AIG posts 1Q loss of $7.8B, plans to raise $12.5B

American International Group Inc. says it will raise $12.5 billion in the coming months as the insurer looks to shore up a capital base that has been rocked by deterioration in the credit markets.

AIG shares tumbled $3.27, or 7.4 percent, to $41.45 in after-hours trading Thursday after the company disclosed it needs fresh cash and reported a first-quarter loss of $7.81 billion.

The capital raising effort will be a two-step process, with the first portion estimated to raise $7.5 billion through an offering of common stock and equity units. The equity units will consist of subordinated debt securities and contracts that require the holders to purchase AIG stock …

Instead of reducing terrorism, the war generated more terrorism.

Richard Clarke's Against All Enemies is one very scary book.Unlike most people who have an opinion on it, I've read the book.

It is understandable that the administration has become hystericalin its attacks on Clarke. If his account is accurate, then thepresident is a man of limited talents, capable of absorbing onlysimple proposals and surrounded by advisers from Cloud Cuckooland.Yet for all the viciousness of the assault, no one has explained whya registered Republican civil servant who has served in fiveadministrations, three of them Republican, would write such a bookunless he was genuinely worried about the state of the country. Asfor it being a partisan political …

Medical Errors: My Child's Story ; Early on Saturday, Sept. 12, 1998, my wife, Kim, in just the 24th week of her pregnancy, gave birth to our daughter, Katelyn Mary.

Early on Saturday, Sept. 12, 1998, my wife, Kim, in just the 24th week of her pregnancy, gave birth to our daughter, Katelyn Mary.

Katie weighed in at just 1 pound 4 ounces. She didn't cry when she was born. Babies who arrive that early don't have the lung capacity to make sounds.

Immediately upon birth, Katie was whisked to the neonatal intensive care unit, where she would stay for four months as doctors and nurses fought to save her life. From the delivery room, my wife was wheeled back to her bed, where it was soon discovered that the area around her cesarean section had been infected with E. coli bacteria, preventing the wound from healing. She would stay in …

Kramnik holds Anand to second draw in chess

World chess champion Viswanathan Anand of India started the second game of his championship match against Russian challenger Vladimir Kramnik with a definite advantage Wednesday, but had to settle for a draw.

Still, it was a much more exciting game than the unspectacular opener to the match on Tuesday, which also ended in an draw.

Anand, playing with White, led with the Saemisch variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. His first move, 1. d4, was a minor surprise because he almost always leads with 1. e4 and it gave him a slight edge over Kramnik.

"At a certain point in the opening, the position became very sharp," Anand said.

…

Mexico to see if monument contains founders' bones

Mexicans have long believed the remains of 15 of their independence heroes lie in crypts beneath the Independence Monument in the capital, but experts now say they are not so sure.

The government plans to open the crypts for maintenance and research as part of the 200th anniversary of the 1810 revolt against Spanish rule.

A top official of the Bicentenary …

Harmony rules at St. Sabina's season opener Tensions over league membership finally put to rest

They came for the basketball, and that's what they got.

Parents, siblings and teachers, clad in their schools' respectivecolors, cheered loudly as the scrappy, scrawny players made their wayup and down the well-worn gym floor.

But the camera crews and a capacity crowd of about 500 signaledsomething much bigger than an afternoon of parochial leaguebasketball.

On Saturday, the St. Sabina Saints opened their season as part ofthe Southside Catholic Conference, marking the first time the largelyblack school has competed in the predominantly white athletic league--and putting to rest a roller-coaster, race-tinged debate.

But though tensions had been high …

Another Tibetan monk sets himself on fire in China

BEIJING (AP) — A British human rights group says another Tibetan Buddhist monk has set himself on fire in a protest against Chinese rule over the Himalayan region in the 10th self-immolation this year.

The monk set himself ablaze early Tuesday outside a Tibetan monastery in southwestern Sichuan province's Ganzi prefecture, the London-based Free Tibet group said in a statement.

The group said it was unable to confirm the monk's age or name. It was unsure of his condition and whereabouts.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Wednesday that the ministry had noted reports about the alleged incident, but was unable to confirm it had happened.

The ministry …

National League Standings

…

All Times EDT
East Division
W L Pct GB
Atlanta 53 36 .596 _
New York 48 41 .539 5
Philadelphia 47 41 .534 5 1/2
Florida 42 46 .477 10 1/2
Washington 39 50 .438 14
Central Division
W L Pct GB
Cincinnati 49 41 .544 _

Northeastern gets BRA approval on Parcel 18

The Boston Redevelopment Authority Board recently approved two new residence halls on Northeastern University's campus, despite opposition from City Councilor Chuck Turner.

Residence Hall I will be the first of two new residence halls to be created and will be located near Lower Roxbury's Renaissance Park on Parcel 18.

The facility will contain 1,200 new beds, lounge areas, study spaces, seminar rooms and classrooms, exercise and laundry facilities, dwelling units and offices for resident director and resident assistants, a full service dining facility and other common areas.

The 495,000 square-foot project will also include significant upgrades to an adjacent …

13 slightly injured when two trains collide near Turkish capital

An empty commuter train rammed into an intercity passenger train at a station near the Turkish capital on Tuesday, slightly injuring 13 people, railway authorities said.

The passenger train, arriving in …

Degree of hope for youngsters on new scheme

A LEADING figure at Barclays Bank faced a grilling in Bristol fromthree youngsters as part of a new scheme aimed at helping them toreturn to education and employment.

As most university students enjoy their summer break, young peoplefrom Fairbridge West started their own 'degree' to improve theirlives.

BA Better U is a programme of exciting projects to improve basicskills for young people, aged 13 to 25.

Tom Cole, aged 15, Dean Roberts, 24 and Becky Clarke, 17,conducted the Paxman-style interview with Roger Davis, the chiefexecutive of business banking, as part of their radio project.

Fairbridge West is a national charity supporting young people …

5 Americans Killed in Iraq Copter Crash

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. security company helicopter crashed Tuesday as it flew over a dangerous Sunni neighborhood in the central Baghdad where insurgents and Iraqi security troops fought a prolonged gunbattle, and a U.S. official said five American civilians on board were killed.

A senior Iraqi military official said the aircraft was shot down, but this was disputed by a U.S. military official in Washington. The Iraqi said the helicopter was hit by a machine gunner over the Fadhil neighborhood on the east side of the Tigris River, while the American official said there was no indication in initial reports that the aircraft, owned by Blackwater USA, had been shot down.

A second U.S. official, in Baghdad, said the five killed were Americans. All the officials demanded anonymity because the details had not been made public. The Americans said they did not know what caused the aircraft to crash.

The U.S. official in Baghdad said there was no information to substantiate reports that the bodies had been shot.

Witnesses in the Fadhil neighborhood reported seeing the helicopter go down after gunmen on the ground opened fire and were believed to have shot the pilot or co-pilot or both. Accounts varied, but all were consistent that at least one person operating the aircraft had been shot and badly hurt before the crash.

The helicopter was believed to have been flying escort above a VIP convoy on the ground as it headed away from the heavily fortified Green Zone to an undisclosed destination.

A spokeswoman for Blackwater USA, which is based in far northeastern North Carolina, declined to comment Tuesday. "We really don't have any information for you yet," said spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell. The company provides security for State Department officials in Iraq, trains military units from around the world, and works for corporate clients.

Katy Helvenston, mother of Scott Helvenston, a Blackwater employee who died in March 2004, said Tuesday's crash "just breaks my heart."

"I'm so sick of these kids dying," she said.

Helvenston was killed, along with Jerko "Jerry" Zovko, Wesley J.K. Batalona, and Michael R. Teague, when a frenzied mob of insurgents ambushed a supply convoy they were escorting through Fallujah. The insurgents burned and mutilated the guards and strung two of the bodies from a bridge. The gruesome scene was filmed and broadcast worldwide, leading the U.S. military to launch a three-week siege of Fallujah.

