Jonny Wilkinson has been dropped by England for the first time in his international rugby career.
Coach Brian Ashton omitted the World Cup-winning flyhalf from the lineup for Saturday's Six Nations match against Ireland following the team's surprise 15-9 loss at Scotland.
A poor performance …
CHASKA, Minn.--The question wasn't the least bit smarmy or mean-spirited. But no matter how it was posed in the interview tentSaturday, Tiger Woods was in the mood to pounce. "You've never comefrom behind to win a major championship," the reporter pointed out."Can you do it this time?"
What followed was a landmark sequence in the normally polite,politically correct domain of the ubergolfer. Incredulous thatsomeone would ask such a thing, Woods gazed at his interrogator,chuckled and, for full sarcastic effect, flashed every one of hispearly whites in a classic frozen moment.
"Yeahhhhh," he re-plied, stretching a one-syllable word into two.
But what about the …
Engrained in the fine mahogany that adorns the recently renovated interior of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building is the tradition of Woodlore Builders Studio of Harrisburg.
Since 1978, the architectural millworks company, which employs 16 people, has crafted a reputation as a specialist in the custom production of wood trim, furniture and building decor.
"What sells our work is our work," said Michael Spangler, president and sole owner of the firm. The estimated $300,000 cost of the woodwork renovations to the Capitol Building is typical of the two or three large-scale jobs that Woodlore completes each year. Some jobs pay up to $500,000. Overall, the firm completes …
| Country W L T Pt GF GA |
| United States 1 0 0 2 12 11 |
| Italy 1 0 0 2 9 8 |
| China 0 1 0 0 11 12 |
| Russia 0 1 0 0 8 9 |
| Group B |
| Country W L T Pt GF GA |
| Hungary 1 0 0 2 11 9 |
| Australia 1 0 0 2 8 6 |
| Greece 0 1 0 0 6 8 |
| Netherlands 0 1 0 0 9 11 |
Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol of Spain has a mild to moderate strained left hamstring and is doubtful for Tuesday night's game against Houston.
The Lakers said Monday that Gasol was examined by the team doctor and an ultrasound test and MRI …
We're still trying to figure out how Blaine got by with solittle space, so little water, no food whatsoever and why he didn'tseem to grow much of a 5 o'clock shadow in seven days.
But we're left totally slack-jawed by some of the stuff Blainepulls off in the (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) "David Blaine: Magic Man" special(9 tonight, WLS-Channel 7), produced with the guidance of formerDavid Letterman and Rosie O'Donnell staffer Daniel Kellison.TV …
COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Crews are working to move a floating restaurant back to shore after it partially tore loose from its moorings and stranded more than 80 people on board for hours.
The U.S. Coast Guard, Waterfront restaurant owner Jack Ruby and Covington city officials developed a plan Saturday to move the restaurant, which broke free on the Ohio River late Friday night. Everyone on board had to be rescued one at a time, coming off the boat using ladders and ropes used for a makeshift gangplank. Authorities said Cris Collinsworth, a former NFL star long associated with Ruby, was among those taken from the boat during the hourslong rescue.
Rob Carlisle of Villa Hills, whose …
Several thousand Gazans are making a furious rush to the Egyptian border, hoping to take advantage of a rare chance to escape the blockaded territory.
Egypt announced Tuesday it was temporarily opening the border, a day after an Israeli naval raid killed nine pro-Palestinian activists sailing to Gaza.
Cars with suitcases piled on their roofs are streaming to the border, while many others are lugging overstaffed bags on foot. Dozens of Hamas police with automatic weapons are patrolling the area to maintain order.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
JERUSALEM (AP) _ …
ADLER, Russia - An Armenian passenger plane crashed in stormyweather today off Russia's Black Sea coast while readying to land,killing all 113 people on board - most of them Armenians.
The Airbus A-320, which belonged to the Armenian airline Armavia,disappeared from radar screens about four miles from shore andcrashed after making a turn toward the Adler airport near thesouthern Russian city of Sochi, emergency official Viktor Beltsovsaid.
Officials said all 113 people aboard the plane, including sixchildren, were killed. It was the worst air disaster in Armenia'srecent history.
Armenian airline officials said they believed the crash was due tothe weather - …
One hundred million pennies for your thoughts on the latest display in New York City's Rockefeller Center.
Silda Wall Spitzer, wife of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, joined hundreds of public school children on Monday to unveil a mass of US$1 million (euro680,000) in pennies collected for charity. The display, called the Penny Harvest Field, includes an estimated 100 million pennies _ plus a few nickels, dimes and quarters that slipped in by mistake.
The exhibit, 30-by-165 feet (10-by-50 meters), as long as a city block, is the culmination of the nonprofit organization Common Cents' 17th annual Penny Harvest.
The national educational …
But even though they lost, the Bulls think they snapped out of their recent funk and would have beaten a lot of teams with their performance.
Just not the defending NBA champion Lakers on a night when Kobe Bryant exploded for 42 points despite playing with a broken index finger on his right (shooting) hand.
''Even though we lost, this was a winning-type effort,'' Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich said. ''I thought everybody played hard. You could tell there …
Our back stock was in the basement. The upstairs coolers, in the retail department, were tiny.
I tried to rearrange the facings (numbers of products you see when you look into the cooler) to reflect the best-sellers, but even for 12-packs of Miller Lite, I could only give two facings each to bottles and cans.
The cold 12-packs would sell out by about noon. I would throw new packs into the cooler as soon as the old ones were bought. I would put the warm ones behind the cold ones. So, if there were no cold ones in the front, THERE WERE NO COLD ONES IN THE STORE!
Customers, always men, would stroll over and put their fingers into the first 12-pack of bottles, to see if the bottles were cold. Some guys would be upset that the first 12-pack was warm, so they would look around, see me in the department, and deliberately DROP THE PACKAGE onto the floor, hearing the glass break.
Then they would do the same with the next one, and the next one. And if all of the packs were warm, they would then go on to their second choice of beer, and "check" those in the same way.
Comment at suntimes.com.
Photo: David Zalubowski AP / (See microfilm for photo description). ;
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — California officials say they are investigating six possible heat-related deaths, including two cases of two farmworkers who collapsed while harvesting crops.
A spokeswoman for the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health said Thursday her agency is reviewing whether a 47-year-old worker in Blythe died because he was operating a tractor to harvest cantaloupes in 102-degree heat on July 7. Spokeswoman Erika Monterroza says it's also investigating the April death of a 56-year-old farmworker who was breaking corn in 84-degree heat in Imperial County.
Other cases under investigation involve a drilling crew floorman, a police officer, a temporary laborer and a grading foreman, who all died in June.
In all six cases, coroners have not confirmed the cause of death.
Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh said Thursday he will nominate thechairman and chief executive officer of Inland Steel Industries Inc.to oversee the Bi-State Commission that will choose a site for athird Chicago area airport.
Bayh said his choice is Frank Luerssen. Inland Steel isheadquartered in Chicago and operates steel mills in Gary.
The chairman will head an 11-member panel with four people fromIllinois, four from Indiana and three from Chicago. The commissionis expected to recommend a site for a third Chicago airport by theend of 1992.
The choice for chairman must be approved by Mayor Daley, Gov.Thompson and Bayh.
