No glory or heroics, just blood and death Revisiting Jones' vivid novel of Guadalcanal

THE THIN RED LINE

By James Jones

Delta. $11.95 paper.

Sixty years ago Wednesday, on Aug. 7, 1942, the United Statesbegan its invasion of Guadalcanal, the first big American offensiveof World War II. The campaign for the Pacific island was long andbloody, taking the lives of about 25,000 Japanese and 1,500Americans, and did not end until February, 1943, when the remainingJapanese on the island stealthily slipped away.

Since then, countless numbers of books have poured forth on thesubject. As good as many of them may be, probably none is better thanJames Jones' novel The Thin Red Line. It is a grim history.

The novel, still in print, is observing an …

What impact will the Y2K problem have on your operations?

Dr. John W. Lyons Director U.S. Army Research Laboratory Adelphi, MD

The millennium computer problem, or as it is frequently called, the Y2K bug, presents a variety of challenges for the Army Research Lab (ARL). Being a hightech research lab, ARL uses computers and computer software in a variety of ways. ARL and its predecessor organizations have a long history in computers-from building the first computer (ENIAC), to creating some of the earliest computer graphics programs, to hosting one of only 13 Internet root domain name servers in the world.

As we began looking at the Y2K implications at ARL, it became obvious that there were a broad range of problems, concerns, and …

Taubman Centers unveils luxury mall in Macau

U.S. mall developer Taubman Centers Inc. unveiled its foray into the booming gambling city of Macau on Wednesday _ a giant upscale shopping center aimed at capitalizing on China's growing appetite for luxury goods.

The 920,000-square-foot (85,000 square meter) Mall at Studio City will boast about 140 stores from Gucci, Cartier, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and other brands in one of the biggest concentrations of high-end retailers outside New York and Paris, the company says.

Scheduled to open in 2011, the center is the showpiece of a US$2.5 billion joint venture gambling resort project along the city's Cotai Strip.

Macau, the only place …

The insiders club ; Bharti Airtel's employee-first strategy seems to be working for it. The firm makes a debut on this listing.

Manoj Kohli is no Steve Jobs, but he knows a good idea when hesees one. At his corner CEO office in Gurgaon, visitors can't miss asteel plaque with Bharti Airtel's ambition of becoming the top brandin India by 2010 for customers and employees.

For employees? Kohli is clear: "People are our biggest asset.And, then the brand. " The employee-first focus is not new. AtApple, the philosophy has been made a fine art by Jobs and otherssuch as Google and, closer home, HCL Technologies are at it, too.But it's Airtel whose efforts seem to be paying early. It is theonly telecom operator in the top 10 of BT-Indicus-PeopleStrong'sBest Companies to Work For listing. Potential employees …

New procurement specs boost compost markets

Last June, the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) contracted with state university horticulturists to provide basic information to best use composted materials on roadsides. "It's also going to assist DOT in establishing standards and specifications," wrote Gary Henry and Dick Bush in BioCycle (Feb., 1996). In one district, the DOT officials noted, between 20,000 to 40,000 tons per year of compost could replace the commercial fertilizer program. "Nutrient levels, rates and other questions will be answered by the University of Florida," said the officials.

And, last month, the Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG) announced the availability of model procurement …

Alvarez stops Gomez, keeps WBC light middle title

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Saul "Canelo" Alvarez kept his WBC light middleweight title belt by stopping Alfonso Gomez at 2:36 of the sixth round Saturday.

Alvarez (38-0-1, 28 KOs) started and finished strongly in a Los Angeles bout that was held as a two-city undercard for television viewers before the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz bout.

Alvarez knocked down Gomez …

Lindsay Lohan faces Paris Hilton treatment in jail

Inside a nondescript two-story building next to a busy freeway in an industrial neighborhood far removed from Hollywood is where Lindsay Lohan will likely spend several weeks as part of her punishment for violating her drunken driving probation.

Lohan is slated to begin her sentence Tuesday at the bleak, 16-year-old Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California, just south of downtown Los Angeles. The actress would be housed in the 2,200-bed facility's special needs unit, where she would live in isolation for her own safety.

Thanks to jail overcrowding and a state program that credits inmates for good behavior, nonviolent female misdemeanor …

Wayans brothers latest farce a little difficult to produce

Marlon, Shawn and Keenen Ivory Wayans hail from a family with ten kids, seven of whom are in showbiz. Writer/director/actor Keenen, 48, is probably best known as the creator of "In Living Color," the Fox comedy series which launched the careers of Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx and former Fly Girl Jennifer Lopez, to name a few. The comedy team of Marlon, 33, and Shawn, 35, will always be associated with "Scary Movie" and their hit WB sitcom, "The Wayans Bros."

But then there's brothers Damon ("My Wife and Kids") and Dwayne (a composer) and sisters Kim ("In the House") and Nadia ("I'm Gonna Git You Sucka"). The multi-talented clan also features cousin Craig (a scriptwriter), nephews Damien …

Product Recalls: Pie Crusts

The following recall has been announced:

Blue Planet Foods Inc. of Collegedale, Tenn., is recalling 3,898 units of Heartland-brand Graham Pie Crusts because they contain undeclared almonds, milk and coconut. People who have an allergy to these ingredients run the risk of serious or life-threatening …

How low can it go?

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for the Bulls, guess what?

It got worse.

Struggling at both ends of the court -- and struggling to make the simplest of plays -- the Bulls suffered another blowout defeat, this one a 118-83 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena.

The 35-point margin of defeat is the worst of the season.

''I don't really know what to do," point guard Derrick Rose said. "It's all mental. Either you want it or don't. It's not about what plays we run or nothing. It's about hustle. If want it, defend people and rebound. It's all mental now."

Rose was asked if the Bulls players did want it.

''I guess so,'' he …

BOOK MARKS

WHILE TURMOIL ROILS the Middle East, and just days after the killing of Osama bin Laden, we will celebrate Israel's 63 years as an independent, modern Jewish state.

At this time, two books - one about the path of peace taken by former enemies, the other about the tragedy of ongoing violence - offer a uniquely Jewish symmetry.

AN Italian journalist has written an exceedingly painful, hut necessary book, difficult to read, yet required reading.

A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism by Giulio Meotti. translated by Ma tili e w S h e rry ( E ? cou ? t e r Books, 2010. 428 pp., $27.95 1 gives names and faces to those murdered by terrorist attacks …

Hamas's exiled leader says group ready for dialogue to achieve Palestinian reconciliation

The militant Palestinian group Hamas is ready for a national Palestinian dialogue that will achieve reconciliation and preserve national rights, the group's leader was quoted as saying Monday.

Syria's state-run news agency, SANA, said Hamas' exiled leader Khaled Mashaal made his comments during a meeting Monday with Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem. It said the two discussed the situation in the Palestinian territories. SANA did not elaborate.

Later in the day, Hamas issued a statement quoting Mashaal as saying that the group "is ready to participate in any direct dialogue (with Fatah) at one table under Arab umbrella if dialogue was without …

Meet Me at the Theresa: The Story of Harlem's Most Famous Hotel

Meet Me at the Theresa: The Story of Harlem's Most Famous Hotel by Sondra Kathryn Wilson (Atria Books February 2004, ISBN 0-743-46688-8)

Fidel Castro, Dorothy Dandridge, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Billie Holiday and Malcolm X were just a few of the guests who stayed at Harlem's elegant Hotel Theresa. Wilson examines the illustrious history of this New York City landmark.

Obama unveils $3.73 trillion budget for 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is sending Congress a $3.73 trillion spending blueprint that pledges $1.1 trillion in deficit savings over the next decade through spending cuts and tax increases.

Obama's new budget projects that the deficit for the current year will surge to an all-time high of $1.65 trillion. That reflects a sizable tax-cut agreement reached with Republicans in December. For 2012, the administration sees the imbalance declining to $1.1 trillion, giving the country a record four straight years of $1 trillion-plus deficits.

Senior administration officials say Obama would achieve two-thirds of his projected savings through spending cuts that include a five-year freeze on many domestic programs.

The other one-third of the savings would come from tax increases, including limits on tax deductions for high-income taxpayers.

Relationship focus and customer experience

Many banks have implemented customer relationship management solutions, although objectives have been pursued through different approaches and with varying emphasis. For example, in centralizing customer information, many smaller banks focused on middle-market or homegrown tools for contact management functionality. Such front-line tools provided useful abilities but few were differentiating or leveraged data to draw out unique insights. These banks primarily relied on their personal relationships and community focus as their customer leverage.

Most larger banks, in contrast, deployed complex CRM solutions to centralize their customer information for grander objectives: systematic tracking of customer profiles, cross-selling initiatives, segmenting, prospecting, analyzing customer profitability and identifying the most suitable candidates for direct marketing programs. Technology and data led, rather than followed the understanding of customer expectations and the impact of these CRM programs on the end customer. And not surprisingly, the CRM promise of greater customer insight and increased loyalty was typically not achieved.

