The BBC recently reported that students in the final year of primary school ? equivalent to the fifth grade in the United States ? will be required to take a grammar and spelling test (to evaluate teaching effectiveness, not to qualify the students for matriculation). But are grammar and spelling teachable?
Year after year, from early elementary school on, students are subjected to instruction in grammar and spelling. Textbooks and handouts describe and explain the functions of parts of speech and the spelling rules, and students fill out worksheets and take spelling tests. Yet even some highly intelligent, scholastically successful students have difficulty expressing themselves in writing, are unable to identify parts of speech or verb tenses, and can?t spell very well.
I?m a good writer ? good, not great ? and I can spell just about any word, but I didn?t learn how to write by filling out grammar worksheets, and I didn?t study for spelling tests. I learned to write by writing ? and by reading. When I was in school, we had very few extended writing assignments, but these, and my extracurricular efforts (including an abysmal short novel I wrote when I was in junior high school), helped me hone my writing skills. My enthusiasm for reading certainly had a significant impact, too.
When I briefly taught elementary school, I didn?t use an English textbook. My students wrote and read. I gave vocabulary and spelling tests, but mostly, they wrote and read.
Unfortunately, however, it was difficult to help students develop their reading and writing skills. I had about thirty students at a time, and though they read and wrote while studying subjects other than language as well, there was very little opportunity to coach them to be better readers and writers.
And that?s the key. In the learning factories we call schools, educators generally devote time and energy through drills, not development. Many teachers simply follow the playbook and direct students to identify the adverbs in a sentence rather than engage the students in an exploration of the possibilities of adverbs. Most give spelling tests but don?t encourage students to use a new word in each entry in their daily journal. (Daily journal entry? Who has time to assign a daily journal entry?)
I?m not blaming these educators, of course. Although some lazy teachers give the profession a bad name, most teachers try to incorporate creative and truly valuable educational experiences in their classrooms, but given the dispiriting conditions and depressingly misdirected priorities in public education, doing so remains a challenge.
I remember, in college and perhaps later, despite having filled out innumerable grammar worksheets during my K?12 education, not knowing the difference between an adjective and an adverb. It didn?t get in the way of my ability to write. The worksheets, however, were an obstacle; how much more writing I could have done if I hadn?t had to fill them out!
The tragedy of the factory educational system is that many of the students who are not enthusiastic writers or who have had the enthusiasm drained from them by rote, irrelevant lessons will populate remedial writing courses at junior colleges and at Ivy League schools alike. They will be the ones who, because HR managers were dismayed by grammatical errors and spelling mistakes in cover letters and on r?sum?s, won?t get contacted for a job interview.
This argument does not mean to suggest that skill drills are useless; children and adults alike benefit from writing guides and grammar handbooks. But writing should be the foundation for developing written-language skills, not the other way around.
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May 30, 2013 ? The mutual-friends feature on social networks such as Facebook, which displays users' shared friendships, might not be so "friendly."
Often revered for bringing people together, the mutual-friends feature on Facebook actually creates myriad security risks and privacy concerns according to a University of Pittsburgh study published in Computers & Security. The study demonstrates that even though users can tailor their privacy settings, hackers can still find private information through mutual-friends features.
"Oftentimes, mutual-friends features have not been created in tandem with privacy setting designs, and inadequate thought with regards to security and privacy issues has been given," said James Joshi, principal investigator of the study and associate professor of information assurance and security in Pitt's School of Information Sciences. "With such a huge user base in such systems, a minor privacy breach can have a significant impact."
Together with his colleagues -- Mohd Anwar, a former faculty member in Pitt's School of Information Sciences and now assistant professor at North Carolina A&T State University, and Lei Jin, a PhD candidate in Pitt's School of Information Sciences -- Joshi examined three different types of attacks on social network users using an offline Facebook dataset containing 63,731 users from the New Orleans regional network. This dataset (chosen because it was open to the public) also included more than a million friend links.
Using computer simulation programs, the researchers first demonstrated a "friend exposure" attack, exploring how many private friends an "attacker" could find of a specific target user. The attacks were tested on 10 randomly chosen user groups with sizes ranging between 500 and 5,000 individuals, as well as sample groups that were computer generated based on shared interests across user profiles. The same process was used for the "distant neighbor exposure attack," through which the attacker's goal was to identify private distant neighbors from the initial target. These distant neighbors indicate users that are friends of friends of the target user (two degrees of separation) or even friends of friends of friends of the target user (three degrees of separation).
Finally, the team initiated a "hybrid attack," in which an attacker tried to identify both the target's private friends and distant neighbors.
They found that an attacker identified more than 60 percent of a target's private friends in the "mutual-friend based attack." Likewise, an attacker could find, on average, 67 percent of a target's private distant neighbors by using 100 compromised user accounts.
"Being able to see mutual friends may allow one to find out important and private social connections of a targeted user," said Joshi. "An attacker can infer such information as political affiliations or private information that could be socially embarrassing. More importantly, the information that's gathered could be used, in combination with other background information about the targeted user, to create false identities that appear even more authentic than the actual user."
"It is important to understand all possible privacy threats to users of social networking sites so that appropriate mechanisms can be developed. This work of ours is an effort to comprehensively understand such threats related to the mutual-friend feature so that appropriate measures can be taken."