A Thompson spokesman said the governor "has a great deal ofrespect for (Luerssen) and feels he would a fine job. But there areothers who would do a fine job, and the decision has to be made bythe mayor and the two governors. And they're not at that point yet."
Daley could not be reached for comment Thursday night.
"Both Gov. Thompson and Mayor Daley told me they held Mr.Luerssen in high regard, and I hope they will join me in endorsinghim for this important position," Bayh said. "It is time for thebickering to come to an end and for serious work to begin."
Bayh said that Luerssen "is an ideal candidate to bring unity tothe process of selecting the airport site and is one of the fewpersons who has a record of accomplishment in Indiana, Illinois andChicago."
Luerssen, of Munster, Ind., has been with the steel companysince 1952.
Michelle Obama says the Newseum and historic attractions like Monticello are among her daughters' favorite places to visit in Washington and the surrounding area, according to a cover story in the May issue of Conde Nast Traveler magazine called "Mrs. Obama's Washington: Why the First Lady Loves Her New Hometown."
The magazine cover shows the first lady wearing pearls, silvery pointy-toed high heels, and a fuschia dress with cap sleeves, cinched at the waist with a bow. The Washington Monument can be seen through the window. Beside her is a blue chair from the early 1800s decorated with a golden eagle.
Mrs. Obama has appeared on other magazine covers, including Glamour, Vogue, O, People and Time, but this is the first time in Conde Nast Traveler's 23-year history that it has put a first lady on the front.
The first lady said she created an informal "Camp Obama" last summer to expose her girls to attractions related to American history because she worried that they'd learned "more about history in Europe than they did here."
In addition to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's estate, which she called "incredibly beautiful," they've visited Frederick Douglass' home and Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate.
She told the magazine that her daughters "love the Newseum," an interactive museum about news history. They enjoyed Luray Caverns in Virginia, too: "Yes! We saw the egg," she said, referring to a formation in the cave that looks like fried eggs.
She reflected on the limits of her ability to experience Washington like other visitors. "I would love, and so would the President, to be able to walk up and down the Mall, not at night but in the middle of the day, when there are millions of people there, and experience it in the way that you're used to experiencing it," she said.
Even a simple dinner date snarls traffic for blocks. "It's like, 'Okay, we're going to that restaurant, and everyone's going to get mad, 'cause I'm there eating my hamburger,'" she told the magazine.
Restaurants in Washington where Mrs. Obama and her husband have dined include Blue Duck Tavern, where they celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary; Restaurant Nora, where the president took her for her 46th birthday; and Good Stuff Eatery, described as her favorite burger joint, where the menu includes a "Michelle Melt."
The May issue of Conde Nast Traveler will be on newsstands April 14. The online version of the story includes a map of some of the first lady's favorite places.
The article also includes her comments on previous first ladies. Nancy Reagan, she said, has come back to the White House for lunch; Laura Bush has been "incredibly gracious and kind and real in a way that I didn't expect"; and Hillary Clinton had "left open a broader possibility of what a first lady could be. I don't feel like policy is out of reach."
Conde Nast Traveler covers usually feature beaches or skylines with glamorous but anonymous models. But editor in chief Klara Glowczewska said the magazine has started featuring people on the cover "who are dedicated to making a difference." Queen Rania of Jordan appeared on the cover last year and former President Bill Clinton was featured in 2007.
"We have been particularly inspired by first lady Michelle Obama's mission to encourage all Americans to experience and enjoy Washington, as well as her commitment to giving back to her community and the world at large," Glowczewska said.
___
On the Net:
Conde Nast Traveler article, "Mrs. Obama's Washington": http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/502489
Map of Michelle Obama's favorite places: http://bit.ly/9oYCNw
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Republican Meg Whitman struggled to steady her campaign for California governor after disclosures about her former housekeeper — an illegal immigrant — threatened to cut into her support among Latinos just weeks before election day.
The campaign that for months was dominated by talk of schools, the state's $19 billion deficit and jobs has become a swirl of accusations pitting the word of Whitman, the billionaire former eBay chief executive, against a 39-year-old maid who worked in her home for nearly a decade.
Whitman says the woman provided what appeared to be a valid Social Security card and driver's license when she was hired through an employment agency in 2000. At issue is whether Whitman knew about a 2003 letter from the Social Security Administration that raised discrepancies about her housekeeper's documents — a possible tip-off that she could be in the U.S. illegally.
The letter is at the center of claims by Nicky Diaz Santillan that Whitman and her husband knew for years about her legal status, but kept her on the job anyway at their Silicon Valley home.
Seeking to quiet the uproar, Whitman tried to turn the discussion in another direction. "This is a distraction on what I think Californians really care about," she said, referring to unemployment and public schools.
But damage might already be done.
"When news headlines are saying 'Whitman hired an illegal alien,' you have a problem," said Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont-McKenna College in Claremont, Calif. . "A Republican in California has a tough sell among Latinos to begin with. This makes it tougher for her."
On Thursday, Whitman disclosed that her husband might have seen the 2003 letter and jotted a note on it telling the housekeeper to "please check this."
For two days, Whitman forcefully denied receiving any such letter and said she fired the $23-an-hour housekeeper last year immediately after learning she was illegal. But Whitman's husband changed course Thursday after a letter surfaced with what appeared to be his handwriting, forcing him to say he may have been aware of the correspondence back in 2003.
Whitman has denounced the allegations as a "baseless smear attack" by Democratic challenger Jerry Brown in what has become a dead-heat race to run the nation's most populous state. Hispanics are projected to comprise just 15 percent of voters in the Nov. 2 general election, but both sides have aggressively targeted them as potential swing votes.
Now, the focus is on whether the billionaire GOP nominee for governor will take a polygraph test to respond to allegations brought by a celebrity-seeking attorney and her mysterious housekeeper client. The Los Angeles Times reported that Whitman said she would be willing to undergo such a test.
Revelations about the illegal housekeeper have also thrown Whitman's carefully managed campaign completely off track and opened the door for Democrats to accuse her of hypocrisy.
Whitman has called for tougher sanctions against employers who hire illegal workers, and the fact that she employed an illegal immigrant maid from Mexico for nine years could undermine her credibility. She has also spent millions courting Latino voters, who could play a key role in determining the outcome of the race.
After Whitman's denials, the housekeeper and lawyer Gloria Allred produced a copy of the letter Thursday that they say shows Whitman's husband, Dr. Griffith Harsh III, partially filled it out.
Allred said the housekeeper recognized the writing as belonging to Whitman's husband, and a handwriting specialist may be brought in to analyze her husband's penmanship. She claims it could prove that Whitman and her husband knew years earlier that Diaz Santillan was not a U.S. citizen.
In a statement released by the campaign, Harsh said he did not recall receiving the letter, although it's possible he scratched out a note asking Diaz Santillan to follow up. He noted, however, that the letter does not say Diaz Santillan is illegal, it merely asks for more information.
"The essential fact remains the same, neither Meg nor I believed there was a problem with Nicky's legal status," the husband said. "The facts of this matter are very clear: Ms. Diaz broke the law and lied to us and to the employment agency."
Campaign adviser Rob Stutzman said "it's reasonable" the letter could be authentic, but added the campaign has questions about its whereabouts for seven years and if it is legitimate. At one point Thursday, the campaign said that Diaz Santillan may have intercepted the letter since she was in charge of the mail at the house.
