daily challenge 6-10-11

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FREEDOM PARTY AND COUNCILMAN CHARLES BARRON WILL PROTEST THE TONY AWARDS - PG. 14

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A CELEBRATION OF LIFEFOR CLARICE TAYLOR

Stars, fans, and family said farewell to acclaimed actressClarice Taylor earlier this week. Pictured above: (L-R) Dou-glas Turner Ward, artistic director and founder (along withTaylor) of the Negro Ensemble Company, Rev. Al Sharpton,Ruby Dee, Jayson Thomas, grandson, Meli’’sa Morgan, and

Alyson Williams were among those who performed andoffered remembrances at the “Celebration of Life” funeral ser-vice for Taylor at Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem. Read thecomplete story on page 12 of Inside New York’s section of theDaily Challenge. Photo credit: Kevin Mason.

DAILY CHALLENGE FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 20112 � � � � �

The Choir of the Pope’s Dioceseof Rome, which has served theChurch of Rome and musicallyaccompanied the Holy Father dur-ing the main liturgies of theCatholic calendar, will perform ina concert Saturday in Brooklyn.

The concert will start at 7:30p.m. in Regina Pacis Church on65th Street. It will be the final per-formance of a six-concert tour thechoir started earlier this month asit made its first ever trip to the U.S.

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Celebrate a lifetime of morebirthdays the right way—withmore birthday cake! Fairway Mar-ket, the exclusive sponsor of TheBest Birthday Cake contest, invitesyou to vote for the most deliciouscake from 30 of the city’s best pro-fessional and amateur bakers dur-ing American Cancer Society’sRelay for Life event. The tastingwill begin at 5 p.m. under thecrane by the waterfront of IKEAin Brooklyn (1 Beard Street) andlast until 6:30. Celebrity judges,Fairway’s Master Baker SarahBlack, Matt Lewis and RafiAvramoritz of Baked will be offici-ating the contest along with eventattendees who determine the fateof the baker’s cake. For $5 you cantaste the cakes, cheer on yourfavorite baker, and try as manycakes as your stomach can handle!Once the winner is chosen, all can-cer survivors participating in theRelay for Life event will be invitedto blow out all the candles on thecakes in celebration of anotherbirthday. All proceeds benefitAmerican Cancer Society’s Relayfor Life of Ikea Brooklyn. In addi-tion to the cake contest, there willbe free activities and entertain-ment throughout the day from 2-11 p.m., including tennis lessons,picnic games, live music, Zumbat-hon, and a cupcake decoratingclass run by Fairway’s SarahBlack.

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The New York City PoliceDepartment is taking hundreds ofguns confiscated from city streetsand turning them into a monu-ment to peace.

Police Commissioner Ray Kellydelivered more than 900 rifles andshotguns to Jersey City Tuesdaywhere they will be shredded andmelted down.

Artist Lin Evola will thenrework the metal into a five-foottall peace angel to be installed atpolice headquarters in downtownManhattan.

“So the peace angels stand toprovoke and insist that we remem-ber who we are. To take care ofourselves and protect ourselvesand protect our children,” Evolasaid.

“It’s symbolic. The idea is toturn swords into plowshares, toturn guns into pieces of art,” Kellysaid.

The police commissioner saidthe weapons were confiscated dur-ing arrests and gun buybacks.

NNEEWWSS BBRRIIEEFFSSBy MURRAY EVANS and

KEN MILLER

OKLAHOMA CITY — As shewatched a television broadcast of Pres-ident Barack Obama’s inauguration inJanuary 2009, Clara Luper had tearsin her eyes. The Oklahoma civil rightsicon knew that her and other activists’struggle had reached a milestone withthe election of the nation’s first Blackpresident.

“This is our day,” she said at thetime, calling his inauguration the“fulfillment of dreams of people.”

Luper, who died late Wednesday atage 88 after a lengthy illness, led sit-ins that helped integrate drug storelunch counters in four Midwesternstates. While sponsor of the OklahomaCity NAACP Youth Council, the for-mer high school teacher, radio hostand author — who was arrested 26times during protests — preparedyoung Blacks for the sit-ins, many ofwhom praised her Thursday as a lov-ing, firm advocate.

“She took a community that had lit-tle except their voices and their feet,and she used those resources to thebest of their ability for change,” saidstate Rep. Mike Shelton, a familyfriend and member of Oklahoma’sLegislative Black Caucus.

“In some way, she has touchedevery life in the state of Oklahoma,whether they know it or not, becauseof her contributions, her persistence,her dedication to her fellow man,” theOklahoma City Democrat said. “Therearen’t many people you can say thatabout.”

On Aug. 19, 1958, a 35-year-oldLuper led three adult chaperones and14 members of the youth council in asit-in at the Katz Drug Store lunchcounter in downtown Oklahoma City.The store refused to serve the groupbut the protesters refused to leave,and the sit-in lasted for several days.

The store chain eventually agreedto integrate lunch counters at 38 KatzDrug Stores in Oklahoma, Missouri,Kansas and Iowa. During the next sixyears, the local NAACP chapter heldsit-ins that led to the desegregation ofvirtually all eating establishments inOklahoma City.

“She brought the times up to herexpectations,” said Gwendolyn FullerMukes, a retired school teacher inWichita, Kan., who was among the 14

students who participated in the firstsit-in.

“I remember her being loving butfirm. She made us secure. She was agreat teacher all around. She wasahead of her time.”

Mukes said that during those sit-ins, she’d never seen so much hatred,but Luper was their advocate andstaunchest supporter and “taught ushow to look white people in the eye.”

“You knew that you had to gothrough with it because you did notwant your children to grow up in thesame environment. No one shouldhave been treated the way we weretreated,” Mukes said.

Luper’s daughter, Marilyn Hil-dreth, said her mother instilled thesame fight in her own family.

“We talked about it all the time,because our whole family took part init,” said Hildreth, who said her moth-er died Wednesday evening in Okla-homa City. “I think mother saw a lotof advancements (in civil rights) andshe told us to always stay on the bat-tlefield. The fight continues.”

Portwood Williams Jr., another stu-dent who took part in the Katz sit-ins,said he couldn’t recall any of theprotesting teenagers expressing fear.

“Believe it or not, the way we feltabout it was quite the contrary. Whenyou’re a teenager, you don’t knowenough to be afraid. We thought itwas fun,” he said.

James Norick, who became Okla-homa City’s mayor shortly after thesit-ins, praised Luper as a great leaderwho brought about change in a peace-ful way, noting that “we didn’t have abig problem here like we did in someplaces in the South.”

Luper was born in Okfuskee Coun-ty in eastern Oklahoma and graduat-ed from Langston University in 1944.She earned a master’s degree from theUniversity of Oklahoma in 1951, and

was the first Black person admitted tothe university’s graduate history pro-gram, according to the Oklahoma His-torical Society.

She later taught history and publicrelations at Dunjee High School inSpencer and at John Marshall andClassen high schools in OklahomaCity before retiring in 1991. Through-out her career, she continued her civilrights work, marching with MartinLuther King Jr. during other peacefulprotests.

“While her accomplishments aretoo many to list, her legacy is easilydefined,” Oklahoma City Mayor MickCornett said. “She opened eyes and, inturn, opened hearts and minds ... andwas a shining example of the distinct-ly American idea that while we mighthail from many cultures, we are onepeople.”

Cornett said flags on city propertywill be flown at half-mast throughsunset Friday to honor Luper.

Luper hosted her own radio showfor 20 years and told her story in herautobiography, “Behold the Walls.”She said in a 2006 interview with TheAssociated Press that she dedicatedher life to spreading the message ofracial and gender equality.

“My biggest job now is makingwhite people understand that blackhistory is white history. We cannotseparate the two,” she said.

Oklahoma City named a street inLuper’s honor and there is a scholar-ship in her name at Oklahoma CityUniversity. In 2007, she was inductedinto the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, andin 2009, she received the NationalEducation Association’s Rosa ParksMemorial Award.

“She had the desire and determina-tion to promote equality in the state ofOklahoma, and in promoting equalityhere, she promoted equality interna-tionally,” said state Rep. AnastasiaPittman, D-Oklahoma City, anothermember of the Legislative Black Cau-cus.

NAACP President and CEO Ben-jamin Todd Jealous expressed similarpraise, saying Luper’s civil rightsefforts resonated nationally.

“Clara Luper was an inspiration tous all,” Jealous said. “Her courage,dedication and passion for civil rightswas unmatched. She will be missed.”

Luper is survived by two daughtersand a son. Funeral services are pend-ing.

By BERNDDEBUSMANN JR.

An in-school drug and alcoholabuse clinic is opening at a publichigh school on Long Island, the firstof its kind in New York State and pos-sibly in the nation, treatment advo-cates said.

Responding to soaring rates of sub-stance abuse among students, theWilliam Floyd High School in MasticBeach will house the clinic starting inAugust.

It will be run by Daytop TreatmentServices, a network of drug and alco-hol abuse centers, at no cost to theschool district. The clinic will providecounseling but cannot dispense

methadone or other drugs.“The school district is being incred-

ibly proactive,” said Daytop programsdirector Caroline Sullivan. “Otherschools may have prevention pro-grams, but this is a full-fledged treat-ment option with treatment done onsite.”

Substance abuse has “increasedexponentially” among the 3,200 stu-dents at the school and there were 38disciplinary hearings tied to drug andalcohol abuse in the last two years,according to documents filed by Day-top with the State of New York.

Partnership for a Drug-Free Amer-ica said nationwide there are 19 “soberhigh schools,” meaning the entire stu-dent body is either in recovery or haspledged to steer clear of alcohol and

drugs.On Long Island, the clinic in an

otherwise typical public high school,is the first of its kind in New York andapparently no others exist elsewherein the country, a Daytop spokesper-son said.

The clinic’s clients will includewalk-ins, referrals from school offi-cials in lieu of suspension and thoseordered to treatment by a judge.Teachers and administrators will notknow which students are involved inthe program, tailored specifically toyoung people.

“There are very few programs thatare adolescent specific,” Sullivan said,despite the fact that “adolescents arestarting to use at a much youngerage.”

Public high school opens precedent-setting drug clinic

Oklahoma civil rights icon Clara Luper dies at 88

DAILY CHALLENGE FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011 3� � � � �

The annual Tribute to the Ances-tors of the Middle Passage will takeplace this weekend in remembranceof Africans who died while beingbrought to slavery.

The tribute is set to get underwayat noon Saturday in Coney Island,rain or shine. It will be the 22nd cel-ebration.

The ceremonies will start on theBoardwalk at West 16th Street, a sitenear where some of the earliest slaveships once docked, event officialssaid.

The event will include a libationceremony, followed by a drum invo-cation led by Guyanese MasterDrummer Menes De Griot and hisShanto Troupe. He will be playingthe ancestors’ Ngomas, made for himin South Africa by the Venda people.These drums are played only threetimes a year.

This year’s drum tributes will bemade to Dr. Manning Marable, Mr.

William Daly, Nate Dogg and allother recent ancestors, with a specialremembrance of Dr. Mary Umolu,one of the founders of the event.

The tribute will feature stirringperformances by many singers,

drummers, dancers and spokenword artists, including GrandmasterKham, Ngomo, KowTeff AfricanDance Company, Crown HeightsYouth Collective and the CongoSquare Drummers and Dancers.

The event will culminate at sun-down with the final “ancestral offer-ing,” during which the ancestraldrummers will lead participants tothe water’s edge where each personwill place flowers into the AtlanticOcean.

Attendees are asked to wear white

or African attire and bring flowers toplace in the ocean. For more infor-mation, contact Akeem at (718) 270-4902 or on line [email protected].

Photos: Donna Lamb

By MATTHEW BIGG andKAREN JACOBS

ATLANTA — Lawyers for Presi-dent Barack Obama on Wednesdaysought to stave off the biggest legalchallenge yet to his landmark health-care reform, telling a court that itskey provision is grounded in Con-gress’ right to regulate commerce.

Senior administration lawyer NealKatyal argued that the AffordableCare Act does not violate the consti-tution, as 26 states seeking repeal ofthe law have argued. They contendthat individuals cannot be requiredto buy health insurance as the lawrequires.

Katyal defended the 2010 lawbefore the 11th Circuit Court ofAppeals in Atlanta and said it isgrounded in three separate constitu-tional principles.

“Those three findings set up threedifferent independent constitutionalbases for the act and each becomeseven weightier still when viewedalongside the current standard rulethat a strong presumption of consti-tutionality inheres to acts of Con-gress,” Katyal said in his openingremarks.

The act requires Americans to buyhealth insurance by 2014 or face afine equal to 2.5 percent of theirincome.

Former Solicitor General PaulClement, representing the 26 statesseeking repeal, said that provisionpunishes inactivity and exceeds theauthority the constitution grantsCongress to regulate interstate com-merce.

“For 220 years, Congress neversaw fit to use this particular power,”Clement told a three-judge panel.

But Katyal said it was well withinCongress’s power to require people tobuy health insurance because itaffects interstate commerce. Theuninsured shift $43 billion annuallyin medical costs onto the backs ofother taxpayers, he said.

“(The) presumption of billions ofdollars of cost-shifting in the healthmarkets and the need to make healthinsurance available to the 50 millionuninsured Americans are legitimatecommerce clause ends,” he said.

Chief Judge Joel Dubina, JudgeStanley Marcus and Judge FrankHull peppered both sides with ques-tions, as they presided over theappeal of a ruling by a Florida judgewho in January declared the act

unconstitutional.Courtroom observer Walter

Dellinger, who was solicitor generalunder President Bill Clinton, saidjudges homed in on the argumentthat the uninsured are already partof the health risk market.

“One of the judges made the pointthat you’re just an instant away frombeing in the hospital when you stepoff the sidewalk in front of a truck,”Dellinger said.

A Virginia appeals court heard asimilar case in May, but this case ismore significant because of the num-ber of states backing it. No ruling isexpected for months and Dubinaended Wednesday’s session by sayingthe Supreme Court would likely con-sider the case.

The law aims to increase access tohealthcare and slow the growth incosts. Republicans say it will sendhealth costs soaring and representsintrusive government power. Theyplan to make their campaign forrepeal a pillar of efforts to defeatObama in next year’s presidentialelection.

The 2010 law also allows youngpeople to remain on their parents’health insurance into their 20s andprevents insurers from denying cov-

erage or charging higher premiumsfor pre-existing medical conditions.

“We can’t wait for this law to takeeffect,” said Kathy McClure, a Geor-gia attorney demonstrating in favorof the measure outside the courtbuilding.

Another key issue is whether theentire package would be void if anyone part is found to be unconstitu-tional.

U.S. District Judge Roger Vinsonruled in January the whole law wasinvalid because its requirement tobuy insurance is unconstitutional,but put the ruling on hold pendingappeal.

Dubina was appointed to theappeals court by President George H.W. Bush, a Republican, while theother two judges who heard theappeal were appointed by PresidentBill Clinton, a Democrat.

Outside the court building,Atlanta physician Scott Barbour wasamong those demonstrating againstthe law, which he described as“socialized medicine” that would puthealth care decisions in the hands ofbureaucrats.

“This if the fight of our lifetime,”said Barbour.

He said fostering competitionamong insurance companies andmaking it harder to sue doctors werethe best ways to broaden healthinsurance coverage and maintainquality.

Healthcare battle unfolds in Atlanta court

Annual tribute to our Ancestors of the Middle Passage

The youngest daughter of Blackcivil rights leader Malcolm X admit-ted on Thursday to stealing theidentity of a longtime family friendand using it to make more than$55,000 in illegal credit card pur-chases.

Malikah Shabazz, 46, pleadedguilty to identity theft in New Yorkstate Supreme Court in Queens andwill also make restitution to the

credit card companies, Queens Dis-trict Attorney Richard Brown saidin a statement.

She is due to be sentenced on July28. Judge Fernando Camacho indi-cated he will impose five years’ pro-bation provided she makes fullrestitution, Brown’s office said.

Shabazz, a North Carolina resi-dent, was charged in March withopening several credit cards in the

name of Queens resident KhaulaBakr, the widow of a bodyguardwho was with Malcolm X when hewas assassinated in Harlem in1965.

According to authorities, Shabazztold Makr she needed her personalinformation for paperwork involv-ing a child care matter and thenused it to open the accounts.