Before Tuesday's crash, at least 22 employees of Blackwater Security Consultants or Blackwater USA had died in Iraq as a result of war-related violence, according to the Web site iCasualties.org, which tracks foreign troop fatalities in Iraq. Of those, 20 were Americans, and two were Polish.

The crash of the small surveillance helicopter, believed to be a version of the Hughes Defender that was developed during the Vietnam War, was the second associated with the U.S. war effort in Iraq in four days.

A U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter went down Saturday northeast of Baghdad, killing all 12 service members on board. The American military in Baghdad has refused to confirm a report by a Pentagon official that debris at the crash site indicated the helicopter was shot out of the air by a surface-to-air missile.

Relatively few U.S. aircraft have been shot down during the war despite hundreds, perhaps thousands of flights above Iraq. Helicopters typically flow fast and low over populated areas, making it extremely difficult for militant fighters to draw a bead with shoulder-fired missiles. U.S. fighter jets normally fly at very high altitudes and usually can be heard screaming through the skies but remain invisible to the naked eye.

Civilian aircraft that serve Baghdad International Airport use avoidance techniques that included landing in a steep, circular descent from nearly straight overhead the runways. Takeoffs are achieved with the same technique until passenger jets are out of missile range.

The Blackwater aircraft was at least the 14th helicopter to go down since the war began in March 2003. The worst incident occurred Jan. 26, 2005, when a U.S. transport helicopter crashed in a sandstorm in western Iraq, killing 30 Marines and a U.S. sailor.

According to insurance claims on file at the Department of Labor, 770 civilian contractors have been killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, through December 31, 2006. Additionally, 7,761 civilian contractors have been injured in the same time period, according to claims on file.

Hours before President Bush's annual State of the Union address, the U.S. military announced three more troop deaths, a Marine killed Sunday and two soldiers killed on Monday. That raised the three-day toll since Saturday to 31.

In addition to the five Iraqi police and morgue officials, meanwhile, reported at least 57 people were killed in sectarian violence nationwide on Tuesday, including 27 bodies, most showing signs of torture, that were dumped in Baghdad.

The U.S. military also reported it had detained four suspects in the Jan. 20 sneak attack on U.S. forces during a security meeting with their Iraqi counterparts in the Shiite holy city of Karbala.

The statement said the four were captured two days afterward on a tip from a resident of the city south of Baghdad. It said the four were found in a house near where SUVs used in the attack had been abandoned after the insurgent fighters fled.

Before the assault, the insurgents, who wore American-style military uniforms, were waved through a checkpoint at the outskirts of Karbala by security officials. Authorities apparently were fooled by the uniforms and the fact that the attackers were traveling in vehicles normally used by official U.S. or Iraqi convoys.

---

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Estes Thompson in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.

Truck fire

Firefighters from the Southern Jackson County Volunteer FireDepartment and the Sissonville Volunteer Fire Department quicklyextinguished a fire in the front end of a pickup truck driven byRobert L. Burgess, 56, of Dunbar. The fire occurred about 1:30 p.m.Wednesday on Interstate 77 near the Kanawha and Jackson county lines.

Woods Wins in a Rout

Tiger Woods joined the King, and left everyone else at the Buick Invitational feeling like paupers.

In his most dominant start to a season, Woods built an 11-shot lead Sunday until his game and the fickle weather turned cold on the back nine. A birdie on the last hole gave him a 1-under 71 and an eight-shot victory, giving him 62 for his career to tie Arnold Palmer on the PGA Tour list.

"I'm sure that there are many, many more coming in the future," Palmer said. "There isn't any question about that."

Just like there was no question about the outcome.

Woods opened with a 40-foot birdie putt, threw in a 60-foot birdie just to keep a four-deep gallery from falling asleep, and only looked mortal when he made three straight bogeys toward the end of his round.

All that did was affect the final margin, not the name on the trophy.

Woods finished at 19-under 269 to win the Buick Invitational for the fourth consecutive year, tying a PGA Tour record for consecutive wins in a single tournament. Woods is the only player to own such a streak at two events, having also won four in a row at Bay Hill.

Ryuji Imada matched the best score of the final round with a 67 and was the runner-up.

Woods returns to Torrey Pines in June for the U.S. Open, and if this week was any indication, it could be another long week for his peers. The world's No. 1 player now has won six times as a pro at Torrey Pines, and his comment that the Grand Slam is "easily within reason" looked every bit of that.

"What he's going to do is screw the U.S. Open up for everyone else," Fred Couples said. "If he had shot 10 or 11 under, the USGA would have said, 'Well, maybe we have it in the right spot.' Now, they may have to regroup a little."

Then again, it might not matter.

Woods has won his last two PGA Tour events by eight shots, and this was the ninth time in his career he has won by at least eight.

"I wanted to go out there and make no bogeys and shoot something under par," Woods said. "I got half of it right."

The 71 ended Woods' streak of 14 consecutive rounds in the 60s, dating to the second round of the Deutsche Bank Championship. He has finished no worse than second since the British Open in July, when he tied for 12th at Carnoustie.

Woods planned to leave Sunday night for the Dubai Desert Classic, and he likely won't return to the PGA Tour until the end of February at the Accenture Match Play Championship. Next in line on the career list is Ben Hogan with 64 victories, and each win moves Woods closer to the record 82 won by Sam Snead.

"You'd like to think it's surprising, but it's not," Charles Howell III said. "It's Tiger."

Woods is 6-of-12 in his PGA Tour debuts, but he has never won with such ease. He went back to work after the holidays, and it was as if last year never ended.

The only surprise was the weather, a pleasant one at that.

The forecast was for heavy rain overnight and into Sunday, with the possibility of a Monday finish. But the clouds cleared as Woods was warming up, and he played the front nine under brilliant blue skies. Only on the back nine did clouds return and temperatures plunge. He closed out his victory under a mixture of rain and clouds, and smile that showed all was right in his world.

"He's just much better," said Couples, who posted his first top-10 finish since the 2006 Masters. "It's fun to see. I've been on tour for 28 years, and I've never seen this stuff."

Imada birdied his last two holes to finish alone in second at 11-under 277 and was thrilled.

"This is the Tiger Woods Invitational, isn't it?" he said. "I thought he was the host."

The Buick Invitational is the third PGA Tour event Woods has won six times. The others are the Bridgestone Invitational and the CA Championship, both World Golf Championship events.

"My goal going into today was to finish second," Imada said. "That's almost like winning the golf tournament to me."

Rory Sabbatini also had a 67 to tie for third with Stewark Cink (73), who joined Joe Durant in the final group and were along for the ride. On the opening hole, with fans lining both sides of the fairway from tee-to-green, Cink and Durant found a fairway bunker and took three shots to reach the green. Woods played safely to the middle, and his 40-foot birdie fell on the final turn.

"I'd say this is the best I've seen him play," Cink said. "The last couple days, off the tee, the control he had was just really very impressive. The Tiger that we saw a year and two years ago, hitting it sort of all over the place, I think that's a thing of the past. He's got it geared down and he came out and played really well."

Justin Leonard closed with a 72 to finish alone in fifth, 12 shots behind. Phil Mickelson also made his 2008 debut this week, but was slowed by illness and was never a factor. He shot 71 on Sunday and tied for sixth with Durant (75).

"Nobody thought too much about winning," Mickelson said.

Divots:@ Woods won in California for the 12th time, the most of any state. Florida is second with 10 victories. ... Kevin Streelman, who played in the final group Saturday as the final alternate to get in the Buick Invitational, went 75-77 on the weekend and tied for 29th. ... Only seven players broke par in the final round.