Joshi cites the need for better privacy-protection settings to mitigate the problem -- but those that can also be easily navigated by users.
BOSTON (AP) ? City residents rocked Thursday at a benefit concert for victims of the deadly Boston Marathon bombing, jamming to songs from the J. Geils Band, Boston and other musical acts and even laughing at a joke about the capture of a bombing suspect.
The Boston Strong Concert kicked off with the rock band Boston playing songs including its 1970s hit "More Than a Feeling."
"Tonight, we are all Boston," lead singer Tommy DeCarlo declared to a crowd of thousands of people, including victims and first responders, at the TD Garden.
Concertgoer Harry Donovan said Boston residents weren't going to let "any violence, any hatred bring this town down."
"This city took a hit, there's no doubt, but Boston, like a lot of other cities, is resilient," said Donovan, of nearby Wellesley.
The show was to feature acts including Aerosmith, James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett, Dropkick Murphys, New Kids on the Block and Carole King.
Country singer Jason Aldean performed at the show, which was to include more than a dozen acts. Comedian Steven Wright also was part of the show's lineup.
More than once, the words "Boston Strong" were met with cheers and fist pumps from the energetic crowd.
"I love that phrase," enthused Boston comic Lenny Clarke, whose cathartic set featured a foul-mouthed, one-man reenactment of the capture of bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. "You know what I don't love? 'Shelter in place.'"
Boston area residents were locked down, told to shelter in place, a few days after the April 15 bombing while authorities searched for Tsarnaev, who was found hiding in a boat in a backyard in suburban Watertown. Tsarnaev's older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, had died after a shootout with police.
The suspects, ethnic Chechens from Russia, are accused of setting off two pressure cooker bombs packed with shrapnel near the marathon's finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 260 others. Their mother has insisted they are innocent.
Concert proceeds will go to One Fund Boston, the compensation fund established by Gov. Deval Patrick and Mayor Thomas Menino to help bombing victims.
The amount of money raised by the concert won't be available until next week, a spokesman for the event's producer said. Ticket prices for the sold-out show ranged from $35 to close to $300.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's rebels said on Thursday they should be granted half the seats in the opposition Syrian National Coalition, warning that without strong representation of fighters on the ground the group would have no legitimacy.
"We have learned that there have been compromises to expand the coalition which include bringing in a number of politicians, and a similar number from the rebel forces operating on the ground," a statement issued in the name of the Western-backed rebel military council said.
Rebel forces had "requested 50 percent rebel and military representation," it said. "The legitimacy of the coalition will only be granted from inside (Syria), and circumventing this rebel representation will mean legitimacy is withdrawn."
The statement followed a deal struck in Istanbul to admit a liberal bloc of opposition activists into the coalition to dilute the dominance of Islamists in the organization.
Colonel Qassem Saadeddine from the Military Council said that with 50 percent of the seats the rebels would guarantee a say in any future political deal to resolve Syria's conflict.
"Negotiations and talks will not succeed without the approval from us inside the country, from those who are paying the price with their blood," he said. "Without us, the West must understand that the Coalition is only a coalition of illusion."
International efforts continue towards holding peace talks in Geneva after 26 months of increasingly sectarian bloodshed in Syria that has killed at least 80,000 people.
Russian, U.S. and United Nations officials will meet next week to discuss ways to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table.
Syrian rebels under siege in a town near the Lebanese border issued a desperate appeal on Thursday for reinforcements and medical supplies as government troops and Lebanese guerrillas pounded their defenses.
(Reporting by Mariam Karouny; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Newquay fundraisers Sue Derbyshire (46), her son Jack (17), her brother Nick Carey (40) and her friend Emma Cresswell (46), are taking part in the Ben Nevis Midnight Challenge for Alzheimer's Society.
Sue, whose mum Norma (76) has been living with Alzheimer?s and vascular dementia for the past six years, said:
'As a family we have a deep understanding of the condition and a strong conviction that we should do what we can to help those who are affected by dementia.
'My mother has recently moved into a nursing home after being looked after by my dad and her condition has affected us all.'
Emma?s Grandmother also suffered with Alzheimer?s during the final years of her life.
Sue has previously supported the Alzheimer's Society by taking part in the 2011 Alzheimer's Society Memory Walk with her two sisters and brother; the whole family are keen supporters of the charity.
'Our family, particularly my sisters, have had a lot of support from the Alzheimer's Society so we want to do what we can to assist them in the fight against dementia.
'My brother spotted the Ben Nevis Midnight Challenge on the website and we thought it would be the ideal next step after the Memory Walk. We are not natural climbers, so this really will be a challenge for us!'
The Ben Nevis Midnight Challenge, which is taking place on the night of the 22 June, requires Sue, Nick, Jack and Emma to scale the 1,343ft mountain before dawn. Britain?s highest mountain is situated in the heart of the Nevis Range in the Western Highlands and Sue, Nick, Jack and Emma will experience the moonlight ascent before seeing the stunning vistas at sunrise.
Liz Monks, Director of Fundraising at Alzheimer?s Society said:
'We are delighted that Sue, Nick, Jack and Emma are giving their time and going the extra mile to support Alzheimer?s Society. One in three people over 65 will develop dementia. It is caused by diseases of the brain and can happen to anyone.
'As a charity, we rely on the generosity of individuals like Sue, Nick, Jack and Emma to help us continue our vital work. Please back them in their fundraising efforts so that Alzheimer's Society can continue leading the fight against dementia.'