In recent months, however, the attention lavished on the end customer has increased significantly. While data and feature-rich tools are still part of their CRM strategy, many larger banks have recognized that customer intimacy and the overall customer experience are critically important elements toward building differentiation. This new focus will more directly challenge the customer leverage of smaller, community focused banks.

Smaller banks can meet this latest challenge by accentuating their historically deeper customer focus and avoiding the common CRM mistakes of their larger counterparts.

Mistakes from the recent past

So where did many financial institutions go wrong with CRM? A clue lies in the frequent use of phrases like "the war for consumers" to describe the CRM "battleground." This adversarial attitude puts the focus on the company implementing systems and processes and on its rivals - rather than on the customer relationship itself. It's an inside-out view that treats Ae processes, such as selling, as more important than the customer.

The good news for those who have made CRM investments is that the same technology that supports the inside-out perspective can just as well enable a more effective outside-in approach - one that puts the "C" for customer back into CRM. This better way starts with asking questions, not about marketing and sales independently, but about the customer's experiences. It's not the technology that counts, but rather a change-management type of thinking and customer-focused actions that the thinking inspires. Lacking the resources necessary to deliver the same complex CRM technology solutions as the bigger companies, smaller banks can still compete with good middle-market solutions that enable the superior eustomer business focus. Banks can also structure their contracts with third-party outsourcers and hosted systems to have a similar customer orientation focus.

Getting the 'C' back into CRM

Customer experiences to study and learn from should not be limited to the obvious and traditional ones, such as opening the first account or reporting the lost charge card. It's about all stages of the customer's awareness of, or interaction with, a company's brand, products and services.

In the case of payment cards, for example, one can point to six distinct stages constituting the customer life cycle: learning, acquiring, activating, using and managing, obtaining service and changing or canceling.

A main failing of conventional CRM is a typical focus on just one or two of these stages, further limited to a few internally important interactions and metrics. However, a bad customer experience at any of the other stages or interactions can just as easily doom a relationship and too many mediocre experiences can have the same effect in the face of more customercentric competition.

Banks should analyze the gaps between how they want their customers to experience their brand, products and services on the one hand, and what the customers actually experience. Eventually, banks will need to look at all the critical customer interactions throughout the customer life cycle and evaluate each one using the same attributes: consistency, availability, recognition, ease, sensory interaction, appropriateness and value.

Managing the gap in customer experience

To characterize the current state of customer experiences, a qualitative value should be assigned - ranging from "delighting" to "damaging" - to any process that may affect a customer's experience. Banks can then define the desired state - the set of experiences they want their customers to have - and illuminate the gaps between the current and desired states. This gap analysis should reveal where a company can focus process improvement efforts and allocate CRM resources and enhancements.

Ultimately, this gap analysis will reveal if the actual experiences of the customer consistently reflect the value proposition of the business.

Improving the customer experience also requires engaging the customer in a consistent, methodical and regular fashion. What that means in the real world is indicated by a set of best practices assembled from a number of leading companies. The recommendations:

* Develop a customer council - a panel of customers who are consulted regularly for their opinions and suggestions.

* Create feedback mechanisms (in multiple channels) that provide the opportunity for continuous, unprompted feedback.

* Talk directly with customers where they are - in branches or in call centers. Give a voice to the front-line people who are dealing with folks every day.

* Train employees in active listening.

* Make sure compensation and incentive structures reward the employee behaviors that support your customerfocused goals, creating internal support and true customer loyalty.

* Think about the customer experience as a journey that gets refined day by day and manage CRM efforts accordingly, including planning for flexibility.

As some large enterprises are proving out, the resulting loyalty and customers' willingness to buy more and recommend to others will drive increased retention, better margins and greater market share. Companies that succeed in this quest will have more to show than repeat customers for a particular product or service; they will have evangelists for their overall brands.

In reality: true differentiation

The last several years have seen an explosion in rewards programs on payment cards, all designed to win customer loyalty. While this proliferation of rewards programs has resulted in increased card usage, it does not necessarily mean long-term loyalty to the bank. This explains why card customer attrition and chum rates are still very high - ranging from 20 to 35 percent annually. Under many outsourced arrangements, smaller banks have also not retained visibility or access to their card customer interaction data, which makes it tougher to track the consistency of their brand promise and the overall impact to loyalty.

There is no great incentive to stay with one card when the same benefits are available with another, especially when many of these benefits are not relevant to most customers' daily lives. As our consumer in forums will complain, you can earn a lot of miles with a number of cards, but how often is it that customers are able to actually redeem those miles? Even as more "no blackout" cards enter the market, me consumer perception is that the reward itself has become cornmodi tized.

So how can card issuers and their associated smaller banks keep more of their existing customers in a market where every major company is offering competitive rates and rewards? It's not by inundating cardholders with direct mail or telemarketing calls, both of which have mainly resulted in raising the fatigue factor customers are now experiencing. The answer is that what the banks, with their third parties, do to meet customers' specific needs across the overall lifecycle, becomes the differentiator. In a world where products and pricing are becoming more competitive, customer loyalty is increasingly driven by the totality of experiences a customer has with a company.

All products and pricing being equal, the bank with the automated customer service hodine that forces the customer to repeat why he or she is calling three times will lose out to the one with live customer service representatives who not only require that information only once, but have the authority to deal with exceptions, follow up with callers about previous problems or ask how your new product is working out with them

That's a simple fix, but it's also the kind of thing customers notice. Likewise, they also notice when the only time they hear from their bank is when that entity is trying to sell them something. Cross-selling is a way of business, but a call or personalized letter thoughtfully sent at the appropriate time, asking the customer what other options, benefits or programs they want goes a long way toward making consumers more receptive to specific direct mail pieces and telemarketer calls pushing the new programs the bank and its third parties are trying to sell.

Delivering a positive customer experience is an end-to-end proposition, wherein the quality of each key discreet process, and their cumulative quality, determine the overall quality of that experience. Any disconnects along the key processes or in the life cycle can influence a customer's thoughts or feelings about whether or not to do business with your bank.

[Sidebar]

"Customer loyalty is increasingly driven by the totality of experiences a customer has with a company.''

[Author Affiliation]

Alex Sasieta is a global solutions leader responsible for customer preference and experience at MasterCard Advisors, the consulting division of MasterCard International.

Tigers take field, with Harwell memories fresh

Last September, Ernie Harwell came to Comerica Park in Detroit for a formal farewell. It was Harwell's voice that made him famous, and the Detroit Tigers were focused on every word.

Harwell addressed the team before that game, giving a stirring speech that is still remembered fondly in the clubhouse.

Manager Jim Leyland called it "priceless" and "fulfilling." Shortstop Adam Everett was one of several players motivated and moved by Harwell's talk.

"Nobody said a word," Everett said Wednesday, the day after the Hall of Fame broadcaster died at age 92 after fighting cancer. "I don't think anybody blinked the whole time. That's how intense it was."

The speech wasn't so much "win one for Ernie" as it was about his thoughts on life and baseball, his appreciation of the game. Harwell also spoke to the crowd that day, a clip catcher Gerald Laird said he watched online three or four times during the offseason.

"It's inspirational. It's unbelievable," Laird said. "That guy left his mark on this game, and he's definitely going to be remembered forever _ as long as this game's going on."

Leyland's eyes teared up Tuesday night when talking about Harwell, and he shared more of his thoughts Wednesday about the man who spent 42 of his 55 years on the air calling Tigers games before retiring in 2002.

"He was like the grandfather telling the grandson, 'I would've made it if I hadn't hurt my elbow pitching horseshoes,' or the mother giving her kid an extra pork chop for the future Al Kaline listening to the game," Leyland said. "That was Ernie. He was something. Not many guys have that much impact on a team like he did. That just doesn't happen."

As he sat in an office before a game at Minnesota, Leyland was handed the daily packet of newspaper and online articles about the team, a stapled stack of papers much thicker than usual to include all the Harwell tributes written of his death. Leyland started reading intently.

"It's rare that you go 47 years in professional baseball and you never hear one negative remark about Ernie Harwell," Leyland said. "Never. That just doesn't happen."

The Tigers wore black circular patches bearing the initials "EH" on their uniforms Wednesday. And tributes to Harwell stretched throughout the country.

Kaline, the Hall of Fame Tigers outfielder, was in New York on Wednesday night to accept the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award for sports broadcasting on Harwell's behalf.

He told the crowd that standing in for Harwell was like pinch-hitting for Ted Williams.

"After knowing Ernie for so many years, I feel his spirit is alive with us," Kaline said. "He'd want us to remember him with a smile instead of a tear."

Scully, in a video shot before Harwell died, quoted Shakespeare in describing Harwell: "This was a man!"

Kaline choked up as he recalled Harwell asking him to attend the awards ceremony after the honor was announced in February. Harwell told him he believed Scully was the greatest announcer of all-time.

