wall-paper

Wie Withdraws; Park Holds 2-Stroke Lead

2012-03-15T06:50:00.000-07:00

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. - Angela Park shot a 69 to finish at 5 under 137 and take a two-stroke lead Saturday over three others after two rounds at the U.S. Women's Open, where Michelle Wie withdrew with a lingering wrist injury.

Park, whose opening-round 68 was best in the field at Pine Needles, saved par with a 30-foot putt on No. 18 and secured the lead over Amy Hung, Jiyai Shin and Julieta Granada heading into the third round, which officials hoped to start later in the afternoon.

"My caddie told me I spent the least amount of time reading that putt out of all the putts today," Park said. "I hit it and it went in, so keep it simple."

The 18-year-old LPGA Tour …

Kissell: Fort Bragg to get $88M for new facility

2012-03-15T04:25:00.000-07:00

A North Carolina congressman says Fort Bragg will receive $88 million to build a new facility to help wounded soldiers transition back to active duty or civilian life.

Rep. Larry Kissell says the money is part of federal legislation President Barack Obama is expected to sign later this month.

The funding would help build the Warrior …

Financial markets shut down

2012-03-15T02:04:00.000-07:00

Chicago's financial community treaded water for a while thismorning, then finally went under, shutting down trading floors andeventually evacuating office buildings.

The Chicago Board of Trade was the first exchange to halttrading, shutting down its financial futures pit at 9:45 a.m. afteropening at 7:20 a.m. Agricultural futures trading never opened.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed at 10:45 a.m., and theChicago Board Options Exchange shut down at 12:30 p.m.

By early afternoon, most employees and exchange representativeshad no idea when they would reopen.

Among the first Loop workers ordered to leave were those atChemical Futures and …

The umpires strike back, and back, and back again

2012-03-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

If you tune into baseball games to see the umpire strike back, the All-Star break couldn't come at a worse time. July is already shaping up as one of the best months ever for ejections.

Since the calendar turned over, 17 players, managers and coaches have been sent to cool off early, the same number that were tossed during the first weeks of April, May and June combined.

The early leader in the clubhouse for best exit was Blue Jays pitcher Jon Rauch, who got a jump on things by shedding his jersey and hat even before stalking off toward the stalls. Then Tigers manager Jim Leyland did Rauch one better. Leyland was still standing in the dugout when he got tossed for the second …

Trust everyone: Mulder, Scully, series creators believe in `X-Files' audience

2012-03-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

Some Mulder and Scully fans were dubious when the title for the new movie based on their favorite TV show was announced: "The X-Files: I Want to Believe."

How, the skeptics wondered, could the two former FBI agents be anything but true believers after years of encountering aliens, monsters, ghosts and everything else that might go bump in the night?

But so-called X-Philes want to believe in this franchise that started way out on the fringes and eventually brought the creepy and paranormal into the mainstream. The feeling among its creators is mutual.

"We want to believe in the audience," said David Duchovny, who reprises his …

Pub-goers take daring leap for charity

2012-03-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Daredevil drinkers from a Twerton pub are taking the plunge tohelp hundreds of tiny babies.

A group of five regulars from The White Horse in Shophouse Roadwill be donning parachutes to jump from a plane in aid of the ForeverFriends Appeal.

The city's Royal United Hospital desperately needs new facilitiesfor the one in ten babies who require special care after they areborn.

And this year the hospital's fundraising arm has launched theSpace to Grow appeal to raise the pounds4.5m needed to completelyrebuild the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and house all the equipmentand technology needed.

Builder Chris Coles, 39, of Oldfield Park, is one of those whowill …

"How High": Con mucho humor

2012-03-14T16:39:00.000-07:00

Silas (Method Man) y Jamal (Redman) no tenian planes de ir a Harvard. Ni tan siquiera tuvieron planes de conocerse. Silas y Jamal no hacen planes.

En Staten Island, Silas reina sobre su barrio como medico con sus remedios herbales para todos los males, desde la gripe hasta la impotencia. Su mejor amigo Ivory (Chuck Davis) siempre le dice que deberia estudiar medicina. Silas nunca se lo toma en serio hasta que un dia terrible accidente termina con la vida de Ivory. En su honor, Silas planta las cenizas de Ivory junto a unas semillas especiales y una bellisima planta emerge de ellas. Es entonces cuando Silas, con su especial cosecha en mano, decide honrar el deseo final de su …

Medvedev: "Russia is a nation to be reckoned with"

2012-03-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

President Dmitry Medvedev again put the West on notice that Moscow will exert its military and economic might with new determination, saying Saturday that "Russia is a nation to be reckoned with" after its war with Georgia.

With a U.S. Navy ship unloading aid off Georgia's Black Sea coast within shooting distance of Russian troops, Medvedev's comments were another reminder that the Kremlin views last month's war as the start of a new era in Russian assertiveness.

In France, the European Union's 27 foreign ministers were reluctant to provoke Moscow, with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner saying the EU did not plan to impose sanctions against …

British military says soldiers are too fat, urges focus on fitness

2012-03-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

LONDON - British soldiers are getting so fat it's putting livesat risk, according to a leaked memo from the army's physicaltraining corps published in a Sunday newspaper.

The Observer said an emergency memo sent to all units of theBritish army earlier this month warned that an increasing number ofsoldiers had become so fat they couldn't be deployed to conflictzones and urged commanders to focus on physical fitness.

The army "has not consistently maintained our standards ofphysical fitness" and needs to "reinvigorate a warrior ethos and aculture of being fit," the newspaper quoted the July 10 memo assaying.

The Ministry of Defense offered no direct comment on …

Predicting Academic Difficulties: Does a Complex, Multidimensional Model Outperform a Unidimensional Teacher Rating Scale?

2012-03-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to compare a multidimensional model (i.e., including social, cognitive, physical, behavioural, and language functioning) of academic readiness and a unidimensional teacher-rated screening questionnaire on the basis of accuracy in predicting future problems in children. The participants were 146 children (80 boys and 66 girls) living in disadvantaged communities in Ontario, Canada. Data were collected in junior kindergarten and at Grade 3. Constructs were assessed with multiple methods and multiple raters. Results for the multidimensional model indicated that social-behavioural functioning, and to a lesser extent, cognitive/language …

Vancouver considering takeover of Olympic village

2012-03-14T07:18:00.000-07:00

Vancouver's finance director recommended that the city take over the financing of the 2010 Olympic athletes' village to save money and ensure the project is completed on time.

Kenneth Bayne suggested on Tuesday that the city borrow the remaining $356 million (euro275 million) needed to finish the village and advance the next construction payment due to developers.

"Given the lender's unwillingness to provide additional financing and the conditions in the market, that in fact if we are going to meet our Olympic commitments and meet those deadlines this may be the only way to ensure that can happen," Bayne told the city council.

The …

Go Stretch, GoAir tells corporate travellers ; Decreasing yields, shrinking passenger traffic, high fuel costs... So, what does the Wadia-promoted LCC GoAir do? Launch premium seating on its flights.

2012-03-14T04:57:00.000-07:00

Decreasing yields, shrinking passenger traffic, high fuelcosts... So, what does the Wadia-promoted LCC GoAir do? Launchpremium seating on its flights. Branded GoComfort, it will betargeted at corporate travellers looking for affordable businessclass comforts.

There is an opportunity for a business class service at a lowerprice point as business class travel in network carriers is pricedvery exorbitantly,says Edgardo Badiali, CEO of GoAir.

GoAir'sbusiness classfares will start with Rs 1,750 added to thebudget fare. A traveller will get a choice of a window or aisle seatin the first four rows, complete with extra leg space. GoAir is alsomulling a scheme for frequent …

Dementieva, Vesnina reach ASB Classic final

2012-03-14T02:17:00.000-07:00

Elena Dementieva and Elena Vesnina set up an all-Russian final at the ASB Classic tennis tournament with contrasting semifinal wins on Friday.

Top-seeded Dementieva, ranked No. 4, swept past Aravane Rezai of France 6-2, 6-2 in 67 minutes while Vesnina battled for 2 hours, 57 minutes to beat Britain's Anne Keothavong 6-7 (3), 6-1, 7-5.

In reaching her first WTA final, Vesnina set up a meeting with her doubles partner Dementieva and produced the 17th all-Russian final in WTA singles since 2003.

"I'm very excited. This is my first final and I'm playing against Elena," Vesnina said.

"We played against each other a few years ago. She's an amazing girl, a very good player and a real sportswoman."

Dementieva continued her steady form improvement through the tournament to brush aside the hard-hitting Rezai, last year's beaten finalist, in sets lasting 33 and 34 minutes.

Rezai tried to upset the tall Russian with her aggressive play and powerful ground strokes but Dementieva, despite struggling with her second serve, was able to absorb and turn back the pressure.

"I expected the match to be like this," Dementieva said.

"She's a hard hitter so I was getting ready for a hard match and I was very focused. I tried to be patient, sometimes to play with defense. And it worked."

