.

The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion played in only four tournaments in 2011 and shut down her season after the U.S. Open.

The Australian Open, the first major of the season, begins Jan. 16.

CHICAGO (AP) — It seemed like something out of a movie script the moment the Chicago Bulls took Derrick Rose with the No. 1 pick in the draft.

The latest twist? A maximum contract extension.

That's just another milestone in a rapid and steady rise for the point guard from the city’s South Side to stardom with his hometown team.

The reigning NBA MVP agreed to a five-year contract extension with the Chicago Bulls worth approximately $94 million, a person familiar with the situation said.

The Chicago Tribune, citing anonymous sources, first reported the deal.

The person spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity Tuesday night because the deal had not been finalized. The extension will start in the 2012-13 season, when Rose is eligible to make about $16 million. The Bulls scheduled a news conference for Wednesday, though they won't say what it is for.

“It’s something big, but I think I want to talk more about it (Wednesday), with my family and everybody being there,” the star point guard said after the Bulls’ preseason victory over Indiana on Tuesday night. “But it’s definitely something big.”

And, teammates say, it was wellearned.

“We’re all very excited for him,” Carlos Boozer said. “He deserves it.

He puts in a lot of effort. I wish the contract was for 10 years.”

The chance to join Rose in the backcourt was a big draw for Richard Hamilton. The veteran shooting guard signed with the Bulls last week after being bought out by the Detroit Pistons and, so far, he likes what he sees.

“He works hard,” Hamilton said.

“He’s young. He’s 23-years-old and the way he plays on the floor is the way he practices. In order to be great in this league, you just can’t turn it on (during) games. He really has a great work ethic.”

The deal is more of a formality than a surprise. Rose and general manager Gar Forman had indicated it would get done, and it was not hard to see why they wanted to stay together.

The Chicago product went from Rookie of the Year to All-Star to MVP in his first three seasons, becoming the youngest player to win that award. About the only thing he doesn't have is a championship ring, and that's what weighs on him as he enters his fourth season — not the money.

“I think I live a humble life,” Rose said. “Of course, I know I’ll be able to afford whatever I want, but other than that, there aren’t too many things that excite me. Me winning is one of the things. Me being around my family, that’s another. Money, that’s the last thing I think about.”

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Chicago is “Bullish” on point guard Derrick Rose (seen at right driving on Indiana Pacers point guard Darren Collison): The club has signed him to a maximum contract extension.

The Bulls came close to winning it all last season, winning a leaguehigh 62 games and advancing all the way to the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the Miami Heat.

Now, they’re looking for more.

Rose has repeatedly pointed the finger at himself for the Bulls coming up short against the Heat in the playoffs. He worked on his inside game in the offseason after expanding his shooting range in previous years, but it’s hard to imagine him accomplishing much more than he did last season.

Rose delivered one of the best seasons by a point guard. He also joined Michael Jordan as the only Bulls players to win the MVP award.

The South Side product established himself as one of the league’s best players, averaging 25 points and 7.7 assists while leading Chicago to its best season since the championship era with Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

For Rose, the contract extension is just another milestone in a rapid rise from the city’s rough Englewood neighborhood to a starring role with the Bulls.

He helped Simeon Career Academy become the first Chicago Public League team to win back-toback state championships, then led Memphis to the NCAA championship game before the Bulls drafted him with the No. 1 pick in 2008 after defying long odds to win the lottery.

“The Bulls are loyal,” Rose said.

“They’ve stayed loyal with me, showed that they trusted me by picking me to come here. I just feel blessed, and I’m just happy that I’m here.”

Thursday, December 22, 2011

13

Los Angeles Kings: Lakers or Clippers?

NFL expected to discuss helmet hits

BY MICHAEL BROWN L.A. SENTINEL CONTRIBUTING WRITER Prior to the Clippers recent acquisition of all-star point guard Chris Paul via a trade, they’d become accustomed to being referred to as Los Angeles’ “other team” in NBA fan circles around town.

Rarely since the Clippers made their L.A. debut in 1984 has anyone characterized their cross-town competition against the storied Lakers as a “rivalry.”

The Lakers lopsided all-time win total versus the Clippers (141 to 48 total) pales in comparison to the purple and gold’s battles against their arch nemesis, the Boston Celtics, whom they have faced a dozen times in the NBA finals.

But have things changed?

In addition to Paul, the Clippers’ acquisitions of Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler to go along with Blake Griffin, one of the league’s most exciting players, has set the city abuzz in anticipation of the upcoming season.

“First, I was just excited that the lockout ended and that basketball was coming back,” said Darren Howard, a 22-year-old Clippers fan from Newport Beach. Howard had just bought a crisp new Chris Paul T-shirt from a sports apparel store located near the Staples Center when he spoke to the L.A. Watts Times.

“I was at last night’s game, and although it was just preseason, the atmosphere was unlike anything I’ve felt before at a Lakers-Clippers game,” he continued. “It was nice for once not being the ‘little brother.’ ” Yes — and although it was a preseason game, little brother got the best of big brother Monday in a 114-95 rout.

Fans of both teams aren’t the only ones anticipating the battle for L.A. NBA supremacy.

After the Paul trade was completed, Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant said,

AP Photo

Chris Paul (r) passes Kobe Bryant.

“It’s about damn time,” playfully congratulating the Clippers.

Kelvin Thomas, a Compton resident who works near Staples Center, said he’s been a Lakers fan “forever.”

He said he roots for the Clippers at times, but he knows where his loyalties lie.

“Oh, it’s Lakers for life,” Thomas said. “I can’t lie, though. I’m glad CP3 (Paul) and Blake Griffin are together.

They’re going to put on a show that the whole city can enjoy.” And where there is enjoyment in L.A., a higher price tag is almost always attached.

We’ll have to wait and see if the buzz surrounding the Clippers translates onto the floor; however, it’s already paying dividends at the cash register.

On the date that Paul was announced a Clipper, Dec. 15, the team sold out its remaining season tickets.

In fact, Clippers Director of Sales Heath Bennet confirmed it via Twitter, although he added single-season seats remain available for purchase. Having sold out of paired season tickets, the Clippers joined elite company. The Clippers, along with the Lakers, are among 10 of 30 NBA teams who have sold more than 10,000 full-season ticket plans for 2011-12, according to the Sports Business Journal.

Brett, who declined to give his last name, but who works as a ticket broker for Barry’s Ticket Service, said

DIVORCE Continued from page 12 season the public respect our privacy during this difficult time,” according to the statement.

Bryant met his future wife in 1999 on a music video shoot when Vanessa Laine was 18 years old. Six months later, she and the then-21year-old Bryant became engaged.

They married on April 18, 2001.

The Bryants have been through trying times together.