"We Tiger fans respectfully disagree," Kaline said.

The YES Network, which is usually all Yankees, all the time, aired a video tribute to Harwell before Wednesday game.

In Detroit, fans left flowers outside Comerica Park and tied them to a fence at the site of the old Tiger Stadium.

The Twins held a moment of silence before the game at Target Field, showing pictures of Harwell on the video board.

Former broadcast partner Jim Price called Tuesday night's game the hardest he's had to do. He remembered how friendly Harwell was, asking often about Price's autistic son, Jack, and praying with him as they talked about their health problems.

"If you met Ernie for the first time, you walked away and felt like you were Ernie's best friend," Price said. "That just says it all. The times I've seen him spend with people to sign autographs and go out of his way to be with people ... you rejoice those moments, you know?"

Price played briefly for the Tigers and was on the 1968 World Series-winning team.

"I was a fringe player. I knew I wasn't going to stick around long," Price said. "He told me, 'You're going to be my partner some day.' Lo and behold. With every resume I have, that will always be on my resume. I was Ernie Harwell's last partner in broadcasting."

Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge, who made his debut in 2001, reflected on "how cool it was" to have Harwell narrate the action on the air and mention his name while doing it.

"In my opinion, you haven't been a big league ballplayer until Ernie Harwell talks about you like that," Inge said. "That man was as genuine as they come. He means more to the Detroit Tigers, the state of Michigan and the people than a lot of people have meant. I wish his family the best.

"He had a great memory, a great personality. He will be missed."

___

AP Sports Writer Rachel Cohen in New York and AP Baseball Writer Jon Krawczynski contributed to this report.

Snow to usher in new year: ; Weekend temperatures to drop into 20s; crews expected to pre-treat roads, remain on standby

Highways crews may spend the first day of 2010 clearing andtreating roadways, as Old Man Winter is scheduled to deliver snowshowers and blustery cold throughout the state just in time for theNew Year.

Andrew Beavers, a meteorologist with the National Weather Servicein Charleston, says intermittent snow showers will hit most of WestVirginia starting this morning and continuing through Sunday.Temperatures are expected to drop into the low 30s today and then tothe low 20s and teens Saturday, making for a frigid couple of days.

"With these temperatures being so low, the snow is not going tomelt like it has been," said Beavers. "We could have a couple ofinches of accumulation over the whole weekend."

Department of Highways spokesman Brent Walker says workers willbe out pre-treating roads and remain on standby despite the holiday.

"We fully expect the roads will be clear and smooth sailing,"said Walker. "While we're all celebrating New Year's, our crews willbe out doing what they're trained to do."

A storm that hit West Virginia the weekend of Dec. 18-20 dumpedup to two feet of snow in some southern areas of the state. Walkersays dealing with the aftermath took its toll on the department'sresources but crews are prepared to handle round two.

"We certainly used a lot of salt and calcium chloride to treatthe roads (two weeks ago)," said Walker. "But we'll have enough.We're well-stocked statewide, and we also have contracts and will bereplenishing."

The earlier snowstorm also caused a major traffic tie-up on theWest Virginia Turnpike that left hundreds of motorists stranded forup to 20 hours.

In preparation for this bout of winter weather, salt trucks, snowplows and courtesy patrols traveling the Turnpike and other stateroadways will be outfitted with extra tow-straps, gas cans andchains to help travelers who may become stranded.

"From the Turnpike standpoint, we'll be in a better position toassist," Walker said. "We had those kinds of things before, but nowwe're making it mandatory that we have additional equipment on eachtruck."

Wind chill also will be a big factor this holiday weekend.Beavers predicts gusts will reach 25 mph today and Saturday. Thosegusts mixed with low temperatures will create a wind chill of about3 degrees Saturday.

"We're looking at almost sub-zero temperatures."

Beavers says most of the precipitation will taper off by Sundayevening but temperatures are expected to rebound only to the mid-30s by Wednesday.

Residents are advised to bundle up, watch out for slick spots onarea roadways and give highways workers plenty of room to do theirjobs.

Daily Mail file photo State highways crews are set to pre-treatsurfaces to avoid the turmoil caused by the winter blast that hitthe weekend of Dec. 18.

Big questions track a small Derby field

The field for the 117th Kentucky Derby is topsy-turvy. Nobodyknows how many will start or who will run - only that the May 4 fieldwill not be huge.

Cahill Road, the Wood Memorial winner, not only will pass theDerby, but chances are he's through racing. His left foreleg wasstrained so badly he might not make it back. He's such a big horsehe might be too heavy to permit enough healing to race.

The big question is whether they will send Meadow Star to theDerby. After she finished fourth, beaten 10 1/2 lengths in the Wood, I would either run her in the Kentucky Oaks the day before theDerby, or just give her a rest and bring her back for the rich fillyraces. I know Leroy Jolley. That's what he's thinking.

But you never know for sure. When Jolley thought of keepingGenuine Risk out of the 1980 Derby, the owners, Bert and DianaFirestone, insisted that he run the filly. She was a surprisewinner, the second filly ever in the Derby. Now he has Meadow Star for multimillionaire Carl Icahn. What if Icahn says runher? He'll have to run her.

I wrote a week ago that approximately 12 would start the Runfor the Roses at Churchill Downs, but when the fields were made knownfor Saturday's $500,000 Wood Memorial at New York's Aqueduct and the$500,000 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn in Hot Springs, it seemed asthough 3-year-olds were coming out of the woodwork to prep for theLouisville run.

Things have changed again. This time I would bet the fieldwon't be anything like the limited field of 20 that went to the postin the l984 Derby won by Swale, or the '83 Derby won by Sunny's Haloor in l981 when 21 ran in a traffic-jam race won by Pleasant Colony.That's when they changed the rules so only 20 can enter the 11/4-mile race.

The first 20 horses that have the biggest winnings in gradedraces now get the preference to start. That rule will not be neededthis time.

I'd vote for a field of 15 so the race could be truly run, butwhat would those owners say whose horses were prevented fromstarting? I never forget that some owners check their brains at thegate when they enter the track. Some owners don't understand a 50-1shot has just that much chance.

After checking the names of 377 horses nominated for the TripleCrown - Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes - I predict the Derbywill attract these horses:

Santa Anita Derby winner and probable favorite Dinard.

Fly So Free, who has to redeem himself for his defeat by StrikeThe Gold, who whipped him on a wet strip in the Blue Grass atKeeneland, Ky.

Strike The Gold, who has won only two races, but one that reallycounted - the Blue Grass.

Best Pal, beaten only a half length by Dinard in the SantaAnita Derby.

Olympio, who won the Arkansas Derby like a top colt, comingback to win impressively after losing the lead.

Hansel gained many friends when he won the Jim Beam at TurfwayPark, even if the classiest thoroughbreds were elsewhere.

Green Alligator was hardly known, but when he won the CaliforniaDerby last week, the people out west said they knew they had anotherthreat for the Roses. His owner, Al Fowler, will put up $20,000 tomake him a starter.

Quintana may get overlooked Derby Day, but this colt is a bitbetter than he shows on form.

Ordinarily, I would have given up on Fly So Free - the horse Iliked until recently to win the Derby - but I'm making up my ownexcuses for him.

He ran a wet track in the Blue Grass and was choked off thelead.

Lost Mountain is the last horse I heard was looking for a van toChurchill Downs. Kyle's Our Man, sixth as the second choice in theWood Memorial, might be out of the Derby. Corporate Report - secondin the Arkansas Derby - is in, and Richman, third in that race, is aborder line probability.

If Meadow Star doesn't start, her jockey, Chris Antley, mightget back on Strike The Gold.

Fransisco Torres, injured in a spill two weeks ago atSportsman's, was released from Loyola Hospital Friday. He visitedthe track the same day. He said he'll ride Saturday.

US student files lawsuit over FBI's GPS tracking

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Egyptian-American college student who says he has never done anything that should raise the attention of U.S. law enforcement officials is suing the FBI for secretly putting a GPS tracking device on his car.

Twenty-year-old Yasir Afifi says a mechanic doing an oil change in October discovered the device stuck under his car with magnets. His friend posted pictures online to see if anyone could identify it. Afifi says two days later, FBI agents showed up outside his apartment in San Jose, California, and demanded their property back.

Afifi's lawsuit filed Wednesday claims the FBI violated his civil rights by putting the device on his car without a warrant. Afifi, an American by birth, says he suspects he was targeted because he is a young man of Egyptian descent who calls frequently overseas.

Former UN official found guilty of accepting bribes is sentenced

NEW YORK - A former United Nations procurement official convictedof accepting bribes was sentenced to eight years and a month inprison.