“The defendant, who preyed upon

the trusting nature of a once closefamily friend, has admitted herguilt in committing a serious felonyoffense and will be ordered to makeher victims financially whole,”Brown said in a statement.

Shabazz’s lawyer, Russell Roth-berg, was not immediately availablefor comment. The case was prose-cuted by Assistant District AttorneyNeil Gitin.

Malcolm X’s daughter admits credit card fraud

The multi-talented spoken wordartist and musician Ngoma per-forms last year during Tribute toOur Ancestors of the Middle Pas-sage.

Menes De Griot leads ancestraldrummers on his trinity drum.

Dancer and drummers lead theway to water’s edge for finalancestral offering.

4 DAILY CHALLENGE FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011

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By REV. DR.HERBERTDAUGHTRY

Part FifteenI should say a word about the

drugs which were given to me. Ihave already mentionedDecadron. In addition, I wasgiven Percocet and Morphine.The injection of Morphine, whichheroin is a derivative, is both ille-gal, and in certain circum-stances, legal. It raises somemoral questions. Legally, it isokay to use Morphine for medic-inal reasons and/or in hospitalsettings. On the streets, it is ille-

gal. It is a substance provided bydifferent people for presumablydifferent reasons.What about the morality? Is it

right to use morphine in any cir-cumstance, and is it right that itcan be provided by any personfor any reason? Let us agree it isnot the morphine itself in ques-tion. Morphine is neutral. It isimportant to keep that in mind.What is in question here is theuse of the drug. Is wrong formedical professionals to applyMorphine to relieve pain in hos-pital settings? If it is wrong,what about other substancesused by the same people in thesame places to achieve relief, i.e.Percocet?Moreover, is it wrong to take

an Aspirin or a Motrin? If so, ohLord, who could stand? And,what about dental work? Is itwrong to take Novocain or gas? Idon’t think anybody wouldanswer, “Yes,” to any of thosequestions. So, if it’s okay to useAspirin, Motrin, or any otherkind of over-the-counter painreliever, and if it’s okay for thedentist to use the abovemen-tioned substances, surely it can’tbe wrong to use Morphine formedicinal reasons applied bylegal and appropriate personnel.So, what makes a thing right

or wrong? We have seen thatmorphine of itself is neutral. Thesame can be said of other sub-stances. What about the actions?When is an action wrong? Prac-tically, every act — I shy awayfrom absolutes, only God isabsolute — every act, even thosewe call wrong, was called rightby some people, sometimes, eventhe same people at certain times.For example, take one of theworst acts: murder, or thekilling of other human beings.Yet, there are times when werejoice when people are killed,say during a war. On May 1,2011, President Barack Obamaannounced that Bin Laden andthe associates of Bin Laden hadbeen killed in Pakistan. Therewere loud, spontaneous celebra-tions across America.Perhaps, the wise observer in

the Bible was right. There is atime and a season for every-thing. He left open the questionof morality. Because there is atime when these things happendoesn’t make them right orwrong. What seems to make athing wrong is the use or appli-cation at the wrong time, and inthe wrong way by the wrongpeople. Morphine sold on the

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THOMAS H.WATKINS

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

Proposed mortgagequalification rule mayend homeownership

as we know it

Fifty-two nights and half-a-dayin the hospital: My experience

Continued on page 5

5DAILY CHALLENGE FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011

street (or suite) is wrong for it is takenfor the wrong reason sold by thewrong people. Of course, it is wrongfor legal reasons. It could be arguedthat Morphine taken on the street isfor the same reason taken in the hos-pital — to relieve not physical pain,but emotional, mental, or psychologi-cal pain.

I used to have a friend who becameaddicted to heroin. I would try to per-suade him “to stop using the stuff.” Toevery appeal, he would reply, “I’m justtrying to kill the pain.” Eventually, hekilled the pain. He killed himself withan overdose or a bad dose of the drug.

I have written the above becauseMorphine was one of the drugs whichwere given to me to relieve the pain.There was a reluctance to give me thedrug because of the fear that I wouldbecome addicted to it. I insisted onhaving the drug. I wanted thesurcease from pain immediately. Iwould worry about the addiction later.

… to be continued.

HEALTH FAIR: Recognizing the

startling health risks facing people ofcolor, The House of the Lord Church’sMinistry of Health & Wellness in con-junction with the Downtown Brook-lyn Neighborhood Alliance (DBNA)and the Brooklyn Hospital Center issponsoring its Sixth Annual Commu-nity Health Fair on Saturday, June 11,2011, from 11:00 am to 5:30 pm. Thisevent will take place at the historicHouse of the Lord Church where theRev. Dr. Herbert Daughtry is the pas-tor, and is located at 415 AtlanticAvenue, Brooklyn, New York. 11217.

Our Free workshops include:Creating your lookNutrition & Exercise Basics for

busy peopleMen’s Health ConcernsSpace is limited for the workshops,

please RSVP to [email protected] will also be Doctors on Call

for consultations on heart health, dia-betes, and other concerns.

** Join Reverend Daughtry in Jer-sey City for the weekly ThursdayEvening Educational, Cultural, andEmpowerment Forum from 6pm-8pmfor an evening of information, inspira-tion, and challenge at 315 Forrest

Street (Ground Floor), corner of MLK,Jr. Drive. For more info, contact TheNational Community Action Allianceat (201) 716-1585.

** Listen to Reverend Daughtry onthe weekly radio program which airsSunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. onNew York City’s WWRL-AM, dial1600.

** NEED QUALITY CHILD CARE?Call the Alonzo A. Daughtry Memo-

rial Daycare Center located at:460 Atlantic Avenue (corner of

Atlantic and Nevins) 718-596-1993333 Second Street (between 4th &

5th Avenues) in Park Slope 718-499-2066

Immediate openings are available ina state-of-the-art center.

��

��

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By WILLIAM REED

When it comes to looking out forthe economic interest of BlackAmericans, do you think that theObama administration is doing toomuch, too little or the right amount?

In the upcoming months, some-one is going to tap you to: 1) make adonation; 2) volunteer; and/or 3)vote for people and platforms thatbest represent you and your views.Don’t let the past be prologue in thisinstance, in that history influencesand sets the context for the future.This time around, why don’t wedemand that all candidates present a“Black Agenda” with specific waysto improve the lives of Blacks inAmerica to get our 2012 vote?

It’s not like Blacks don’t needsomeone to look out for our inter-ests. The wealth gap between whitesand Blacks continues to increase.Reports say the annual medianincome ($32,584) for Black Ameri-cans is going down and the numberamong those living in poverty (26%)is headed up. And, who in our rep-resentative form of government istrying to change that? In represen-tative politics, elected “representa-tives” are supposed to stand up forus and “represent our interest.”Exactly who is representing Blacks’interests in this representativedemocracy?

We need a bona fide “Black agen-da” to address a range of difficultsocial problems which still plagueBlack America. Under the guise ofcollective advancement we shouldask ourselves: “What’s wrong withcritics like Tavis Smiley requesting

that Obama publicly announce histhoughts and policies regarding aBlack agenda. As if the subject isdebatable, a chorus of Black leaders,who include the Rev. Al Sharpton ofthe National Action Network,National Urban League’s Marc Mor-ial and the NAACP’S Ben Jealous,have given President Obama coversaying that “he doesn’t need a Blackagenda.”

What has Obama done for youlately? Here’s what’s important: Theissues of concern to Black Ameri-cans have to be put on paper andsent to your representative in Con-gress as well as to the city, county,and state councils where you live.We suggest you make use of the fol-lowing concepts to let them knowyour legislative agenda.

THE BLACK AGENDA 2012

We want you to:

Promote educational reinvestment in low-income

and disadvantaged African American communities

- Guarantee child care assistanceto low-income families and promoteearly education.

- Improve student achievementand graduation rates for low incomeand minority children, with specialemphasis on science and technologyeducation and training opportuni-ties.

- Expand college access by simpli-fying and expanding Pell Grantopportunities and increasing sup-

port for Historically Black Collegeand Universities.

- Connect disadvantaged youth toafter-school and summer programs,job training, and employment.

Increase Access to Economic Security

- Increase unemployment assis-tance.

- Increase funding for education,job training, and small businessopportunities for low- income andminority communities.

Eliminate Health Disparities

- Provide and fully fund pro-grams to increase minority repre-sentation at all levels of the healthprofession.

- Address and ensure that theimpact of research and all healthrelated provisions in minority com-munities is assessed through datacollection, disaggregation, andanalysis.

Provide Equitable Housing Options

- Support comprehensive publichousing reform and expansion ofthe Section 8 housing voucher pro-grams.

- Protect renters, especially thoseaffected by housing foreclosures;

- Prevent foreclosures by increas-ing the number of loan modifica-tions.

- Stop predatory lending, foreclo-sure rescue fraud and general hous-

ing discrimination practices.

Strengthen Civil Rights and Judicial Reform

- Provide opportunities for indi-viduals with criminal records toreintegrate into their respectivecommunities.

- Eliminate sentencing dispari-ties.

- Stop the cradle to prisonpipeline.

Address Global Poverty

- Continue Millennium Develop-ment goals to end poverty.

- Eradicate extreme poverty andhunger.

- Achieve universal primary edu-cation.

- Promote gender equality.

- Reduce infant mortality andimprove maternal health.

- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, andother diseases.

- Ensure environmental sustain-ability.

- Expand trade and developmentassistance.

Are you any better off than youwere in 2008? If, not, you may wantto incorporate these concepts in toyour agenda.

— William Reed is available forspeaking/seminar projects via Bai-leyGroup.org.

What’s your agenda?

Continued from page 4

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In the hospital: My experience

6 DAILY CHALLENGE FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011� � � � ��

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By JOHNCRAWLEY

WASHINGTON — Sportutility vehicles are emerg-ing from a long period ofscrutiny with design andother changes that havemarkedly improved safety.

Influenced by deadly FordExplorer rollovers linked todefective Firestone tires adecade ago, SUVs now sitlower on car frames — nottruck platforms — and areequipped with stability tech-nology that has cut down onthe worst accidents.

“Drivers of today’s SUVsare among the least likely todie in a crash,” the Insur-ance Institute for HighwaySafety (IIHS) said in a reportreleased on Thursday.

“With the propensity toroll over reduced, SUVs areon balance safer than carsbecause their bigger sizeand weight provide greaterprotection in a crash,” thegroup, which is backed byinsurance companies, said.

More than 32,700 peoplewere killed in U.S. trafficcrashes in all vehicles lastyear, according to prelimi-nary data from the NationalHighway Traffic SafetyAdministration (NHTSA).

In addition to SUVs, pick-ups and vans were moreprone to roll than passengercars. More than 8,000 peo-ple were killed in rollovercrashes in 2009, the latestavailable NHTSA figures onspecific causes show.

Size may be the most cru-cial factor when comparingfatality.

All but three of 26 vehi-cles with the lowest deathrates are mid-size or larger.More than half of those withthe highest rates are smallvehicles or mini cars, ananalysis of crash statisticsby the IIHS found.

The overall driver deathrate for 2005-08 models dur-ing 2006-09 was 48 per mil-lion registered vehicleyears, a large decline fromprevious assessments. SUVshad 28 per million, while

pickups averaged 52 permillion.

A registered vehicle yearis one vehicle registered forone year or two vehicles forsix months each.

The current death rate forSUV drivers in the latestIIHS study is half that ofcars, partly due to vehicleredesigns, standard stabilitytechnology, and discontinu-ation of some smaller mod-els that were prone to tip,the report said.

Additionally, vehicleswith lower driver deathrates also do well in frontand side crash tests.

The current numbers forSUVs compare with an aver-age death rate of 82 per mil-lion for 1999-2002 models,IIHS said.

SUVs are in the sameclass of light trucks as pop-ular pickups and are a largefactor in the resurgence ofU.S. automakers GeneralMotors, Ford and Chrysler,a unit of Italy’s Fiat SpA.

Bill Visnic of online buyerresource Edmunds.com said

Ford’s Explorer is still “themainstream sell and thenameplate that everyoneknows.”

But he said GM does wellwith the Chevrolet Equinoxand Chrysler’s Jeep GrandCherokee remains the com-pany’s best-known vehicle.

Some SUVs are alsoknown as crossovers fortheir more car-like appear-ance and handling charac-

teristics. They have alsopenetrated the top echelonof U.S. sales.

SUVs that are bigger andmore powerful than carsremain popular in an era ofhigh gasoline prices. Theyare less efficient than carsas a class, although cleanerburning engines andgas/electric hybrid technolo-gy have boosted theirmileage performance.

Design, technology changes boost SUV safety in U.S.

Dust-covered Buick cars, made by U.S. carmaker GeneralMotors, are seen lined up on the Binhai docks area in theChinese coastal city of Tianjin.

By MARYWISNIEWSKI

CHICAGO — Religiousfreedom has always been agiven in American life, butreligious education has had adifferent road — a pathrarely without controversyas it tries to find a place in asecular and worldly democ-racy.

While a rise in the numberof Islamic schools in theUnited States is the latestnew trend, religious educa-tion in general — and contro-versy over which religion ismore “American” — goesback to the beginnings of thecountry, historians say.

In America’s colonial days,all schools were religious,associated with differentaffiliations, like the Quakersand the Puritans.

Even early state-fundedpublic schools in Massachu-setts had devotional Biblereadings and prayers,according to Perry L. Glanz-er, associate professor at theBaylor University School ofEducation and Institute ofChurch-State Studies.

But the United States eventhen was a uniquely diverseplace, and there were pres-sures to educate people thebridge their differences anddevelop them into Americancitizens, said CharlesHaynes, senior scholar for

the First Amendment Centerin Washington, D.C.

A consensus in the earlyrepublic emerged thatschools should have a com-mon purpose.

“It was a Protestant con-sensus — they thought itwas an American consen-sus,” said Haynes.

That Protestant-dominat-ed cultural approach waschallenged in the mid-19thcentury, with the arrival ofwaves of European Catholicand Jewish immigrants whoweren’t happy about read-ings from the King JamesBible.

“Catholics complainedextensively about the lack offunding for their schools andthe Protestant nature ofstate-funded public schools,”said Glanzer.

There were riots, some-times deadly, over the use ofthe Catholic bible in publicschools.

The Protestant dominationof public schools and theprejudice against immi-grants in the later 19th cen-tury led to the developmentof the Catholic school system,according to Dr. LorraineOzar, director of the Centerfor Catholic School Effective-ness at Loyola University inChicago.

So-called “Blaine amend-ments” were passed in sever-al states after the Civil War toban religious schools from

getting public funding.Ironically, it was fear of

Catholics, not court rulingson the separation of churchand state, that did the mostto secularize public schools,said Haynes.

“The Protestants werehoisted by their own petard,”said Haynes. “They were soafraid of Papist teachingsgetting into the curriculum,there were no religiousteachings left at all....Thesefights over prayer in themorning that seem so smallwere big because they werethe last things left.”

The division of church andstate remains, even thoughthe mix of religion and con-servative politics that beganwith the rise of RonaldRegan in the 1980’s hasworked its way into govern-ment funding for schools.

Parents now routinely payto send their children to reli-gious or other alternativeschools, or teach their chil-dren at home, because theydon’t feel public schoolsreflect their values, or theywant to immerse their chil-dren in an atmosphere thatreflects their faith, Haynessaid. The recent growth ofIslamic schools can be seenas a response to thosedesires.

“It would seem to me theywould be in a similar positionto where the immigrantCatholics were in the 19th

century,” said Ozar.The Islamic School League

of America, a nonprofit thatlinks Muslim educatorsaround the nation, estimatesthat there are 240 to 250Islamic schools in the U.S.,serving 40,000 students, a25 percent increase from2006.

Voucher programs, popu-lar among political conserva-tives, tend to redirect tax dol-lars into religious schools.Charter schools are also pop-ular among school choiceadvocates.

But Glanzer said theremay be a pushback if vouch-ers fund Islamic schools,given anti-Islamic prejudicesheld by some Americans andfanned in the decade after

September 11, 2001.There have already been

tensions over publicly fundedcharter schools which offerArabic-language instruction.

Haynes said that whilereligious people should beable to choose their ownschools, tax money shouldn’tsupport them.