The story has consumed two full days of news cycles just as Whitman and Brown are preparing for a Saturday Spanish-language debate that will include questions of importance to the Hispanic community.
One of the state's largest public employee unions immediately released a Spanish-language attack ad accusing Whitman of a double standard on illegal immigration.
Whitman, who has revealed few details about her personal life since announcing her first run for office last year, was forced to spend 45 minutes answering questions from reporters about what she knew and when she knew it, her husband standing awkwardly by throughout.
"You know, I've only been in politics for two years. I'm just getting used to the smear politics, I'm just getting used to the politics of personal destruction," she told dozens of reporters hastily gathered at a hotel in Santa Monica.
Whitman has spent a record $119 million of her own money on the race, and her campaign has been marked by its uncanny ability to stay on message. That marks a notable contrast with Brown, the state's attorney general and a former governor known for talking off-the-cuff, sometimes too much.
The timing of the allegations so close to the Spanish-speaking debate, the lack of extensive documentation, and Allred's Democratic ties left her open to questions about motive. Allred once gave money to Brown, and she was a Hillary Rodham Clinton delegate at the Democratic National Convention in 2008.
Allred, who is well-known for orchestrating media stunts, has not permitted Diaz Santillan to answer a single question from reporters over two days of news conferences. The former housekeeper read a brief, prepared statement Wednesday that alleged brusque treatment during her nine-year tenure. Whitman said it was "not the Nicky I know."
Allred said Thursday she is not providing any financial support to her client and added her involvement with Diaz Santillan started "within the last week."
Two days after she made the allegations that reordered the race for governor, Diaz Santillan remains a mystery. Virtually nothing is known about her activities or whereabouts from the time Whitman fired her in June 2009 until she appeared Wednesday with Allred at her Los Angeles law office.
In her 2000 employment application, Diaz Santillan revealed she went to high school and college in Mexico City and says she would like to go back to school to take computer administration. The mother of three said she has 11 brothers and sisters, eight of them living in the San Francisco Bay area. Whitman's campaign says Diaz Santillan used her sister's documents in her fraudulent application.
Whitman was repeatedly asked why she didn't just own up to this huge political liability earlier to avoid a late election-cycle surprise such as this, particularly since she has repeatedly stressed the need to hold employers accountable for hiring illegal workers.
She said she didn't want to subject Diaz Santillan to the scrutiny — and left unsaid, deportation — that could have resulted from her reporting it. Whitman also noted that in California, employers bear no responsibility to report illegal worker, only to not knowingly hire and employ them.
"Because Nicky had worked for us for 10 years, I was very fond of Nicky and I didn't want to make an example of her. It's not an obligation of the employer to turn in illegal employees," she said.
Tim Raines plans to gloat today to longtime friend Andre Dawson.White Sox leadoff man Raines has as many home runs - two - as ex-Cubsslugger Dawson, who is now with the Red Sox.
"And I hit more last year (16) than he did (13)," Raines joked."I came into the game (Friday) trying to catch him."
Raines' 3-for-5 day ended an 0-for-13 slump to start the season.
"Years ago, I was a guy who stole bases," Raines said. "Nowpeople say, `Maybe he can't run anymore, but he's showing some powerand hits for average.' "
FLAG RAISING: Ozzie Guillen got the honor of raising the 1993West Division championship flag.
The pregame ceremony came after video highlights of manager ofthe year Gene Lamont, MVP Frank Thomas and Cy Young winner JackMcDowell.
PITCHING PLUS: The Sox should be strong contenders in theAmerican League because of their strong pitching. Lamont knows hehas a quality staff but remains modest in his assessment.
"We have good, hard throwers in our starting four, and I surelike their potential," Lamont said. "And it looks to me like ScottSanderson was a great acquisition as our fifth starter.
"I like our pitching and defense. Those were our strengths lastyear, too. We have to be more consistent offensively. We've shownthat already."
MJ P.S.: Guillen called the Windy City Classic and MichaelJordan's performance "a good show for the fans. Thank God MichaelJordan showed up because it made it great for the fans."
Guillen said the media mob trailing Jordan wasn't distracting.
"We take care of that," he said. "We have to deal with themedia, and he does, too."
APRIL STREAK: McDowell will try to start a new April winningstreak today against Red Sox ace Roger Clemens. McDowell had won 12consecutive April games dating to 1991 before losing 7-3 Monday tothe Toronto Blue Jays.
McDowell is 6-6 with a 3.49 ERA lifetime against the Red Sox.He was 3-1 with a 3.26 ERA against them last season.
THE SENOR: Former Sox manager Al Lopez, still fit at 85, wasgiven ceremonial first-pitch honors in his first visit to newComiskey Park.
"This is tremendous," he said of the stadium. "What adifference, and the fans reacted well to it (in attendance)."
Lopez, who managed the team from 1957 to 1965 and again in 1968and 1969, remembered the pennant-winning 1959 preseason when New Yorkwriters asked him in spring training if the Sox would find a way toovertake the Yankees.
"I said we'd figure something out, and we did," Lopez said.
JOHNSON BACK: Center fielder Lance Johnson, who sat out theexhibition game Thursday after being hit on the arm by a pitchWednesday, returned to the starting lineup.
A division of General Dynamics Corp. recently received a $7.9 million contract from the Army for 44 newly overhauled D-20 12mm Howitzers, a standard armament of artillery, the Pentagon said late Friday.
Work is to be performed in Kabul and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2010.
Shares of the Falls Church, Va.-based fell 14 cents to $66.02 in midday trading Monday.
EAST HORNDON: A voluntary clear-up is being organised to helprestore the run down grounds of an ancient church. An appeal isbeing made for volunteers for the cleaning session at All Saints'Church, located just off the A128, from 10am on Saturday, August 20.They are asked to bring equipment, a picnic and plenty ofenthusiasm.
As a senior at Capital High School, Dominique Green caught theattention of University of Charleston football coaches with hisenergy on the field.
"In high school, it's always hard to play every play of the gamewide open, but that's what impressed us," said Carey Baker, UC'sdefensive coordinator.
UC liked Green enough to sign him in February and then sat backand watched with delight as the 6-foot-2, 215-pound defensive endwreaked havoc in June's North-South All-Star Classic at UC Stadium.
Green played for the winning South team.
"In the high school all-star game, he was the most dominantplayer on the field," Baker said. "There may have been guys in thegame who were being recruited by bigger schools.
"But I don't know how anybody who watched that game couldn't havethought that he was the best player on the field. He was unblockablein passing situations."
Green hasn't slowed down this season. He's getting qualityplaying time at defensive end as a true freshman for UC, somethingGreen never dreamed would happen.
"I expected to be red-shirted," he said. "I would have had noproblem with that if it would have been better for me in the longrun."
The bottom line is Green turned out to be good enough to playright now.
In the Golden Eagles 1-1 start, he has already two tackles forloss, including a sack. UC opens West Virginia Conference play atWest Virginia Wesleyan (0-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Baker expects Green's motor to be running full throttle as usual.
"He has great physical attributes but in particular, as a passrusher, he's relentless," Baker said. "It's uncommon to see a highschool kid make the transition to playing hard every down.
"Dominique has really made a smooth transition to the intensityof the college game and he's been very coachable as well.
"He has a bright future for us."