If you would like to sponsor Sue, Nick, Jack or Emma, visit their JustGiving page.
For more information about the Ben Nevis Midnight Challenge, please see the Alzheimer?s Society events page at alzheimers.org.uk/event.
May 28, 2013 ? Blood diseases such as leukemia, multiple myeloma, and myelodysplasia can develop from abnormal bone marrow cells and a dysfunctional bone marrow microenvironment that surrounds these cells. Until now, researchers have been unable to replace the cells that make up the bone marrow microenvironment.
Researchers reporting in the May 28 issue of the Cell Press journal Developmental Cell have found that eliminating a gene in the cells found in this microenvironment causes them to die, therefore enabling donor cells to replace them. In addition to providing a better understanding of the bone marrow microenvironment, the findings could help improve bone marrow transplant therapy for patients who need it.
Scientists led by Dr. Hongbo Luo of Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital found that mice lacking a gene that codes for an enzyme called SH2-containing inositol-5'-phosphatase-1 (SHIP) could not form a normal bone marrow microenvironment but that transplanted cells from normal mice could reconstitute the microenvironment in the mutant animals.
This microenvironment reconstitution normalized blood cell production in the bone marrow and also corrected defects due to abnormal blood cell production in the spleens and lungs of the SHIP-deficient mice.
"We believe our finding is a major breakthrough in the field," says Dr. Luo. "Long-term reconstitution of the bone marrow environment can be achieved by treatment with a specific SHIP inhibitor, although it is currently not available yet."
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Journal Reference:
Liang et al. Deficiency of Lipid Phosphatase SHIP Enables Long-Term Reconstitution of Hematopoietic Inductive Bone Marrow Microenvironment. Developmental Cell, 2013
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Scientists pave the way for vaccine to combat devastating avian diseasePublic release date: 28-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jo Bowler pressoffice@exeter.ac.uk 44-139-272-2062 University of Exeter
Recent reduction in the use of antibiotic growth promoters in animal feeds has resulted in a dramatic increase in the severe poultry disease - necrotic enteritis. New research suggests that the disease, which is costing the worldwide poultry industry an estimated 600 million a year, could be prevented by immunisation with a vaccine that is being developed at the University of Exeter.
Professor Richard Titball of the University of Exeter said: "Necrotic enteritis is a major concern for the poultry farming industry worldwide and poultry producers are waiting for this desperately needed vaccine. Our work will pave the way for the development of a vaccine that will help farmers tackle this devastating disease."
In recent years concern over the impact of antibiotics in the food chain has led to an EU-wide ban in the use of antimicrobial growth promoters in animal feeds and a general reduction in use word-wide. These antibiotics, added to promote the growth of poultry, also prevented necrotic enteritis and other diseases.
Necrotic enteritis, which causes lesions in the intestines of poultry resulting in severe illness and even death, is caused by the bacterium Clostridium perfringens. Research has shown that the bacterium produces a toxin called NetB and much of the disease is caused by the effects of this toxin. Researchers at the University of Exeter, in collaboration with Ghent University, Belgium and Birkbeck College, University of London, have unravelled the molecular structure of the NetB toxin. Exchanging crucial amino acids in the NetB toxin, using molecular biology techniques, has enabled the researchers to identify a non-toxic form of NetB.
The researchers have discovered that immunisation with non-toxic NetB results in protection against necrotic enteritis. This research has just been published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry and in Vaccine.
Sergio Fernandes da Costa, from the University of Exeter, said: "This is a tremendous step towards developing a necrotic enteritis vaccine that will control this disease in the future. We are working closely with the animal health industry to develop a product that can be efficiently given to entire poultry flocks in feed or water."
###
This research was supported in part by the Wellcome Trust and in part by the European Union Marie Curie Network.
About the University of Exeter
The Sunday Times University of the Year 2012-13, the University of Exeter is a Russell Group university and in the top one percent of institutions globally. It combines world-class research with very high levels of student satisfaction. Exeter has over 18,000 students and is ranked 7th in The Sunday Times University Guide, 10th in the UK in The Times Good University Guide 2012 and 10th in the Guardian University Guide. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 90% of the University's research was rated as being at internationally recognised levels and 16 of its 31 subjects are ranked in the top 10, with 27 subjects ranked in the top 20.
The University has invested strategically to deliver more than 350 million worth of new facilities across its campuses for 2012, including landmark new student services centres - the Forum in Exeter and The Exchange in Cornwall - and world-class new facilities for Biosciences, the Business School and the Environment and Sustainability Institute.
http://www.exeter.ac.uk
For further information:
Dr Jo Bowler
University of Exeter Press Office
+44 (0)1392 722062
pressoffice@exeter.ac.uk
About Birkbeck
Birkbeck was founded in 1823 by Dr George Birkbeck, who started a revolution in London's education system by establishing a college specifically for working people. Part of the University of London, Birkbeck is London's only specialist provider of evening higher education, making the very best university education accessible to non-traditional students. Over 18,000 students from diverse social and educational backgrounds participate in a broad range of higher education opportunities at Birkbeck.
Birkbeck ranks among the top 1% research-intensive universities in the world, according to the 2012 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. With over 90 per cent of academics research-active, the College is a vibrant centre of academic engagement and excellence. The College has consistently ranked number one in the National Student Survey, and this year topped the poll for student satisfaction and teaching in London.