He said that, despite alltheir flaws, public schoolshave played a key role inbuilding one nation out ofmany faiths and cultures,something that should beappreciated in any debateabout choices.

Public schools also aremore accommodating of stu-dent religious expressionthan they were 40 years ago,he said.

Religion, and controversy, always part of U.S. education

HOUSTON — The CoastGuard is investigating afisherman’s report of anapparent oil spill “severalmiles” long near Venice,Louisiana, a Coast Guardspokesman said.

A team was trying todetermine whether the sub-stance was actually oil, howmuch was spilled and whereit came from, a Coast Guardspokesman said. He

declined to predict what thefindings would be.

“It’s too early,” thespokesman said.

A fisherman reported an“oily substance” in the watertwo miles southeast of Bap-tiste Collette Pass, earlyWednesday morning, andfour pollution investigatorswere sent to obtain samplesfor analysis, a news releasesaid.

Coast Guard checks reportedoil spill off Louisiana

DAILY CHALLENGE FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011 7

COMMUNITY AFFAIRSD

Family, friends andcolleagues joinedBrooklyn Rep. EdTowns for the historicunveiling of his por-trait on the walls of the

U.S. Congress.Among those to

whom Towns, formerchairman of theCommittee onOversight and

Government Reform(OGR), gave specialrecognition during theevent was his wife,Gwendolyn. Towns saidshe’s “the best friend I

ever had.”Also attending the

unveiling were HarlemRep. Charles Rangel,Democratic MinorityWhip Steny Hoyer,

Minority Leader NancyPelosi, and DemocraticNational CommitteeChair DebbieWasserman-Schultz.

Towns portrait unveiled in Congress

Committee on House Oversight and Government Reform Room portrait with Gwen and Ed TownsPhoto/Lem Peterkin

After being one ofthe last picked for hiscollege football team,former Bed-Stuy resi-dent Jaiquawn Jarretthas become one of thefirst to be drafted intothe NFL.

The former star play-er at Temple Universityrecently became the sec-ond-round draft pickfor the PhiladelphiaEagles and will suit upfor them next season,as first reported byphilly.com

“I’ll probably buysome Pradas,” saidJarrett.

Through his highschool and collegecareer, Jarrett was oneof the top student-ath-letes in the region. Hegrew up on Greene Ave.with his mother, a cor-rections officer at RikerIsland, but trekked toFort Hamilton for highschool because of itstop-level academics andbetter football teamthan his neighborhoodschool. At Temple, hegraduated with adegree in criminal jus-tice.

However, Jarrett wasonly recruited by theuniversity after a playeron the team flunkedout, which he said moti-vated him out on thefield.

“I had a chip on myshoulder,” said Jarrett.“I had something toprove when I got outthere every day,”

Known as one of themost competitive andhardest working ath-letes in the NCAA’s,Jarrett said he creditshis upbringing forhelping shape his deter-mined personality.

“What kept me inline was my mother,”said Jarrett. “Just towork on Rikers, yougot to be tough.Enough said.”

“Growing up in Bed-Stuy, you got to have amentality that you ain’tgoing to let anybodypunk you. You don’twant to be consideredsoft. You don’t want tobe violent, but you don’twant to be considered asa coward.”

Bed Stuy’sJaiquawn Jarrett

Drafted byPhiladelphia

Eagles

By ELIZABETHHAMPTON

The Panel onEducation Policyrecently agreed to achange in the FairStudent Fundingformula that willincrease New YorkCity’s special educa-tion class sizes atthe start of the 2011school year. Thischange will raiseenrollment in ele-mentary schoolinclusions classesfrom 10 to 12 stu-dents, and in highschool self-con-tained classes from12 to 15 students.

The projectedchanges have left someparents, teachers andcommunity advocatesworried.

“This is a disaster forthe Individuals withDisabilities EducationAct (IDEA),” said

Patricia Connelly, Bed-Stuy resident and two-time member of theCitywide Council onSpecial Education.Connelly, who is alsothe parent of a specialneeds student, adds,“[IDEA] is supposed toprotect the rights of dis-abled students who aregoing woefully under-funded.”

Federal mandates forspecial education servic-es are outlined in IDEA.Students eligible forspecial education aregiven an IndividualizedEducation Program(IEP), which is a legallymandated documentthat details their aca-demic and social needsand provides guidelinesfor instruction. Amongthese provisions arespecifications for classsize.

To comply with thesemandates, schoolsreceive additional fund-ing. These funds areintended to cover costsfor specialized instruc-

tional materials, para-professionals, relatedservice providers andspecial education teach-ers.

An increase in classsize will lessen the needfor additional specialeducation teachers, butthe Department ofEducation insists thatthis tightening of thepurse-strings is neces-sary.

“Basically, we wereover-funding,” saidsokeswoman DeidreaMiller, “We were using akindergarten fundingmodel which was a littleover generous.”

Miller also said thatchanges to the fundingformula are not out ofcompliance with federalmandates for specialeducation services.

“We’re still in compli-ance with the law andthe teacher’s union,”said Miller. “In terms ofwhat the kids’ IEPs sayfor class size, that willstill be respected andfulfilled.”

School districtsthroughout the city areall different, and so theimpact of these changesmay also vary. PatriciaConnelly warns, “InBed-Stuy, the number ofstudents in special edu-cation is higher thancity-wide averages.This will place addition-al burdens on schoolswith fewer resources.”

Already, Bedford-Stuyvesant is not meet-ing state standards forperformance in specialeducation. According tothe New York State2010 District ReportCards, District 13 and16, both representingBed-Stuy, did not makeAnnual Yearly Progressfor students with dis-abilities in elementaryschool ELA and second-ary school math andELA.

Another worry is thatincreasing class sizewill exacerbate chal-lenges Bed-Stuy schoolsare already encounter-ing.

“As an educator inBed-Stuy, I’ve noticedthat many of our chil-dren do not come from‘ideal’ living situations,”says one special educa-tion teacher who wishedto remain anonymous.“Many students live inshelters, have familymembers in gangs, orbarely have food orclothing. Schoolbecomes a safe haven forthem and some oftendon’t want to leave.”

While this is certainlynot the circumstance forall schools and students,addressing these chal-lenges could be moredifficult with largerclass sizes. The sameteacher added that, “Anincrease in class sizewill not allow studentsto get that individual-ized attention theyneed.”

Among dissenters ofthe formula change,individualized attentionand instructional quali-ty are a common con-cern.

As Special Education Class Sizes Increase, Community Members and Advocates Grow Worried


AFRICAN SCENE8

Senegal’s Wade urges Kadhafi to go soonBENGHAZI, Libya - Senegalese President

Abdoulaye Wade urged Libyan leader MoamerKadhafi to step down, “the sooner the better,” dur-ing a visit on Thursday to the rebel stronghold ofBenghazi.

“I look at you in the eyes... the sooner you go, thebetter,” Wade, the first foreign head of state to trav-el to the rebel capital, told journalists, addressingthe Libyan leader.

“At the African Union, I’m the only one who cantalk to him, tell him the truth, because I don’t owehim anything,” Wade said, after talks with the rebelNational Transitional Council (NTC), including itshead Mustafa Abdul Jalil.

Addressing Kadhafi, he said: “You came topower in a coup more than 40 years ago, you’venever had elections, you pretended to speak in thename of the people. Everyone knows it’s a dictator-ship that you’ve set up.”

The Senegalese president, whose country recog-nised the NTC at the end of last month, called forthe veteran leader and strongman to quit “in theinterests of the Libyan people.”

Wade recognised the rebel council as the “legiti-mate representative of the Libyan people” aftermeeting its envoys in Dakar. During that visit,Wade proposed a national conference to pave theway for a new constitution and polls.

Attack on Somali port kills 1 civilianMOGADISHU, Somali - A Somali police official

says one of two men who attacked a sea port in thecountry’s capital blew himself up, killing one civil-ian.

Col. Ahmed Hassan, police chief of Mogadishu,said Thursday that two men jumped over the outerwalls protecting the port, threw grenades and shotat African Union peacekeepers leading to anexchange of gunfire.

Hassan, who visited the site after the attack, saysone of the attackers was laden in explosives. Hesays the other attacker was shot dead by AU peace-keepers.

Al-Qaida-linked Islamists are battling the weakU.N.-backed government for control of the capitalof Mogadishu. Around 9,000 AU troops are sta-tioned in the city to protect key installations andprevent the government from being overrun bymilitants.

South Africa’s economichub hit by winter storms

JOHANNESBURG - Winters in northern SouthAfrica are usually cold and dry. But heavy rain,sleet and even light snow have fallen this week inthe Johannesburg area.

Elizabeth Webster, a South African WeatherService forecaster, said Thursday the rain is unusu-al, but the cold temperatures are not. She saysthings should be back to normal Friday.

That’s good news for the Salvation Army, whichhas seen high demand for blankets this week frompeople living on the streets and other impoverishedSouth Africans in Johannesburg, the country’s eco-nomic hub. Spokesman Piet Semeno says theSalvation Army is calling on the public to donateblankets to replenish its supplies.

AFRICAN SCENE

By DONNA BRYSON

JOHANNESBURG -Zimbabwe is too violentand undemocratic to holdelections this year, rightsactivists told reportersThursday ahead of anemergency summit on thesouthern African coun-try’s crisis.

President Robert Mugabe’ssupporters are calling for pollsbefore the year ends to replace ashaky coalition with PrimeMinister Morgan Tsvangirai’sparty. The president has beenaccused of using violence andelection fraud to hold ontopower and independent groupshave said the possibility of avote has led to attacks onMugabe’s opponents.

Zimbabwe’s unity govern-ment was established at theinsistence of the country’sneighbors in 2009 followingviolent and inconclusive 2008elections. Most of the electionviolence has been blamed onMugabe supporters.

South Africa, the regionalpowerhouse, will host a week-end summit to assess increasingtensions in Zimbabwe’s coali-tion.

Harrison Nkomo ofZimbabwe Lawyers for HumanRights said at Thursday’s newsconference that his organiza-

tion has documented nearly 900human rights abuses, includingillegal detentions, harassmentand beatings, since January. Hesaid many more may go unre-ported.

“Are we saying this is a turfready for free and fair elections?From my perspective, no,”Nkomo said.

Philip Pasirayi of the Crisisin Zimbabwe Coalition said thatalong with political violence,state broadcasters are laudingMugabe and vilifying his oppo-nents, and the voter roll hasbeen compromised.

“This is the kind of environ-ment that we’re saying is tiltedin favor of one political party,”Pasirayi said.

The news conference inJohannesburg was briefly dis-rupted by a shoving and shout-ing match that appeared to pitMugabe opponents and support-ers against each another. PaulVerryn, a South AfricanMethodist bishop whoseJohannesburg church hasbecome a shelter forZimbabweans fleeing theircountry’s political and economicmeltdown, said the scuffle illus-trated Zimbabwe’s fierce divi-sions and high emotions.

Holding elections now,Verryn said, would be “a littlebit like sending somebody whohas been abused back into anenvironment of abuse.”

Pasirayi’s group is calling on

the summit to insist that beforeZimbabweans hold elections,they rewrite their constitutionto guarantee basic rights;ensure soldiers do not meddle inpolitics; and reform theZimbabwe electoral commission.Pasirayi’s group saidZimbabwe’s neighbors must alsoindependently confirm thatZimbabwe is ready before it goesto the polls. Zimbabwe’s neigh-bors also must work with theAfrican Union and the UnitedNations to deploy peace moni-tors at least three months aheadof any vote, the group said.

Tiseke Kasambala, aJohannesburg-based Zimbabweresearcher for Human RightsWatch, said Zimbabwe’s neigh-bors must set deadlines andensure they are met.

Kasambala praised SouthAfrican President Jacob Zuma,who has been leading regionalefforts to mediate a solution forZimbabwe. Zuma’s predecessor,former President Thabo Mbeki,had been accused of taking toosoft a line with Mugabe.

In March, regional leadersincluding South Africa deliv-ered what was read as a strongrebuke of Mugabe, calling foran end to political violence. Thatprompted sharp criticism ofSouth Africans by Zimbabwe’sstate controlled press, whichKasambala said shows Zumaand his team are “doing some-thing right.”

Activists say Zimbabwe tooviolent for 2011 vote

LUSAKA - TheUnited Statesopened annualtrade talks withAfrican nations inZambia’s capitalLusaka onThursday, lookingat ways to diversifythe continent’sexports under an11-year-old prefer-ential trade deal.

Thirty-seven Africannations qualify forduty-free access to theUS market under theAfrican GrowthOpportunities Act(AGOA), whichrequires beneficiaries tomeet standards for free-market economies andgood governance.

The ministerial meet-ing in Zambia will lookat ways to encourageAfrican nations todiversify their exportsto include more manu-factured and value-added products.

“AGOA is changingthe lives of millions ofpeople in Africa andPresident (Barack)Obama’s administrationis committed to makeAGOA work much bet-ter,” US TradeRepresentative RonKirk said at the open-ing.

The host of the meet-ing, Zambian PresidentRupiah Banda, urgedmore countries toadhere to democraticprinciples to reap thebenefits from the trade

deal.[ For complete cover-

age of politics and poli-cy, go to Yahoo! Politics]

“Some African coun-tries are not represent-ed here today because ofongoing social politicalinstability,” Banda said.

“This reality remindsus that the economicdividends we seek fromAGOA can be best real-ized when all Africancountries strengthenand enrich sound demo-cratic practices anduphold good gover-nance,” he said.

“Peace and securitywithin and across bor-ders are twin impera-tives that all must notfail to work for,” Bandatold the delegates.

Last year AGOAexports to the UnitedStates reached $44 bil-lion, but 91 percent ofthat was petroleumproducts, mainly fromNigeria and Angola,according to the StateDepartment.

Most manufacturedgoods sold to the UnitedStates under AGOAcome from regionalpowerhouse SouthAfrica, with the rest ofthe continent sharingthe small remainder.

About 1,600 dele-gates from 31 nationsare attending the two-day meeting to look atways to boost exports ofapparel, footwear,processed agriculturalgoods, and other manu-factured products.

US opens talks on boosting African trade


INTERNATIONALD

By KHALEDYACOUBOWEIS

AMMAN - Morethan 1,700 Syrianshave fled to Turkeyto escape a fearedarmy crackdown,officials said onThursday, in anoth-er sign thatPresident Basharal-Assad’s strugglewith protesters isdisturbing Syria’sneighbors.

With internationalconcern growing overSyria’s repression ofp r o - d e m o c r a c yprotests, Britain,France, Germany andPortugal have askedthe U.N. SecurityCouncil to condemnAssad.

However, veto-hold-ing Russia has said itopposes any such coun-cil measure. World pow-ers have shown noappetite for any Libya-style military interven-tion in Syria, which hasso far shrugged offsanctions and verbalreprimands.

Residents in the areasaid about 40 tanks andtroop carriers haddeployed about 7 km (4miles) from Jisr al-Shughour, a northwest-ern town of 50,000where authorities say“armed gangs” killedmore than 120 securitypersonnel earlier thisweek.

Other accounts

speak of a mutinyamong troops whorefused to fire on civil-ians after a pro-democ-racy rally in the townon Friday. Loyalist mil-itary units thenattacked the mutineers.

Syria has barredmost independentmedia from the coun-try, making it difficultto verify accounts of theviolence.

“Jisr al-Shughour ispractically empty.People were not goingto sit and be slaugh-tered like lambs,” saidone refugee who hadcrossed into Turkey,who gave his name asMohammad.

“Demonstrations inthe villages are stillgoing on. Women andchildren are carryingflowers and shouting‘people want the down-fall of the regime’,” hesaid.

Rami Abdulrahmanof the SyrianObservatory for HumanRights said at least15,000 troops haddeployed near Jisr al-Shughour.

Turkish officials saidthe number of Syrianrefugees crossing theborder this week hadreached 1,777, theAnatolian news agencyreported. The refugeesare being housed in atented encampment justnorth of the border atYayladagi.

Thousands more peo-ple from Jisr al-Shughour have fled tovillages on the Syrianside of the border, resi-

dents say.TURKISH CONCERN

“Syria is causingconcern for us,”Turkish Prime MinisterTayyip Erdogan said onTurkish radio. “We willalways keep our doorsopen to our Syrianbrothers and sisters.”