Unpolished gem could use work

DEAR CHERYL: I'm entering a new relationship, but I find myself slightly hesitant about this really nice guy I met online. We're very comfortable with each other and feel like we've known each other for a long time, although it's only been six months.

But several things about him bother me. First is his horrific posture. He appears shorter than me although he's actually 6 inches taller. He's slumped over so badly that his back is hunched.

Then he drags or shuffles his feet when he walks. Even though his shoes are new, the soles are worn out!

And the worst are his teeth. They're discolored from too much coffee, and they're ground down so badly that they're short and the insides show. They appear green. After telling me that he was glad that my teeth are nice, I told him about his and about a bonding procedure my ex-husband and daughter had. His dentist told him he doesn't do [the procedure], but he could do expensive veneers or crowns. It's not practical for him to go to my dentist because he's two hours away.

Here's something you should know about him. His wife suffered from cancer for half of his married life. He was severely despondent for 10 years after her death. He finally started getting on with his life shortly before we met. We both see that this relationship progressing. He finds me physically attractive. I'd like him to be more physically attractive.

After two very-long-term relationships with men who lacked respect and appreciation for me and had no communication skills, I'm really grateful for how well we interact. I've met a lot of good-looking men, but their personalities were a total turnoff. This is a really good human being.

I Wanna Polish This Diamond in the Rough Till It Glows

DEAR IWPTDITRTIG: You have to tell him, in the nicest way, that what he went through with his wife has had a profound influence on his physical appearance. You don't have to be a shrink to see the connection. He's shuffling through life. He's dragging his feet. He's slouching, in other words, keeping his head down to avoid getting knocked over again.

You have to emphasize that this isn't just about looking good. The way he takes care of himself and carries himself is a reflection of how he feels about himself. Until he feels he's worth the time and money to get his teeth fixed and work on his posture and his gait, he's still living in response to the past, not marching into the future.

Tell him you'd like to help him find a dentist who does the bonding procedure. Your dentist should be able to recommend someone closer to him. And then suggest that the two of you join a gym halfway between your homes. He needs to start working out. It will help everything.

Be patient. He's been through a trauma, and he's just coming out of it. Help him work on one thing at a time, and hopefully it will snowball until you've spruced him up, outside and in.

Good luck, and stay in touch!

DEAR CHERYL: Please ask your readers what they think of sex on a first date. Do they do it? Have they done it? How has it worked out?

Enquiring Mind

Readers, consider yourselves asked.

Visit Lavin's blog at www.talesfromthefront.com. Distributed by Creators Syndicate Inc.

RADICAL MILITANT PACIFIST; Rabblerousing is Kathy Kelly's way of life

At age 52--an age when many activists of her generation have moved toward the mainstream-Kathy Kelly has retained her radical ideals. As a pacifist and "war tax refuser," Kelly hasn't paid incomes taxes in 23 years. (To that end, she has tried to keep her income below the taxable level of $3,000 per year.) Her reasoning: "In the face of weapon proliferation, war making and environmental degradation, I think we each face a moral imperative not to collaborate with crimes we don't condone." As an activist, she has been jailed numerous times--including a nine-month stint in maximum-security federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky, and most recently, a three-month stint in federal prison in Illinois. Her heroes are Jesus, Gandhi and activist/pacifists like Barbara Deming, David Dellinger and Karl Meyer.

Kelly was able to do an interview with BW on her way from Israel, where she is protesting the treatment of convicted treasonist Mordechai Vanunu, to the U.S. She talked about her passion and her motivation.

A self-described "late bloomer," Kelly's activism began in earnest in her late twenties. She told BW, "I moved to a poor neighborhood on Chicago's north side and there began to interact with people whose values and actions I deeply admired." Then working as a Catholic school teacher, she eventually quit teaching to devote herself full-time to social activism. Says Kelly, "I've never grown dissatisfied with the lifestyle and commitments that I and others undertook in our uptown neighborhood during the 1980s."

Kelly's life is her activism, and vice versa. "Social justice" was the thrust of her early activism, but since the early '90s, an equally visible cause has been Iraq. Her organization, Voices in the Wilderness, was founded in 1996 "to end economic and military warfare against the Iraqi people" and Kelly herself has been to Iraq 21 times since 1996. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times (in 2000 with Denis Halliday, in 2001 and in 2003 with Voices in the Wilderness). She told BW, "I traveled to Iraq, in early January 1991, because I wanted to be part of a pacifist group interposing itself between the warring parties. I remained in Iraq until August 1991. But after returning to the U.S., I began to forget about Iraq. I'd returned to teaching, became a full-time caregiver for my father, and worked on various other human rights, disarmament and peace team campaigns. But by 1995, several of us who had been to Iraq in 1991 finally began to realize that the war had never ended. It had changed into an economic war which directly discriminated against the weakest people in Iraq, especially the children. Several of us decided to develop a campaign to end the U.S.-led U.N. economic sanctions against Iraq. Once we traveled to Iraq, breaking the sanctions by bringing medicines and medical relief supplies, and there met Iraqi women and infants at hospitals which were like death rows for infants, we simply couldn't walk away from those bedsides." The recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have brought increase activist enthusiasm--especially in the up-and-coming generations--on a cause that has become almost de rigueur since Voices began making noise.

Voices faces up to $20,000 in fines for violating U.N. sanctions in Iraq. Of course, Kelly refuses to pay the fine (and would refuse even if Voices could pay it). As much as her activism, her defiance is what gets Kelly into trouble--and garners the desired spotlight. It seems as if Kelly always has the threat of incarceration looming for her activities, but she sees constructive purpose in her time spent behind bars. "Time spent in jail ... constitutes the most significant learning experience I've had since I learned how to read. In prison, I've met interesting women, many of whom befriended me. I learned more about the impact of poverty on people's lives and the ways in which poverty wears people down when they are imprisoned. I began to develop a passionate nonviolent resistance to the prison industrial complex."

As far as regrets go, Kelly doesn't allow many. When asked, she says simply, "I wish that I had worked harder to learn Arabic and still hope I'll have an opportunity to do so."

Kelly's philosophy isn't a lenient one. Her views are strong, deeply held and, one might say, militant. She's as much environmentalist as pacifist and as much social activist as environmentalist. It's all inextricable to Kelly. "It's important to clarify that pacifism isn't simply a refusal to pull a trigger or drop a bomb: it must involve daily choices to share resources, simplify lifestyle, and find ways to be of service to others," she says. "In order to face the complex challenges of living in fair relationships with other people, we must grapple with the reality of our comfortable lives, now, in relation to tremendous need elsewhere in the world. ... In U.S. history, there has been a steady succession of 'hot wars' since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ... [b]ut all along, undergirding these wars, there has been a war of western culture against the biodiversity of the planet. The planet can't sustain us any longer. Does all this warmaking constitute an answer for future generations? It answers the greed of corporations that benefit from producing and using weapons and the recklessness of corporations that refuse to rehabilitate themselves from crimes of ravaging the topsoil, creating acid rain, depleting the ozone layer and contaminating earth's water, ground and air."

Kelly holds herself to particular standards, and means to hold the rest of us to the same--willing or not.

Article copyright Bar Bar Inc.

Photograph (Kathy Kelly)

A Role for Anabolic Steroids in the Rehabilitation of Patients with COPD? A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Trial

A Role for Anabolic Steroids in the Rehabilitation of Patients with COPD? A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Trial. Creutzberg EC, Wouters EF, Mostert R, Pluymers RJ, Schols AM. Reprinted with permission from Chest. 2003;124:1 733-1 742. �2003 American College of Chest Physicians.