Sanjaya Bahel, 57, was sentenced Tuesday after a jury found hehad helped a friend win $100 million in U.N. contracts in exchangefor a huge discount on two luxury Manhattan apartments and cash.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas P. Griesa also ordered Bahel toforfeit $103,500 and his interest in the apartments, near the UnitedNations headquarters. Bahel was chief of the U.N.'s CommodityProcurement Section from 1999 to 2003.

Before he was sentenced, Bahel apologized. "All that I have hasbeen lost as I stand before you," Bahel told the judge as herequested mercy. "I have let down a great many people."

Bahel was convicted of bribery, wire fraud and mail fraud lastJune.

Syria-PLO rift may end with Assad-Arafat talks

DAMASCUS Syrian President Hafez Assad and Palestine LiberationOrganization Chairman Yasser Arafat discussed their long-standingdifferences in four hours of talks here Monday.

If the talks were successful, it could mean the end of a bitterfive-year split between the two men, dating back to June, 1983, whenArafat was expelled from Damascus and declared persona non grata.The split arose out of Syrian support for challenges to Arafat'sleadership of the PLO and led to major divisions within thePalestinian movement.

Arafat's talks with the Syrian president covered several issuesdividing the PLO and Syria, said Palestinian spokesman Rafik Natshe,a member of the main PLO group's Fatah Central Committee.

He said a major factor in the Arafat-Assad split was the PLOleader's continued relationship with Egypt following the Camp Davidpeace accords with Israel, which had led to Cairo's isolation by therest of the Arab world.

The talks also covered the Palestinian uprising in theIsraeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, the unrest in Lebanon, thelatest U.S. peace proposals for the region and the Persian Gulf war,the PLO spokesman said.

Arafat arrived here Sunday and visited the grave of his slaincomrade-in-arms, Khalil Wazir, whose burial Wednesday served as acatalyst for the chairman's visit and the possibility of renewedPLO-Syrian dialogue. Wazir, better known as Abu Jihad, was gunneddown April 16 at his home in suburban Tunis by what well-informedsources in Jerusalem described as an Israeli commando unit.

Assad had met earlier with Col. Moustafa Kharroubi, a seniorLibyan official who accompanied Arafat to Damascus. Libya, theSoviet Union and Algeria have encouraged the rapprochement.

The Palestinian delegation included the PLO's political bureauchief, Salah Khalaf; Arafat's political adviser, Hani Hassan, andmembers of the Fatah Central Committee.

Nayef Hawatmeh, leader of the Democratic Front for theLiberation of Palestine, and George Habash, chairman of the PopularFront for the Liberation of Palestine, also participated in thetalks, which grouped several other Palestinian officials.

Hawatmeh described the PLO leader's visit as a milestone comingat a critical time in the Middle East.

"We must settle these problems before the Reagan-Gorbachevsummit this May," he said.

The breakaway Popular Front for the Liberation ofPalestine-General Command, headed by Ahmad Jibril, said here Mondaythat intra-Palestinian differences remained and could not be bridgedfor convenience's sake.

College won't name a wing for racist who gave $500,000

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Augsburg College officials have changed theirminds about naming part of a new building for a major donor becausethey learned he had mailed thousands of hostile letters tointerracial families.

The college will, however, keep the $500,000 that Elroy Stockdonated last year, as well as other contributions made over 20 years.

"The positions and actions of Mr. Elroy Stock, as reported inthe media, have disturbed, angered and saddened hundreds ofindividuals and families, including members of the Augsburgcommunity," college President Charles Anderson said.

"For some persons, to have the name of Mr. Stock on a wing ofour new building would be misunderstood to mean the college agreeswith his stance," Anderson said.

Anderson, who is white and has a black daughter-in-law, said hereceived three anonymous letters himself from Stock.

WCCO-TV reported that Stock, a 65-year-old retired executive ofWest Publishing Co. who lives in Woodbury, had been sending unsignedletters to interracial couples for 14 years.

The station said the letters included such comments as, "A dogbreeder would not think of producing mongrel dogs, so why should thehuman race be mongrel?"

After a five-year investigation, postal officials linked theletters to Stock in early 1987, said Sterling McKusick, a retiredU.S. Postal Service inspector. McKusick had received about 1,000complaints, the earliest dating to about 1982.

But Stock could not be prosecuted because he had not broken anylaws. Complaints ceased shortly after Stock was confronted byauthorities in March, 1987, McKusick said.

Stock, a 1949 Augsburg graduate, gave the Lutheran college$500,000 for a new worship, drama and communication building. It wasthe largest single gift last year to the college, which has 2,100students.

NASDAQ in Montreal. So?

The announcement in April that NASDAQ was coming to Montreal created a huge stir. Cheers from Quebec contrasted sharply with the outcry in Toronto. The news was greeted with shouts of "scandal," "sellout" and the inevitable "back-stab." These extreme reactions are simply a manifestation of the pendulum effect in the Canadian Stock Exchange restructuring. Someone has to be the winner. But why such contention over symbols of capitalism that belong to the past?

The day after the Quebec government made the announcement, Ernie Eves, Ontario's finance minister, made a revealing statement in The Globe and Mail in an attempt to play down the news. For him, Quebec's announcement was mainly a political show. He also believes that, one day, stock exchanges will disappear and everything will move through the Internet. Suddenly, it began to dawn on Bay Street that the Toronto Stock Exchange might be the big loser in the specialization of Canada's exchanges.

Shock waves also swept through Quebec where, before the "NASDAQ victory," most observers had criticized the government, accusing Finance Minister Bernard Landry of surrendering the stock trade to Toronto without a fight. For them, even if the Montreal Stock Exchange now only accounted for a mere 10% of the Canadian stock market, the exchange remained a powerful symbol, and any self-respecting economy or country had to have one of its own. In their eyes, the restructuring project, as defined, had certainly established Toronto as Canada's trading centre and financial hub.

It is important to understand that the restructuring had undermined the Quebec government's efforts to restore Montreal's financial status. With its international financial centres program and its Caisse de depot et placement intensifying its efforts to build up a critical mass in portfolio and investment fund management in Montreal, the Quebec government was set on reinstating Montreal as a financial centre.

That's when the NASDAQ announcement turned the debate on its head. By choosing Montreal, the world's most highly capitalized exchange has put the city back on the world map. While it is, in fact, nothing more than an antenna - a counter that will change little for investors and issuers who already have NASDAQ access via the US - it is a powerful symbol. And the latent threat this virtual stock exchange poses for Bay Street's conventional trading floor will surface once it starts quoting Canadian securities currently listed in Toronto.

So Bay Street is forced to acknowledge that the TSE, by becoming the only exchange in Canada trading in stocks of moderately and highly capitalized enterprises, bet on the past: that, sooner or later, it will be marginalized and fall under Wall Street's control. Any rebalancing will be that much more difficult, since, unless it demutualizes, it will remain the preserve of dealers.

Though Montreal momentarily tasted sweet revenge, NASDAQ's coming is more a Band-Aid than a cure. Despite its international deployment, NASDAQ, though one of the most electronically advanced exchanges, remains conventional: it's owned by the dealers who use it.

In NASDAQ's shadow, new-generation e-exchanges are emerging. These high-tech platforms sometimes offer direct-order book access that escapes dealers' control and promises users - investors and issuers - an efficient, fluid market; quick, confidential, low-cost trading; and the possibility of off hour trading. The systems rely on electronic communication networks (ECNs), which are user-owned.

This is just what large institutional investors (such as the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System and Caisse de depot et placement) are looking for. Since these account for 75% of the stock market, what they want is important.

Last spring, of nine new ECNs that had already cornered 30% of NASDAQ volume, four were in the process of merging. One of them, Archipelago, even accelerated the development of its intermarket links by acquiring the Pacific Stock Exchange.

The advent of ECNs, which are being called the electronic exchanges of the future, has been recognized by securities regulators in both Canada and the US. The Commission des valeurs mobilieres du Quebec (CVMQ), for its part, has said these systems "offer interesting possibilities not available on the conventional markets." For example, "they can operate an order book for a continuous auction market, a dealer market or an anonymous match based on the price determined by the principal market. ECNs make it possible to handle a larger volume of trades, and to offer greater transparency of information and better access to markets." The CVMQ concludes, based on US experience, that "efficiency gains obtained can reduce general operating costs."

We might well fear for the TSE and cheer the establishment of NASDAQ Canada in Montreal (or vice versa), but all eyes should be on ECNs for a glimpse of the future.

[Author Affiliation]

Gerard Berube is editor of the Economie et finance section of Le Devoir in Montreal.

CompanyCommand: Building Combat-Ready Teams: Combat: What Will You Remember?

To: Company Commanders

From: Company Commanders

Being leaders in war introduces us to a vast number of unique experiences. In many cases, the experiences that we remember most are a combination of what we choose to remember and those events that are so intense that we can't help but remember them. What we remember reflects a lot about who we are, and can substantially impact who we become. In some ways, they can define who we are. Sharing those memories in conversation is a powerful way to connect with other leaders-it allows others to learn from us, and it forces us to process our experiences in a much more meaningful way. Many company commanders are writing down what they are learning about commanding in combat, and they are sharing those insights in the CC forum-creating a resource that is helping to improve our effectiveness in leading Soldiers in battle.