Green, who was a part-time tight end and wide receiver forCapital in addition to his duties on defense, tries to never takeplays off.
"In college, you can't take plays off or you'll get hurt," Greensaid. "If you take a play off, they'll come at you harder.
"I might not make all the plays. But by me going hard every play,I can help my teammates make the plays."
Green also is much more athletic than the offensive tacklestrying to block him and it could get even more futile for foes ifGreen adds weight as he hopes.
"He has a chance to be a big man," Baker said. "He could carry245 pounds easy and look the same as he does now."
"I'll eat healthy and gain weight the right way," Green said. "Iwant to gain weight. I think it will help me."
Green is one of two true freshmen playing on the Golden Eagles'defensive front, along with Bassett, Va., product Justin Woods.
Josh Bruce, another true freshman from St. Albans High, waspenciled in for playing time on the defensive line this season butwill likely redshirt after sustaining an injury, Baker said.
Green is happy he ended up on defense.
"I kind of miss having a chance to make someone miss and havingthe ball in my hands," he said. "But defense is great becausethere's nothing like sacking the quarterback. That's better thananything else."
Contact sportswriter Tom Aluise at toma@dailymail.com or (304)348-4871.
This response (a) makes a few comments about the articles as a group, (b) briefly highlights the historical context of previous theory-based models for career guidance in schools, and (c) argues that school to work (STW) is not an intellectual but an economic and a political strategy that needs to be examined carefully, especially in relation to students' career needs and theory-based interventions of the recent past.
One can admire the theory group's integrity. The authors have taken a highly political topic, discussed it in intellectual terms, and derived a series of theoretical papers, each of which makes a reasonably compelling argument for its "fit" with school to work. The collection presents a cafeteria of choices from which readers or school-to-work (STV) policymakers and practitioners can choose which or which combination of the major career/vocational theories they prefer. The authors also have stayed with the original purpose for which the School-to-Work Opportunities Act supposedly was created-- to support the workbound, employment-bound, or "forgotten half" who do not go to college or may drop out of high school (Grant, 1988). The authors do not see the act as designed for all, as is happening in some states, but estimate that it could affect 75% of the youth population. They use their considerable talents and expertise to further delineate the current and continuing problem of preparing youth for work and the labor market.
If one has studied the School-to-Work Opportunities Act ( 1994), it is difficult to escape the conclusion that STW is a modern trait and factor approach and that, of the theories presented, Swanson and Fouad's person-environment fit theory relates best to STW ( 1999). The theory also fits well with expanding technology and information systems. Yet we all know that information is not enough, and I would suggest that the matching relevant models of the twentieth century alone may not be what we need for twenty-- first century career development.
Because of my theoretical orientation, I prefer Savickas's Developmental Perspective, and I appreciate the historical context he provides for STW (1999), which is not new but has been around since the 1930s. He succinctly analyzes Donald Super's Career Pattern Studies, which emphasize planfulness, self concept, and developmental tasks. He also delineates four interventions to orient, teach, coach, and rehearse students for what he regards as the major task of increasing their choice awareness, along with information and planning students need to make the choices.
I also agree with Krumboltz and Worthington ( 1999) that STW is based on economic rather than psychological principles and that students need to become active agents and problem solvers in their own lives. The authors make a convincing case for viewing STW from the learning theory of career counseling (LTCC), which focuses on expanding interests, reframing beliefs, and developing curiosity. They offer a few helpful and practical, though not new, strategies for applying the approach (e.g., job clubs, simulations, media and print materials, self-talk, and behavioral interventions).
Lent, Hackett, and Brown ( 1999) describe their Bandura-based social cognitive career theory (SCCT), which includes often-ignored emphases on contextual inputs and influences, and important self-efficacy expectations and outcomes. In terms of attending to previously neglected factors, such as personal inputs of sex, race, class, and disability, Lent et al. address important barriers to career development and offer new applications of their theory. The authors present six useful themes that undergird SCCT, suggesting both developmental and remedial interventions in students' career development not only at the STW transition point but throughout the school years.
Several of the papers allude to the changing workforce, and Krumboltz and Worthington (1999) indicate that much more emphasis needs to be put on the dramatic changes in the workplace. Instead of a static pattern of jobs and work, futurists, management consultants, and economists suggest that this country may be facing the end of"the job" and the end of"work" and the emergence of a new psychological contract between employers and employees. What will be the nature of the contract with students in work-based learning? Under STW, are career development specialists preparing students with skills that may not be needed and jobs that may not exist when students complete their training?
MISSING HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The continuities and discontinuities of educational history and reform need to be acknowledged by these authors. One of the surprises of the articles is that, other than Savickas's ( 1999), they have not attended much to the historical context of what has been done to promote students' career development in the schools over the past 25 to 30 years. Perhaps there is a generation gap, but a large chunk of the history of career guidance and attempts to create theory to undergird it are missing. For example, it is seldom acknowledged that Edwin Herr created the first developmental framework to integrate career development into schools' curricula (Hansen, 1977). Since the 1970s, he has been a major international conceptualizer and chronicler of career development and guidance for youth and adults (Herr & Cramer, 1996).
In the late 1960s, Gysbers and Moore (1975), along with the Minnesota Career Development Curriculum (CDC; composed of counselor educators, vocational educators, and graduate students), created theoretical models for systematic developmental career guidance (Hansen & Tennyson, 1975). The Missouri Life Career Development System (LCDS), a broadly based theory and K-12 developmental curriculum focused on the roles, events, and settings of the person's life, has been widely implemented. The Minnesota CDC, built on aspects of Donald Super's theory, such as career as self-development, career development over the life span, multipotentialities, and careers as life roles. Researchers analyzed literature from career and human development and developmental psychology to identify developmentally appropriate tasks and interventions at different educational levels, K-14 (Hansen & Gysbers,1975; Tennyson, Hansen, Klaurens, & Antholz, 1975, 1980).
The models were used for comprehensive career development programs in several states, and elements of the models were adapted for the National Career Development Guidelines (National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee,1989; 1997). The models also were used to train school counselors and in-service educators in the principles and practices of career development and guidance (Hansen, 1977).
As Lent et al. (1999) note, STW can be seen as very similar to career education. When career education was introduced in 1971, it gave a big boost to career activities in schools, but it was also atheoretical. Often confused with vocational education, it focused on students having exploratory work experience, knowing clusters of occupations, and having a marketable skill. When Kenneth Hoyt was the director of the Office of Career Education in 1975, career education flourished, but with the end of funding and with Reagan's agenda of"Back to the Basics" in the 1980s, career activities once again were diminished until the 1990s when apprenticeships and high skills became the focus and the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills Report (SCANS) was created, largely by corporate representatives and vocational educators (SCANS, 1991). Vocational education, through a process of relabeling, started using new terms such as work readiness, tech prep, employability, school to work, school to career, and "lifework" development (read career development).
THE CURRENT CLIMATE
It is true that STW is being implemented differently from state to state. But it seems clear that STW is paying little attention to how students make career decisions, at what levels, with what kinds of help, or with what kind of socialization. Critics of STW have accused it of tracking students, "dumbing down" the curriculum, forcing premature decisions (e.g., career majors by grade 11), and of allowing schools to take over functions that belong to parents (Barton, 1997; Cheney, 1998; "School to Work," 1998).
