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The New York Times
March 9, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
ON THE Q.T.: MC HAMMER
BYLINE: By ARMAND LIMNANDE
SECTION: Section MM; Column 0; T: Men's Fashion Magazine; Pg. 76
LENGTH: 311 words
Stanley Kirk Burrell, also known as MC Hammer, has had his fair share of lives. He started out as a batboy, became a rap superstar, was born again as a preacher and is now a Web entrepreneur promoting his site, DanceJam.com.
Needless to say, that doesn't include his sideline as a fashion icon.
Did you know that Hammer pants are back? Labels like Dior (left) and Burberry have been doing really baggy
trousers. Yes. To have invented the Hammer pants and have them re-emerge with a twist is an honor. When and how
did you start wearing them? In the late '70s, during the disco era, when we were going out to the clubs. The looser the
pants, the more accentuated your dancing becomes. Initially I would buy triple-pleated zoot-suit trousers from the '40s;
when I became MC Hammer, I started having my own versions made. Did you wear Hammer pants later on, when you
were a pastor officiating at the weddings of people like Corey Feldman and Motley Crue's Vince Neil? I use Hammer
pants to perform. For day-to-day life, I have 30 suits that I rotate. I've always been a high-fashion dresser and love the
bespoke style. Once, I bought 80 suits from Versace in all the colors of the rainbow -- as bright as canary yellow. To
accessorize I had special-edition Versace watches and Rolexes customized with rubies and baguettes. And then came
the earrings. Have you ever considered fashion design? Part of my vision is to have a clothing line with a great strategic
partner. Not just upper-end, but scaled back to a great pair of Hammer-style jeans -- baggy, but not the baggy kind that
kids are wearing falling off the butt. I mean baggy Hammer in the crotch area -- big difference. Maybe you should call
some of the designers that are doing Hammer pants now and ask to be in their ad campaigns. I think you should suggest
it, and I'd certainly be interested. ARMAND LIMNANDE
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: CELEBRITIES (90%); HIP HOP CULTURE (90%); FASHION DESIGNERS (89%); FASHION & APPAREL (89%); RAP MUSIC (78%); ALLIANCES & PARTNERSHIPS (72%); MARKETING & ADVERTISING
(50%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (57%)
LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO (PHOTOGRAPH BY FROM LEFT, GAB/REDFERNS/RETNA LTD.
DON ASHBY)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
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ON THE Q.T.: MC HAMMER The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1002 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 9, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Self-Made Philanthropists
BYLINE: By JOE NOCERA.
Joe Nocera is a business columnist for The Times and a magazine staff writer.
SECTION: Section MM'; Column 0; Magazine; THE MONEY ISSUE; Pg. 58
LENGTH: 3011 words
One day in the fall of 2006, Paul Steiger got a call from Herb and Marion Sandler. It came completely out of the
blue. At the time, Steiger was the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, the paper's top editorial position, a job
he'd held for 15 years. He'd had his share of great moments, including 16 Pulitzer Prizes, and his share of miserable
ones, including the murder of Daniel Pearl and the steady drip, drip, drip of cutbacks and layoffs. A year away from The
Journal's mandatory retirement age of 65, Steiger was just beginning to think about what he might do next.
He knew the Sandlers, but not well. ''They were people who were interesting and good sources,'' he recalled not
long ago. ''I would have dinner with them once a year or so.'' For most of the time Steiger knew them, they had been
running a company called Golden West Financial Corporation, which they had built since 1963 from a two-branch savings and loan in Oakland into the second-largest S.&L. in the country.
Steiger also knew them as ''civic-minded people who were kind of partial to lefty or progressive causes.'' Since the
late 1980s, the Sandlers used their wealth to finance a variety of nonprofit organizations, including Human Rights
Watch, the American Civil Liberties Union and Acorn, the grass-roots organizers. They helped found the Center for
Responsible Lending, where they are among the largest benefactors. They are also among the very few philanthropists
in the country who finance basic scientific research, at the University of California at San Francisco. And they have set
up nonprofits to conduct research into parasitic diseases and asthma. In 2003, they started the Center for American Progress, which is intended to be a liberal counterweight to the heavyweight policy centers of the right, like the Heritage
Foundation and the Cato Institute. So far, the Sandlers have given around $20 million to the center.
All this they have done relatively quietly. Though hardly without ego, the Sandlers nonetheless shun the kind of
publicity that accrues to such better-known philanthropists as George Soros and Bill Gates; indeed, the Center for
American Progress is sometimes labeled a Soros-financed operation, even though the liberal financier has very little to
do with it. And for years, the Sandlers did their philanthropy more or less out of their back pocket, since they were still
running Golden West.
But in October 2006, with both of them in their mid-70s, they sold Golden West to Wachovia for $25 billion,
reaping $2.4 billion from their stake in the company. They quickly put $1.4 billion into the small foundation they had
been using to make their donations, which suddenly made the Sandler Foundation one of the 30 largest in the country.
(The Sandlers, who oversee the foundation with three other board members, plan to put the rest of their money into the
foundation eventually.) Then they moved into a small suite of offices in downtown San Francisco, hired minimal staff -the Sandlers hate bureaucracy -- and got down to the business of giving away their fortune. Starting with, of all things,
journalism.
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Self-Made Philanthropists The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
''They told me they were thinking about spending $10 million a year on investigative journalism,'' Steiger recalls.
The Sandlers didn't know precisely what they wanted to do, but they knew they wanted to do something big. ''They said
they were talking to a bunch of people, soliciting ideas,'' Steiger says. ''What advice would I give them?''
Steiger drew up a proposal for a nonprofit that would employ around 25 reporters and editors and would conduct
the kind of ambitious investigations that only a handful of the country's most prominent news organizations do as a matter of course. Although the Sandlers solicited plenty of other ideas besides Steiger's, his was the one they loved. They
told Steiger that they would finance it, but only if he would run it. After a little soul-searching, Steiger agreed. ProPublica -- as it is called -- opened its doors in early January and in recent weeks has made its first few hires and named a
star-studded advisory board (which includes Jill Abramson, a managing editor of The New York Times). It intends to
begin producing investigative articles by the summer and then give its biggest exposes, free, to major news outlets like
''60 Minutes.'' Although there have been nonprofit investigative efforts in the past, nobody has ever proposed a model
quite like this before.
Like most people outside the Bay Area, I'd never heard of the Sandlers before the announcement of ProPublica.
But as I quickly came to realize, its creation was a classic Sandler foray. They chose a path -- investigative journalism -that few other philanthropists had trod. Rather than give money to someone who approached them, they did the approaching. Rather than finance an organization that already existed, they started their own outfit. They found a star to
run it. They seemed almost to relish the thought that they risked failure with this new, unproven model of journalism,
though if truth be told, they don't think they'll fail. And they gave a lot of money -- $30 million for the first three years,
with the expectation of continuing that commitment, if not more, for years to come. It's hard for philanthropists to make
a big difference if they're not willing to spend some serious money, the Sandlers say.
On one level Herb and Marion Sandler are part of the new wave of philanthropists that Matthew Bishop of The
Economist calls ''Philanthrocapitalists'': wealthy entrepreneurs who are applying to philanthropy the same principles
that made them successful businesspeople. They make big bets, demand results, take risks, want some control over how
their money is spent and so on. The quintessential philanthrocapitalist, of course, is Gates, but many others are now
following his lead, trying to forge a new kind of activist philanthropy. Even among the philanthrocapitalists, though, the
Sandlers stand out. Herb, in particular, can sound nearly contemptuous about how other philanthropies go about their
business. Mainly, it seems, they don't do it the way he and Marion do.
But what makes them so sure their way is better?
It starts with outrage,'' Herb Sandler said. ''You go a little crazy when power takes advantage of those without
power. It could be political corruption -- ''
''Or subprime lending,'' Marion interrupted.
''The story of subprime is worse than anyone has written so far,'' Herb said, shaking his head in dismay.
''It is,'' Marion said, nodding in agreement.
We were sitting around a table in Herb's office talking about what motivated them to put some of their fortune into
investigative journalism. But they could have been talking about much of their giving over the years. To listen to the
Sandlers is to be in the presence of the kind of proud, righteous liberals who went out of fashion a long time ago. Dispassion and irony, the twin shields of the modern age, are not part of their makeup.
For the most part, Herb did the talking. Sitting across from him, Marion was knitting a red scarf (knitting during
meetings turns out to be one of her trademarks), which didn't prevent her from interrupting him when she wanted to add
something. This she did often; invariably Herb would stop talking and defer to her as soon as she began to chime in.
Even in their most animated back-and-forth, though, they never disagreed. During the decades they ran Golden West,
they had, in theory, distinct roles: Herb was the chief executive and strategist, while Marion ran marketing and ''everything having to do with the consumer,'' according to Steve Daetz, who is now the executive vice president of the Sandler
Foundation. In reality, though, they consulted on everything, and it was often impossible to know where Herb's thoughts
ended and hers began.
Herb Sandler was born poor on the Lower East Side of New York; in the 1950s, he was an assistant counsel on the
Waterfront Commission, which famously fought crimes in the port of New York and New Jersey. Marion Sandler came
from Maine, where her family ran a hardware and plumbing-supply store. By the time they met -- in the Hamptons --
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Self-Made Philanthropists The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
she was on Wall Street. Shortly after they married in 1961, they moved to California and then bought Golden West for
$3.8 million.
There is no question that the Sandlers had a gift for banking. They ran Golden West as if it were the family store,
which, to them, it was. They sidestepped the S.&L. crisis of the 1980s because, among other things, they did not make
the imprudent loans that hurt so many others. ''They were careful about everything,'' says Shelby Davis, the founder of
Davis Selected Advisers, Golden West's biggest shareholder after the Sandlers themselves. ''They were frugal. They
paid attention to risk management. And they focused on expense management, so they could pass on the savings to their
customers.''
They also absolutely reveled in doing things their way, and over time, they became convinced that their way was
the right way. There was some self-righteous nose-thumbing to this: occasionally Herb Sandler would testify before
Congress against bank practices that outraged him. But they also cared a lot about surrounding themselves with strong,
self-confident managers and giving them responsibility. They weren't afraid of trying things the industry had never tried
before. Though they rarely acquired other S.&L.'s, when they did, they undertook a tremendous amount of due diligence. And certainly their track record would seem to justify their confidence in their approach: during their tenure,
Golden West's stock rose at an annual rate of 19 percent, a remarkable long-term record.
That kind of success also breeds the belief that what worked making you rich can be applied elsewhere. And so it
was with the Sandlers, when in the late 1980s they started turning their attention to philanthropy.
In 1988, Herb's brother, Leonard, a New York appellate court judge, died at age 62. Herb and Marion wanted to
memorialize him in some way. Many philanthropists would have done so by building a wing on a hospital and having
his name attached to it. But as with most of the new philanthrocapitalists, that didn't interest the Sandlers. Because
Leonard Sandler had always been passionate about human rights -- as had Herb and Marion -- they decided to find a
human rights group to support. They settled on Human Rights Watch, to which they have since donated, in the aggregate, around $30 million, making them one of the organization's largest donors.
What was it about Human Rights Watch that attracted them? To the Sandlers, it was the model of a well-run nonprofit. It was effective. It didn't waste money. It issued meticulous reports that tracked its results. And it was run at the
time by Aryeh Neier, whom the Sandlers trusted. (Neier now runs Soros's Open Society Institute.) In other words, it was
run on the same set of principles as Golden West Financial.
And how did they come to that conclusion? Because they did at least as much research into human rights organizations as they did when they were thinking about making an S.&L. acquisition. And so began their pattern.
''They are keenly interested in the management of nonprofits, and they are struck by how badly managed most of
them are,'' says Chuck Lewis, the founder of the Center for Public Integrity, an investigation-oriented nonprofit that got
a few small grants from the Sandlers a few years ago. ''They have almost a fetish about it. They have an absolute infatuation with focusing on management. Who are the leaders? What is their background? Is it getting bigger or smaller?
They rigorously chew over what they are about to do, much more than others do.''
So that's one part of their philanthrocapitalist approach: they want their money to go to organizations they feel are
well run and led by people they can count on to keep them that way. They want some control. This is true, it turns out,
even when they're not the biggest donors. Lewis, for instance, had been running the center for about 12 years when the
Sandlers showed up and made a relatively small grant. ''Chuck was a terrific leader,'' Herb recalls. But the Sandlers felt
the center needed a better management structure, and so they began working with him on that. When Lewis decided a
few months later that the time had come for him to leave, the Sandlers were furious and took his departure as a betrayal.
''We had put in an enormous amount of effort,'' Marion says. For his part, Lewis felt he should be able to quit without
giving the Sandlers advance notice and was angered by their reaction. There were hurt feelings all around. ''They are
high-maintenance donors,'' Lewis says now.
Not every grantee feels that way, though. ''They are not micromanagers,'' insists Dr. Jim McKerrow, who runs the
Sandler Center for Basic Research in Parasitic Diseases at U.C.S.F. ''But at the same time, they want to see how their
money is being used, which is why they are opposed to endowments. In my case, they investigated not just what we
were doing but me personally. I would get calls from colleagues, saying they had talked to the Sandlers.'' Now that he
has passed muster, ''we get the money every year,'' McKerrow says. ''But I don't have to justify a day-to-day budget. Or
even a quarterly budget. They give me the money, and they say we trust you to use it correctly. Their commitment by
the end of a 10-year period will be $20 million.''
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Self-Made Philanthropists The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
Hence, the next part of their philanthrocapitalist approach: if you're not satisfied with what's out there, then you
start your own nonprofit. Or at least that's how the Sandlers approach it. ''We were businesspeople,'' Marion says.
''We're not afraid of start-ups.'' Herb adds, ''We look for big holes we can fill,'' and sometimes that means beginning
something new. The Sandlers' approach to asthma is one good example: they began looking into asthma research because Marion suffers from the disease and soon came to the belief that the field was stagnant, while the disease, especially in inner cities, was increasing. So rather than give their money to existing research, they started the Sandler Program for Asthma Research, designed to ferret out scientists from other disciplines who might have new ideas and could
be drawn into the field with the Sandlers' money.
Similarly, when they decided to finance progressive ideas, they concluded that the one way to do it was to start
their own Washington policy center. Up went the Center for American Progress, which is run by John Podesta, the former White House chief of staff in the Clinton administration.
It is hard to know, of course, how much of a difference these efforts will make. As Bishop points out, ''You can't
simplistically take a business model into the philanthropic world and expect it to work every time.'' The parasitic disease
center has a drug in preclinical trials, which is the probably the single most tangible result of their efforts to date. ''If that
drug proves out,'' Herb says, ''that alone would justify all our philanthropy so far.''
But other areas are more amorphous. Will the Center for American Progress really change the tenor of American
politics? It might, but it might not. For all their talk, the Sandlers are aware that results are often difficult to define,
much less measure. In effect, he and Marion are hoping for success rather than demanding it -- which is about the best
they can do.
ProPublica will offer its own test for the Sandlers' approach to philanthropy. In the newspaper business, a good
story that exposes wrongdoing is something to be proud of, quite apart from whether it produces change or puts someone in jail. But it is clear that the Sandlers have a larger vision for what their new organization will accomplish. ''They
used to tell me that they weren't really interested in investigative journalism per se,'' Lewis says. ''But they saw it as a
way to make the world a better place.''
Lowell Bergman, a New York Times and ''Frontline'' contributor who has long been friends with the Sandlers,
says much the same thing. ''Herb doesn't like crooks, liars, predatory lenders and lots of other people that you and I
wouldn't like,'' he says. ''He would like to put them out of business and throw them in jail.''
What the Sandlers want, clearly, is investigative journalism that leads to change in public policy or finds, as Herb
put it to me, ''the next Enron.'' (''Get the bastards,'' he said to me excitedly at another point.) Other people who talked to
the Sandlers when they were first soliciting ideas say that they mused about having the organization engage lobbyists to
push Congress to make changes after an expose ran or have journalists testify before Congress. Thanks, perhaps, to
Steiger, they are no longer saying that; they have come to understand the importance of journalistic neutrality. Indeed, it
is not unlikely that ProPublica's reporters will choose to go after a target on the left side of the political spectrum, especially if Democrats become the party in power in November. The Sandlers say they're fine with that. But what if the
stories die on the vine as sometimes happens? What if the big media outfits like The Times or ''60 Minutes,'' which have
their own investigative staffs and tend to be proprietary about their work, decline to run ProPublica's exposes? Will they
be fine with that as well?
There is, when you get down to it, something both hubristic and admirable about the Sandlers' approach to philanthropy. They are not burdened by doubt. They are not afraid of making mistakes. They really do want to make a difference with their money -- and they want to spend as much of it as they can while they are still around to watch how it is
used.
Which is a problem, given that they gave away only $75 million last year. ''We need to get our spending up to between $200 and $250 million a year,'' Herb said with a sigh the last time I spoke to him.
Still, don't call them. They'll call you.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: BANKING & FINANCE (90%); PHILANTHROPY (89%); CHARITIES (86%); FOUNDATIONS (86%);
LAYOFFS (77%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (72%); SCIENCE FUNDING (70%); NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
(70%); MANDATORY RETIREMENT (70%); RESEARCH INSTITUTES (68%); HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS (64%); DISEASES & DISORDERS (64%); EXPERIMENTATION & RESEARCH (63%); SCIENCE &
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Self-Made Philanthropists The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
TECHNOLOGY (63%); SCIENCE NEWS (63%); ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS AWARDS (56%); TROPICAL DISEASES (50%); HUMAN RIGHTS (50%)
COMPANY: WACHOVIA CORP (82%); WALL STREET JOURNAL (58%)
ORGANIZATION: FOUNDATION CENTER (59%); AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION (54%); HUMAN
RIGHTS WATCH (54%)
TICKER: WB (NYSE) (82%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS551111 OFFICES OF BANK HOLDING COMPANIES (82%); NAICS523110 INVESTMENT
BANKING & SECURITIES DEALING (82%); NAICS522310 MORTGAGE & NONMORTGAGE LOAN BROKERS (82%); NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (82%)
PERSON: GEORGE SOROS (52%); BILL GATES (52%); HERB SANDLER (94%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA (79%) CALIFORNIA, USA (90%) UNITED STATES (93%)
LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: PRIVATE FUNDS, PUBLIC PURPOSE: Private foundations -- independent grant-making organizations, typically associated with a single individual or family -- have long been a significant source of financing
for many causes. (Source: Foundation center) (PHOTOGRAPH BY JUSTIN STEPHENS)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1003 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 9, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
THE CRYING GAME
BYLINE: BY MARK ELLWOOD
SECTION: Section MM; Column 0; T: Men's Fashion Magazine; Pg. 108
LENGTH: 225 words
Fad-prone Japan has yet another obsession: public displays of emotion. Groups of pent-up salarymen are swapping
karaoke for ''tear therapy'' -- the chance to rent a room and watch cinematic weepies like ''Love Story.'' So powerful is
this mawkish urge that entrepreneurs have even started crying clubs, where otherwise stoic guys can bond over shamefree sobbing jags for about 1,000 yen ($9.40). The rock musician Tadayuki Inui organizes Minnade Nako Kai in Kyoto;
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THE CRYING GAME The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
the film buff and restaurateur Kosuke Kimura in Sendai owns Ruisen Kai (the Lachrymal Gland Club in English). England's stiff upper lip is also quivering.
The artist Viktor Wynd holds teary events called Loss: An Evening of Exquisite Misery (below), inspired by Gunter Grass's sad nightclub, the Onion Cellar, in ''The Tin Drum.'' Gloomy guests swoon around in vintage clothes, listen
to fado music and carry peacock feathers, half-dead flowers salvaged from cemeteries or freshly signed divorce papers.
Come midnight, attendees are handed knives and onions to chop to the sound of the Mozart Requiem. Overly chirpy
attendees are fined one pound per smile and two pounds per laugh. ''Melancholia is not such a bad thing,'' says Wynd,
who is hoping to bring his mournful bashes to New York soon. ''I don't know why people think they're supposed to be
happy all the time.'' MARK ELLWOOD
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ENTREPRENEURSHIP (71%); FOLK & WORLD MUSIC (70%); MUSIC (70%); POP & ROCK
(70%); DIVORCE & DISSOLUTION (52%); SINGERS & MUSICIANS (73%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (52%)
GEOGRAPHIC: JAPAN (73%)
LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1004 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 9, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
A Marrakesh Getaway With a Story to Tell
BYLINE: By HILARY HOWARD
SECTION: Section TR; Column 0; Travel Desk; COMINGS AND GOINGS; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 145 words
Visitors to Marrakesh who want to stay in the lively, bustling Medina district without sacrificing a posh, tranquil
lodging experience might want to consider the AnaYela Riad (www.anayela.com). Upon arrival, guests are given traditional Moroccan slippers and are encouraged to pad around the hotel's interior courtyard, above, or relax on its terrace,
which has views of the city and the Atlas Mountains. The 300-year-old palace, recently renovated by the German entrepreneur Bernd Kolb, also offers a lounge, an open-air restaurant, a pool, meeting spaces and Wi-Fi access.
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A Marrakesh Getaway With a Story to Tell The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
The property was named after a girl named Yela who left behind a journal in a secret room before she moved
away. Calligraphy engravings on silver doors throughout the hotel retell Yela's story.
The five rooms and suites start at 290 euros a night, or $446 at $1.54 to the euro, double occupancy.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: RESTAURANTS (71%); MOUNTAINS (55%)
LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1005 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 9, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
BOY MEETS SQUIRREL
BYLINE: By ADELLE WALDMAN.
ADELLE WALDMAN HAS WRITTEN FOR SLATE, THE NEW YORK OBSERVER AND THE VILLAGE
VOICE.
SECTION: Section BR; Column 0; Book Review Desk; Pg. 22
LENGTH: 675 words
HOW THE DEAD DREAM
By Lydia Millet.
244 pp. Counterpoint. $24.
The hero of Lydia Millet's latest novel is a real estate developer. Not a green developer, not a developer of affordable housing, just a regular, in-it-for-cash purveyor of tacky housing complexes and upscale resorts for well-to-do retirees and adventurous tourists. This is unexpected; Millet's fiction is heavy with ecofriendly themes. But the developer at
the center of ''How the Dead Dream'' undergoes a conversion. He doesn't so much renounce his vocation as gradually
lose interest in it, becoming instead fixated upon animals in danger of extinction.
It's quite a turn for a character whose boyish money lust went well beyond that of your typical lemonade stand entrepreneur. Young T. -- as the developer, Thomas, is usually called -- runs a black market, selling things like ''purloined bottles of liquor, a dog-eared copy of 'The Joy of Sex' ... brassieres and once a Polaroid of Adam Scheinhorn's
naked sister,'' and cons money from his neighbors in the guise of various charitable causes. When his mother wants to
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BOY MEETS SQUIRREL The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
know whether all the money he raised on one occasion really went to a group that helps starving children, T. cannily
assures her: ''All the funds went to children. Yes. They did.'' Soon after he graduates from college, T. sells his first
building for a six-figure profit and by age 22 runs his own development firm in Santa Monica.
But T. turns out not to be an antihero, and ''How the Dead Dream'' is neither satirical nor absurdist. So it is a departure from Millet's previous novels, which tended to be both: ''Oh Pure and Radiant Heart'' imagines that three physicists who led the Manhattan Project come back to life in 2003; others, like ''My Happy Life,'' which won the 2003 PEN
U.S.A. Award, and ''George Bush, Dark Prince of Love'' were, while dark, full of comic high jinks.
In contrast, T.'s transformation to friend of the kangaroo rats -- endangered by one of his own developments -- is
presented in a deadpan tone, albeit in lyrical, meditative prose. The ostensible reason for T.'s growing fascination with
threatened wildlife? As a person who has experienced loss, he can relate. ''He knew their position, as he knew his own:
they were at the forefront of aloneness, like pioneers,'' Millet writes. This concern is tied to more general environmental
awareness: ''Empire'' -- which T. previously revered -- ''only looked good built against a backdrop of oceans and forests,'' he realizes. ''If the oceans were dead and the forests replaced by pavement even empire would be robbed of its
consequence.''
T.'s conversion is not entirely convincing, nor is it inherently as profound as Millet seems to think. ''Cities were
the works of men,'' she writes, ''but the earth before and after those cities, outside and beneath and around them, was the
dream of a sleeping leviathan -- it was God sleeping there and dreaming.'' It's poetic, but hardly revelatory. As T.'s obsession grows, he starts to seem a bit unhinged, and the rather pat implication is that what society deems insanity is actually a higher level of awareness.
Yet on the whole ''How the Dead Dream'' succeeds, in large part because of Millet's intelligence and storytelling
grace. But it's also a function of a talent that was less central to her comic works but that Millet clearly possesses in
abundance: a moral eye as sensitive to nuances of character as it is to social causes.
When T.'s father comes out of the closet and abruptly abandons his mother after 30-something years of marriage,
T. is moved by his mother's despair and stunned by his dad's blitheness. ''So you're gay?'' T. says. ''Great. Whatever
feels right. You look good, you look healthy. But do you have to be cruel to her?'' His father bristles: ''I don't have to
listen to this, Thomas,'' he tells his son. T.'s dismay at his father's selfishness reveals his underlying decency -- and illustrates Millet's ability to grant her characters a wide-ranging humanity, even if they are real estate developers.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: BOOK REVIEWS (91%); HOUSING ASSISTANCE (90%); REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT (90%);
NOVELS & SHORT STORIES (89%); RODENTS (88%); WILDLIFE (88%); RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY (78%);
ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES (76%); CHARITIES (69%); WILDLIFE CONSERVATION (69%);
THREATENED & SENSITIVE SPECIES (60%); MAMMALS (88%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (79%) NEW YORK, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (79%)
TITLE: How The Dead Dream (Book)>; How The Dead Dream (Book)>
LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO (PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN MILLER (LEFT) AND AHMED MANTASH/ASSOCIATED
PRESS)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Review
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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The New York Times
March 9, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
For Good, Measure
BYLINE: By JON GERTNER.
Jon Gertner is a contributing writer for the magazine.
SECTION: Section MM; Column 0; Magazine; THE MONEY ISSUE; Pg. 62
LENGTH: 4107 words
Philanthropy's largest problem these days probably isn't a lack of big gifts. Over the past few years, new records
have been set in the number of individual donations of $100 million or more, and talking with those in the philanthropic
community who advise potential donors reveals a sense of widespread anticipation that many billions of dollars, earned
during the recent boom in the hedge-fund and private-equity markets, will soon pour into the social sector. At a moment
of widespread economic distress, philanthropy is a growth industry, its golden age, at least in terms of dollars spent,
almost certainly yet to come. Last year, America's top giver, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy's rankings, was
William Barron Hilton of the Hilton hotel chain, who pledged $1.2 billion. The financier George Soros was No. 4 ($475
million), Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York was No. 7 ($205 million) and Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay,
and his wife, Pam, finished at No. 21 ($98 million).
The question that troubles many of the newest philanthropists, though, is whether their bequests will have a notable impact. Much of their money either goes into or comes out of private foundations, those largely opaque institutions
with huge endowments that, in the jargon-rich environment of philanthropy, differ from charities like the Red Cross in
their tendency to engage in long-term ''strategic grant-making.'' Such foundations do not exist to give emergency aid
during crises arising from war or natural disaster; instead, their purpose is to attack social and scientific problems at the
root, a process that sometimes requires substantial allocations of grant money over 5, 10 or even 20 years. That's a long
time to wait before you know whether your money is doing any good. As Judith Rodin, the head of the Rockefeller
Foundation since 2005, puts it: ''Critics have talked about the field of philanthropy and said: 'Has it really made a difference. And how would you know?' '' To Rodin, these are perfectly legitimate questions, even when they're posed indiscreetly by business titans who only recently entered the genteel world of charity. ''If we really want to do work that
makes a difference, work that has some effect, then we have to know whether it is working,'' she told me recently. ''And
if you really do it well, you don't only want to know what works; you want to know how it works.''