The "Combat-Leader Interview" is one way company commanders are choosing to contribute to the cause. One interview question in particular asks us to reflect upon our time in combat and to describe a memory that especially stands out in our minds:

What image or event do you think you will remember most clearly in 50 years?

In this article, company commanders respond to this question. The responses provide us with a unique glimpse into the minds of our peers. Moreover, the stories will likely elicit our own memories and connections and, for those of us preparing to deploy to combat now, can serve to focus our thoughts on what lies ahead.

J. P. Berner

E/101st FA, 42nd ID (M)

The sound of 107mm rockets flying overhead, detonating less than 100m away, and then Soldiers calling out, "Medic!" for the wounded Soldiers. Although the sound of rockets sailing overhead and explosions nearby was common, we only heard the cries for medic once, two weeks after we got to our Forward Operating Base. I think it was the first time I realized that there were people out there trying to kill me.

Jerry Diamond

A/312th MI, 1st CAV DIV

When I think about Iraq, I think about the kids, and how big and bright their eyes are, how happy they are to see us, and how impoverished they are. I think a lot about the kids here who lack clothes, or shoes, and who bathe in sewer water. Yet there is so much hope in their eyes. They're the ones who will make Iraq a great nation once again. They're the ones we're fighting for here.

Chris Altavilla

B/1-14th IN, 25th ID (L)

Seeing all the children who come running out and waving towards our patrols. They don't yet know right from wrong, and are not yet tainted by the years of hatred and deceit. It sometimes served as a rallying point for "why are we here." At times when we knew the strategic mission would take a long time to accomplish, seeing those kids gave hope for the future.

Scott Taylor

E/7th FA 10th MTN DIV (L)

The children I met on my second deployment to Afghanistan will always stick with me. I was impressed that these seven and eight year-old children spoke two or three languages. I would use the children to interpret in an emergency because they spoke English as well as most of my interpreters. They are the future of Afghanistan. If democracy is ever to take hold and replace the current political structure, then it will start with the children.

Ryan T. Kranc

Quickstrike Troop, 4/3rd ACR

Watching the Iraqi Army (IA) platoon organic to my Troop, who almost collectively quit on the first day of training, conduct an air mobile operation along the Iraqi/Syrian border to interdict smugglers. When they all jumped off the Black Hawk, took two steps, and dropped to the prone just like they had done in training, I had to laugh to myself and say, "Hey, they're getting it!" To watch their daily movement towards independent operations has been rewarding. The IA preparation and troop leading procedure process leading up to the Iraqi National Elections has been phenomenal. Their processing of information and thinking through the major issues regarding force protection and their ability to ensure a safe and secure Iraqi election is an enormous improvement over even two months ago. I'll be able to say (soon) that I observed the IA operate independently for one mission without input, guidance or prodding. Then they'll get it.

Wendy Merz

416th Trans Co (POL), 3rd ID (M)

I will never forget being in the OR with my Soldiers after they were in accidents, IEDs or landmines. You can never fully prepare yourself to hold their hands and comfort them. Each time you walk into the OR and watch them leave on a MEDEVAC will be different.

Nick Ayers

B/1-34th AR, 1st ID (M)

Most likely, it will be each time that we lost one of our Soldiers.

Spence Williams

47th Military History DET

The two interviews I did with officers who were subsequently killed in action. The last one died two days after I interviewed him. It brings home how important my job is to keep Soldiers' stories alive.

Matthew Stapleton

A/1-120th IN, 30th BCT, 1st ID (M)

After deploying as the HHC commander and Battalion S5, I was told one day that I had a couple of hours to pack my stuff-I was replacing the detached A Company Commander who had been killed that morning. The Task Force Commander gave me a quick briefing regarding the intense contact over the last 24 hours, then said the company could take the day off for maintenance. Shortly after, a radio call changed that to "conduct movement to contact ... insurgents on rooftops firing from several locations ..."

Joseph Kuchan

B/1-327th IN, 101st ABN DIV (AASLT)

As we prepared for our assault into An Najaf, we had a couple of delays for a variety of reasons. To pass the time, 1SG Jeff Smith made himself and me a cup of coffee in our assault position using an ammo can, some diesel and a canteen cup. It was just so bizarre-I'd spent the whole night planning with my PLs, we were finally in our assault position, had done all our checks, and the 1SG just said, "Hey, sir, relax, the boys are ready and we've done all we could do to prepare-let's just sit and talk some things through." And we just sat and talked like it was a normal morning back at Ft. Campbell, although the topic was somewhat different.

Derek Boese

A/299th EN, CBT EN Company (M), 1BDE, 4th ID (M)

Changing command in the middle of the Iraqi Ammunition Supply Point we had occupied. I had commanded my company for just under two years, and to leave my guys after that long a period of time in the middle of a hostile environment was possibly the worst feeling I have ever had. After I changed command, I went to HHC's compound and felt physically ill the rest of the day. Right or wrong, I felt like I had abandoned my Soldiers in a combat environment. It's nothing against my successor-it just didn't feel right, and still doesn't to this day.

Lonnie Williams

SIGO, HHC, 25th BSB, 1st BDE (SBCT), 25th ID (L)

I will never, ever forget the sight of my friend's face leaning over me when I regained consciousness after surviving a suicide bomber.

Wes Morrison

C/1-120th IN, 30th HSB, 1st ID (M)

The day my 2nd PLT was ambushed in a patrol almost 50 kilometers from the nearest FOB. When I arrived on scene, all Standard Operating Procedures were in place and the proper smoke and star clusters had been used to bring me and reinforcements into the fight. My Soldiers saved two lives that day. Their lieutenant and his gunner lost legs, but they lived due to proper rehearsals and Soldiers keeping their heads. Despite the horror of seeing my men wounded, it was wonderful to see why great training and our Army training standards pay off when it counted.

Chris Hossfeld

C/1-24th IN (SBCT), 25th ID

All of the vehicles pulling into the company area after a tremendous firefight. We had vehicles with blown tires, had taken multiple improvised explosive device and rocket propelled grenade (RPG) hits, and everyone was just a little shaken. But, everyone was all smiles, shaking hands, hugging each other, and immediately recalling the most intense fighting that we had been through yet. Everyone had made it through with some minor bumps and bruises, but everyone was still walking and talking. I was extremely proud of everyone in the company, and they were proud of each other.

Larry R. Jordan, Jr.

Crazyhorse Troop, 1-14th CAV, 3/2 SBCT

Anytime that you hear a call over the net that your Troopers are being engaged, it will cause a little knot to form in your stomach. That call hit home hard as one of my platoons was engaged by 40-50 insurgents. As I ran to my Stryker, I could hear and see the explosions of RPGs that were being used against them. Racing to provide support, we were ambushed by another group of insurgents. The fear that I would not be able to get to a position and support my men was horrible.

Mike Dinesman

S2, 3/3 SFG (A)

The prospect of ditching into the Black Sea during infil when our C-130 had mechanical/electrical problems. All I could think of was that the water would be very cold.

Juan Nava

64th MP Co, 720th MP BN

Immediately after an engagement of one of my platoons, one of my Soldiers was injured, having taken the blast of an RPG in his back and upper-backside. When I got to the aid station he had been evacuated to, I got to hold his hand, hug his head and talk to him. As the medics applied iodine to the wounds, he would scream from the burning, but when they weren't cleaning the wounds, he was joking with me and others. His strength and courage is something I will always remember.

Art LaFlamme

B Co (TES)/302nd Ml BN, V Corps

It's an image-an image of Iraqi armor setting into hide spots as the afternoon was coming to a close. It involves my Soldiers and I deciding to do something about it, and walking in some A-10s on this armor unit that thought they would be good to go for the night. For me, it will always remain as one of the great examples of actionable intelligence-from space, through us, across a secure phone to a radio to the pilot, out the barrel of a 30mm cannon and into enemy armor.

Aaron Munz

C/1-12th CAV, 1st CAV DIV

Some events that have made a lasting impression are the memorial ceremonies, and the anger on my Soldiers' faces. The remarkable thing is that when we have conducted missions within hours of the ceremonies, the same Soldiers whose faces were snarled with anger are able to show restraint.

Stacey L. Lee

169th Port Operations Cargo Company

Early in the ground war we were running port operations 24/7, discharging ammunition and cargo from ships in stream to support the push to Baghdad. We were short handed in some key positions, so we cross-trained some of the low density Soldiers as stevedores. One of the company's truck drivers fell into this category.

Earlier in life, he had fallen into a freezing river and spent 16 minutes face-down in the water before he was pulled out and revived. As a result, he was deathly afraid of water. Part of what we did every day was to get in a little boat, go 1/2 to 1 mile out in the ocean and then climb up the side of a ship. The Soldier struggled even when the seas were calm, but with a lot of encouragement from his fellow Soldiers he managed to keep going.