Assad, 45, has prom-ised reforms, evenwhile cracking down onunrest that has becomethe gravest threat to his11-year rule.

“Syria is committedto the missions ofreform under the lead-ership of PresidentBashar al-Assad andaffirms it does not per-mit any foreign inter-vention in this regard,”the state news agencyquoted a ForeignMinistry official as say-ing in response to criti-cal statements byFrench ForeignMinister Alain Juppe.

Among the Syriansin Turkey was a 23-year-old with a bulletwound to the leg.Asking not to benamed, he said militia-men, known as shabbi-ha, from Assad’s minor-ity Alawite sect that hasdominated the Sunnimajority for fourdecades, had shot him.

“We were leaving themosque after Fridayprayers to start protest-ing and then the shab-biha ... attacked us,” hesaid.

Turkish policebarred reporters fromthe camp in a shady val-ley, but women could beseen hanging washing,

while children playedbetween tents and oldermen wandered around.

The draft U.N. reso-lution proposed byBritain, France,Germany and Portugalcondemns the repres-sion and demandshumanitarian access.“The world cannot besilent when every daypeople in Syria, who aredoing nothing butstanding up for theirlegitimate human andcivil rights, are beingkilled and tortured,”German ForeignMinister GuidoWesterwelle said.

But Russia, an oldally of Syria since ColdWar times, has madeclear it dislikes the ideaof Council involvement,saying it could help todestabilise a strategicMiddle Eastern coun-try.

“Russia is againstany U.N. SecurityCouncil resolution onSyria,” RussianForeign Ministryspokesman AlexanderLukashevich said, with-out saying if Moscowwould veto the meas-ure.

Rights groups saymore than 1,100 civil-ians have been killedsince March in protestsagainst 41 years ofAssad family rule.

Syrian authoritiessay more than 200security personnel havealso been killed in theunrest.

TAKING UP ARMSActivists say the lack

of effective internation-

al action to stop thekillings has promptedsome protesters to con-sider using weapons todefend themselves. InJisr al-Shughour, peo-ple recall a mass killingin 1980, under Assad’sfather, Hafez al-Assad.

Two years after that,many thousands werekilled in the city ofHama when the elderAssad crushed anarmed Islamist revolt.

Speaking of thereadiness of some oppo-sition groups to take uparms, one activist whospoke anonymouslysaid: “This thinking isespecially prevalent inHama. People are say-ing we are not going tolet them massacre us asthey did in 1982.”

Erdogan has saidTurkey, a regionalpower that had devel-oped close ties withSyria, cannot accept

“another Hama.”The Turkish leader

said he had talked toAssad on Wednesday,“He told me very differ-ent things. We receivecontradictory intelli-gence information onthe killing of police-men.”

Although the worldattention is focused onJisr al-Shughour, dis-turbances have contin-ued elsewhere.

Troops patrolled thecentral city of Homs, aday after securityforces shot dead a civil-ian in a crowd of 5,000showing solidarity withJisr al-Shughour, anactivist group said.

In Hama, where 70people were reportedkilled in protests onFriday, demonstratorscarried banners read-ing “We will continue torespond to your bulletswith flowers.”

Syrians flee into Turkey to evade crackdown

By SYLVIA WESTALL &FREDRIK DAHL

VIENNA - Russia and China joinedWestern powers on Thursday in pilingpressure on Iran to address fears aboutpossible military aspects of its nuclearprogram a day after Tehran said its wouldramp up its uranium enrichment.

The United States, Germany, France, Britain,Russia and China issued a statement at a meetingof the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) after Iran raised the stakes in the row byannouncing it would accelerate sensitive nuclearwork.

Washington’s envoy said separately that Iran’splan to speed up enrichment with a more advancedmodel of centrifuge machines in a mountainbunker showed its “brazen” and deepening defi-ance of international demands to curb the activity.

Enrichment can yield energy for electricity or, ifextended to a higher degree, material for nuclearbombs.

Iran’s representative hit back at a tense IAEAboard meeting, vowing the Islamic state wouldresist Western pressure over a nuclear program itsays has exclusively peaceful aims.

Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh also launcheda verbal attack on IAEA Director-General YukiyaAmano and accused him of bias, highlightingincreasingly strained relations between Tehranand the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

The Japanese IAEA chief has taken a blunterapproach to Iran than his predecessor MohamedElBaradei, saying in his first report on the countryearly last year that he feared it may be working todevelop a nuclear-armed missile.

“He is not doing his job. Instead, with hisreports, he is paving the way for more confronta-tion between member states,” Soltanieh toldreporters.

Six powers push defiant Iranto address nuclear fears

By MOHAMMEDGHOBARI &MOHAMMEDMUKHASHAF

SANAA/ADEN - Supporters ofwounded Yemeni President AliAbdullah Saleh celebrated reportson Thursday that he would soonbe home, but his opponents saidthey were working to ensure that,even if he does, he will no longerbe in power.

U.S. and Yemeni officials havesaid Saleh, 69, was burned on 40percent of his body in a rocket orbomb attack at his palace lastFriday — injuries which, depend-ing on the depth of wounds, couldbe fatal and would probably curbhis ability to rule. He has not been

seen since being flown for sur-gery to Saudi Arabia.

But after months of factionalviolence and pro-democracyprotests, he has resisted Westernand Arab pressure to step downand a government website dis-missed dire assessments ofSaleh’s condition, said his injurieswere minor and announced onThursday that preparations forhis return were under way.

“He has overcome the healthdifficulties after successful sur-gery to remove shrapnel...Sources expected him to returnsoon after completing his recov-ery and treating some light sur-face burns,” the government web-site 26 September said.

Opposition figures said theirmain concern was for Saleh to

transfer his powers, regardless ofwhether he returned.

Mohammed al-Mutawakkil ofthe coalition of opposition partiessaid the opposition had informedSaleh’s ruling General People’sCongress party on Wednesdaythat it would seek to establish itsown transitional assembly afterone week if action was not takenon transferring power to hisdeputy, Abd-Rabbu MansourHadi, who was named actingpresident on June 4.

“More important than Saleh’sreturn is that the ruling partytransfers power and beginsimplementing the Gulf initiative,”he said, referring to a Gulf Arabplan for Saleh to begin a powertransfer which stalled in the daysbefore he was wounded.

Yemen awaits possible Saleh return after surgery


CARIBBEAN NEWS1

By CANDIADAMES

NASSAU, Bahamas— American diplomatsexpressed concernsabout Bahamas PrimeMinister HubertIngraham’s apparentdouble-talk on the Cubaissue and wrote in anOctober 2008 diplomaticcable that his approach-ing trip to the commu-nist nation was “trou-bling”.

On October 4, 2008,Ingraham informed aUS Embassy official thathe was considering join-ing a group of his peerson a CARICOM-spon-sored visit to Cuba thatDecember, according tothe cable.

Ingraham reportedlysaid he had traveled toCuba “a couple ofdecades ago” and notedthat his Free NationalMovement party hadunsuccessfully opposedthe Progressive LiberalParty government whenit established diplomaticrelations with Havanain 2006.

The embassy official,according to the cable,told Ingraham he wascertain that at best theUnited States govern-ment would be “deeplydisappointed” if theprime minister were totravel to Cuba.

“The US consideredThe Bahamas a closefriend but such a tripwould be troubling,” theofficial wrote.

The official noted thatthe Cuban regime hadtaken no significantsteps to warrant such a

visit by the prime minis-ter.

According to thecable, Ingraham lis-tened without commentto a message from theUS Embassy that theCastro government hadrejected repeated USoffers of humanitarianhurricane assistance forthe Cuban people.

The cable saidIngraham energeticallystated that the “USstands alone on theCuban embargo” andtold the embassy officialthat during a meeting atthe White House,President Bill Clintonhad bluntly told himthat the embargo policywas based entirely onFlorida electoral votes.

According to the doc-ument, the embassy offi-cial replied that the USgovernment was pursu-ing a principled andlong-standing bi-parti-san policy toward arepressive regime.

“The prime ministercountered that the argu-ment would be better ifthe US had not adoptedvery different policiestoward North Korea,China and other suchcountries,” the cablesaid.

“He added his viewthat US Cuba policywould in any event lookmuch different after theNovember elections inthe US regardless ofwhich candidate won.”

The US diplomatrecorded in the cable:“Until very recently, thePM had deliberatelykept his government ata distance from Cuba.”

The official noted that

after months of inactionIngraham had recentlynamed a new ambassa-dor to Cuba — formerimmigration directorVernon Burrows.

“To follow that upwith a personal visitwould complete the pic-ture of [the Governmentof The Bahamas’]engagement withCuba,” the cable said.

“Dissuading PMIngraham would be dif-ficult, particularlygiven the apparentCARICOM cover for thetrip and given his hav-ing moved on to thenext administration inhis political calcula-tions.

“Direct engagementby an appropriately sen-ior Washington inter-locutor might get thePM to reconsider, but itwould be an outsidechance.”

The Americans notedin a December 2008cable that Ingrahamtraveled to Santiago deCuba for the CARICOMhigh-level meeting onDecember 8 and “framedhis government’s basiccontinuation of the pre-vious PLP government’sCuba policy as a matterof pragmatism, ratherthan conviction.”

The cable pointed outthat Ingraham, inremarks to the media,distanced his govern-ment from the PLP deci-sion to elevate the con-sulate-general inHavana to an embassy,yet spoke supportivelyof education and med-ical exchanges withCuba and downplayedthe failure to reversecourse on any front.

“Two days beforeInternational HumanRights Day, notably,Ingraham did not makeany statements of sup-port for democracy inCuba or say anythingthat could be construedas critical of the Castroregime,” the cable said.

The embassy officialnoted that Ingrahamhad characterized theformer government’spolicies toward Cuba asunnecessary and ad hoc.

In the comment sec-tion of the cable, theembassy officialremarked: “The PM’sattempt to have his cakeand eat it too on Cubawas less surprisingthan the PLP’s justifica-tion of its ‘non-ideologi-cal’ and ‘strategic’ atti-tude.

“Coming soon after asimilar spat over

Venezuela’s Petrocaribe,which the [Governmentof The Bahamas] contin-ues to oppose in the faceof opposition criticism,the trading of barbsreveals a bigger differ-ence in attitude towardthe US, perhaps thantoward either of theother two countries.”

The American diplo-mat observed:“Ingraham’s remarksalso confirm, however,that the FNM will notmake any effort to pro-mote human rights inCuba going forward.

“Bahamians appearconvinced that theObama administrationwill make significantchanges in US policytoward Cuba and,though some are criticalof the democratic deficitin Cuba, none in powersee any advantage incriticizing the Castroregime during a time oftransition inWashington.”

Cautious on CubaIn the lead-up to the

2007 general election,the Americans repeated-ly stated that they didnot expect Ingraham toexpress a great interestin building relationswith Cuba.

“From the UnitedStates’ perspective, anIngraham-led govern-ment would likely aban-don the PLP’s sympa-thetic posture towardCuba...” an official wrotein a 2006 cable.

“Ingraham wouldalso give us an inter-locutor willing and ableto make decisions andfollow through on them.His 10 years as prime

minister have given hima good understandingof the United States andhow to work with us,and he certainly looksforward to maintainingour traditionally closerelations.”

A US diplomat wrotein 2007 that, comparedto Christie, Ingraham’sforeign policy will likelybe less multilateralistand more nationalistic.

“Ingraham has beencritical of the PLP’scloseness to Cuba, andhe indicated to us thathe would downgraderelations with Cuba ifelected from an embassyto a consulate,” thediplomat wrote.

An embassy officialalso wrote of ForeignAffairs Minister BrentSymonette in the cables:“We can expect him tobe a strong partner forthe US, who will be moredecisive and moreinclined to support USpositions than his pred-ecessor.

“He will almost cer-tainly focus less on rela-tions with Cuba and hewill be less engaged inCARICOM and the Non-Aligned Movement thanFred Mitchell.”

The Americans saidthey expected TheBahamas’ flirtationswith Cuba to “cool”under the Ingrahamadministration.

A read of the cablesshow that it was notunusual for Bahamiangovernment officials —both PLP and FNMadministrations — todiscuss approachingtrips with theAmericans.

US ‘troubled’ over Bahamas PM’s trip to Cuba

Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham

BASSETERRE, St Kitts — There are noconditions attached to the US$84 millionstandby arrangement which theWashington-based International MonetaryFund (IMF) will give to St Kitts and Nevisover the next three years, a senior IMF offi-cial has disclosed.

“The good news is there are not really condi-tions, I think the term conditions is really a mis-nomer in this particular case,” said Alfred Schipke,the Washington-based Division Chief, Caribbean 1Division, Western Hemisphere Department of theIMF.

No conditions attached toSt Kitts-Nevis standbyarrangement, says IMF

S A NSALVADOR, ElSalvador — Themember countriesof the Organizationof American States(OAS), meeting inSan Salvador at theforty-first regularsession of the OASGeneral Assembly,on Wednesdaycalled for“ s t r engthen ingbilateral, subre-gional, regional,and internationalcooperation onsecurity-related

matters,” in whatwas the first mes-sage of theDeclaration of SanSalvador.

The document, theresult of an exchangeof views among thecountries on multidi-mensional security,strengthens their com-mitment to joint effortsto combat the violenceand crime that ravagetheir peoples.

The final declarationof the Assembly ses-sion, which closed onWednesday in theSalvadoran capital,stresses the importance

of strengthening thecapacity of states topromote long-term pub-lic security policies andto address, prevent, andfight threats to publicsecurity in a compre-hensive, effective man-ner.

Among thesethreats, it identifiestransnational organ-ized crime, illicit traf-ficking in arms, humantrafficking, the smug-gling of migrants, theworld drug problem,money laundering, cor-ruption, terrorism,abduction, criminalgangs, and crimes asso-

ciated with the use oftechnologies, includingcyber-crime.

The countriesaffirmed that publicsecurity policies“require the participa-tion and cooperation ofmultiple actors,” suchas individuals, govern-ment at all levels, civilsociety, communities,the mass media, the pri-vate sector, and acade-mia. Public policiesshould also be “compre-hensive” and include “agender perspective,”taking into account theneeds of vulnerablegroups and promoting

OAS general assembly concludes with adoption of Declaration of San Salvador


NEW JERSEYD

By JEANETTERUNDQUIST

TRENTON -Vowing to create“more transparen-cy,” actingE d u c a t i o nC o mm i s s i o n e rChristopher Cerftoday said the statewill ask an outsideagency to analyzewhy some charterschools out-per-form traditionalpublic schools.

Speaking at a meet-ing of the state Board ofEducation, Cerf said“we stand by” contro-versial data about char-ter school performancereleased in January,but acknowledged that“deeper analysis” isnecessary.

That data showedthat 79 percent of char-ter schools outper-formed district schoolson math exams in thestate’s poorest districts,and that 69 percent out-performed their homedistricts in languagearts. Critics assailed thenumbers, saying char-ter school test scoresmay have been higherthan traditional publicschool scores in partbecause charters havefewer very poor stu-dents.

“They are what theyare,” Cerf said of theJanuary data. “They

are not what you mightcall nuanced.”

Cerf said an inde-pendent analysis will beconducted “as quicklyas is humanly possi-ble.” He also released an“interim report” oncharter schools that hesaid “dispels thenotion” that charterschools don’t serve spe-cial needs kids. And hepresented data showingthat there are poor chil-dren in charter schools.

Last week, governorChris Christie made his6th town hall stop, thistime in Hoboken to dis-cuss his continuedefforts to create morecharter schools in NewJersey. His talks oneducation continued inHoboken, as Christieengaged in conversa-tion with GeoffreyCanada, a founder of anonprofit group thatsupports educationreform. (Video byMichael Monday/TheStar-Ledger) Watchvideo

In the Newark PublicSchools district, forexample, more than 70percent of students arepoor enough to receivefree lunch, and about10 percent receivereduced-price lunch.Meanwhile, inNewark’s charterschools, just under 60percent quality for freelunch, and about 15percent can receivereduced-price lunch,according to the report.

The report alsolooked at achievementfor charter and districtstudents in a number ofdistricts, includingNewark, Trenton,Camden and JerseyCity . It showed that ifspecial education andEnglish as a secondlanguage students wereremoved from testscores, more charterschools outscored tradi-tional schools.