It's not a simple task. As far back as the late 19th century, John D. Rockefeller anguished over where his charitable donations might make the biggest difference. In recent years, one guiding idea behind strategic grants, whether from
old-money institutions like the Rockefeller Foundation or new-money outfits like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is that they fill gaps in the modern economy opened up by the neglect or failures of the marketplace. ''They're the
only unrestricted pool of funds to finance innovation in the social sector and to facilitate major social change,'' says Joel
Fleishman, a professor at Duke who recently wrote a book on the role of private foundations in American life. Fleishman explains that foundations can take risks that private companies might shun and can also finance programs that governments might be unable (or unwilling) to support. Foundations can thus experiment with cures for poverty or disease
that are largely unproven, with the hope that evidence of success will entice private enterprises, politicians or other
foundations to follow suit.
Of course, experiments can fail, too. When Warren Buffett announced in 2006 that he would donate his billions to
the Gates Foundation, the news of his gift eclipsed his dark observation at the same time that philanthropies are ''tack-
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ling problems that have resisted great intellect and lots of money.'' But that resistance doesn't have to be permanent.
Why shouldn't the world's smartest capitalists be able to figure out more effective ways to give out money now? And
why shouldn't they want to make sure their philanthropy has significant social impact? If they can measure impact,
couldn't they get past the resistance that Buffett highlighted and finally separate what works from what doesn't?
One paradox of social investment, whether by governments or private foundations, is that spending more doesn't
necessarily produce a greater impact. This is the main reason that over the past few years a number of foundations have
become increasingly interested in -- you might even say obsessed with -- measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of
their work. Basically their attitude is, If you really want to change the world, first you need to start measuring how (and
how much) you're changing it -- because only a clear understanding of your results will enable you to expand the programs that work and jettison the ones that don't.
Rockefeller's Judith Rodin, who spent 10 years as the president of the University of Pennsylvania, told me she believes that in this respect philanthropies are ''less mature'' than universities, which for decades have tracked the performance of their endowments, the academic qualifications of their incoming students and the achievements of their faculty. Gene Tempel, who runs the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, says that universities have become more
and more willing to go beyond those basic measures in a quest for improvement. Many universities would originally
only measure ''inputs'' -- that is, the grades and tests scores of incoming students. ''No one was actually focused on how
many students stayed or how they learned,'' Tempel says. Eventually, schools began measuring ''outcomes'' to calculate
the number of graduates going on to obtain high-paying jobs or higher degrees. ''But the final question is,'' Tempel says,
''What impact is this student having on society -- how many of our alumni are doing what? For instance, how many of
them patented inventions to treat diseases?'' This kind of data can be incredibly important to a school. At the same time,
it is also the most difficult to interpret. Can a university actually take credit for a graduate's achievements later in life? If
so, how much? And if a school solves the credit equation, how does it reproduce that success with its current students?
Within the philanthropy community, there seems to be some agreement that the push for measurements, or ''metrics,'' as they are more often called, started in earnest during the past decade when a few foundations began, like universities, trying to evaluate the impact of their spending. Metrics were not an entirely new idea. For many years, the
wealthiest philanthropies, like the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, have used controlled
trials, similar to what pharmaceutical companies do in comparing new drugs and placebos, to test the effectiveness of
some of the social or scientific programs they financed. By tracking participants over many years in various programs -in early childhood education, for instance -- foundations would come to understand whether a program was worth expanding on a larger scale.
Randomized trials are expensive and time consuming, however. And in their stead foundations have more recently
turned to other types of evaluation. In one recent survey by the Urban Institute and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, a nonprofit that advises foundations, 43 percent of all staffed foundations in the U.S. said they formally evaluate
the work financed by their grants to nonprofit organizations. According to Kathleen Enright, G.E.O.'s executive director, there is an enormous range in how foundations measure the impact of their grants. Often, she points out, organizations rely on something called ''logic models'' to add analytical rigor. These begin with a hypothetical ''theory of change''
and are essentially formulas that explain how financing can solve a social problem. For example, a nonprofit seeking
funds from a foundation might theorize that a summer tutoring program will improve a school's standardized test results. The application might propose a measurable goal, too, like a percentage increase in scores. For some foundations,
models and measurable goals help them choose among the swarm of nonprofits seeking money for social programs.
But social philanthropy can get immensely complicated. While setting goals and performing evaluations for a
modest grant, like one given to a small after-school program, can be relatively simple, huge grants that finance experimental programs for intractable problems -- poverty, say -- are more like a moonshot. How do you figure out what the
goals should be? And then how do you measure the process once it is under way? As Fay Twersky, the director of impact planning at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, told me, ''Sometimes we're working on the edge of what is
known and what has been tried.'' And yet it's that kind of work -- the kind that might achieve some transcendent impact
-- that foundations like hers want to pursue.
One such ambitious program, to improve agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, began in recent months. The basic
blueprint for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is more than a half-century old. Beginning in the
early 1940s, the Rockefeller Foundation embarked on an agricultural project to increase crop yields, including rice and
wheat, in Latin America and Asia. The first Green Revolution, as it eventually became known, doubled and even tripled
grain production in many third-world countries. Rockefeller didn't finance the work alone; early on it was joined by the
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U.S. government and the Ford Foundation and later by the World Bank and other foreign aid organizations. Still, Rockefeller is widely viewed as the driving force. The Green Revolution is generally believed to have saved one billion lives
over six decades, making it arguably the single-most-effective philanthropic initiative in human history.
For the past few years, Rockefeller has subsidized a small seed-breeding program in Nairobi, Kenya, to help farmers increase their yields, but the Green Revolution never really made it to Africa, at least not on a broad scale. The challenges there are more daunting, not only for geopolitical reasons but also because the continent's farming economy is
especially diverse. Staple crops aren't merely rice and wheat; they include sorghum, cowpea, cassava, maize and a halfdozen others. Moreover, there are wide ranges in altitude and amounts of rainfall, just as disease outbreaks and insect
infestations vary regionally. To have a broad impact on crops, then, it isn't enough to improve only maize -- that would
be culturally unacceptable in countries that depend on cassava. Even in countries where maize is a staple, more than a
single new seed with enhanced drought or disease resistance is needed; variations are required for farms at all different
altitudes. Other complicating factors include massive erosion and poor soils, along with agricultural markets (where
farmers ought to be able to buy supplies and sell their crops) that barely function.
It is likely that Rockefeller's work in Africa would have remained modest had some strategists at the Gates Foundation not decided to consider the root causes of African poverty a few years ago. When I spoke with Rajiv Shah, who
runs the agricultural-development program there, he remarked that no society has moved a large portion of its population out of poverty without a sustained effort to improve its agriculture. He also said that field research by his foundation in 2005 made it clear that agriculture is the source of both food and income for most of the African population -and that the continent is the only one where productivity has been flat or declining. It's been rising on all the others,
Shah said. And so when the Gates Foundation decided that agriculture was the right ''lever,'' in Shah's words, the foundation opened discussions with Rockefeller about expanding the latter's seed program in Kenya, which has been costing
about $20 million a year. So far, Gates has committed a total of $264.5 million and Rockefeller $75 million for the
AGRA program's first five years -- and the two groups will probably soon pledge another combined $100 million or
$150 million as more details are worked out this year.
The Green Revolution for Africa has a clear logic model behind it. If AGRA can provide farmers with more resilient seed varieties and if it can then supplement them with strategies to enhance soil fertility, greater and more stable
crop yields will result. And if AGRA can do all that where more equitable and efficient agricultural markets prevail,
says Gary Toenniessen, who runs the Rockefeller Foundation's agricultural programs, then those increased yields should
lead to increased profits for the farmers. In turn, the combination of higher yields and profits will lead to greater food
security and economic growth for the farmers and their countries. ''That's our theory of change,'' Toenniessen told me.
Rockefeller and Gates expect that over the course of 20 years AGRA will move tens of millions of African farmers out of poverty. But coming up with actual numbers -- even a range like ''tens of millions'' -- for the program's impact
has been a complex endeavor. Before the Gates Foundation put hundreds of millions of dollars into the program, it had
to be persuaded by the numbers in Toenniessen's hypothetical model, like how many new seed varieties could be developed and how many Africans would need to be taught to run the breeding work. The Gates Foundation also had to be
assured that the program would undergo constant scrutiny as it was rolled out. As some of the new seed varieties are
planted over the next few years, for instance, the crops will be measured in terms of both health and height by agricultural workers who will take specially programmed cellphones into their fields to collect and transmit the data. The farmers will also conduct a number of randomized trials by using a control group of crops to compare the health of new seed
varieties with the old varieties. Such measurements may be the only way to make midcourse corrections possible. If a
new seed or strategy isn't working, the evaluations allow Rockefeller and Gates to take a new tack before a part of the
program fails entirely.
Laying out a clear strategy to predict, and then measure, the program's impact serves another, less obvious goal
too: it clarifies the cost-benefit aspects of the program. When Gary Toenniessen proposed that AGRA train 50 new
Ph.D.'s to be crop breeders, for instance, Gates representatives asked the Rockefeller Foundation to estimate both the
cost of that training and how many farmers could be moved out of poverty from the increased crop yields produced by
50 new breeders. In Toenniessen's view, that is a difficult estimation because it tries to derive a hard number from an
unpredictable chain of events. From the point of view of the Gates Foundation -- where the reigning belief seems to be
that even a grant of several hundred million dollars is a small amount set beside the magnitude of suffering in subSaharan Africa -- it is nonetheless a necessary calculation because it helps the donor judge whether a grant holds the
promise of a sizable impact. In this sense, AGRA resembles an investment more than a charity. With its focus on better
seed technology and free markets and measurable financial goals, the project could easily be viewed as an experimental
start-up business.
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Judith Rodin has led something close to an overhaul of the Rockefeller Foundation since becoming president of
the old-line philanthropy three years ago. (Recently she went so far as to hire a vice president to focus on evaluations.)
Indeed, she now talks of her foundation's grants as investments to create sustainable change -- a ''portfolio,'' in her
words, in which risk is balanced, dispersed and hedged. AGRA would be among the riskiest of the foundation's current
programs, she told me. But she also points out that portfolio theory suggests that the higher the risk, the higher the return.
It can be baffling, at times, trying to figure out which foundations merely want to measure the impact of the work
they do and which hope to use metrics as part of a philosophical reappraisal of their approach to philanthropy. (One
foundation president told me, referring to these distinctions, ''I think most of the people in philanthropy don't even understand it yet.'') Several people in the philanthropic community I spoke with grouped foundations into a kind of pyramid. Most foundations (those at the lowest level) conduct occasional evaluations, perhaps collecting anecdotal and some
numerical data to measure the results of the programs they underwrite. Those that are more serious about measuring
impacts (these might be in the middle tier) have tried to implement formal evaluation methods, perhaps even spending
large sums on randomized trials. Some of these foundations, like the Carnegie Corporation, have taken the rare step of
sharing some information about their failures with other foundations and with the public.
At the radical top, however, are a handful of foundations that have begun to approach philanthropy the way a
money manager might, considering not only whether a theory of change for a particular program is correct but also
whether a grant can result in a good ''return'' on investment. Paul Brest, the president of the Hewlett Foundation, which
is experimenting with this approach, addresses this subject in a forthcoming book. ''I think these attempts for philanthropies to think as investors as a metaphor is fairly new,'' Brest told me, ''and so is the decision to use metrics to help
you guide those investment decisions.'' Brest traces the impulse back to the late 1990s and to a Bay-Area foundation
then known as the Roberts Enterprise Development Fund, which was run by Jed Emerson. Brest says that what Emerson
did in the late 1990s, at the behest of the philanthropist George Roberts (the ''R'' in the leveraged buyout firm Kohlberg
Kravis Roberts), was back small entrepreneurial ventures (for example, cafes or bike-repair shops that employed recovering addicts or the formerly homeless) and then measure -- even monetarily -- the effects. The Roberts fund calculated that a charitable grant to a nonprofit would yield an array of monetary benefits to the newly employed (better incomes and financial stability) as well as social benefits (new tax receipts from new-employee income, lower social service costs). The fund's charitable grant, in other words, produced ongoing ''social returns'' that greatly magnified the
amount of the initial investment.
The Roberts fund's methods turned out to be too complex to replicate on any larger scale. But its ideas appear to
have spread as they challenged the common assumption that creating financial value (as a corporation might) and creating social value (as a philanthropy might) are necessarily different pursuits. And the methods suggested that a philanthropy was by no means crass in trying to work out a meticulous cost-benefit analysis and applying the results to the
creation of an investment portfolio. Emerson is now a senior strategist for two organizations that are almost certainly on
the bleeding edge of using metrics to make more effective grants: the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in New York
and Generation Investment Management in London.
Aspects of the investor mentality, while still a minority viewpoint in the philanthropic sector, have by now influenced various social-venture funds around the country as well as powerful new institutions like the Gates Foundation.
You can see it in the way Gates approached the AGRA investment. Soil improvements in Africa, for instance, will entail a basic cost per farm household of about $40 (for fertilizers and the like). The strategists at the Gates Foundation
calculated that $40 for better soil will generate well over $40 in additional income for the farmers; it will also allow
farm families to grow more food for themselves and thereby alleviate malnutrition. By the foundation's standards, this is
an appealing projection. It clearly indicates that returns should far exceed the costs of the program.
Other organizations have taken things even further. Four years ago, the Robin Hood foundation, which was started
in New York by hedge-fund managers in the late 1980s, began working out a set of sophisticated metrics to explore the
cost-benefit ratio, in dollars, of every grant it made to fight poverty. That way it could compare the expected returns of
some grants with others -- job training versus school tutoring, for instance. The goal is to ensure that the Robin Hood
money is always going to the most effective antipoverty cause. A handful of other foundations, meanwhile, seem to be
testing just how porous the divide between private and public investment may be. The Acumen Fund, for instance, a
$48 million private-equity fund begun in 2001, invests mostly in private companies and entrepreneurs that serve the
world's poorest populations; before spending its dollars, Acumen compares the effectiveness of any potential investment
with that of a more traditional charitable option. And Google.org, the philanthropic arm of the Internet search company,
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has proclaimed that it will invest in both nonprofit and for-profit ventures -- raising the question, What's the difference?
-- in order to spark and sustain larger social changes.
There is some worry that all these efforts may be pushing philanthropy in the wrong direction, toward a point
where donors become obsessed with projected impacts, overly taken with data-driven efficiency, too sold on the idea
that financial and social investment are roughly equivalent. Gene Tempel at Indiana University wonders if the growing
reliance on metrics and cost-benefit analyses will create unrealistic expectations about what is possible in philanthropy.
''The notion of return on investment is something that those in the private sector understand so well,'' Tempel says. ''In
the private sector, it's fairly easy to measure the profitability of a business, a stock return and so on. But in most socialsector organizations, it's not so simple.'' Numbers cannot capture everything, Tempel says, and the margins of error can
be enormous. And it is conceivable that philanthropy itself might be demeaned by a process that depends less and less
on the bond of trust between, say, a foundation and its beneficiary and more and more on an algorithm that calculates
the quantitative return on a grant. Joel Fleishman, the Duke professor, points out that there have been spectacular successes in 20th-century philanthropy that did not require sophisticated metrics and portfolio theory. ''I believe that foundations did very good things before they ever started being formally strategic,'' he says.
At the same time, it is easy to see why some of the newest entrants to the field would look at the political culture
of traditional grant-making and ask why they shouldn't blow it up. ''They've been asking some embarrassing questions,
like how come education test scores continue to plummet?'' Jed Emerson, the Roberts fund founding director, told me
recently. ''They've also been asking, Is a traditional approach to philanthropy effective? In what ways is it? In what ways
is it not? And how do you prove it?'' Even some members of the establishment, like Paul Brest, the Hewlett Foundation
president, see this as invigorating. Brest worries slightly that a philanthropic community too focused on equating grants
with cost-benefit measurement could veer toward projects that are easily measured. Such a tilt could give short shrift to
the performing arts. Another possible danger is an inclination to compare the hypothetical ''returns'' of financing a project on climate change, say, with a program to help disaffected youth. ''There are apples and oranges,'' he says, ''and then
there are apples and kangaroos.''
Still, Brest adds, what he likes about some of the boldest metrics initiatives at foundations is that they are starting
to push the entire field forward. In that regard, they may be taking up the challenge Warren Buffett observed -- to attack
problems that have resisted vast sums and great minds -- when he made his donation to Gates. The foundations that finance social innovation could conceivably use a little innovation themselves. ''If people don't try,'' Brest says, ''then
we're not going to find out what the limits are.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: PHILANTHROPY (91%); CHARITIES (90%); FOUNDATIONS (90%); RANKINGS (90%); GRANTS
& GIFTS (89%); INTERVIEWS (79%); CHARITABLE GIVING (79%); DISASTER RELIEF (77%); PRIVATE EQUITY (76%); RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS (70%); HOTEL CHAINS (69%); HOTELS & MOTELS (69%); NATURAL DISASTERS (65%); HEDGE FUNDS (56%)
ORGANIZATION: BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION (59%)
PERSON: GEORGE SOROS (56%); MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (56%); JAY ROCKEFELLER (50%); MICHAEL
MCMAHON (52%)
GEOGRAPHIC: CAMBODIA (93%); AFRICA (90%); UNITED STATES (79%)
LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: DRAWING: A NEW GREEN REVOLUTION?: The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa is trying
to improve the lives of small farmers -- and all Africans -- by increasing crop yields and creating better access to markets. Since it was announced in 2006, the alliance, which is supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, has awarded some $34 million in grants. (Source: Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) (DRAWING BY LORENZO PETRANTONI)
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PHOTO: Socheata Poeuv 27, Khmer Legacies, New Haven Poeuv was born in a Thai refugee camp to Cambodian parents who fled the Khmer Rouge. She was 22 when her parents revealed that the two women she thought were her older
sisters were in fact her mother's sister's daughters, orphaned by Pol Pot's regime. She also discovered that her older
brother was her half brother -- a surviving child from her mother's murdered first husband. Her curiosity about her parents' long silence led her to make a film about her personal history, called ''New Year Baby.'' She has now started
''Khmer Legacies,'' a project in which children interview their parents about surviving the Cambodian genocide and
which she hopes will result in 10,000 videotaped testimonials. ''You've got to change the silence that surrounds this, and
the way that Cambodian parents talk to their children and children talk to their parents. There really is a threat of this
culture being completely invisible if people don't step forward to remember and distinguish it.'' (PHOTOGRAPH BY
CHRISTIAN OTH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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The New York Times
March 9, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
The Giving Age
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Faces of Social Entrepreneurship On the following pages you will meet four people who might broadly be defined as ''social entrepreneurs'' -- people who have sought to fill a societal need by starting their own organizations.
With support from grant-giving nonprofits like Ashoka's Youth Venture and Echoing Green -- both of which provide
seed financing to people with ideas for social change -- these men and women have sought to remake the world around
them. ''Our generation is replacing signs and protests with individual actions,'' says Kyle Taylor, 23, an advocate for the
social-entrepreneur movement who started his own mentoring organization. ''This is our civil rights movement and
what will define our generation.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ENTREPRENEURSHIP (92%); CIVIL RIGHTS (65%)
LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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The New York Times
March 9, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Gains Cited in Hunt for Liberia Ex-Warlord's Fortune
BYLINE: By MARLISE SIMONS
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Foreign Desk; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 1015 words
DATELINE: THE HAGUE
For two years, Charles Taylor, the West African warlord and former president of Liberia, has been locked in a
Dutch high-security jail, leaving the compound only in an armored car that speeds across The Hague as it delivers him
to his war crimes trial.
But while he is in the dock, the hunt is still on for his legendary missing fortune. Prosecutors say the most exhaustive effort to date is under way to pinpoint the money the former dictator is believed to have amassed by pilfering the
coffers of his country and running smuggling operations, particularly of diamonds, deep inside neighboring states.
No money has been seized, but investigators say they have made some breakthroughs recently.
''We have new information that more than $1 billion passed through Taylor's personal bank accounts between
1997 and 2003 when he was president,'' said Stephen Rapp, the chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone,
which is trying Mr. Taylor at an outpost in The Hague. Last year, experts advising the United Nations Security Council
estimated Mr. Taylor's fortune at half that amount.
Newly traced bank records and other documents show Liberian money flowing into Mr. Taylor's accounts, as well
as large cash withdrawals and transfers to foreign banks, Mr. Rapp said. ''The records showed he controlled enormous
funds which he hid,'' the prosecutor said. ''The big question is how much of that wealth is still left.''
The court now has the aid of a London law firm with experience in recovering wealth stolen by dictators and other
leaders. Court officials said the firm was being paid by Western governments but they would not release other details,
saying that could jeopardize the investigation.
Mr. Taylor, 60, has been charged with pillaging, but his hidden accounts and assets are also central to his prosecution on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The prosecutors want to demonstrate how he financed operations that dragged neighboring Sierra Leone into a civil war that lasted more than a decade.
Prosecutors argue that in his drive to expand his power in the region, Mr. Taylor used stolen millions, including
profits from smuggled diamonds, to buy the loyalty, weapons and supplies for rebels in Sierra Leone and other neighboring countries. His indictment holds him accountable for the rebels' barbaric methods, as they pillaged, killed, raped,
used children as soldiers and hacked off hands or feet of innocent civilians.
No one knows how much money was stolen in the region or raised from the diamond fields of Sierra Leone and
parts of Guinea. Evidence presented at the trial showed that enslaved laborers were often forced to dig for diamonds at
gunpoint and could be executed for keeping a stone. Court investigators have said diamonds were often sold cheaply
and used to pay for clandestine weapons shipments.
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Gains Cited in Hunt for Liberia Ex-Warlord's Fortune The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
Millions of dollars of income from government timber concessions and Liberia's shipping flags of convenience often went directly to Mr. Taylor, Western diplomats have said.
If the international judges' panel finds him guilty of pillaging, the court can seize assets proved to belong to him or
his associates and use the money for restitution.
The list of claimants is likely to be long. Trust funds have been set up in Liberia and Sierra Leone for war victims,
among them the thousands who were mutilated by machetes. Each country may have claims for war damages and for
pilfering state coffers and resources like diamonds and timber, prosecutors have said.
Not least, the court could claim funds for its expenses on Mr. Taylor's defense.
The former Liberian dictator, who arrives for court in tinted glasses and impeccable suits, has insisted he has almost no money and cannot even pay for his defense. The governments of Nigeria and Liberia, where Mr. Taylor is believed to have considerable investments and real estate, have not cooperated with the court's requests for information
and freezing his assets, prosecutors said.
As a result, the court is paying $70,000 per month to his defense team, which includes a dozen people. It pays an
additional $30,000 per month in other expenses, like the team's office rent and salaries for the four investigators assigned to him.
Mr. Taylor, who had fretted about what he called the ''low level'' of his court-appointed defense team, obtained a
court order last summer providing him with a large team of more senior lawyers.
If Mr. Taylor's assets are found, the court could bill him for his defense, expected to cost $3 million to $4 million.
Such costs are now paid by the governments who help finance the United Nations-backed court. The United States,
which had high hopes for Mr. Taylor in 1997 when he was elected president, and backed him with aid and assistance, is
a major donor.
Investigators say Mr. Taylor has demonstrated his skills in hiding money and fooling people, including the court,
before. He built his first fortune as a government official in the 1980s and pocketed more than $900,000 before fleeing
an embezzling charge. He was arrested in Boston, but while awaiting extradition he escaped from a Massachusetts jail
and disappeared.
He is believed to have collected millions as a warlord in the 1990s from entrepreneurs in exchange for favors.
''We know now that many of Taylor's assets are hidden off-shore or behind the names of his associates,'' said Mr.
Rapp, the chief prosecutor. But large cash withdrawals during his tenure as president suggest that he spent much of it on
the war effort, according to investigators.
The United Nations has frozen $6 million in assets, in the name of Mr. Taylor or his associates, in 10 countries.
''It's a start, but it can't be seized until we prove it's Taylor's money,'' Mr. Rapp said.
The London lawyers are enlisting law enforcement agencies to press banks in several financial havens to cooperate, according to Mr. Rapp, who said that some countries, including the Bahamas and Switzerland, are already helping.
''Enough progress has already been made to show that more can be found,'' he said.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: JUSTICE DEPARTMENTS (90%); LARCENY & THEFT (89%); SMUGGLING (89%); INVESTIGATIONS (89%); MILITARY & VETERANS LAW (89%); WAR CRIMES (89%); HEADS OF STATE & GOVERNMENT (89%); PRISONS (78%); WAR & CONFLICT (77%); EVIDENCE (77%); ORGANIZED CRIME (77%);
BANKING & FINANCE (73%); LAWYERS (73%); HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS (72%); CRIMES AGAINST
HUMANITY (72%); CHILD SOLDIERS (72%); DIAMOND MINING (70%); ARMS TRADE (60%); UNITED NATIONS INSTITUTIONS (52%); INDICTMENTS (77%)
ORGANIZATION: UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL (55%)
GEOGRAPHIC: THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (93%) LIBERIA (96%); SIERRA LEONE (94%); NETHERLANDS (93%); WEST AFRICA (92%); EUROPE (90%); GUINEA (79%)
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LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Charles Taylor, left, the former president of Liberia, at his trial in the Special Court for Sierra
Leone at The Hague in January.(PHOTOGRAPH BY POOL PHOTO BY MICHAEL KOOREN)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1009 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 9, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
WOK ON
BYLINE: By JANE and MICHAEL STERN.
JANE AND MICHAEL STERN ARE THE AUTHORS OF ''ROADFOOD.''
SECTION: Section BR; Column 0; Book Review Desk; Pg. 19
LENGTH: 944 words
THE FORTUNE COOKIE CHRONICLES
Adventures in the World of Chinese Food.
By Jennifer 8. Lee.
307 pp. Twelve. $24.99.
Chinese restaurants are more American than apple pie, says Jennifer 8. Lee in ''The Fortune Cookie Chronicles:
Adventures in the World of Chinese Food.'' There are twice as many of these restaurants as there are McDonald's franchises, and the food they serve is every bit as predictable. ''What Chinese restaurant menu doesn't offer beef with broccoli, sesame chicken, roast pork lo mein, fried wontons, egg rolls and egg drop soup?'' asks the author, an ''Americanborn Chinese'' who cheerfully admits to an obsession with Chinese restaurants.
Intrigued by the Powerball drawing of March 30, 2005, which produced an inordinate quantity of winning lottery
tickets because the lucky numbers had turned up in fortune cookies all around the country, Lee rides her obsession on a
three-year, 42-state, 23-country journey during which she discovers that fortune cookies, like so much about America's
Chinese restaurants, aren't really Chinese. They originated in 19th-century Japan and were sold in Japanese confectionery shops in San Francisco until World War II, when Japanese-Americans were interned, at which point Chinese entrepreneurs took over the business. Lee tracks down Donald Lau, who spent a decade writing fortunes for the biggest
cookie manufacturer until he suffered writer's block and had to retire in 1995.
Lee is a city-beat reporter for The New York Times. Her inclination as a journalist is to trace a story all the way to
its genesis, but not without taking some fascinating detours. On the way to finding the origin of fortune cookies, she
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WOK ON The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
pinpoints the beginning of door-to-door delivery in New York and its attendant scourge of free menus. And she gives us
the possible origin of chop suey (a joke played by a Chinese chef in San Francisco whose boss wanted him to concoct
something that ''would pass as Chinese.'') Lee travels to Hunan to see if the actual General Tso had anything to do with
the chicken dish that bears his name, only to discover it most likely began as General Ching's chicken, named after
General Tso's mentor. She also reveals that the white cardboard Fold-Pak cartons for takeout food, originally used to
hold shucked oysters, are unknown in China, where Chinese takeout food is virtually nonexistent. But there's a demand
for them elsewhere -- because European and African television viewers want the product they see on ''Seinfeld'' and
''Friends.''
Lee presents an intriguing idea in a chapter called ''Open-Source Chinese Restaurants,'' contending that ''if
McDonald's is the Windows of the dining world (where one company controls the standards), then Chinese restaurants
are akin to the Linux operating system, where a decentralized network of programmers contributes to the underlying
source code.'' She contrasts the decade of ''failed experimentation'' before the success of Chicken McNuggets to the
breathtaking speed with which chop suey, fortune cookies and General Tso's chicken took hold in Chinese restaurants
everywhere thanks to a ''self-organizing'' system in which good ideas spread like urban legends.