Vanessa Bryant appeared at a news conference with her husband when he was charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman who worked at the exclusive Lodge & Spa at Cordillera near Vail, Colo., in 2003. She held his hand and stroked it tenderly as the NBA star admitted he was guilty of adultery — but nothing

league’s competition committee, believes it will be a topic for his EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. group during the offseason, and (AP) — The NFL is expected to changes could be presented to the look at expanding the ban on owners next spring.

“I think the launch will be dislaunching and helmet hits.

Atlanta Falcons President Rich cussed more and more and eventuMcKay, the co-chairman of the ally we will see helmet hits modified in the open field,” McKay said.

The competition committee recommends rules changes to the owners, who then vote on them at the annual March meetings. McKay’s committee was influential in getting outlawed the technique of launching — when a player leaves his feet and leads with his head — against defenseless players.

McKay says the idea of potentially banning launching altogether was discussed last year.

“Coaches felt there were too many circumstances where players could be perceived as doing it and were not really,” he said. “It is a big step, not something I expect membership gets comfortable with over a year’s time.”

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File Flagrant helmet hits The NFL has denied Steelers linebacker have been a high-profile James Harrison’s appeal of a one-game susSee NFL HELMET pension for a helmet-to-helmet hit on HITS, page 19 Cleveland quarterback Colt McCoy.

BY BARRY WILNER | AP

else. Earlier she had issued her own statement to the media, vowing to stand by her husband.

“I know that my husband has made a mistake — the mistake of adultery,” she said in the statement at the time. “He and I will have to deal with that within our marriage, and we will do so. He is not a criminal.”

A year later, prosecutors dropped the criminal charge against Kobe Bryant because the woman did not want to go ahead with a trial.

Last year, Kobe and Vanessa Bryant settled litigation with a former maid who accused the NBA star’s wife of harassment. The Bryants countersued Maria Jimenez for violating a confidentiality agreement by talking to reporters about the family.

he’s noticed an uptick in business since Paul arrived in town.

“We’ve definitely adjusted ticket prices due to the demand,” he said.

“Clippers tickets increased two-fold last year after Blake Griffin’s all-star weekend performance. He’s box office and people want to see him.”

Brett said he wasn’t “at liberty” to discuss individual game ticket prices but that the Jan. 14 Lakers-Clippers game is a hot commodity.

“The Lakers are the most popular and highest priced ticket in town, but the new-look Clippers are certainly good for (my) business,” he said.

“If you determine who the dominant team in town is on tickets, the Clippers are good, but it’s hands down the Lakers.”

Last season’s average attendance figures and ticket prices certainly tell the same story. While the Clippers have struggled each season to avoid the NBA draft lottery, the Lakers routinely reach and win the finals.

The Lakers’ success has allowed them to cultivate a loyal fan base over the years that in return rewards the team at the turnstiles.

Last season, according to an ESPN story, the Lakers averaged 18,977 fans per game, which is 99.7 percent capacity at the Staples Center.

The Clippers averaged 17,742, well enough for 93 percent capacity.

Seat Geek, a prominent ticket search engine, listed the Lakers as the most expensive NBA ticket in demand for the secondary ticket market last season at $174.64. The Clippers were listed at No. 9 in the league at $73.38.

In primary ticket sales, which are sold at face value, the Clippers paled in comparison to the Lakers once again. Team Marketing Report, which tracks sports ticket sales, listed the Lakers No. 1 with an average ticket priced at $95.25. The Clippers were 10th in the league at $51.47.

Despite all of the talk about who is Los Angeles' best NBA team currently, the track records of both teams leaves no doubts, said 16-year-old Darius Woods. After Woods finished a pickup game at Mayfair Park in Lakewood during a recent evening, he said, “There’s no competition. I’ve been to Staples, and that’s Kobe and Magic's house.”

“The Lakers have all those championship banners up there. I don’t see (any) for the Clippers.”

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File

Cleveland Browns guard Jason Pinkston (62) and wide receiver Greg Little (15) check on quarterback Colt McCoy (12) after he was hit by Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Pittsburgh.

14

Thursday, December 22, 2011

‘The Help’ leads Screen Actors Guild honors with 4 noms

BY DAVID GERMAIN | AP LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Deep South drama “The Help” cleaned up with four nominations Wednesday for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, among them honors for Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer.

The adaptation of the best-selling novel also was nominated for best ensemble cast, along with the silent film “The Artist,” the wedding comedy “Bridesmaids,” the family drama “The Descendants” and the romantic fantasy “Midnight in Paris.”

The nominations are among the first major honors on the long road to the Feb. 26 Academy Awards. The SAG list of contenders and Golden Globe nominees that will be announced Thursday help sort out favorites from also-rans for Oscar voters, whose nominations come out Jan. 24.

Davis is up for best actress and Spencer for supporting actress as Black maids who agree to share stories of their tough lives with an aspiring White writer at the start of the civil-rights movement in 1960s Mississippi. Chastain also was nominated for supporting actress as Spencer’s lonely, needy new boss.

“The Artist” ran second with three nominations, including a bestactor honor for Jean Dujardin as a

silent star falling from grace amid the advent of talking pictures and supporting actress for Berenice Bejo, who plays a rising sound-era movie star.

Along with Davis, best-actress contenders are Glenn Close as a woman disguising herself as a male butler in 19th-century Ireland in “Albert Nobbs”; Meryl Streep as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady”; Tilda Swinton as a grief-stricken woman coping with her son’s horrible deeds in “We Need to Talk About Kevin”; and Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in “My Week With Marilyn.”

Joining Dujardin in the bestactor category are Demian Bichir as a hard-working illegal immigrant father in “A Better Life”; George Clooney as a neglectful dad tending his two daughters in “The Descendants”; Leonardo DiCaprio as FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover in “J. Edgar”; and Brad Pitt as Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane in “Moneyball.”

“Albert Nobbs” star Close was a double nominee, picking up a bestactress honor for a TV drama series for “Damages.” Close’s co-star Janet McTeer was nominated for supporting actress as a cross-dressing laborer in “Albert Nobbs.”

Overlooked for best actor was Gary Oldman, whose performance

AP Photo /Michel Spingler

Stars of “The Help” — from left, Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Allison Janney — were honored with 4 SAG nominations. in the espionage saga “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” has been billed by critics as one of the best in his career.

Also snubbed was Michael

Fassbender for his daring role in the sex-addict drama “Shame” and Ryan Gosling for two acclaimed performances in the action tale “Drive” and

the political drama “The Ides of March.”

Several Oscar best-picture See ‘THE HELP’, page 18

Review: Common regains soulful nature on new album

BY JONATHAN LANDRUM JR. | AP Even though Common is one of hip-hop's premier lyricists, the socially conscious rapper fell short with his 2008 “techno-inspired” album, “Universal Mind Control.”

But the Chicago-bred rapper effectively regains his soulful nature on “The Dreamer, The Believer.” The rapper digs deep with his clever rhymes and with the aid of his childhood friend, No I.D., who produced the entire 12-track album.