Vesnina and Keothavong were both seeking their first WTA final. A pair of service breaks sent the opening set into a tiebreaker, won by Keothavong when she took the third and seventh points against serve.

Vesnina twice summoned the trainer to ice strained leg muscles. However, she soon found her rhythm and minimized errors to win the second set in 36 minutes.

The third set went with serve until the seventh game when Vesnina broke for a 4-3 lead but Keothavong immediately broke back for 4-4.

Vesnina broke again to lead 6-5 but squandered four match points from 40-0, endured four deuces and saved two break points before winning the match with an ace.

Soccer's Tale of 2 Ronaldos

2012-03-13T23:25:00.000-07:00

LONDON - They share the same name and are famous for bamboozling defenders and scoring memorable goals. In one case, make that "was" famous.

While the fast, sleek, free-scoring Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to become the world's best player, the more famous Ronaldo is overweight and struggling to keep his career going.

Cristiano Ronaldo's 13 goals for Manchester United have helped the Red Devils move six points ahead of defending champion Chelsea in the English Premier League. After being jeered for his part in Wayne Rooney's red card when Portugal beat England in the World Cup quarterfinals, even rival fans now accept that the winger, who turns 21 next Monday, has the potential to follow his namesake as a soccer superstar.

At 30, the Brazilian Ronaldo is almost Gone-aldo.

Ronaldo, on the verge of going to six-time European champion AC Milan, has lost his touch and speed and has been slowed by an expanding waistline.

After more than 10 years at the top, the two-time FIFA player of the year is a shadow of the star who burst onto the soccer scene at 17.

The teenager would collect passes from 30 yards out, glide past two or three defenders and then sidestep the goalkeeper before rolling the ball into an empty net. With goals like that, Ronaldo helped Brazil get to the final of the 1998 World Cup in France. But a mystery illness made him a virtual spectator as the team lost to France 3-0.

Although a serious knee injury sidelined him for almost two years, he returned to play a leading part in Brazil's fifth World Cup triumph in Japan in 2002. His two goals in the final against Germany took his leading tally for the World Cup 2002 to eight.

When he returned four years later, Ronaldo added three more to set a World Cup record with 15 goals. But the 2006 World Cup showed that Ronaldo had slowed and was losing the deft touches that made him a star. Brazil went out in the quarterfinals and he hasn't played for the national team since.

Brazil coach Dunga doesn't see Ronaldo as fit or sharp enough to add anything to his team, and the striker's poor form and succession of injuries has also kept him out of the Real Madrid lineup.

Although he was on a star-studded lineup nicknamed "galacticos" by Madrid, the famous Spanish club hasn't won a title in three seasons. Ronaldo's expected departure to Milan follows that of Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and, eventually, David Beckham out of Madrid.

Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti is determined to make some use of Ronaldo and isn't worried about the striker's extra weight.

"Ronaldo is not fat," he said. "He is a very robust player. I think his problem is the fact that in recent times, he has not had much motivation. From a physical point of view, he hasn't trained much because he has been excluded from Real Madrid's team and he has lost motivation in training.

"But he remains a great player. In the last five years at Real, he has scored almost 100 goals. No one in the world has done that."

While one Ronaldo leaves Madrid, the other could be on the way.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a transfer target for the Spanish club, although Manchester United values him highly. But before the season started, it looked as if he was on the way out at Old Trafford.

Rooney was sent off at the World Cup for stomping on the groin of Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho during a challenge for the ball. Ronaldo ran over to complain to the referee about Rooney's challenge and, after the England player had been shown a red card, Ronaldo winked at his bench.

Now Cristiano Ronaldo is a target for the opposition fans who blame him for Rooney's red card. But that only seems to spur him.

"There's only one Ronaldo," sing the Red Devils fans. And United manager Alex Ferguson, who bought the winger from Sporting Lisbon three years ago as a replacement for Beckham, lauds him for defying the jeers and beating defenders again and again.

"I hope they carry on booing him," Ferguson said. "He is such a danger to defenders because he doesn't just beat men, he has the desire and drive not to give in when they foul him. No one enjoys playing against someone like that. I am sure Cristiano is already one of the best players in the world."

If Madrid is prepared to offer United a world record transfer fee, maybe Ferguson will relent and he will move on at the end of the season. Otherwise, United fans can continue to enjoy the stepovers, the dribbles and the free kicks from their man in red for years to come.

If the other Ronaldo doesn't make it in Milan, he may as well call it a day and prove there really is only one Ronaldo.

Andy Cohen, Executive Vice President

2012-03-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

(This is not a legal transcript. Bloomberg LP cannot guarantee its accuracy.)

ANDY COHEN, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, BRAVOTV, TALKS ABOUT BRAVOTV AT MIDDAY SURVEILLANCE

MAY 26, 2011

SPEAKERS: TOM KEENE, MIDDAY SURVEILLANCE HOST

ANDY COHEN, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, BRAVOTV

12:40

TOM KEENE, MIDDAY SURVEILLANCE HOST: Andy Cohen of BravoTV has transformed the network and television, developing hits like Real Housewives and his own - watch what happens live. It's past my bedtime. Attracting millions of viewers in this age of competitive new media it has been no easy feat. Check out this scene with Mr. Cooper of CNN.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

KEENE: This is original.

ANDY COHEN, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, BRAVOTV: Yes.

KEENE: I want to know -

COHEN: That's one way to describe it.

KEENE: - right now. We will get to Platinum Hit in a bit.

COHEN: Okay.

KEENE: I want to know right now what Andy Cohen best practices are. You have a creative third rail here to women and many others in America.

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: What's your best practice every day?

COHEN: Well, first of all I work with an incredible team. We know our audience. We know what we do well. We know who works on Bravo and what works on Bravo. And we have studied our audience really well and we developed into our audience. And I think is really important. And it's important way that we build upon our success.

KEENE: On a business model it's just as important to know what doesn't work.

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: What doesn't work for your audience, because in our wonderful Businessweek article you were killing them because somebody on one of the housewives' shows there wasn't enough action or emotion. You micro the film right down, don't know, the frames.

COHEN: Well, it's - look, I think what doesn't work is insincerity or - our audience is really smart. We have the smartest audience on cable, and the most affluent audience on cable and most educated. And so what that means is they can -

KEENE: What if I had that audience? Jim, wait a minute. Wait a minute.

COHEN: They can - they can tell, sorry, Tom, I have got breaking news here. It's going to roll around the bottom of the screen.

KEENE: It's a break exclusive cone, very exclusive.

COHEN: Is it a break exclusive?

KEENE: It's a break exclusive, yes.

COHEN: Yes. Oh, okay.

KEENE: I don't - seriously, I don't believe in breaking news.

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: And I hate the phrase exclusive -

COHEN: Okay.

KEENE: - with a passion.

COHEN: Well, I brought you some break exclusive issues.

KEENE: What's your break exclusive right now?

COHEN: And my break exclusive is that our audience can smell things that are insincere, or phony or fake. So it has got to be kind of real. It has got to be real. And we build around people who are really good at what they do, and people like Rachel Zoe, or Tabitha Coffey and Patti Stanger. And we have built some great shows around these people. Do you know who any of these people are?

KEENE: No. I don't them.

COHEN: Come on. You watch with [Coco].

KEENE: I'm watching the St. Louis Cardinals. [Coco] watches every word of it.

COHEN: I'm a St. Louis Cardinal -

KEENE: I sit right here.

COHEN: That's (inaudible - multiple speakers)

KEENE: The guy that built the set is a Cardinals jugger - he's like a big fan.

COHEN: Is that right?

KEENE: But I want to know -

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: - the people I observe, including all my TV team - this is how we end our TV show everyday.

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: They don't just watch. There is a new way they watch because of you. What is that intensity? How do you get that intensity of the viewer?

COHEN: Well, you know what? People are really obsessed with the characters, if you will, on Bravo. They are real people, but they are - to a lot of people they are Bravolebrities and they - people want to engage with us. People are passionate about what we do and they do -

KEENE: They scream at the TV screen.

COHEN: They scream at the TV screen. They want to watch us in while they are on our Bravo Now app on their iPad. And they want to interact because -

KEENE: That was a plug. That was a shameless plug right there, my word.

COHEN: I know. I kind of thought that was good. Anyway, they want to interact with us. And my show is totally interactive and I think it's because people have really strong opinions about our shows.

KEENE: And then you go see the suits and ties.

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: You take an operating income from 100 whatever to a big, big number. What do you do next? The pressure now since you have had this success, when you link your creative world to your financial world, how do you do that next?

COHEN: I'm a programming guy, so I am just about building ratings and making more shows and continuing to grow the audience.

KEENE: But you are talking to the money guys, right?

COHEN: Yes, I am.

KEENE: What's your advice to network TV?

COHEN: To network TV?

KEENE: Boring, stodgy network TV, committees of 10 people. What do we do up front? It's the same old -

COHEN: Right, right.

KEENE: What's your advice to them?

COHEN: Well, I think keep doing things differently. I think reality is not dead on network TV. I think that -

KEENE: You look great in a turtleneck. Look at that. That was just great that shot of you.