The report also saidthe “charter advantage”appears to grow inhigher grades

Cerf peppered hiscomments with refer-ences to “relentlesspress attention” paid tothe charter schooldebate, including allu-sions to reports in TheStar-Ledger.

“Charter schools aredramatically outstrip-ping traditional publicschools in Newark,” hesaid, something that“the newspaper inNewark has failed toreport.”

Advocates forChildren of New Jersey,in its 2010 NewarkKids Count report, saidsome Newark charterschools outperformstate averages, as dosome district schools.Some of both types ofschool also underper-form.

“Charter schools aredramatically outstrip-ping traditional publicschools in Newark,”Cerf said.

Cerf also promised to“increase transparen-cy” and expand thequantity of data avail-able online.

The report is avail-able atwww.state.nj.us/education/chartsch/research/interim.pdf

But the data releaseddid not go one step fur-ther, to link specificperformance on testscores to children at thedifferent income level -showing, for examplewhether schools with ahigher percentage ofchildren receivingreduced-price lunch,compared to a freelunch, achieve highertest scores.

Cerf said NewJersey’s state aid for-mula, and federalaccountability pro-grams, do not distin-guish between the twolevels of poverty. “Mostcharters in New Jerseycross a threshold ofconcentrated poverty

that makes these dis-tinctions meaningless,”the report read.

Critics disagree,however.

“They have no basisfor arguing that this isa trivial distinction.This is spin,” saidBruce Baker, an associ-ate professor at theRutgers GraduateSchool of Education. Hehad commented widelyon the January dataand was, in fact, men-tioned by Cerf at themeeting.

“The data just aren’tprecise enough to makeany reasonable conclu-sions about relative per-formance of chartersversus district schools,”Baker said. “Some ofthis is better than previ-ous information, butthere are certainly mis-statements and spin.”

Baker said charterschools still serve manyfewer special educationstudents than publicschools, and that the

data on special ed doesnot break out howsevere the children’sdisabilities are.

Cerf said he is not anunqualified supporterof charter schools.

“I don’t believe allcharter schools aregood,” he said. “Thestate’s core mission isto support traditionalpublic schools”

Cerf’s report alsoincluded informationon the charter land-scape.

New Jersey will havenearly 100 charterschools operating inSeptember - althoughCerf also said that twoschools were put onprobation and onereceived a “stern warn-ing.”

He would not namethe schools that got theletters, but departmentspokesman AlanGuenther said the let-ters will be releasedTuesday.

Acting education chief says N.J. to hireindependent agency to analyze data on charter schools

By ALEX ZDAN

TRENTON - Authorities areinvestigating a second garage arsonin three days on the same city block.

The Melrose Avenue arsons arelikely the latest in a string of inten-tionally set garage fires in the VillaPark section of the city, BattalionChief Pete Fiabane said.

“Whoever’s doing it, between twoand four in the morning, they hitthe alley where no one can see themand they burn the garages,” he saidyesterday.

Fiabane says he’s responded tosix such cases within the past yearand says the fires are clearly linked.

“Absolutely, because you got anarea that he’s hitting,” he said. “It’sFairmont, Lindale, Melrose. And it’sthe same hours, between two andfour in the morning.”

The darkness and the fact thatmost people are asleep at thosehours delays notification, so fire-fighters often arrive to find thegarages fully engulfed in flames.

The latest blazes occurred on the800 block of Melrose, the first one at2 a.m. Friday and the second at 4:12

a.m. Monday, police said. InMonday’s fire, crews arrived to findheavy flames in the rear of thegarage. Despite the efforts of threeengines, one ladder and the depart-ment’s rescue company, the shedwas destroyed and shingles androofing equipment stored inside waslost, Fiabane said.

Arson investigators from theMercer County Prosecutor’s Officewere notified and they along withcity police are investigating bothfires, police spokesman Sgt. PedroMedina said.

“We’re looking at the close prox-imity of the jobs,” he said. “It’s thesame block. Right now, you wouldhave to look at the possibility theymight be connected, you could notdiscount that at all.”

Firefighting efforts in Villa Parkare further hampered by the area’snarrow streets, Fiabane said. Theroads rarely have space for morethan one truck to line up and putwater on the fire, he said.

Anyone with information on thefires can call city police at (609) 989-4170, or the Confidential Tip Line at(609) 989-3663.

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Jersey City officials offered a pas-sionate defense last night of thelong-delayed Apple Tree House ren-ovation to City Council memberswho seemed wary of spending evengrant money on the project.

The renovation, which to date hascost $3.4 million - and could top $4million once it is completed - willsave the oldest house in Jersey City,a structure numerous residentshave fought to preserve, saidCultural Affairs Director MaryanneKelleher.

“It’s not your house. It’s not myhouse. It’s a historic house,”Kelleher told council members attheir caucus meeting. “Jersey Cityresidents, who we all work for and

represent, did not want to see it turninto a drive-through bank.”

City officials originally asked thecouncil to approve a request for$800,000 in state funds to finish thethird and final phase of the renova-tion, which is being paid for mostlywith state and county grants.

But two weeks ago, the city offi-cials downgraded their request to$600,000 in hopes of winning overskeptical council members.

Councilman Steven Fulop, whocalled the project a “noble” effort,nonetheless said he doubts the claimon the part of some city officials thatthe Apple Tree House can be an “eco-nomic generator.”

- TERRENCE T. McDONALD

Jersey City council hears case made for fundingto complete Apple Tree House renovations

DAILY CHALLENGE FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 201112

��

Ruby Dee, GeorgeFaison, Meli’sa Morganand Alyson Williamswere among the manymourners celebratingthe life of Americanstage, film, radio and tel-evision actress ClariceTaylor on Tuesday atCanaan Baptist Churchin Harlem. TheReverend Dr. ThomasJohnson, senior pastorof Canaan BaptistChurch, officiated theceremony, which includ-ed a eulogy by theReverend Dr. AlSharpton. Taylor, bestknown for her recurringrole on The Cosby Showas Anna Huxtable,mother of Bill Cosby’scharacter Dr. Heathcliff“Cliff” Huxtable, died atage 93 of heart failure ather home in Englewood,New Jersey on Monday,May 30.Born on September

20, 1917 in Buckingham

County, Virginia, Taylorwent on to grace thestage and screen formore than half a centu-ry. Her stage creditsinclude the hit musicalThe Wiz, as Addaperle,the Good Witch of theNorth and an Obie for atouring production ofher own one-womanshow Moms (based onthe life ofMomsMabley);she was also one of thefounding members ofthe Negro EnsembleCompany in the EastVillage in 1967. Hermany career highlightsinclude playing Harrieton the television showSesame Street, and rolesin such films as OttoPreminger’s Tell MeThat You Love Me, JunieMoon, Clint Eastwood’sPlay Misty For Me, andOscarWilliams’s Five OnThe Black Hand Side.Actors Ruby Dee and

Charles Weldon, Tony-

award winning choreog-rapher and producerGeorge Faison andDouglas Turner Ward,artistic director andfounder (along withTaylor) of the NegroEnsemble Companywere among those offer-ing remembrances.Ruby Dee read a poemand shared her recollec-tions of first meetingMs. Taylor and workingwith her as part of theAmerican NegroTheater.Reverend Al Sharpton

gave the eulogy and

reminded us that whilewe are now salutingminstrels that the realstars like Clarice Taylorwho he stated was notonly a great performer,but remembered alwayshelping to distributefood to the community,was largely unrecog-nized.The cast of her show

Moms—Debbi Blackwell-Cook, LindaBrockington, JohannaDaughtrey, Ron Ferrell,Rodney German, OliviaHarris, Monifa Mah’t,Johnathan Sayles and

John Stanley—alsooffered a touching trib-ute.The ceremony includ-

ed musical selections byvocalists Meli’saMorgan, AlysonWilliams, Brvon Neal,Saundra Reeves-Phillipsand John Stanley.Prior to the private

viewing and "Celebrationof Life" funeral service,fans came out to paytheir respects at a publicviewing in the after-noon.In lieu of flowers, the

family requests thatdonations be made to theSchomburg Center forResearch in BlackCulture/NYPL, to whichTaylor desired tobequeath her papers andher life’s work.Memorial gifts may bemailed to TheSchomburg Society, 515Malcolm X Boulevard,New York, NY 10037-1801. Please makechecks payable toS c h o m b u r gCenter/NYPL and

enclose a note that thegift is in memory ofClarice Taylor. Gifts mayalso be made online atwww.schomburgcenter.org; click "SupportSchomburg" to make amemorial contribution.“The Schomburg is

honored to be the intend-ed recipient of this col-lection of documentsfrom Ms. Taylor’s life.From her work on stageto her time on one ofAmerica’s most belovedtelevision shows, it willserve not only as arecord of her own per-sonal journey andcareer, but also docu-ment the struggle andprogress made by peopleof color, particularlywomen of color, duringthe twentieth century,”said Khalil GibranMuhammad, incomingSchomburg director.Correspondence to the

family may be sent c/oWilliam Thomas, 2275Morrison Avenue,Union, NJ 07083.

STARS, FANS, FAMILY BID ADIEU TOACCLAIMED ACTRESS CLARICE TAYLOR

Douglas Turner Ward, George Faison, Joyce Sylvester, Alyson Williams and Meli'sa Morgan wereamong the many stars, fans, family and friends that came to pay tribute to Clarice Taylor.

Photo credit: Kevin Mason

Alyson Williams performing at the service.Photo credit: Kevin Mason

Meli'sa Morgan performing at the service.Photo credit: Kevin Mason

Saundra Reeves Phillips performing at theservice

Photo credit: Kevin Mason


��

By JEANETTETOOMER Inside

New YorkCorrespondent

Surprisingly, theTony Committee award-ed several nominationsfor theater excellence tothe director and teambehind the short-livedmusical, “TheScottsboro Boys.” Theoffensive format of min-strel comedy and black-face made this produc-tion a shocking horrificreality that sparked aprotest from Blacks andpolitical groups in NewYork. Yet, ironically,this reprehensiblemusical now stands to

enjoy a national spot-light during the telecastof the Tony Awards thisSunday, which tradi-tionally features amusical number fromeach of the nominatedshows.

Competition is toughthis week, thankfully,so “Scottsboro Boys”has little hope of win-ning any honors.“Scottsboro” does notstand a chance against“Sister Act,” also nomi-nated for musical.Susan Stroman has a

nomination for direc-tion of “Scottsboro” andcannot expect to win forstaging a racially offen-sive musical that makeslight of young Blackmen, the victims of agreat injustice in theearly 1930s. In this cat-egory she does notequal her rivals thatinclude Casey Nicholawand Trey Parker for“The Book of Mormon”and Rob Ashford for“How To Succeed inBusiness WithoutReally Trying.”

A favorite for actinghonors are PatinaMiller in the lead roleand Victoria Clark asMother Superior both in“Sister Act.” This out-standing musical alsoenjoys noms for bestscore (music and lyrics)created by Alan Menkenand Glenn Slater. Inthis category it goes upagainst “Women on theVerge of a NervousBreakdown,” “The Bookof Mormon,” and “TheScottsboro Boys.” Dueto the ill-advised, racial-ly-insulting and deri-sive nature of the lyricsof the songs from “TheScottsboro Boys,”Stroman’s show does

not have any chance towin this honor.

The best book of amusical nominations goto “Sister Act,” “TheBook of Mormon,”“Bloody, BloodyAndrew Jackson,” andfinally “The ScottsboroBoys.” I can’t imagineany show more unnerv-ing, hurtful, and racial-ly divisive as “TheScottsboro Boys” whichjust for the appallingtreatment of this reallife injustice places theboys in last place forconsideration.

My prediction is thatthe Tony Awards forbest musical goes to“Sister Act.” PatinaMiller also wins for bestperformance by anactress in a leading rolein a musical.

To add more insult toinjury the AntoinettePerry Awards commit-tee also nominated “TheScottsboro Boys” forbest choreography andorchestrations. Threeactors, Joshua Henry,formerly of “The Wiz”and “In the Heights,”Colman Domingo, andForest McClendon enjoynoms for best actors ina musical. Joshua

Henry stars as the onlyScottsboro boy whostands up for justiceand refuses to “shuckand jive” in the minstrelfashion. The showdiminishes and tarnish-es the memory of thesereal-life young victimsby portraying them asbuffoons and minstrelclowns.

Where’s the out-rage?! Where’s theNAACP? Where’s theNational UrbanLeague?! Where’sCEMOTAP? Should“The Scottsboro Boys”

enjoy a national broad-cast Sunday night?What do you think?Call your local NAACPbranch. Call your localcongressional represen-tative.

Can we, as a people,stand such mockery ona national level in2011?? This is one casewhere we will have tostand up for ourselves.Or else people will tellour stories anyway theyplease, including with ashuffle and a ridiculinglaugh.

Tony Committee Nominates RacistMusical, ‘The Scottsboro Boys’

A protest against the Tony Awards nomina-tions received by “The Scottsboro Boys” will beheld by demonstrators who claim the now-closedmusical was to racist to receive recognition.

The protest will take place outside the BeaconTheatre in Manhattan where the awards will bepresented Sunday night and will be lead byBrooklyn Councilman Charles Barron and theFreedom Party, which staged weekly demonstra-tions against the play until it closed in December.

“There is no doubt that this show was racist,offensive, and made a circus of a tragedy of justicein U.S. history… [it] portrayed Black men falselyaccused of raping a white women in black-face andsinging and dancing around the electric chair. Itwas a disgrace and the people of New York said“No, it must close,’ and we closed it,” said KamauBrown of the Freedom Party.

Alena Watters, Rashidra Scott and Tony nominated Patina Miller in theTony nominated musical "Sister Act."

The Tony nominated Patina Miller as DelorisVan Cartier in the Tony nominated musical"Sister Act."

Tony nomineesColman Domingo, andForrest McClendonwith John Cullum,(center background)and company in theTony nominated musi-cal "The ScottsboroBoys."

The Tony nominated Patina Miller as DelorisVan Cartier in the Tony nominated musical"Sister Act."Baron Protests


By REBECCATHOMAS

The encounterbegins simply enough.A handsome guy walksinto a dank club andmakes a beeline for thepretty girl with waist-length, red locks who’sdancing by herself. Hemoves gently, showingonly a hint of forcewhen he grabs herwrists and pins themagainst the wall. Butit’s what happens after-ward in Rihanna’s new“Man Down” video thathas had critics decryingthe clip since it debutedlast week.

Rih’s onscreen char-acter strolls out of theJamaican nightclubwith her dance-floorpartner pursuing her.A terrifying struggleensues. When it’s over,his red mesh tank istorn, his cheek bruised,and the visibly shakenpop star is weeping.Rih decides to exact herown justice with a .22caliber handgun thatshe calls “Peggy Sue.”(“I didn’t mean to endhis life/ I know it wasn’tright,” she sings.)

While the AnthonyMandler-directed clipappears to mirror thelyrics of the dancehall-flavored tune, whenMTV News caught up

with Rock City, thes o n g w r i t -ing/performing duobehind “Man Down,”they said the verseswere meant to be opento interpretation.

“We wanted the songto be something towhere everybody hadan opinion,” Theron(a.k.a. Da Spokesman)revealed. “Some peoplefelt it was literal, somepeople felt it was ametaphor.”

U.S. Virgin Island-born Theron and hisbrother Timothy “Don’tTalk Much” Thomas -their Free at Last albumis due June 21 - alongwith producer Shama“Sham” Joseph (a.k.a.Sak Pase), served upthe narrative trackspecifically to let theBarbados beauty tapher island origins in a

way that soundedauthentic. And in a citylike Kingston, Jamaica,where guns and gangsoften mar the lush land-scape, what could bemore authentic than agirl seeking violent ret-ribution for a sexualassault, only to findherself overcome withregret as the singerdoes in the visual?

“When we wrote thesong, me and my broth-er was trying to re-cre-ate in the best way pos-sible, you know, like,Bob Marley ‘I Shot theSherriff,’ “ Timothy toldus. “The female versionof what that would be.”

But now that thesiren-laced tune’s com-panion clip is stirringup controversy, Theronthinks some viewersare forgetting that thesong, like so much

Caribbean music, isabout telling tales.