It's fun to read about the Jewish passion for ''safe treyf'' (Yiddish for nonkosher food) and to accompany Lee on an
exhaustive hunt for ''The Greatest Chinese Restaurant in the World'' outside China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. But amusing as such diversions are, Lee's book is more serious than its jolly subtitle suggests, exposing some very ugly sides of
the business. She journeys to the province of Fujian, which is ''the single largest exporter of Chinese restaurant workers
in the world today,'' and documents the ordeal of a teenager named Michael from the fishing village of Houyu, which
has sent more than three-quarters of its population to the United States and where a school teaches restaurant English to
the young. Michael spends a harrowing two years trying to get to America, winding up on the notorious Golden Venture, the ship that ran aground off Rockaway Beach in 1993 and raised public awareness of human smuggling. She
writes about the vulnerability of Chinese deliverymen, for whom homicide is a leading cause of on-the-job death. And
she tells the tragic story of an immigrant couple who try to make a go of a small Chinese restaurant in northern Georgia
but are left broke and broken by the experience.
Inevitably, Lee's investigative trail leads back to the mass arrival of Chinese immigrants in California during the
Gold Rush, when they became known as Celestials because they seemed so otherworldly. Their eating habits were especially distressing -- using chopsticks instead of forks, they consumed strange sea creatures and animals considered
vermin, not game. ''The embers of culinary xenophobia smoldered,'' Lee writes, citing a pamphlet published by the labor
leader Samuel Gompers titled ''Some Reasons for Chinese Exclusion: Meat Versus Rice, American Manhood Versus
Asiatic Coolieism, Which Shall Survive?'' The Chinese Exclusion Act, restricting immigration and preventing Chinese
from becoming citizens, effectively barred an entire ethnic group from jobs in agriculture, mining and manufacturing.
The result? The Chinese opened laundries and restaurants. ''Cleaning and cooking were both women's work,'' Lee explains. ''They were not threatening to white laborers.''
Nor did the food in the restaurants the Chinese opened threaten American taste. It was, and mostly remains,
''streamlined, palatable and digestible'' -- American food that looks foreign, with the Chinese who cook and serve it,
according to Lee, ''just the middlemen.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ASIAN AMERICANS (90%); BOOK REVIEWS (90%); RESTAURANTS (90%); FAST FOOD (89%);
WRITERS & WRITING (89%); MEATS (75%); LOTTERIES (74%); COOKIE & CRACKER MFG (73%); FRANCHISING (73%); CONFECTIONERY & NUT STORES (71%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (70%); JOURNALISM
(69%); CONFECTIONERY INDUSTRY (66%); WORLD WAR II (51%)
COMPANY: MCDONALD'S CORP (83%); CNINSURE INC (61%)
TICKER: MCD (NYSE) (83%); MCD (LSE) (83%); CISG (NASDAQ) (61%); MCD (SWX) (83%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS722211 LIMITED-SERVICE RESTAURANTS (83%); SIC5812 EATING PLACES (83%)
GEOGRAPHIC: CALIFORNIA, USA (92%); NEW YORK, USA (79%); CENTRAL CHINA (79%); HUNAN,
CHINA (58%) UNITED STATES (93%); JAPAN (79%); CHINA (58%)
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WOK ON The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
TITLE: Fortune Cookie Chronicles, The (Book)>; Fortune Cookie Chronicles, The (Book)>
LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO (PHOTOGRAPH BY CHANG W. LEE/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Review
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1010 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 9, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Prelates and Rappers Strike a Pose
BYLINE: By CAROL KINO
SECTION: Section AR; Column 0; Arts and Leisure Desk; ART; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 1807 words
IN nearly four decades of collaboration Alexander Melamid and Vitaly Komar were known for conceptual art projects that both celebrated and skewered mass culture. In the early 1970s in Moscow they created paintings that purported to examine Socialist Realism, but the work's irony was so obvious that they were branded as political dissidents. By
the late 1990s they were training their satirical sights on elephants and the art world, teaching the beasts to paint and
establishing an international market for their work.
Yet in 2004 their partnership abruptly ended. While Mr. Komar continued to show his work in galleries, the gregarious Mr. Melamid seemed to go underground. Some wondered if he had given up on making art.
It turns out that Mr. Melamid has been hard at work, as was clear on a recent afternoon in his cavernous studio in
Chelsea. Propped against the walls were some impressively monumental oil portraits of cardinals, monks, priests and
nuns, curious subjects for someone who often describes himself as ''an old Jew from Russia.''
''I am repenting for my sins,'' he proclaimed theatrically in heavily accented English. ''I am born-again artist.''
Joking aside, Mr. Melamid's career does seem renewed. Among the obvious signs is his first solo show, ''Holy
Hip-Hop!,'' which opened recently at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. It gathers a dozen portraits of men in
the hip-hop world, including the entrepreneur Russell Simmons, the fashion designer and graffiti champion Marc
Ecko, and the rappers Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent.
As with the clerical figures in his studio, the rappers sport their typical vestments: jeans, Louis Vuitton backpacks,
flashy watches and diamond-encrusted medallions and crosses. Mr. Melamid has rendered each figure larger than life
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Prelates and Rappers Strike a Pose The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
with loosely expressionistic brush strokes against a dark abstracted background in a style that recalls the court portraits
of Velazquez.
Over the coming year he intends to paint a dozen more portraits, this time focusing on contemporary Russian captains of industry. A trilogy of religious, rap and new-money portraits will be exhibited and offered for sale at Phillips de
Pury in London in April 2009.
At first glance the new paintings recall the kitschy pictures of Stalin, Lenin and George Washington that Komar
and Melamid showed in New York a few years after they immigrated to the United States in 1978. The idea of Mr.
Melamid serving as a court portraitist to the rich, powerful and famous seems inherently satirical. Yet these paintings
have a hauntingly complex and enigmatic quality.
''Then, I wanted to paint as bad as possible,'' Mr. Melamid said of the old days. ''Now, I make as good as possible.''
His sudden embrace of serious painting is not as surprising as it may seem. As a duo Komar and Melamid often
turned to the medium, starting with the faux Soviet works of the early 1970s in which they recast their family members
as Lenin, Stalin or heroic workers. And ''The People's Choice,'' a project that began in 1993 with a telephone opinion
poll that surveyed popular tastes, by 2004 had resulted in 36 strange paintings that purported to give the people what
they wanted.
Celebrated as that project was, the resulting paintings and their underlying spirit sometimes seemed confused.
They prompted Mr. Melamid -- he made most of the paintings and now terms them ''horrible'' -- to end the collaboration with Mr. Komar.
''My partner and myself, we were very ironic about art,'' he said. ''But at a certain point I realize that I just cannot
go this way because it is totally ridiculous, the art itself. I just lost my faith.''
Around the same time he spent two months in Moscow caring for his elderly mother while she underwent treatment for stomach cancer. ''Somehow the world fell apart,'' he said. Yet while staying in her apartment he discovered
something that knit it back together: his first oil painting, a seascape he made when he was 12 and believed that painting
was ''a sacred and amazing thing,'' he said.
''That experience was overwhelming,'' he recalled. Later, when he was casting around for what to do next, ''I said:
'Listen, maybe I have to continue to paint. Maybe I really can concentrate and go back to my dream.' ''
Being a conceptual artist, however, he was slightly at a loss for subject matter. ''Paint what, my wife?'' he wondered. ''A still life?''
Then he thought of his youngest son, Daniel, a video director known in the rap music business as Dan the Man. At
the time Dan the Man was working for 50 Cent's G-Unit label, making the videos for ''The Massacre (Special Edition).''
He arranged for his business partner, DJ Whoo Kid -- 50 Cent's D.J. -- to visit Mr. Melamid's studio, then in SoHo, to
pose for a trial portrait.
After that, 50 Cent paid a visit. He sat in a chair, rapping, while Dan the Man shot video and Mr. Melamid made
preparatory sketches and photographs. The resulting portrait, which Mr. Melamid said took about a month to figure out,
shows the rapper slouched in the chair, looking slightly wary. (The work, together with Mr. Melamid's brush and palette, appear in the video for 50 Cent's ''God Gave Me Style.'')
Before long Mr. Melamid had two new collaborators -- his son and Whoo Kid -- bent on finding him subjects.
''He painted 50, and then I'm like wow,'' Dan the Man said. Whoo Kid was also enthusiastic. ''I was like, 'Why don't we
get him to do some Guggenheimer museumlike tour, where we showcase all the famous hip-hop artists who change the
way we live or change the way we see music?' '' he said.
At the time Dan the Man was Whoo Kid's co-host on a hip-hop radio show. When they had the right guest lined
up, ''I would call my dad,'' Dan the Man said. And Whoo Kid often tried to bring Mr. Melamid along to his other gigs
too. He would introduce him casually, Whoo Kid said, usually by saying something like: ''He's not Ja Rule, he's not
somebody who's going to kill somebody. He's a nice old guy. He's Dan the Man's father.'' (Most of the rappers never
fully realized why Mr. Melamid was there, he added, but were tickled by his striking resemblance to Albert Einstein.)
That's how Mr. Melamid came to spend two days at Snoop Dogg's Los Angeles compound, waiting through the
night in clouds of marijuana smoke, he said, as Snoop finished a track for his ''Blue Carpet Treatment'' album. Snoop's
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Prelates and Rappers Strike a Pose The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
employees kept warning him, ''You cannot bother him, the artist is at work,'' Mr. Melamid said. ''It was really this romantic idea of a genius. I loved it. I was trying to explain to them that I was genius myself.''
Yet in the painting Snoop Dogg simply comes off as a workaholic. He is shown sitting at a desk, gazing blearily
into a light that seems to emanate from a computer screen. Because Mr. Melamid was a naif where rap was concerned,
he made a few bloopers. During the 48 hours he waited around for Snoop Dogg, he photographed and drew someone he
presumed was the rapper Doug E. Fresh.
''I'm like, 'Dad, that's going to be great -- Doug E. Fresh is a legend!' '' Dan the Man recalled. ''Then me and Whoo
Kid go to see the final works, and my jaw drops. It's such a beautiful painting, but who is this guy?'' (He turned out to be
a minor producer called Duke, Mr. Melamid said.)
''My father, he's a great painter,'' Dan the Man said, ''but he does not know anything about rap music.''
Yet Mr. Melamid has managed to catch a few big fish on his own. Recently he began painting the producer Marley Marl, whom he persuaded to pose after months of phone calls. He also landed Mr. Ecko, who was so taken with Mr.
Melamid that he offered him a free studio in his company's headquarters on West 23rd Street, the space Mr. Melamid
occupies today. ''I'm intrigued by the body of work he's created,'' Mr. Ecko said. ''He's, like, my muse.''
In early 2006 Mr. Melamid sold the hip-hop portraits to a group of American investors who instigated the Detroit
show. (If the exhibition is a bid to enhance the value of the portraits in advance of their resale, Mr. Melamid may well
trump the investors. He and his son kept saying they hoped Mr. Melamid would have another dozen hip-hop portraits to
substitute for the Detroit dozen in the Phillips show, which Mr. Melamid is organizing himself.)
With the proceeds from the portraits he sold, Mr. Melamid and his wife, the writer and illustrator Katya Arnold,
were able to spend a year in Rome. ''I wanted to go because it's the beginning of European art, of oil painting, the beginning where it all started,'' he said.
Once there, it seemed a logical step to seek out nuns and clergymen to paint. ''Without the Catholic Church, there
would be no art as we know it,'' Mr. Melamid said. ''I wanted to go to the source.''
He spent the next year trying to infiltrate different Catholic institutions throughout the city, and mostly succeeding. Priests were easier to get to than rappers, he said. ''You go to a church, and you ask them to pose, and they're not
famous.'' In Rome, he added, ''being an artist opened unimaginable doors.''
He was highly impressed by the organization Opus Dei and painted a monsignor, Giuseppe Azeglio Manzetti.
''Very well run, like the Mormons,'' he said of the Rome chapter. ''Computers buzzing, young boys running around.''
And the atmosphere at the Vatican struck him as strangely familiar. ''There are no computers, it smells of mice,'' Mr.
Melamid said. ''It reminded me of Party headquarters'' back in Moscow.
It was at the Vatican that he painted Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, the prelate who oversees the canonization of
saints. ''A charming, absolutely adorable man,'' Mr. Melamid said. They two spent hours conversing through a translator
as he painted Cardinal Martins in his red robe and cassock. ''He has so much common sense because it is sort of an insane occupation,'' Mr. Melamid mused. ''We got close, believe it or not.'' (Oddly the cardinal chose the same pose as 50
Cent.)
Now, back in New York, Mr. Melamid has begun his hunt for Russian oligarchs. He has one so far: Peter Aven,
president of Alfa Bank, one of Russia's largest. Though Mr. Melamid seems a little nervous about spending time in his
native land, it fascinates him. ''There's a new Russia, about which I have no clue,'' he said. ''Who the hell are they? It's
pure curiosity.'' He also jokes that his paintings will provide ''image laundering'' for the oligarchs, not to mention the
clergymen and rappers.
On the surface Mr. Melamid still presents himself as a laugh-a-minute hustler, full of wild conceptual and moneymaking schemes. Yet from time to time his conversation turns serious. ''Art was used in the 20th century as a great
divider,'' he said.
But what he has since discovered, he added, ''is that art can unite people.'' He sounded as though he meant it.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
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Prelates and Rappers Strike a Pose The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
SUBJECT: VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS (90%); ART & ARTISTS (90%); PAINTING (90%); HIP HOP CULTURE (90%); RELIGION (88%); RAP MUSIC (86%); ARTISTS & PERFORMERS (78%); MUSEUMS & GALLERIES (78%); FASHION ACCESSORIES (77%); EXHIBITIONS (72%); IMMIGRATION (70%); FASHION DESIGNERS (69%)
COMPANY: LVMH MOET HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON SA (65%)
TICKER: MC (PAR) (65%); LVM (LSE) (65%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS316992 WOMEN'S HANDBAG & PURSE MANUFACTURING (65%); NAICS312140 DISTILLERIES (65%); NAICS312130 WINERIES (65%); SIC3171 WOMEN'S HANDBAGS & PURSES (82%);
SIC2085 DISTILLED & BLENDED LIQUORS (82%); SIC2084 WINES, BRANDY, & BRANDY SPIRITS (82%)
PERSON: 50 CENT (54%)
GEOGRAPHIC: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (90%); LONDON, ENGLAND (79%) NEW YORK, USA (79%) UNITED
STATES (92%); RUSSIA (90%); ENGLAND (79%); UNITED KINGDOM (79%)
LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: Alexander Melamid's portraits of (from left) Kanye West, 50 Cent and Russell Simmons are in
''Holy Hip-Hop!'' at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. (PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF MUSEUM OF
CONTEMPORARY ART DETROIT)
Mr. Melamid at his studio in Chelsea with his portraits of religious figures. He also wants to paint Russian oligarchs.
(PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL NAGLE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1011 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 9, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Out of the Boardroom For a Bollywood Turn
BYLINE: By JANE L. LEVERE
SECTION: Section BU; Column 0; Money and Business/Financial Desk; SUITS; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 241 words
The British entrepreneur Richard Branson -- known for his hot-air ballooning and powerboating -- has added a
new feat to his list of attention-getting accomplishments: he is now a Bollywood movie star.
Page 24
Out of the Boardroom For a Bollywood Turn The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
To promote the start of Virgin Mobile's new cellphone service in India, Mr. Branson acted in a 20-minute Bollywood movie that was broadcast live from Mumbai last Sunday on Channel V in India.
The plot of the film, which was created by Channel V for Virgin, contains some of the staples of Bollywood drama, including two young, star-crossed lovers whose romance is opposed by the girl's father. Mr. Branson, playing himself, comes to the lovers' aid at the request of a character played by Neha Dhupia, a former Indian beauty queen. Before
the dance scene at the end of the film, Mr. Branson and Ms. Dhupia are shown kissing, European-style, on both cheeks,
after they have succeeded in their mission.
While in India, Mr. Branson also rappelled down the facade of the Hilton Towers in Mumbai, unveiling the Virgin
Mobile logo when he was halfway down the building.
The cellphone service is a joint venture between Virgin Group and the India-based Tata Teleservices. A group of
industry rivals that includes Vodafone asked Indian regulators to shut down the service, saying it fell under a law
against cellphone brands that use other companies' infrastructure. But the government has preliminarily approved the
partnership. JANE L. LEVERE
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: WIRELESS INDUSTRY (90%); FILM (90%); CELEBRITIES (77%); APPROVALS (69%); JOINT
VENTURES (66%); MOBILE & CELLULAR TELEPHONES (90%); ACTORS & ACTRESSES (77%)
COMPANY: VIRGIN GROUP LTD (58%)
PERSON: RICHARD BRANSON (94%)
GEOGRAPHIC: MUMBAI, INDIA (88%) INDIA (94%)
LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Richard Branson of Virgin and Neha Dhupia made a film to promote his cellphone venture. Rivals tried to block his deal, but he may have a Bollywood happy ending. (PHOTOGRAPH BY VIRGIN MOBILE INDIA)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1012 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 9, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
LETTERS
SECTION: Section BU; Column 0; Money and Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 7
LENGTH: 679 words
Page 25
LETTERS The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
Who Profits Most From Oil Profits?
To the Editor:
Re ''Exxon Mobil Needs a Hug'' (Everybody's Business, March 3), in which Ben Stein described how the company
is owned mostly by ordinary Americans, whether as shareholders or through mutual funds and pension funds:
In the column, Mr. Stein asked which pensions or workers Senator Barack Obama, who took aim at Exxon Mobil
in a recent speech, would like to deprive of that money.
But what of the hundreds of millions of people who actually purchase the products being sold by Exxon? Would it
not be a greater benefit to these people if the profits were reduced a little bit?
And might I say that as a shareholder myself, the dividend, yielding 1.6 percent, is really not making me rich. As a
matter of fact, one would need to own more than two shares to get a dividend big enough to buy a single gallon of gasoline.
Adam Dulberg Massapequa, N.Y., March 3
To the Editor:
Ben Stein is correct when he says that Senator Barack Obama, in criticizing Exxon Mobil in a speech, did not note
that many American workers depend on the performance of pension funds invested in blue-chip marketplace giants like
the big oil companies.
Mr. Obama also said that we need a leader who will listen to Main Street and not just Wall Street. But the capital
markets provide businesses on every Main Street in America with the funds they need to expand their operations and
work forces. Wall Street is Main Street. Let a Democratic candidate publicly acknowledge this reality. That change
would catch some attention.
Margaret McGirr Greenwich, Conn., March 3
To the Editor:
The column doesn't consider how many Americans contribute to Exxon Mobil's profits, willingly or not. Every
time I buy a loaf of bread or a can of tomatoes, part of the price I pay is the cost of the gasoline required to transport
those products to the store. I also pay a share of the cost of transporting the tomatoes from the field to the processor, for
transporting the material for the cans and labels to the factory, for transporting the waste products to the dump -- and on
and on.
Like most Americans, I don't own, either personally or through a mutual fund, any shares in Exxon Mobil, so I
don't get any of that money back. We nonowners subsidize Exxon Mobil shareholders.
Don Rice Columbus, Ohio, March 3
To the Editor:
The headline of the column said, ''Exxon Mobil Needs a Hug,'' but I would add that Ben Stein deserves a hug for
his column. Like many of my colleagues, I spent my entire business career with Exxon. Today, this kind of loyalty between a company and its employees is viewed as almost old-fashioned -- but I was always proud to work for a company
that I felt had high ethical standards, strove to be at the forefront of technology and treated shareholders, customers and
employees fairly and with respect.
Today, some politicians would have you believe that being smarter, more efficient and more successful than your
competition is a bad thing -- not the ingredient that made our free enterprise system the most powerful engine for progress, entrepreneurship and upward mobility the world has ever seen.
George Hunter Bernardsville, N.J., March 2
For Buyers, No Escape From a Housing Bubble
To the Editor:
Page 26
LETTERS The New York Times March 9, 2008 Sunday
Re ''How a Bubble Stayed Under the Radar'' (Economic View, March 2), in which Robert J. Shiller described a
herd mentality in the recent path of the housing market:
One point that should be made is that even if a buyer recognizes that housing in a given area is overpriced, most
buyers do not have a lot of other options. All houses in desirable areas with good job markets and good schools have
been overpriced for a long time, many of these areas have very little housing available for rent, and rentals were also
overpriced and seemed like an even worse investment.
Given tax incentives to buy homes, and the phenomenal appreciation that occurred over the last decade, one
would have had to have been extremely contrarian to have avoided entering the market.
Susan Adler Walton-on-Thames, England, March 3
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: LETTERS & COMMENTS (92%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (90%); PENSION FUNDS (90%); US
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008 (89%); MUTUAL FUNDS (89%); SHAREHOLDERS (89%); US DEMOCRATIC PARTY (77%); LABOR FORCE (76%); POLITICAL CANDIDATES (50%)
COMPANY: EXXON MOBIL CORP (90%)
TICKER: XOM (NYSE) (90%); EXX (LSE) (90%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS325110 PETROCHEMICAL MANUFACTURING (94%); NAICS324110 PETROLEUM REFINERIES (94%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (94%); SIC2911 PETROLEUM REFINERIES (94%); SIC2869 INDUSTRIAL ORGANIC CHEMICALS, NEC (94%); SIC2865 CYCLIC
ORGANIC CRUDES & INTERMEDIATES & ORGANIC DYES & PIGMENTS (94%); SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (94%)
PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (92%); MICHAEL MCMAHON (84%)
GEOGRAPHIC: COLUMBUS, OH, USA (79%) OHIO, USA (79%); CONNECTICUT, USA (79%) UNITED
STATES (94%)
LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Letter
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1013 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 8, 2008 Saturday
Late Edition - Final
News Summary
Page 27
News Summary The New York Times March 8, 2008 Saturday
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Metropolitan Desk; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 726 words
INTERNATIONALA3-8
Latin American Leaders Agree to End Border Crisis
The leaders of four Latin American nations embroiled in a diplomatic crisis over a Colombian military raid into
Ecuador ended the dispute with warm embraces at a summit meeting that had earlier been marked by insults and accusations of treachery.A3
Killing Stops Spanish Politics
Spain's two main political parties abruptly curtailed campaigning for Sunday's general election after a gunman
suspected of belonging to the Basque militant group ETA killed a former city councilman in northern Spain.A8
Burials for Yeshiva Victims
Funerals were held across Israel for the eight seminary students killed by a Palestinian gunman in Jerusalem. It is
still unclear what group, if any, was responsible for the massacre.A8
Discord Before Arab Meeting
Several Arab leaders say they may boycott the annual Arab summit meeting this month in Damascus, the Syrian
capital, because of anger at Syria over its role in Lebanon and ongoing links to Iran.A8
Iraqi President Visits Turkey
The president of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, visited Turkey as part of a joint effort to mend relations strained by a Turkish
ground offensive against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. A6
China Critic Reported Missing
A Chinese lawyer who has urged the Communist Party to improve its human rights record in advance of the
Summer Olympics has disappeared, according to his wife.A4
NATIONALA9-12
Clinton to Fight Hard In Wyoming Caususes
Approaching the Wyoming caucuses, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is trying to seize on the momentum from
her victories in Ohio and Texas to pull off a rare caucus victory. A10
As Mrs. Clinton and Senator Barrack Obama shift their attention to Pennsylvania, they are likely to find a more
positive economic landscape than they might expect from a Rust Belt state. A10
Schools to Teach Hunting
Hunting is on the decline, and states are trying to bolster the tradition by attracting younger people to the sport.
State lawmakers in West Virginia approved a bill to allow hunting education classes in schools where at least 20 students express interest. The goal is to reverse the 20 percent drop in hunting permits, which caused a loss of more than
$1.5 million in state revenue. A1
Settlement in Autism Case
The government says a settlement with an autistic girl's family is not a concession that vaccinations can cause autism. An undisclosed sum for the girl's care has been paid to her family. A9
Couple Guilty of Theft
A young couple in Akron, Ohio, pleaded guilty to stealing $8.4 million last year from an armored car company
where the man worked. Except for $1,500, all the money they are accused of taking has been recovered. A11
Ex-Mayor Remains in Jail
Page 28
News Summary The New York Times March 8, 2008 Saturday
The Federal Bureau of Prisons extended the prison term of former Mayor Bill Campbell of Atlanta, who was convicted of tax evasion. A11
NEW YORK/REGIONB1-5
Army Base's Newspaper Publicizes D.W.I. Arrests
The Fort Drum Blizzard in Watertown, N.Y., the newspaper for the Army's 10th Mountain Division, has published 48 photos or silhouettes of soldiers arrested on drunken driving charges since Jan. 1 to try to stem a steady increase in D.W.I. arrests. B1
Traffic Plan in Trouble
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan for Manhattan traffic may be in trouble, not only in Albany, but also in the City Council, which after two years of bowing to much of the mayor's agenda now seems emboldened to resist him. B1
Religion Journal A15
BUSINESS DAYC1-8
Signs of a Recession
In a report the Labor Department estimated that the nation lost 63,000 jobs in February, confirming fears of a
likely recession. Before the report was released the Federal Reserve said it would inject about $200 billion into the
banking system this month to help promote more loans and investment. A1
Business DigestC2
OBITUARIESB16
Paul Raymond
He began his entrepreneurial life selling black-market nylons and fuel coupons during World War II and went on
to become one of Britain's richest men, withan empire of Soho striptease clubs, salacious magazines and real estate
holdings, he was 82.B16
EDITORIALA14-15
Editorials: Talk, but no peace; a one-party New York State; safety for consumers; Maura J. Casey on Ben Franklin
and daylight saving time.
Columns: Bob Herbert and Gail Collins.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: WAR & CONFLICT (90%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (90%); TALKS & MEETINGS (90%);
POLITICS (90%); STUDENTS & STUDENT LIFE (89%); CITY GOVERNMENT (89%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES
(89%); CAUCUSES (89%); LARCENY & THEFT (83%); LEGISLATORS (78%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS
(78%); POLITICAL PARTIES (76%); BOYCOTTS (76%); ELECTIONS (71%); US STATE GOVERNMENT (69%);
HUMAN RIGHTS (66%); LEGISLATION (66%); AUTISM (64%); PRISONS (61%); ARMORED CAR SERVICES
(60%); US POLITICAL PARTIES (58%); APPROVALS (50%); OLYMPICS (70%); SPORTS (50%); SUMMER
OLYMPICS (50%); JAIL SENTENCING (63%); GUILTY PLEAS (60%)
COMPANY: CNINSURE INC (68%)
TICKER: CISG (NASDAQ) (68%)
PERSON: TZIPORA LIVNI (56%); HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (54%); BARACK OBAMA (53%); JALAL
TALABANI (55%)
GEOGRAPHIC: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (79%); ATLANTA, GA, USA (79%); JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (79%) OHIO,
USA (92%); WEST VIRGINIA, USA (79%); PENNSYLVANIA, USA (79%); GEORGIA, USA (79%); TEXAS, USA
Page 29
News Summary The New York Times March 8, 2008 Saturday
(79%) IRAQ (93%); TURKEY (93%); COLOMBIA (92%); UNITED STATES (92%); ISRAEL (92%); SPAIN (92%);
SYRIA (92%); LATIN AMERICA (92%); SOUTH AMERICA (92%); ECUADOR (92%); IRAN (79%); LEBANON
(79%); PALESTINIAN TERRITORY (79%)
LOAD-DATE: March 8, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1014 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 8, 2008 Saturday
Late Edition - Final
Herald Of a Global Imagination Revolution
BYLINE: By SETH SCHIESEL
SECTION: Section B; Column 0; The Arts/Cultural Desk; AN APPRAISAL; Pg. 7
LENGTH: 906 words
Deep in the woods, a lonely boy with thick glasses grew up without siblings, without television and without the Internet. But he had books, and in the tomes of a new sort of game called Dungeons & Dragons he discovered a fantastic
world of sorcerers, maidens and trolls. He discovered loyalty and betrayal, cowardice and courage. In those books he
realized that his mind had the power to transport him beyond barriers of class and religion, race and income. In those
books, he realized he could be anyone.