For further information:
Bryony Merritt
Birkbeck Press Office, University of London
+44 (0)20 7380 3133
b.merritt@bbk.ac.uk
About Ghent University
Since being founded in 1817, Ghent University has steadily established itself as one of Belgium's leading research universities. Ghent University offers a broad range of programmes in academic and scientific branches, with high-quality research-based educational programmes in virtually every scientific discipline. The appeal of Ghent University as an institute of higher education is growing every year, with a total number of 36.000 students in 2013.
Numerous research groups, centres and institutes have been founded over the years, becoming world-renowned in various scientific disciplines, such as biotechnology, aquaculture and micro-electronics.
http://www.UGent.be
For further information:
Ms Stephanie Lenoir
Ghent University Press Office
+32 9 264 82 76
Stephanie.Lenoir@UGent.be
About the Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The Trust's breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. It is independent of both political and commercial interests.
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Scientists pave the way for vaccine to combat devastating avian diseasePublic release date: 28-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jo Bowler pressoffice@exeter.ac.uk 44-139-272-2062 University of Exeter
Recent reduction in the use of antibiotic growth promoters in animal feeds has resulted in a dramatic increase in the severe poultry disease - necrotic enteritis. New research suggests that the disease, which is costing the worldwide poultry industry an estimated 600 million a year, could be prevented by immunisation with a vaccine that is being developed at the University of Exeter.
Professor Richard Titball of the University of Exeter said: "Necrotic enteritis is a major concern for the poultry farming industry worldwide and poultry producers are waiting for this desperately needed vaccine. Our work will pave the way for the development of a vaccine that will help farmers tackle this devastating disease."
In recent years concern over the impact of antibiotics in the food chain has led to an EU-wide ban in the use of antimicrobial growth promoters in animal feeds and a general reduction in use word-wide. These antibiotics, added to promote the growth of poultry, also prevented necrotic enteritis and other diseases.
Necrotic enteritis, which causes lesions in the intestines of poultry resulting in severe illness and even death, is caused by the bacterium Clostridium perfringens. Research has shown that the bacterium produces a toxin called NetB and much of the disease is caused by the effects of this toxin. Researchers at the University of Exeter, in collaboration with Ghent University, Belgium and Birkbeck College, University of London, have unravelled the molecular structure of the NetB toxin. Exchanging crucial amino acids in the NetB toxin, using molecular biology techniques, has enabled the researchers to identify a non-toxic form of NetB.
The researchers have discovered that immunisation with non-toxic NetB results in protection against necrotic enteritis. This research has just been published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry and in Vaccine.
Sergio Fernandes da Costa, from the University of Exeter, said: "This is a tremendous step towards developing a necrotic enteritis vaccine that will control this disease in the future. We are working closely with the animal health industry to develop a product that can be efficiently given to entire poultry flocks in feed or water."
###
This research was supported in part by the Wellcome Trust and in part by the European Union Marie Curie Network.
About the University of Exeter
The Sunday Times University of the Year 2012-13, the University of Exeter is a Russell Group university and in the top one percent of institutions globally. It combines world-class research with very high levels of student satisfaction. Exeter has over 18,000 students and is ranked 7th in The Sunday Times University Guide, 10th in the UK in The Times Good University Guide 2012 and 10th in the Guardian University Guide. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 90% of the University's research was rated as being at internationally recognised levels and 16 of its 31 subjects are ranked in the top 10, with 27 subjects ranked in the top 20.
The University has invested strategically to deliver more than 350 million worth of new facilities across its campuses for 2012, including landmark new student services centres - the Forum in Exeter and The Exchange in Cornwall - and world-class new facilities for Biosciences, the Business School and the Environment and Sustainability Institute.
http://www.exeter.ac.uk
For further information:
Dr Jo Bowler
University of Exeter Press Office
+44 (0)1392 722062
pressoffice@exeter.ac.uk
About Birkbeck
Birkbeck was founded in 1823 by Dr George Birkbeck, who started a revolution in London's education system by establishing a college specifically for working people. Part of the University of London, Birkbeck is London's only specialist provider of evening higher education, making the very best university education accessible to non-traditional students. Over 18,000 students from diverse social and educational backgrounds participate in a broad range of higher education opportunities at Birkbeck.
Birkbeck ranks among the top 1% research-intensive universities in the world, according to the 2012 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. With over 90 per cent of academics research-active, the College is a vibrant centre of academic engagement and excellence. The College has consistently ranked number one in the National Student Survey, and this year topped the poll for student satisfaction and teaching in London.
For further information:
Bryony Merritt
Birkbeck Press Office, University of London
+44 (0)20 7380 3133
b.merritt@bbk.ac.uk
About Ghent University
Since being founded in 1817, Ghent University has steadily established itself as one of Belgium's leading research universities. Ghent University offers a broad range of programmes in academic and scientific branches, with high-quality research-based educational programmes in virtually every scientific discipline. The appeal of Ghent University as an institute of higher education is growing every year, with a total number of 36.000 students in 2013.
Numerous research groups, centres and institutes have been founded over the years, becoming world-renowned in various scientific disciplines, such as biotechnology, aquaculture and micro-electronics.
http://www.UGent.be
For further information:
Ms Stephanie Lenoir
Ghent University Press Office
+32 9 264 82 76
Stephanie.Lenoir@UGent.be
About the Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The Trust's breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. It is independent of both political and commercial interests.