“It’s like somebodywrote a script for amovie and she deliveredit perfectly,” Theronargued. “I just thinksometimes people needsomething to talkabout, and this is athing to talk about. ...‘Cause when you listento the song word-for-word-for-word, if sheshot it theatrically how[the lyrics are], it prob-ably would have been alittle [more graphic], ifyou ask me,” helaughed.

When we interviewedRihanna back inNovember, just before

Loud dropped, she defi-antly described “ManDown.”

“The special thing inthat song is the factthat it’s a female

singing those lyrics,”she said. “Then youhave that reggae thingand the chant; the over-all energy in that songis so gangsta!”

EEEENNNNTTTTEEEERRRRTTTTAAAAIIIINNNNMMMMEEEENNNNTTTT

Rihanna’s ‘Man Down’ Is Her Answer To Bob Marley Classic

Rihanna

By JENNIFER PELTZ

NEW YORK - Ja Rule headed to prisonWednesday for up to two years in a gun case, bid-ding a stoic but upbeat farewell-for-now to familyand fans at a New York courthouse.

The multiplatinum-selling rapper and actor -whose gravelly voice, thuggish tough talk andduets with R&B divas made him one of rap’s starsin the early 2000s - signed autographs for fans onhis way to be sentenced. He pleaded guilty inDecember to attempted criminal weapon posses-sion; the case stemmed from gun found in his lux-ury sports car in July 2007.

“See y’all later,” he told family and friends in thecourtroom audience as he was handcuffed.

“Love you!” called the group, which included hiswife, Aisha, and his mother and mother-in-law.

Dressed in a white T-shirt, gray pants and agray hooded sweat shirt, he replied, “Love you,too.”

With that, Ja Rule, 35, was led away to startserving his sentence. He’ll briefly be in a city jailbefore heading to a state prison yet to be deter-mined.

He also faces the possibility of a federal prisonsentence for failing to pay taxes on more than $3million in income; he pleaded guilty to that inMarch. He faces up to three years in prison in thatcase, though his will push for any prison time inthat case to be served at the same time as his NewYork term.

His sentencing in the tax case has been set forMonday. But it will likely be postponed to later inthe summer, said his lawyer, Stacey Richman.

In the meantime, Ja Rule heads to prison with analbum on the way and, he has said, plans to writeand otherwise keep busy behind bars.

“Out on my patio having my last free moment,”he tweeted before heading to court.

Ja Rule sentenced toprison in NYC gun case

Rock City

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - A large crowd pleadedwith officers to let rapper Flo Rida go and one fanoffered to drive him home after he was chargedwith driving under the influence early Thursday inMiami Beach, police said.

According to an arrest report, officers spottedhis 2008 Bugatti driving erratically about 3:45 a.m.The report said the rapper, whose real name isTramar Dillard, failed a field sobriety test, blewtwice the legal limit on a device to measure hisblood-alcohol level, had bloodshot, watery eyes, andslurred his speech.

After his second attempt at trying to walk astraight line the rapper said, “officers, I can’t dothis. I don’t feel I can walk a straight line. I had afew drinks. Let’s try another test. I live on the otherside of the bridge. I can make it home,” accordingto the Miami Beach Police.

The 31-year-old was charged with DUI and driv-ing with a suspended license after failing to pay atraffic ticket. He was later released on $2,000 bailand a judge signed an order allowing him to flyThursday night to Bangkok, Thailand, to performseveral concerts, said his lawyer ChristopherLyons. The order requires Flo Rida to return June16.

Rapper Flo Rida chargedwith DUI in Miami Beach

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16 DAILY CHALLENGE FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011� � � � �

THE RELIGIOUS ROUTEBY VELMA HART

The Bethlehem Baptist ChurchSanctuary Choir, Rev. Larry W.Camp, pastor, invites you to a“Caribbean Gospel Extravaganza.”It’s an Eagles Flight Production, Dr.Valerie Gibson, hostess, featuringtop artists such as Bishop McInnis,Brother Danny, Brother Patrick,Sons of Thunder, Minister DeVonJohnson, Sister Leonie Grey, Mis-sionary Violet Fuller and manymore guest artists. It’s a pre-Father’s Day treat. The date: Satur-day, June 18; doors open at 4:30p.m. BBC is located at 1962 LindenBlvd., Brooklyn. Donations are

required. Be there! Rev. Dr. James Forbes, Jr., senior

minister emeritus of The RiversideChurch in Manhattan, will beamong featured speakers at Inter-faith Worker Justice when it holdsits 2011 National Conference and15th Anniversary Celebration. Thedates are June 19-21 in Chicago, Il.The venue will be the DePaul Uni-versity Student Center. For moreinformation, call (773) 728-8400ext. 10.

The Tehillah Word Ministry Inter-national, 220-10 131st Ave., Laurel-ton, celebrated its pastor’s 14th Pas-

toral Anniversary, the ApostleErnest Dorney. The daters: May 27-29. There were many pastors whojoined in the celebration. On May 27,Rev. Lawrence D. Dorsey of the St.John Baptist Church, Jamaica, wasthe guest preacher. I attended onMay 28 when Apostle Sarah L. John-son was the guest preacher. She isthe overseer and organizer of theSouth Road Tabernacle OutreachMinistry, Inc., located at 753 Lex-ington Ave., Brooklyn. The ApostleJohnson really tells it like it is. “Sheis still with us.” Those were thewords spoken by Actress Ruby Dee

at the home-going service of ActressClarice Taylor.

On June 7 at 7 p.m. there was a“Celebration of the Life and Legacyof Clarice Taylor.” The service washeld at Canaan Baptist Church inHarlem. Pastor Thomas D. Johnson,Jr., officiated. There was a gold tonof talent displayed as well as love forClarice Taylor. Rev. Al Sharptondelivered the eulogy. The lateClarice Taylor, Sept. 20, 1917-June2, 2011, lived a rich life. May Godrest her soul.

Until next time, show love.

By STEVEN REINBERG

Although nearly all Americanchildren get the recommended vacci-nations to prevent serious diseases,many parents express concernsabout the shots, and a small numberrefuse to have their kids inoculated,according to the U.S. Centers forDisease Control and Prevention.

About 95 percent of parents saidtheir kids had received all the vacci-nations or would get them all, whichwas a record high, a 2010 surveyfound. But about 5 percent of par-ents said they would decline somevaccines, and 2 percent said their lit-tle ones would receive no vaccines,the researchers said.

“We are reassured that, overall,parents are vaccinating their kidsaccording to the recommendedschedule,” said lead researcher Alli-son Kennedy, an epidemiologist inCDC’s Immunization Services Divi-sion.

“But we did find that most par-ents do have questions or concernsabout vaccines,” she said.

Better education efforts couldresolve those doubts, Kennedy said.Doctors need information on thevalue and safety record of vaccinesso they can help parents make aninformed decision.

Recent outbreaks of mumps,measles and whooping cough showthat these deadly diseases still exist,Kennedy said. “Because of success-ful vaccination programs,” manyyoung parents don’t rememberwhen these diseases were epidemic,she noted.

The report is published in theJune issue of Health Affairs.

For the study, Kennedy’s teamused data from the annual Health-Styles survey, which gathered infor-mation on parental attitudes towardchildhood vaccination from 376households.

While 23 percent of the parentssaid they had no concerns about vac-cines, most had one or more con-cerns, the researchers found.

Parents mentioned pain from the

injection, getting too many shots atone time and the safety of ingredi-ents in the vaccines.

Some parents also worried thatvaccines could cause disease or arebeing given for illnesses childrenare unlikely to get, the investigatorsfound.

Parents who said their kids wouldnot get all the recommended vacci-nations were likely to think toomany vaccines are given in the firsttwo years of life or that vaccines cancause learning difficulties, especial-ly autism. The autism theory hasbeen widely refuted.

One in three parents added thatthey are not satisfied with the infor-mation they get from their chil-dren’s doctor about the safety andnecessity of vaccines.

Much of the information parentsget about vaccines comes from theirdoctor or friends, Kennedy said.One-quarter said they took their

information from the Internet, twicethe number seen in a different sur-vey in 2009, the researchers pointedout.

Dr. Paul Offit, chief of the divisionof infectious diseases and director ofthe Vaccine Education Center atChildren’s Hospital of Philadelphia,is concerned — but not surprised —that resistance to vaccination stillexists.

Offit, an outspoken advocate ofvaccination, said the movementagainst vaccinations has resulted inoutbreaks of diseases all butunheard of just a few years ago.

“I try to reassure parents with thescience,” he said. And he tells themthat a decision against vaccination isnot risk-free. “It’s a choice to take adifferent and more serious risk,” heexplained.

“We are seeing outbreaks ofmeasles, mumps and whoopingcough to degrees we haven’t seen in

the previous 10 years. It’s a danger-ous and, frankly, a misinformedchoice not to get a vaccine,” he said.

Before vaccines, whooping coughkilled 8,000 children in the UnitedStates annually, diphtheria was acommon cause of death amongyoung people, and polio caused tensof thousands of cases of paralysis,he pointed out. Measles resulted in3,000 to 5,000 deaths, Offit said.

Even though the data linking vac-cines to autism has been discredited,some people still believe it, he noted.

“We are far more compelled byfear than reason, and fear wins,”Offit said. “We don’t fear the dis-eases, so it’s very easy to scare usabout these other things,” he stated.

But as outbreaks of preventablediseases become more common, “wewill get to a level where we will bescared enough of the diseases againthat we will start to vaccinateagain,” Offit said.

CDC: Most U.S. kids get recommended vaccines

By ERIC SCHULTZ

Despite concerns that blood pres-sure drugs may increase the risk ofcancer, a new study suggests that aparticular such drug may not belinked to that risk.

Angiotensin-converting enzymeinhibitors, usually referred to asACE inhibitors, are not associatedwith a higher rate of cancer, accord-ing to a study by researchers at Uni-versity Hospitals Case Medical Cen-ter in Cleveland.

“There were worries in the scien-tific community that ACE inhibitorswere associated with cancer,” studyco-author Dr. Ilke Sipahi toldReuters Health. The study results,he added, “confirm the safety ofACE inhibitors as far as cancergoes.”

ACE inhibitors lower blood pres-sure by blocking the production of achemical that causes blood vesselsto contract. In addition to control-ling blood pressure, they are used to

improve survival after heartattacks, and prevent strokes. Beforethis study, there was a mixed pic-ture about whether ACE inhibitorswere linked to cancer.

A previous study by Sipahi’sgroup, for example, found that asimilar group of drugs, known asangiotensin receptor blockers, wasassociated with an increased likeli-hood of cancer.

In the new study, published inThe American Journal of Cardiolo-gy, the researchers reviewed exist-ing trials of ACE inhibitors thatmeasured how many patients devel-oped or died of cancer. One of thoseprevious studies linked ACEinhibitors to an increased risk ofdigestive system cancers, but theauthors did not find any associationin this review.

Sipahi did caution that thereviewed studies followed patientsfor a maximum of 5 years, so theteam could not determine the effectof ACE inhibitors on the risk ofdeveloping cancer over a period

longer than 5 years.Still, the limitations of the data

mean that more research is needed,Dr. Christopher Phillips, of More-house School of Medicine in Atlanta,Georgia, told Reuters Health.

Phillips, who was not involved inthe study, noted that the authorsonly dove deeply into data for onetype of ACE inhibitor, enalapril,marketed as Vasotec. The studyshowed that enalapril does notincrease the risk of cancer, he said.But “can we attribute that to all theACE inhibitors or just enalapril?”

The limitations mean that thestudy “should not affect the currentclinical prescribing of ACEinhibitors to eligible patients whoneed them,” Phillips said.

Patients taking ACE inhibitorsmay experience side effects, includ-ing cough, headache, drowsiness,or weakness, and in rare cases, kid-ney failure or swelling of tissues.They range from $10 per month forgeneric drugs to more than $100per month for brand names.

Group of blood pressure drugs not linked to cancer

DAILY CHALLENGE FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011 17� � � � �

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By TRACY “BINTA”AUSTIN

INSIDE NEW YORKCORRESPONDENT

The first Black actress to win anOscar was not Halle Berry, but Hat-tie McDaniel, for her role as a sup-porting actress in “Gone with theWind.” Some might prefer to forgetthat McDaniel’s role as Mammy,Scarlett O’Hara’s devoted maid, wasground-breaking, but Pulitzer Prizewinning playwright, Lynn Nottage’splay, “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark”shines a bright light on the mammycharacter, both as a ground-break-ing achievement and as a manifesta-tion of deeply entrenched racism inHollywood.

Nottage’s fictional Vera Stark,masterfully performed by SanaaLathan, has much in common withHattie McDaniel. Both worked asmaids, because they were not able toget real work as actors. Both alsohad long and varied careers in Holly-wood, with many film credits toboast of, but both were also widelyidentified with one, career-definingrole as a devoted maid to a whitewoman. The analogy between VeraStark and Hattie McDaniel, however,merely provides a framework forexploring racism in Hollywood morebroadly.

Nottage’s writing is richly authen-tic, extremely provocative, and oftenhilarious, but the laughter is at timesmixed with tears. There is so muchintelligence, talent and emotionpacked into 2 hours and 5 minutesthat one can hardly imagine therebeing anything else, on or off Broad-way, that is anywhere near asthoughtfully entertaining as “Vera

Stark.” This is satire at its very best! Staged by director, Jo Bonney, the

play seamlessly connects the pastand present, fiction and reality, the-atre and film, and art and history toreveal timeless truths about humani-ty and human nature in all itsnuanced complexity.

Sanaa Lathan is joined by twoother fine actresses — Kimberly Her-bert Gregoire and Karen Olivo —who also portray aspiring blackactresses, and Daniel Breaker, of“Passing Strange” fame, who playsVera Stark’s love interest, LeroyBarksdale, a Jazz musician who alsoworks as a servant to the Hollywoodelite.

While Lathan is superb in the leadrole, Olivo, who won a Tony in 2009for her role as Anita in West SideStory, deserves special mention forperformance of two completely dif-ferent roles: that of Anna Mae, alight-skinned actress who resorts to“passing” in order to get a role, andlater as a militant Afro-centric/les-bian critic in the second half.

In the first half, Vera Stark com-petes for the highly sought-after roleas a maid in a film about a tragic“Mulatto” who passes for white in‘old’ New Orleans. The action centersaround the relationship betweenVera Stark and her mistress, GloriaMitchell, played by Stephanie J.Block, as well as with two otherstruggling Black actresses, Lottieand Anna Mae, who live with Vera inthe same rooming house in Holly-wood of the 1930’s. In a slick rever-sal by Nottage, the three strugglingBlack actresses are the main charac-ters around which the actionunfolds. It is their humanity andtheir desires and concerns that areon display, while the white actors —

Ms. Block, David Garrison, andKevin Isola — portray one-dimen-sional characters whose purpose ismerely to provide the backdrop of aracism so deeply entrenched that it issimply taken for granted.

The second half jumps forwardthree decades later in the 1970’swhere a panel of film critics sharetheir views about Ms. Stark’s legacy.They debate and disagree vociferous-ly among themselves, as to whetherVera Stark should be judged a sell-out, a pioneer, or if she should sim-ply be seen as “an actor playing arole.”

The fact that there is a debate atall, goes to heart of “Meet VeraStark”: that racism rooted in whitesupremacy imposes a layer of com-plexity, confusion and uncertainty

on the psyches of Black people thatwhites never have to the think aboutas they go about their daily lives.

One could easily ask whetherthings have really changed so muchfor Blacks in Hollywood? I canimagine a panel of critics forcefullyarguing both sides of that debate adnaseum. As in “Vera Stark,” therewould be no clear answer; just a lotof complex issues and perspectives,which in the hands of a skilled play-wright like Lynn Nottage, supportedby a great director and a superb cast,could be a recipe for yet anotherpiece of great theatre.

All photos: Joan Marcus

INSIDE NEW YORK REVIEWS By Joan H. Allen, Editor

By the Way, Meet Vera Stark: An ‘invisible’ woman takes center stage

Sanaa Lathan and Daniel Breaker in “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark.” Kimberly Hebert Gregory and Sanaa Lathan

Karen Olivio

Sanaa Lathan


By MARIAASPAN

Major U.S. bankscame under growingpressure from bankingregulators to improvethe security of theircustomer accountinformation after Citi-group Inc became thelatest high-profile vic-tim of a large-scalecyber attack.