Over the 34 years since Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson created Dungeons & Dragons, there have been plenty of
those boys. I was one of them.
So when Mr. Gygax, the intellectual and spiritual father of all modern role-playing games, died on Tuesday at 69
after multiple extended illnesses, it prompted a reconsideration of the power of the imagination he unleashed, a power
that continues to resonate and swell around the globe.
Right now there is a twentysomething man in Shanghai (and Seoul, and Taipei, and Beijing) who has never heard
of Mr. Gygax and who is chain-smoking and clicking furiously on an online role-playing game that would have never
existed without Dungeons & Dragons. As in other realms, the analog begat the digital. Without Mr. Gygax, there would
have been no Ultima, no Wizardry, no Bard's Tale, no Zelda, no Final Fantasy, no Baldur's Gate, no EverQuest, no Lineage and certainly no World of Warcraft.
But most important, without Mr. Gygax (pronounced GUY-gax) millions of people -- mostly young men, but also
some women -- would never have discovered the liberating strength of their own imagination. They would never have
discovered that everyone has the ability to create an identity. In role-playing games, players realize they have the
astounding power to refuse to allow the external world to define them.
Page 30
Herald Of a Global Imagination Revolution The New York Times March 8, 2008 Saturday
In adolescence this is not a vital lesson for the socially privileged: the football quarterback or the prom queen.
Back in the old days (not so long ago), before computer geeks became the richest people on earth, back when inherited
wealth rather than entrepreneurial thinking was the definition of power, the unattractive smart guy was the object of
scorn, rather than adulation or fear. And it hurt. In lieu of drugs, role-playing games taught that we could transcend the
lunchroom, the school bus, the pizza parlor.
Chris Hare knows all about it. On Wednesday afternoon Mr. Hare, 34, an information technology administrator
from Ossining, N.Y., stood in line at the Compleat Strategist in Midtown Manhattan, one of the world's oldest and most
respected game shops. The day after Mr. Gygax's death, Mr. Hare waited to buy a miniature copy of the original penand- paper Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set.
''We're basically going to have a game of first-edition Dungeons & Dragons this weekend in Gary's memory,'' he
said. ''Seriously, in the early '80s, remember the movie 'Revenge of the Nerds'? That was the popular opinion of intelligent people at the time. The jocks had it all.
''I grew up in Westchester, and it was cool to be rich. Obviously it was cool to be good-looking. But it was not
cool to be too smart. Then Dungeons & Dragons came along, and it was a way to get out of there, to be yourself, to be
someone else, to attempt the impossible and then gain the confidence in yourself to really do it.''
In front of Mr. Hare in line, Gary Lynch, a 29-year-old rehabilitation facilitator from Brooklyn, pointed to a newspaper obituary of Mr. Gygax and said: ''Without him, I would never have gotten married. Without him, I would still be
single.''
Mr. Lynch said he had just been married last Friday at Grand Prospect Hall in Brooklyn. He said he met his wife a
decade ago in the science fiction club at Brooklyn College, which overlapped with the regular Dungeons & Dragons and
role-playing group at the school.
''Role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons keep people coming back because it's really a social activity,'' he
said. ''The games really bring people together, unlike so many other things.''
A few blocks away, at Neutral Ground, a gaming parlor in the shadow of the Empire State Building, Erik V.
Smykal, 42, one of the store's managers, came into work on Thursday, his day off, to help a player in his regular Dungeons & Dragons game devise a new character.
Mr. Smykal said he first played Dungeons & Dragons in 1978, just as he also discovered the works of J. R. R.
Tolkien, C. S. Lewis and Jack Vance.
''I was always reading, even at a young age,'' he said. ''Mostly I just wanted to be left alone with my books. But
then we heard about D&D, and I immediately got into the game in a big way.
''The ability to become a character, to project this collective story with friends, and of course being heroic is always fun; it really conveyed this tremendous feeling of freedom. It allows you to get away from your day-to-day issues,
not by ignoring them but by understanding what it's like to be someone else.''
Mr. Smykal looked up from the plastic tabletop on Neutral Ground's upper floor, just a few yards away from rows
of young men playing Magic: The Gathering, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty.
''Really, this place wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Gary,'' he said. ''Learning to put yourself in another person's shoes
emotionally is something that everyone has to learn eventually. It's part of learning to be a human being. Gamers do it
for fun.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: INTERNET & WWW (90%); ONLINE COMPUTER GAMES (89%); COMPUTING & INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY (78%); ADOLESCENTS (78%); DISEASES & DISORDERS (73%); HOBBY TOY & GAME
STORES (72%); SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION (71%); RELIGION (71%); WEALTHY PEOPLE (71%); ATHLETES (61%); SMOKING (52%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (50%)
Page 31
Herald Of a Global Imagination Revolution The New York Times March 8, 2008 Saturday
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (71%); BEIJING, CHINA (55%); SHANGHAI, CHINA (55%); TAIPEI,
TAIWAN (55%) NEW YORK, USA (71%); EAST CHINA (55%) UNITED STATES (71%); CHINA (55%); TAIWAN (55%)
LOAD-DATE: March 8, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Gary Gygax, a creator of the game Dungeons & Dragons. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ASSOCIATED
PRESS)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1015 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 8, 2008 Saturday
Late Edition - Final
Paul Raymond, 82, Dies; Built an Erotic Empire
BYLINE: By JOHN F. BURNS
SECTION: Section B; Column 0; Foreign Desk; Pg. 16
LENGTH: 824 words
DATELINE: LONDON
Paul Raymond, who began his entrepreneurial life selling black-market nylons and fuel coupons from a market
stall during World War II and went on to become one of Britain's richest men, overseeing an empire of Soho striptease
clubs, salacious magazines and real estate holdings, died on Monday in London. He was 82.
He had been in ill health for years, his company, the Paul Raymond Organization, said in announcing his death.
As much as any individual, Mr. Raymond was credited, or disparaged, for taking sex out of the dark corners of
British life in the postwar era and turning it into highly profitable entertainment with his London clubs and glossy nude
magazines.
When a police crackdown closed many Soho clubs in the 1980s, Mr. Raymond bought up property in the ensuing
real estate slump, becoming one of London's canniest landlords. In its annual ''rich list'' in 2007, The Sunday Times estimated his fortune at $:650 million, about $1.3 billion.
Mr. Raymond became a face of London's ''swinging '60s'' with his flagship club, Raymond's Revue Bar in Soho,
founded in 1957, which exploited legal loopholes to feature the first acts in Britain in which naked women danced onstage.
Page 32
Paul Raymond, 82, Dies; Built an Erotic Empire The New York Times March 8, 2008 Saturday
To that entertainment, accurately catching the changing public mood, Mr. Raymond added an air of respectability,
or at least of artless candor, with pink neon lighting proclaiming the premise's wares and a nightclublike decor far removed from the tawdry, ill-lighted backstreet clubs that had been the venue for Soho's striptease business before.
His death has drawn wide coverage in British newspapers. Many celebrated him as having helped liberate Britain
from stuffy Victorian attitudes about sex and ''ancient pruderies and restrictive laws,'' as an obituary in The Guardian put
it.
Jean Seton, official historian of the BBC, said Mr. Raymond had been an important force, along with feminism,
for making sex an acceptable feature of British life. ''What feminism did was put sex on the table and say, 'This is part
of our lives,' '' she said. ''But he took it and commercialized it. He made porn mainstream by making men feel less of a
failure for needing it.''
But there were harsh critics, among them the judge who, in a 1961 criminal trial, levied a fine of $:5,000 (then
about $12,500) for Mr. Raymond's part in staging what the judge called ''filthy, disgusting and beastly'' acts at the Revue
Bar.
Mr. Raymond was cheerfully unapologetic. ''The show goes on,'' he said, and it did, with the Revue Bar's business
booming on the back of his conviction, with acts that bore titles like ''Yes, We Have No Pyjamas.''
''There will always be sex -- always, always, always,'' Mr. Raymond said.
His stable soon expanded to include other Soho clubs and magazines like Men Only, Razzle and Mayfair, which
gave a name to a new genre in British publishing, the so-called top shelf magazines that news vendors placed atop their
racks to avoid offending customers who considered them pornographic.
Some British admirers compared Mr. Raymond to Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy, but the British entrepreneur
lacked the wider cultural interests that helped make Playboy's name.
''I have read parts of a book,'' Mr. Raymond told The Guardian in the 1990s, ''but never a full book. Maybe I attempted the wrong sort of book.''
The remark was typical of his lack of pretension. Describing his teenage black-marketeering, he said, ''I was a total spiv'' -- British jargon for a man, often given to flashy clothes and jewelry, who lives by unscrupulous dealings.
Born in 1925 as Geoffrey Anthony Quinn, a name he changed in 1947, Mr. Raymond grew up in Liverpool, the
son of a successful haulage contractor. He left school at 15 and had his first experience of show business as a mind
reader and clairvoyant. He developed his interest in the commercial exploitation of sex when the manager of a theater
where he performed said he would hire him only if his two female assistants appeared seminaked on the stage.
Shy and stammering as a boy, Mr. Raymond adopted a flamboyant style in his Soho heyday, favoring lustrous fur
coats, trendy long hair and a gold-plated Rolls-Royce, as well as a Wimbledon mansion and a longtime companion,
Fiona Richmond, who was one of Britain's best known pornographic models.
For all his financial success, Mr. Raymond lived his last years a virtual recluse in a penthouse apartment behind
London's Ritz Hotel, his spirit broken, according to friends, by the death of his daughter and hoped-for heir, Debbie,
from a drug overdose in 1992.
Mr. Raymond's marriage to Jean Bradley, a dancer, in 1951, ended in divorce; she died in 2002. He is survived by
two sons.
''Paul's fortune hasn't brought him any happiness,'' Ms. Bradley said in an interview shortly before she died. ''In his
last call he said he wanted to become a recluse because people liked him only because of his money. He sounded so sad
and lonely.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: WEALTHY PEOPLE (90%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (90%); HISTORY (78%); REAL ESTATE
(77%); DEATHS & OBITUARIES (90%); WORLD WAR II (73%); FINES & PENALTIES (62%); CRIMINAL
CONVICTIONS (64%)
COMPANY: PAUL RAYMOND ORGANISATION LTD (58%)
Page 33
Paul Raymond, 82, Dies; Built an Erotic Empire The New York Times March 8, 2008 Saturday
GEOGRAPHIC: LONDON, ENGLAND (91%) ENGLAND (91%); UNITED KINGDOM (91%)
CATEGORY: Business and Finance
PERSON: Paul Raymond
LOAD-DATE: March 8, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Paul Raymond, entrepreneur. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ASSOCIATED PRESS, 1988)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1016 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 8, 2008 Saturday
Late Edition - Final
Retooling for a Changing Telecom Landscape
BYLINE: By JULIA WERDIGIER
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; SATURDAY INTERVIEW; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 897 words
DATELINE: LONDON
Competition is fierce in the European telecommunications industry, where companies are vying for customers by
undercutting each other on prices for services like broadband while trying to keep up with new technologies.
Some phone companies, including Britain's biggest, the BT Group, face an additional challenge in trying to replace some of the revenue they have lost as customers have dropped traditional fixed-line phone service. Some analysts say BT is in an especially difficult situation because it does not have a mobile phone business to help offset that
decline.
But the chief executive, Ben Verwaayen, is betting that services like customized applications for corporate clients and advising companies on their networks can generate profit growth. As part of that plan, he has started to replace
some of BT's traditional fixed-line phone engineers with technology ''wiz teams'' and plans to invest more in training
and hiring.
Mr. Verwaayen, 56, spoke recently about how he expects the industry to change from one that focuses on gadgets
and hardware to services, the war for talent and acquisition plans. Here are excerpts from that conversation:
Page 34
Retooling for a Changing Telecom Landscape The New York Times March 8, 2008 Saturday
Q.The market is moving quickly, customers are becoming more demanding and competition is fierce. In an environment like that, how do you gain an advantage over your rivals?
A. What we sell now is very different from what we sold five years ago. We don't sell telephony or sending faxes
anymore. What we sell now is a collaboration of different services. We provide what we call experiences and not just
sell the hardware. I believe the world is moving into the next phase, where customers will much less distinguish between fixed and mobile services but will look more for the most innovative service for any given application. That's
why we focus on services and providing a social networking capability.
Q.Your main engine for growth is your services business, where you currently generate more than a third of total
sales. Where do you see the biggest challenge with that approach?
A. It's innovation. The reason to buy products is more and more that little level of innovation you get offered on
top of the machines or gadgets you buy. While for companies in the connectivity business the challenge is to cut costs
and prices, for us the gamble is can I keep innovating?
Q.How do you make sure you do? Do you spend an increasing amount on research and development?
A. You don't need to have a massive corporate innovation group but you need smaller groups scattered around the
organization and very close to your customer base. About 50 percent of our revenue today is from things we didn't sell
four or five years ago. When making investments, it is important to make them as neutral to any specific application as
possible.
Q.Like many other former phone monopolies, including Deutsche Telekom, BT needed to transform itself by
moving away from the shrinking fixed-line business toward new products and services to remain competitive. How difficult is that?
A. The challenge is how, in a company where everybody was born with a screwdriver in their hands, do you now
start distributing keyboards. The innovation and the changes all happen on the software layer. The hardware layer simply is too expensive and changes take too long.
Q.BT is currently in the middle of a cost-cutting program that includes reducing positions on the traditional hardware side of the businesses while hiring staff for the services operation. How does that make the people with the screwdrivers feel?
A. They have to prove their value again because their world is more than ever about productivity. The screwdriver
is not gone, but while in the past the screwdriver world would decide, now the people with the keyboard have the prime
seat at the table. But if you look at our costs, it's the other way round. The bulk of it is still in the screwdriver world. So
the key to any successful investment strategy is to understand talent.
Q.How difficult is it to attract that talent? In December you bought the Singapore-based Frontline Technologies
for about $140 million to expand in Asia. Most of your larger rivals have identified Asia as an area for future growth.
How fierce is the war for talent there?
A. Very, very fierce. Talent is the differentiator. It's where we put our money and our resources. If you don't open
your mind and offer more than just good pay in that environment, you lose out. That is the biggest challenge to corporations, and we have to adapt to the talent's needs by being flexible and offer schemes like working from home. The type
of people you find in BT now is massively different than just some years ago.
Q.BT has made 27 small- to medium-size acquisitions in the last three years. Many recent ones were in the technology sector in the United States. Are you planning to continue that growth strategy?
A. You can expect us to continue with such acquisitions because we've not only found interesting applications
through them but also talent pools. The whole debate that I'm seeing around the world today that the U.S. is losing out
to the East is wrong. It is the talent that will win no matter where that talent is based. In India, where 26,000 people are
working for us, it's not lower costs that we are after but the fact that the market there has entrepreneurial people.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: TELECOMMUNICATIONS (92%); WIRED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS (90%); TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES (90%); TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR PERFORMANCE (90%);
Page 35
Retooling for a Changing Telecom Landscape The New York Times March 8, 2008 Saturday
BROADBAND (78%); BUSINESS FORECASTS (78%); WIRELESS INDUSTRY (78%); RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT (78%); WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS (78%); COMPANY PROFITS (71%);
PRODUCT INNOVATION (68%)
COMPANY: BT GROUP PLC (90%); DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AG (58%)
TICKER: BTA (LSE) (74%); BT (NYSE) (90%); DTE (FRA) (58%); DT (NYSE) (58%); DEU (LSE) (50%); 9496
(TSE) (58%); BT (LSE) (90%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS517212 CELLULAR & OTHER WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS (58%); NAICS517110 WIRED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS (58%); SIC4813 TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS,
EXCEPT RADIOTELEPHONE (58%); NAICS517210 WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS (EXCEPT SATELLITE) (58%)
PERSON: BEN VERWAAYEN (71%)
GEOGRAPHIC: LONDON, ENGLAND (58%) UNITED KINGDOM (78%); ENGLAND (58%)
LOAD-DATE: March 8, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO (PHOTOGRAPH BY SUZANNE PLUNKETT/BLOOMBERG NEWS)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Interview
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1017 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 7, 2008 Friday
Correction Appended
Late Edition - Final
Apple to Encourage iPhone Programmers
BYLINE: By LAURIE J. FLYNN
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 737 words
DATELINE: CUPERTINO, Calif.
Steven P. Jobs, Apple's chief executive, is hoping to expand the iPhone's appeal by luring software developers to
create programs for it.
Page 36
Apple to Encourage iPhone Programmers The New York Times March 7, 2008 Friday Correction Appended
John Doerr, the venture capitalist, is adding an incentive: his firm is putting up $100 million to invest in the work
of those programmers.
At an event Thursday at Apple headquarters, Mr. Jobs announced a low-cost software development kit that outside
programmers can use to create programs for the iPhone, much as they now write the vast majority of the programs created for the Macintosh. Until now, iPhones have officially been able to run only the limited assortment of applications
that Apple includes. (Some buyers have modified the phones to add unauthorized software.)
''We're very excited about this,'' said Mr. Jobs, who also announced that the company was adding features to make
the iPhone more appealing to business users. ''We think a lot of people, after understanding where we are going, are
going to want to become an iPhone developer.''
Sharing the stage with Mr. Jobs, Mr. Doerr announced that his firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, had established a $100 million venture capital fund for iPhone entrepreneurs. Called the iFund, it is the largest fund the company has created for a specific technology.
''The potential for iPhone is huge,'' Mr. Doerr said.
Matt Murphy, the Kleiner partner overseeing the fund, said he expected the fund to last two to three years, after
which the company might decide to add more capital.
Mr. Jobs said Apple would offer a developer kit for $99 that would allow programmers to create everything from
games to business programs. On Thursday, Sega and AOL demonstrated applications they created for the iPhone using
the kit.
The programs that are created will then be available to iPhone users exclusively through a new service on all
iPhones called the Apps Store, an aspect of the plan that may discourage some developers. Apple will keep 30 percent
of the sale price.
Mr. Jobs said that Apple would offer only those programs that it approves, rejecting pornography, for example,
and programs that might not provide adequate security for users.
He argued that developers would benefit from Apple's being the sole distributor because only Apple could give
third-party programs such wide exposure to customers. All iPhone users will be able to browse the available programs
directly from their devices. Customers will also benefit, he said, from Apple's weeding out of malicious programs.
''We can track the developers and we can tell their parents,'' Mr. Jobs said, joking about the demographic profile of
many Apple entrepreneurs.
In an attempt to lure corporate customers, Apple executives also announced that the iPhone would be able to work
directly with Microsoft's Exchange software, allowing it to interact closely with corporate networks and e-mail systems
in much the way that BlackBerry devices do. Apple said Genentech and Nike were among the companies that were
already taking advantage of this feature.
The new business abilities will be added to the iPhone in June and will come to existing owners in a free upgrade.
The software will include extensive security features, like the ability to lock and erase the system remotely in the event
of loss or theft.
''The majority of the objections I.T. managers have had about the iPhone have been addressed today,'' said Van L.
Baker, an analyst with Gartner Inc., referring to corporate information technology managers. ''It's a very valid and robust device, and for that reason it's a viable platform for the enterprise in competition with the BlackBerry and others.''
But attracting a huge following among corporations is something Apple has not been able to achieve with the
Macintosh, and it remains to be seen whether the iPhone will take sales from the BlackBerry, the popular business
communicator sold by Research in Motion of Waterloo, Ontario.
''It's a better device and platform that does more things than the BlackBerry,'' Mr. Murphy said. If people have
been questioning whether the iPhone is a business tool, the integration with Exchange ''takes the issue off the table,'' he
said.
The iPhone is already the second most popular smartphone after the BlackBerry, with a 28 percent share of the
market, but its inability to communicate with corporate computer systems running Microsoft Exchange has hindered its
growth in that market.
Page 37
Apple to Encourage iPhone Programmers The New York Times March 7, 2008 Friday Correction Appended
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: COMPUTER PROGRAMMING (90%); SOFTWARE MAKERS (90%); VENTURE CAPITAL (90%);
ENTREPRENEURSHIP (89%); MALICIOUS SOFTWARE (78%); SOFTWARE PIRACY (73%); ELECTRONIC
MAIL (65%); POPULATION & DEMOGRAPHICS (61%); MARKET DEMOGRAPHICS (50%); MOBILE & CELLULAR TELEPHONES (90%); COMPUTER SOFTWARE (90%)
COMPANY: APPLE INC (92%); KLEINER PERKINS CAUFIELD & BYERS (68%); MICROSOFT CORP (50%)
TICKER: AAPL (NASDAQ) (92%); MSFT (NASDAQ) (50%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS423430 COMPUTER & COMPUTER PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT & SOFTWARE MERCHANT WHOLESALERS (92%); NAICS334112 COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICE MANUFACTURING (92%);
NAICS334111 ELECTRONIC COMPUTER MANUFACTURING (92%); SIC5045 COMPUTERS & COMPUTER
PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT & SOFTWARE (92%); SIC3572 COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES (92%); SIC3571
ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS (92%); NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (50%); SIC7372 PREPACKAGED
SOFTWARE (50%)
PERSON: STEVEN JOBS (94%); MICHAEL MCMAHON (56%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA, USA (90%) CALIFORNIA, USA (90%) UNITED STATES
(90%)
LOAD-DATE: March 7, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
CORRECTION-DATE: March 17, 2008
CORRECTION: An article in Business Day on March 7 about Apple's efforts to encourage programmers to write
software for the iPhone referred incorrectly to the cost of its developer kit. The kit is free; it does not cost $99. (The
company is charging $99 for the right to distribute finished programs to iPhone users.)
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Apple's chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, left, and the venture capitalist John Doerr at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. (PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL SAKUMA/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1018 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 7, 2008 Friday
Late Edition - Final
Builders and Homeowners Under Strain
Page 38
Builders and Homeowners Under Strain The New York Times March 7, 2008 Friday
BYLINE: By KATIE HAFNER; Katie Hafner reported from Yuba City in December and did additional reporting in
San Francisco.
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1473 words
DATELINE: YUBA CITY, Calif.
When George P. Dunmore started his business in Sacramento in the early 1950s, World War II was over and the
building boom was on. Over the next several decades his company, Dunmore Construction, along with other respected
builders, took the tabula rasa that was California's Central Valley and etched it with entire neighborhoods filled with
well-built ranch houses on trim lawns.
Mr. Dunmore lived through his share of lean years, of course; that is the rhythm of the home construction business. But for the most part, his company prospered. His son Sidney got into the business. And Sidney B. Dunmore's
boys followed him.
But by the time Mr. Dunmore died last October, at age 89, his son Sidney found himself caught in the middle of a
real estate collapse. Overextended and pursued by a long line of creditors, the company bearing the family name, Dunmore Homes, was sold to a New York corporation owned by a Sacramento-area mortgage broker for $500, including
the assumption of liabilities totaling more than $250 million. Two months later, the new owner filed for protection
from creditors under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy Code.
A bankruptcy court in Sacramento is left with the task of untangling a web of transactions, affidavits, property
transfers, loans and liens that have come to symbolize the real estate crisis not just for Dunmore Homes, but for an entire industry.
Beyond that, George Dunmore's widow, Ruth, 84, is contending that her two grandsons -- who had also started
real estate development companies carrying the Dunmore name -- forged her signature on bank loan documents and
pressured her, according to documents filed in a California state court.
The story of the Dunmores is the story of the nation's housing crisis writ small, familial and mean: three generations of home builders who got rich from the go-go years of the California real estate boom, only to fall victim to the
housing bust. And it is a tale of greed, hubris and denial of economic reality.
Dysfunctional families, of course, can be found in every business, but the bursting of the housing bubble in the
Central Valley, where there was once so much money to be made, accentuated any problems this family might have
had.
Not only was George Dunmore a fair businessman, friends and acquaintances say, but he was an avowed family
man as well. Of Mr. Dunmore's three children, Sidney, now 53, showed the most interest in taking up the family trade.
After years of apprenticing under his father, the younger Mr. Dunmore started his own firm, Dunmore Homes.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Dunmore Homes expanded. The company formed more than a dozen subsidiaries throughout the state, with more than two dozen developments, many of them catering to first-time home buyers in
need of subprime and nonconventional loans. The company eventually built a total of 22,000 homes.
The region was one of the fastest-growing real estate markets in the country. In Sacramento County, from 2000 to
2005, the median price of homes more than tripled, to $385,000, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
''It was the type of market that floated all boats,'' said Greg Paquin, president of the Gregory Group, a real estate
market research firm in Folsom, Calif. ''Builders, buyers, investors: everyone was happy.''
For Sidney Dunmore life was good. His own opulent home -- all 12,000 square feet of it -- is in Granite Bay, an
affluent Sacramento suburb. He also has a $2 million 4,600-square-foot second home in the resort town of Palm Desert, Calif.
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Builders and Homeowners Under Strain The New York Times March 7, 2008 Friday
Then, in late 2005, the housing slowdown hit the region, falling squarely on the corridor south of Sacramento,
from Modesto to Merced, where the Dunmores had once been so successful. Builders began offering incentives to move
homes as if they were cars on a dealer's lot: low-interest financing, free appliances, anything to make a sale.
By last year, the subprime mortgage industry was in crisis, credit had dried up and the younger Mr. Dunmore became no less reflective of an era than his father was of his. ''I think Sid always built a nice product, but he was always
very aggressive,'' Mr. Paquin said.
Delbert Rapini, a longtime Sacramento contractor who said he was an admirer of George Dunmore, said, ''Sid
had it made, but he acted like an idiot'' by extending himself too far.
Mr. Rapini, who does not do business with Sidney B. Dunmore, said that Mr. Dunmore would have been well advised to remember that downturns in real estate are ''all part of a cycle that happens every 10 or 12 years.''
Mr. Dunmore refused several requests for an interview.
By last August, the company had halted construction altogether, leaving vast tracts peppered with partly finished
homes.
At one new ghost town in Yuba City, which is north of Sacramento, the scene looks as if construction workers
just picked up and left. Some homes are mere frames, barely suggestive of a dwelling.
Dunmore's rapid expansion may have been unwise, analysts say, but it was not unusual.
''Any builder, even the best-capitalized builders, drank the Kool-Aid and bought too much land and loaded up at
the peak,'' said Ivy Zelman, a home building industry analyst. Ms. Zelman, who said she had no direct knowledge of
Dunmore Homes, said she believed that the company might have taken on ''way too much risk and just assumed values
would go up.''
''I imagine that's what they were thinking and didn't have good disciplines in place.''
John Slaughter, a spokesman for Dunmore Homes who left the company this week, recalled how ''so much happened with the mortgage industry, and prices dropping, and all the foreclosures.''
''It got to where we were a private company, competing with the large billion-dollar companies that could continue
to reduce prices, and we just couldn't compete with that,'' he said.
In September, Dunmore Homes changed its name to DHI Development and sold its assets for $500 to a New
York entity called Dunmore Homes Inc. The new Dunmore Homes is owned by Michael Kane, a Sacramento mortgage
broker. He declined to comment.
Mr. Kane got not just the assets, but debts amounting to more than $250 million owed to a lengthy list of creditors that includes banks, contractors, landscapers, electricians, plumbers and paving companies.
Mr. Dunmore's creditors cried foul over the sale, as well as the bankruptcy court filing in New York, a continent
away.
Mr. Dunmore apparently had his reasons for the quick, cheap sale. According to court documents, by declaring his
losses in the sale of the business, Mr. Dunmore is due a 2007 tax refund of approximately $11 million -- money that he
will use to pay off an $11 million obligation to Dunmore Homes.
''He couldn't have financial gain without showing a loss,'' said James Curran, a lawyer representing Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America, which has a separate lawsuit pending against DHI Development and Mr. Dunmore to recover $9.65 million. ''He went into bankruptcy for a reason, and it was to capture those losses for his financial
gain.''