Prior to a large storm, we went out to the ship in six-foot swells, and getting from the boat to the ship required us to jump off of the boat to a 5' x 5' see-through landing ramp. The Soldier went hand over hand down the safety lines on the side of the boat and watched the landing ramp bobbing up and down with the six-foot swells. After a few false starts, he finally leapt to the ramp and quickly moved up the ladder to the main deck. A little later, I pulled him aside and congratulated him on accomplishing something that a few weeks prior he never would have imagined himself doing, and he simply said, "You and the other Soldiers were counting on me, sir."

Kevin Kugel

68th CHEM CO, 5th BCT, 1st CAV DIV

I will never forget patrolling the streets of Baghdad on Election Day, watching the Iraqi people wait in line to vote as incoming mortar rounds impacted nearby.

James McGahey

B/3-502nd IN & LRSO, 101st ABN DIV (AASLT)

The first is my closer relationship to God. This has been an awesome experience for me to grow closer to my Savior and to serve Him as well as my country. That is the biggest memory I will have.

Greg Spencer

A/1 -13th AR, 1st AD

By far the change in command in the middle of a war. I don't think anybody even got a picture of it, and when the vehicles took off I signed a piece of paper on top of a Humvee that said I was the Company Commander. That would be what I remember the most.

Note to company commanders: To see the other 100+ compelling accounts of leaders'experiences in combat, log in to the CC forum and go to the Warfighting topic. If you have combat experience yourself, we invite you to complete the Combat Leader Interview. It is one great way to capture your experiences and to help advance the profession!

Finally, we would like to thank the leaders who have already completed the interview. Your contribution is making a difference, and it is greatly appreciated by company commanders and those who are preparing to command now.

Dons legend tips Josh to reach top of game

Gothenburg Great Neale Cooper today tipped Josh Walker to geteven better.

The midfielder has impressed since joining from Middlesbrough.

And Cooper, himself a former central midfielder, reckons theEngland youth captain can only get better.

He said: "I have been impressed with Josh from the first time Isaw him against Falkirk reserves.

"He scored a peach of a goal against Bayern last week, and itwould be great if he could do the same again on Thursday.

"He has great technique and balance, and all of the top playershave that.

"Josh is confident on either foot, and is able to see a passbefore he receives the ball which is the sign of a top player."

Hernandez: No Closer Inspection of Criticism

SEATTLE Roberto Hernandez doesn't know why Texas Rangers pitchingcoach Claude Osteen singled him out for derision last week when hesaid the White Sox reliever doesn't compare to his own closer, TomHenke.

Nor does he care.

"I'm not in competition with him or Henke; I'm in competitionwith their hitters," Hernandez said of tonight's start of a four-gameseries at Texas.

"Of all the teams I've faced since 1991, the one I've had themost trouble with is Texas (8.21 ERA). That's why every year Istrive to do better against them. I don't now why all that cameabout, but it doesn't affect me."

QUOTE MASTER: Tim Belcher, set to make his Sox debut Thursday,is a delight for reporters. When he needed extensive treatment onhis shoulder in mid-June after pitching for the Cincinnati Reds, hewent to his laptop computer.

"Media members: To assist you in your quest for quotes, let useliminate the needless and often time-consuming volley of intellectwhile crowded around a cramped cubicle. Please accept my `seriousand thoughtful' account of the game."

THE NAME GAME: General manager Ron Schueler hadn't written offReds GM Jim Bowden before Saturday's deal for two minor league pitchers. He was just upset that ScottRuffcorn's name had been revealed.

"I can't prove it's his fault, but somehow it got out," Schuelersaid.

"The thing that broke down the deal were Jason Bere, ScottRuffcorn and Jim Baldwin. We weren't going to give any of them up."

ALVAREZ CONCERN: The club is bothered by Wilson Alvarez'sincreasing wildness. He walked five in one inning during Saturdaynight's 13-10 victory for a major league high 89.

"You try to be patient with walks, but they're hard to tolerate,especially at the major league level," manager Gene Lamont said.

MONSTER MASHES: The White Sox tied last season's total of 110home runs in their 102nd game when Frank Thomas and Bo Jacksonconnected Saturday.

Jackson's went 472 feet to center, longest of the season for aSox.

"You see Bo and Frank hit so many monster shots in battingpractice that you're surprised when you don't see more in a game,"Lamont said.

"But then, most of theirs in BP are when I'm out there."

'More discipline needed at home and in school' ; Pupils in Aberdeen are out of control, a North-east politician has claimed.

Pupils in Aberdeen are out of control, a North-east politicianhas claimed.

Reacting to the latest figures on children being suspended fromcity schools, Tory MSP Alex Johnstone, pictured, has called formore discipline, both at home and in school.

He said: "Kids are out of control. There is less discipline insociety today than there was a generation ago.

"There is less discipline at school and there is less disciplineat home.

"My worry is the effect it has on the other children who arethere to learn.

"Suspensions are a solution in the short term, but the long-term solution must be to have a more disciplined society."

As reported in yesterday's Evening Express, 136 secondary, 21primary and seven special school pupils were suspended in the firstterm of the new school year in northern areas of Aberdeen.

Two pupils were expelled and 55 students lost more than five daysof school as a result of suspensions.

And although figures for exclusions are being reduced, both cityand Aberdeenshire councils are battling to improve pupil behaviour.

But Aberdeen education spokeswoman Kirsty West said schoolsneeded to discuss problems with parents and families as soon as theywere noticed, either by teachers, or by other professionals, such ashealth visitors.

She said: "We are trying to intervene early and discuss problems.This involves everyone, not just teachers.

"Schools need to still have the facility to exclude but thisdoes not mean that our teachers cannot keep control."

Steve Hothersall, senior lecturer in social work at The RobertGordon University, said: "Teachers absorb a lot that we don't seeand none of them want to go down the route of suspensions.

"They do a hard job and they keep a lot of children in educationthat might not be otherwise."

Elaine Anderson, 46, from Cove, whose son Marc, 12, goes toKincorth Academy, said: "I do sometimes hear of a child that mayhave been suspended for two or three days at a time.

"Unruly pupils can disrupt the rest of the class, meaning it canspoil the other children's chance of an education."

nevans@ajl.co.uk

Russia and The Russians: A History

Geoffrey Hosking. Russia and The Russians: A History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003. xiii, 718 pp. Chronology. Notes. Index. Maps. $19.95, paper.

Geoffrey Hosking is unquestionably one of the leading Western historians of Russia, and in the English language few have equalled much less surpassed the quantity or quality of his works. He is that rare individual who can do both large overviews and specific in-depth studies. In my opinion, Hosking is at his best in the former, and the present volume is a prime example. It is a masterful narrative of Russia's history from its beginnings to almost the present. Moreover, as a British-trained specialist without strong ties to either the "political" or the "social-revisionist" camps of American historiography, he is able to avoid their tiresome internecine debates.

The present volume is divided into six sections: 1) Kievan and Muscovite Russia; 2) the seventeenth century, including Peter the Great; 3) the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth; 4) the reigns of Alexander II and Alexander III; 5) from the reign of Nicholas II to the end of World War II; and 6) from the beginnings of the Cold War to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The market for narrative undergraduate text books in Russian history has experienced a flood of late, in part at least to close the book on the Soviet experiment and to provide reasons for its "untimely" collapse. In addition to the widely used comprehensive classic of Nicholas Riasanovsky, we now have excellent volumes by Walter Moss and Catherine Evtuhov et al. for the entire period, as well as shorter works focusing on the Soviet era by Peter Kenez, Richard Sakwa, and M.K. Dziewanowski, among many others.

Nevertheless, Hosking's book stands out for its narrative elegance, range of topics, and balance among the arts, politics, and society. Perhaps most surprising, the author is able to describe vividly Russia's tragedies and frustrations while still painting a positive picture overall. Indeed, his astute insights into the Russian mind and spirit inspire a remarkable empathy in the Western reader, something rarely accomplished even by Alexander Solzhenitsyn and his fellow neo-Slavophiles, much less the distinctly more critical Western scholarship of a Martin Malia or a Richard Pipes. To be sure, in contrast to the latter, Hosking is a Russophile with a keen appreciation for Russia's messianism and its cultural uniqueness (which he describes with great sensitivity and knowledge).

As with any overview, one can quarrel with the author's emphases. For instance, I would have liked more in general on nineteenth-century intellectual history, and believe that Hosking specifically overstates the significance of Bakunin while underestimating the roles of Herzen and Chernyshevsky; perhaps Hosking allows the Russians off too easily on the questions of xenophobic and anti-Semitism; and the latter Soviet period is skimmed over a bit uncritically. But on most key questions-such as the controversial relationship between the Leninist and Stalinist positions-he seems to me to be right on mark, while neither belabouring the issue, nor treating it ideologically.