COHEN: Oh, that was my New Years Eve, glad you liked it.

KEENE: That was totally '70s.

COHEN: Yes. I like a '70s look. I like this montage of my show.

KEENE: It's emotional.

COHEN: It is emotional. It's [ramotional], yes, it is.

KEENE: Scripted TV.

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: You are going to go from reality TV to scripted. That's a big jump.

COHEN: Bravo. We announced last year that we are developing in scripted TV, yes. And so want to get our first -

KEENE: How is that going?

COHEN: Well, it's going good. We want to - we do reality so well we don't want to do anything that's scripted that we could do in reality.

KEENE: Yes.

COHEN: In other words, -

KEENE: Okay.

COHEN: - we have looked at scripts that are like, wait a minute. Why are we developing a show around these two people who are architects when we could actually do a reality show?

KEENE: We are going to come back because I want to talk about Platinum Hit, a link in with BMI. This is legit, folks. This is like - I love this stuff, songs, Jewel. It's for real. Look at this chart. This is important. Andy, look at this chart.

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: It's the mood before the show, the real housewives of Surveillance Midday.

COHEN: Yes, yes.

KEENE: Look at that chart.

COHEN: Look at the mood.

KEENE: It's accurate, the mood there.

COHEN: That's the chart.

KEENE: It's emotional.

COHEN: It's emotional.

KEENE: I think it works. You could go from Orange County to New York.

COHEN: I need more charts in my life.

KEENE: You do. Logarithmic charts would be good.

COHEN: I do need logarithmic charts.

KEENE: Okay. We will be back, Andy Cohen, kurtosis, Surveillance Midday.

COHEN: Kurtosis.

KEENE: Platinum ahead.

COHEN: Kurtosis.

KEENE: Let me show you kurtosis.

COHEN: Kurtosis.

KEENE: Kurtosis is the height of your class.

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: And here's the chart, short people over here, -

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: - bald people over here.

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: And kurtosis is the bend being short, the bell curve.

COHEN: I'm short. I'm 5'9".

KEENE: Andy's -

12:46:38

(BREAK)

12:49:20

KEENE: With BMI, the music industry is dead, Andy Cohen pushing against all that. He is here with BravoTV. I love this, Platinum Hit, okay we all know the script, starving songwriters, very cool judges. I love that you have Jewel -

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: - with you on that and it's Kara, right? She's like the team leader?

COHEN: Yes, Kara Dioguardi, yes.

KEENE: Yes. Okay.

COHEN: Formerly of American Idol.

KEENE: But you will make this different. What is the Cohen distinction that takes something as boring as a song contest and makes it different?

COHEN: The Cohen distinction - it's the Bravo distinction. And what that is is first of all it's fun. Second of all, this is a music show that you have never seen. This is a songwriting competition show, so you start each episode and they have a challenge.

Make a theme song for LA. Write a great dance song. Write a love song. And you are going to hear original news judged by some of the best songwriters in the industry like Kara Dioguardi, like Jewel, like Donna Summer.

KEENE: Love having Donna Summer do this.

COHEN: And so you are going to see these songs performed, and judged and then of course be able to purchase the songs.

KEENE: American Idol, which to be honest I have never seen, a country guy won it.

COHEN: Is that right?

KEENE: I have never seen it. A country guy won it. I just show up at -

COHEN: I bet you [Coco] has seen it.

KEENE: Yes. That's true. She has.

COHEN: Yes, yes.

KEENE: Anyways, you are going to -

COHEN: [Coco] should be at the table by the way.

KEENE: Show them, maybe here, [Bonnie].

COHEN: Sorry.

KEENE: [Ramona], she can and I'm supposed to say that.

COHEN: [Ramona], no she didn't.

KEENE: Yes, oh yes.

COHEN: [Coco] would know what that meant.

KEENE: You have got Platinum Hit going.

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: You are going to make a difference, -

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: - but it is a pop? Is like Kara pop or are you going to go across genres?

COHEN: Oh, it's everything. It's every genre and, you know what, this is - we are about peeling the layers of the creative process. If you watch Top Chef, if you watch the fashion show, these are shows where you see what goes on behind the creative process.

And songwriting is something that has never been highlighted on TV. And talk about a multimillion dollar industry for someone who hits it and writes a hit song. You are set.

KEENE: What does BMI - what do the record companies think of this? Are they lining up?

COHEN: I hope they like it. BMI - you are going to be able to buy the songs, obviously, and also you are going to be able to -

KEENE: Right.

COHEN: We did this with the Writing Camp who did - they wrote Halo for Beyonce, among many other songs. They have written for Rhianna. And so they are incredible partners and they worked with True Entertainment to -

KEENE: Programming guy.

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: And you have got the business guys, and you made it clear you are very, very separate from that.

COHEN: Well -

KEENE: And yet that pressure is always there. You said you went from 28 or 32 up to number whatever on cable TV.

COHEN: Yes. We are number 12 right now.

KEENE: [Three four]?

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: This is fabulous.

COHEN: It's incredible.

KEENE: Your programming -

COHEN: I just was trying to - I just - I'm not a great business mind. I -

KEENE: Every time I hear that I go, yes, forget about it. You know it cold in terms of grabbing that audience.

COHEN: Right.

KEENE: At the margin how do you boost up ratings even more?

COHEN: You know what? It's about building a bench. For us it has been about we have got big hits and we also have tremendous bench strength of shows that repeat really well, and we can put on during the day and do great for us.

KEENE: What do you do with stars with an attitude?

COHEN: Stars with an attitude?

KEENE: How do you handle to stars with an attitude?

COHEN: Well, you know what, something we have done really well at Bravo, and you made the joke earlier about Bravolebrities, but we create our own stars, typically. We work with people like Jewel and Kara who are established superstars in their field. And they are excited because they are portrayed as the credible, amazing people that they are on their shows, but we build and make stars on a lot of other shows.

KEENE: Right.

COHEN: People hadn't heard of Tabitha Coffey, or Patti Stanger or a lot of the people who are on our docuseries before we brought them to life. So it becomes more of a partnership with them.

KEENE: Platinum Hit, -

COHEN: Yes.

KEENE: - four days from now?

COHEN: Yes, Monday, Memorial Day.

KEENE: What time?

COHEN: Memorial Day at 10 o'clock after you and [Coco] get done watching The Real Housewives of New Jersey.

KEENE: Now I have got watch it, okay. That was a shameless plug. Andy Cohen, thank you so much.

COHEN: Well, you asked what time it's airing.

KEENE: From BravoTV the business and the programming axis.

12:53

***END OF TRANSCRIPT***

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Foreign donors open their wallets despite Myanmar problems

2012-03-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

The Myanmar junta's refusal to let in foreign aid workers has not stopped donors _ from billionaire Bill Gates to a small British travel company _ from trying to help.

The aid includes a luxury river cruise liner loaned to a charity for transporting relief material and 25,000 shoes sent by a U.S-based group for the survivors of Saturday's devastating cyclone.

But very little of the international aid is getting down to the victims. Visa restrictions on aid workers have held up delivery. The U.N. has managed to bring in only one planeload while two more shipments were confiscated by the government Friday.

The Gates Foundation donated $3 million for emergency relief efforts in Myanmar, and will provide software to help reunite family members separated in the cyclone, Gates told The Associated Press on Friday.

The Gates Foundation said the funds were transferred to the aid agencies Care, Save the children and World Vision.

Gates' donation is nearly as much as the total pledged by the U.S. government _ $3.25 million. Myanmar's military government has refused to allow U.S. relief planes to fly in. It also refuses to give visas to U.N. experts who want to assess the damage and manage logistics.

As of Thursday, the U.N. had recorded donations to Myanmar relief totaling $25 million from 28 nations, the European Union and charities. An additional $25 million has been pledged by donors.

The figure jumped Friday with the Gates Foundation's pledge and another $10 million that Japan promised to give through international organizations such as the United Nations Children's Fund, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Program.

Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, a British company that operates river cruises on the Irrawaddy river in Myanmar, said it was handing over one of its luxury liners to British charity Merlin.

"I think we all feel that this is a country that has touched us in some way," said Paul Strachan, the owner of the ship. "Now we can repay the (Myanmar people) for all the warm hospitality and enriching experiences we have in the past enjoyed there."

The company said the large dining room of Pandaw IV will be converted to a clinic and existing cabins used to accommodate the relief team. A number of Myanmar doctors have volunteered to help out on the ship.

The boat will carry supplies from the riverside town of Henzada, which is also close to an airport that can receive airlifted supplies, Strachan said.

Another boat, Pandaw II, is currently in Mandalay undergoing engine repairs and "as soon as we can move her she will relocate down to the delta," he said.

Soles4Souls, an international charity based in Nashville, Tennessee, announced it had sent 25,000 pairs of shoes to the cyclone victims, but the shipment was stopped pending approval by Myanmar authorities.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects the names of aid agencies receiving funding.)