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Dolphins wide receiver Mike Wallace took to Twitter (@Wallace_17daKid) Monday night in an attempt to clear up recent comments he thinks have been taken out of context.
Apparently people are claiming he?s been taking shots at his former team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here are Wallace?s three tweets on the topic:
?I want it to be known that I have nothing but love and respect for everybody in the Pittsburgh Steelers oraganization that is a A1
?Organization over there those guys are my brothers for life beyond football so to all the people who think I take shots at them it is
?Totally misleading idk people keep making it out like I wanna bash them I am forever grateful for everything they have ever done for me?
During last week?s OTA (Organized Team Activities) Wallace remarked there?s more of a ?college mentality? around the Dolphins, which he said is different than the Steelers because Pittsburgh is an older team and Miami is a young team.
Wallace, who signed a five-year, $60 million contract with the Dolphins, also revealed he rented his home while in Pittsburgh, but he?s buying a house in South Florida.
Earlier in the month Wallace he said Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill, while not in the same class as Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, can probably throw the ball ?a little bit farther than Ben.?
Although none of the comments seemed mean-spirited they haven?t been received well in some circles.
Here?s Wallace?s ?college mentality? comment, which was in response to being asked what the Dolphins need to do to become a winning team:
?We just have to stay hungry like we are. I feel like every day, everybody comes in with a great attitude and really works. We?re a young team, so that?s all we know. Everybody has the college mentality around here, so it?s a lot different coming from where I come from with the older guys. I think everybody is hungry, everybody wants to get better, and everybody wants to be what we need to be to have a winning record.?
Here?s what Wallace said when asked whether Tannehill has any similar qualities, such as arm strength, to Roethlisberger and whether Tannehill could develop into being as good as Roethlisberger.
?Oh, yeah, definitely. It?s funny they both played wide receiver at the beginning of college so they kind of both know what we like to do out there so we have the chemistry already from a wide receiver standpoint. And they both have strong arms. Ryan can really fling it. I think from a deep ball perspective Ryan may be able to throw the ball a little bit farther than Ben.
?Obviously Ben is more experienced in a gametime situation but the way it?s going it won?t take long for him to be one of the great quarterbacks at all.?
Wallace's words didn?t seem enough to cause problems, but obviously they were enough to compel him to use Twitter to defend himself.
'Behind the Candelabra' stars Michael Douglas as Liberace and Matt Damon as his companion and romantic interest Scott Thorson. 'Behind the Candelabra' airs on HBO May 26.
By Frazier Moore,?Associated Press / May 25, 2013
'Behind the Candelabra' stars Matt Damon (l.) and Michael Douglas (r.).
Claudette Barius/HBO/AP
Enlarge
The idea of Michael Douglas playing Liberace might seem nearly as outrageous as Liberace himself.
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Liberace, forever hailed as Mr. Showmanship, was the excess-to-the-max pianist-personality whose onstage and offstage extravagance were legendary and who wowed audiences in Las Vegas and worldwide to become the best-paid entertainer on the planet during his heyday from the 1950s to the 1970s.
He was the forerunner of flashy, gender-bender entertainers like Elton John, David Bowie, Madonna and Lady Gaga even as he kept a tight lid on his gay private life, which he feared could have ended his career had it come out. (His fans never seemed to get wise.)
By contrast, Michael Douglas is a 68-year-old movie star known for he-man performances and morally ambiguous roles. And he was no piano player.
But Douglas now dazzles as Liberace in the new HBO film "Behind the Candelabra," including lavish musical numbers in which he tinkles the ivories and flourishes his jewel-and-ermine finery. The film (executive-produced by showbiz veteran Jerry Weintraub, a Liberace friend) premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT.
Douglas' co-star is Matt Damon, who, in a casting choice almost as counterintuitive, plays Scott Thorson, a dreamy, strapping teen who in 1977 met Liberace in his Vegas dressing room and almost instantly became his personal assistant, live-in companion and top-secret lover.
"Candelabra" (whose title cites the trademark prop ornamenting Liberace's onstage piano) also features Dan Aykroyd, Scott Bakula, Paul Reiser, Debbie Reynolds and a hilarious turn by Rob Lowe as Liberace's on-call plastic surgeon.
It was the film's director, Steven Soderbergh, who brought together the two lead actors, helped shape their splendid performances and masterminded this portrait of a loving but bizarre and tempestuous affair.
This showbiz saga may be over the top, but there's plenty of depth and it dives deep.
"We played the script and tried not to wink at the audience," said Douglas. "It's a great love story. I watch it and I forget about Matt and myself. Then, pretty soon, I practically forget it's two guys: The conversations and arguments sound like any ol' couple."
Adds Damon in a separate interview: "The question for us was how do we make this look like a marriage that we recognize. Most of our scenes we could relate to because we're both in long-term marriages. It was a male-female story with two guys."
Well, maybe. But that doesn't override the risk factor for Douglas and Damon as they tackled roles dramatically at odds with their images and past work.
"I looked at Matt and thought, 'Man, this guy's brave,'" said Douglas. "It's one thing for me at my age to stretch a little bit and try different characters. But 'Bourne'! A man in the prime of his career going this route?! I was in awe of Matt's courage."