Study Objectives: Skeletal muscle weakness commonly occurs in patients with COPD. Long-term use of systemic glucocorticosteroids further contributes to muscle weakness. Anabolic steroids could be an additional mode of intervention to improve outcome of pulmonary rehabilitation by increasing physiologic functioning, possibly mediated by increasing erythropoietic function. Patients and Methods: We randomly assigned 63 male patients with COPD to receive on days 1, 15, 29, and 43 a deep IM injection of 50 mg of nandrolone decanoate (ND) [DecaDurabolin; N.V. Organon; Oss, The Netherlands] in 1 ml_ of arachis oil, or 1 mL of arachis oil alone (placebo) in a double-blind design. All patients participated in a standardized pulmonary rehabilitation program. Outcome measures were body composition by deuterium and bromide dilution, respiratory and peripheral muscle function, incremental exercise testing, and health status by the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire. Results: Treatment with ND relative to placebo resulted in higher increases in fat-free mass (FFM; mean, 1.7 kg [SD, 2.5] vs 0.3 kg [SD, 1.9]; p = 0.01 5) owing to a rise in intracellular mass (mean, 1.8 kg [SD, 3.1] vs - 0.5 kg [SD, 3.1]; p = 0.002). Muscle function, exercise capacity, and health status improved in both groups to the same extent. Only after ND were increases in erythropoietic parameters seen (erythropoietin: mean, 2.08 U/L [SD, 5.56], p = 0.067; hemoglobin: mean, 0.29 mmol/L [SD, 0.73], p = 0.055). In the total group, the changes in maximal inspiratory mouth pressure (Plmax) and peak workload were positively correlated with the change in hemoglobin (r = 0.30, p = 0.032, and r = 0.34, p = 0.016, respectively), whereas the change in isokinetic leg work was correlated with the change in erythropoietin (r = 0.38, p = 0.013). In the patients receiving maintenance treatment with low-dose oral glucocorticosteroids (31 of 63 patients; mean, 7.5 mg/24 h [SD, 2.4]), greater improvements in Plmax (mean, 6.0 cm H(2)O [SD, 8.82] vs - 2.18 cm H(2)O [SD, 11.08], p = 0.046), and peak workload (mean, 20.47 W [SD, 19.82] vs 4.80 W [SD, 7.74], p = 0.023) were seen after 8 weeks of treatment with ND vs placebo. Conclusions: In conclusion, a short-term course of ND had an overall positive effect relative to placebo on FFM without expanding extracellular water in patients with COPD. In the total group, the improvements in muscle function and exercise capacity were associated with improvements in erythropoietic parameters. The use of low-dose oral glucocorticosteroids as maintenance medication significantly impaired the response to pulmonary rehabilitation with respect to respiratory muscle function and exercise capacity, which could be restored by ND treatment.

Robert D. McLean, lawyer

Robert D. McLean was remembered Tuesday as a brilliant andsuccessful lawyer who was as comfortable arguing complicatedcorporate litigation as he was jogging with his children.

Mr. McLean, 53, chairman of the executive committee of theChicago-based international law firm of Sidley & Austin, died Mondayafter a battle with cancer.

"He was an extraordinary man who was still able to enjoy theordinary pleasures of life," said Ann P. McLean, 21, his daughter."He was a very intense person. But he had balance in his life."Newton Minow, a former chairman of the Federal CommunicationsCommission and a fellow partner at Sidley & Austin, offered highpraise for Mr. McLean."In one human being, Bob combined a brilliant legal mind, thehighest professional standards and an imaginative vision of how bestto serve the needs of clients," Minow said. "He made an enduringcontribution to our firm and to the rule of law."Born in Mankato, Minn., Mr. McLean was an Eagle Scout, captainof his high school track team and a National Merit Scholar.He graduated in 1967 from Northwestern University, where he wasan Austin Scholar with a double major in English and economics. Hegraduated from Yale Law School in 1970.He joined Sidley & Austin in 1972 and became a partner in 1975.In 1984, he was elected to the firm's executive committee.Between 1987 and 1994, Mr. McLean was managing partner of Sidley& Austin's Washington office.Mr. McLean was elected chairman of the executive committee in1993. He played a key role in the firm's international expansion.Among the major cases he worked on were the United States vs.AT&T, defending the Bell System in the largest antitrust action everbrought by the government at that time. Much of his significant workinvolved representing major accounting firms, particularly resolvingmassive litigation claims against two large firms stemming from thesavings and loan crisis.Mr. McLean is survived by his wife, Leslie Breed McLean; twosons, Robert P. and Edward B.; another daughter, Katherine T. McLean;his parents, Edward and Beatrice McLean; a brother, Edward McLean,and a sister, Marilyn McLean Johnson.A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday at FourthPresbyterian Church, 126 E. Chestnut.

Two teenage comedy flicks transcend typical formulas

As a teenager, I am sad to see that the teenage comedy hasgotten such a bad name at movie theaters. However, I know that thisreputation is not unfounded. Rarely does one find a film thattranscends the formulaic mediocrity of a lust story set at a highschool or summer camp operating on the basis that all young peoplefit neatly into societal stereotypes and have dumb parents.

The villains in these films are the screenwriters - adults whoseem to be out of touch with the teenagers they are trying toportray. They paste their perception of kids today on the screen,pigeonholing them into stereotypes rather than trying to come up withsomeone original or even marginally real.

Fortunately, two current films, "Heathers," and "Say Anything,"have overcome many of the problems of this genre. ("Heathers" isplaying at Chestnut Station and Hillside Mall, and "Say Anything"opens today at local theater.)

Cameron Crowe's "Say Anything" is funny and original. Crowe,who also wrote the sporadically brilliant "Fast Times at RidgemontHigh," has a gift for writing realistic young characters withoutresorting to some of the annoying pseudo-hip techniques of JohnHughes' teen films. "Say Anything" employs a familiar cinematicformula but adds enough twists, side plots and fresh characters toset it way above other films of this genre.

Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) is a high school senior whose bestfriends are girls. He's a charming guy with lots of heart andhonesty but not much ambition, except when it comes to kick-boxingand Diane Court (Ione Skye). Diane is the gorgeous valedictorian ofhis graduating class who has been too busy studying to connect withher fellow classmates. When the unlikely couple finally gettogether, they are torn apart by family problems.

One of the subplots that is easy to relate to concerns Lloyd'sfriend, Corey (Lili Taylor), who broods over her lost boyfriend bywriting 63 songs about their relationship. Another subplot focuseson Diane's relationship with her father (John Mahoney). Unlike mostparent-child relationships in teen movies, theirs is one of closenessand interdependence.

The film features some unexpectedly candid and realistic scenes.When Diane's father asks Lloyd what he plans to do with himself,instead of fabricating something impressive, he replies, "I'm goingto try to spend as much time as possible with your daughter beforeshe leaves (for England)." And when Lloyd is dumped by Diane, hetakes a self-searching drive past landmarks of their relationship,talking into a tape recorder and expressing some very real emotionsthat seldom make it to the screen.

"Heathers," written by Daniel Waters, is a black comedy aboutVeronica (Winona Ryder), a refreshingly intelligent and beautifulgirl whose one flaw is the company she keeps. She is a pledge in theHeathers, an exclusive girls clique at her high school. Veronicahates her superficial friends but cares too much about popularity todo anything about it - until she joins up with the ultrahipnonconformist Jason Dean (Christian Slater). J. D. is not just asexy rebel but also a devilish agent who helps Veronica realize herdeepest evil wishes.

The film's surrealistic cinematography, unconventional plot andhighly stylized dialogue make "Heathers" a fascinating film to watch,but its main strength lies in its likable, mysterious andunpredictable main characters. Unlike many heroines, Veronica is notan outcast acting on revenge from scorn, but a lovely and brightmember of the "in" crowd who acts on her disgust with the viciousnessand superficiality of her friends.