Farm crisis spooks Argentine economy

2012-03-13T14:48:00.000-07:00

Argentina, one of the world's biggest breadbaskets, should be rolling in cash as world food prices soar.

Instead, soy, wheat and corn have sat for weeks in silos as farmers protesting new export taxes suspended sales.

Farmers were lifting their strike Sunday night in a last-ditch effort at a third round of talks. But their three-month standoff with the government has already paralyzed the rural economy, caused scattered food shortages and tanked the new president's popularity.

And continued stalemate could spike global grain prices at a time when food costs are already high.

Still, experts say grain prices won't rise forever, and many warn that Argentina may be missing its shot at that record revenue _ and headed for economic crisis.

"They are killing the goose that lays the golden eggs," said Claudio Loser, a former Latin America director at the International Monetary Fund.

Farmers meet Monday with a national ombudsman who has offered to broker the crisis, but the government has not yet agreed to join talks.

Argentina is one of the world's top four providers of soy, corn, beef and wheat, and rising farm exports _ up 48.2 percent since 2003 _ helped the country rebound from economic meltdown in 2002, driving five years of more than 8 percent annual growth.

Exports stood to climb even higher this year, as international soybean prices jumped about 26 percent and corn prices about 34 percent between January and June.

To tap those gains, President Cristina Fernandez decreed a new sliding-scale tax on March 11, boosting rates on grain exports as prices rise. Current export taxes on soy, for example, jumped to 46 percent from 35 percent, and would top 50 percent if prices swelled above $600 a metric ton.

The move was meant to tame inflation by trapping exports in Argentina, driving down local prices and encouraging cultivation of stocks like wheat and cattle, which have been abandoned for more lucrative soy.

But objecting farmers have suspended grain shipments for 89 days in protest, crippling rural towns with roadblocks and layoffs and causing food shortages in cities including Buenos Aires. Cattle ranchers affected by separate export restrictions also halted sales.

Ships at Rosario, one of the country's main ports, now drift idly awaiting cargo at a cost to exporters of as much as $70,000 a day. Last week, thousands of truck drivers idled by the strike blocked highways, demanding that farmers and the government negotiate.

About 75 percent of Argentines agree that talks are needed, while 14.5 percent support continued protests, according to a May 25-26 poll by Ricardo Rouvier and Associates. The survey of 550 people in Greater Buenos Aires had a sampling error margin of 4 percentage points.

Past negotiations have failed. The country's four biggest farm groups rejected the government's May 29 move to trim only the highest tax rates, which applied only if prices significantly soared.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon criticized measures similar to Argentina's at a summit last week in Rome, calling on world leaders to end export bans, tariffs and taxes that he said impede trade and inflate food prices. Argentina argued that subsidies, not taxes, are responsible.

So far, the strikes have cost Argentine farmers $2.3 billion in missed soy, wheat, corn and sunflower seed sales, said Pablo Adreani, an economic analyst with AgriPAC Consultores, a Buenos Aires consulting firm.

Yet even with those sales suspended, high prices ensured that farm earnings still beat last year's for the first five months of the year, according to Argentina's Grain Exporters' Center.

That paradox leaves many lamenting a lost bonanza.

"The fact that we're even considering a crisis amid this historical commodities boom makes no sense," said Gabriel Torres, a senior analyst at Moody's Investor Services in New York. "It tells you how incredibly self-inflicted this is."

Had the government taxed rising farm income at its previous rate, the windfall could have financed needed utilities and energy sector infrastructure or funded programs for the country's 10 million poor, analysts said.

"The opportunity cost of this paralyzed economy is huge," said Ricardo Baccarin, chief analyst at Paniagricola S.A., a Buenos Aires grain brokerage. "There's practically a complete paralysis of commercial activity."

Buenos Aires accountant Juan Kennedy sees that new reticence in his corporate clients. They're no longer looking to grow or invest, but "just waiting to see what happens and keeping their assets as safe as possible," he said.

For many, safety means fleeing the peso. Inflation _ officially reported at 8.9 percent in April, but thought by economists to top 25 percent _ has further fueled the trend, prompting the Central Bank to sell about $1.5 billion in reserves since May 9 to keep the currency stable.

At Banco Piano, a foreign exchange in downtown Buenos Aires, the number of Argentines swapping pesos for U.S. dollars and euros has increased 20 percent since the strikes began, bank president Alfredo Piano said.

"We're uncertain what this government has in store for us, and we don't have a lot of confidence," said Maria Cristina Mongelos, a 42-year-old dressmaker who waited in a lunchtime line to buy U.S. dollars last week.

Those doubts are fueled by the specter of 2001-02, when a depression and massive run on banks caused Argentina to default on $95 billion in bonds _ the largest default in history.

Now, Moody's ranks Argentina as one of a few countries most likely to default again _ on par with neighbors Paraguay, Bolivia and Ecuador, where per capita GDP is much lower.

"These are countries that are one large shock away from default," Torres said.

World grain markets have responded to the farm strike with some restraint, as investors see too much at stake for both the government and farmers to bet that they will let the crisis continue, said Anne Frick, a senior oilseed analyst for Prudential Financial in New York.

But as the standoff grows increasingly political, solutions become more complicated, said Daniel Kerner, an analyst for the Eurasia Group in New York.

Several rural state leaders have rallied behind farmers, along with 300,000 supporters who attended a May 25 demonstration _ a show of force that makes farmers less likely to accept government terms, Kerner said.

Approval ratings for Fernandez, who took office Dec. 10, have meanwhile slipped to 26 percent from 56 percent in January, according to a May 3-11 poll of 1,000 Argentines by the Buenos Aires consultancy Poliarquia. The survey has an error margin of 3.5 percentage points.

Her government "remains more concerned about winning this battle than about putting an end to the conflict," Kerner wrote in a note to investors.

It "fails to realize that it has already lost, and that the conflict is generating uncertainty that is not only affecting its popularity, but is also affecting the economy."

Paris haute couture alive and kicking

2012-03-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

PARIS (AP) — The demise of couture has been long foretold: It's too expensive, observers say, too fussy, too time-consuming, too incompatible with the way people live today. Couture is breathing its last, they gravely assert, season after season.

But one look at the audience at Dior's spring-summer 2011 haute couture show Monday sufficed to suggest the contrary.

Nearly 1,000 guests braved a persistent drizzle and impossibly cramped seats to marvel at — and perhaps, later, invest in — the spectacular, outlandish, impractical and astronomically priced made-to-measure concoctions. That was about twice as many as attended last season's show, Dior staffers said.

Beyond the numbers, there were other reasons for hope: newcomers Bouchra Jarrar and Alexandre Vauthier, who both sent out bold, graphic collections — Jarrar's minimalist, Vauthier's over-the-top. Both collections underscored the fact that couture can evolve and adapt without losing its raison d'etre.

Jodie Foster's arrival at Giorgio Armani's couture show on the tony Place Vendome sparked a stampede, and the media scrum around the post-show meet-and-greet session between the perma-tanned designer and another A-list guest, Sophia Loren, got ugly.

Armani, a red carpet favorite, gave his celebrity fans lots to lust over with a high-sheen collection of futuristic column dresses.

Frenchman Christophe Josse — for his first collection as a bona-fide "couturier" — sent out featherweight gowns and flippy cocktail dresses in his hallmark materials, lace and tulle.

The couture displays, which began on Monday, run through Wednesday. On Tuesday, luxury supernova Chanel and cross-town rival Givenchy field their collections.

DIOR

Couture collections are a chance for fashion houses to pull out all the stops and showcase the savoir faire of the traditional craftspeople, from embroiders to seamstresses, who hand make the garments.

Most go the easy route, smothering the clothes in sequins and rhinestones, but for spring-summer 2011, Dior's designer, John Galliano, delivered something all together more subtle.

Layers of tulle were painstakingly applied to sumptuous, jewel-toned silks and satins to create gradations of color that evoked the shades of smudged charcoal or pastel. The house's petites mains applied up to seven layers of tulle to create the rich shading that enveloped princess dresses with full, swooshing skirts and cocktail numbers that sprouted bubble-shaped capes at the back.

This is the kind of work that can only happen in couture collections, where each garment requires dozens or even hundred of hours of work and cost as much as some cars.

Subtle and stunning at the same time, the Dior collection was as convincing an argument as any of the value of couture — despite the fact that only a handful of fabulously wealthy women worldwide still buy the clothes.

ARMANI PRIVE

It was like Pierre Cardin deluxe, complete with the flying saucer headgear.

Armani delivered slick and hyper-stylized variations on the futuristic styles that Cardin pioneered in the 1960s and continues to churn out today, without even the smallest change to the original designs, or the polyester fabric.

Armani, who has built an empire out of dressing A-list celebrities for the red carpet, wisely ditched the polyester, sending out long, lean sheath dresses in smoldering fabrics that shown like liquid mercury: A sure fire winner for the bright lights and insistent flash bulbs of the Oscars.

The shimmering fabrics held their shape, and Armani molded them so they alternately hugged and stood stiffly away from the models' bodies, in freestanding panels.