In December a federal judge in San Francisco granted Travelers a writ of attachment against both of Mr. Dunmore's homes.
Meanwhile, William M. Niemi, the former president of Dunmore Homes, has sued Mr. Dunmore, contending,
among other things, breach of contract.
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Builders and Homeowners Under Strain The New York Times March 7, 2008 Friday
''It's about as horrible as it could be,'' said Howard Nevins, a lawyer who represents Hemington Landscape Services, which, according to legalpapers, is owed $827,941 by Dunmore Homes. ''There just appears to be inadequate
resources to get creditors paid.''
In January, a bankruptcy judge in New York agreed to have the case moved to California.
''It seems like the company is in a shambles, but Sidney Dunmore is still alive and well,'' Mr. Curran said. ''I'm
sure we haven't seen the last of Mr. Dunmore or Dunmore Homes.''
Indeed, the real estate vein runs deep in the Dunmores. People close to the family say that Sidney Dunmore keeps
his distance from his two sons, Sidney and Jeremy, now in their 30s. Their company, Dunmore Capital, a real estate
venture firm, has troubles of its own. Umpqua Bank, based in Oregon, is suing the two for repayment of several million dollars in loans.
The bank named Ruth Dunmore, their grandmother, and the estate of George Dunmore in that suit. Umpqua Bank
points to them as cosignatories for the loans. But in her cross-complaint to that suit, the elderly Mrs. Dunmore says
the two young entrepreneurs ''embarked on an aggressive and unending campaign to, among other things, scare, pressure and manipulate'' her.
The booming real estate business in the Central Valley has ground to a halt, but another business is booming here.
For Mr. Nevins, whose specialty is bankruptcy law, ''it's been very busy.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: CONSTRUCTION (91%); REAL ESTATE (91%); MORTGAGE BANKING & FINANCE (90%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (89%); RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION (89%); RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY (89%); US
STATE GOVERNMENT (78%); HOUSING MARKET (78%); BUSINESS INSOLVENCY & BANKRUPTCY
(78%); REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS (77%); REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT (77%); FAMILY (76%);
CHILDREN (75%); WORLD WAR II (73%); INSOLVENCY & BANKRUPTCY COURTS (71%); BANKRUPTCY
LAW (71%); MORTGAGE BROKERS (67%); SUBPRIME LENDING (67%); APPRENTICESHIPS & INTERNSHIPS (60%); US CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY (73%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SACRAMENTO, CA, USA (94%) CALIFORNIA, USA (94%) UNITED STATES (94%)
LOAD-DATE: March 7, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: In Elk Grove, Calif., a Dunmore Homes development remains half-built after work ceased last
year. Dunmore had prospered in the fast-growing Central Valley. (PHOTOGRAPH BY MAX WHITTAKER FOR THE
NEW YORK TIMES) (pg. C4)
Construction has stopped at a Dunmore Homes development in Yuba City, Calif. The company filed for bankruptcy
last year. (PHOTOGRAPH BY MAX WHITTAKER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg. C1)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1019 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 6, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
Page 41
Fighting Germs and Regulators The New York Times March 6, 2008 Thursday
Fighting Germs and Regulators
BYLINE: By BARNABY J. FEDER
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; SMALL BUSINESS; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 1278 words
With so many people worried about getting sick -- whether from the common cold and flu or exotic new strains of
antibiotic-resistant bacteria -- Paul and Jeffrey Metzger had every reason to hope that the germ-fighting key fob they
invented would be a runaway hit.
Their device, known as the Handler, began selling last year online and in stores like Duane Reade pharmacies for
about $11. It features a pop-out hook so germophobes can avoid touching A.T.M. keypads, door handles and other public surfaces where undesirable microbes may lurk. As added protection, the Handler's rubber and plastic surfaces are
impregnated with tiny particles of silver to kill germs that land on the device itself.
But those little silver particles have run Maker Enterprises, the Metzger brothers' partnership in Los Angeles, into
a big regulatory thicket. The Metzgers belatedly realized that the Environmental Protection Agency might decide that a
1947-era law that regulates pesticides would apply to antimicrobial products like theirs.
The agency ruled last fall that the law covered Samsung's Silvercare washing machine. Samsung was told it would
have to register the machine as a pesticide, a potentially costly and time-consuming process, because the company
claims the silver ions generated by the washer kill bacteria in the laundry.
The Metzgers halted production of their key fob while they sought legal guidance on how to avoid a similar fate.
Their quandary highlights a challenge facing the growing number of entrepreneurs who have ventured into nanotechnology, a field that gets its name from its reliance on materials so small their dimensions are measured in nanometers, or billionths of a meter.
Nanoscale materials are best known at the moment for uses like adding exceptional stain resistance to textiles,
making sunscreens transparent and improving battery life. The Handler is just one of scores of products marketing the
antimicrobial potency of minute quantities of silver.
The E.P.A. has so far rejected calls from environmental groups to automatically classify nanoscale forms of
known materials as new chemicals under the broad toxic chemical control regulations. Nor does the agency consider
size when determining what needs to be registered under its pesticide regulations. Business groups generally support
such restraint but the effort to squeeze nanomaterials into existing regulations has left many companies worried about
how to market their products without running afoul of the regulators.
The Metzgers ended up hiring Lawrence Culleen, one of the most experienced and expensive specialists in E.P.A.
regulation in Washington, but have nonetheless had trouble determining how far they can go with their health claims.
''Everything is still on hold,'' Paul Metzger said last week. Meanwhile, the Chinese factory that makes their devices is pressuring the brothers to restart production, he said. And once the green light is given, it will be two more months
before the Handler is once again widely available.
The law at issue -- the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, better known as Fifra -- was conceived
in 1947 to protect humans from agri-chemicals sprayed by the millions of gallons to kill weeds, plant viruses and bugs.
In the case of the Handler, the question is how the law applies to barely measurable amounts of silver -- in particles
thousands of times thinner than a human hair -- that are intended to be strictly confined instead of spread into the environment.
''They don't really know how they want to register these particles,'' said Tracy Heinzman, a lawyer in Washington
who deals frequently with the E.P.A. ''There's no clear path forward.''
Page 42
Fighting Germs and Regulators The New York Times March 6, 2008 Thursday
More broadly, the limbo into which the Handler has tumbled shows how the limited resources of agencies like the
E.P.A. can combine with creaky regulations to act as a brake on innovation. ''The marketplace is always ahead of the
E.P.A.,'' Ms. Heinzman said.
Indeed, the tension has created a business opportunity for Agion, a supplier of ionized silver, an antimicrobial
form of silver that has been registered under Fifra. Businesses willing to pay premium prices to use Agion silver can
also get advice from the company on how to advertise antimicrobial abilities without making explicit health claims that
may violate the law. Agion, which is based in Wakefield, Mass., says it has spent over a million dollars registering various applications of its product with the E.P.A.
''We've developed expertise in this,'' said Ginger Merritt, Agion's vice president for sales and marketing.
Some nanotechnology skeptics say that slowing commercialization is exactly what the E.P.A. ought to be doing.
The silver particles provide a good example of why, in their view.
Silver's sterilizing powers were first noticed by the ancient Egyptians, but no one can be certain that long experience with the metal is a complete guide to its hazards in its newly engineered forms. Nanoscale particles -- those in the
Handler average 20 nanometers in diameter -- are often unusually potent. They may also have other unexpected properties that will become apparent only if many people or other living things are exposed to significant quantities over long
periods of time.
One of the biggest concerns with such particles is that they may easily penetrate the brain and other organs that
larger particles cannot reach.
Moreover, some critics worry that the technology may contribute to the evolution of microbes resistant to silver
poisoning. And some health experts say that constantly reducing exposure to troublesome microbes may eventually
weaken the human immune system.
Environmental groups point out that pesticide regulators may simply ignore an antimicrobial product, no matter
how potent, if its manufacturer and distributors avoid making health claims. As the E.P.A. interprets the regulation, a
product is not ''designed'' to be a health-protecting antimicrobial -- and thus subject to registration requirements -- if it is
not advertised as such.
Several other companies that have been using silver nanoparticles in ways similar to Maker Enterprises reacted to
the Samsung decision by simply dropping any antibacterial claims.
Recently, for example, Domtar, a paper company based in Montreal, halted test marketing of a paper it advertised
as laced with antimicrobial nanosilver particles, a product other paper makers had successfully sold to health-conscious
Europeans.
E.P.A. officials deny that a review of antimicrobial claims for such products would be so burdensome and said
that they have tried to develop a cooperative way of working with companies.
Samsung, for instance, was allowed to keep selling its washing machine while it develops its pesticide registration
data. The agency has an ombudsman to help small businesses, said William Jordan, senior policy adviser for the Office
of Pesticide Programs.
Mr. Jordan declined to discuss the Handler case but said that several companies were talking informally with the
agency about registration, and how far they could go without it. ''We try to use common sense in dealing with smaller
companies,'' he said.
The agency said its handling of earlier antimicrobial products, especially the synthetic disinfectant triclosan, provided a model for nanosilver. Companies that had rushed to market with products as diverse as toys and toothbrushes
impregnated with triclosan -- also known as Microban -- ended up paying fines and changing their labels. Mr. Jones said
that many triclosan products have since been registered under the pesticide law, some with reviews as short as 60 days.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: MAJOR APPLIANCE MFG (90%); BACTERIA (90%); NANOTECHNOLOGY (89%); PESTICIDES
(89%); ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE (89%); PESTICIDE REGULATION (88%); CHEMICALS REGULATION &
POLICY (88%); ANTIBIOTICS (78%); INFLUENZA (78%); ENVIRONMENTAL & WILDLIFE ORGANIZA-
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Fighting Germs and Regulators The New York Times March 6, 2008 Thursday
TIONS (75%); TOXIC & HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES (74%); ENVIRONMENTAL DEPARTMENTS (73%);
SKIN CARE PRODUCTS (72%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (68%)
COMPANY: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD (55%)
ORGANIZATION: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (56%)
TICKER: SMSN (LSE) (55%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS334310 AUDIO AND VIDEO EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING (55%); NAICS334112
COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICE MANUFACTURING (55%); SIC3663 RADIO & TELEVISION BROADCASTING & COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT (55%); SIC3651 HOUSEHOLD AUDIO & VIDEO EQUIPMENT
(55%); SIC3572 COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES (55%); NAICS334310 AUDIO & VIDEO EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING (55%); NAICS334220 RADIO & TELEVISION BROADCASTING & WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING (55%)
GEOGRAPHIC: CALIFORNIA, USA (76%) UNITED STATES (79%)
LOAD-DATE: March 6, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOs: Paul Metzger with the Handler, a device meant to help avoid contact with germs. Its use of silver particles poses a problem. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY J. EMILIO FLORES FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1020 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 6, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
Boldface in Cyberspace: It's a Woman's Domain
BYLINE: By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
SECTION: Section G; Column 0; Style Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1458 words
IT was another season of fashion runway shows and a group of friends, chatting about the revival of Halston, were
reminiscing about their personal encounters with the designer. Candice Bergen shared how he had lent her a white
mink bunny mask and strapless gown for Truman Capote's 1966 Black and White Ball. Liz Smith spoke of how cocaine
had destroyed the man during the disco era. Joni Evans admitted to attending a party and gushing to ''Calvin Klein''
about how she adored his designs, only to realize that she was gushing to Halston.
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Boldface in Cyberspace: It's a Woman's Domain The New York Times March 6, 2008 Thursday
Their conversation might have taken place over lunch at Le Cirque. Only this was a virtual Le Cirque: the memories spilled forth not from lipstick-ringed mouths, but from BlackBerrys, iPhones and laptops before being posted on
wowowow.com, a new Web site aimed at women 40 and older.
The site's five founders, also women of a certain age, are longtime friends and media live-wires: Ms. Evans, formerly the president of Simon & Schuster and an ex-publisher at Random House; Ms. Smith, the gossip columnist; Mary
Wells, the advertising executive behind memorable campaigns like ''I Love New York''; Peggy Noonan, the political
columnist and former presidential speechwriter; and Lesley Stahl, the television news reporter. In addition, the founders
have signed up some boldface friends to contribute to the site, including Ms. Bergen, Joan Juliet Buck, Whoopi Goldberg, Marlo Thomas, Lily Tomlin, Joan Cooney, Judith Martin, Sheila Nevins, Julia Reed and Jane Wagner.
Wowowow, which is to make its debut Saturday, was but a pixel of an idea a year ago. Ms. Evans was struck by what
she considered a dearth of online content provocative enough to hook sharp, driven women like herself. Weary of shopping and travel sites, she reached out to a klatch of women friends who are as blond as Jayne Mansfield and better connected than the most determined Facebook users. Turns out, they were game for shaking up the digital status quo, even
though most were cyberneophytes. Web culture, from the technicalities of uploading content to the verbal nakedness
that is blogging, was unfamiliar. Even acquiring a domain name was, as Ms. Smith put it at a gathering of some of the
founders the other day, an uphill battle.
''I wanted to call the site AllTheGoodNamesAreTaken.com,'' she said. (Actually, she wanted to call it Hot Voodoo, after the Marlene Dietrich song, but the other women shot it down.)
Ms. Stahl suggested adopting a name that incorporated the word ''broad,'' like broad-minded, but there were objections to that too.
''I went through a period where I really thought 'After all we have done in our lives and accomplished -- to call
ourselves broads?' '' said Ms. Wells, the founder of the advertising and marketing agency Wells Rich Greene.
Somewhere Ms. Evans has a long list of thumbs-down domain names (i.e., HerTube.com). ''I remember how innocent we were,'' she said. The name they settled on is a play on ''Women on the Web.''
''We actually bought out a porn site to get this name,'' Ms. Evans said. (Technically, they didn't buy a porn business, just womenontheweb.com.) Now, ''when anyone looks for that porn site, they're directed to us,'' said Ms. Evans,
who became chief executive of the site after retiring last year as a senior vice president at the William Morris Agency's
literary department.
The fare on the new PG-13 Wowowow is in some ways no different than that of other women-focused community
Web sites like iVillage: horoscopes and posts about love and marriage, health and fashion. Wowowow also has political commentary, but what is particularly distinctive are the conversations, like the Halston dialogue, which read like
deeper and more intimate versions of the ''hot topics'' segment of the television gabfest ''The View.''
''It was very loose and fun and intimate,'' Ms. Bergen said of participating in the discussions, which the women
have practiced while the site is in beta mode. The cozy tone of the exchanges, the participants say, reflects their decades-long overlapping friendships, stretching back to the 1960s and 70s when many were among the first women pioneering their media and entertainment fields.
''It's like when I used to live in a women's dormitory 50 years ago,'' said Ms. Martin, a.k.a. the advice columnist
Miss Manners.
Going up against thriving well-established destinations like iVillage or More will be no small task. Wowowow's
chief appeal may be the glimpse it promises into the personal lives and beliefs of a group of businesswomen who broke
through glass ceilings. The site fundamentally trades on their celebrity and sophistication. ''IVillage has always puzzled
me,'' said Ms. Buck, a contributing editor to Vogue and a consulting editor to Wowowow. ''I love the idea but it's like
Macy's or something.''
The group conversations posted on Wowowow are conducted over the telephone, transcribed and edited. The
''question of the day'' portion of the site is the result of the women sending e-mail responses to questions funneled
through Ms. Buck about everything from envy to female presidential candidates. ''As soon as we finish one batch they
have another,'' said Ms. Wagner, the playwright perhaps best known for ''The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the
Universe.''
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Boldface in Cyberspace: It's a Woman's Domain The New York Times March 6, 2008 Thursday
The women also contribute their own blog posts or musings whenever the mood strikes. Most send e-mail messages although Ms. Smith has been known to call in or fax her contributions. ''Well, I still write with a feather you
know,'' she said.
Wowowow also hopes to be shaped by readers, who can post comments if they register. The ''Intuitive'' who
writes the horoscopes will take daily questions. There are plans for a philanthropic section of the site and a social networking component where readers can create personal home pages and interact with one another.
Statistics show there is a market for such a site. A comScore Media Metrix study of the growth in visitors among
the top 100 United States Internet properties found that women's community sites were, along with political sites, the
top gaining Internet category last year. Unique visitors to women's community sites reached nearly 70 million in December 2007, a gain of 35 percent over December 2006. Glam Media and iVillage, the reigning properties in this category, both benefited from the increased traffic.
The start-up investment in Wowowow is $1 million; the five founders, who are equal partners, backed it with their
own money. They have also secured some advertisers, Tiffany, Citi and Sony, and hired five full-time employees who,
as Ms. Buck put it, ''speak cyber.''
Still, Ms. Evans and company are not necessarily an Internet dream team. They may be coming a bit late to the
party. And they have large public personas, which may make it challenging for them to be uninhibited enough to lure
readers accustomed to bloggers who never censor themselves.
''In that way, it's a little bit hard on me,'' said Ms. Cooney, who co-founded ''Sesame Street'' and is now the chairwoman of the executive committee of Sesame Workshop. ''I'm very private even though I've been written about because
of 'Sesame Street.' I still am not used to talking about myself.''
The medium is alluring to her and other Wowowow writers, they say, because it offers a respite from their more
structured assignments. Even so, why migrate to cyberspace after long, successful and lucrative careers in other fields?
''It is a young world on that Web, and it's time that a mature or seasoned or empowered generation had a strong
presence,'' Ms. Evans said, ''and not one about finding a man or about matchmaking or about taking care of your daughter.''
Ms. Evans, 65, feels as if she and her friends have been in training for this enterprise their entire careers, from the
contacts they have amassed to their various skill sets. Though she has been a top executive of publishing companies, she
has never been an owner. Both she and Ms. Stahl, a correspondent on CBS's ''60 Minutes,'' say they derive satisfaction
from being entrepreneurs and working with other women. Ms. Stahl said she was also drawn to the project because the
Web is still ''the future.'' Ms. Smith, on the other hand, sees the site as her ''encore'' after decades as a syndicated gossip
columnist.
For some of the women, Wowowow is about more than a new business venture; it's about speaking their minds.
''Women who are not kids, who are not in their 20s, we've been the object of more suppression over these decades,'' said Ms. Tomlin, the actress and comedian. ''I think it could be incredibly liberating on a lot of levels,'' she said,
referring to the site. ''If not for anyone else, then for us.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: FASHION DESIGNERS (90%); FASHION & APPAREL (90%); WOMEN'S MARKET (73%); DOMAIN NAMES (73%); BLOGS & MESSAGE BOARDS (73%); INTERNET SOCIAL NETWORKING (74%);
MARKETING & ADVERTISING AGENCIES (72%); MARKETING & ADVERTISING SERVICES (71%); COCAINE (71%); WEB SITES (68%); MARKETING & ADVERTISING (67%); WRITERS & WRITING (65%); ADVICE COLUMNS (50%); PUBLISHING (72%); MOBILE & CELLULAR TELEPHONES (69%); HANDHELD
COMPUTERS (69%); FASHION SHOWS (90%)
COMPANY: SIMON & SCHUSTER INC (55%); FACEBOOK INC (53%)
LOAD-DATE: March 6, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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Boldface in Cyberspace: It's a Woman's Domain The New York Times March 6, 2008 Thursday
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: A DIFFERENT FACEBOOK: From left, Liz Smith, Lesley Stahl, Mary Wells and Joni Evans,
four founders of wowowow.com. (PHOTOGRAPH BY JOE FORNABAIO FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg.G1)
AND SOME CONTRIBUTORS ARE: Lily Tomlin, left, Jane Wagner and Candice Bergen are among the list of luminaries who will add their two or more cents to the new Web venture, which is scheduled to open for business on Saturday. (PHOTOGRAPH BY HARRY BENSON) (pg.G6)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1021 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 6, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
Social Networking Moves to the Cellphone
BYLINE: By VICTORIA SHANNON
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 7
LENGTH: 672 words
DATELINE: PARIS
Social networks may be nothing new to habitues of the Internet. Several years of competition among Facebook,
MySpace and Friendster have generated tens of millions of members.
But now the market is teeming with companies that want to bring the same phenomenon to the cellphone. There
are so many ''mobile social networking'' upstarts, in fact, that when New Media Age magazine in Britain tried to identify
the ''ones to watch,'' it ended up naming 10 companies.
Some of those in the thick of battle are resigned to having a lot of company. ''If there weren't competitors, there
wouldn't be a market,'' said Dan Harple, founder and chief executive of GyPSii, a mobile social network based in Amsterdam that is a contender. ''Maybe there are 30 or more now -- in three years, there will be 5 that matter.''
The prize, as these start-ups see it, is the 3.3 billion cellphone subscribers, a number that far surpasses the total of
Internet users. The advantage over computer-based communities, they believe, is the ability to know where a cellphone
is, thanks to global positioning satellites and related technologies.
The market research company Informa Telecoms said in a report last month that about 50 million people, or about
2.3 percent of all mobile users, already use the cellphone for social networking, from chat services to multimedia sharing. The company forecast that the penetration rate would mushroom to at least 12.5 percent in five years.
Most mobile social networks seek to capitalize on location information. The SpaceMe service from GyPSii, for
instance, will show users where friends and other members are in real time.
A GyPSii search will show users a map of their environs dotted with photos, videos and information from other
members.
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Social Networking Moves to the Cellphone The New York Times March 6, 2008 Thursday
Bliin, another network that started in Amsterdam, lets users update and post their whereabouts every 15 seconds.
But for other networks, geography and ''presence'' information is not as critical. MyGamma, a social network run
by BuzzCity, based in Singapore, draws most of its 2.5 million users from developing countries in Asia and Africa, its
chief executive, Lai Kok Fung, said.
''These are countries with low Internet penetration -- they are not PC-centric,'' Mr. Lai said. ''For our members, the
mobile phone is the only way to get on the Internet.''
For that reason, Mr. Lai is not overly concerned with the big Internet names -- like MySpace and Facebook -- and
their plans to invade the cellphone universe.
AOL, Yahoo and Nokia have initiatives to create discrete communities out of cellphone users.
''We don't think any of them will make a big splash in the mobile space,'' Mr. Lai said. ''They view mobile as an
extension of the online site, while we know our members use mobile much differently.''
According to a BuzzCity study, members usually gain access to the mobile social network from home or work,
and they use their cellphones first, even if they can get to the network from a personal computer. For most users -- 62
percent -- each myGamma session lasts 30 minutes to an hour.
Itsmy.com, a social network run by the Munich-based GoFresh, also exists only in the mobile world. Itsmy, which
says it has more than a million registered users, opened its Italian-language service on Wednesday. It was already available in English, German and Spanish, and a Japanese version is planned.
GyPSii announced a version of its software for the AppleiPhone this week, and last month it concluded a contract
with China Unicom to start GyPSii during the Beijing Olympics.
Mr. Harple, an American technology entrepreneur, does not consider it unusual that so many mobile social networks originate outside the United States, which has dominated the Internet business.
''I moved to Europe because I thought the U.S. venture capital community -- which I was a part of -- was myopic,''
he said. ''They can't see the global significance of what is happening.''
Mr. Harple predicted GyPSii ''could have more users in one year than Facebook had in three.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: INTERNET & WWW (90%); INTERNET SOCIAL NETWORKING (92%); TELECOMMUNICATIONS
(78%); MARKET RESEARCH & ANALYSIS (73%); MARKET RESEARCH (72%); GLOBAL POSITIONING
SYSTEM (66%); DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (60%); MARKET RESEARCH FIRMS (51%); SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY (51%); MOBILE & CELLULAR TELEPHONES (89%)
COMPANY: MYSPACE.COM (85%); FACEBOOK INC (58%); NEW MEDIA FORGE (57%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SINGAPORE (77%); ASIA (72%); AFRICA (66%)
LOAD-DATE: March 6, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1022 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
Page 48
Kosovo Builds Economy From the Ground Up The New York Times March 5, 2008 Wednesday
The New York Times
March 5, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
Kosovo Builds Economy From the Ground Up
BYLINE: By DAN BILEFSKY
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Foreign Desk; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 1372 words
DATELINE: PRISTINA, Kosovo
Bekim Kuqi has braved civil war, exile, bombs falling on his factories and the detonation of a car filled with explosives in one of his stores. So he says he is prepared for the daunting challenge of doing business in the newly independent Kosovo.
For years the electricity grid has been so unreliable that just keeping the lights on in his retail stores has been a
daily struggle, forcing Mr. Kuqi to spend more than $1,000 a day on backup generators. Even then, shoppers browse
with the lights flickering on and off. And given that the average monthly wage here is about $220, he laments that most
people can afford little more than a Coca-Cola at one of the restaurants in his stores.
''I put my faith in God,'' said Mr. Kuqi, 33. He added: ''I often think that staying here requires too much sacrifice,
and I should just leave. But I belong to this place.''
Two weeks after Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership declared independence from Serbia, with the backing of
Washington and the European Union, Pristina continues to pulsate with young crowds at stylish new cafes and shopping
malls. But such superficial signs of economic success mask the harsh uncertainties of a newborn nation, whose very
existence is not recognized by Serbia, Russia or some European countries.
Even if Kosovo can overcome those political hurdles, its economy has been so devastated by war that it imports
even staples like milk and meat. It is ranked by Transparency International, the Berlin-based anticorruption watchdog,
as the world's fourth most corrupt economy, after Cameroon, Cambodia and Albania. Whether Kosovo can build a successful economy will help determine whether it can become a full-fledged country and stabilize the Balkans, or will
remain a poor adopted orphan of the West.
Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian leader, revoked Kosovo's autonomy in 1989 and fiercely repressed ethnic
Albanians, who make up most of its population. Some of them eventually turned to armed rebellion. NATO intervened
in 1999 to halt Mr. Milosevic's violent response to the rebels, and for the past eight years this predominantly Muslim,
landlocked territory has been administered by the United Nations.
For the foreseeable future, Western analysts say, Kosovo's economy will remain dependent on generous aid, its
security assured by 16,000 NATO troops and its political affairs overseen by a European Union mission that will shortly
take over from the United Nations.
''It could take at least 10 years for Kosovo to stand on its own two feet,'' said Joost Lagendijk, who oversees Kosovo policy in the European Parliament. ''Kosovo is a poor agricultural country where the energy supply is chaotic, the
rule of law needs to be upheld and the economy is almost starting from scratch.''
Scrap metal from old cars is Kosovo's biggest export. Infrastructure is creaky, businesspeople complain that bribery is commonplace and unemployment is about 50 percent, government officials say.
''For years, we have used not having our independence as an excuse for everything,'' said Shpend Ahmeti, an
economist who runs the Institute for Advanced Studies, a Pristina-based research organization. ''Now that we have it, we
need to show that we deserve to be a country and that we can create a viable economy.''
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Kosovo Builds Economy From the Ground Up The New York Times March 5, 2008 Wednesday
For that, economists say, Kosovo needs to foster local industry; imports run at about $1.9 billion a year, but exports are a paltry $130 million. Success will depend partly on the gumption of entrepreneurs like Mr. Kuqi, the son of
a farmer.
He started by selling clothing from a kiosk in his hometown, Suva Reka, a poor, industrial city in southern Kosovo. The business quickly grew. But during the war between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in 1998-1999, his factories were
set on fire and he was forced to flee to Albania.
Mr. Kuqi returned to Kosovo in 2000 and rebuilt the business; four years later, the police say, a jealous rival
rammed a car filled with explosives through his flagship store. Today, Mr. Kuqi has 13 stores and malls across Kosovo,
which he built in part by harnessing a low-wage, ambitious work force. ''People here are willing to work hard,'' he said.
Ahmet Shala, Kosovo's economic minister, dismissed people's doubts about Kosovo's economic prospects, pointing to success stories in neighboring countries like Slovenia, a former Yugoslav republic of similar size.
Mr. Shala argued that, until now, Kosovo's uncertain status prevented it from having some of the tools of a functioning economy, from bar codes for supermarket products to access to international railway networks. Independence,
he asserted, will allow Kosovo to work with financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund, helping it to attract foreign investors.
''Until now, Kosovo was a baby in an incubator, with donors providing the oxygen,'' he said. ''Now, the baby needs
to learn how to breathe on its own.''