All in all, this is very nearly the ideal text for an undergraduate survey class in Russian history. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

[Author Affiliation]

N.G.O. Pereira, Dalhousie University

Russian Icon

CONSTRUCTION

DESIGNED TO RISE like a giant steel and glass Christmas tree from a peninsula along the Moscow River, Crystal Island, if built, would be the world's biggest building as measured in floor space-four times the size of the mammoth Pentagon. Foster + Partners, the British firm that designed it, calls it "a city in microcosm," with hotels, apartments, offices and shops. The superstructure would act as a thermal buffer, sealed to prevent heat loss during the cold Russian winter and open to breezes in the summer. Moscow, enjoying oil- and gas-fueled prosperity, is in the midst of a construction boom.

Craig: Center Rep presents award-winning 'Doubt'

'DOUBT," John Patrick Shanley's ticklish morality play that pitsan old nun against a young priest in a battle over ethics andmorality, opens Tuesday at Walnut Creek's Lesher Center for theArts.

The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner is a tense psychologicaldrama that keeps audiences puzzling over the confrontation between adoctrinaire Sister Aloysius and a progressive priest, Father Flynn,about the nun's suspicions that the priest has had an improperrelationship with a young parishioner.

Sister Aloysius follows her conscience when she makes heraccusations against Father Flynn, which are based on herobservations of the priest's actions.

On the other hand, the priest has an image of beingcompassionate, progressive and open-minded and presents the image ofjust the sort of a role model a young man would need.

What drives the drama, however, is the way Shanley keepsincreasing the stakes in the battle and continually casts doubt uponeach of the characters.

The Center Repertory Company production continues in previewsthrough Sunday. Its main run is Tuesday through Nov. 22. Show timesare 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays throughSaturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. The theater is at Civic Drive andLocust Street, Walnut Creek. Tickets, at $37, may be reserved atwww.centerrep.org, www.lesherartscenter.org or 925-943-7469.

EVEN IN A WORLD polarized by politics, religion and almostanything else with two or more sides, there is a rich, basic commonground. But the trick is in finding it, and that is the journeytaken in "The Quality of Life," currently in previews at AmericanConservatory Theater.

The Jane Anderson play is set at the crest of a perfect storm offamily tragedies, one where a murder took the life of a daughterfrom Bill and Dinah, a Midwest couple who are dealing with theirunspeakable torment with the help of a fundamentalist Christianchurch.

Dinah's cousin Jeannette and her husband, Neil, lost their homein a hillside wildfire (think Oakland hills) and are living in ayurt as they cope with the terminal cancer that will soon kill Neil.

All four are reunited when Bill and Jeannette visit theirNorthern California cousins shortly after the fire and the murder.Not surprisingly, the visit does not go well. It doesn't take longfor the secure and often smug beliefs of all four people to begin toseriously crack as each person reexamines their ideas in the lightof the others'.

Anderson, an Emmy Award-winning writer and director, has createdfour very clear-cut personalities. She spins a story that findsshortcomings in all of the characters' fast-held beliefs and createsa compelling tale that features three performers from the award-winning Southern California production at the Geffen Playhouse --Dennis Boutsikaris, Laurie Metcalf and JoBeth Williams, who arejoined by Steven Culp to round out the four-person cast.

"Quality of Life" is directed by Anderson in this NorthernCalifornia premiere of the play. The show is somewhat different fromthe version debuted in Los Angeles, since Anderson has been workingon the script since its run there.

The show begins in previews tonight and plays Wednesday throughNov. 23 in the American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary St., S.F.Show times are 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m.Saturdays and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. There will be an additionalpreview performance 7 p.m. Monday. Tickets, at $14-$57 for previewsand $17-$82 during the regular run, may be reserved at www.act-sf.org or 415-749-2228.

"MISS SAIGON," the musical based on the theme of Puccini's"Madame Butterfly" set in modern Southeast Asia, opens at theLivermore Valley Performing Arts Center Bankhead Theater, 2400 FirstSt., Livermore.

The Tri-Valley Repertory Theatre Company production of the AlainBoublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg and Richard Maltby Jr. musical setsthe classic love stories against the Vietnam War and its aftermath.

An American soldier and a Vietnamese girl are lovers, but areseparated during the fall of Saigon. They struggle long and hard tofind each other and to reunite the former soldier with the child henever knew he had. But all does not run smoothly in the pop opera.

The show opens the season for the company, and plays at 8 p.m.Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 9. Tickets, at$35, may be reserved at 925-373-6800 orwww.livermoreperformingarts.org.

"A RAISIN IN THE SUN," by Lorraine Hansberry, will be presentedbeginning tonight at 8 and Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. in the MalongaCasquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland.

Performed by the Bay Area Performing Arts Collective incollaboration with Positive Youth Images and the city of Oakland,the play that tells the tale of the Younger family struggling tomake it in Chicago. Produced on Broadway in 1959, it was the firstplay by an African-American woman to open on Broadway.

Tickets, at $25, may be reserved at 800-838-3006 orwww.brownpapertickets.com.

"DOCTOR FAUSTUS," by Christopher Marlowe, opens at 8 tonight inthe Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley.

The Actors Ensemble theater production tells the story of ascholar who sells his soul to the devil for ultimate knowledge.

The show plays at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 22.Tickets, at $12, may be reserved at 510-649-5999 orwww.brownpapertickets.com.

"GIRL CRAZY," by George and Ira Gershwin, opens at SanFrancisco's Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., San Francisco at 6 p.m.Saturday.

The 42nd Street Moon production of what is considered one of theall-time greatest Broadway scores includes the songs "I Got Rhythm,""Embraceable You," "But Not for Me" and "Sam and Delilah."

It plays at 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 6 p.m. Saturdays and 3p.m. Sundays through Nov. 16. Tickets, at $24-$42, may be reservedat 415-255-8207 or www.42ndstmoon.org.

"ALL ABOUT WALKEN: THE IMPERSONATORS OF CHRISTOPHER WALKEN," ahuge hit in Los Angeles since 2006, comes to San Francisco at 7 p.m.Saturday and Sunday to play the Clubhouse, 414 Mason St., S.F.

The show, which came out of San Francisco State in the late '90s,features seven Walken impersonators of all sizes, sexes and shapes,impersonating Walken at various stages of his career. Tickets, at$20, may be reserved at www.brownpapertickets.com.

Reach Pat Craig at pcraig@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Craig: Center Rep presents award-winning 'Doubt'

'DOUBT," John Patrick Shanley's ticklish morality play that pitsan old nun against a young priest in a battle over ethics andmorality, opens Tuesday at Walnut Creek's Lesher Center for theArts.

The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner is a tense psychologicaldrama that keeps audiences puzzling over the confrontation between adoctrinaire Sister Aloysius and a progressive priest, Father Flynn,about the nun's suspicions that the priest has had an improperrelationship with a young parishioner.

Sister Aloysius follows her conscience when she makes heraccusations against Father Flynn, which are based on herobservations of the priest's actions.

On the other hand, the priest has an image of beingcompassionate, progressive and open-minded and presents the image ofjust the sort of a role model a young man would need.

What drives the drama, however, is the way Shanley keepsincreasing the stakes in the battle and continually casts doubt uponeach of the characters.

The Center Repertory Company production continues in previewsthrough Sunday. Its main run is Tuesday through Nov. 22. Show timesare 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays throughSaturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. The theater is at Civic Drive andLocust Street, Walnut Creek. Tickets, at $37, may be reserved atwww.centerrep.org, www.lesherartscenter.org or 925-943-7469.

EVEN IN A WORLD polarized by politics, religion and almostanything else with two or more sides, there is a rich, basic commonground. But the trick is in finding it, and that is the journeytaken in "The Quality of Life," currently in previews at AmericanConservatory Theater.

The Jane Anderson play is set at the crest of a perfect storm offamily tragedies, one where a murder took the life of a daughterfrom Bill and Dinah, a Midwest couple who are dealing with theirunspeakable torment with the help of a fundamentalist Christianchurch.

Dinah's cousin Jeannette and her husband, Neil, lost their homein a hillside wildfire (think Oakland hills) and are living in ayurt as they cope with the terminal cancer that will soon kill Neil.

All four are reunited when Bill and Jeannette visit theirNorthern California cousins shortly after the fire and the murder.Not surprisingly, the visit does not go well. It doesn't take longfor the secure and often smug beliefs of all four people to begin toseriously crack as each person reexamines their ideas in the lightof the others'.

Anderson, an Emmy Award-winning writer and director, has createdfour very clear-cut personalities. She spins a story that findsshortcomings in all of the characters' fast-held beliefs and createsa compelling tale that features three performers from the award-winning Southern California production at the Geffen Playhouse --Dennis Boutsikaris, Laurie Metcalf and JoBeth Williams, who arejoined by Steven Culp to round out the four-person cast.