The gowns were like the sleeker, chicer, more highly evolved successor to Cardin's earnest designs. And the models also wore shiny plastic toques, like flying saucers balanced on their foreheads, that were clearly channeling some of Cardin's zany Space Age headgear.

Though lighter on the sequins than usual, the clean, futuristic lines and smoldering jewel-tone fabrics looked sure to please A-list actresses in the market for awards ceremony gowns.

BOUCHRA JARRAR

In the realm of couture, where the rule of thumb is the more bling the better, Jarrar stands out for her clean, pared-down aesthetic — with nary a sequin in sight.

For spring-summer, the Paris-based designer fielded a collection of simple dresses in navy and ivory silk where straight lines of contrast piping or peekaboo lining in shocking pink were as close to flashy as it got.

Still, despite their simple-lined shapes — some of the cocktail numbers were really just sophisticated takes on the pillow dress — the garments had a subtle sensuality. Vents that sliced diagonally down the back of the wide-cut dresses, leaving a swath of skin exposed, proved that clothes don't have to be skintight to be sexy.

This is not red carpet wear, as churned out season after season by other couturiers, but unfussy and appealing clothing for women sure enough of themselves to know they don't need sequins to shine. Coco Chanel would fill her closet with it if she were alive today.

ALEXANDRE VAUTHIER

And if Wonder Woman were a fashionista, she'd definitely wear Vauthier.

His long, lean dresses were made in the kind of clingy fabrics superheros generally favor, with bold, graphic detailing that made it clear it was the wearer's mission to save the world.

Thick gold belts punctuated the jumpsuits in metallic jersey, the wide-cut legs bisected by dramatic, skin-baring slits. A sheath dress dripped long fringe in glinting gold and black beads. A painted-on column dress had oversized Vs in sheer black tulle that effectively ruled out underwear.

And everything, but everything, had sharp power shoulders.

The collection's main flaw — and it was a major one — were the pencil skirts so tight the rail-thin models could barely walk. A ruched gold skirt suit that could only have been sewn on practically hobbled the poor, luckless model, who barely succeeded in inching her way down the catwalk. It was cringe-worthy, just to watch.

Note to Vauthier: Even though super women can fly, they also need to be able to walk.

'Madison' rides with hydroplanes, Hoosiers and small-town pride

2012-03-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Madison (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)

Jim McCormick James Caviezel

Mike McCormick Jake Lloyd

Bonnie McCormick Mary McCormack

Harry Volpi Bruce Dern

Skip Reed Diamond

Buddy Richard Lee Jackson

Audrey Jane Galloway

Tami Kristina Anapau

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents a film directed by William Bindley.Written by William Bindley and Scott Bindley. Running time: 94minutes. Rated PG (for some mild language and sports peril). Openingtoday at local theaters.

What is it about Indiana that inspires movies about small-towndreamers who come from behind to win? William Bindley's "Madison,"the story of a town that races its own hydroplane on the Ohio River,joins "Breaking Away" (a bicycle race), "Hoosiers" (high schoolbasketball) and "Rudy" (local boy is too small to play football forNotre Dame, but that doesn't stop him). All four stories are inspiredby fact; maybe that has something to do with it. A story about BobbyKnight would of course have to be based on fiction.

As "Madison" opens in 1971, times are hard for the town, which wasonce the busiest port above New Orleans and one of the richest citiesin the state. Factories are closing, people are moving to big citiesto find work, and although Madison is the only town to enter its ownboat in the Madison Regatta, things look grim for this year's race.

The boat is "Miss Madison," an Unlimited Hydroplane (I think thatmeans anything goes with engines and speed). The Madison Regatta hasbeen held since 1950; local businessman Jim McCormick (Jim Caviezel)used to pilot the boat, but retired after an injury 10 years earlier.

Now he is suddenly needed again, by the town and the boat, andcomes out of retirement to the pride of his son Mike (Jake Lloyd),and the concern of his wife Bonnie (Mary McCormack), who like so manymovie wives frets that her spouse is either (a) going to get killed,or (b) not be home for dinner.

Miss Madison's engine has exploded during a time trial and theboat itself is seriously damaged. It looks as if the town will nothave an entry in the very year it hosts the famous annual race, butthen Mike and his crew go to work. They need a new engine and can'tafford one, so under cover of darkness they slip off to a nearby townand steal the engine from an airplane displayed in the courthousesquare. Without being a mechanic, I am fairly sure such an engine, ifit were indeed still in the plane, would be filled with dead leavesand hornets' nests and would need more than a trip through Jiffy-Lube, but never mind: It purrs right along on race day.

For the town, meanwhile, the race is heaven-sent. It provides aboost for civic morale, keeps a few more citizens from moving away,attracts tourist dollars and television publicity, and gives everyonea chance to sit on the river banks in their lawn chairs with theirpicnic baskets. Much of this is made possible by Mayor Don Vaughn(Paul Dooley, who played the father in "Breaking Away"). He shiftssome city funds, probably illegally, to find the money to back MissMadison.

As sporting events go, hydroplane racing is prettystraightforward. The powerful boats race around a river course,making lots of waves and noise. Some of the boats have commercialsponsors, and one of the unique elements in "Madison" is negativeproduct placement. One of the boats has "Budweiser" written all overit, and much is made about the rich and high-powered brewery team,but they're the bad guys and we want to see Bud lose to Miss Madison.

The cast is stalwart. Jim Caviezel, who made this movie in his pre-"Passion" days, is a salt of the earth small-town dad who shares asecret with his son: A hidden cave that's "one of the special thingsabout where we live." Mary McCormack, as wife and mother, is stuckwith the obligatory speech "You have a choice to make -- me or theboat." But after she pays her dues with that tired line, she perks upand brings some sunshine into the movie. There is also sadness, whichI will not reveal, except to say that driving one of these boatsmight be a good way to compete for the Darwin Award.

Who else? Oh: Bruce Dern. He's the expert mechanic who can turnaround a stolen antique airplane engine in 24 hours. I saw him notlong ago while revisiting "After Dark, My Sweet" (1993) and was happyto see him again. He has a way of chewing his dialogue as if he wantsto savor it first before sharing it with us.

HEY, THAT SWINGS!

2012-03-13T04:49:00.000-07:00

Caption text only.

Kobe Bryant Sits Out Season Opener

2012-03-13T01:34:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES - Kobe Bryant sat out the Los Angeles Lakers' season opener against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night because of soreness in his surgically repaired right knee.

"This morning it was a little sore," said Bryant, the NBA scoring champion last season with a 35.4-point average - the league's highest in 19 years. "The thing about the knee is you want to string together a few days where it feels good."

The 28-year-old Bryant raved after practice Monday that his knee felt very good, and he thought he would play in the opener. But the positive feelings didn't last. He made no attempt to hide his disappointment some 90 minutes before the Lakers faced the Phoenix Suns.

"Man, it's tough considering who we're playing, the start of the season," he said. "It's a big night. It was starting to get to me a little bit where I was going to push through it."

Bryant underwent arthroscopic surgery in mid-July, and missed the Lakers' eight exhibition games. He said he wouldn't travel for Wednesday night's game at Golden State, either, but hoped to return either Friday night against Seattle at home or Sunday night at Seattle.

"It's a possibility," he said with a smile. "I'm extremely optimistic - I'm an optimistic person by nature. It's such a day-to-day thing with this knee. It's much better than it was a week ago. It's just been a process building it up."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he concurred with Bryant's decision and didn't have a timetable on the superstar guard's return.

"I just think it's been sore, some discomfort there after some hard work," Jackson said. "It's going to be a big hole in our offense, without a doubt. I'm sure the fans will be disappointed."

The game was the Lakers' first since they were embarrassed 121-90 by the Suns in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series last spring. Phoenix rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the series.

"At this point of the season, everybody's health has got to be a priority," Suns guard Raja Bell said concerning Bryant's absence. Bell received a one-game suspension for clotheslining Bryant in the fourth quarter of Game 5.

"I guess he's not ready," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It's too bad for him, too bad for the league. We've got to take advantage of it."

The Lakers also played without centers Kwame Brown (shoulder) and Chris Mihm (ankle) and guard Aaron McKie (back). Brown and Mihm are expected to be sidelined at least two more weeks. In their absence, 19-year-old Andrew Bynum made his first career start against the Suns.

"He's played aggressively in the last two (exhibition) games," Jackson said. "He should be nervous - I think it's a natural thing."

Fazekas Has 29 As No. 24 Nevada Wins

2012-03-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

RENO, Nev. - Nick Fazekas picked up right where he left off last season. The Nevada senior forward had 29 points and 10 rebounds in just 21 minutes of action Friday night to lead No. 24 Nevada to a season-opening 85-62 victory over Division II Alaska-Anchorage.

"I had no idea I had that many points in that amount of time," said Fazekas, who scored 23 points in 12 minutes in the first half, including 19 during a 7-minute stretch as Nevada opened a 41-29 halftime lead.

"I wasn't even cognizant of it. Guys were giving me the ball in the right spot and the shots were falling for me."