Still, Kosovo's lack of recognition by Serbia, Russia and several countries in the European Union -- including
Spain, Slovakia, Greece, Romania and Cyprus -- could also deter investment, hamper its ability to get loans, impede the
European Union from signing trade and cooperation deals with it and place limitations on the travel of Kosovars.
Kosovo also faces the threat of an economic embargo by Serbia. Economists say that would hurt Serbia more than
Kosovo, because Serbia exports so many goods to Kosovo. Yet, Mr. Ahmeti said: ''Serbia can hurt us by keeping us in
the news. We need to overcome our image problem.''
Many here are pinning their hopes on Kosovo's untapped mineral wealth, including 14 billion tons of lignite coal
reserves that will be tapped to fuel a new power plant by 2012, if all goes as planned.
British geologists conducting a recent survey of Kosovo's resources say the territory has vast amounts of minerals,
including deposits of nickel, lead, zinc, cadmium, bauxite and even small seams of gold. Yet the infrastructure for extracting minerals is outdated, and mining analysts say Kosovo's most important mining complex, the Trepca mine, will
need hundreds of millions of dollars in outside investment to create a profitable exporting business.
On a recent day at the Trepca mine, which has been ravaged by war and mismanagement since its glory days in
the former Communist Yugoslavia, miners wearing battery-lighted hard hats descended about 2,000 feet below ground
to a labyrinth of hot, dark tunnels. Mr. Milosevic is widely rumored to have used the tunnels to hide the bodies of Albanians killed during the war.
Dozens of workers -- some wielding pickaxes, others driving mechanized trucks with electric drills -- bored holes
and inserted sticks of dynamite to dislodge lead and zinc deposits. ''This could be the future of Kosovo,'' said Xhafer
Peci, a miner, holding glistening stones in his hands.
Yet Trepca has become politically explosive because it is run jointly by ethnic Albanians and Serbs, and its mines
and processing factories are spread between Kosovo's Serbian-dominated north and the ethnic Albanian-dominated
south. With Serbia determined to expand its hold over northern Kosovo, Trepca's future is in doubt.
Nazmi Mikullovci, Trepca's ethnic Albanian director, said he hoped Serbian and Albanian cooperation at the mine
would continue. He stressed that geological surveys showed that 88 percent of Kosovo's mineral wealth is in the south
of the country; however, the mine has up to 300 million euros ($456 million) in debt and must also finance the pensions
of several thousand Albanian workers fired when Mr. Milosevic took over the mine in the 1990s.''Trepca will not be the
savior of Kosovo, at least for now,'' Mr. Mikullovci said.
Even with the challenges, there are a few brave investors here. Ekrem Luka, the head of a sprawling conglomerate
called Dukagjini that owns everything from breweries to a television station, said he planned to build a 23-story complex in downtown Pristina, complete with a 100-room hotel, three stories of shopping and private apartments.
Page 50
Kosovo Builds Economy From the Ground Up The New York Times March 5, 2008 Wednesday
''The business attraction of Kosovo is that we are starting at zero and need everything,'' he said. ''Exporters, importers, retailers, you name it.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: RESTAURANTS (90%); WAR & CONFLICT (89%); INTERNATIONAL TRADE (87%); RETAILERS
(78%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (78%); SEPARATISM & SECESSION (77%); ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION (77%); EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTIONS (71%); IMPORT TRADE (70%); EXPORT TRADE (70%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (69%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (65%); AVERAGE EARNINGS
(55%); ARMED FORCES (50%); ORPHANS (70%)
COMPANY: COCA-COLA CO (56%)
ORGANIZATION: EUROPEAN UNION (55%)
TICKER: KO (NYSE) (56%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS312111 SOFT DRINK MANUFACTURING (56%); SIC2086 BOTTLED & CANNED SOFT
DRINKS & CARBONATED WATER (56%)
GEOGRAPHIC: BERLIN, GERMANY (79%) SERBIA (96%); EUROPE (94%); ALBANIA (93%); EUROPEAN
UNION (90%); SERBIA & MONTENEGRO (89%); GERMANY (79%); CAMEROON (79%)
LOAD-DATE: March 5, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: Crowded cafes and malls like the Ben-af shopping centerin Pristina belie the weakness of Kosovo's economy. Imports far exceed exports and the infrastructure is dilapidated. Miners, above and at left, near Mitrovica at the Trepca mine, which has extensive mineral deposits but significant debt. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW TESTA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES) MAPS: The economy is lagging even in Pristina, Kosovo's capital.
Maps of Pristina in Kosovo.
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1023 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 5, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
Facebook Hires a Google Veteran, Sheryl Sandberg, as Its Operating Chief
BYLINE: By BRAD STONE and MIGUEL HELFT
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 1043 words
Page 51
Facebook Hires a Google Veteran, Sheryl Sandberg, as Its Operating Chief The New York Times March 5, 2008
Wednesday
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO
Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook is not stepping aside for a chief executive as Larry Page and Sergey Brin did at
Google or as Jerry Yang and David Filo did at Yahoo. He is following the Bill Gates model and holding the top post as
he hires a Google executive, Sheryl Sandberg, as chief operating officer.
Ms. Sandberg, currently vice president for global online sales and operations at Google, joined the search giant in
2001 and helped to develop its immensely lucrative online advertising programs, AdWords and AdSense. She will join
Facebook this month to work closely with Mr. Zuckerberg, a co-founder of Facebook, the company said Tuesday.
''A big theme of this hire is that there are parts of our operations that to use a pretty trite phrase, need to be taken
to the next level,'' Mr. Zuckerberg said in an interview.
Ms. Sandberg will help Facebook expand overseas and develop an advertising network that will help justify its
$15 billion valuation, set last year when Microsoft invested $240 million for 1.6 percent of the company. She will also
oversee Facebook's marketing, human resources and privacy departments -- essentially guiding how Facebook presents
itself and its intentions to the outside world.
Ms. Sandberg's departure is a blow to Google, where she was a well-regarded executive. ''Sheryl was a valued
member of the Google team, and we wish her well in her new endeavors,'' Omid Kordestani, Google's senior vice president for global sales and business development, said in an e-mail statement.
Mr. Kordestani said David Fischer would take over Ms. Sandberg's job. Until now, Mr. Fischer was vice president
for online sales and operation, reporting to Ms. Sandberg.
Facebook has more than 66 million users and is growing rapidly, but the company, based in Palo Alto, Calif., has
been dogged by criticism over its business practices. For example, its effort to allow advertisers to exploit the social
connections between friends on a service called Beacon encountered stiff resistance from users.
''Communicating what we are about clearly is an important thing for us to do,'' Mr. Zuckerberg said. ''We can do
that better, and Beacon showed that, as did a handful of other things.''
Mr. Zuckerberg had a chief deputy once before. Owen Van Natta, a former Amazon executive, held the title of
chief operating officer before he was given the narrower role of chief revenue officer last year. Last month, he announced he was leaving Facebook to pursue opportunities as a chief executive elsewhere.
Mr. Zuckerberg is 23 and Ms. Sandberg is 38, but the age difference did not stand in the way of building a working relationship. The pair met at a Christmas party last December. Roger McNamee, a prominent venture capitalist and
an investor and occasional adviser to Mr. Zuckerberg, helped broker ensuing conversations with a recommendation of
Ms. Sandberg.
Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Sandberg then spent time discussing Facebook's future at the World Economic Forum in
Davos, Switzerland, in January and over a series of dinners at Ms. Sandberg's home in Atherton, Calif.
Ms. Sandberg joined Google three years before it went public, when it had only 260 employees. Like many veteran Googlers, she is a multimillionaire. In building the online operations of AdWords and AdSense, the two programs
that accounted for the overwhelming majority of Google's $16.6 billion in 2007, she saw the size of her department
swell from four people to thousands of employees.
She says that Facebook today reminds her of Google back then. ''For me that is part of the excitement,'' she said.
''I've loved being part of the process of helping to build Google. The opportunity to help another young company to
grow into a global leader is the opportunity of a lifetime.''
Ms. Sandberg is only one of a handful of top executives to have made for the exits at Google, including George
Reyes, the chief financial officer, who announced in August that he would retire but has agreed to remain in his post
until Google hires a successor.
The company has suffered a larger number of defections among vice presidents, senior managers and engineers in
recent months as its size has ballooned to more than 16,000 workers. Most employees who joined before the company's
2004 initial public offering have seen their initial grant of stock options fully vested.
Page 52
Facebook Hires a Google Veteran, Sheryl Sandberg, as Its Operating Chief The New York Times March 5, 2008
Wednesday
Ms. Sandberg's appointment comes as the competition between Google and Facebook intensifies. The two companies are growing rapidly and find themselves going after many of the same top engineering talent in Silicon Valley.
In addition, Google competed furiously for a part of Facebook's advertising business last year and lost to Microsoft.
Google, which has had mixed success with its own social network initiatives, subsequently announced that it was
leading an alliance of social networks to promote a new standard for third party developers to create programs that run
on their sites. The alliance, which includes the leading social network MySpace, was seen as a way to counter Facebook's growing popularity with software developers.
Google's own social network, Orkut, is popular in Brazil and other countries, but not in the United States. Still
Google's social networking ambitions go beyond Orkut, and the company has begun allowing users of Google's mapping, blog reading and other online services to share their activities with friends.
When asked if she thought Facebook and Google were competitors, Ms. Sandberg said she thought ''they are at
their core very different companies.''
Before joining Google, Ms. Sandberg was chief of staff to Lawrence H. Summers when he was Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration. The experience in government could serve Facebook well if the company again encounters federal or state inquiries over its privacy policies.
Ms. Sandberg, who serves as a director of Google's philanthropy, Google.org, wields influence in Silicon Valley
political circles, where she is backer of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Ms. Sandberg is married to David Goldberg, a former vice president at Yahoo, where he ran that company's music
business. He left last year to become an entrepreneur-in-residence at Benchmark Capital, a venture capital firm.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: INTERNET SOCIAL NETWORKING (90%); INTERVIEWS (78%); HUMAN RESOURCES (77%);
ONLINE MARKETING & ADVERTISING (76%); MARKETING & ADVERTISING (76%); ONLINE ADVERTISING (76%); VENTURE CAPITAL (67%); CHRISTMAS (71%); BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (71%)
COMPANY: GOOGLE INC (92%); FACEBOOK INC (90%); MICROSOFT CORP (55%)
TICKER: GOOG (NASDAQ) (92%); GGEA (LSE) (92%); MSFT (NASDAQ) (55%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS518112 WEB SEARCH PORTALS (92%); SIC8999 SERVICES, NEC (92%); SIC7375 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES (92%); NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (55%); SIC7372 PREPACKAGED SOFTWARE (55%); NAICS519130 INTERNET PUBLISHING & BROADCASTING & WEB
SEARCH PORTALS (92%)
PERSON: LARRY PAGE (91%); BILL GATES (58%); JERRY YANG (91%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA (75%); SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA, USA (79%) CALIFORNIA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (79%)
LOAD-DATE: March 5, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
Page 53
Gene Map Becomes a Luxury Item The New York Times March 4, 2008 Tuesday
1024 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 4, 2008 Tuesday
Late Edition - Final
Gene Map Becomes a Luxury Item
BYLINE: By AMY HARMON
SECTION: Section F; Column 0; Science Desk; THE DNA AGE; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1184 words
On a cold day in January, Dan Stoicescu, a millionaire living in Switzerland, became the second person in the
world to buy the full sequence of his own genetic code.
He is also among a relatively small group of individuals who could afford the $350,000 price tag.
Mr. Stoicescu is the first customer of Knome, a Cambridge-based company that has promised to parse his genetic
blueprint by spring. A Chinese executive has signed on for the same service with Knome's partner, the Beijing Genomics Institute, the company said.
Scientists have so far unraveled only a handful of complete human genomes, all financed by governments, foundations and corporations in the name of medical research. But as the cost of genome sequencing goes from stratospheric to
merely very expensive, it is piquing the interest of a new clientele.
''I'd rather spend my money on my genome than a Bentley or an airplane,'' said Mr. Stoicescu, 56, a biotechnology
entrepreneur who retired two years ago after selling his company. He says he will check discoveries about genetic
disease risk against his genome sequence daily, ''like a stock portfolio.''
But while money may buy a full readout of the six billion chemical units in an individual's genome, biologists say
the superrich will have to wait like everyone else to learn how the small variations in their sequence influence appearance, behavior, abilities, disease susceptibility and other traits.
''I was in someone's Bentley once -- nice car,'' said James D. Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA,
whose genome was sequenced last year by a company that donated the $1.5 million in costs to demonstrate its technology. ''Would I rather have my genome sequenced or have a Bentley? Uh, toss up.''
He would probably pick the genome, Dr. Watson said, because it could reveal a disease-risk gene that one had
passed on to one's children, though in his case, it did not. What is needed, he said, is a ''Chevrolet genome'' that is affordable for everyone.
Biologists have mixed feelings about the emergence of the genome as a luxury item. Some worry that what they
have dubbed ''genomic elitism'' could sour the public on genetic research that has long promised better, individualized
health care for all. But others see the boutique genome as something like a $20 million tourist voyage to space -- a necessary rite of passage for technology that may soon be within the grasp of the rest of us.
''We certainly don't want a world where there's a great imbalance of access to comprehensive genetic tests,'' said
Richard A. Gibbs, director of the human genome sequencing center at Baylor College of Medicine. ''But to the extent
that this can be seen as an idiosyncratic exercise of curious individuals who can afford it, it could be quite a positive
phenomenon.''
It was the stream of offers from wealthy individuals to pay the Harvard laboratory of George M. Church for their
personal genome sequences that led Dr. Church to co-found Knome last year (most people pronounce it ''nome,'' though
he prefers ''know-me'').
Page 54
Gene Map Becomes a Luxury Item The New York Times March 4, 2008 Tuesday
''It was distracting for an academic lab,'' Dr. Church said. ''But it made me think it could be a business.''
Scientists say they need tens of thousands of genome sequences to be made publicly available to begin to make
sense of human variation.
Knome, however, expects many of its customers to insist on keeping their dearly bought genomes private, and
provides a decentralized data storage system for that purpose.
Mr. Stoicescu said he worried about being seen as self-indulgent (though he donates much more each year to philanthropic causes), egotistical (for obvious reasons) or stupid (the cost of the technology, he knows, is dropping so fast
that he would have certainly paid much less by waiting a few months).
But he agreed to be identified to help persuade others to participate. With only four complete human genome sequences announced by scientists around the world -- along with the Human Genome Project, which finished assembling
a genome drawn from several individuals at a cost of about $300 million in 2003 -- each new one stands to add considerably to the collective knowledge.
''I view it as a kind of sponsorship,'' he said. ''In a way you can also be part of this adventure, which I believe is
going to change a lot of things.''
Mr. Stoicescu, who has a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry, was born in Romania and lived in the United States in the
early 1990s before founding Sindan, an oncology products company that he ran for 15 years. Now living with his wife
and 12-year-old son in a village outside Geneva, he describes himself as a ''transhumanist'' who believes that life can be
extended through nanotechnology and artificial intelligence, as well as diet and lifestyle adaptations. His genome sequence, he reasons, might give him a better indication of just what those should be. Last fall, Mr. Stoicescu paid $1,000
to get a glimpse of his genetic code from deCODE Genetics. That service, and a similar one offered by 23andMe, looks
at close to a million nucleotides on the human genome where DNA is known to differ among people.
But Mr. Stoicescu was intrigued by the idea of a more complete picture. ''It is only a part of the truth,'' he said.
''Having the full sequence decoded you can be closer to reality.''
How close is a matter of much debate. Knome is using a technology that reads the genome in short fragments that
can be tricky to assemble. All of the existing sequencing methods have a margin of error, and the fledgling industry has
no agreed-on quality standards.
Knome is not the only firm in the private genome business. Illumina, a sequencing firm in San Diego, plans to sell
whole genome sequencing to the ''rich and famous market'' this year, said its chief executive, Jay Flatley. If competition
drives prices down, the personal genome may quickly lose its exclusivity. The nonprofit X Prize Foundation is offering
$10 million to the first group to sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days, for $10,000 or less per genome. The federal
government is supporting technology development with an eye to a $1,000 genome in the next decade.
But for now, Knome's prospective customers are decidedly high-end. The company has been approached by hedge
fund managers, Hollywood executives and an individual from the Middle East who could be contacted only through a
third party, said Jorge Conde, Knome's chief executive.
''I feel like everyone's going to have to get it done at some point, so why not be one of the first?'' said Eugene
Katchalov, 27, a money manager in Manhattan who has met with Mr. Conde twice.
Mr. Stoicescu, who wants to create an open database of genomic information seeded with his own sequence,
hopes others will soon join him.
A few days after he wired his $175,000 deposit to the company, a Knome associate flew in from Cambridge to
meet him at a local clinic.
''What the heck am I doing?'' Mr. Stoicescu recalls wondering. ''And how many children in Africa might have
been fed?''
Then he offered up his arm and gave her three test tubes of his blood.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
Page 55
Gene Map Becomes a Luxury Item The New York Times March 4, 2008 Tuesday
SUBJECT: GENES & CHROMOSOMES (91%); LUXURY GOODS (90%); BIOTECHNOLOGY & GENETIC
SCIENCE (90%); GENOMICS (90%); SCIENCE NEWS (89%); BIOLOGY (89%); RESEARCH (89%); SCIENCE &
TECHNOLOGY (89%); GENETIC ANALYTIC TECHNIQUES (89%); WEALTHY PEOPLE (78%); GENETIC
DISEASES (77%); DNA (77%); GENETIC SCREENING (77%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (76%); MEDICAL RESEARCH (89%); CONGENITAL DISORDERS (77%)
GEOGRAPHIC: BEIJING, CHINA (57%) SWITZERLAND (73%); CHINA (57%)
LOAD-DATE: March 4, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: BIG SPENDER: Dan Stoicescu is paying a company to map his genome. (PHOTOGRAPH BY
FRED MERZ FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Series
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1025 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 3, 2008 Monday
Correction Appended
Late Edition - Final
In Oscars, No Country For Hit Films
BYLINE: By DAVID CARR.
E-mail: carr@nytimes.com
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; THE MEDIA EQUATION; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1080 words
At the Governor's Ball, the gilded post-Oscar fete, many of the evening's winners swanned about with statues in
one hand and glasses of Champagne in the other, while the losers washed down what was left of the evening with
stronger spirits.
The movie industry was in full frolic, but beneath the waves of froth and elation, all was not well.
Thirty-two million people watched the Oscar broadcast last week, fewer than tuned in for the debut of ''American
Idol'' in January, which means that a network-confected competition starring people named Ramiele Malubay and Robbie Carrico trumped a show with eight decades of history and stars like George Clooney and Cate Blanchett for the
ultimate achievement in entertainment.
That's the Hollywood equivalent of an Ultimate Fighting Championship outdrawing the Super Bowl (just wait,
that's coming, too).
Page 56
In Oscars, No Country For Hit Films The New York Times March 3, 2008 Monday Correction Appended
The shrugs from the audience might have something to do with the always-on supply of celebrity 411. Star sightings were rarer in the good old days. Now, why tune in to see Jessica Alba's baby bump when you already know that
she visited her obstetrician last week and that mother and baby are doing fine?
Part of the problem may be good taste. Back when the academy was reflexively pulling the lever for movies like
''Titanic,'' the Oscar viewers showed up in droves, with over 55 million tuning in. But the current academy panel is increasingly composed of people from the industry who were weaned on the cinematic revolution begotten by directors
like Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.
This year, those voters found all manner of ambitious, dark cinema to recognize, including ''No Country for Old
Men,'' which won three Oscars, including best picture, and ''There Will Be Blood,'' Paul Thomas Anderson's epic that
earned a best actor Oscar for Daniel Day-Lewis.
While there is much to be admired in the five best-picture nominees, all told, they have pulled in around $313 million so far at the box office, a few million less than ''Transformers'' did alone.
There was a feeling after this year's Oscars, with low ratings and modest box office returns, that the version of
Hollywood depicted in those myriad tributes is little more than nostalgia. Instead, the Oscars seemed one more discrete
sandbox, where only a certain kind of movie can hope to play.
''Movies and television have both fractured into niches, and the Oscars are a television show about movies,'' said
Mark Harris, the author of ''Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood,'' a book about
the nominees for best picture at the 1968 Oscars.
The Oscars' transition to more refined fare began in the early 1990s when studios began hatching flanker brands,
the so-called Indiewood specialty divisions like Fox Searchlight and Paramount Classic (now Vantage), to help the parent companies come up with quality films aimed at adults, and by proxy, the academy.
Ten years ago Harvey Weinstein, then of Miramax, demonstrated that a combination of audacious producing
choices (''The English Patient,'' ''Shakespeare in Love''), an English accent or two, and brute marketing dollars could
help the academy find its inner film critic.
But the Oscar bounce has all but disappeared, in part because the awards have been moved up in the year and the
window in which a nomination could be used to attract to a wider audience has become shorter. In his book, Mr. Harris
recounts how ''The Graduate,'' one of the nominees he wrote about, had a two-year run, including before and after the
Oscars. Nowadays, perfectly wonderful films like Sidney Lumet's ''Before the Devil Knows You're Dead'' and Sean
Penn's ''Into the Wild'' are pushed out of theaters (and out of competition) within a few weeks to make room for other
bets.
As a result, the so-called Oscar movie is a very precise business exercise: it must be reviewed ecstatically, be seen
by loads of adults and receive love at the warm-up awards shows before the Oscars. These kind of films have no toy
revenues, no prequels or sequels, and little penetration with youth audiences (give or take the occasional ''Juno''). With
that kind of math, it's a little like playing nickel slots with half-dollar coins.
''You can lose a lot of money on a $10 million movie that you spend $30 million marketing as an Oscar picture,''
said one person in the industry, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is a Hollywood film executive and
the subject was about losing money.
Four days after the downsized Oscars, the other shoe dropped. New Line Cinema, the very independent division of
Time Warner with a 40-year legacy including the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy, which drew $2.9 billion, was subsumed
into another unit, Warner Brothers Studios. The move brought to mind the Walt Disney Company's takeover of
Miramax, another mini-major whose big bets made the parent company unhappy.
Several executives I spoke to this week pointed out that Time Warner's new chief executive, Jeffrey L. Bewkes, is
not primarily a movie guy. As is the case with Robert A. Iger of Disney and Howard Stringer of Sony, Mr. Bewkes's
primary audience works on Wall Street and wears pinstripes, not sequins.
But with Time Warner's stock languishing around $16 a share, Mr. Bewkes had become increasingly impatient
with New Line's sovereignty and the duplication in costs in studio infrastructure and distribution that went with it.
Last week, Mr. Bewkes said that he liked the glamour of the Oscars as much as the next guy, probably more. But
still.
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In Oscars, No Country For Hit Films The New York Times March 3, 2008 Monday Correction Appended
''Any real movie company needs to greenlight projects that get recognition for their quality and that attract the best
talent in the business,'' he said. But, he added, you have to find a way to meet the needs of a mass audience in a profitable way, year after year, to even get to the starting gate of the awards season.
New Line will continue as a brand, but many of its 600 employees will be cut, including the guys that built it,
Robert K. Shaye and Michael Lynne. It was clear that changes were coming, but people were shocked to see two of the
last entrepreneurs in the business get the gate.
It was only four years ago, after all, that they were the toast of the Oscars, with ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' receiving 11 awards, including best picture. So a week in which people in the movie business historically take victory laps and make grand plans became one of grim reckoning instead.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: FILM (90%); ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS AWARDS (89%); TELEVISION INDUSTRY (89%); MOVIE INDUSTRY (78%); SPORTS & RECREATION EVENTS (78%); MOVIE & VIDEO INDUSTRIES (77%); CELEBRITIES (77%); ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS (77%); TELEVISION PROGRAMMING (76%); TICKET SALES
(75%); REALITY TELEVISION (71%); OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY (66%); ACTORS & ACTRESSES (77%)
PERSON: GEORGE CLOONEY (56%); CATE BLANCHETT (56%); JESSICA ALBA (55%); FRANCIS FORD
COPPOLA (54%)
LOAD-DATE: March 3, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
CORRECTION-DATE: March 5, 2008
CORRECTION: Because of an editing error, the Media Equation column in Business Day on Monday, about the
shrinking television audience for the Academy Awards show, misstated the number of Oscars won this year by ''No
Country for Old Men.'' The film won four Oscars, including best picture -- not three. (Its writers-directors, Joel and
Ethan Coen, shared the Oscars for best achievement in direction and best adapted screenplay, and Javier Bardem was
named best supporting actor.)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1026 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 3, 2008 Monday
Late Edition - Final
Putting Innovation in the Hands of a Crowd
BYLINE: By BOB TEDESCHI
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; E-COMMERCE REPORT; Pg. 6
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Putting Innovation in the Hands of a Crowd The New York Times March 3, 2008 Monday
LENGTH: 1018 words
IF executives are going to rely on the wisdom of the masses for business help, it's probably time the masses get a
little compensation for it.
That's the theory behind Kluster, the newest in a lineup of companies using the Web to channel the collective
wisdom of strangers into meaningful business strategies. With a cash reward system for contributors and a big beginning at the TED conference last week in Monterey, Calif., Kluster hopes to attract just enough visitors with just enough
business smarts to gain early momentum.
Along with members of the public, the 1,000 attendees of TED, a conference named for technology, entertainment
and design that attracts leaders from many industries, used Kluster to generate ideas for a new product, then chose the
most promising one and collaborated on the design. The result was ''Over There,'' an educational board game intended
to promote cultural awareness, with questions like, ''What percentage of the world's population lives further than one
mile from their nearest pure water source?''
According to Ben Kaufman, Kluster's 21-year-old founder, there were a few parameters, including provisions that
the product could not be wider or longer than eight inches and only specific materials, like single-injection plastic, could
be used. Going into the process, Mr. Kaufman said he hoped the product would ''be something that doesn't just serve an
uninteresting consumer need, but a humanitarian product that can be used by everyone.''
Mr. Kaufman said that would actually be a departure for him. As a founder of Mophie, a manufacturer of iPod accessories, Mr. Kaufman last year held a product design contest at the Macworld conference, with attendees submitting
ideas and using a company Web site to refine designs and vote on the winner.
Out of that came the Bevy -- a key chain and bottle opener built into the case for an iPod Shuffle -- which Mophie
sold by the thousands to retailers around the world. On the heels of that success, Mr. Kaufman in August sold Mophie
for an undisclosed sum, then set out to build a business out of the process he used at Macworld.
Kluster includes a number of refinements to that process. Those who join are given 1,000 units of Kluster scrip,
called ''watts,'' and they may earn more by telling the site more about themselves, like their area of expertise, age and
income. Meanwhile, businesses are invited to post specific tasks to be addressed, like creating a new product, logo or
corporate event.
Participants browsing the ideas offered by Kluster members can bet some or all of their watts on the ideas they
most believe in, or post ideas of their own. Those who had winning ideas earn at least 20 percent of the bounty offered
by the company that sought the idea, as well as more watts, while those who bet on the winning idea earn watts. Those
who bet wrong lose what they wagered.
Mr. Kaufman said several well-known manufacturers would offer projects on the site after the TED contest. He
would not disclose the identities of those businesses, but some, he said, would offer $50,000 or more for winning ideas,
while others expect to give far less and hope that they have enough good will among their customers to spur ideas.
Kluster will make money, he said, by taking 15 percent of any rewards offered to projects and by charging fees for
prominent placement of projects on the site, among other things.
Don Tapscott, the business strategy consultant and co-author of the book ''Wikinomics,'' said executives were
quickly warming to the strategic value of ''P.F.E.'' ideas, or those ''proudly found elsewhere.''
''Throughout the 20th century, we've had this view that talent is inside the company,'' Mr. Tapscott said. ''But with
the Web, collaboration costs are dropping outside the boundaries of companies, so the world can become your talent.''
Mr. Tapscott, who credited Procter & Gamble with the P.F.E. concept, said executives can go overboard with the
idea of outsourcing innovation if, in seeking such help, they expose too much of a company's trade secrets. But so far,
he knows of no business that has done so.