"He's being nice," said Damon, 42, with a laugh when told what Douglas had said. "He would've done it in a second! He'd never turn down a great role."
Why did Damon say yes to man-to-man pillow talk?
"I've never said no to Steven," he replied, noting he had worked with Soderbergh before in "The Informant!" and the "Ocean" trilogy. "It doesn't get any more fun than working with Steven."
Douglas, too, had been in Soderbergh films, including the 2000 thriller "Traffic," during whose production the director first proposed Douglas playing Liberace.
The number of Americans who serve in the US military?? especially those sent to combat?? has gone down dramatically in recent years. Critics say civilians need to assume more responsibility for the moral burden of war as well as for the other costs of fighting.
By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / May 27, 2013
President Obama greets Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran Eilene Henderson in the Arlington National Cemetery during his Memorial Day visit there Monday.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Enlarge
At Arlington National Cemetery today, President Obama laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, calling upon the nation to keep in mind those fighting in Afghanistan and elsewhere, especially as nearly 12 years of war winds down.
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?Regardless of reason, this truth cannot be ignored that today most Americans are not directly touched by war,? Mr. Obama told a crowd of dignitaries and military families gathered to mark Memorial Day. ?As a consequence, not all Americans may always see or fully grasp the depths of sacrifice, the profound costs that are made in our name, right now, as we speak, everyday.?
?Made in our name? may be the most relevant phrase here ? especially as the percentage of Americans serving in uniform declines in the decades following the end of the Vietnam War and an end to military conscription.
?Fewer Americans are making the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan and that?s progress for which we are profoundly grateful,? Obama said. ?This time next year, we will mark the final Memorial Day of our war in Afghanistan.?
Still, he noted, more than 60,000 GI?s still serve far from home in Afghanistan.
?They?re still going out on patrol, still living in spartan forward operating bases, still risking their lives to carry out their mission,? he said. ?And when they give their lives, they are still being laid to rest in cemeteries in the quiet corners across our country.?
For better or for worse, ?their mission? is really ?our mission,? at least in terms of national policy crafted and carried out in a democracy with elected leaders. This was Obama?s implied message, not only on Memorial Day but in his commencement speech Friday at the US Naval Academy and a day earlier in his comprehensive address at the National Defense University outlining continuing (and new) efforts in fighting terrorism.
In a piece headlined ?Veterans need to share the moral burden of war? in the Washington Post last Friday, war correspondent, author, and documentary filmmaker Sebastian Junger argues that the entire nation shares that burden.
?Soldiers face myriad challenges when they return home, but one of the most destructive is the sense that their country doesn?t quite realize that it ? and not just the soldiers ? went to war,? Mr. Junger writes. ?The country approved, financed and justified war ? and sent the soldiers to fight it.?
?This is important because it returns the moral burden of war to its rightful place: with the entire nation,? he goes on. ?If a soldier inadvertently kills a civilian in Baghdad, we all helped kill that civilian. If a soldier loses his arm in Afghanistan, we all lost something.?
?When soldiers come home spiritually polluted by the killing that they committed, or even just witnessed, many hope that their country will share the moral responsibility of such a grave event,? Junger writes.
Lorraine D. Hall, of Ewing, N.J., visits the graves of her father, a World War I veteran, and mother, on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, 2013, at the Beverly National Cemetery in Beverly, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
Lorraine D. Hall, of Ewing, N.J., visits the graves of her father, a World War I veteran, and mother, on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, 2013, at the Beverly National Cemetery in Beverly, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
President Barack Obama, center, participates in the wreathlaying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns with Maj. Gen. Michael S. Linnington, left, Commander of the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, May 27, 2013, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
President Barack Obama participates in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, May 27, 2013, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Bob Lewis looks over a field of crosses with names while participating in the College Point Memorial Day Parade in New York, Sunday, May 26, 2013. Lewis made the crosses, 137, for all the service members from College Point that were killed from the Civil War to the Vietnam War. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A couple photograph themselves amongst a sea of flags on Boston Common in Boston, Sunday, May 26, 2013. The flags were placed by the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund in memory of every fallen Massachusetts service member from the Civil War to the present. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Americans gathered at memorials, museums and monuments and the president laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery to honor fallen service members on Memorial Day, as combat in Afghanistan approaches 12 years and the ranks of World War II veterans dwindle.
"Let us not forget as we gather here today that our nation is still at war," President Barack Obama said after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
"When they give their lives, they are still being laid to rest in cemeteries in quiet corners across our country, including here in Arlington," he said. He told the stories of three soldiers who had died. Each had been devoted to their mission and were praised by others for saving lives.
Earlier in the morning, he and first lady Michelle Obama hosted a breakfast at the White House with "Gold Star" families of service members who have been killed.
Another wreath-laying ceremony was planned at Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island in New York City. The park is a tribute to President Roosevelt's famous speech calling for all people to enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined military leaders and others at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Manhattan. He said celebrate the day and the good weather but also important to "remember the sacrifice that was made so that we could be here."
At the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, about 20 bicyclists clustered around World War II veteran and museum volunteer Tom Blakey, a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division who jumped at Normandy on D-Day ? June 6, 1944 ? and in May 1945 helped liberate the work camp at Wobbelin in northwest Germany.