Common’s ninth album starts off with the compelling intro “The Dreamer,” featuring legendary writer Maya Angelou. The two-time Grammy® winner kicks off the openAP Photo/Warner Bros. Records ing track with a jovial vibe, rapping Anything but common: Titled “The Dreamer, The about the rise of his career, and Believer,” it’s the cover image of the latest Warner Angelou caps off the song with an Bros. Records release by Common release. inspirational poem.

As usual, Common’s lyrics have depth and are insightful throughout the album. He has a positive tone while talking about achieving his own aspirations on “Blue Sky,” and shows his appreciation for life on “Celebrate,” a good-natured track that seems fitting for a family cookout or neighborhood block party.

But while Common provides some feel-good jams, he unveils the grittier side of himself on “Ghetto Dreams,” featuring Nas. He also offers his thoughts on overcoming the struggle of being raised in the inner city on the track “The Believer” with John Legend.

Common also raps about the maturation of love on “Cloth,” and the emotionally tough stages of a breakup on “Lovin’ I Lost,” with a sample from The Impressions’ 1968 song, “I Loved and I Lost.”

In all, the combination of Common and No I.D. make “The Dreamer, The Believer” work.

The rapper finds balance with his complex lyrics and supplies a clear message that all dreams can be achieved with an unwavering belief system in yourself.

CHECK OUT THIS TRACK: Similar to Common’s previous albums, such as “Be” and “Finding Forever,” his father again shares his perspective on life through spoken word on the piano-driven outro, “Pop’s Belief.”

Thursday, December 22, 2011

15

Wynton Marsalis Grammy-winning singer Cesaria Evora named CBS’ dies at age 70 cultural correspondent

BY BARRY HATTON | AP LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Cesaria Evora, who started singing as a teenager in the bayside bars of Cape Verde in the 1950s and won a Grammy in 2003 after she took her African islands music to stages across the world, died Saturday.

She was 70.

Evora, known as the “Barefoot Diva” because she always performed without shoes, died in the Baptista de Sousa Hospital in Mindelo, on her native island of Sao Vicente in Cape Verde, her label Lusafrica said in a statement on its website.

It gave no further details.

Evora retired in September because of health problems. In recent years she had had several operations, including open-heart surgery last year.

She sang the traditional music of the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa, a former Portuguese colony. She mostly sang in the version of creole spoken there, but even audiences who couldn't understand the lyrics were moved by her stirring renditions, her unpretentious manner and the music's infectious beat.

Her singing style brought comparisons to American jazz singer Billie Holiday. “She belongs to the aristocracy of bar singers,” French newspaper Le Monde said in 1991, adding that Evora had “a voice to melt the soul.”

Evora’s international fame came late in life. Her 1988 album “La Diva Aux Pieds Nus” (“Barefoot Diva”), recorded in France where she first found popularity, launched her international career.

Her 1995 album “Cesaria” was released in more than a dozen countries and brought her first Grammy nomination, leading to a tour of major concert halls around the world and album sales in the millions.

She won a Grammy in the World Music category of the 2003 awards for her album “Voz D’Amor”.

Evora, known to her close friends as Cize (pronounced see-ZEH), was the best-known performer of “morna,” Cape Verde’s national music. It is a complex, soulful sound, mixing an array of influences arising from the African and seafaring traditions of the 10 volcanic islands.

Evora was born Aug. 27, 1941, and grew up in Mindelo, a port city of 47,000 people on the island of Sao Vicente, where sailors from Europe, America, Africa and Asia mingled in what was a lively cosmopolitan town with a fabled nightlife.

The local musical style borrowed from those cultures, defying attempts to classify it.

“Our music is a lot of things,” Evora told The Associated Press in a 2000 interview at her home. “Some say it’s like the blues, or jazz. Others say it’s like Brazilian or African music, but no one really knows. Not even the old ones.”

Evora was 7 years old when her father died, leaving a widow and seven children. At 10, with her mother unable to make ends meet, she was placed in an orphanage.

“I didn’t like it. I value my freedom,” she told the AP. At 16, when Evora was doing piecework as a seamstress, a friend persuaded her to sing in one of the many sailors’ taverns in her town. As her popularity grew, she was also rowed out into the bay to sing on anchored ships.

She received no pay — just free drinks. She used to smile when she recalled her fame as a heavy cognac drinker. And she sadly recalled the exact day — Dec. 15, 1994 — she had to give up drinking for her health’s sake.

Evora didn’t think much of her international stardom and she went back to Mindelo whenever she could. She rebuilt her childhood home, turning it into a 10-bedroom house where friends and family often stayed over, and she always made sure she was home for Christmas.

A heavy smoker for decades, Evora was diagnosed with heart problems in 2005. She suffered strokes in 2008 and in September 2011, when she announced she was retiring.

She had a son and a daughter by different men but never married. Family details were not immediately available.

Mr. Correspondent: Wynton Marsalis

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“The Barefoot Diva”: Singer Cesaria Evora won a Grammy in 2003 after she took her African islands music to stages across the world.

NEW YORK (AP) — Musician and educator Wynton Marsalis has been named as cultural correspondent for CBS News.

The network said Thursday that Marsalis will report on a range of cultural and educational developments on “CBS This Morning” and “CBS Sunday Morning.”

His first appearance is scheduled for Jan. 16, as the nation observes the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. Marsalis has been associated with CBS News for a number of years. He has appeared on “60 Minutes,” and it’s his trumpet fanfare that opens “Sunday Morning” each week.

He is a composer and has been the artistic director of jazz at New York City’s Lincoln Center since 1987. He has won nine Grammy Awards.

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16

‘Sanford & Son’ actor Graham Brown dies at 87 ENGLEWOOD, New Jersey (AP) — Graham Brown, who appeared on stage at London’s Globe Theatre and on television in “Sanford & Son” has died in New Jersey. He was 87.

B a r b a r a Montgomery often appeared with Brown on the stage and had power of attorney on his behalf. She says he died Tuesday of pulmonary failure at the Lillian Booth Actors’ Fund Nursing Home in Englewood.

Montgomery says Brown was meticulous and was a gentleman.

Brown often Graham Brown appeared in stage productions of the New York-based Negro Ensemble Company and was a founding member of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

He played a school principal on the 1970s sitcom “Sanford & Son” and a judge on “Law & Order.” He also had roles in movies including “Malcolm X,” “Clockers” and “The Muppets Take Manhattan.”

Doctor: Blues singer Etta James terminally ill RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — “At Last” and “Tell Mama” blues singer Etta James, whose health has been fading in recent years, is now terminally ill, and her live-in doctor is asking for prayers.

Dr. Elaine James, who isn’t related to the 73year-old entertainer, tells the Riverside PressEnterprise (http://bit.ly/ tVMtaN) that the singer’s chronic leukemia was declared incurable two weeks ago.

The doctor has cared for Etta James at the singer’s Riverside, Calif., area home since March 2010.

Elaine James says she’s spreading word of the singer’s ailments so people will pray AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File for her. She says Etta James. fans know Etta James has been sick “but not how sick.”