''They always err on the other side,'' he said. ''They don't do enough.''
Among the obstacles in Kluster's path are sites like InnoCentive and Cambrian House, which operate similarly.
InnoCentive, based in Waltham, Mass., was until late last year a forum for solving science-related problems, typically
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Putting Innovation in the Hands of a Crowd The New York Times March 3, 2008 Monday
for cash rewards. In September, it expanded into business, engineering and computer science, among other things. Since
then it has grown by 15,000 participants, to 140,000, the company said.
Cambrian House, which is based in Calgary, Alberta, and has 64,000 participants, will also expand its Web site
this year to accommodate projects across a broader range of industries. Until now, said Jasmine Antonick, a Cambrian
House founder, the site has attracted mostly software and Web entrepreneurs.
Ms. Antonick expects the site to be profitable later this year, when it receives a share of payments made by businesses to several of Cambrian House's participants, like two men who created Gwabs, an online video game that is to be
distributed by an undisclosed company this summer.
Next month, it will introduce VenCorps, a site on which venture capitalists and other investors will review business ideas from the public and, after about 30 days, reward the best idea with $50,000 in exchange for a share of ownership.
VenCorps is a partnership between Cambrian House and Spencer Trask Collaborative Venture Partners, a division
of the New York venture firm Spencer Trask. Sean Wise, a Collaborative Venture Partners founder, says he has high
hopes for the site.
''No matter how good a V.C. I could be,'' he said, ''I could never be smarter than the wisdom of a collective community.''
Josh Bernoff, an analyst with Forrester Research, said that Kluster had ''commercial potential.'' ''Asking communities for help with solving problems is certainly going to help businesses,'' he said. ''It's just not something you can count
on delivering business value yet.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: INTERNET & WWW (77%); PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (74%); NEW PRODUCTS (74%); POPULATION SIZE (72%); RETAILERS (64%)
GEOGRAPHIC: CALIFORNIA, USA (90%) UNITED STATES (90%)
LOAD-DATE: March 3, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: On Ben Kaufman's site, Kluster, companies pay users for ideas.(PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL O.
BOISVERT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1027 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 2, 2008 Sunday
Correction Appended
Late Edition - Final
Putin's Pariah
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Putin's Pariah The New York Times March 2, 2008 Sunday Correction Appended
BYLINE: By ANDREW MEIER.
Andrew Meier is the author of ''Black Earth: A Journey Through Russia After the Fall'' and ''The Lost Spy,'' which
will be published this summer.
SECTION: Section MM; Column 0; Magazine; Pg. 32
LENGTH: 5259 words
It began inauspiciously. On a frozen afternoon in late November, as Moscow was draped with blocklong plastic billboards, banners and flags, each proclaiming a variation on a single theme -- ''POBEDA PUTINA -- POBEDA
ROSSII!'' (''A Victory for Putin Is a Victory for Russia'') -- a few thousand Russians converged on the city center for
a rare act of political theater. It seemed, at first, like a tableau from the last days of the U.S.S.R., those heady months
when glasnost swelled the streets with protesters. A handful of dissidents stood on a flatbed truck; a jumble of loudspeakers were stacked below; the crew of foreign reporters vastly outnumbered the local press; and across the way,
the secret policemen with their unseen amplifiers were drowning the protest in canned laughter and Soviet waltzes.
That afternoon all eyes and lenses were fixed on Garry Kasparov, the valiant chess master trying in retirement to
end the reign of Vladimir Putin. After Kasparov clapped his hands and shouted ''Davai!'' -- ''Let's go!'' -- he started
toward the Central Election Commission, where he planned to deliver a list of complaints. As he marched, however,
it was clear that he was not alone at the head of the demonstration. He had locked arms with his unlikely comrade in
one of modern Russia's most quixotic quests -- Edward Limonov, the 65-year-old poet-turned-populist who heads
the National Bolshevik Party, or NBP.
After the presidential election in Russia, taking place today, not much is likely to change. Putin's anointed successor, the young lawyer Dmitri Medvedev, is little more than a proxy. But there remains one genuine opposition force, the
Other Russia, a threadbare alliance comprising the remnants of the Westernizing camp led by Kasparov and the banned
National Bolsheviks, the Nat-Bols, as Limonov's young followers call themselves. In the face of Kremlin control of the
airwaves and the small army of police deployed to muzzle their protests, the alliance has proved more adept at internecine warfare than at grass-roots politicking.
Limonov, however, has not given up. With his bizarre, often half-baked yet latently sinister populism, he remains
hellbent on ruining the Kremlin's party. And despite his strident nationalism and affinity for rogue youth, he works in
close partnership with the liberal-minded Kasparov. ''Russia is rich in generals without armies,'' Kasparov told me last
fall. ''But Limonov has foot soldiers. He commands street power.''
The crowd at the rally was not large; in fact it was depressingly small to anyone who remembered the last days of
the U.S.S.R. Yet at the fore stood a disciplined corps of 200 or 300 Nat-Bols -- young men and women dressed in black
whose faces beamed with unexpected joy. The march ended, as expected, nearly as soon as it began. The riot police
formed walls on either end of the procession and closed the vise. When they roughed up Kasparov and threw him in a
paddy wagon, the foreign press surrounded it. When they sent him to jail for five days, European leaders and even
George W. Bush's spokesman issued peals of condemnation.
Limonov, however, also vanished. A babushka in the street swore he'd been hauled off, bag over his head. Ekho
Moskvy, the liberal Moscow radio station and a last preserve of independent media in Russia, reported he had been
arrested. No one, however, could find Limonov in the jails. Only days later, the truth emerged. ''It was my boys,''
Limonov told me. The Nat-Bols had forsworn their party flags -- notoriously similar in color and design to the Nazis',
only with a black hammer and sickle replacing the swastika -- and executed their game plan. Before the police could
reach Limonov, his supporters carted him off. ''My boys saved me,'' he said. ''Just like they can save the country.''
''Russia is back,'' they like to say in Moscow these days. What a difference a sea of oil and gas can make. Bentleys, Maseratis and Maybach 62s -- those Bavarian chariots that set you back upward of $400,000 -- rule the
prospekty. At the Ritz-Carlton, a new marble palace erected on the remains of the old Intourist Hotel across from Red
Square, the smallest singles run $1,200 a night.
Still, in Moscow, and out across the hinterland, there is something else -- a new generation untouched by highspeed globalization and mired in uncertainty. Russia's youth ranges widely in its political sympathies -- from the neoNazi thugs who posted the beheading of a dark-skinned man on the Internet to the neo-Soviet youth groups spawned by
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Putin's Pariah The New York Times March 2, 2008 Sunday Correction Appended
the Kremlin. But Limonov's National-Bolsheviks came first and now stand somewhere in the middle of Russia's odd
political spectrum, part Merry Pranksters, part revolutionary vanguard. The party does not tally its membership, ''for
security reasons,'' Limonov says, but claims to have 1,000 to 1,500 hardcore activists and some 56,000 loyalists. Unmoored by economic upheaval and unmoved by Putin's restoration project, they have found in the NBP a satisfyingly
fierce ideology, often mediated by black humor, that can be refashioned, as Limonov readily admits, ''to fit anyone and
anything.''
Limonov founded the NBP in 1993 after returning to Russia from years abroad. Since then, his message has
changed -- from anti-Americanism and anti-capitalism to anti-Putinism and anti-fascism -- though rabid nationalism has
dominated. He has sought the mantle of everyone from Mikhail Bakunin, the 19th-century anarchist, to Jean-Marie Le
Pen, the French ultranationalist. He has shifted course so often that by now only the goal -- revolution -- and the means - young people -- remain constants. ''In the bureaucratic KGB-cop state, youth are expendable,'' he has written. He
maintains that young Russians, ''physically the most powerful group in society,'' are regarded by authorities as ''the internal enemy,'' just as the Chechens are seen as the external one. Disaffected youth are Russia's ''most exploited class'' in
Limonov's view and, as he readily admits, his core supporters. There are young men with shaved heads in the party,
though these days they are more likely to be left-wing punks than right-wing skinheads.
If the party's agenda remains murky, its targets -- and methods -- are well known. Since the summer of 2003, the
NBP has escalated its campaign of ''direct actions,'' propaganda stunts that have often led to prison terms. The ''velvet
terrorism,'' as Limonov has called it, picked up when a Nat-Bol shot a jet of mayonnaise at Alexander Veshnyakov, the
chairman of the Central Election Commission. Then there was the pelting of the Communist leader Gennadi Zyuganov
with tomatoes, and the egging of Putin's first prime minister, Mikhail Kasyanov, on election day in 2003. The following
summer, after a law cut subsidies to the poor and elderly, the Nat-Bols raided the Ministry of Health. Three dozen party
members took over offices on two floors, including the minister's. For their participation in the action, seven Nat-Bols
received jail sentences of 2.5 and 3 years.
The best-known stunt came just after May Day in 2005. Two young Nat-Bols rappelled down the face of the
Rossiya Hotel, a Soviet monstrosity that until recently stood across from the Kremlin. From 11 stories up, Olga
Kudrina, a 22-year-old Muscovite with long blond hair, and Yevgeny Logovsky, a 20-year-old from the small city
of Arzamas, unfurled a 40-foot banner emblazoned with the words ''PUTIN UIDI SAM!'' (roughly, ''Putin Retire
Yourself!''). Kudrina and Logovsky also managed to drop leaflets offering the president further advice: ''Dive After
the Kursk!'' -- a reference to the submarine that sank in the Barents Sea in 2000, killing 118 sailors. The two smoked a
couple of cigarettes and made a few cellphone calls before the police arrived with scissors and handcuffs. Logovsky got a suspended sentence. Kudrina, sentenced to three and a half years, went underground.
I first met Limonov last summer in a dimly lighted apartment in the center of Moscow. The apartment, which
serves as the NBP chancellery, was tucked away on a grim side street in a concrete gulch below one of Moscow's
most fetid locales, the Kursk train station. I was met on the street and escorted by a man in his 20s who had a shaved
head and wore a red T-shirt emblazoned with the words NOT MADE IN CHINA. As many as 20 Nat-Bols serve as
bodyguards for Limonov, whom they address as Vozhd', ''the Leader.'' It was the first time I had ever heard the word
employed in speech, and I wondered if ''the boys'' knew the term was once reserved for Stalin.
The shtab -- an officious term for headquarters -- had the feel and all the comforts of an I.R.A. safe house. Limonov greeted me in all black -- black jeans, black T-shirt, black narrow tie. With his glasses, thin mustache twisted
to points at the ends and graying goatee, the Leader bears a striking resemblance to Leon Trotsky.
It was not always so. Back in the '70s, when Limonov emerged from the underground as the author of the autobiographical novel ''Eto Ya Edichka'' (''It's Me, Eddie''), he more closely resembled an extra in ''Godspell.'' Tight
jeans, floppy-collared shirts and pimp-high platform shoes were essentials of his costume. He did his best to taunt and
tease, seduce and castigate, but in an emigre demimonde crowded with agents provocateurs, provocation alone did
not suffice. Emulating one of his heroes, Vladimir Mayakovsky, the poet of the revolution, he wanted to lay down his
life for a cause. Just what cause, at least back in the U.S.S.R., remained unclear.
Limonov was born Edward Veniaminovich Savenko in 1943, the only child of an officer in Stalin's secret police,
in Dzerzhinsk, the most polluted town in the U.S.S.R. He grew up in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the Soviet Detroit,
where he skirted the local institutes, opting instead, after a stint in the foundry of the local Hammer and Sickle motor
plant, for a job in a bookstore. In the early 1960s he edged into the underground world of Kharkiv's fledgling bohemia.
''We were all considered superfluous men and girls, and of this we were of course deeply proud,'' says one of his closest
friends at the time, Vagrich Bakhchanyan, invoking the traditional Russian literary conceit. It was Bakhchanyan, a
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Putin's Pariah The New York Times March 2, 2008 Sunday Correction Appended
painter, who christened Savenko ''Limonov'' -- the name connotes ''lemon.'' (''He was very pale, almost yellow,'' he says
by way of explanation.) To a Russian ear it sounds impossible and strange -- ''something punk, like Johnny Rotten,''
Limonov says.
In 1967, Limonov moved to Moscow and acquired his first typewriter. ''The capital was the dream of all poets in
the U.S.S.R.,'' he told me. ''Not for publishing -- impossible, but for women and glory.'' He succeeded. Limonov
self-published his poems samizdat-style, typing out copies and, unlike most of his comrades in the underground,
hawking them for five rubles each. In 1974, the KGB called him in and offered him a choice -- ''rat out your degenerate friends or go into exile.'' He left the U.S.S.R., first for Vienna, then Rome, before settling in New York. He did
not go alone, but with ''the beautiful Elena,'' his second wife, who soon became, or so the legend goes, the first exSoviet fashion model to work in Manhattan.
Limonov says he has written ''more than 44 books'' -- novels, poetry, prose and essays. For most Russian readers, however, he has written only one, his first -- ''Eto Ya Edichka,'' published in New York in 1979. ''Edichka'' closes with a prediction that seems to have shaped his activities since:
''Whom shall I meet, what lies ahead, none can guess. I may happen upon a group of armed extremists, renegades
like myself, and perish in an airplane hijacking or a bank robbery. I may not, and I'll go away somewhere, to the Palestinians, if they survive, or to Colonel Qaddafi in Libya, or someplace else -- to lay down Eddie-baby's life for a people,
for a nation.''
Completed in New York in 1976, and rife with profanity and graphic sex -- all genders, all combinations -''Edichka'' was rejected by three dozen U.S. publishers before it was accepted by an emigre Russian house. It later
appeared in France as ''Le poete russe prefere les grands negres,'' and in Germany, where it became a best seller.
For many Russians, it stirred the biggest literary fuss since ''One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.'' In 1983, when
Random House published an English translation, Americans got a sense of why. On the second page, Edichka celebrates his dependency on the U.S. welfare system: ''I consider myself to be scum, the dregs of society, I have no
shame or conscience, therefore my conscience doesn't bother me and I don't plan to look for work, I want to receive
your money to the end of my days.'' To date, more than a million copies of the book have been sold in Russia.
The walls of Limonov's office are lined with books -- biographies of Mussolini and Che, a Russian edition of
Leonard Cohen's ''Flowers for Hitler,'' an economics text by Robert Heilbroner and a shelf full of KGB exposes.
Above the books are large photographs, souvenirs of his tour of the unlovely little war zones of the post-Soviet era -Bosnia, Tajikistan, Abkhazia, Trans-Dniester. The images record Limonov, whether on a tank or on foot, shoulder
to shoulder with real warriors. One stop, above all, enhanced his infamy: he was filmed shooting a machine gun in the
company of Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader. When the Hague indicted Karadzic on war crimes, the
footage -- taken from a vantage overlooking the besieged city of Sarajevo -- was shown in the courtroom. (It is now
on YouTube.) To anyone who has read Limonov, the martial urge was not new. This is the man who wrote: ''The
love of weapons is in my blood. As far back as I can remember, when I was a little boy, I used to swoon at the mere
sight of my father's pistol. I saw something holy in the dark metal.''
Limonov has helped to import a new word from English into the Russian political vernacular: luzer. As a politician, he is, to put it charitably, feckless. ''He has no hope of gaining state power,'' says Alexei Venediktov, the director of Ekho Moskvy and one of Russia's sharpest political journalists. ''But that's not what motivates him. Limonov
loves the street, and like any fighter he needs an arena.''
Alexander Dugin, a 46-year-old philosopher who founded the NBP with Limonov, would agree. He and Limonov
parted ways nearly a decade ago. Today, Dugin is best known as the high priest of Eurasianism and as an ideologue
favored among the state security organs. (He serves as an unofficial ''youth adviser'' to the Kremlin.)
''The name made no difference to Limonov,'' Dugin told me. ''He wanted to call it 'National Socialism,' 'National
Fascism,' 'National Communism' -- whatever. Ideology was never his thing. . . . The scream in the wilderness -- that was
his goal.'' Limonov, Dugin went on, is like ''a clown in a little traveling circus, the kind that shuttled across America in
the beginning of the 20th century, one of those guys in the freak show, a worm eater, or a bearded woman. The better he
performs, the more attention he wins, the happier he is.''
The Kremlin, however, does not dismiss Limonov as a clown. In April 2001, the Leader was arrested for arms
smuggling -- ''AK-47's and some explosives,'' he told me. The plot, as described in court, read like a page ripped from a
history of the Bolsheviks' earliest days: a terrorist takeover of a swath of northern Kazakhstan, the gold-mining region
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Putin's Pariah The New York Times March 2, 2008 Sunday Correction Appended
in Central Asia that, not coincidentally, is dominated by ethnic Russians. The judge, however, dropped the terrorism
charge and sentenced Limonov to four years. He was released in the summer of 2003.
Four years later, Putin finally had enough. Russian authorities banned the NBP as an ''extremist group.'' ''We are
the first non-Muslim party to be banned,'' Limonov said. ''It is quite an honor.'' The ruling has been challenged -- and
reaffirmed -- several times, most recently last month. At least 14 Nat-Bols are in jail -- including three women. Several
more remain in hiding.
The Kremlin has not only proved incapable of ignoring Limonov; it has also adopted his tactics. Putin's ideologues, led by his deputy chief of staff, Vladislav Surkov, have created a raft of ''youth groups'' like Nashi (''Our
Own'') and Molodaya Gvardiya (''the Young Guard''). As well financed, unyielding and patriotic as their patrons, they
have earned the collective nickname ''Putin Jugend.'' While some discount their reach, and Nashi may soon lose its
state financing, the British ambassador, Anthony Brenton, learned their power firsthand. Two years ago Nashi activists -- Nashisty, as the Nat-Bols call them, with a deliberate ring of fashisty, fascists -- began shadowing the diplomat in Moscow. For months, they leafleted his car, picketed his residence and heckled him in public, before the
Russian foreign minister stepped in. Brenton's offense? He had attended an opposition conference, sitting in the company of Limonov.
The anti-Limonov campaign has only grown uglier. On Nov. 22, two days before the march in Moscow, Yuri
Chervochkin, a young Nat-Bol activist, was attacked as he posted campaign notices near his home in the Moscow suburb of Serpukhov. (On the Other Russia list of 359 Duma candidates, Chervochkin had been No. 180.) Earlier that day,
he called a journalist, reporting that he was being trailed by the police. He recognized the officers, he said, from previous encounters. Severely beaten, Chervochkin fell into a coma. On Dec. 10, three weeks shy of his 23rd birthday, he
died.
''Edik was never political,'' says Bakhchanyan, Limonov's old friend. ''New York politicized him. This city was
his awakening.'' Five years older than Limonov, Bakhchanyan was a veteran of Kharkiv's bohemian circles when he
brought the hopeful provincial to Moscow. In the capital, painter and poet roomed together. Then in the early 1970s,
Bakhchanyan was the one who encouraged Limonov and Elena to join his wife and him in exile.
Limonov, who is not Jewish, left the U.S.S.R. on an exit visa intended for Soviet Jews, in 1974, following the departure of Solzhenitsyn, Brodsky and Baryshnikov. The poet loved to rail against those icons of the so-called Third
Wave of Soviet emigration. But Brodsky, the greatest poet of his generation, was the one Limonov envied most. ''He
liked my poetry,'' Limonov told me. ''He really did.'' (Others who knew both men second the claim.) Brodsky, Limonov
went on to say, ''was the one who took me to Tatiana Yakovleva and Alexander Liberman's'' -- the East 70th Street
home of the Conde Nast editorial director and his wife. ''Amazing, extraordinary personalities. Big people. Not only to
me but the whole of the Russian emigre world. Brodsky introduced me to them -- he wanted to help me.
''I was this underground poet,'' he continued, ''a freak in jeans and high heels. But Brodsky was a psychologist -he knew I knew Lilya Brik in Moscow, Mayakovsky's old mistress.'' Tatiana Yakovleva had also been Mayakovsky's lover. Brodsky, Limonov recalls, ''understood that Tatiana would like to hear about the woman who stole Mayakovsky from her.'' Limonov inserted himself in the Libermans' circle. Having worked as a tailor in Moscow, he
made clothes for Tatiana. He and Elena were invited to the Libermans' soirees. He made his way into Baryshnikov's
world too. ''Misha read 'Edichka' between rehearsals,'' Limonov claims. ''And loved it!''
Limonov arrived in New York in 1975, at the dawn of punk. He discovered CBGB, fell for Patti Smith and
Richard Hell and knew everyone from Steve Rubell to the local members of the Socialist Workers Party. ''Edichka''
oozes with bodily fluids -- the hero, abandoned by his wife, Elena, goes on ''nocturnal rambles on the West Side''
that feature serial sexual encounters with homeless black men. The thin plot lines, however, thread two dominant
leitmotifs: self-indulgence and condescension. ''Edichka'' may have been cast as a postmodern Underground Man -debauched and self-pitying, prickly in his pride and scornful of others. But his creator comes off like a cross between
Mailer, the public brawler and political freelancer, and Mayakovsky, the restive and ultimately self-destructive literary revolutionary. ''I did something no other Russian writer ever did,'' Limonov says. ''I broke down the wall. There
were only two types of literature at the time: Soviet and anti-Soviet. My books were just books, about my life first
and foremost.''
Late in 1978, Limonov found the emigre's ultimate sinecure. He moved into 6 Sutton Square, a 17-room mansion
at the dead end of 58th Street. The U.N. secretary general's residence was around the corner. Limonov had entered the
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Putin's Pariah The New York Times March 2, 2008 Sunday Correction Appended
employ of Peter Sprague, at the time the chairman of National Semiconductor and co-chairman of Aston Martin, the
English sports-car maker. Limonov later wrote a novel, ''His Butler's Story,'' chronicling those years.
Sprague insists the novel does not record reality. ''It was as if Hunter Thompson had written 'The Nanny Diaries,' ''
he told me over drinks in Midtown Manhattan. ''I know from butlers. Edward seems to have never understood the difference between 'housekeeper' and 'butler.' ''
The two made an intriguing match. An entrepreneur and onetime New York Congressional candidate (he ran as a
Republican against the incumbent, Ed Koch), Sprague had quit working on a Ph.D. in economics at Columbia to start a
chicken farm in Iran. He also had his own ties to the Russian literary world. The poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko was a
friend, as was another poet, Bella Akhmadulina. ''For a time, my house was a crash pad for a wide slice of Russia's cultural minority,'' Sprague said.
Asked why he hired Limonov, Sprague drew a blank. ''Hardly spoke to the guy, I was traveling so much,'' he said.
''Edward made borscht and he made coffee. And he drank his way through a fine wine cellar. What else he did, beats
me.'' The cellar held more than a thousand bottles, but to Sprague what lingers is Limonov's portrayal of him as a Gatsby-like figure. ''He got it all wrong,'' Sprague says. ''At the time I was bottoming out, and before long I lost everything,
including the house.'' Limonov remained in Sprague's employ until 1980, but by 1982 he was living in Paris with Natalya Medvedeva, a model and singer who would become his new wife. In France, Limonov basked in the critics' spotlight, but with the Soviet collapse and the restoration of his citizenship, he returned to Moscow. Within months he entered the fray; Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the head of the Liberal Democrats -- who were neither liberal nor democratic -invited Limonov to join his shadow cabinet.
It has been an eventful winter in Russia -- one of those periods when the fatalists among the locals, which is to
say nearly everyone, cock an eye and forecast a Smutnoe vremya>, a ''time of troubles.'' In the wake of the November march and Kasparov's arrest, the Other Russia coalition was all but dead. Kasyanov, the former prime minister
who was once egged by the NBP, reawakened hopes when he broke sharply with Putin and joined the opposition -but he and Kasparov feuded. ''Two giant egos in a single room,'' Limonov told me, explaining the problem with a Russian proverb: ''They tried to divide the bearskin before the bear was dead.''
On Dec. 2, Putin got the Duma he ordered. In elections that the West condemned as a sham, United Russia, the
Kremlin's party, increased its share of the Duma's 450 seats to 315. Even Andrei Lugovoi, wanted by British authorities
for the murder of the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, won a seat, running as a liberal Democrat. Then on Dec.
10, Putin named Medvedev his favored heir, and the next day, Medvedev named Putin his favorite for prime minister.
On Dec. 13, Kasparov, at the funeral for Chervochkin, the murdered Nat-Bol, ended his bid for the presidency. Kasyanov, hoping to run on his own, was denied access to the ballot.
But if the Other Russia hasn't amounted to much, it is just about all that Putin's foes have. In a recent conversation,
Kasparov told me that his alliance with Limonov has borne fruit: ''We helped dismantle the democratic aura of Putin's
regime.'' Limonov and Kasparov plan to hold marches the day after election day and are thinking boldly of convening
some kind of ''alternative parliament'' later this month. Yet state power in Russia, it seems, will play on, like an infinite
loop, in the same hands.
One Friday afternoon in late November, I returned to the shtab. It was early, but the Moscow sky was gray-black.
The streets sloping away from the train station were filled with icy swales and the cast of old -- a trio of grizzled men
who'd spent the morning drinking their pensions; two boys, no gloves, no hats, no older than 14, drinking Czech beer
from large bottles, hands welded to the green glass; a line of women swaddled in woolens, selling herbs from the countryside. Limonov operates, I realized, out of a corner of the city that reveals no sign of the changes of the last two decades. The skies continued to darken. The only brightness came from a giant illuminated billboard: ''A Victory for Putin
Is a Victory for Russia!'' it read, but no one took note of the victory promise. Everyone, whether climbing the hill or
dodging the streetcars, moved slowly, in silence.
This time, as I entered, the bodyguards took their leave, and the Leader dead-bolted the iron door. Though the office was dark, he did not turn on a light. Limonov seemed unnerved. He kept taking his wristwatch off and putting it on,
turning it over in his hands. He swiveled time and again toward the windows, clouded with dirt and the cold, to scan the
courtyard outside.
A fat manuscript dominated the desk. ''Just finished,'' Limonov said, packing it up with care. ''It's something completely insane, which of course makes me insanely happy.'' We spoke of a Putin speech (he'd referred to opposition
leaders as ''jackals'') and Kasparov's stubbornness (the chess master called twice during our talk).
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Putin's Pariah The New York Times March 2, 2008 Sunday Correction Appended
Again, Limonov was wearing black: black turtleneck, black jeans, black dress shoes. In the gray light seeping in,
he looked almost spectral. He was wearing his usual pinkie ring, but now I also noticed a wedding band. He married for
the sixth time two years ago. (Limonov enjoys marriage. Two former wives, however, have died, the first by suicide.
''That one,'' Limonov said, ''had nothing to do with me.'') Katya Volkova, his new wife, is an actress and a singer. At 33,
she is a stunning woman, at the height of her career and recently radicalized. When I noted in an earlier talk that Katya
is nearly half his age, Limonov sighed. ''That's nothing. I was with a 16- or 17-year-old before prison.''
The two and a half years Limonov spent behind bars earlier in the decade proved a boon to his writing; it was
his most prolific time since his days in New York welfare hotels. In prison, he finished eight books -- ''nearly 2,000
pages,'' he said, measuring his output like a Soviet shock worker. The guards left him alone to write. He only had ''to
push a button and ask to go to work,'' he said. Limonov emerged from jail, in the Russian tradition, with a manifesto, ''a series of lectures for NBP members'': ''Drugaya Rossiya'' (''the Other Russia''). Kasparov liked the title; it became the name of their coalition. An inchoate wide-ranging treatise, the book calls for a ''new civilization,'' a collection of ''armed communes'' to replace the evils of urban Russia and restore the insulted and injured to their rural
roots. To reverse Russia's dismal birth rate, polygamy will be permitted, free love encouraged and childbirth required, ''like military service for men.'' Abortion will be outlawed, and all women, before they reach 35, must have
''no fewer than four children for the motherland.'' Limonov, however, wants to have it all. ''One should not view the
new civilization as a leap backward,'' he wrote. ''The newly civilized shall not wage war against science, against the
useful and intelligent achievements of technological progress. Not at all. We will develop the Internet and genetics
and HDTV. TV and the Internet will unite the armed communes as one in the unified civilization of free citizens.'' The
takeover of power, Limonov promised, will not come from an external force, as it did in Afghanistan when the Taliban swept in from refugee camps in Pakistan. ''It will come from within.''