While Citigroupinsisted the breach hadbeen limited, expertscalled it one of the firstbig, direct attacks on amajor U.S. financialinstitution, and fore-cast it could drivemomentum for a sys-temic overhaul of thebanking industry’sdata security measures.

The Federal DepositInsurance Corp isdeveloping new guid-ance for banks and may

ask “some banks tostrengthen theirauthentication when acustomer logs ontoonline accounts,” FDICChairman Sheila Bairsaid on Thursday.

Citigroup said lateon Wednesday thatcomputer hackersbreached the bank’snetwork and accessedthe data of about200,000 bank cardholders in North Amer-ica.

The third-largestU.S. bank is the latestin a growing list ofcompanies that havesuffered cyber attacks,including Sony andGoogle Inc.

Security experts saidthe attack may be awatershed moment forthe U.S. banking indus-try, which until nowhas suffered fewerdirect hacker attacksthan retailers.

“We’re getting to thetipping point in termsof the number of fraudcases,” said GartnerResearch security ana-lyst Avivah Litan.

As regulators weighwhether to requiremore spending on secu-rity, “this could be thestraw that breaks thecamel’s back,” she said.

Citigroup said thenames of customers,account numbers andcontact information,including emailaddresses, were viewedin the breach. TheFinancial Times saidthe bank discovered thebreach in early May.

Citigroup said otherinformation such asbirth dates, social secu-rity numbers, cardexpiration dates andcard security codes(CVV) were not com-promised.

“We are contactingcustomers whose infor-mation was impacted.Citi has implementedenhanced procedures toprevent a recurrence ofthis type of event,” SeanKevelighan, a U.S.-based bank spokesman,said by email Wednes-day night. “For thesecurity of these cus-tomers, we are not dis-closing further details.”

In the brief emailstatement, Citi did notsay how the breach hadoccurred.

Another Citispokesman, JamesGriffiths in HongKong, said the breach

had affected 1 percentof North American cardcustomers, which thebank’s annual reportsays total 21 million.

Banks can be partic-ularly attractive targetsfor cyber criminals,Bair said on Thursday.

“It’s kind of a con-stant,” she said. “It’sone of the many risksthat you have to dealwith.”

Like Sony, Citi couldcome under fire for nottelling customers soon-er.

Sony has reportedseveral attacks, includ-ing one in which hack-ers accessed the person-al information on 77million PlayStationNetwork and Qriocityaccounts. The companywas criticized for adelay in telling accountholders that their infor-mation had been stolenby hackers.

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NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF QUEENS U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE, ON BEHALF OF THE HOLDERS OF THE HOME EQUITY ASSET TRUST 2005-7 HOME EQUITY PASS- THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2005-7 Plaintiff, AGAINST LORNA WILLIAMS, et al. Defendant(s) Pursuant to a judgment of foreclosure and sale duly dated 5/27/2010 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Queens County Courthouse in Courtroom # 25 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, New York on 7/1/2011 at 11:00 AM premises known as 138-38 233RD STREET, ROSEDALE, New York 11422 All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the New York City Borough of QUEENS, County of Queens and State of New York Section, Block and Lot: Block 13181- Lot 55 Approximate amount of judgment $358,461.79 plus interest and costs Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #16343/09 Dena Orenstein, Esq., Referee Steven J. Baum PC , Attorney for Plaintiff, P.O. Box 1291, Buffalo, NY 14240-1291 Dated: 6/6/2011

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Regulators pressuring banks after Citi data breach

19DAILY CHALLENGE FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011� � � � �

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By ANNADRIVER

HOUSTON— ExxonMobil Corp. has madetwo big new oil discov-eries and a natural gasfind in the deepwaterGulf of Mexico, newsthat underscores theimportance of the pro-lific basin to U.S. crudeoutput.Oil and gas explo-

ration in the Gulf washalted by the U.S. gov-ernment last year afterthe blowout at BP Plc’sMacondo well, andactivity in the Gulfremains at levels farbelow those seen beforethe oil spill.Exxon estimated the

new wells could pro-duce about 700 millionbarrels of oil equivalent(BOE).“Seven hundred mil-

lion barrels doesn’thappen very often,”John White, an analyst

at Houston-basedTriple Double Advisorsin Houston, said.“That’s a lot of oil.”The lower tertiary

geological formationwhich stretches acrossthe deepwater Gulf, isthought to hold as

much 15 billion barrelsof oil. Recent large dis-coveries there includeBP Plc’s Kaskida, esti-mated to hold 3 billionbarrels of oil.Irving, Texas-based

Exxon had reserves of24.8 billion barrels oil

equivalent at the end oflast year.Exxon shares were

up 1 percent in after-noon trading.The discoveries are

the company’s first inthe Gulf since the gov-ernment moratorium

was lifted. The Irving,Texas, company was onthe verge of drilling itsHadrian prospect whenthe government sus-pended deepwateractivity.“(The discovery)

speaks to the fact thereare resources in theGulf and if we have atax and regulatoryenvironment that willencourage us to findand produce our owndomestic oil, the indus-try will respond,” saidMark Routt, an energyindustry consultantwith KBC AdvancedTechnologies.Exxon has not fin-

ished its developmentplan yet, and moredrilling will be neededto further appraise howmuch oil is in the reser-voir. Production couldbe years away.The wells are located

in the Keathley Canyonat a water depth ofabout 7,000 feet, 250

miles southwest of NewOrleans.Other operators in

Keathley Canyoninclude AnadarkoPetroleum Corp. andChevron Corp.Last month, Noble

Energy Inc. said it hadmade an oil discoveryat its Santiago prospectin the deepwater Gulfof Mexico. Noble wasthe first company toreceive a drilling per-mit from U.S. regula-tors after the drillinghalt.Exxon owns a 50

percent interest in thethree new wells, whichare part-owned by EniPetroleum U.S., part ofItaly’s Eni SpA, andBrazil’s Petrobras.Exxon shares were

up 83 cents at $80.83in afternoon on theNew York StockExchange. The stockwas outperforming aflat CBOE index of oilcompanies.

Exxon has 3 deepwater Gulf of Mexico discoveries

A view of the Exxon Mobil refinery in Baytown, Texas.

By JAMESVICINI

WASHINGTON —The Supreme Courtruled against MicrosoftCorp on Thursday,rejecting its appeal of arecord $290 millionjury verdict for infring-ing a small Canadiansoftware firm’s patent.The justices unani-

mously upheld a U.S.appeals court rulingthat went against theworld’s largest softwarecompany in its legalbattle with Toronto-based i4i.The high court

rejected Microsoft’sargument to adopt alower standard toreplace the long-stand-ing requirement that adefendant in a patentinfringement caseprove by clear and con-vincing evidence that aplaintiff’s patent isinvalid.Redmond, Washing-

ton-based Microsoftargued that a lowerstandard of proofinvolving a “preponder-ance of the evidence”would make somepatents more vulnerableto legal challenge whilepromoting innovation

and competition.Justice Sonia

Sotomayor said thecourt rejectedMicrosoft’s contentionthat a defendant needonly persuade a jury ofa patent invaliditydefense by a preponder-ance of the evidence.When the U.S. Con-

gress has prescribed thegoverning standard ofproof, its choice gener-ally controls, she said inthe 20-page opinion.The Obama adminis-

tration and i4i opposedMicrosoft’s position andsaid Congress hadaccepted the standardin effect for at least thepast 28 years, that itwas correct, and that itshould be upheld by theSupreme Court.I4i said Microsoft

sought a radical changein patent law and thatany change shouldcome from Congress,which has been consid-ering patent legislation.The legal battle

began in 2007 when i4isued Microsoft. A feder-al jury awarded $290million to i4i after find-ing that Microsoft, in2003 and 2007 versionsof Word, its word pro-cessing application, hadinfringed i4i’s patent

relating to text manipu-lation software.A U.S. appeals court

upheld the award, andthe U.S. Patent andTrademark Officeupheld the validity ofthe i4i patent.Microsoft continued

to dispute those deci-sions, but removed thecontested features fromits current software.In appealing to the

Supreme Court,Microsoft said it wanteda new trial. But the jus-tices ruled that theappeals court was cor-

rect.Microsoft has said it

is the largest patentinfringement verdictever affirmed on appeal.Sotomayor said the

court also rejectedMicrosoft’s argumentthat a preponderancestandard must at leastapply where the evi-dence before thefactfinder was notbefore the Patent andTrademark Office dur-ing the examinationprocess.She said the court

was not judging the

wisdom of the clear-and-convincing-evi-dence standard thatCongress adopted.During nearly 30

years the standard hasbeen used, Sotomayorsaid, Congress hasoften amended thepatent laws, but appar-ently never consideredany proposal to lowerthe standard of proof.Sotomayor said Con-

gress has left the stan-dard in place, despitecriticism of it from thefederal government andfrom outside the gov-

ernment. Any changeremains up to Con-gress, she concluded.Google Inc, Yahoo

Inc and trade groupssuch as the Computer &Communications Indus-try Association sup-ported Microsoft, whileBayer AG, 3M Co andgroups representingbiotechnology compa-nies and pharmaceuti-cal manufacturersbacked i4i.The case was decided

by eight of the nineSupreme Court mem-bers. Chief Justice JohnRoberts, who ownsMicrosoft stock,recused himself fromthe case.

Microsoft loses Supreme Court case on patent

LOS ANGELES —Hewlett Packard Co. willbegin selling its Touch-pad on July 1 in theUnited States for$499.99, debuting thefirst tablet computerpowered by Palm’s oper-ating software.Jumping into the

tablet computer crazetriggered by Apple Inc’siPad, HP said on Thurs-day it start takingorders on June 19 inNorth America andEurope.The Wi-Fi version of

the gadget hits storeshelves July 1 in theUnited States, followedby Britain, Ireland,France and Germany afew days after.Canada gets the

tablet, run on Palm’sWebOS operating sys-tem, in mid-July, fol-lowed by Italy, Spain,Australia, Hong Kong,New Zealand and Singa-pore later in 2011.HP bought Palm last

summer for $1.2 billion,hoping to combine itsWebOS software with a

plethora of devices fromsmartphones to print-ers, gambling that there

is room for yet anothermobile software plat-form.

HP’s TouchPad will debut July 1 for $500

DAILY CHALLENGE FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 201120 � � ��

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SSSSPPPPOOOORRRRTTTTSSSSDAILY

CHALLENGE

NEW YORK — DavidOrtiz on Wednesdaynight had a message forNew York Yankeesmanager Joe Girardi,who had said he didn’tcare for the way theBoston Red Sox sluggerhad flipped his bat afterhitting a home runTuesday: “Take it like aman.”

Ortiz was in no moodto revisit the flap stirredthe previous night byGirardi, who made hiscomments after the des-ignated hitter tookYankees rookie HectorNoesi deep in Boston’swin.

He crushed anotherhome run Wednesdaynight in the first inningoff Yankees starter A.J.

Burnett, then set his batdown on the groundgently. He saved thefireworks for after thegame, which the RedSox won 11-6.

“I don’t care what JoeGirardi says,” Ortiz saidto a New York writer.“Take it like a man. I’mdone with that.”

Ortiz said he did notflip his bat Wednesdayso he could avoid beingon the “national news.”

“I don’t want to haveyou guys asking me thesame questions. I gotalmost 370 bombs in thebig leagues and every-body wants to make abig deal because I bat-flip one of them.(Expletive) that (exple-tive), man. If I have to

make that video on my(expletive), let’s see howmany bat flips I got onthis (expletive). Goodnight.”

The first-place RedSox will try for theseries sweep over thesecond-place Yankees inthe Bronx Thursdaynight.

Ortiz has hit 364home runs in his career.Thirty-four have comeagainst the Yankees, atotal against one oppo-nent exceeded only bythe 39 he has hitagainst Toronto. Andthat doesn’t count thefive home runs he hashit against the Yankeesin the postseason,including one of themost dramatic in club

history — the 12th-inning walkoff homerun in Game 4 of the2004 ALCS.

Ortiz has homered ineach of the team’s pastthree games against theYankees, all at YankeeStadium. The last RedSox player to hit homeruns in three straightgames in the Bronx wasMo Vaughn, back in1994, according to theElias Sports Bureau.The last Boston playerto hit home runs inthree straight gamesagainst the Yankees,home and away, wasManny Ramirez in2006.

On Tuesday night, hehad been amused morethan upset when asked

about it.“I mean, it’s not my

first time, it’s not goingto be my last time,”Ortiz said of the way heairmailed his bat. “Bigdeal. I enjoy the game.I’m a home run hitter.It’s not like I do it all thetime. It’s part of theexcitement, you knowwhat I mean? What canI tell you?”

For his part, Girardialso downplayed hiscomment, suggestingbefore Wednesday’sgame that the mediahad given it a “FullMonty” treatment hehadn’t intended. Nor didhe believe Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester hit-ting two Yankees bat-ters Tuesday night —

Mark Teixeira andRussell Martin — wasan invitation for theYankees to engage inany retaliatory targetpractice.

“I didn’t hear ourguys talk about it at all,’’Girardi said. “It seemslike it’s been talkedabout more in the mediathan our guys. I didn’thear anything aboutour guys being upset.”

Red Sox managerTerry Franconathought it all much adoabout nothing. Asked ifhe’d ever been rankledby the actions of anopposing hitter the wayGirardi had been ran-kled by Ortiz, Franconasaid: “What’s rankled?My pants are rankled.”

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By MIKECRANSTON

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -Cam Newton sweatedthrough a workoutwith his new Carolinateammates Wednesdaymorning, hopped aflight to Washington tomeet the president inthe afternoon, thenquickly returned tomake sure he attendedthe final player-organ-ized workout Thursday.

As the HeismanTrophy winner pre-pares for the scrutinyof being the NFL’s No. 1overall pick, his workethic, fitness and will-ingness to fit in areimpressing his veteranteammates.

“He showed up everyday early. He’s workinghard,” Panthers line-backer Jon Beason saidThursday. “He’s inter-acted well and he’sshown some great lead-ership.”

Newton is makingthe best of an offseasonlike no other because ofthe lockout.

He can’t talk toCarolina’s new coach-ing staff. He’s forced tolearn the playbook onhis own. He doesn’thave a contract. It’suncertain if top receiverSteve Smith will be his

teammate. There is noindication how long of apreseason there will be.

And yet Newton isconsidered the key towhether the NFL-worstPanthers can contend.

Newton, who ledAuburn to the 2010national title with adazzling 50-touchdownseason, is upbeat andconfident even as heacknowledges the NFLis not college football.

“Preparing as a quar-terback in the NFL iscompletely different,”he said. “The terminolo-gy, the blitz schemes,and at the end of theday, you’re not playingfreshmen anymore.You’re playing grownmen. This where speedcomes into play at alltimes.”

Newton was able toget a playbook and meetwith Carolina’s coachesthe day after the firstround of the draft,when the lockout wastemporarily lifted. Hesaid offensive coordina-tor Rob Chudzinskigave him some “focuspoints.” He’s also metwith last year’s starter,Jimmy Clausen, to com-pare notes.

Clausen and free-agent QB Matt Moorealso attended the work-outs the past two weeksat a Charlotte high

school.“I think I’ve got a

grip on who we are asan offense, what CoachChudzinski is trying todo,” Newton said.

Newton believes thePanthers, who man-aged 16 offensivetouchdowns in going 2-14 last season, can turnthings around, even ifhe’s not about to makeany bold declarationsabout beating outClausen for the startingjob. Newton called thetalent the offense hasdisplayed at the eightdays of workouts“something to be scaredof.”

“We can maximizeeverybody’s potential inthis offense,” he said.

Carolina’s chances toget out of the NFL base-ment would seeminglybe better if Smithstayed. The four-timePro Bowl receiver, whohas two years left onhis contract, hashedged on whether hewants to return.

Smith said Mondayhe’s been skipping theworkouts that havedrawn about 50 playersa day because of hiswife’s ill health. Butwhile Smith wasn’tpresent Thursday,Newton said he didshow up earlier in theweek.