Court records in the singer's probate case show she also suffers from dementia and kidney failure.

Elaine James made her comments outside a Riverside conservatorship hearing over the singer’s $1 million estate. The singer’s son, Donto James, wants a conservator rather than the singer’s husband, Artis Mills.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

‘Lean on Me’ actor arrested in undercover drug buy PHOENIX (AP) — Authorities say “Lean on Me” actor Jermaine “Huggy” Hopkins has been arrested in Phoenix for trying to buy 200 pounds (91 kilograms) of marijuana from an undercover officer.

Sheriff’s detectives say the 38-year-old Hopkins was taken into custody Tuesday. Phoenix TV station KSAZ reports that detectives found 200 pounds of marijuana in his SUV and $100,000 cash.

Authorities later searched an Avondale apartment

Mug shot: Jermaine “Huggy” Hopkins

listed in Hopkins’ name. They say they found another 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of marijuana.

Hopkins starred in the 1989 movie “Lean on Me” at 15 and has appeared on several TV shows.

Hopkins lives in North Carolina. He’s being held on $35,000 bond on suspicion of two felony counts of possessing, transporting and trying to sell marijuana.

It was unclear Thursday whether Hopkins has legal representation yet.

Judge approves pay bump for Jackson estate execs

BY ANTHONY MCCARTNEY | AP LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge approved a pay bump Monday for the executors of Michael Jackson’s estate who turned the debt-ridden singer’s portfolio into a business that has earned hundreds of millions of dollars since his death.

Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff allowed attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain to bill the estate separately for their professional services, which include entertainment-related legal counsel and use of a recording studio founded by Marvin Gaye.

Attorneys for Branca and McClain sought the change, saying the executors spend an increasing amount of time on Jackson’s estate and have been paying legal expenses to Branca’s firm out of their share of the earnings.

The men agreed in February 2010 to accept 10 percent of the gross entertainment-related earnings of the estate minus money generated

by Jackson’s 50 percent interest in the Sony-ATV music catalog and earnings from “This Is It,” a film compiled from the singer’s final rehearsals.

The exclusions are huge revenue generators for the estate — the Sony-ATV catalog includes publishing rights to music by The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and other stars. The executors also have been excluded from an interest in Jackson’s music, which has sold briskly since his death June 25 at age 50.

Since then, the estate has earned more than $310 million.

Branca and McClain have been earning closer to 7 percent of the

estate’s entertainment-related earnings, as the estate has become a “massive entertainment business enterprise,” court filings state.

Branca and McClain said they are spending more time developing Jackson projects than anticipated, including music, video games and a touring Cirque-du-Soleil show that will eventually become a Las Vegas fixture.

Under the deal approved Monday, Branca's firm Ziffren Brittenham LLP will now receive 3 percent of entertainment-related income generated by Jackson’s estate.

Estate attorney Howard Weitzman said the firm was performing work that would cost more than $2 million a year if it was being handled AP Photo/Michael Mariant, File by another firm, and court On Monday, a judge approved a request by filings state that a traditional the two men running Michael Jackson’s entertainment estate would estate to receive additional compensation for include additional managers their professional services. and attorneys who would receive up to 30 percent of augmenting the compensation for the estate’s overall revenue.

Branca and McClain. Meg Lodise, There was no estimate for how who represents the children’s intermuch McClain’s billings may be. He est, said, “It is quite clear that what bought and restored Gaye’s former they’re proposing is going to be fair Los Angeles studio in 1997, chris- to the estate.” tening it Marvin’s Room, and Weitzman told Beckloff that the Jackson and other top singers have estate has recently resolved credirecorded music there. tors’ claims worth at least $11 milThe estate benefits Jackson’s lion and is working to resolve any mother, Katherine, and the singer’s other valid outstanding debts. three children, Prince, Paris and Jackson died with an estimated $400 Blanket. They received an initial million in debts, but renewed inter$30 million payment on the estate’s est in his music and career has fatproceeds earlier this year. tened the estate’s accounts, which Attorneys for Katherine Jackson listed $90 million in cash on hand in and the children had no objection to a September court filing.

opinion

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Robert Champion: Drum major for change

BY JULIANNE MALVEAUX NNPA COLUMNIST Most parents of college students look forward to December, when their students come home for the holidays. Some are so excited to see their offspring home that they actually come to their colleges to pick them up.

Others prepare special treats and goodies as an antidote to the oft complained-about cafeteria food.

Robert and Pam Champion won’t have that opportunity.

Their son, Robert, died on November 19. His death has been ruled a homicide, and he allegedly was a victim of hazing. Florida A&M University, one of our nation’s mostrespected HBCUs, is in the headlines now — not because of its excellent academic programs but because its celebrated marching band has apparently had a culture of hazing.

Robert and Pam Champion are to be commended for turning their pain into a force for change. In a recent media interview, they indicated that they have set up a Facebook page in honor of their son, who they describe as a “drum major for change” because they will use his story to help other victims of hazing.

Mrs. Champion also indicated that she would set up an anti-hazing hotline so that young people can, anonymously, deal with issues of hazing.

The younger Robert Champion has apparently not been the only victim of hazing in the FAMU Marching Band. In the past, one student’s hip was broken, and two were hospitalized with kidney damage. And these are only the cases we know about.

The FAMU Marching Band isn’t the only organization that hazes. Sororities and fraternities, whether part of the African American Divine Nine, or part of the larger Greek-letter organization atmosphere, seem to think hazing is part of the culture. Whether it is yelling and screaming at pledges or using actual physical violence, hazing is prevalent. The National Study of Student Hazing, which got results from more than 11,000 students at 53 colleges, indicated that "8 percent of women in Greek life have experienced hazing”. This study didn’t focus on HBCUs, but it would not be surprising to learn that our numbers mirror these.

Two questions: Why is membership in a group so important that you’d risk your life? and why must people verbally and physically abuse those who want to join their group?

Our young people are no better than what we show them they can be. I have heard sorority women make the distinction between “pledging hard” and “pledging soft,” with the implication that the brutal former is better. Young men and some not-so-young men, sport brands, some of which have been

Remembering Ron Walters at Christmas

BY GEORGE E. CURRY NNPA COLUMNIST

Julianne Malveaux

infected, as symbols of their fraternity and their “manhood.” Many of those branded were either willing or subject to coercion. When elders show their sons these brands, they may well co-sign the continuation of a brutal trend.

What is hazing about? It’s bullying, it’s coercion and it’s descent into groupthink in the worst way.

I’ve got something you want, and I’m going to make you suffer to get it. In order to join a band, you ought to be able to play music, not survive a beating. How does the beating make you a better band member? Actually, it allows some folks to play a game of false superiority to the detriment of others.

The bottom line, though, is that it has to stop. The college experience should not be a brutal experience or an experience where coercion and intimidation are ingrained into the process of joining a group.