"Quality of Life" is directed by Anderson in this NorthernCalifornia premiere of the play. The show is somewhat different fromthe version debuted in Los Angeles, since Anderson has been workingon the script since its run there.

The show begins in previews tonight and plays Wednesday throughNov. 23 in the American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary St., S.F.Show times are 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m.Saturdays and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. There will be an additionalpreview performance 7 p.m. Monday. Tickets, at $14-$57 for previewsand $17-$82 during the regular run, may be reserved at www.act-sf.org or 415-749-2228.

"MISS SAIGON," the musical based on the theme of Puccini's"Madame Butterfly" set in modern Southeast Asia, opens at theLivermore Valley Performing Arts Center Bankhead Theater, 2400 FirstSt., Livermore.

The Tri-Valley Repertory Theatre Company production of the AlainBoublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg and Richard Maltby Jr. musical setsthe classic love stories against the Vietnam War and its aftermath.

An American soldier and a Vietnamese girl are lovers, but areseparated during the fall of Saigon. They struggle long and hard tofind each other and to reunite the former soldier with the child henever knew he had. But all does not run smoothly in the pop opera.

The show opens the season for the company, and plays at 8 p.m.Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 9. Tickets, at$35, may be reserved at 925-373-6800 orwww.livermoreperformingarts.org.

"A RAISIN IN THE SUN," by Lorraine Hansberry, will be presentedbeginning tonight at 8 and Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. in the MalongaCasquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland.

Performed by the Bay Area Performing Arts Collective incollaboration with Positive Youth Images and the city of Oakland,the play that tells the tale of the Younger family struggling tomake it in Chicago. Produced on Broadway in 1959, it was the firstplay by an African-American woman to open on Broadway.

Tickets, at $25, may be reserved at 800-838-3006 orwww.brownpapertickets.com.

"DOCTOR FAUSTUS," by Christopher Marlowe, opens at 8 tonight inthe Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley.

The Actors Ensemble theater production tells the story of ascholar who sells his soul to the devil for ultimate knowledge.

The show plays at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 22.Tickets, at $12, may be reserved at 510-649-5999 orwww.brownpapertickets.com.

"GIRL CRAZY," by George and Ira Gershwin, opens at SanFrancisco's Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., San Francisco at 6 p.m.Saturday.

The 42nd Street Moon production of what is considered one of theall-time greatest Broadway scores includes the songs "I Got Rhythm,""Embraceable You," "But Not for Me" and "Sam and Delilah."

It plays at 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 6 p.m. Saturdays and 3p.m. Sundays through Nov. 16. Tickets, at $24-$42, may be reservedat 415-255-8207 or www.42ndstmoon.org.

"ALL ABOUT WALKEN: THE IMPERSONATORS OF CHRISTOPHER WALKEN," ahuge hit in Los Angeles since 2006, comes to San Francisco at 7 p.m.Saturday and Sunday to play the Clubhouse, 414 Mason St., S.F.

The show, which came out of San Francisco State in the late '90s,features seven Walken impersonators of all sizes, sexes and shapes,impersonating Walken at various stages of his career. Tickets, at$20, may be reserved at www.brownpapertickets.com.

Reach Pat Craig at pcraig@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Craig: Center Rep presents award-winning 'Doubt'

'DOUBT," John Patrick Shanley's ticklish morality play that pitsan old nun against a young priest in a battle over ethics andmorality, opens Tuesday at Walnut Creek's Lesher Center for theArts.

The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner is a tense psychologicaldrama that keeps audiences puzzling over the confrontation between adoctrinaire Sister Aloysius and a progressive priest, Father Flynn,about the nun's suspicions that the priest has had an improperrelationship with a young parishioner.

Sister Aloysius follows her conscience when she makes heraccusations against Father Flynn, which are based on herobservations of the priest's actions.

On the other hand, the priest has an image of beingcompassionate, progressive and open-minded and presents the image ofjust the sort of a role model a young man would need.

What drives the drama, however, is the way Shanley keepsincreasing the stakes in the battle and continually casts doubt uponeach of the characters.

The Center Repertory Company production continues in previewsthrough Sunday. Its main run is Tuesday through Nov. 22. Show timesare 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays throughSaturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. The theater is at Civic Drive andLocust Street, Walnut Creek. Tickets, at $37, may be reserved atwww.centerrep.org, www.lesherartscenter.org or 925-943-7469.

EVEN IN A WORLD polarized by politics, religion and almostanything else with two or more sides, there is a rich, basic commonground. But the trick is in finding it, and that is the journeytaken in "The Quality of Life," currently in previews at AmericanConservatory Theater.

The Jane Anderson play is set at the crest of a perfect storm offamily tragedies, one where a murder took the life of a daughterfrom Bill and Dinah, a Midwest couple who are dealing with theirunspeakable torment with the help of a fundamentalist Christianchurch.

Dinah's cousin Jeannette and her husband, Neil, lost their homein a hillside wildfire (think Oakland hills) and are living in ayurt as they cope with the terminal cancer that will soon kill Neil.

All four are reunited when Bill and Jeannette visit theirNorthern California cousins shortly after the fire and the murder.Not surprisingly, the visit does not go well. It doesn't take longfor the secure and often smug beliefs of all four people to begin toseriously crack as each person reexamines their ideas in the lightof the others'.

Anderson, an Emmy Award-winning writer and director, has createdfour very clear-cut personalities. She spins a story that findsshortcomings in all of the characters' fast-held beliefs and createsa compelling tale that features three performers from the award-winning Southern California production at the Geffen Playhouse --Dennis Boutsikaris, Laurie Metcalf and JoBeth Williams, who arejoined by Steven Culp to round out the four-person cast.

"Quality of Life" is directed by Anderson in this NorthernCalifornia premiere of the play. The show is somewhat different fromthe version debuted in Los Angeles, since Anderson has been workingon the script since its run there.

The show begins in previews tonight and plays Wednesday throughNov. 23 in the American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary St., S.F.Show times are 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m.Saturdays and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. There will be an additionalpreview performance 7 p.m. Monday. Tickets, at $14-$57 for previewsand $17-$82 during the regular run, may be reserved at www.act-sf.org or 415-749-2228.

"MISS SAIGON," the musical based on the theme of Puccini's"Madame Butterfly" set in modern Southeast Asia, opens at theLivermore Valley Performing Arts Center Bankhead Theater, 2400 FirstSt., Livermore.

The Tri-Valley Repertory Theatre Company production of the AlainBoublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg and Richard Maltby Jr. musical setsthe classic love stories against the Vietnam War and its aftermath.

An American soldier and a Vietnamese girl are lovers, but areseparated during the fall of Saigon. They struggle long and hard tofind each other and to reunite the former soldier with the child henever knew he had. But all does not run smoothly in the pop opera.

The show opens the season for the company, and plays at 8 p.m.Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 9. Tickets, at$35, may be reserved at 925-373-6800 orwww.livermoreperformingarts.org.

"A RAISIN IN THE SUN," by Lorraine Hansberry, will be presentedbeginning tonight at 8 and Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. in the MalongaCasquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland.

Performed by the Bay Area Performing Arts Collective incollaboration with Positive Youth Images and the city of Oakland,the play that tells the tale of the Younger family struggling tomake it in Chicago. Produced on Broadway in 1959, it was the firstplay by an African-American woman to open on Broadway.

Tickets, at $25, may be reserved at 800-838-3006 orwww.brownpapertickets.com.

"DOCTOR FAUSTUS," by Christopher Marlowe, opens at 8 tonight inthe Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley.

The Actors Ensemble theater production tells the story of ascholar who sells his soul to the devil for ultimate knowledge.

The show plays at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 22.Tickets, at $12, may be reserved at 510-649-5999 orwww.brownpapertickets.com.

"GIRL CRAZY," by George and Ira Gershwin, opens at SanFrancisco's Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., San Francisco at 6 p.m.Saturday.

The 42nd Street Moon production of what is considered one of theall-time greatest Broadway scores includes the songs "I Got Rhythm,""Embraceable You," "But Not for Me" and "Sam and Delilah."

It plays at 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 6 p.m. Saturdays and 3p.m. Sundays through Nov. 16. Tickets, at $24-$42, may be reservedat 415-255-8207 or www.42ndstmoon.org.

"ALL ABOUT WALKEN: THE IMPERSONATORS OF CHRISTOPHER WALKEN," ahuge hit in Los Angeles since 2006, comes to San Francisco at 7 p.m.Saturday and Sunday to play the Clubhouse, 414 Mason St., S.F.

The show, which came out of San Francisco State in the late '90s,features seven Walken impersonators of all sizes, sexes and shapes,impersonating Walken at various stages of his career. Tickets, at$20, may be reserved at www.brownpapertickets.com.

Reach Pat Craig at pcraig@bayareanewsgroup.com.