A recent report to Congress (Riley & Herman, 1997) states that STW implementation has fallen far short of expectations, with only limited participation by students and employers. It also reports that out-of-school youth, the primary target population, are not being adequately served.
More important questions seem to be "Who is to decide whether students are work bound or college-bound?" "When do students know themselves well enough to make these decisions?" "What are the respective roles of business and industry, school counselors, teachers, parents, universities, and students themselves?"
INCORPORATING STW INTO CAREER GUIDANCE
Career guidance, usually delivered by school counselors and teachers, is concerned with the development of the whole person. One of the limitations of STW is that it focuses on students as workers and ignores other parts of their development. STW is workforce development, providing skills so that the U.S. can keep the international competitive edge with Germany and Japan. Students deserve to be treated as whole people, and well-trained school counselors and teachers working with curriculum and community in comprehensive theory-- based developmental guidance programs are an important key to holistic development (Gysbers & Henderson, 1994). The new National Standards for School Counseling Programs (American School Counselor Association, 1997) allot at least a third of counselor activities to career development (including STW), and the remainder of the activities to academic development and personal and social development.
In Florida, several counselor educators and career practitioners were co-authors of an excellent theory-to-practice document called A Framework for Developing Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Programs for a School-to-Work System (Florida Department of Education, 1996). These collaborative models include many strategies long available through career guidance, such as curriculum units, career centers, exploratory work experience (now STW), action learning, computer-assisted career guidance, individual planning and portfolios, simulations, and change process principles.
Important questions remain. In light of the examples above, is STW just "old wine in new bottles? Should career development theorists be trying to make their theories fit a very limited political strategy, or should we be challenging the assumptions and origins of that strategy? Should we be colluding on a program of workforce development that started out for a specific group, but that is now supposed to fit all Americans and is being sold as the centerpiece of education and educational reform?
In the zeal to prepare students for the workforce, the human dimension-student development-has been forgotten. I do not think applying any of the theories to the STW movement will erase any of its basic flaws. It is the latest bandwagon, driven by business and industry, implemented largely by vocational education, costs billions of dollars, and is legislated to sunset October 1, 2001. When STW ends, career development theory and research still will have much to offer all students, apart from the STW initiative.
We need to develop a theory for career counseling in schools for all students that involves counselors, teachers, parents, communities, and students themselves-all of whom are stakeholders. Even if these theories are not implemented in STW, the papers here offer valuable suggestions and ideas to practitioners working in different aspects of career guidance and counseling.
[Reference]
REFERENCES
[Reference]
American School Counselor Association. (1997). Sharing the vision-The national standards for school counseling programs. Alexandria, VA: Author. Barton, M. (1997, Spring/Summer). Some arguments against school-to-work. Vocational Psychology News, 8, 4.
Cheney, L. (1998, February 5). School-to-work programs may sound appealing, but they aren't. Minneapolis Star Tribune, pp. A23.
[Reference]
Florida Department of Education. (1996). Florida's student development program-A framework for developing comprehensive guidance and counseling programs for a school-to-work system. Tallahassee, FL: Author. Grant, W. T. (1988). The forgotten half. Non-college bound youth in America. Washington, DC: William T. Grant Foundation Commission on Work, Family and Citizenship.
Gysbers, N. C., & Henderson, P. (1994). Developing and managing your school guidance program (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
[Reference]
Gysbers, N. C., & Moore, E.J. (1975). Beyond career development-life career development. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 53, 647-652. Hansen, L. S. (1977). An examination of the definitions and concepts of career education. Washington, DC: National Advisory Council for Career Education. Hansen, L. S., & Gysbers, N. C. (Eds.). (1975). Career development: Guidance and education [Special issue]. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 53(9). Hansen, L. S., & Tennyson, W. W. (1975). A career management model for counselor involvement. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 53, 638-645. Herr, E. L., & Cramer, S. H. (1996). Career guidance and counseling through the Lifespan-Systematic approaches (5th ed.). New York: HarperCollins College.
[Reference]
Hoyt, K. B. (1977). Career education: Contributions to an evolving concept. Salt Lake City, UT: Olympus.
Krumboltz, J. D., dc Worthington, R. L. (1999). The school-to-work transition from a learning theory perspective. The Career Development Quarterly, 47, 312-325.
Lent, R. W., Hackett, G., & Brown, S. D. (1999). A social cognitive view of school-- to-work transition. The Career Development Quarterly, 47, 297-311.
[Reference]
National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee. (1989; 1997). National Career Development Guidelines. Washington, DC: Author. Riley, R. W., & Herman. A. M. (Sept. 1997). Implementation of the School-toWork Opportunities Act of 1994. Report to Congress. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
[Reference]
Savickas, M. L. (1999). The transition from school to work: A developmental perspective. The Career Development Quarterly, 47, 326-336.
[Reference]
School-to-work implementation falls short of expectations. (1998, February). Counseling Today, p. 1, 10, 12.
School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-239, 2, 108 Stat. 568 (1994).
[Reference]
Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (1991). What work requires of schools: A SCANS report for America 2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor.
Swanson, J. L., & Fouad, N. A. (1999). Applying theories of person-environment fit to the transition from school to work. The Career Development Quarterly, 47, 337-7.
[Reference]
Tennyson, W. W., Hansen, L. S., Klaurens, M. K., & Antholz, M. B. (1975;1980). Career development education-A program approach for teachers and counselors. St. Paul, MN: Department of Education; Revised and reprinted by the National Vocational Guidance Association.
[Author Affiliation]
L. Sunny Hansen is a professor in the Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology program in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to L. Sunny Hansen, 139 Burton Hall, 178 Pillsbury Drive, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (e-mail: sunnylsh@tc. umn.edu).
WASHINGTON - The economy popped out of its rut this spring and grew at the strongest pace in more than a year, giving President Bush something to crow about.
The best barometer of the country's economic fitness - gross domestic product - increased at a 3.4 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
Businesses regained their appetite to spend and sold more good overseas, contributing to the improved performance. Stronger government spending also helped out.
Individuals, however, took a breather as they coped with high gasoline prices and the ill effects of the housing slump, including spiking foreclosures and late mortgage payments. The sour housing market continued to weigh on the economy but not nearly as much as it had in previous quarters.
Economic growth in the first three months of the year had slowed to a near crawl of just 0.6 percent, the slowest in more than four years.
At the White House, Bush was quick to hail the rebound in national economic activity. "I want the American people to take a good look at this economy of ours," boasted Bush, whose economic stewardship has received weak marks. "It's an economy that is large, flexible and resilient."
But Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called the bounce back "a temporary oasis." He fretted that problems with risky mortgages could drag on and hurt the housing market's ability to recover.
On Wall Street, the GDP report failed to ease investors' fears about housing. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 208.10 points on Friday. One day earlier, the index suffered its second biggest drop of the year, plunging by 311.50 points. The culprit: investors' heightened anxiety that troubles in the housing and home-mortgage markets could spread.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called the market turbulence a "wake-up call" to investors to re-examine their degree of risk. The economy's fundamentals, he stressed, remain solid.
"Lenders need to be very aware of the risk. Borrowers need to be aware of risk. I would submit that people are more aware of those risks and the need for discipline today than maybe they were a month or two ago," Paulson said.
"So again let's keep our eye on the very strong underlying economy, which puts us in a position of strength," he added.