He averaged 21.8 points last season.

"I felt like I got in a groove in the first half and just felt good, like anything was going to go for me," said Fazekas, who made all six of his free-throw attempts and was 11-of-14 from the field, including a 3-pointer.

Marcelus Kemp scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half and Ramon Sessions added 15 points and six assists for Nevada, which went on a 17-0 run early in the second half to run away with the game. The Wolf Pack have won 10 straight at home and are 46-5 at home since the start of the 2003-04 season.

Eric Draper scored 12 points, Buddy Bailey 11 and Cameron Burney 10 for Alaska-Anchorage, which trailed by as much as 33 points, 77-44, when Kemp hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game with 8:15 remaining.

While the game was the official season opener for Nevada, it counted as an exhibition for the Seawolves (2-0) due to an NCAA rule that allows Division II schools to play exhibition games against non-Division II schools prior to their season start date of Nov. 15.

Alaska-Anchorage coach Rusty Osborne said Fazekas started dictating the game early by grabbing several offensive rebounds.

"That really got him into his rhythm," Osborne said. "When that starts happening, it makes them tough to beat."

With Nevada leading 41-29 at halftime, Draper made a 3-pointer to cut it to 46-34 about 3 minutes into the second half. But over the next 4 minutes, Sessions scored eight points, Denis Ikovlev five and Fazekas four while the Seawolves went scoreless to put Nevada on top 63-34 with 13:08 left in the game.

Fazekas, who was playing his 100th career game for Nevada, was one of 21 NCAA players to average double digits in both scoring and rebounds last season.

"He got off to a great start," Nevada coach Mark Fox said. "He's just so efficient. If we'd left him in there he probably could have gone for a bunch."

Fazekas moved into fourth on Nevada's career rebounding list with 898, surpassing Nap Montgomery, who had 890 in 78 games from 1975-79. He is second on the school's career scoring list with 1,841 points and is 37 away from passing school leader Edgar Jones, who scored 1,877 in 101 games from 1975-79.

Fazekas and David Ellis each scored four points in the first 3:30 and freshman JaVale McGee scored off a rebound to put Nevada ahead 13-2 at 13:50 in the first half.

The Seawolves responded with five 3-pointers - two each by Bailey and Burney and one by Carl Arts - to pull to 24-17 at 8:06 before the half but could pull no closer the rest of the game.

Fox, whose team plays next at Oregon State on Wednesday, said he was pleased with the Wolf Pack's defensive play early but "really disappointed with our defense at the end of the first half."

"Our defense really sparked our offense to start the second half. We got a lot of points off our defensive effort," he said.

Philadelphia Mayor Streets speaks at Oakwood College commencement

2012-03-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

Philadelphia Mayor Streets speaks at Oakwood College commencement

When students attend Oakwood College in Alabama, one of their greatest ambitions in life is to return to speak at their alma mater when they have achieved success.

Philadelphia, Pa. Mayor John F. Street's vision to return for such an opportunity became a reality when he wore an Oakwood College cap and gown for the first time since he graduated in 1966 served as its Commencement speaker Saturday, May 13 at 8 p.m. at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala.

More than 375 Oakwood College graduates and 17000 parents, alumni and friends heard Philadelphia's mayor address them at the 104th Commencement Exercise.

Commencement Chairman and Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs Juliaette Phillips outlined other highlights of the commencement weekend

Friday, May 12 at 8 p.m. at Oakwood College, a Consecration Service was held with Dr. Sherwin Jack (`81), Senior Pastor, Ephesus SDA Church, Harlem, N.Y. serving as speaker;

Sabbath/Saturday, May 13 at Von Braun Center the Baccalaureate was given by Pastor Charles D. Brooks (`51), "The Breath of Life" telecast Co-founder/Director Emeritus;

Nursing Pinning Ceremony, was held at 4:30 p.m., in Salon 1, North Hall, 2nd floor, Dr. Carol Easley Allen, president, American Public Health Association and chairman, Oakwood College Nursing Department was speaker.

Vesper Service at 7 p.m. featured the Aeolians of Oakwood College performing, The Human Surround Sound and with recording artist and interim Oakwood College's Chaplain T. Marshall Kelly.

The Hon. John Street, Mayor of Philadelphia, was speaker during the commencement exercises.

Prior to his November 1999 mayoral election, Street served as Philadelphia City Council president and its Finance Committee chairman whose leadership was instrumental in implementing a financial plan that turned Philadelphia's $250 million deficit into a $169 million surplus. He is a 1966 Oakwood College and 1975 Temple University Law School graduate.

Mayor Street, 56, was born of humble circumstance in Norristown, Pa., and suffered poverty, growing up without electricity or indoor plumbing as a child. He and his family realized the importance of education and made sacrifices through elementary and high school.

After graduating from Conshohocken High School, he worked his way through Oakwood College in Huntsville, majoring in English. In 1975, Street earned his juris doctorate degree from Temple University Law School, paying his tuition by moonlighting as a sidewalk vendor on the university's campus.

Upon qualifying as a lawyer, Street served clerkships with Common Pleas Court Judge Matthew W. Bullock Jr. and with the United States Department of Justice. He taught English at an elementary school for his first professional job and later, at the Philadelphia Opportunities Industrialization Center. He also practiced law before entering into public service.

A determined individual for the betterment of the community he was a fierce activist and led efforts for fair housing opportunities for the poor and challenged the Philadelphia School Board to spend more on students and less on administration.

Mayor Street has also been a leader in forging closer cooperation between the police and the community in the fight against crime and drugs in Philadelphia's neighborhoods.

Article Copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.

Photo (Mayor John F. Street with Naomi Street, Brian O'Neill and Alex Bongbitacola)

Umpires not balking over calling balks

2012-03-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

Veteran American League umpire Larry Barnett warns balk callswill continue if pitchers keep committing the infraction.

Barnett, chief of the crew that called six balks Sunday in agame between the Milwaukee Brewers and the New York Yankees game,said he's surprised at the lack of adjustment to the new rule.

"The rule is so clear in the book it is not funny," Barnettsaid. "All these clubs had clinics during spring training. If theycontinue to abuse the rule, the same results will happen.

"I didn't make the rules, I just enforce them. Dr. (ALPresident Bobby) Brown signs the checks and as long as he does that,I think I'll do what he wants me to do."

In the first week of the season, umpires called 74 balks,according to Elias Sports Bureau. For the 1987 season, 356 balkswere called.

GEDMAN ON DISABLED LIST: The Boston Red Sox placed catcher RichGedman on the 15-day disabled list and recalled catcher DannySheaffer from Pawtucket of the Class AAA International League.Gedman broke a bone in his right foot when he fouled a ball off hisfoot in a game Sunday against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas. Dr.Arthur Pappas, an orthopedic specialist and team physician, said,"We're talking in the range of four weeks." John Marzano willreplace Gedman as Boston's starting catcher.

The Red Sox also said center fielder Ellis Burks will beactivated today. He underwent surgery for removal of a bone chipfrom his right ankle during spring training. Kevin Romine, ajourneyman outfielder, is expected to be sent to Pawtucket to makeroom for Burks. Rookie Brady Anderson, who started the season incenter, is expected to move to right field.

HALL OF FAME: The uniform worn by Philadelphia Phillies sluggerMike Schmidt when he hit his 500th career homer and a bat used byPaul Molitor of the Milwaukee Brewers during his 39-game hittingstreak have been added to the collection of the National BaseballHall of Fame.

Other pieces of memorabilia from the 1987 season acquired by theshrine include the cap worn by Brewers pitcher Juan Nieves when hethrew his April 15 no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles, the batsNew York Yankee Don Mattingly used during his eight-game home runstreak and for his sixth grand slam of the season, and the mitt usedby Bob Boone of the California Angels when he broke the all-timerecord for games by a catcher.

The Hall of Fame also received a bat from American Leaguebatting champion Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox, the bat used byOakland Athletic Mark McGwire to smash the American League rookiehomer record and Rick Mahler's Atlanta Braves hat from his thirdstraight Opening Day shutout, Guilfoile said.

The Hall of Fame also has added to its "time line" of greatplayers and teams, with exhibits of the St. Louis Cardinals andDetroit Tigers as "teams of the 80s."

Included in the display are Kirk Gibson's batting helmet, thecap worn by Jack Morris in his April 7, 1984 no-hitter, Ozzie Smith'sglove, the cap worn by Whitey Herzog for his 1,000th victory as amanager and Darrell Porter's bat from the 1982 World Series when hewon the MVP award.