"Say Anything" and "Heathers" present refreshing characters andsituations that grew out of an obvious effort to stop rehashing oldmaterial and insulting today's youth with one-dimensionalstereotypes. Films play an important role in shaping the world'sview of teens and the way they view themselves. Maybe more filmslike these could help young people stop struggling to fit intoparticular stereotypes and instead simply be themselves.

Monica Eng is a sophomore at the University of Illinois atChampaign-Urbana majoring in English.

Kevin Eubanks regards fusion as a force field // Guitarist takes pride in label

Most musicians who play electric jazz dislike the term "fusion"as a description of their sound. Guitarist Kevin Eubanks is verycomfortable with the word.

"That's the first music I was seriously into when I beganplaying guitar," said Eubanks, who will perform with his quartetThursday through Saturday at the Jazz Bulls, 1916 N. Lincoln ParkWest. "I grew up playing funk and fusion."

As the 1980s end with electric jazz (including fusion, new ageand world music) high on sales charts and a mainstay on adultalternative radio throughout the country, Eubanks finds himself amajor player in a growing field. His seventh album, "The Searcher,"is gaining momentum and soon could equal the success of his previousalbum, "Shadow Prophets," which was the No. 1 contemporary jazz albumof 1988 on the Radio & Records airplay charts.

"When the radio stations started changing formats, a lot of thestations used my records to help show people what their new formatwas going to be," he said. "There wasn't any kind of marketing planinvolved in that. It just happened that was the kind of music Iwanted to play at the time."

While fusion is now flourishing, acoustic jazz (be-bop,mainstream, post-bop) was attracting attention a decade ago, with aburst of new musicians playing classic jazz. The movement wasdubbed "neo-classicism"; the players were called the Young Lions.Among those neophytes with promising futures were two sets ofbrothers, Wynton and Branford Marsalis and Kevin and Robin Eubanks.

All four of those musicians were doing their master studies injazz with Art Blakey's traveling university of jazz musicians knownas the Jazz Messengers. "Most of the people I've played with had beenreal schools of jazz," said Kevin Eubanks, 31, one of the fewguitarists ever to play in Blakey's legendary band.

Eubanks was a child of fusion music. His mother, Dr. VeraBryant-Eubanks, is a classically trained gospel pianist who is veryrespected in music education. Her brothers, pianist Ray Bryant andthe late bassist Tommy Bryant, had successful jazz careers,particularly Ray Bryant, who still is recording today.

"We've been around music all our lives, growing up with a pianoin the house with Uncle Ray and my mother playing," Eubanks said. "Weheard it every day."

By their early teenage years, the brothers had played in anumber of bands in the fertile funk music scene of Philadelphia.Kevin's conversion to jazz began when Robin, a trombonist, waspreparing for college. Kevin, the guitarist, heard the music of JohnMcLaughlin and one of Ray Bryant's contemporaries, Wes Montgomery.

Kevin chose Berklee College of Music in Boston for studies inharmony and composition. But his real jazz education started when heand Robin moved to New York City. Kevin's technique, rhythmic senseand over-all musicianship were tested in the bands of two powerfuldrummers, Blakey and Roy Haynes. "I was ready to start playing thedrums after listening to those guys play," he said with a laugh.

Advanced studies in harmony came from master arranger-trombonistSlide Hampton and his big band, World of Trombones. Robin also wasin that group, along with eight other trombonists. "It felt good todo that," Kevin said. "I felt a kind of affinity for the trombonebecause I had grown up hearing my older brother play."

Kevin Eubanks' apprenticeship with Hampton ended suddenly in1983, when Bruce Lundvall, who was then president of Elektra/Musician Records, happened to hear World of Trombones at a club. Thenext day, he called and offered Eubanks a one-album deal. The recordwas titled "Guitarist."

"I wasn't even looking to do a deal," Eubanks said. "I didn'tthink I was ready. I was content just learning from Slide. If Ihadn't been playing that day, Bruce may not have heard me."

His second album, "Sundance," happened much the same way, withbetter results. Chris Hinze, the Dutch flute player and owner ofHolland's Keytone Records, asked Eubanks if he wanted to make arecord.

About the same time, musician Dave Grusin and his marketing teamat GRP Records were sensing the growth of electric jazz. To bolsterits roster, GRP began to handle the American distribution for Hinze'slabel. GRP then offered contracts to Keytone artists, thusinheriting the group Special EFX and Kevin Eubanks.

Five albums later, Eubanks is a mainstay at GRP Records and apopular success. Criticism of his mixture of jazz and other musicalforms exasperates the guitarist. He expresses pride in his records,describing them as "delicate but forceful, at the same timegrooving." He has little patience with the idea that he should havestuck to the classic jazz he played during the Young Lions period.

"There was a change in a lot of different kinds of music at thetime when the Young Lions thing was happening," he said. "Pop musicwas changing somewhat and rap music was having a real strong effecton things, too. Because I learned some more harmony in jazz, whyshould it be difficult for me to play funk and fusion?"

Eubanks' appearance in Chicago will mark a homecoming for hisbassist, Kenny Davis. Drummer Gene Jackson and keyboardist Ed Simonround out the guitarist quartet.

Oil refineries sue EPA over ethanol plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — A ruling by the Obama administration allowing the sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol is running into legal hurdles from trade groups opposing the plan.

The National Petrochemical and Refiners Association sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday over the decision to allow the sale of gasoline containing higher blends of corn-based ethanol, the second major group to protest the ruling.

The Obama administration said in October that gas stations could start selling the ethanol blend for vehicles built since the 2007 model year, increasing it from the current blend of 10 percent ethanol. The decision has been criticized by boosters of ethanol who say it doesn't go far enough and by engine manufacturers who contend it could damage engines in vehicles, boats, snowmobiles and outdoor power equipment such as lawnmowers and chainsaws.

The refiners group asked a federal appeals court to overturn the decision, arguing that the EPA does not have the authority under the Clean Air Act to approve a plan for fuels used in some engines but not others. The trade association also said EPA based its decision on new data submitted shortly before the ruling, failing to give the public a chance to review it.

Charles T. Drevna, the NPRA's president, said Monday the EPA had "acted unlawfully in its rush to allow a 50 percent increase in the amount of ethanol in gasoline without adequate testing and without following proper procedures." His group was joined in the lawsuit by the International Liquid Terminals Association and the Western States Petroleum Association.

EPA spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said the agency had not reviewed the lawsuit. The EPA "based its decision on allowing E15 in newer cars — and will base whatever decision we make on model year 2001-2006 cars — on a comprehensive review of extensive testing data and on the law," he said. "We are confident it will withstand legal challenge."

The EPA is expected to consider the higher ethanol blends for vehicles built from 2001-2006 this year.

EPA has said a congressional mandate requiring increased ethanol cannot be met without the higher blends. Congress has required refiners to blend 36 billion gallons of biofuels, mostly ethanol, in automotive fuel by 2022.

Last month, trade groups for the auto industry and engine manufacturers sued EPA over the ruling, citing concerns it would lead to motorists unknowingly filling up their older cars and trucks with E15 and damaging the vehicles' engines. Opponents say the problem, called misfueling, could intensify if E15 fuels are cheaper than more conventional blends, prompting owners of older vehicles to use the fuel despite future engine problems.

The ethanol industry says the EPA should have approved the ethanol blend for more vehicles. They say there is enough evidence to show that a 15 percent ethanol blend in motor fuel will not harm engine performance.

Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association, said the lawsuits "only serve to delay the inevitable" and that increased ethanol use "is the only proven and abundantly available tool to reduce our reliance on imported oil today."

The lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Ivanovic Knocks Venus Out at Aussie Open

Venus Williams followed her sister Serena out of the Australian Open in the quarterfinals, both in losses to Serbian players. Venus went down 7-6 (3), 6-4 to fourth-seeded Ana Ivanovic on Wednesday, a day after defending champion Serena lost to No. 3 Jelena Jankovic.