To be sure, there are bonding opportunities in ritual — in learning songs, history, steps or chants. And there may be penalties when band members or pledges don’t toe the mark in learning things on time.

But the penalties should not be physical abuse, and that abuse has become too acceptable.

What do we do about it? Some parents whose children have been hazed have brought criminal charges or civil lawsuits. Others have pushed for systemic change.

Leaders in higher education must assert zero tolerance for hazing and enforce zero tolerance policies with appropriate actions. Four members of the FAMU band have been dismissed from school, but only after young Robert Champion’s death.

Had they been expelled sooner, might Champion still be among us?

Robert and Pam Champion are to be commended for turning their pain into change. But if hazing cannot be stopped, those organizations that allow it simply need to be disbanded.

Julianne Malveaux is president of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, NC.

17

Around this time every year, shortly before I leave to visit my mother in Augusta, Ga., for Christmas, I attend a party at the home of Pat and Ron Walters in Silver Spring, Md. I attended the annual party Saturday night with one noticeable difference – it was held without Ron, an enormously talented strategist and political scientist.

Ron died of cancer Sept. 10, 2010, and to her credit, Pat decided to hold the party this year because she knew that’s what her Ronnie, as she calls him, would have wanted.

It’s also what his friends wanted. We wanted to let Pat know that although her Ronnie has passed from this earth, we still feel his presence.

I wrote shortly after Ron died that he was a one-man civil rights movement. And he was. More than that, the distinguished professor, who served at Howard University and the University of Maryland, taught us how to use our professional skills to improve the plight of our people. In that respect, he was very much like W.E.B. DuBois, who, like Ron, did his undergraduate work at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn.

Ron was quoted more than any other political scientist of his time. He could have opted to teach his university classes and be a talking head on national TV, but he didn’t. He felt obligated to do more, which explains why he quietly advised the Congressional Black Caucus on a variety of issues. It explains why he served as Jesse Jackson’s presidential issues adviser in 1984 and 1988.

Those of us who covered that first campaign witnessed how Ron prepared Jesse Jackson for TV debates.

Ron would be hovering above and Jackson, outstretched on the floor in blue jeans, would listen to Professor Walters, process the information and then restate it in his own unique way.

Those prep sessions were so detailed that Jackson never had a Rick Perrylike ‘oops’ moment in any debate.

Unlike some public intellectuals, he was not enamored of rap. He didn’t record a rap CD, like Cornel West, or teach a course on Jay-Z like Michael Eric Dyson. When it came to the empowerment of AfricanAmericans, Ron Walters was serious.

Very serious.

Above all else, Ron Walters was consistent. It didn’t matter if Bill Clinton, George W. Bush or Barack Obama was in the White House. You could count on Ron holding them all to one standard: What have you done for Black people? And he wasn’t content with words; he wanted to measure how well policies had helped — or harmed — people of African descent.

His take-home tests for political leaders, Black and White, usually covered 10 subjects: health disparities, police brutality, equal access to education, voting rights enforcement,

George E. Curry

racial profiling, housing, equal employment, ex-offenders’ voting rights, access to credit and economic justice.

And Ron didn’t believe President Obama should be allowed to skip the test or be judged any differently from anyone else who occupied the White House.

As serious as Ron was, he was also a person who enjoyed a good laugh.

I thought about him Saturday night as I was replaying a Dick Gregory joke for my friend Joe Madison, the activist and talk show host. Joe and his wife, Sharon, were sitting on kitchen stools when I asked Joe if he had heard what Dick Gregory had said at Troy Davis’ funeral. As you know, protesters objecting to Davis being put to death in Georgia carried signs and wore T-shirts proclaiming, “I am Troy Davis.”

Dick Gregory being Dick Gregory said at the funeral service for Davis that a bill collector had tele-

phoned his house and asked for Dick Gregory. When asked if he was Gregory, Dick claimed to have replied, “I am Troy Davis.”

Joe buckled in laughter. We both agreed that only Dick Gregory could come up with that joke.

Returning the favor, Joe had me laughing uncontrollably after he proposed that we start our own megachurch in Prince George’s County, Md. — and I would be the pastor. I think Joe was joking. He had it all figured out down to the big rings I should wear on my pinky finger and the type of limo I would be chauffeured in, and he carefully demonstrated how my cape would be removed.

He even told me about a church in his native Detroit that had such divided loyalties that two pastors preached on Sundays at the same time, one addressing his followers on one side of the church and the other preaching to his supporters on the other side. I don’t know if Joe was telling the truth, as he claimed. But when you’re laughing hard and having a good time at the Walters residence, it doesn’t matter whether it was true or a product of Joe’s fertile imagination.

When we finished laughing, we kissed Pat good night and headed for the door. We had carried on just as if Ron were still there. And we pledged to not only continue laughing like we did when Ron was around but to be as serious about advancing the cause of our people as Ron was. If we can contribute half as much as he did, we will not betray his legacy.

George E. Curry, former editorin-chief of Emerge magazine and the NNPA News Service, is a keynote speaker, moderator and media coach. He can be reached through his website, www.georgecurry.com.

You can also follow him at www.twitter.com/currygeorge.

FAMU Continued from page 9 Under Ammons’ leadership, the university's accreditation was restored and its finances improved. An audit done two years later found the university still needed to do a better job at paying bills on time and keeping a closer eye on employee use of state-owned cellphones, but those problems paled in comparison to the previous report.

But hazing continued to be a problem. White has provided letters of suspension issued to dozens of band members for hazing, including many of which Ammons was reportedly provided a copy.

Less than two weeks before Champion’s death, band member Bria Hunter was hospitalized with a broken leg and blood clots in what authorities say was another act of hazing. Three band members have been charged in the beating.

And two days before Champion died, White sent a letter to alumni, urging them not to “return and perpetuate the myth of various sectional names.”

But FAMU alumni have insisted

that the problem of hazing is widespread across the country and that too much attention is being focused on their university.

“Name another university president that suspended a president for hazing,” said Tommy Mitchell, president of the FAMU National Alumni Association. Mitchell also went so far as to question, “Why is it that this hazing has gotten so much attention?”

Ammons suspended the band after Champion's death, dismissed White and expelled four students in connection with the hazing. White was later placed on temporary leave, and the students were allowed to attend class after state authorities urged the university not to take disciplinary action before the investigation was complete.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges has warned Scott’s push to suspend Ammons could affect the school’s accreditation because of “undue influence” on the board from outside.

18

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Child Watch Column

‘THE HELP’

“A Prayer For This Holy Season”

Continued from page 14

BY MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN NNPA COLUMNIST God, help us to end poverty in our time.

The poverty of having a child with too little to eat and no place to sleep, no air, sunlight and space to breathe, bask and grow.

The poverty of watching your child suffer hunger or get sicker and sicker and not knowing what to do or how to get help because you don’t have another dime or a car, money or health insurance.

The poverty of working your fingers to the bone every day taking care of somebody else’s children and neglecting your own and still not being able to pay your bills.