The second quarter's GDP was better than the 3.2 percent growth rate economists were expecting. It was the strongest showing since the first quarter of 2006, when the economy expanded at a brisk 4.8 percent pace. GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced in the United States.
Inflation - outside a burst in energy and food prices - moderated.
An inflation gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve showed "core" prices - excluding food and energy - rose at a rate of just 1.4 percent in the second quarter. That was down sharply from a 2.4 percent pace in the first quarter and was the smallest increase in four years.
That should help ease some inflation concerns. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said the biggest threat to the economy is if inflation doesn't recede as policymakers anticipate. Out-of-control prices are bad for the economy and the pocketbook. They eat into paychecks, erode purchasing power and reduce the value of investments.
The Fed has kept a key interest rate at 5.25 percent for more than a year. Economists predict that rate will stay where it is through the rest of 2007 now that the economy is gaining strength and underlying inflation is calming down.
Bush has been trying to counter weak public-approval ratings for his handling of the economy. Only 37 percent approve of his performance, close to a record low, according to a recent AP-Ipsos poll.
Problems in the troubled housing and mortgage markets have rattled investors in recent days. Friday's report showed that the ailing housing market is still crimping economic activity, but not as much as it had.
Investment in home building was cut by 9.3 percent, on an annualized basis, in the second quarter. That wasn't nearly as deep as the 16.3 percent annualized drop in the first quarter. It was the smallest cut in just over a year.
Businesses ramped up investment elsewhere.
They boosted their spending on new plants, buildings and other commercial construction at a whopping 22.1 percent rate, the most in 13 years. Investment on equipment and software posted a 2.3 percent growth rate, an improvement from a meager 0.3 percent growth rate in the first quarter.
"I think the confidence level of companies has come back. That's why there was a modest pickup in capital spending," said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics.
Businesses also replenished their inventories in the second quarter, adding to overall economic growth. Stronger export growth helped the nation's trade picture and added to the economy's momentum.
Also contributing to the second quarter's rebound: Government spending increased at a 4.2 percent pace. That compared with a 0.5 percent annualized drop in the first quarter.
However, consumers, whose spending largely prevented the economy from stalling out in the first three months of this year, lost energy in the second quarter. They boosted spending at a pace of just 1.3 percent, the smallest since the final quarter of 2005.
High gas prices and fallout from the housing slump are beginning to take their toll on peoples' appetite to spend. Still, a solid jobs climate - the nation's unemployment rate is at a relatively low 4.5 percent - should help cushion some of the negative forces.
Some economists wondered whether the overall economic momentum can be sustained.
"With energy prices high, the housing market reeling and the stock market uncertain, is there really a reason to think growth will accelerate sharply?" asked Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors.
The government also issued annual revisions that showed the economy grew at an average annual rate of 3.2 percent from 2003 through 2006, or 0.3 percentage point less than previously estimated. The revisions are based on more complete data.
Last year the economy grew by 2.9 percent - slower than the 3.3 percent increase previously calculated. The new figure marked the weakest annual growth since 2003 and underscored the depth of the housing slump.
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On the Net:
GDP report: http://www.bea.gov
MALIBU, Calif. - A wildfire fanned by Santa Ana winds destroyed four seaside mansions and significantly damaged four others as it spread over more than 20 acres in this celebrity enclave Monday, authorities said.
Flames boiled furiously out of the skeletons of multimillion-dollar beach homes for about two hours until there was little left to burn. One resident, who was not identified, was hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
Fire officials initially said eight homes were lost, but after full containment was achieved they cut that number in half. A guest home also was destroyed.
"The neighborhood looks like a war zone," County Fire Chief Michael Freeman said late Monday. "Anything that was down there that could burn, did burn."
Actress Victoria Principal was among the residents who rushed out to hose down their houses.
"She covered her house with water," said Principal's publicist, Alan Nierob. "Some people can't get access to their house, so she's out offering food and water to her neighbors."
The actress' home was not damaged, Nierob said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation. Arson investigators were at the scene, although fire officials stopped short of calling it suspicious.
"At this time we're not ruling anything out because everything needs to be considered," Freeman said.
TV news helicopters broadcast scenes of a large area of flame blowing down seaside slopes toward shoreline homes, with lines of flashing lights from emergency vehicles. Winds appeared to be blowing the fire toward the ocean rather than up into steep, brushy coastal canyons.
"Unfortunately, the homes in that area are very close together," said City Council member Pamela Conley Ulich, who stopped at the Michael Landon Community Center, in a state park near the fire, when she spotted the flames. "We're praying that this is going to pass. It's a catastrophe right now."
More than 300 firefighters aided by helicopters battled the blaze, which began about 5 p.m. in the heart of 21-mile-long Malibu, said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Ron Haralson. Streams of water were pumped onto the embers of what were once homes.
Flames could be seen four miles away at Duke's Malibu restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway, said Travis Jang-Busby, 20, a host at the eatery.
"The fire is on a point that juts out into the ocean, and it's burning all expensive, oceanfront homes," he said.
The fire burned near the Malibu Colony, one of the area's original beachfront neighborhoods, dating to the 1930s. The densely built stretch of luxury homes has been a favorite of celebrities over the years.
Famous residents of Malibu include Mel Gibson, Pierce Brosnan, Pamela Anderson, Barbra Streisand, Ted Danson, David Geffen and Courteney Cox-Arquette.
Malibu has frequently been the scene of devastating fires. In 1993, hundreds of homes were lost and three people were killed. A 1996 fire injured 11 people and destroyed six homes.
"It's so windy out there, it's kind of scary," said Roberto Cardenas, an employee at Coogies Beach Cafe.
"We've been seeing fire trucks screaming by," said Mike Gibson, manager of Diedrich Coffee, just over the hill from the fire.
The fire was less than a mile from Pepperdine University, but there was no immediate threat, spokeswoman Molly Drobnick said. "It's less than a mile away. There is quite a few flames. It's a pretty big fire."
"Red flag" fire danger warnings had been posted for much of Southern California because of strong north and northeast winds and low humidity.
Santa Ana winds blow when high pressure forms over the Great Basin and cold, dry air rushes out of the north or northeast toward the coast, reaching high speeds through canyons and passes.
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Associated Press writers Christina Almeida, Ana Beatriz Cholo and Daisy Nguyen in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is pushing Congress to move quickly in overhauling the nation's badly flawed financial rules, which he says is essential for the health of the economy.
Both the House and Senate are making progress toward revamping the current regulations, but Geithner said a rapid conclusion is needed to keep the economic recovery on track.
"To ensure the vitality, the strength and the stability of our economy going forward, we must bring our system of financial regulation into the 21st century," Geithner told the Joint Economic Committee Thursday.
Both the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee are working on their own versions of sweeping overhaul plans. But the two panels are taking sharply divergent approaches in some areas.
Both proposals also face sharp opposition from major sectors in the financial industry, casting doubt on how quickly Congress will be able to reach agreement and send a finished bill to the White House.
Geithner said a key principal the administration wants to see adopted is ensuring that firms not be able to escape or avoid oversight by shopping for the most lenient regulator, a situation critics say contributed to the worst financial market crisis in seven decades.
"The fact that investment banks like Bear Stearns or Lehman Brothers or other large firms like AIG could escape meaningful consolidated federal supervision simply by virtue of their legal form should be considered unthinkable from now on," Geithner said.