BITS: Boston will retire the No. 1 worn by Hall of Fame secondbaseman Bobby Doerr at a ceremony at Fenway Park next month. Doerrbatted .288 in 14 seasons with the Red Sox (1937-1951). He was anAmerican League All-Star nine times and was inducted into the Hall ofFame in 1986. Doerr, 70, will be honored in a ceremony May 19 beforethe Red Sox play a charity exhibition against Cincinnati. Baltimore hasn't won a series against an AL East team since lastApril. The last time the Orioles won a series against the AL Eastwas April 10-12, 1987, when they swept three games from the Indians.That's 25 straight series, including last weekend's four-game setagainst Cleveland, that the Orioles have either lost or tied. New York catcher Gary Carter said he expected to be in the startinglineup for the Mets' home opener today, despite suffering a mildconcussion Sunday in Philadelphia. Carter was hit on the right sideof the head by the bat of the Phillies' Von Hayes during the sixthinning. Feeling dizzy, Carter left in the eighth inning. The Pittsburgh Pirates' home opener Monday was the firstregular-season sellout in Three Rivers Stadium history. Incelebration of the 20th anniversary of "Mister Rogers Neighborhood,"which originated in Pittsburgh, Fred Rogers threw out the firstpitch. Seattle leadoff hitters are 10-for-21 this season. Yankee Willie Randolph is 0-for-9 and Don Mattingly is 3-for-22. Cleveland has a 1.45 earned-run average.

Entropy loss in long-distance DNA looping

2012-03-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

ABSTRACT The entropy loss due to the formation of one or multiple loops in circular and linear DNA chains is calculated from a scaling approach in the limit of long chain segments. The analytical results allow us to obtain a fast estimate for the entropy loss for a given configuration. Numerical values obtained for some examples suggest that the entropy loss encountered in loop closure in typical genetic switches may become a relevant factor in comparison to both k^sub B^T and typical bond energies in biopolymers, which has to be overcome by the released bond energy between the looping contact sites.

INTRODUCTION

Gene expression in all organisms comprises the transcription of a certain gene on the DNA into messenger RNA through RNA polymerase starting from the promoter site, and its subsequent translation into a protein. The initiation of the transcription at a specific gene underlies a subtle cooperative scheme of transcription factors, which in turn is determined by a given set of boundary conditions such as the concentration of the transcription factors. Transcription factors often act cooperatively, and they are known to interact with each other over distances of several thousand basepairs (bp). This interaction is effected through DNA looping (Alberts et al., 1994; Blackwood and Kadonaga, 1998; Bolsover et al., 2001; Ptashne and Gunn, 2002; Revet et al., 1999; Snustad and Simmons, 2003), compare Fig. 1.

A typical example for DNA looping is found in the genetic switch which determines whether the replication of bacteriophage [lambda] in Escherichia coli follows either the lysogenic or the lytic pathway (Ptashne, 1992; Ptashne and Gunn, 2002; Snustad and Simmons, 2003). A key component of this [lambda]-switch is the [lambda]-repressor which activates the expression of a gene that encodes the production of the [lambda]-repressor itself. [lambda]-repressor can bind to the three operator sites O^sub R^ which overlap the two promoter sites of the switch. [lambda]-repressor binds cooperatively as a dimer, and typically under stable lysogenic conditions two such dimers on O^sub R^ form a tetramer, the next higher order of cooperativity, which is the main factor for the stability of the [lambda]-switch against noise (Aurell and Sneppen, 2002; Aurell et al., 2002; Metzler, 2001). However, [lambda]-repressor can also bind to the very similar operator O^sub L^, which is located roughly 2300 bp away and not part of the [lambda]-switch. It has been found that the two [lambda]-repressor tetramers at O^sub L^ and O^sub R^ synergistically form an octamer through DNA looping. This higher-ordered oligomerization enhances the performance of the switch considerably (Amouyal et al., 1998; Bell and Lewis, 2001; Bell et al., 2000; Blackwood and Kadonaga, 1998; Ptashne and Gunn, 2002; Revet et al., 1999; Semsey et al., 2002; Xu and Hoover, 2001). The specific binding along the tetramer-tetramer interface has recently been revealed through crystallographic structure determination (Bell and Lewis, 2001; Bell et al., 2000). Similar realizations of DNA looping also occur in linear DNA, naturally in the form of telomeres or in vitro in engineered DNA (De Bruin et al., 2001; Griffith et al., 1999; Zaman et al., 2002, compare Fig. 1). Multiple looping in large DNA molecules around a locus can be observed in vivo and can be induced in vitro by introducing of specific binding zones on the DNA, which leads to a considerable reduction of the gyration radius of the molecule such that it can be more easily transferred into, for example, mammalian cells (Montigny et al., 2001).

DNA looping often involves large loop sizes of several thousand bp. Therefore, the formation of these loops causes a non-negligible entropy loss which has to be overcome by the binding energy released at the bond formation on loop closure. In the present study, we quantify this entropy loss for such long DNA loops, taking into account self-avoiding effects due to both the monomer-monomer interaction within the loop and the additional effects due to the higher order contact points (vertices) at the loop closure site. The resulting numbers for typical systems suggest that the entropy loss is a relevant factor in the formation of DNA loops in comparison to the thermal energy and typical bond energies found in DNA nucleotides and other biopolymers, and it gives a lower bound for the bond-forming energy required to stabilize the loop.

Entropy loss due to loop formation was studied for the case of disconnected loops by Schellmann (1955), Flory (1956), and Semlyen (1997). In their seminal article, Poland and Scheraga (1965), and Wang and Uhlenbeck (1955), considered coupled Gaussian loops. To our knowledge the full effect of self-avoidance in the DNA looping network has not been considered before. Hereby, the contributions of non-trivial vertices turns out to be a relevant factor, and for multiple looping with a common locus actually become the dominating contribution. The analytical results presented here are derived from a scaling approach for general polymer networks and provide the advantage that, on their basis, estimates for the entropy loss in a given DNA system can be computed in a straightforward manner. It should also be noted that the additional vertex effects studied herein may be crucial in the analytical treatment of the DNA looping dynamics, as the higher-order self-interaction at such vertices poses an additional barrier in the loop closure process (Lee et al., 1976; Merlitz et al., 1998). Our results for long DNA with large loops complement the investigations of the bending and twisting energies in small DNA plasmids (Coleman et al., 2000; Tobias et al., 2000). In the case of intermediate-sized DNA segments, both approaches may be combined.

In what follows, we calculate the scaling results for the entropy loss on looping for the three different cases: 1), looping in a circular DNA; 2), looping in a linear DNA; and 3), multiple looping in a circular DNA. In the Appendix, the general expressions for calculating the system entropy of an arbitrary polymer network are compiled so that the entropy loss for different configurations can be calculated according to the general procedure developed below.

LOOPING IN A CIRCULAR DNA CHAIN

As stated before, we consider the limit in which each segment of the looped DNA, e.g., both subloops created in the circular DNA upon looping, are long in comparison to the persistence length l^sub p^ of the double-stranded DNA chain. (It can be assumed that this criterion is fulfilled if the segment contains more than ten persistence lengths.) In this long chain limit, we can neglect energetic effects due to bending or twisting, such that we treat the DNA as a flexible self-avoiding polymer. Therefore, we can employ results for the configuration number of a general polymer network, which we briefly review in the Appendix.

Before looping, the free energy of the circular DNA of total length L is given by

F^sub circ^ = H^sub 0^ - TS^sub circ^, (1)

where H^sub 0^ combines all binding enthalpies in the macromolecule and the entropy S^sub circ^ = K^sub B^ ln [omega]^sub circ^ is determined by the number of configurations (see De Gennes, 1979; see also the Appendix, this article)

[omega]^sub circ^ = A^sub circ^ [mu]^sup L^L^sup -3[nu]^, (2)

of a simply connected ring polymer of length L in units of the monomer length. The latter can be estimated by the persistence length l^sub p^ of the polymer (~500 [Angstrom] for double-stranded DNA corresponding to 100 bp; see Marko and Siggia, 1996). In Eq. 2, A^sub circ^ is a nonuniversal amplitude, [mu] is the support dependent connectivity constant, and [nu] [Asymptotically = to] 0.588 (Guida and Zinn-Justin, 1998) is the Flory exponent. Thus, S^sub circ^ has the form

S^sub circ^ = K^sub B^(ln A^sub circ^ + L ln [mu] - 3[nu] ln L). (3)

On looping, as sketched in Fig. 1 to the left, the circular DNA is divided into two subloops of lengths l and L - l by creation of a vertex at which four legs of the chain are bound together. For a self-avoiding chain, the number of configurations of the resulting figure-eight shape (Metzler et al., 2002a,b) is not simply the product of the configuration numbers of the two created loops, but has the more complicated form (Duplantier, 1986, 1989; Ohno and Binder, 1988; Schafer et al, 1992; see also the Appendix, this article),

In this expression, A^sub 8^ is a nonuniversal amplitude, Y^sub 8^ is a universal scaling function, and [sigma]^sub 4^ [Asymptotically = to] -0.48 is a universal exponent associated with the vertex with four outgoing legs. Note that in the Gaussian chain limit, the exponents [sigma]^sub N^ vanish; as we are going to show, the inclusion of the additional effects due to the higher order vertex formation reflected by nonzero values for [sigma]^sub N^ are non-negligible. Given the entropy S^sub 8^ = K^sub B^ ln [omega]^sub 8^ of the figure-eight configuration, the entropy loss suffered from creating this configuration out of the original circular DNA amounts to |S^sub 8^ - S^sub circ|. To proceed, we now evaluate the scaling function Y^sub 8^(x) in some special cases, and calculate typical numbers for the required entropy loss compensation. Two limiting cases can be distinguished.