Ivanovic, who had never taken a set off Williams in four previous contests, is into the semifinals for the third time at a Grand Slam and next faces first-timer Daniela Hantuchova, who beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-2 in Wednesday's other quarterfinal.

Jankovic will meet No. 5 Maria Sharapova in Thursday's semifinals. Sharapova ended top-ranked Justine Henin's 32-match winning streak with a 6-4, 6-0 win Tuesday.

Hantuchova had not been to the second week of a Grand Slam tournament since her quarterfinal exits at three consecutive majors, ending with a loss to Venus Williams in the Australian Open in 2003.

"It feels great. I kept fighting for every point, even in matches I wasn't playing very well," she said. "I kept believing I could do it, and here I am."

Williams was in the second week at Melbourne Park for the first time since '03, when she lost to her sister in the final.

She squandered a break in the second set and had double-break point in the last game before Ivanovic reeled off four straight points to advance.

Serena Williams slumped 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday to Jankovic, who reached the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the first time and only the third time in a major.

Serena Williams was unseeded and ranked No. 81 when she made her stunning run to a third Australian and eighth Grand Slam title here 12 months ago, punctuating that with an emphatic 6-1, 6-2 win over Sharapova in one of the most lopsided Grand Slam finals.

That loss stung Sharapova, who wants to make amends this year.

"Even though I beat Justine, it's definitely not over," she said. "I still have a lot of business to take care of."

Sharapova, who struggled with a shoulder problem for most of last season, started returning to her best at the WTA championships in November before losing in three sets to Henin in 3 hours, 24 minutes _ among the dozen longest women's tour matches in the Open era.

She turned the tables in only 1:38 on Tuesday, inflicting the first 6-0 set on Henin since 2002.

"I really felt like I was in a bubble," No. 5 Sharapova said. "I think it was one of the most consistent matches where I did all the things I wanted to do, and I did them correctly from the beginning to the end ... and just played the way I can play."

Henin, who struggled with her serve and was broken five times by Sharapova, said she had a minor concern over a lingering knee injury but put the end of her winning streak down as an inevitability.

"It's very hard to be at your best level all the time," she said. "I'll have to think about that and build again for the future."

Sharapova will be looking back for lessons to take into the semis against Jankovic, her old tennis academy pal.

"Ever since the juniors we've always played really tough and we've always battled it out, and it's great to see her in the semis," Sharapova said. "It's great we're playing together."

Another Serbian player has a chance of making the semis, with No. 3 Novak Djokovic playing David Ferrer of Spain in the men's semifinals.

Defending champion Roger Federer goes against No. 12 James Blake in the night match.

Blake is 0-7 against Federer, who beat him in the 2006 U.S. Open quarterfinals.

But he's taking heart from Federer's last two matches, when he was taken to 10-8 in the fifth set against Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic and had to save set points against Tomas Berdych.

No. 2 Rafael Nadal, the only player to beat Federer at the last 10 Grand Slams, advanced to his first Australian Open semifinal with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 24 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.

"Maybe I wasn't playing my best match, my best tennis today, but it was enough," the three-time French Open champion said. "It's a good moment for me, first semifinals on hard court, Grand Slam."

He will play 22-year-old Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat No. 14 Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 6-0, 7-6 (6) late Tuesday.

The 38th-ranked Tsonga has only played four previous majors due to a combination of back, shoulder and abdominal injuries and never won a title at the elite level, but has already upset No. 9 Andy Murray and No. 8 Richard Gasquet so far at Melbourne Park with his high-energy game.

After an impressive first four rounds, Serena Williams looked sluggish and her serve misfired against Jankovic, contributing to seven service breaks.

She had time to reflect on the singles loss when she combined with Venus in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 doubles quarterfinal loss to Chinese pair Yan Zi and Zheng Jie.

"I think that I went crazy, maybe, and I made a lot of mistakes. I didn't really play the game I wanted to play," Williams said, adding that she had some physical issues she didn't want to elaborate on. "I don't like to make excuses. We won't discuss those.

"I lost because Jelena played better than me and I made too many errors _ I think regardless, the match was on my racket, and I gave it away."

Jankovic has been hampered by a thigh problem since helping Serbia to the Hopman Cup final, where it lost to the Serena Williams-led United States.

She needed treatment during her first-round match here, when she had to save three match points, and again against Williams.

"I'm like a wounded animal. I still keep going," she said, adding for emphasis that she had a point to prove following a fourth-round loss to Williams here last year.

"Getting revenge, it feels so good," Jankovic said.

The Mix

TIGER LILY

The quintessential cheeky British girl first earned notice in 2006 for her debut album "Alright, Still." Allen's latest work, "It's Not Me, It's You," stays true to her sassy Mockney style, but with a more electronic, less retro sound. The singer has true vocal chops and can put on a solid live performance. Aside from having one of the more ridiculous band names out there, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head offers ironic electropop, providing the perfect warm-up for this concert. 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Riviera Theatre, 4746 N. Racine. Tickets, $26.50. Call (312) 559-1212 or visit www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets purchased for this show originally scheduled at the Vic will be honored. -- Centerstagechicago.com

MUSIC MAN

The Texas musician Alejandro Escovedo's blend of rock, folk, blues and classical music has impressed the critics and won him a large base of fans. He's in concert at 7 and 10 p.m. on Saturday at the Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln. Special guest Carrie Rodriguez will also perform. Tickets are $21 to $25. Call (773) 728-6000 or visit www.oldtownschool.org.

PROJECTING AN IMAGE

Paintings, prints and photographs from Mexican artists both in Mexico and the United States produced in the last 80 years, from one of the largest corporate collections in America, are now on display in "Miradas: Mexican Art from the Bank of America Collection," through Aug. 30 at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th. Artists include Diego Rivera, Rufino Tamayo, Gabriel Orozco and more. The exhibition is free. Call (312) 738-1503 or visit www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org.

THIS BOY IS HOT

Rapper Lil Wayne headlines the Sears Centre, 5333 Prairie Stone in Hoffman Estates, at 7:30 p.m. today. T-Pain, Gym Class Heroes and Keri Hilson will open. Tickets are $62 to $202. Call (847) 649-2270 or visit www.searscentre.com.

LAUGH IT UP ALL WEEK

The Chicago Improv Festival, the world's top improv festival, announces its 2009 event, "One World, Many Laughs," Monday through April 19. More than 75 ensembles from six countries on 11 stages will include Frangela -- Frances Callier (a Chicago Improv Festival Founder) and Angela Shelton -- and The 313, a Los Angeles-based group of comics who are originally from Detroit (where the area code is 313). Tickets will be $20 or less. Visit www.chicagoimprovfestival.org.

BIRD CALLS

Indie darling and whistler extraordinaire Andrew Bird plays to a hometown crowd in the gorgeous, art deco Civic Opera House. His newest album, Noble Beast, made it to Number 12 on the Billboard 200 chart, so you may have to scour the city for tickets. 8 tonight, Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker. Tickets, $25.50-$33. Call (312) 902-1500; www.ticketmaster.com.

ONE SINGULAR SENSATION

A Chorus Line, the legendary Broadway musical about, well, landing a spot in the chorus line of a Broadway musical (and so much more), returns to Chicago for a limited engagement, Tuesday through May 3 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts/Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph. Tickets, $18-$85. Call (312) 902-1400; www.broadwayinchicago.com. NOTE: "Every Little Step," a new documentary comparing and contrasting the original stage musical with its current revival, opens at the Music Box Theatre, Landmark Renaissance and the Evanston CineArts on May 15.

DON'T MISS IT

Grothemburg, the winners of The Original Improv Gladioators: Season Three, presents its show, "The Couch," in which the cast and a guest improviser will take on the problems of a new "patient" each week. The light-hearted and thoroughy worthless therapeutic exercise is at 11 p.m. on Fridays through April 24 at the Cornservatory, 4210 N. Lincoln. Tickets, $10. Call (312) 409-6435; www.cornservatory.com.