Another key principle the administration wants to see approved by Congress is to make sure the financial system as a whole is more capable of absorbing shocks and coping with failures. Geithner said this will require putting a greater focus on the quality of capital that firms are allowed to hold.
Capital reserves are the cushion financial firms carry to absorb loses.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney says his allies should stop running false political attacks.
He says he hasn't seen the attack ads against rival Newt Gingrich. At the same time, however, he's defending their content.
A group run by Romney's allies, Restore Our Future, spent millions of dollars on ads targeting Gingrich in Iowa. Gingrich blames the ads for his disappointing finish in the caucuses.
Romney concedes the group is run by former staffers. Federal law prevents campaigns from coordinating with the so-called Super PACs.
Romney first told Gingrich he hasn't seen the ads but added that any inaccuracies should be removed. Then he defended some of the content, such as linking Gingrich and Nancy Pelosi.
Gingrich warns that his allies would release a 27-minute video examining Romney's business career.
How do you defend yourself against terrorists when you don't knowwho or where they are, when they're going to strike and what methodsthey're going to use? Do you base your defenses on past actions --assuming if they attacked with hijacked planes before, they're goingto do so again -- or try to anticipate future atrocities? That is, doyou revise your security strategies, perhaps taking a page from theIsraelis by paying more attention to faces and personalities thanbelongings?
These are big questions. But in enacting security measures atairports that have done little more than inconvenience people andwaste their time, aviation authorities have thought egregiouslysmall. Is there anyone by now who thinks there is any value tofrisking senior citizens or patting down toddlers in chilly siderooms -- or stopping infants from boarding because they have the samenames as suspected terrorists on the "no-fly list"? (Sen. Edward M.Kennedy and onetime "Ozzie and Harriet" star David Nelson are amongthe grown-ups who have been stopped at airports for having the wrongname at the wrong place.) And has anyone felt more secure knowingnone of their fellow passengers was carrying a nail clipper ordisposable razor?
Finally, nearly four years after the wrenching horror of 9/11, theTransportation Security Administration is showing signs of commonsense. Saying it wants to make airline screening more "passenger-friendly" -- and, one would think, more airline-business friendly --the federal agency has proposed changes, including limiting patdownsand exempting Cabinet officials, members of Congress and the likefrom screenings, requiring only passengers who look "reasonablysuspicious" or set off metal detectors to have their shoes examined,and lifting the ban on personal items, including pocket knives andclippers.
So far so good. As nervous as some of us may be in the post-9/11era about sharp objects on planes, the risk of these small itemsbeing used to commit harm is very small. But these sane steps forwardstand to be mitigated by the TSA's rather irrational decision toallow ice picks to be included in carry-on items, too. According to aspokesman for the agency, it is out "to challenge conventionalbeliefs" in proposing these changes. Does that mean it doesn'tbelieve an ice pick can be a dangerous weapon? Would anyone, amongthe few people who actually still possess one, be seriouslyinconvenienced by not having an ice pick on a plane trip?
Gov. Blagojevich opposes the full package of alterations -- whichalso would allow the carrying on of bows and arrows. The arrowsbother us too. But in a broader sense, we see an urgent need to makeTSA policies rational, and the agency finally seems to be recognizingthat. If airport security is ever going to be what it should be,solid reason must prevail. Conventional thinking is sometimes worthits weight in safety.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The city's two major newspapers said Monday that they will give heavily-discounted Android tablet computers to paid digital subscribers as part of a new venture designed to shore up readership and revenue nearly a year after the publications emerged from bankruptcy.
The pilot project slated for launch in late August will provide about 2,000 tablets to customers who buy long-term subscriptions to The Philadelphia Inquirer or Philadelphia Daily News, according to publisher Greg Osberg.
It's the first time a major U.S. media company will bundle its content with a device, said Osberg, who is also the CEO of Philadelphia Media Network, which owns the papers and their joint website philly.com.
"Somebody needed to step forward and stimulate this market," Osberg said. "There's going to be a tablet explosion in terms of consumer adoption and we wanted to be out in front and learn as much as we can as early as we can."
The initiative comes amid widespread declines in the newspaper industry, which for years has battled decreasing advertising and subscription revenue as readers consume more information online.
Industry watchers were intrigued but skeptical. Bill Grueskin, dean of academic affairs at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, wondered how loyal subscribers would be after being given a device with access to every news source in the world.
"That's not to say that it's a terrible idea. It's an untested one," said Grueskin, lead author of a May report titled, "The Story So Far: What We Know About the Business of Digital Journalism."
Osberg, a former Newsweek executive, has been pledging online innovations since taking the helm of the papers and website last fall. On Monday, he said the "Project Liberty" initiative would turn "a local media company into a local digital media company," though his analog news conference had no demonstrations of the apps, device or content.
The tablet initiative aims to convert young professionals who are active on philly.com into paid subscribers of digital content, Osberg said in a later interview. The newspapers currently have 35,000 subscribers to Web-based digital editions who pay about $155 a year, he said.
Tablets would be given to those who buy the company's four news apps: two that offer replicas of the papers' print editions, one with additional Inquirer content, and one for philly.com.
Osberg wouldn't disclose the tablet manufacturer or information on the pricing packages, which he said are still being determined. Customers would probably need to buy a one- or two-year subscription to get the computer, he said.
The venture's overall cost to the company would be six figures, he told Adweek in a story posted Monday.
Though the iPad dominates the tablet market, Osberg said the company went with Android so it wouldn't have to share its app revenue and customer metrics with Apple. He noted, though, that the Inquirer will soon launch an iPad app.
Osberg said the tablet initiative does not herald the death of the print product, instead calling it a way to "preserve paid content on any platform that we go forward with."
The biggest question will be whether advertisers will support tablet news apps, said Ken Doctor, an industry analyst with Outsell Inc. He also questioned whether platform-specific apps for iPads and Androids will be replaced by next-generation Web apps, which can work on any device with a browser. The Financial Times launched a Web app last month, Doctor noted.
There is only a small chance that the Philadelphia venture would be a game-changer, said John Morton, an industry analyst and president of Morton Research Inc.
"Like most of the digital initiatives, it will bring probably incremental gains, not wholesale gains," Morton said. "If newspapers are dying by a thousand cuts, they're going to be restored by a thousand incremental advances. This is probably going to be one of them."
Also Monday, Osberg announced the company will launch an in-house incubator for tech start-ups beginning around Labor Day. Four companies will take up residence in the newspapers' headquarters and free space, equipment and mentoring to develop and market new media, mobile and e-commerce technology.
Philadelphia Media Network is a consortium of hedge funds and creditors that bought the newspapers for $139 million at a bankruptcy auction in September.
The company has about 1,750 employees.
After decades of leading the charge against racism and injusticein America, the Rev. Benjamin Hooks, outgoing NAACP director, makesno apologies for financing the battle with heavy contributions fromwhites and white-run corporations.
"White people caused this problem, and why should they not payto get rid of it?" Hooks said in a recent telephone interview.About 50,000 NAACP members across the nation are white, he said.
Half of the support to launch challenges against actions thatbar African Americans from achieving equality in this country comesfrom black people, Hooks said.