Limiting case 1

If one of the loop sizes is much smaller than the other (l [much less than] L - l, say), the big loop of size L - l will essentially behave like a free circular chain so that its contribution to [omega]^sub 8^ will scale like a regular ring polymer, i.e., like (L - l)^sup -3[nu]^. Consequently, we find the behavior Y^sub 8^(x) = ax^sup -3[nu]+[sigma]4^ for x [much less than] 1, where a is a universal amplitude, and therefore (Hanke and Metzler, 2002; Metzler et al., 2002a,b),

[omega]^sub 8^ = A^sub 8^a[mu]^sup L^(L - l)^sup -3[nu]^ l^sup -3[nu]+[sigma]4^. (5)

In this case, the free energy difference between the initial circular and the looped states becomes

[Delta]F = [Delta]H^sub bond^ - T(S^sub 8^ - S^sub circ^), (6)

where [Delta]H^sub bond^ is the binding enthalpy at the loop closure site. The formation of the looping bond has to release a higher enthalpy than what is lost in entropy, i.e., [Delta]H^sub bond^ < T(S^sub 8^ - S^sub circ^). Collecting the different expressions, we thus find the condition

In this expression (and in similar expressions below), the first term in the square brackets is nonuniversal and depends on details of the model (for a Gaussian random walk on a cubic lattice, ln(A^sub 8^a/A^sub circ^) = ln(A^sub 8^Y^sub 8^(1)/A^sub circ^) = ln[3/(2[pi])] [Asymptotically = to] -0.74, is small compared with the other contributions in Eqs. 7 and 9; for the cases discussed below, we give the corresponding numbers in Table 1), whereas the remaining contributions are universal (apart from the fact that L is measured in units of the nonuniversal monomer length).

To get an estimate for the magnitude of the entropy loss, consider the case of the [lambda]-repressor loop in E. coli. With the size of the entire DNA of ~3.5 x 10^sup 3^ kbp and the looping branch of ~2.3 kbp, the two loops correspond to 3.5 x 10^sup 4^ and 23 monomers, respectively (each monomer corresponds to a persistence length l^sub p^ of 100 bp; see above). Neglecting the nonuniversal first term in brackets in Eq. 7, these numbers produce

[Delta]H^sub bond^ < - 7.0 k^sub B^T = - 17.5 kJ/mol = -4.2 kcal/mol;

(8)

here and in the following examples, we choose T = 300 K and make use of the gas constant, R = 8.31 JK^sup -1^ mol^sup -1^, and the conversion factor 1 cal = 4.2 J (Abramowitz and Stegun, 1972). Eq. 8 gives a considerable minimal value for the required bond energy between the two looping sites. For comparison, the typical free energy for basepair formation in DNA is 8 kcal/mol for AT pairs and 13 kcal/mol for GC pairs (Breslauer et al., 1986). Thus, even for the relatively small loop of 23 monomers, the required enthalpy release is non-negligible. Note that the relative contribution stemming from the [sigma]^sub 4^ term in Eq. 7 amounts to ~20% of the required enthalpy. In the Conclusion section, we compare the results obtained in the text with the corresponding ones in the Gaussian chain limit, demonstrating the significant increase of |[Delta]H^sub bond^| if self-avoidance is taken into consideration (see Table 1).

Limiting case 2

If the two created loops are of comparable size, i.e., x = l / (L - l) [approximate] 1, the corresponding value of the scaling function Y^sub 8^(x) is a finite number. For example, for l = L/2 one finds

In a modified DNA with two loops of 2.3 kbp each, one finds a bo nd enthalpy requirement of

[Delta]H^sub bond^ < - 5.8 k^sub B^T = - 14.5 kJ/mol = - 3.4 kcal/mol,

(10)

where we again neglect the nonuniversal first term in the square brackets. If both loops are of size 2 x 10^sup 3^ kbp each, the required bond enthalpy would increase to [Delta]H^sub bond^ < - 12.5 kcal/mol.

LOOPING IN A LINEAR DNA CHAIN

A linear chain of length L can assume

[omega]^sub lin^ = A^sub lin^ [mu]^sup L^L^sup [gamma]-1^ (11)

distinct configurations, where A^sub lin^ is a nonuniversal amplitude and [gamma] [Asymptotically = to] 1.16 is a universal exponent (Caracciolo et al., 1998; Guida and Zinn-Justin, 1998). If looping occurs and produces the A-shape in Fig. 1 to the right, the configuration number is modified to

where l is the size of the loop, and l^sub 1^ and l^sub 2^ are the sizes of the two loose end-segments, respectively.

We distinguish four different cases belonging to two groups: the configuration with l^sub 1^ [approximate] l^sub 2^, and the telomere configuration for which l^sub 1^ = 0 (or l^sub 2^ = 0).

Case 1

If l^sub 1^ = l^sub 2^, we find

where W^sub A^(x) = Y^sub A^(x,1). If furthermore l [much less than] L - l, an analogous reasoning as in the limiting case 1 of the previous section, leads to

MULTIPLE LOOPING IN A CIRCULAR DNA CHAIN

Assume that m potential connector points are distributed evenly along a circular DNA chain of total length L. If these condense to form a common locus, a number m of loops of equal size are created which are held together at this locus, as sketched in Fig. 2 (Montigny et al., 2001). This creates, in the scaling limit, a high-order vertex where 2m legs are joined. The procedure for the configuration number for this locus configuration yields

where the universal exponent [sigma]^sub 2m^ is associated with a vertex with 2m outgoing legs (see the Appendix). It should be noted that this result holds true only if the size of the locus is much smaller than the sizes of the created loops (Metzler et al., 2002a,b).

Due to the assumption that all m loops are of the same size, we immediately arrive at

The absolute value of [sigma]^sub 2m^ increases rapidly with increasing m, and can be determined from Pade or Pade-Borel analysis as shown in Schafer et al. (1992). We list the topological exponents up to order 8 in the Appendix. Taking a circular chain of 3500 kbp and m = 4, and neglecting the (nonuniversal) first term in the square brackets, we find that the entropy loss is fairly high (using [sigma]^sub 8^ = -2.4),

[Delta]H^sub bond^ < - 67.4 k^sub B^T = -168 kJ/mol = -40.1 kcal/mol.

(29)

In this case, the contribution due to the [sigma]^sub 8^ term is as large as 50% of the total entropy loss.

CONCLUSIONS

We have presented an analytical method to estimate the entropy loss in different scenarios of DNA looping in the limit of long segments. This approach takes explicitly the self-avoidance and interacting nature of the formed loops and other segments into account, and considers the additional effect of vertex formation, i.e., the effective interaction between different segments at the point where they are joined. This is possible via the scaling theory for arbitrary polymer networks derived by Duplantier. The obtained numbers do not vary much, due to the logarithmic dependence on the segment sizes. However, they are all non-negligible, and therefore have to be compensated by the released bond energy on formation of the DNA loop. We noted that the entropy loss is of the same order or close to the bond melting energy required for splitting an AT or GC bond, i.e., a considerable amount. Moreover, it is to be expected that the vertex effect increases the characteristic bond formation times in analytical approaches which are based on the free energy.

In Table 1 we summarize the obtained estimates for the minimum bond energy [Delta]H^sub bond^ in the present self-avoiding model, and compare them with the corresponding results in the Gaussian limit. The differences are significant, clearly showing the much higher entropy loss in the self-avoiding case. In Table 1 we also show estimates for the corresponding nonuniversal contributions, which we neglected in the explicit calculation of [Delta]H^sub bond^.

Our calculations are valid in the long chain limit. In units of the monomer size of a typical DNA double-helix persistence length ...^^^sub p^ ~ 100 bp, a minimum number of at least 10 monomers is expected to be required to consider a segment in the final structure flexible. For shorter segments, additional effects due to bending and twisting energy are expected to become relevant. As the mentioned examples document, there are numerous systems, both in vivo and in vitro, in which the flexibility condition is easily fulfilled, and in which our estimation method for the entropy loss becomes fully applicable. The persistence length of single-stranded DNA and RNA is much shorter, typically taken to be of the order ...^sub p^ ~ 8 bases. Thus, in single strand looping experiments the expected entropy loss will be considerably larger.

[Sidebar]

Biophysical Journal Volume 85 July 2003 97-107

[Reference]

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[Author Affiliation]

Andreas Hanke*[dagger] and Ralf Metzler[double dagger][sec]

*Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany; [dagger]Department of Physics-Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; [double dagger]NORDITA-Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, Copenhagen, Denmark; and [sec]Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts USA

[Author Affiliation]

Submitted November 25, 2002, and accepted for publication March 12, 2003.

Address reprint requests to Ralf Metzler, E-mail: metz@nordita.dk.

0006-3495/03/07/167/07 $2.00