The poverty of having a job that does not let you afford a stable place to live and being terrified you’ll become homeless and lose your children to foster care.

The poverty of losing your job, running out of unemployment benefits and no other help in sight.

The poverty of working all your life caring for your own children and having to start all over again caring for the grandchildren you love.

The poverty of earning a college degree, having children, opening a day care center and taking home $300 a week — or a month — if you’re lucky. The poverty of loneliness and isolation and alienation — having no one to call or visit, tell you where to get help, assist you in getting it or care if you’re living or dead.

The poverty of having too much

Marian Wright Edelman

and sharing too little and having the burden of nothing to carry.

The poverty of convenient blindness and deafness and indifference to others.

The poverty of low aim and paltry purpose, of weak will and tiny vision, of big meetings and small actions, of loud talk and sullen grudging service.

The poverty of believing in nothing, standing for nothing, sharing nothing, sacrificing nothing and struggling with others for nothing.

The poverty of pride and ingratitude for God’s gifts of life and children and family and freedom and home and country and not wanting

for others what you want for yourself.

The poverty of greed for more and more and more, ignoring, blaming and exploiting the needy, and taking from the weak to please the strong.

The poverty of addiction to more and more things; drugs, drink, work, self, violence, power, fleeting fame and an unjust status quo.

The poverty of fear that keeps you from doing the thing you think is right.

The poverty of convenient ignorance about the needs of those around you and of despair and cynicism.

God, help us end poverty in our time, in all its faces and places — young and old, rural, urban, suburban and small-town to, and in every color of humans You have made everywhere.

God help us to end poverty in our time in all its guises — inside and out — physical and spiritual so that all our and Your children may live the lives that you intend.

prospects will sit out the SAG ceremony, including Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” and Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo,” but those are epic tales whose impact comes more from their scope than their performances.

Another Oscar potential that missed out at SAG was David Fincher’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” which features a blistering breakout performance by Rooney Mara.

“Bridesmaids” was a rare mainstream comedy that has earned critical respect. Along with its ensemble nomination, the film earned a supporting-actress slot for Melissa McCarthy as a crude but caring member of the wedding.

Missing out in the supportingactress category was Clooney’s young “Descendants” co-star Shailene Woodley, who delivers a breakout performance as a troublesome teen.

Up for supporting actor are Kenneth Branagh as Laurence Olivier in “My Week With Marilyn”; Armie Hammer as Hoover’s FBI colleague and soul mate in “J. Edgar”; Jonah Hill as an economics whiz kid in

“Moneyball”; Nick Nolte as a bad dad trying to make amends in “Warrior”; and Christopher Plummer as an elderly, ailing father who announces he’s gay in “Beginners.”

Betty White, the guild’s lifetime-achievement award winner two years ago, had two TV nominations: comedy-series actress for “Hot in Cleveland” and “Hallmark Hall of Fame: The Lost Valentine.”

“Modern Family” led the TV side with five nominations, including best comedy ensemble and individual honors for Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Eric Stonestreet and Sofia Vergara.

SAG also honors unsung action players with a stunt ensemble prize.

The film stunt contenders are “The Adjustment Bureau,” “Cowboys & Aliens,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “X-Men: First Class.”

TV stunt nominees are “Dexter,” “Game of Thrones,” “Southland,” “Spartacus: Gods of the Arena” and “True Blood.”

The 18th annual SAG Awards will be presented Jan. 29.

loved ones in the war’s earliest days, when funerals were broadcast live on local television, before the country became numb to the casualty count.

Vicky Langley’s son, Marine Pvt. Jonathan Lee Gifford, was killed just two days into the war. More than eight years later she sits in her Decatur, Ill. home, surrounded by photographs of him and even a couple of paintings of him in his dress uniform that total strangers created and sent her.

She said she doesn’t concern herself with thoughts about the cost of the war and whether it was worth the life of her son and all the others who died.

“Only the Iraqi people can answer that,” she said.

She thinks of her son constantly.

She recalls the first day of kindergarten and how she came home and “turned on every appliance I could (because) it was just so quiet without him.” She remembers how as a young man he would call her, without fail, when the first snow of the year started to fall. She still hears the knock at her door at 11 at night, and the chaplain telling her that her 30-year-old son had been killed in Iraq.

And she sees him in the 4-year-old daughter he left behind, who is now 12.

Lexie Gifford’s thin frame and face are miniature versions of her father’s, her smile a replica of his. She has the same slow, I’ll-get-there-when-I-get-there walk. For a reason nobody understands, a while back she started popping frozen French fries in her mouth just like her dad used to do.

As the last troops prepared to leave Iraq, Langley was getting ready.

“I’ll probably sit and cry,” said Langley, 58. “I’ll be happy for the ones you can be happy for and sad for the ones you are sad for.”

Langley’s life has been one catastrophe after another since her son died.

The next year her husband died. Then months later, doctors told her the reason she was feeling poorly was that her kidneys had shut down. That was followed

by a fall and a broken back. Today, as she waits for her name to come up on a list for a kidney transplant, she gets around the house she shares with her mother in a motorized scooter.

The one thing she doesn’t have, she said, is guilt. Though she talked her son out of enlisting in the military a couple times over the years, the reasons began and ended with concerns about the safety for her only child.

But after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, she knew there would be no talking him out of enlisting. Besides, she said, “If I was young enough I would have gone in too.”

Even though the country’s mood was much different in 2009 when Hickman joined the Army, he had no doubts about his decision, Trainum said.

“When I talked with him on the phone a week before, he wasn’t unhappy about where he was or regretting being there at all,” Trainum said. “It was just going to work for him, and he was looking forward to getting his work done and getting home.”

Hickman, Gifford and the others left behind parents and spouses and children like Lexie, whose memories of her Marine father are what one might expect of a girl who was four when she last saw him.

“He popped out of a Christmas box,” she said, of the Christmas just before Gifford was deployed, when he hid inside a large box to surprise his daughter. “He was tall. He had brown hair. He was nice.”

The losses linger for people who saw the flag-draped coffins come home.

“I used to watch all the war stories on TV, you know,” said Needham, Hickman's old coach. “But since this happened to David, I can’t watch that stuff anymore. I just think: That’s how he died.”

Associated Press news researcher Monika Mathur contributed to this report.

Babwin reported from Decatur, Ill.

SOLDIER Continued from page 8 that would make the gods jealous. A ferocious outside linebacker at Northeast Guilford High School who was the linchpin of a defense so complicated they had to scrap it after he graduated because no other teenager could figure it out.

Hickman was these things and more, a whole life scarcely glimpsed in the terse language of a Defense Department news release last month.

Three paragraphs said Hickman died in Baghdad on Nov. 14, “of injuries suffered after encountering an improvised explosive device.”

He was more, too, than the man who bears the symbolic freight of being the last member of the U.S. military to die in a war launched in the political shadow of 9/11, which brought thousands of his fellow citizens out into the streets to oppose and support it.