"Most of us wondered why we were there, killing people and being killed," he said. "We didn't do anything to deserve it. When we got to that camp and saw what was there, the lights came on."
The cycling group makes regular weekend training runs, and on Monday started a Memorial Day ride about seven miles away at the national cemetery in Chalmette, where the Battle of New Orleans ? the last in the War of 1812 ? was fought.
"I'm glad I took this ride to hear a personal story," Scott Gumina, 41, said. "Hearing one man's account of his personal experience was pretty impressive to me."
Across much of New England, several days of heavy rain gave way to sunny skies for parades in towns large and small.
In Portland, Maine, kids and even pets displayed the Stars and Stripes as veterans, youth groups law enforcement officials and civic organizations paraded to Monument Square to the tunes of a marching band, sirens from a police car and the rumble of motorcycles.
"It's a very important day, not only for the Veteran of Foreign Wars but every veteran organization, every branch of the service, and every patriot in general ? every American. This day is hugely significant and should never be forgotten," said David Olson, 66, of Portland, the VFW's state senior vice commander.
He said he was pleased to see a large turnout of youngsters, both in the parade and along the parade route. "As they get older, they'll realize exactly why we do this," he said.
For some veterans, it was a somber event.
Richard Traiser, a Marine injured when his tank came under attack in Vietnam, helped deliver a three-volley salute with the Marine Corps League.
Memorial Day gives those who served an opportunity to get together and remember friends who didn't make it.
"I think about them a lot, especially the people I lost in my platoon," Traiser said. "A couple of kids were 19 years old. I don't dwell on it in a morbid way, but it's on your mind."
In Connecticut, a Waterford man who was killed in the Vietnam War was honored with a hometown park area named for him. Arnold E. Holm Jr., nicknamed "Dusty," was killed when his helicopter was shot down on June 11, 1972. A group of at least 100 dedicated the park this weekend.
In suburban Boston, veterans gathered in a park to mark Memorial Day this year rather than hold a parade because of failing health and dwindling numbers. The city of Beverly called off its parade because so few veterans would be able to march. The parade has been a fixture in the town since the Civil War.
In Atlanta, a dedication of the History Center's redone Veterans Park was scheduled for early evening. Soil from major battlefields will be scattered by veterans around the park's flagpole.
The holiday weekend also marked the traditional start of the U.S. vacation season. AAA, one of the nation's largest leisure travel agencies, expected 31.2 million Americans to hit the road over the weekend, virtually the same number as last year. Gas prices were about the same as last year, up 1 cent to a national average of $3.65 a gallon Friday.
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Associated Press writers David Sharp in Portland, Maine; Janet McConnaughey in New Orleans; and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
NEWARK, N.J. ? New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie plans to speak with Rutgers officials about a report that the woman hired to clean up the university' scandal-scarred athletic program quit as Tennessee's women's volleyball coach 16 years ago after her players submitted a letter complaining she ruled through humiliation, fear and emotional abuse.
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak says the governor is aware of the report about Julie Hermann in the Star-Ledger of Newark, but wants to get more details before commenting.
"He's not going to make any judgments at this time," Drewniak said in an email to The Associated Press on Sunday
The Star-Ledger reported that Tennessee players wrote that the mentality cruelty they suffered when Hermann was coach was unbearable, adding she called them "whores, alcoholics and learning disabled."
Hermann was hired on May15 to replace the ousted Tim Pernetti, who was let go after basketball coach Mike Rice was fired for abusive behavior.
The 49-year-old Hermann is on June 17 set to become the first woman to run the Scarlet Knights' athletic program and one of three female ADs at the 124 schools playing at college football's top tier.
However, it's uncertain whether the report will force Rutgers to re-consider the appointment. It also could give impetus to those who want new university president Robert Barchi to step down after yet another black eye for the state's largest university.
The university had not issued a comment by 3 p.m. Sunday.
Hermann was not immediately available for comment, but she told the Star-Ledger that she did not recall the Tennessee letter. The newspaper said when it was read to her by phone, she replied, "Wow."
Rutgers board members Candace Straight and Joseph J. Roberts Jr. did not return telephone calls by the AP seeking comment.
"The questionable decision-making at this program so heavily funded by taxpayers continues to astound me," Assembly speaker Sheila Oliver said in an email to the AP.
Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich, who was Hermann's boss for almost the last 16 years, was surprised by the report.
"For me to say this is a shock, it totally is because of the tremendous job she did for me," Jurich said Sunday in a telephone interview. "When she was with me at Northern Arizona, her players adored and loved her. I never heard anything about this at all from the Tennessee players and a lot of them have come through Louisville a number of times. Everybody is always singing her praises."
The Star-Ledger report said that wasn't the case late in her coaching career at Tennessee.
In the letter submitted by all 15 team members in 1996, the volleyball players said Hermann called them "whores, alcoholics and learning disabled" and they wrote: "It has been unanimously decided that this is an irreconcilable issue." The players told The Star-Ledger that Hermann absorbed the words and said: "I choose not to coach you guys."
After a series of interviews with many of the former Tennessee players about Hermann, The Star-Ledger said:
"Their accounts depict a coach who thought nothing of demeaning them, who would ridicule and laugh at them over their weight and their performances, sometimes forcing players to do 100 sideline push-ups during games, who punished them after losses by making them wear their workout clothes inside out in public or not allowing them to shower or eat, and who pitted them against one another, cutting down particular players with the whole team watching, and through gossip.