Photo: AP / Tiger Lily ; Color Photo: (See microfilm for photo description). Photo: Getty Images / Lil Wayne ;

Senior governmental official seeks to calm investor fears over Mechel

A senior Russian official sought to calm the markets Monday after investors dumped Russian stocks in the wake of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's public criticism of the country's sixth-largest steelmaker.

Friday's rout followed a scathing attack by Putin on Mechel, the steel and coal firm, for alleged price-fixing.

"We hope that these events will be a lesson for everybody, not just for Mechel, but for every company, and we will all act in a civilized way," Arkady Dvorkovich, an aide to President Dmitry Medvedev, told reporters.

He added that Mechel is cooperating with antitrust authorities, which recently opened an investigation into the company's activities.

"We consider it a positive signal that the company has been cooperating with the anti-monopoly services these past weeks," said Dvorkovich.

Russian stock markets plummeted by more than 5 percent Friday, prompting investors to predict a change in sentiment toward Russia, and the end to its "safe haven" status amid a worsening global economic outlook. Mechel's share price fell by nearly 40 percent in New York after Putin's comments, wiping more than US$5 billion off its value.

Investor confidence was further knocked by the abrupt departure Thursday of Anglo-Russian oil firm TNK-BP CEO Robert Dudley, the central figure in an acrimonious shareholder dispute.

Dvorkovich reiterated that the government should not interfere in the dispute.

"I think there are no risks at all for TNK-BP in Russia today," he said.

He went on to underline the attractiveness of investing in Russia, saying that local stocks remain strongly undervalued.

As of mid-afternoon, the Russian markets were recovering some of last week's losses, with shares on both major indexes up around 1.2 percent.

DreamWorks shares hit after 'Puss' has soft open

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shares of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. fell Monday after the company's latest computer animated movie, "Puss in Boots," did worse than analysts had forecast.

THE SPARK: The spin-off of the "Shrek" series opened atop the box office charts on the weekend with an estimated $34 million in ticket sales, but analysts had been looking for an opening in the $40 million to $45 million range.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Benjamin Mogil cut his domestic box office estimate on the film to $130 million from $160 million and expected sales of DVDs and Blu-ray discs to be 4.5 million instead of 5.1 million. He kept his "Sell" rating on the shares.

Cowen & Co. analyst Doug Creutz said that it was the lowest opening of any DreamWorks Animation film since "Antz" in 1998, and said it was the fifth film in a row to underperform in its opening weekend relative to expectations.

On a conference call with analysts last week, DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said that he would put anything above the record for the pre-Halloween weekend of $33.6 million in the "win column." The estimated box office haul barely eked out a win by that measure.

THE BIG PICTURE: DreamWorks Animation produces just two or three animated movies per year and has devoted all its movies to the 3-D format. Its earnings are highly dependent on the success of each movie. The company is facing headwinds from falling DVD sales and has attempted to deal with it by licensing its content to the highest bidder in the pay TV window — Netflix Inc.

THE ANALYSIS: More studios are putting out high-quality computer animated feature films and DreamWorks Animation is facing tough competition, from Viacom Inc.'s Paramount, its long-time distributor, to Comcast Corp.'s Universal Pictures and News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox.

Creutz said it may be time for the company to seek a buyer.

"With few growth levers left to pull, and competition set to increase further, we think it may be time for management to aggressively pursue strategic alternatives," he said in a research note Monday.

SHARE ACTION: DreamWorks shares were down $1.40, or 7 percent, at $18.72 in afternoon trading Monday. Shares have marched steadily downward since November of last year when they established the current 52-week peak of $37.74.

China leads team qualifying at gymnastics worlds

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — China has moved into the lead of team qualifying at the world gymnastics championships, pushing Japan into second place.

Olympic champion Chen Yibing made the difference on the rings for China as it swept past Japan on the final apparatus. Only Russia remains as a main contender in Tuesday's qualifying.

China leads the provisional standings with 362.482 points, ahead of Japan with 361.400. The United States has 357.092.

In the individual standings, Japan's Kohei Uchimura led with 92.231 points, ahead Lu Bo of China with 89.639. American Jonathan Horton is third with 89.598 points.

The team final is Thursday when the finalists start again from scratch.

HMO growth starts tapering off: Competition tight for seven firms operating with state's population

Managed care plans now cover medical costs for more than 200,000West Virginians but growth is slowing, according to a new report.

Though the number increased from 128,000 at the end of 1996, itreached a peak in September of last year.

After that, Public Employees Insurance Agency enrollment inmanaged care decreased 13 percent, said Jill McDaniel of the WestVirginia Hospital Association."HMO growth is leveling off," she said.In the only report of its kind, the hospital association compiled1997 statistics from the state Insurance Commission, PEIA, Medicaidand Medicare.Currently, 11 percent of the state's population belongs to ahealth maintenance organization.West Virginia was one of the last states to develop managed careoptions as opposed to traditional fee-for-service insurance.Lagging behind enabled the state to examine others and refineregulations, said Insurance Commissioner Hanley Clark."We anticipate managed care to grow especially as the state movesforward with its Medicaid program," Clark said.Currently nine counties offer managed care to Medicaidparticipants. The state Department of Health and Human Resources hasproposed expanding it to another eight.Increased participation hasn't helped all state health maintenanceorganizations make money, however.Five of seven HMOs in the state still were operating in the red atthe end of 1997. They lost a total of $17.2 million for theiroperations in West Virginia and other states.The losses are decreasing, however. In 1996, combined losses werenearly $40 million.The two HMOs that made a profit were Health Plan of the Upper OhioValley, the state's oldest HMO, and MAMSI, also known as OptimumChoice.Carelink, a subsidiary of Charleston-based Camcare, lost about $6million, down from about $8 million in 1996.Al Mytty, Carelink chief executive officer, said it traditionallytakes five years for an HMO to operate at a profit. The HMO finishedits third year in December."We expect to break even next year, our fifth," Mytty said.Carelink also gained more membership than any other HMO last year.It now controls nearly 29 percent of the state HMO market, with58,671 enrollees.Carelink's gains were with commercial members and PEIA.The leading HMO, Health Plan of the Upper Ohio Valley, enrolled60,698 at the end of 1997.Six of seven HMOs gained membership.PrimeOne lost about 1,000 enrollees. McDaniel attributed that toa loss of PEIA members due to changes in the premium rates.For the first time, hospital officials learned that 25,317Medicare recipients are enrolled in managed care, McDaniel said.Another surprise was the number of privately insured customersusing an HMO compared to public programs. Forty-nine percent of HMOcustomers come from private plans, she said.Officials still question whether West Virginia can sustain sevenHMOs in a state with relatively few residents, many of whom live inrural counties.Clark said he would not be surprised if there were mergers in thenext few years."I do feel seven HMOs operating successfully in a population of1.8 million is going to be difficult," he said.Therese S. Cox can be reached at 348-4874.

DO YOU WANT TO BE A HERO

In case you're wondering what's tying up traffic around GrantPark, it's the NFL Air-It-Out flag football festival. The deadlineto enter has passed (it was $125 anyway), but watching is - andshould be - free. …

Qatari and Saudi airlines place billions of dollars worth of orders with Boeing and Airbus

Qatar Airways bought US$13.5 billion (euro9.2 billion) dollars worth of planes from Boeing while a Saudi airline placed US$2.2 billion (euro1.5 billion) in orders with Airbus in a flurry of buying announced Sunday at the Dubai air show.

Middle East airlines are expanding rapidly as traffic in the region is growing due to four-year economic boom driven by high oil prices.