Eventually, the war largely faded from the public’s thoughts.

“There’s a lot of people, in my family included, they don’t know what’s going on in this world,” said Wes Needham, who coached linebackers at Northeast when David was a student.

“They’re oblivious to it. I just sit and think about it, the courage that it takes to do what they do, especially when they're all David’s age.”

And they were mostly young.

According to an Associated Press analysis of casualty data, the average age of Americans who died in Iraq was 26. Nearly 1,300 were 22 or younger, but middle-aged people fought and died as well: Some 511 were older than 35.

“I’ve trained a lot of kids. They go to college and you kind of lose track of them and forget them,” said Mike King of Greensboro Black Belt Academy, where Hickman trained in taekwondo for about eight years. “He was never like that. That smile and that laugh immediately come to mind.”

The pain is fresh for people who knew Hickman. But the years have not eased the anguish of those who lost

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Must have at least / 12 units of Early Childhood Development.

Please Call (323) 541-5384 if qualified

CITY OF LOS ANGELES $50,000 REWARD NOTICE The City of Los Angeles offers a reward payable at the discretion of the City Council to one or more persons in the sum or sums up to an aggregate maximum total sum of $50,000 for information leading to the identification and apprehension of the person or persons responsible for the act of murder against, LOVELL MAY, III, in the City of Los Angeles. On Thursday, January 28, 2010, at approximately 9:45 p.m., Lovell May, III was shot from behind, multiple times, while talking with friends on 77th Street and Bright Avenue, in Los Angeles, Lovell May, III was transported to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. To date, detectives have been unable to identify the suspect and/or suspects responsible for the murder of Lovell May, III, and believe that no further leads will develop in this case without the assistance of the community. Detectives hope that a monetary reward compels the public to provide more information. The person or persons responsible for this crime represent an ongoing threat to the safety of the people of Los Angeles. Unless withdrawn or paid by City Council action, this offer of reward shall terminate on, and have no effect after, JUNE 21, 2012.

The provisions of payment and all other considerations shall be governed by Chapter 12 of Division 19 of the LAAC Code, as amended by Ordinance Nos. 158157 and 166666. This offer shall be given upon the condition that all claimants provide continued cooperation within the criminal justice system relative to this case and is not available to public officers or employees of the City, their families, persons in law enforcement or persons whose misconduct prompted this reward. If you have any information regarding this case, please call the Los Angeles Police Department at 1-877-LAWFULL, 24 hours.

C. F. No. 11-0010-s50 12/22/11 CNS-2228812# WATTS TIMES

GOVERNMENT PROJECT BASED VOUCHER NOTICE OF FUNDING AVAILABILITY PBV NOFA NO. 7557 The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles in collaboration with the Los Angeles Housing Department invites proposals from qualified developers under the Project Based Voucher Program for Permanent Supportive Housing projects that serve extremely and very low income chronically homeless special needs individuals and homeless families, transition aged youth (TAY), seniors and the disabled. Copies of the PBV NOFA may be obtained beginning December 12, 2011 online at http://www.hacla.org/ps/. Electronic proposals will be accepted until 11:59pm, January 9, 2012.

12/15, 12/22/11 CNS-2224174# WATTS TIMES

To place a Classified Ad Call (323) 299-3800

NFL HELMET HITS Continued from page 13 topic all season since the league banned launching in March. A 15yard penalty is enforced for anyone who leaves both feet before contact to spring forward and upward into an opponent and delivers a blow to the helmet with any part of his helmet.

Such tackles also are subject to fines, ejections and suspensions.

McKay emphasized that Steelers linebacker James Harrison’s hit on Browns quarterback Colt McCoy on Dec. 8 is not the catalyst for further discussions.

Harrison became the first play-

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NOTICE INVITING BIDS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City of Long Beach, California, acting by and through the City’s Board of Harbor Commissioners (“City”) will receive, before the Bid Deadline established below, sealed Bids for the following Work: SHORE TO SHIP POWER AT PIER A BERTHS A88-A96 LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA AS DESCRIBED IN SPECIFICATION NO. HD-S2342A Bid Deadline:

Prior to 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 Bid packages will be time/date stamped on the 4th floor or in the Lobby and shall be submitted prior to 10 a.m.

Place for Submission of Bids: 1. By Delivery Any Calendar Day Before the Bid Deadline Harbor Department Administration Building 4th Floor, Plans and Specifications/Program Management Office 925 Harbor Plaza Long Beach, CA 90802 2. By Delivery on the Same Calendar Day as the Bid Deadline Harbor Department Administration Building Ground Floor Lobby 925 Harbor Plaza Long Beach, CA 90802 Bid Opening: As soon as practical after the Bid Deadline Harbor Department Administration Building 6th Floor Board Room 925 Harbor Plaza Long Beach, CA 90802 Contract Documents Available: Date/Time: Beginning Thursday December 22, 2011 Monday –Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Location: Harbor Department Administration Building 4th Floor, Plans and Specifications 925 Harbor Plaza Long Beach, CA 90802 Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting: Date/Time: Tuesday, January 11, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. This meeting is mandatory.

Location: 6th Floor Board Room Project Contact Person: Victor Sagredo, Project Manager Fax: 562-283-7398 Email: sagredo@polb.com NIB -1 Contract Documents. Copies of Contract Documents in DVD format may be obtained, at no cost, at the Plans and Specifications Office, 4th floor, Harbor Department Administration Building, 925 Harbor Plaza, Long Beach, CA 90802 during the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. To arrange to receive a DVD of the Contract Documents by courier at the expense of the Bidder, call (562) 283-7353.

NIB -6 Contractor Performed Work. The Contractor shall perform, with its own employees, Contract Work amounting to at least 50% of the Contract Price, except that any designated “Specialty Items” may be performed by subcontract and the amount of any such “Specialty Items” so performed may be deducted from the Contract Price before computing the amount required to be performed by the Contractor with its own employees. “Specialty Items” will be identified by the City in the Schedule of Bid Items.

NIB -7 SBE/VSBE. This Project is subject to the Port of Long Beach (POLB) Small Business Enterprises (SBE)/Very Small Business Enterprise (VSBE) Program. The combined SBE/VSBE participation goal for this project is twenty-five (25%) percent, of which a minimum of five (5%) percent must be allocated to VSBE’s. POLB expects all Bidders to achieve the combined SBE/VSBE participation goal. Award of the Contract will be conditioned on the Bidder submitting an SBE-2C Commitment Plan demonstrating the Bidder’s intent to meet the combined SBE/VSBE participation goal. If the Bidder’s Commitment Plan does not demonstrate intent to meet the combined goal, the Bidder shall demonstrate that it made an adequate good faith effort to do so, as specified in the Instructions to Bidders (ITB 18). The Port’s SBE Program staff is available to provide information on the program requirements, including SBE certification assistance.