“To some degree, he’son a different level. Itold him this,” Newtonsaid. “When I throw athree-step drop or anout-route, I’ve got to getback real fast to get it tohim extremely quickbecause he’s that explo-sive as a player.”

It’s the same attrib-ute the Panthers expectfrom their new QB.They are gambling thatNewton, who playedonly one season ofmajor college football ina spread offense, willbecome the franchisequarterback they’venever had.

Newton’s chiseled 6-foot-5 frame stood outas he wore shorts and aT-shirt without sleeveson Thursday morning,the only day reporterswere allowed to attendthe workouts.

Newton was one ofthe first players on thefield before 8 a.m. Hecaught some puntsbefore lobbing somepasses. Left tackleJordan Gross saidNewton has won sever-al conditioning con-tests.

“Cam has really justcome in and kind ofkept quiet,” Gross said.“He had fun with theguys and tried to fit inand earn respect anddoing things right. He’s

thrown some greatpasses, gotten undercenter, been vocal withhis cadence when we’vedone our team offensestuff.

“Overall, he’s justshown he’s in shapeand willing to workhard.”

Newton showed nofatigue from his day oftraveling. He attended acelebration Wednesdayat the White House withhis old Auburn team-mates for winning thenational title inJanuary, talking brieflywith President BarackObama.

“The secret servicewouldn’t let us get too

close to him,” Newtonsaid. “It was, ‘Hey, howare you?’” and you wereout. But it was awesomebeing in his presence.”

Then Newton quick-ly headed back toCharlotte. There wasmore work to do, morebonding with team-mates, more studying.

“Everything hasbeen great,” Newtonsaid. “We’ve been get-ting excellent participa-tion from the team.We’re just out hereevery single day tryingto do the best that wecan with the materialthat we do have to try tolearn and comprehend.”

Cam Newton earning respect of Carolina teammates



CHALLENGE

Charles Barkley lobbed another verbal salvo onWednesday in his war of words with the MiamiHeat and their fans.

When asked if Miami is the worst professionalsports town, Barkley, who reiterated his admira-tion of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, said:“Yeah they have the worst fans. No question. It’snot even loud in there. You’re at the game andyou are like, ‘Man this place isn’t even loud.’ Atleast when you go to Chicago, it’s loud in there,it’s crazy down in Dallas but it’s not even loud inMiami.”

Barkley said he doesn’t root against the Heat,but he doesn’t root for them. And he believes theHeat fans are upset because he picked theChicago Bulls to beat the Heat, but Barkley point-ed out he wasn’t the only one to do that amongTNT’s commentators.

When the Heat were playing the Bulls in theEastern Conference finals, Barkley said he likedJames and Wade personally, but he called theHeat a “whiny bunch.” He didn’t back off thatcharge on Wednesday when he was a guest on“The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000.

“Listen, if the Miami Heat were playing theWashington Generals I would pick theWashington Generals,” Barkley said with achuckle. “It’s something about that team thatannoys me.

“They just a whiny bunch and I can’t root forthem.”

Heat fans let Barkley know they weren’t happywith his criticism. In fact, TNT moved its set forpregame shows during coverage of the confer-ence finals from outside American Airlines Arenato inside because of negative interaction betweenBarkley and fans.

The NBA Finals between the Heat and DallasMavericks is being carried on ABC.

Charles Barkleyrips Heat, fans

PHILADELPHIA —Allen Iverson wants tokeep his passport at home.

Ten years after he became anMVP who led the Philadelphia76ers to the Finals, Iverson hashis eyes on a comeback. He isdetermined to end a career in theNBA, a career that is possiblydestined for the Hall of Fame,and not in some faraway coun-try where brief YouTube clipsare the only way to stay updatedon the four-time scoring cham-pion.

Iverson, who turned 36 thisweek, played only 10 games inan injury-filled stint in Turkeyafter a lack of NBA interestforced him to seek employmentelsewhere. In his most recentNBA season, in 2009-10, Iversonleft the Sixers in February.

That’s not a lot of basketballfor an aging veteran.

So what gives Iverson confi-dence he can still play anywherenear his former elite level nextseason?

“It’s me,” he said, laughing.“That’s what gives me confi-dence. I know what I can do.Everybody in the world knowswhat I can do. Everybody knowswhat I can do on the basketballcourt.”

Every fan knows how the 25-year-old Iverson could dazzle onthe court. Like in the 2001 NBAFinals, when he buried a jumper

over Tyronn Lue, then high-stepped over the fallen LosAngeles Lakers defender inGame 1. The iconic momentranked slightly behind his rook-ie year crossover vs. MichaelJordan as the most memorableof his 14-year career.

Iverson’s added few plays tothat list the past few years. Heplayed for four teams in his lasttwo NBA seasons, then left theTurkish club Besiktas with a leginjury.

A painful calcium mass devel-oped on his right calf and hereturned home opting for restinstead of surgery. Iverson’smanager, Gary Moore, saidIverson has yet to receive thegreen light from Dr. JamesAndrews to resume contactdrills. Iverson was not expectedto get cleared until mid-July.

“Just give me a trainingcamp,” he said. “Maybe I’verubbed people the wrong way asfar as saying the things I’ve saidin my life and in my career. Butif any team needs me to help tryand win a championship in anycapacity, I’m waiting.”

He might have a long wait.Throw in a possible work stop-page with NBA owners andplayers far apart on a new labordeal, and Iverson might again beforced to look outside the NBAfor a team. He signed a $4 mil-lion, two-year contract withBesiktas. But Iverson, who also

has played for Denver, Detroitand Memphis, made it clear in aphone interview late Wednesdaynight, his first priority is theNBA.

“If that doesn’t happen, I justwant to play basketball, so I’vegot to weigh my options and dowhat’s best for me and mycareer,” he said. “If that doesn’thappen, I don’t want to not playbasketball. I don’t have any moreyears to be wasting.”

Iverson has been dogged byrumors of personal problems —his wife filed for divorce and adaughter battled serious healthproblems — but he said his lifethese days is great.

All that’s missing is basket-ball.

“The only thing that I give adamn about is that the peoplethat care about me know thatI’m all right,” he said. “All Iwant is my real fans to know I’mfine, my wife is fine, my kids arefine. I’m fine and I’m lookingforward to getting back on ateam and being productive like Ihave been my whole career.”

Iverson insisted he enjoyedhis stay in Turkey.

“It was one of the greatestexperiences I’ve ever had in mylife,” he said. “They were greatto me. They embraced me like Iwould never think. Everythingwas great as far as that experi-ment.”

Allen Iverson eyeing NBA comeback

CHICAGO — With criticism again comingdown on Ozzie Guillen’s middle son, Oney, andhis infamous Twitter account, the Chicago WhiteSox manager said Wednesday he took steps hebelieved were appropriate.

Not long after the White Sox drafted KeenynWalker, a speedy 6-foot-3, 190-pound outfielder,who also happens to be Black, with their firstpick in the MLB draft Monday, Oney Guillen firedoff a Twitter message.

“Shocker the white sox pick another good ath-letic black kid,” Oney’s tweet read. “how aboutpicking a good baseball player.”

Criticism from Oney Guillen’s Twitter follow-ers was immediate and harsh, prompting theauthor to immediately attempt to clarify his mes-sage. He also tweeted an apology.

Ozzie Guillen was asked about it beforeWednesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners,which the White Sox lost 7-4 in 10 innings.

“I talked to Oney already,” Ozzie Guillen said,adding that his wife also had talked to their son.“I have 25 problems. I don’t want to add anotherone. My problem here is to win games. So far I’mdoing very bad. Very bad. That’s what I careabout right now and that’s what I’m focused onright now.”

- Doug Padilla

By JEFF LATZKE

TULSA, Okla. - Oklahoma coach BobStoops won’t be laying claim to the 2004national title that Southern Californiahad stripped by the BCS this week.

The Trojans beat the Sooners 55-19 in a battleof unbeatens at the 2005 Orange Bowl to cap thatchampionship season, but now the blowout hasbeen removed from the record books.

“I don’t have any thoughts (on USC’s situation)and we’re not claiming any championships,”Stoops said Wednesday night before meeting withfans at the university’s Tulsa campus.

The BCS stripped the Trojans of their nationaltitle Monday for NCAA rules infractions involv-ing extra benefits received by star Reggie Bush.Auburn and Utah also finished the 2004 seasonunbeaten.

USC will retain the title it won from TheAssociated Press that season.

Stoops said he believes the NCAA’s move toeliminate recognition for USC’s spectacular sea-son could serve as a deterrent for others whowould consider breaking the rules.

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Stoops: Sooners don’twant USC’s vacated title

DAILY CHALLENGE FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011 23


CHALLENGE

By STEVEASCHBURNER

DALLAS — The 2011NBA Finals will shiftcities again this week-end, with the MiamiHeat and the DallasMavericks determinedto resolve this basket-ball conflict of theirs ina matter of days.

The NBA owners, theplayers’ union and thatbusiness conflict oftheirs? Not so fast.

The ongoing labortalks will change ven-ues, same as The Finals,with the owners and theplayers joining theclubs in Miami onTuesday for their nextnegotiating session — ifthere is a Game 7 — ormoving to New Yorkthat day. Another meet-ing will be held in NewYork on June 17.

But the Heat and theMavericks figure to belong done as the wran-gling for a new collec-tive bargaining agree-ment further revs up,based on a more sombermood than existed even24 hours earlier asprincipals emergedfrom a four-hour ses-sion Wednesday at aDallas hotel. It was the

second consecutive dayof discussions, the thirdsince The Finals beganlast week in southFlorida.

“At this point in thenegotiations, we stillfeel like we’re very farapart,” said Los AngelesLakers guard DerekFisher, the president ofthe National BasketballPlayers Association. “Sofar we haven’t seen thetype of progress we’dneed.”

“It’s very clear that ifwe don’t agree to whatwe’ve been offered sofar, we’re probably fac-ing a lockout. That’s theresponsibility we have,to prepare our guys forthat possibility. Butthat doesn’t discourageus from the effort thatwe’re going to put in tostill try to find a fairdeal.”

NBA commissionerDavid Stern, exiting thebuilding before theNBPA met with themedia, also describedthe parties as “farapart.” Asked for moredetail, Stern said:“We’re not where westarted. Both sides havemoved. But we’re notany place close to adeal.”

The current CBAexpires on June 30. Theexpectation is that, bar-ring a breakthroughagreement before thatdate, the owners willimpose a lockout thatwill put all NBA busi-ness on hold. Thatmeans free agency, con-tract signings, trades,summer league playand any player-teamworkouts or contact,right up to and through— in the absence of adeal — training camp,the preseason and the2011-12 regular season.

Stern said that, whilethe most significantimpact of a lockoutwould come monthsfrom now, the urgencyto resolve this matter inthree weeks is real.“[June 30] is a timewhen, if we don’t have adeal, things will beginto deteriorate at a fasterpace,” he said. “We verymuch feel the weight ofthe deadline. We haveenough time to make adeal if the parties wantto make a deal.”

Neither side wentpublic with details ofany proposals,although the union toldreporters Wednesdaythat the league current-

ly is seeking a 10-yearagreement (deals of fiveor six years are morecommon). Also, asource told NBA.com,the owners’ proposal isseeking an eight per-cent reduction in play-ers’ salaries from their2010-11 levels in Year 1of a new agreement, a13 percent reduction inYear 2 and a 40 percentcut in Year 3, whichwould be maintained forthe remaining years.

M a n a g e m e n tdeclined to discussspecifics with themedia.

The owners’ case con-tinues to be based onvast financial losses byan estimated 22 of theleague’s 30 teams, for acombined total of nearly$300 million. They havemade it clear thatreductions in playerpayroll of $700 millionto $800 million is neces-sary to end the financialhemorrhaging, andthey want systemchanges that essentiallywould guarantee thatall franchises would beprofitable from theirbasketball operations.

The methods forachieving that are theproblem now. Fisher

said the players still areopposed to the “threemajor components” thatthe owners are demand-ing: A hard salary cap,a reduction in guaran-teed salary and shortercontracts. “Things havebeen fought for, collec-tively bargained overthe last 30 years,” theunion president said.“We don’t see the needto roll that back or dra-matically change that.”

Fisher said the unionis “adamantly opposed”to a hard cap — the cur-rent deal is based on a“soft” cap, which can beexceeded through vari-ous exceptions andresults in teams withdramatically disparatepayrolls — and does notbelieve that the “com-petitive balance” of thegame has suffered with-out one. The players’stance also is that con-tract length and guar-anteed money should beopen to individual nego-tiations.

Asked how any com-promise is possiblebetween rhetoric suchas “adamantly opposed”and “owners’ demands,”Fisher said: “We feelthat what they’re ask-ing for ... can be

addressed without dra-matically changingthose three compo-nents. We continue tooffer ideas and solu-tions we feel canaddress those areas,without having themmandated and saying‘that’s the only way itcan be.’ “

Billy Hunter, execu-tive director of theNBPA, also supportedthe current system ofsoft cap, backed by theluxury-tax provision, todampen spending byownership. Hunter saidthe plight of smallermarket teams seems tobe a major priority forthe league, and hesounded doubtful that aresolution could beachieved swiftly or easi-ly.

And he apparentlywasn’t alone.

“One of the ownersindicated at the conclu-sion of today’s meet-ing,” Hunter said, “thathe was very pessimisticwhether we’d be able toreach an accordbetween now and theend of the month, andI’m forced to share thatsentiment. It’s going tobe a difficult struggle.”

Somber mood prevails after second day of labor talks

By TIM DAHLBERG

The list was on his bedroomwall growing up, a dailyreminder to Tiger Woods abouthis goals in life. Simple, yetaudacious, the plan was to breakthe records set by Jack Nicklausand become the greatest golferever.

For a long time it looked likeit would be easy. His historicromp at the Masters formallyannounced his arrival, andWoods would win seven moremajor championships in his firstsix full years on tour.

By the time he won on one leg

in a U.S. Open playoff so epicthat office workers around thecountry stopped to watch histo-ry, the count was up to 14. Thecoronation would come later, butno one can say they doubted itwould come. Nicklaus himselfremained convinced of it as lateas a few months ago, saying heexpected Woods to one day towin more than the 18 he collect-ed over the years.

But now the counting hasstopped. The window of opportu-nity is narrowing.

Suddenly fragile both physi-cally and mentally, Woods won’tbe teeing it up next week at

Congressional Country Club.There’s a very real chance thatby the time he plays in his nextmajor it will have been nearlyfour years since he won his last.

The drought is already thelongest of his career. And thereis no indication it will end any-time soon.

The golden era of TigerWoods is over, done in by bothscandal and injury. He’s notgoing to win five more majors,might not even win five moretournaments.

So maybe it’s time to put hiscareer in place. Time to assesshis place in history.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Titans running backChris Johnson, who stayed away from the teamlast offseason in a contract dispute, practicedwith more than 50 others in a player-organizedminicamp session Wednesday.

Afterward at Father Ryan High School,Johnson said it took no prodding for him toreturn to Nashville to work out for the first timesince the season ended, that he wants to help theteam improve and that his contract is not on hismind.

“I really didn’t come out here to try to prove apoint,” he said. “I came out to get a good workoutin and to try to get the team better.”

Johnson said even if there wasn’t a lockout andif it was an official OTA that he would haveattended.

That’s a much different tone than the oneJohnson adopted last year, when he said hecouldn’t play for a low (and scheduled) basesalary coming off a 2,000-yard rushing season.Ultimately, the Titans moved money he wouldhave eventually made to his salary to satisfy him.

- Paul Kuharsky

Looks like Tiger Woods may settle for second best

M I S S I O NVIEJO, Calif. - Two-time world superf e a t h e r w e i g h tchampion GenaroHernandez has died

of a rare cancer. Hewas 45.

Hernandez’s wife,Liliana Hernandez, saidhe died Tuesday at hishome of rhabdomyosar-coma, which attacks

muscle fibers.Hernandez, nick-

named Chicanito (littleMexican), was born inSouth Central LosAngeles and began hisprofessional boxing

career in 1984. He wasWBA super feather-weight champion from1991-94 and WBCsuper featherweightchampion from 1997-98.

2-time world super featherweight Hernandez dies

Chris Johnson joinsTitans for workout

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FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2011

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