"If we get support from General Motors, it is from black people- they drive …
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Former Australia football captain Craig Moore will face a sole misdemeanor charge of illegally consuming alcohol following last week's drunken dispute with a taxi driver over his refusal to pay a $14 cab fare, local media reported Wednesday.
The Gulf News and The National newspapers reported online that earlier charges against Moore, including refusing to pay the taxi fare and assaulting police, were dropped. Moore remains free on bail.
His case has been referred to a Dubai misdemeanors court. No court date has been scheduled.
Moore was arrested last Wednesday after police were called in to settle a dispute over a …
The last time Janet Jackson gave a major television performance,the whole world knew about it.
Almost three years after the infamous Super Bowl halftime showthat introduced the phrase "wardrobe malfunction" into the Americanvernacular, the superstar singer is resurfacing as the opening act atthe 2006 Billboard Music Awards. Fox televises the event Monday fromLas Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena as Billboard honors artists andsongs that have topped the publication's charts this year.
Others slated to perform include Gwen Stefani, Black Eyed Peaslead singer Fergie, Ludacris, Mary J. Blige, the Fray and theKillers. Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, Chris Brown, …
Janet Jackson joins other top performers at the 2006 Billboard Music AwardsThe last time Janet Jackson gave a major television performance,the whole world knew about it.
Almost three years after the infamous Super Bowl halftime showthat introduced the phrase "wardrobe malfunction" into the Americanvernacular, the superstar singer is resurfacing as the opening act atthe 2006 Billboard Music Awards. Fox televises the event Monday fromLas Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena as Billboard honors artists andsongs that have topped the publication's charts this year.
Others slated to perform include Gwen Stefani, Black Eyed Peaslead singer Fergie, Ludacris, Mary J. Blige, the Fray and theKillers. Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, Chris Brown, …
Janet Jackson joins other top performers at the 2006 Billboard Music AwardsThe last time Janet Jackson gave a major television performance,the whole world knew about it.
Almost three years after the infamous Super Bowl halftime showthat introduced the phrase "wardrobe malfunction" into the Americanvernacular, the superstar singer is resurfacing as the opening act atthe 2006 Billboard Music Awards. Fox televises the event Monday fromLas Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena as Billboard honors artists andsongs that have topped the publication's charts this year.
Others slated to perform include Gwen Stefani, Black Eyed Peaslead singer Fergie, Ludacris, Mary J. Blige, the Fray and theKillers. Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, Chris Brown, …
SOLAR POWER
AS OPTIMISTS delight in saying:"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade." Ergo, when nature subjects one part of the globe to 3.5 million square miles of sand and unrelenting sunlight, make solar panels. Or so goes the theory behind the Sahara Solar Breeder Project, which has the staggering goal of building enough solar plants in Africa's Sahara Desert to provide half the world's electricity needs by 2050. The key to the joint project between Japanese and Algerian universities is to process the Sanaran silica into the high-quality silicon needed to manufacture photovoltaic panels - which in itself would be a first, since so far the technology to do so doesn't exist. …
Manama, Sept. 26 (BNA) -- US oil giant Occidental will begin drilling for gas at the Bahrain Field "any time now", Energy Minister Dr Abdulhussain Mirza said .
"Cabinet approval for the deal has been received and a royal decree is set to be issued this week," Dr Mirza said.
"Immediately after that, the company will start work.
"This is a major step forward for Bahrain's oil and gas industry," he said, speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony to open the Middle East Oil Show and Conference at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre.
"We will …
State Supreme Court Justice Con G. Cholakis moved a step closer to sitting on a federal bench when the Senate Judiciary Committee approved his nomination Thursday in Washington, D.C.
Cholakis, who lives in North Greenbush, has been recommended by U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato for the U.S. District Court for the Northeastern District of New York.
In the past two decades, Cholakis has gone from an assistant prosecutor to Rensselaer County district attorney to county court judge and, finally, to state Supreme Court judge, a post he has held since 1978.
Cholakis will fill the vacancy created when Judge Roger Minerjoined the Second Circuit U.S. Court of …
Byline: MATT GRAVES - Special to the Times Union
TROY - RPI is in the midst of a five-game winless streak, but you can't lay much of the blame on defenseman Jake Luthi.
Luthi, a senior from Alaska, is the highest-scoring defenseman in the country with 1.31 points per game (2-15-17). It's been an early Christmas present for Luthi's parents, who moved to the Capital Region to see their son's final year of hockey.
"He has been really good, far exceeding the expectations - and we didn't try to put many expectations on our players," RPI rookie coach Seth Appert said. "I knew Jake from junior hockey, and I've always liked his skill package. He's almost …
Riot police surrounded a Sudanese court as proceedings began Thursday against a British teacher charged with inciting religious hatred over letting her pupils name a teddy bear Muhammad.
Gillian Gibbons, in a dark blue jacket and blue dress, was not handcuffed when she walked into the courtroom in Khartoum, according to reporters who were briefly allowed inside but were subsequently dismissed.
The case, which has drawn international condemnation, set up an escalating diplomatic dispute with Britain, Sudan's former colonial ruler.
If convicted, Gibbons faces up to 40 lashes, six months in jail and a fine, Sudanese officials have said, with the …
Every once in a while, it suddenly becomes clear that someturning point has been reached in politics or in American socialhabits. Such a watershed moment has quietly sneaked up on us in thepress.
We were never very good about policing or criticizing ourselves.There was at best a wonderful bonding of comrades and at worst aself-righteous thin-skinnedness. Who would dare to criticize us?
But listen to some of the voices - voices of anger, yet also ofdisappointment - of our very best journalists: "How many saw ABC News' use of a faked videotape to jazz up theircoverage of the Felix Bloch spy story," asked Roger Mudd, now withPBS, at the convention here of the …
SAN FRANCISCO -- Health Mart's long-term vision is to have its stores on a common platform and connected to other technologies, notes president Tim Canning.
"Today, Health Mart is embracing multiple technologies, including pharmacy management and P-O-S [point-of-sale] systems, IVR [interactive voice response], and consumer websites," he says.
"We're also working with select Health Marts to leverage EnterpriseRx, an advanced centralized pharmacy management system based on promise-time work flow, which organizes and prioritizes the pharmacy's workload, enabling them to focus on the most critical and high-value tasks of prescription verification and patient counseling." …
US gas and chemicals producer Air Products has completed the $75m sale of …
The girlfriend of the late INXS singer Michael Hutchence won substantial damages Wednesday from the London publishers of a book that said she deliberately became pregnant to trap him into a relationship. Paula Yates also received an apology from The Mail on Sunday tabloid, which published excerpts from the book by Vince Lovegrove last year.
Yates, a TV personality and author, was Hutchence's partner …
Byline: Sheldon Ocker
Aug. 12--CLEVELAND -- It seemed like a good idea at the time. To consummate the winter deal for Coco Crisp, the Boston Red Sox offered to pay all but $700,000 of Guillermo Mota's $3 million salary in addition to giving the Indians Andy Marte and Kelly Shoppach. Yet there was a strange scenario surrounding the Mota transaction. Tribe operatives were wary of the condition of Mota's right elbow after a physical. General Manager Mark Shapiro was ready to call the deal off before Boston sweetened the pot with cash. Two days after the trade was all but dead, not only was the deal on, but Mota also was pronounced Cleveland's setup man. …