Please contact the SBE Office at (562) 283-7598 or sbeprogram@polb.com. You may also view the Port’s SBE Program requirements at www.polb.com/sbe.

NIB -8 Prevailing Wage Rates and Employment of Apprentices. This Project is a public work as defined in Labor Code section 1720. The Contractor receiving award of the Contract and Subcontractors of any tier shall pay not less than the prevailing wage rates to all workers employed in execution of the Contract. The Director of Industrial Relations of the State of California has determined the general prevailing rates of wages in the locality in which the Work is to be performed. The rate schedules are available on the internet at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlsr/DPreWageDetermination.htm. Bidders are directed to Article 15 of the General Conditions for requirements concerning payment of prevailing wages, payroll records, hours of work and employment of apprentices.

NIB -9 Trade Names and Substitution of Equals. With the exception of the sole source determination identified in the paragraph below, Bidders wishing to obtain City’s authorization for substitution of equivalent material, product, or equipment, are required to submit a written request for an Or Equal Substitution using the form included in Appendix A together with data substantiating Bidder’s representation that the non-specified item is of equal quality to the item specified, not more than thirty five (35) calendar days after Bid Opening. Authorization of a substitution is solely within the discretion of the City.

Bidders shall note that the only acceptable manufacturer specified in the following technical SECTIONS shall be Square D Company, pursuant to Public Contract Code Section 3400 (c)(2) and (c)(3): 16342 - “MEDIUM VOLTAGE METAL-CLAD SWITCHGEAR”, 16343 - “MEDIUM VOLTAGE LOAD-INTERRUPTER SWITCHGEAR”, and 16363 – “MEDIUM VOLTAGE UTILITY METER SWITCHGEAR”, 16364 – “MEDIUM VOLTAGE DISTRIBUTION SWITCHGEAR”, 16365 - “POWERLOGIC MONITORING AND CONTROL SYSTEM”, 16463 - “SUBSTATION CAST-COIL TRANSFORMER”. Any bid listing any other manufacturer will be non-responsive.

NIB -10

For information on this Project and other upcoming Port projects, you may view the Port website at http://www.polb.com/economics/contractors/out _for_bid.asp.

Copies of all Port insurance endorsement forms, SBE/VSBE Program forms, Harbor Development Permit Applications and other Port forms are available at http://www.polb.com/economics/contractors/forms_permits/default.asp.

NIB -2 Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting. The engineering staff of the City’s Harbor department will conduct a pre-bid meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 11, 2012 in the Board Room, 6th floor, of the Harbor Department Administration Building.

Attendance is mandatory. Note that attendance at the pre-bid meeting can be used to satisfy a portion of a Bidder’s good faith efforts to meet the SBE/VSBE participation goals listed below. EACH BIDDER MUST ATTEND THE MANDATORY PRE-BID MEETING. FAILURE TO ATTEND THE MANDATORY PRE-BID MEETING SHALL DISQUALIFY YOUR BID. NIB -3 Summary Description of the Work. The Work required by this Contract includes, but is not limited to, the following: furnishing all labor, materials, power, equipment, tools, transportation and supervision necessary to install electrical substations, shore to ship power outlets and vaults, soil handling, utilities, paving, striping and fencing for shore to ship power at Pier A Berths A88 – A96.

NIB -4 Contract Time and Liquidated Damages. The Work shall be completed within five-hundred and ninety (590) days as provided in Paragraph SC - 6.1 of the Special Conditions, from a date specified in a written “Notice to Proceed” issued by the City and subject to adjustment as provided in Section 3.1 of the General Conditions. FAILURE OF THE CONTRACTOR TO COMPLETE THE WORK WITHIN THE CONTRACT TIME AND OTHER MILESTONES WILL RESULT IN ASSESSMENT OF LIQUIDATED DAMAGES IN THE AMOUNTS ESTABLISHED IN THE SPECIAL CONDITIONS. NIB -5 Contractor’s License. Each Bidder shall hold a current and valid Class” A” and Class “C-10” California Contractor’s License to bid this Project.

er suspended for such a hit under the NFL’s new guidelines and will miss Pittsburgh’s game at San Francisco on Monday night.

“I don’t like the fact one play would drive the discussion more than a need to do it for a bigger reason: a lot of plays that are putting players at risk,” McKay said. “Our game has taken some real steps in a safety direction and we see, culturally, some modifications. We need

to continue in that direction.”

McKay said game officials have told him they are seeing fewer hits with the target areas the head or neck, and more tacklers are leading with their shoulders.

He said that’s significant because it’s not only offensive players who are in danger when an illegal hit is made.

“When we are trying to deal with an issue like the launch, we

NOT USED.

NIB -11 Bid Security, Signed Contract, Insurance and Bonds. Each Bid shall be accompanied by a satisfactory Bidder’s Bond or other acceptable Bid Security in an amount not less than ten percent (10%) of the Base Bid as a guarantee that the Bidder will, if Conditionally Awarded a Contract by the Board, within thirty (30) calendar days after the Contract is conditionally awarded to the Contractor by the City, execute and deliver such Contract to the Chief Harbor Engineer together with all required documents including insurance forms, a Payment Bond for one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract Price, and a Performance Bond for one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract Price. All Bonds shall be on forms provided by the City.

NIB -12 Conditional Award of Contract and Reservation of Rights. The Board, acting through the Executive Director, reserves the right at any time before the execution of the Contract by the City, to reject any or all Bids, and to waive any informality or irregularity. The Conditional Award of the Contract, if any, will be to the responsible Bidder submitting the lowest responsive and responsible Bid. If the lowest responsive responsible Bidder fails to submit the required documents including insurance forms, bonds and signed Contract within thirty (30) calendar days after Conditional Award of Contract, the Board reserves the right to rescind the Conditional Award and Conditionally Award the Contract to the next lowest responsive and responsible Bidder.

NIB -13 Period of Bid Irrevocability. Bids shall remain open and valid and Bidder’s Bonds shall be guaranteed for ninety (90) calendar days after the Bid Deadline or until the Executive Director executes a Contract, whichever occurs first.

NIB -14 Substitution of Securities. Substitution of Securities for retainage is permitted in accordance with Section 22300 of the Public Contract Code.

Issued at Long Beach, California, this 12th day of December, 2011.

Richard D. Steinke Executive Director of the Harbor Department, City of Long Beach, California

are trying to protect the runner and the hitter,” he said. “Some hits, a defensive player is leading with his head and not using his arms and really is exposing himself to injury as a flagrant foul is committed.”

Defenseless players cannot be hit in the head or neck area with the helmet, facemask, forearm or shoulder. The definition of such players now includes those throw-

ing a pass; attempting or completing a catch without having time to ward off or avoid contact; a runner whose forward progress has been stopped by a tackler; kickoff or punt returners while the ball is in the air; kickers or punters during a kick or a return; a quarterback during a change of possession; and a player who receives a blindside block from a blocker moving toward his own end zone.

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Thursday, December 22, 2011