Qatar Airways ordered 27 Boeing 777 planes, including 22 that were previously listed with the American aircraft manufacturer, but only identified on Sunday, the opening day of Dubai air show.

The airline representatives said that Qatar Airways will also order 30 Boeing 787 …

Humbled Spadea Gains 3rd Round; Agassi Only Other American Man Left

It is not hard to become accustomed to having someone to drive youplaces, and someone else to string your rackets, and someone else todevise your practice schedule and field your media requests and makeyour dinner reservations. It is not hard to become accustomed tobeing a top player on the tennis tour, so it wasn't until AmericanVince Spadea wasn't one anymore that he realized just how good he hadbeen having it.

"It was something I had worked for my whole life and I didn't evenrealize it when it was happening -- you're making the money and goingto tournaments and it just starts to become a ritual, you go fromweek to week to week," he said this afternoon at the French …

Humbled Spadea Gains 3rd Round; Agassi Only Other American Man Left

It is not hard to become accustomed to having someone to drive youplaces, and someone else to string your rackets, and someone else todevise your practice schedule and field your media requests and makeyour dinner reservations. It is not hard to become accustomed tobeing a top player on the tennis tour, so it wasn't until AmericanVince Spadea wasn't one anymore that he realized just how good he hadbeen having it.

"It was something I had worked for my whole life and I didn't evenrealize it when it was happening -- you're making the money and goingto tournaments and it just starts to become a ritual, you go fromweek to week to week," he said this afternoon at the French …

Partnering on Multiscale Biology

PacBio CSO Eric Schadt to lead a 'Multiscale Institute' at Mount Sinai,

Pacific Biosciences has announced a partnership with Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MSSM) in New York to create the Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology.

The director of the new institute will be PacBio's chief science officer, Eric Schadt, who is retaining his non-operational position at PacBio while moving to New York this summer to run the center. The institute will be the hub of genomics research at MSSM, collaborating with 13 other translational and core facilities at Mount Sinai, and incorporating a user facility featuring PacBio's technology.

The MSSM SMRT Biology facility will …

Simplifying stem cell research: many tools--from transfection devices to off-the-shelf cell lines--push ahead the science of self-renewal.(Biochemicals & Kits)

Despite the political battles, especially in the U.S., over which stem cells can be used in federally funded research, this field continues to expand. In fact, many of this area's more troublesome steps can now be attacked with stock kits and supplies. Consequently, even more researchers can turn stem cells into scientific results and even applications.

To turn ordinary cells into stem cells, researchers add genes through transfection, often mediated by a lentivirus or retrovirus. For induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, Life Technologies recently unveiled its CytoTune-iPS Reprogramming Kit, which utilizes a Sendai virus. According to David Welch, senior market development manager for the stem cell business unit at Life Technologies, this kit drives cell conversion that is up to 100-fold more efficient than traditional methods and only requires a single application.

Moreover, the Sendai virus does not integrate into the genome of the cells being reprogrammed. "Techniques in which the virus is integrated can cause problems downstream," says Welch. For example, the integrated DNA might disrupt gene …

NEIGHBORS CHALLENGE DEVELOPMENT PLANS.(Local)

Byline: Marc Carey Staff writer

The town Planning Board took no action Monday on a proposal by developer Robert Van Patten to build 57 new homes in Country Knolls, after the town fire marshal refused to approve the plan.

Monday's public hearing on the project drew several residents of the development, several of whom voiced concerns about the plan.

The Planning Board cannot by law approve the proposal without the OK of the head of the town Bureau of Fire Prevention. Ray Bowman earlier this month disapproved plans for the project, citing problems with the location of fire hydrants as well as the house-numbering plan.

Van Patten's plan calls …

NOBODY'S LAUGHING AT 'CARNAGE, A COMEDY'.(Living Today)

Byline: Michael Kuchwara Associated Press

The title is "Carnage, A Comedy," as if authors Adam Simon and Tim Robbins had to reassure theatergoers it was all right to laugh.

Not many did at a preview of this messy, meandering and mirthless satire of religious evangelism now playing at the New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater.

The play comes from The Actors' Gang, an acting ensemble from Los Angeles that has been putting on productions since 1981 on the West Coast and performed "Carnage" at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland before coming here. It wasn't worth the trip.

Robbins, an actor best known for the movie "Bull Durham," and …

Market Blaze Kills Chinese Firefighters

Fire engulfed a 12-story wholesale market in northwest China, killing at least two firefighters before officials ordered fire companies out of the building for fear it might collapse, state media said.

A third firefighter was missing after trying to search the building for occupants, Xinhua News Agency said.

It said the fire started about 8 p.m. Wednesday and spread throughout the structure.

Xinhua said the fire reached an adjacent 20-story …

HOMERS BY STATE OF BIRTH

The state of Nevada could use a home run slugger. The best ofthe bunch is pitcher Jim Nash, who hit four. Dave Winfield is pilingup the homers for Minnesota. State, Player Homers

Massachusetts, Richie Hebner 203 Michigan, John Mayberry …

FFBH - Bulgaria Daily Update - June 17, 2011.

market WRAP-UP

SOFIX lost 0.23% to 411.67 on Friday to close the week 0.2% lower. The major losses for the day came from Industrial Holding Bulgaria (4ID, BGN 0.95, -3.06%) and Chimimport (6C4, BGN 2.90, -3.33%), but the loss was almost fully offset by Eurohold Bulgaria (4EH, BGN 1.209, +2.03%). The largest turnover of the day came from Monbat (5MB, BGN 6.94, -0.14%) where close to 53k changed hands. Sopharma (3JR) and Central Cooperative Bank (4CF) were also under pressure, while First Investment Bank (5F4) continued to be well bid as it advanced 0.32% to BGN 3.15. The real estate index BGREIT closed 0.23% lower, following the loss of Bulland Development (5BD, BGN 0.76, -5.50%).

Sofix BG 40 BGREIT BGTR30 (table)Daily Volume / Turnover (table)Most recent macro data (table)Exchange rates …

Experts probe possible link between cellphone towers and diminishing insect life.(News)

BYLINE: Guy Rogers

PORT ELIZABETH: Two top South African insect specialists are in the final phase of a three-year study aimed at determining if there is a link between cellphone base stations and a perceived decline in insect populations.

Max Clark and Peter Hawkes were commissioned by E Oppenheimer and Son following observations documented at Brenthurst Gardens in Johannesburg and Emzemvelo Nature Reserve at Bronkhorstspruit.

"About R1 million" had been invested in the project so far, said group conservation manager Duncan MacFadyen.

Clark said the project had been initiated by Strilli Oppenheimer, wife of De Beers mining giant chairman …

LONG LINES FOR $325M JACKPOT.(MAIN)

Byline: Associated Press

ATLANTA -- Just how big is the Big Game jackpot?

Nineteen times bigger than all of the prize money given away on ``Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.'' Enough cash to pay the entire Minnesota Twins baseball team until 2020.

The jackpot ballooned Monday to $325 million -- an amount almost inconceivable to just about anyone but superstar athletes and dot-com tycoons.

If it goes to just one person after today's drawing, the jackpot will be the richest lottery prize in world history.

In the seven states where the Big Game is played, gas stations and grocery stores were swamped Monday with people hoping their …

New Book from Political Scientist Studies 19th Century Writer.

Byline: Purdue University

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Aug. 31 (AScribe Newswire) -- A Purdue University political science professor's new book reflects on the roots of American identity through the writings of a mid-19th century writer.

"After 9/11, I was concerned there would be questions about the source of American national identity," says Michael A. Weinstein, a professor of political science. "So, I wanted to go back to the period when America's values, traits and identity were being culturally formed during the mid-19th century."

Weinstein focused on Oliver Wendell Holmes' writings, especially his lesser-known works such as "A Moral Antipathy" and …