"Several women said playing for Hermann had driven them into depression and counseling, and that her conduct had sullied the experience of playing Division I volleyball."
The Star-Ledger asked Hermann about the players' lingering grievances.
"I never heard any of this, never name-calling them or anything like that whatsoever," she told the newspaper. "None of this is familiar to me."
Hermann had promised a restart the Rutgers' athletic program following the ouster of its men's basketball coach and the resignation of other officials.
"No one on the coaching staff doesn't believe that we need to be an open book, that we will no longer have any practice, anywhere at any time, that anybody couldn't walk into and be pleased about what's going on in that environment. It is a new day. It is already fixed," Hermann said at her introductory news conference.
At that news conference, Hermann was questioned about a 1997 jury verdict that awarded $150,000 to a former Tennessee assistant coach who said Hermann fired her because she became pregnant.
Rutgers' problems started in December when Rice was suspended three games and fined $75,000 by the school after a video of his conduct at practices was given to Pernetti by Eric Murdock, a former assistant coach. The video showed numerous clips of Rice firing basketballs at players, hitting them in the back, legs, feet and shoulders. It also showed him grabbing players by their jerseys and yanking them around the court. Rice can also be heard yelling obscenities and using anti-gay slurs.
The controversy went public in April when ESPN aired the videos and Barchi admitted he didn't view the video in the fall. Rice was fired and Pernetti, assistant coach Jimmy Martelli and interim senior vice president and university counsel John Wolf resigned.
Even when Rutgers has made a move that was well received, there was a glitch.
After hiring former Scarlet Knights star Eddie Jordan to take over the basketball program, the university made the mistake of calling him a graduate when he had never finished work for his degree.
Now the Hermann problem has popped up when many thought the worst was over, and the athletic department could start focusing on its move to the Big Ten in 2014.
A federal court found that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio systematically violated the constitutional rights of immigrants through 'saturation' sweeps targeting Hispanics.
By Patrik Jonsson,?Staff writer / May 25, 2013
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio speaks with the media in Phoenix in January. A federal judge ruled Friday that Arpaio's office systematically singled out Hispanics in its trademark immigration patrols.
Ross D. Franklin, File/AP
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A federal court on Friday found that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio systematically violated the constitutional rights of immigrants through "saturation" sweeps that ended up targeting people based on their appearance or perceived ancestry.
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The combative, colorful and controversial Mr. Arpaio has over the past decade come to define American anger over illegal immigration as he's aggressively pursued immigration lawbreakers in Arizona's most populous county, corralling a staggering 25 percent of all US immigration arrests per year.
But while Arpaio remains popular among many conservatives for stunts like investigating President Obama's birth certificate and issuing pink underwear to inmates, the court ruling can be seen as part of a broader pushback against aggressive immigration enforcement and growing momentum for a bipartisan solution to America's undocumented immigrant problem with implications both for illegal immigrants as well as Arpaio's own legacy.
The decision, which in essence agreed with an earlier lower court ruling, should be seen as "a warning to any agency trying to enforce 'show me your papers' [state laws] ? there is no exception in the Constitution for immigration enforcement," said Cecilia Wang, director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, in a statement.
In the ruling, US District Court Judge Murray Snow told Arpaio and his deputies to stop using race and ancestry as reasons to stop or detain drivers in a tactic widely known as "saturation patrols."
"The great weight of the evidence is that all types of saturation patrols at issue in this case incorporated race as a consideration into their operations," Judge Snow said in a written ruling.
Tim Casey, the county's lawyer, maintained that race has never been the prevailing factor in making decisions about whom to stop.
"The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has always held the position that they never have used race and never will use race in making a law enforcement decision," Mr. Casey told Reuters, adding that Arpaio's office will "fully comply with the letter and spirit of this order."
But if the court ruling represents a victory for immigration advocates and a legal reversal for Arpaio, it's also clear that, even before the ruling, Arpaio had been losing support among more educated white voters even as opposition against him had galvanized among ascendant Hispanic voters, the Arizona Capital Times newspaper reported recently. Arpaio won reelection with only 50.7 percent of the vote last November, his lowest total.
?He was the most popular guy in the state, but he?s been on a long slow ride down,? Arizona political analyst Michael O?Neil told the newspaper.
Citing the bipartisan push for a federal solution to the undocumented immigrant problem as well as some states now moving toward allowing driver licenses for illegal immigrants, New York Times columnist Linda Greenhouse suggests that Arpaio, "representing for so long the leading edge of anti-immigration political activism, may by now have become the trailing edge."
But if Arpaio's law and order philosophy finds ultimate disfavor in the courts and society more broadly, he is also given wide credit for stepping up to push the porous border issue and in turn bolstering what has become a robust debate about one of the country's greatest conundrums.
In a 2011 debate with an immigration activist, Arpaio defended his enforcement of current immigration law, but also suggested that Washington get busy addressing reforms.
"If you don?t like the law, change the law,? Arpaio said at the time. ?Maybe more visas. Listen, my mother and father came here from Italy. People here from Mexico, South America and all over the world made this country great.?
Arpaio's embodiment of public anger about porous borders, notes Ms. Greenhouse, "has given way to "the (mostly) serious conversation going on now in Washington."
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Public release date: 28-May-2013
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