Limonov sleeps in three different locales. Lately he'd been sleeping here, in the party office. He does not want
his family disturbed. (His first child, a boy named Bogdan -- ''God-given'' -- was born to him and Katya on Revolution Day, 2006.) There may be ''slozhnosti'' -- ''difficulties,'' the Soviet euphemism for trouble with the state. The
police were sleeping here, too. He nodded toward the dvor, the courtyard now filled with parked cars. ''They sleep in
their Zhigulis. Poor guys.''
Limonov spoke of the revolution to come, the need for Russians to cast off the yoke of ''Putinism'' and liberate
themselves from the KGB state. It was a monologue oft rehearsed, but when a dog outside barked loudly, he stumbled.
He tried again: running down the list of Nat-Bols who will soon get out of prison and ticking off the schedule for ''street
actions,'' with or without Kasparov, Kasyanov or any other leaders of the deflated opposition. Yet somehow he seemed
lost, a performance artist who could not perform.
Edichka, I realized, was drifting. Not just away from the interview, but from Kasparov, the evil Putin, the NatBols, even his newfound familial bliss. A man in a long dark coat entered the courtyard with his back to us. ''The
Ramones,'' Limonov said, watching the figure move amid the cars. ''I knew them. Not just Joey. All of them. It was a
rich life then. Never knew Warhol but I did see him, more than once, at Tatiana's parties. I always felt inferior. You
see, I had a complex of inferiority. Avedon was there, too. And Dali. And Warhol. Capote, too. Tatiana gave 'Edichka'
to him. Capote read one chapter. He was very enthusiastic. He was. We met only once, on the East Side, when he
lived at the U.N. Plaza. Capote always came to Tatiana's. It was always an enormous crowd. Once I stood near Vladimir Kirillovich -- the Romanov heir. It was a great time, a legendary time. I have now a certain nostalgia.''
For a moment, Limonov fell quiet, studying the watch in his hands. After a time, he lifted his head sharply and,
averting my eyes, looked out to the dvor. The man was still there, whether cop or secret policeman or parking attendant, no one could say. ''It's exciting, and dangerous of course, what we're doing now,'' he said. ''But to have lived
in the '70s in New York, it means a lot. Still.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: PROTESTS & DEMONSTRATIONS (90%); ARMIES (87%); OUTDOOR ADVERTISING (78%);
CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (76%); ELECTIONS (76%); PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (71%); ELECTION AUTHORITIES (66%); ARMED FORCES (66%)
COMPANY: LET'S GO PUBLICATIONS INC (55%)
PERSON: VLADIMIR PUTIN (85%); DMITRY MEDVEDEV (53%); DMITRI MEDVEDEV (53%)
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GEOGRAPHIC: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (88%) RUSSIA (94%)
LOAD-DATE: March 2, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
CORRECTION-DATE: March 1, 2008
CORRECTION: An article on Page 32 of The Times Magazine this weekend about Edward Limonov, a Russian novelist and political dissident, misspells the name of a city he spent time in during the early '60s. It is Kharkiv, not Kharkov.
An article on Page 32 of The Times Magazine this weekend about Edward Limonov, a Russian novelist and political dissident, misspells the name of a city he spent time in during the early '60s. It is Kharkiv, not Kharkov.
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: THIS AIN'T NO PARTY (YET): A farewell gathering for the artist and author Vagrich
Bakhchanyan (in box, left) in March 1974, shortly before he left Russia. Limonov, next to him, was also soon to emigrate (that is, was asked to leave). (PHOTOGRAPHS BY VADIM KROKHIN
DONALD WEBER)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
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Late Edition - Final
The Color of Rebellion, Once Upon a Time
BYLINE: By JENNIFER BLEYER
SECTION: Section CY; Column 0; The City Weekly Desk; URBAN STUDIES DYEING; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 437 words
PARENTS bristling over their teenagers' orange Mohawks might direct their anger at two women in Long Island
City, Queens, if only the women weren't so sweet and earnest about peddling rainbow-colored hair dye.
Tish and Snooky Bellomo, sisters who grew up in the Kingsbridge area of the Bronx, are the founders of Manic
Panic, a wholesale beauty supply company best known for producing four-ounce tubs of hair dye in colors like Ultra
Violet, Electric Lizard and Cotton Candy Pink.
When they started their business 30 years ago in a storefront on St. Marks Place in the East Village, magenta hair
was considered cutting-edge. These days strands of magenta hardly raise even an unpierced eyebrow. Yet Manic Panic
has survived, and over the years it has quietly assumed the mantle as the go-to place for socially acceptable punk-style
hair dyes.
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The Color of Rebellion, Once Upon a Time The New York Times March 2, 2008 Sunday
The business, which they say generates $5 million in annual sales, has become what Tish jokingly calls ''the CocaCola of alternative hair colors.'' Its products have appeared in fashion shows for Anna Sui and Marc Jacobs and on celebrities like the British retro soul singer Joss Stone.
''We get e-mails from kids all the time saying it changed their lives, or even saved their lives,'' Snooky said. One
note came from a girl who claimed to have been seriously depressed. ''Then she dyed her hair,'' Snooky said, ''and it
boosted her self-esteem.''
As one of the 15 workers assembled ''Goth kits'' containing white face makeup, black lipstick and black nail
polish, another placed Kiss of Death matte lipstick in a shipment for New Zealand, and two others packaged a large
order of Hot Hot Pink hair dye destined for Canada.
The Bellomo sisters, who are in their 50s, were dressed this day entirely in black, with blazingly colored hair (a
mixture of Vampire Red and Fuchsia Shock for Tish, and Infra Red with a little Wild Fire for Snooky). Seated among
the silver hair gel and Voodoo Blue eye shadow in their showroom, they reminisced about the heyday of punk and the
birth of Manic Panic.
''We had no idea how to run a business,'' Tish said of the decision to open a store. ''We just decided to have a punk
rock store and sell what we liked.''
Noticing a new trend of bright hair color among British punks, they started importing hair dye from England. After their store closed in 1989. they developed their own hair dye formula and began having it manufactured in the United States.
And they are thrilled that weird hair has not died. ''I love that kids are still wearing Mohawks and coloring their
hair,'' Snooky gushed like a proud mother. ''It's just great.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: HAIR CARE PRODUCTS (90%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (89%); WHOLESALERS (76%); COSMETICS & TOILETRIES COMPANIES (76%); RETAILERS (75%); POP & ROCK (73%); TRENDS (72%); COSMETICS & TOILETRIES WHOLESALERS (71%); FASHION & APPAREL (66%); FASHION SHOWS (71%)
COMPANY: COCA-COLA CO (55%)
TICKER: KO (NYSE) (55%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS312111 SOFT DRINK MANUFACTURING (55%); SIC2086 BOTTLED & CANNED SOFT
DRINKS & CARBONATED WATER (55%)
PERSON: MARC JACOBS (55%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (90%) NEW YORK, USA (90%) UNITED STATES (90%); NEW ZEALAND (79%); UNITED KINGDOM (70%); ENGLAND (55%)
LOAD-DATE: March 2, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Tish Bellomo, left, with her sister, Snooky, godmothers of electric-looking
locks.(PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRISTIAN HANSEN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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The New York Times March 2, 2008 Sunday
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The New York Times
March 2, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
BYLINE: By RICHARD B. WOODWARD
SECTION: Section TR; Column 0; Travel Desk; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 410 words
''Eduard Spelterini: Photographs of a Pioneer Balloonist''
Edited by Thomas Kramer and Hilar Stadler
Scheidigger & Speiss, 148 pages, $85 hardcover
A century before privileged travelers were ferried through the air in the Concorde, Eduard Spelterini (1852-1931)
was catering to the rich and adventurous by taking a lucky few, preferably European royals, up in the tipsy baskets of
his gas balloons. These trips offered unprecedented views of the world below, everywhere from the Alps to the pyramids. From the available evidence, those who found passage on this earlier and slower mode of transport got more for
their money than today's air travelers.
The King of the Skies, as the Swiss-born showman billed himself, was a canny entrepreneur whose wellpublicized liftoffs were attended by thousands of paying spectators on the ground. And once the balloon reached its
planned ascent of between 1,600 and 13,000 feet, he entertained his customers by popping the Champagne and singing
one of the baritone arias from ''Carmen.''
Spelterini also produced, as this oversize book reveals, splendid aerial photographs. Many of the black-and-white
panoramas reproduced here from his original glass-plate negatives -- images of Alpine glaciers and South African mining sites, of streets and buildings in Cairo, Zurich, Geneva and Copenhagen -- are technical as well as artistic marvels.
Some pictures were shot from more than 15,000 feet. These photographs aided in promotion of his flights and of the
tourist industry.
Alex Capus, one of three essayists in this book, harps on Spelterini's lowly origins. He was from peasant stock,
son of an innkeeper, and born Schweizer -- family secrets he wanted hidden from his aristocratic clientele. This proved
less important after history blindsided him, and his business was decimated by new technology. According to Mr.
Capus, the aging balloonist ''considered the young rival, the motorized airplane, to be noisy, common, and entirely unworthy of a gentlemen.''
By reminding us of the many obstacles he overcame, the editors have performed a valuable service. Spelterini
mastered his risky profession, steering these whimsical vehicles through all kinds of weather, without killing himself or
others during more than 550 flights. By unearthing photographs that continue to excite our gaze, this book restores the
forgotten aeronaut to his deserved place as a pioneer of luxurious travel across the heavens.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: BOOK REVIEWS (90%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (74%); MOUNTAINS (70%); GLACIERS & ICEBERGS (70%); SUICIDE (67%); TOURISM (51%)
GEOGRAPHIC: ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (77%); GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (71%); CAIRO, EGYPT (57%)
ALPS (79%) SWITZERLAND (77%); SOUTH AFRICA (71%); EGYPT (57%)
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GRAPHIC: PHOTO
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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Late Edition - Final
As the Nation Crumbles
BYLINE: By CHRISTOPHER J. DODD
SECTION: Section WK; Column 0; Editorial Desk; OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR; Pg. 13
LENGTH: 283 words
THE most pressing problems can sometimes be the dullest -- until they force their way into our attention in an instant.
On Aug. 1, the bridge carrying Interstate 35W over the Mississippi River buckled and broke. Thirteen people were
killed. More than 100 were injured.
Afterward, we learned the frightening facts: 160,570 of our bridges are in just as dangerous a shape; a third of our
roads are in poor or mediocre condition; some of our biggest cities depend on water and sewage systems over a century
old.
With every bursting pipe, potholed road and derailed train, the conclusion became inescapable: America's backbone is decaying.
It wasn't always this way. Year by year and ton by ton -- from the great railroads to tens of thousands of miles of
Interstate -- great American engineers built the foundations of our prosperity.
Why are we leaving so little for our future? Reliable infrastructure keeps economies growing and the entrepreneurial spirit vibrant.
Last summer, Senator Chuck Hagel and I proposed a National Infrastructure Bank. I hope it gets the attention it
deserves on the campaign trail. It's encouraging that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are both co-sponsors. John
McCain should be, too.
The Infrastructure Bank would unite the public and private sectors to complete large-scale works. Funds would go
to the most qualified projects, not those with the most political clout. Every $1 billion spent on highways and transit
projects would create about 47,500 jobs.
This issue may never bring an audience to its feet, but it shouldn't have to.
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On Jan. 21, the 44th president will face volumes of pressing challenges. Reinventing our infrastructure ought to be
on Page 1.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008 (90%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); CIVIL ENGINEERING (78%); RAIL TRANSPORTATION ACCIDENTS (73%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (66%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (53%)
PERSON: CHUCK HAGEL (55%); JOHN MCCAIN (55%); BARACK OBAMA (55%)
GEOGRAPHIC: MISSISSIPPI RIVER (92%) UNITED STATES (92%)
LOAD-DATE: March 2, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: DRAWING (DRAWING BY GREGORY NEMEC)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Op-Ed
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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The New York Times
March 2, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Now Comes The Tough Part In Russia
BYLINE: By STEPHEN KOTKIN
SECTION: Section BU; Column 0; Money and Business/Financial Desk; OFF THE SHELF; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1971 words
DMITRI A. MEDVEDEV will be anointed president of Russia today thanks to the political handiwork of Vladimir
V. Putin. But maybe the real winner is economic globalization.
From December 1999 to the end of 2007, a period overlapping the presidency of Mr. Putin, the value of Russia's
stock market increased from $60 billion to more than $1 trillion. When John F. Welch Jr. ran General Electric, from
1981 to 2001, the value of the company's stock rose from around $14 billion to more than $400 billion.
Fortune magazine named Mr. Welch ''manager of the century'' in 1999. No one is suggesting that Fortune give
Mr. Putin the same title -- except, perhaps, all those Russians who have consistently backed his strong-arm policies.
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Now Comes The Tough Part In Russia The New York Times March 2, 2008 Sunday
Most Russians do not love Mr. Putin per se, but they love Mr. Putin's Russia. They love being middle class. They
love planning for the future. It is no comfort to the politically persecuted, but average wages in Russia are leaping 10
percent a year, in real terms.
The growing millions of Russian homeowners, vacationers and investors may seem inclined to authoritarianism or
just apolitical. But they certainly value a strong ruble, moderate inflation, affordable mortgages, access to higher education, satellite television, Internet connections, passports, foreign visas and -- above all else -- no economic shocks.
If Mr. Medvedev, 42, a former legal counsel at a Russian pulp conglomerate, can continue all that, and occasionally make a show of standing up to the West, he'll be a hero, too. Still, a gigantic question mark hangs over this succession -- and not solely because Mr. Putin may stick around in an ambiguous capacity.
Russia stands at a crossroads bigger than the one it faced in 1998, when it drastically devalued the ruble and defaulted on its debt. That searing debacle turned out to be the prelude to a spectacular resurgence, built in part on newfound fiscal restraint and the boom in the price of oil and other natural resources. But it also was built on a relentless,
China-driven rise in overall global demand that, with the cheaper ruble, helped indirectly call back from the dead Russia's vast unused capacity inherited from the Soviet era.
So after nearly 10 years of robust growth, the Kremlin faces a quandary. Expectations have been raised, and now
many Russians, though wary of upsetting social stability, want not just high growth, but also a new modernization driven by innovation and broader entrepreneurialism. They want their whole country to reach a Western European standard of living -- a standard that, historically, very few countries outside the region have attained.
THAT Mr. Putin's Russia should be seen not as a failed democracy but as a triumphant market economy with a
''very rough, brutal, and cheerful capitalism'' is the argument of ''Getting Russia Right'' (Carnegie Endowment, $19.95),
a short, handy book by Dmitri V. Trenin. (It is also the position argued publicly by this reviewer for more than a decade.)
''There is,'' adds Mr. Trenin, a Russian analyst in Moscow, ''a Russia beyond Putin's.'' True enough, though Mr.
Trenin does not detail that Russia. Almost no one does. Russia's dynamism is spurred not only by greedy cronies at all
levels operating in an unaccountable political system, but also by an explosion of consumers.
Mr. Trenin advises American policy makers to drop what he sees as their attempt to form a ''Democratic International,'' which he defines as a mirror image of the old Communist International, or Comintern, but which seeks to unite
all the world's democracies. Instead, he advises banking on a new global capitalist club, which includes Kazakhstan and
China as well as Russia.
How in the world did it happen that Russia, still a country grappling with problems like relatively low life expectancies and alcoholism, is also, for the first time in its history, a land of widespread property ownership and of consumers brimming with confidence and pride?
In ''Russia's Capitalist Revolution'' (Peterson Institute, $26.95), Anders Aslund, a Russia analyst (and a former colleague of Mr. Trenin's), argues that zero credit should go to Russia's most popular politician, Mr. Putin. On the contrary,
Mr. Aslund, who is from Sweden and based in Washington, insists that Russia's economic breakthrough should be credited to Anatoly B. Chubais, who oversaw the government's privatization program in the 1990s, when the country lost
about 40 percent of its gross domestic product.
It's a bold thesis.
But Mr. Aslund's beloved ''young reformers'' were in government only briefly -- by the way, he worked as their
consultant -- and they seem to be all of three people, one of whom, Mr. Chubais, became an industrial oligarch.
Still, as in his earlier books on the same subject, whose idee fixe is the supposed superiority of hyperfast and hyperradical reform, whatever the circumstances, Mr. Aslund can claim two important achievements.
First, he again demonstrates that it was not the privatizations under Boris N. Yeltsin that set in motion Russia's
egregious insider enrichment. Instead, he shows, it was a process begun under the Soviet president Mikhail S. Gorbachev, and subsequently continued, to grant lobbyists preferential access to commodity export licenses at a time when
there was a gap between world prices and very low regulated domestic prices -- allowing them to pocket a windfall.
This important corrective is then overshadowed by Mr. Aslund's repeated assertions that even half-baked privatization is still wonderful and that Russia's ''was close to ideal.''
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Now Comes The Tough Part In Russia The New York Times March 2, 2008 Sunday
Second, and more fundamentally, Mr. Aslund explodes the myth that Russia's economic growth is reducible to
fossil fuel prices. (Ask Nigeria about the economic boom that is supposed to follow from a prolonged oil-price surge.)
Further, he suggests that the so-called oligarchs ''do not own that large a share of the economy'' (he identifies 30
groups accounting for one-quarter of the G.D.P.) and that they ''face severe market competition.'' No fan of Russia's
state-owned companies, Mr. Aslund notes that they, too, ''are remarkably focused on their stock prices.''
Such realism about Russia's state-owned companies is refreshing, as are the reminders that a broad private sector
continues to dominate Russia's gross domestic product.
Still, Mr. Aslund's grinding morality tale pitting the supposed forces of light (Russia's ''young reformers,'' as well
as the jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky) against Mr. Putin, as the prince of darkness, cannot explain the extent or
timing of Russia's boom. Huge factors that can explain it receive inadequate treatment. These include the global economy and the country's macroeconomic stability.
GLOBALIZATION continues to be the great opportunity for Russia. But it is an opportunity that doesn't allow for
complacency.
Even if oil prices stay high, Mr. Medvedev, with or without Mr. Putin, does not have the luxury of kicking back
into a bygone Soviet era when the oil-soaked elite gorged on the spoils as China still faced inward.
At home, the Kremlin may be sovereign and super-controlling, but that doesn't work globally. Even companies
owned by the state are borrowing money abroad and issuing stock on international capital markets, becoming subject to
investors and regulators outside Russia. And then there are those really treacherous phenomena, like credit default swap
derivatives.
Book after book piles up about Mr. Putin, the Kremlin and the oligarchs, but a definitive book about Russia and
globalization awaits an author. It has been more than two years since Jonathan P. Stern published his ponderous but
indispensable work ''The Future of Russian Gas and Gazprom'' (Oxford, $125), which shows that Russia's gas monster
is compelled to take global market considerations into account.
When it comes to China and globalization, new books shoot out the assembly line like those bon-bons in the ''I
Love Lucy'' episode; workers can't box them fast enough. Though Mr. Putin and Russian elites, no less than their Chinese counterparts, grasp the power of market barometers and fiscal discipline, it is China that American analysts typically offer as an example of world-transforming economic success. Russia is portrayed almost exclusively as an authoritarian menace.
So here's a trick: A first step toward understanding Russia would be to read the press and academic accounts on
China -- and then substitute the word ''Russia'' for ''China.'' (This works in reverse as well.)
China, which unlike Russia remains under Communist Party monopoly, is certainly no less an authoritarian challenge than Russia is. And, like it or not, Russia, too, is something of a world-transforming economic success.
Expect Kremlin foreign policy to become even more focused on easing the acquisition of prime assets abroad,
whether for Russia's private companies or its state-owned ones. The Russian government itself, which accumulated
more than $150 billion in a stabilization fund, will be getting into the game with the newly created Reserve Fund and
National Prosperity Fund.
Did advocates for free trade and global integration foresee that states would end up controlling so much global
wealth, especially states ruled by strongmen and sheiks? Sovereign wealth funds, the highest stage of capitalism, as
Lenin might have said.
Mr. Aslund asserts that ''Russia is simply too wealthy, educated, open and economically pluralist to be so authoritarian.'' He refers vaguely to a possible new revolution. Mr. Trenin hopes that Russian oligarchs will want to permanently institutionalize their property rights, so that ''the greed of the powerful few could eventually pave the way for the rule
of law.'' Fat-cat chance.
Today's awkward two-leader situation in Russia is not without precedent: think back 40 years to the era of Leonid
I. Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Communist Party, and Aleksei N. Kosygin, the prime minister. But that tandem failed
to adapt to a changing world. By contrast, the historic reputation of their Chinese contemporary, Deng Xiaoping, who
achieved market transformation and global integration under centralized authoritarian rule, is likely to endure.
Page 73
Now Comes The Tough Part In Russia The New York Times March 2, 2008 Sunday
Mr. Putin, using a similar centralizing, marketizing, globalizing playbook, has helped put Russia in a position to
win big. But if Mr. Medvedev -- with or without Mr. Putin's guidance -- fails to capitalize by taking the difficult next
reform steps, the two Russian presidents will fade from history.
Mr. Medvedev's first presidential term, just like Mr. Putin's, will furnish a window for important, long-stalled reform measures to sustain Russia's rise. He'll need to cut some taxes and red tape and shore up the legal system. Someone will also have to ride herd over Russia's warring business clans, which are trying to devour one another and everything else in their paths. (Mr. Medvedev's mushrooming entourage has even been eyeing choice properties coveted by
Mr. Putin's people.)
A bit of economic liberalization, and some brazen asset redistribution or consolidation: that's Putinism, and a picture of continuity.
But if Russia is to make the transition to a more innovative, entrepreneurial economy, as Mr. Medvedev has stated, it must make other farsighted, complex investments in Russia's human capital: education, health care, better conditions for private enterprise. It also requires a promised $1 trillion in new infrastructure investments -- something that
could lead to colossal waste and that even a well-governed country would be hard-pressed to get right.
What Mr. Medvedev's Russia needs above all, but what Russia has never had, is the one thing that distinguishes
all the most highly productive and innovation-driven countries: good governance.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
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COMPANY: GENERAL ELECTRIC CO (57%); CNINSURE INC (63%)
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PERSON: VLADIMIR PUTIN (96%); JACK WELCH (72%)
GEOGRAPHIC: RUSSIA (94%); EUROPE (79%); WESTERN EUROPE (51%)
LOAD-DATE: March 2, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: One author says Vladimir V. Putin has led Russia to ''rough, brutal, and cheerful capitalism.''
(PHOTOGRAPH BY MAXIM MARMUR/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE -- GETTY IMAGES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1032 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
Page 74
At the Plaza, Restoring Life Lived Luxuriously The New York Times March 2, 2008 Sunday
The New York Times
March 2, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
At the Plaza, Restoring Life Lived Luxuriously
BYLINE: By ANTHONY RAMIREZ
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Metropolitan Desk; Pg. 32
LENGTH: 692 words
Let's say somebody has bought a famous but slightly dilapidated property and spent a lot of time and money fixing
it.
The property is really famous: F. Scott Fitzgerald set scenes from his most celebrated novel there, Alfred Hitchcock filmed a scene from one of his most acclaimed movies there, and countless debutantes reached the summit of their
debutantehood there.
What to do to show it off?
If you are the El-Ad Group of Israel, the latest owner of the Plaza Hotel, the 100-year-old landmark facing Central
Park South and Grand Army Plaza, you invite reporters from several nations on Saturday to a deluxe tour and a news
conference, complete with coffee served by white-gloved butlers.
Miki Naftali, the chief executive officer of El-Ad, said the company had spent $400 million over two and a half
years to renovate the Plaza. Combined with the $675 million spent to buy the hotel in 2004, this means the company has
spent more than the gross domestic product of Monaco on the famed landmark.
So it was with evident pride, and no detectable buyer's remorse, that Mr. Naftali repeatedly called the Plaza ''this
great castle on the park.''
But like any ancient castle, the Plaza was expensive to fix, Mr. Naftali said in an interview.
And not all of it is done. The Oak Bar, for example, where Cary Grant was kidnapped by international spies in
Hitchcock's ''North by Northwest,'' won't be finished until late spring.
The biggest bill was $30 million to repair a leaking roof, Mr. Naftali said. A further $16 million was spent to restore and add kitchen facilities to the Grand Ballroom, one of the rich man's wonders that compelled Fitzgerald to set
scenes from ''The Great Gatsby'' in the hotel.
And $15 million was spent on the Palm Court, where many New Yorkers of a certain age have splurged on or
have been treated to a Sunday brunch that would delight Epicurus and give Midas pause.
The 800-room hotel closed three years ago for renovations. Now that it has reopened, only 130 rooms remain as
hotel rooms, which were shown off to reporters on Saturday.
Women in black dresses and high heels led reporters from room to room, each with high-thread-count linen and
small soaps in dishes. There are flat-screen television sets. There is a detachable wireless gizmo the size of a book that
controls the TV, the lights, the heat and other comforts. The bathroom faucets are 24-karat gold.
The tab for the hotel rooms begins at $1,000 a night. The hotel is already taking guests.
But the majority of the space in the old hotel -- about 60 percent -- has been converted to 181 luxury condominiums. All have sold, Mr. Naftali said, except for one on the second floor that is being used as a temporary construction
office.
Page 75
At the Plaza, Restoring Life Lived Luxuriously The New York Times March 2, 2008 Sunday
The most expensive condo is one that El-Ad never designed, Mr. Naftali said. The buyer bought four units and
combined them into one giant 11,000-square-foot mansion above Central Park. Mr. Naftali, his voice dropping to a
sommelier's whisper, declined to disclose the sale price.
Bob and Suzanne Chute of Naples, Fla., are a hint of how lofty the game is at the Plaza these days.
They bought, sight unseen, a three-bedroom condo for $13.86 million.
''We saw a computer thing and they could show you what it looked like if you were looking out the window,'' said
Mr. Chute, 64, an entrepreneur who owns several companies and whose deep, rich tan indicates a life spent near the
Equator.
The couple don't usually buy with so little information, they said. ''But we had faith in what the people were telling us,'' said Mrs. Chute, 61, who describes herself as ''just a wife.''
The couple closed on the condo on Friday, and Sunday morning they plan to meet with their interior decorator.
How does it feel to own a Plaza condo?
''We are psyched,'' Mr. Chute said. ''We are so psyched.''
On Saturday, the couple were having their first breakfast at the Palm Court, where eggs Benedict costs $30.
Breakfast doesn't come with condo ownership, the couple acknowledged. When told that a glass of orange juice
costs $12, the couple smiled.
''One thing we're not big at is looking at the prices,'' Mr. Chute said.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: BUILDING RENOVATION (89%); INTERVIEWS (78%); CONDOMINIUMS (78%); MYSTERY &
SUSPENSE FILMS (77%); HOTELS & MOTELS (76%); RESIDENTIAL CO-OWNERSHIP (75%); PARKS &
PLAYGROUNDS (75%); PRESS CONFERENCES (70%); ECONOMIC NEWS (69%); GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (69%); CONSUMER ELECTRONICS (72%); MOVIE FILMING (77%); TELEVISION EQUIPMENT (60%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (79%); MONACO (55%)
LOAD-DATE: March 2, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: The Champagne Bar in the new lobby of the landmark Plaza Hotel, which has undergone a $400
million renovation.(PHOTOGRAPH BY SUZANNE DeCHILLO/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
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1033 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
March 1, 2008 Saturday
Late Edition - Final
Page 76
New Line's 40 Years of Reaching Brows High and Low The New York Times March 1, 2008 Saturday
New Line's 40 Years of Reaching Brows High and Low
BYLINE: By A. O. SCOTT
SECTION: Section B; Column 0; Arts and Leisure Desk; FILM; Pg. 7
LENGTH: 668 words
Four years ago, on the night before the Academy Awards, I found myself at the Beverly Hills home of Bob Shaye,
the founder and co-chairman of New Line Cinema.
The annual New Line party chez Shaye was a popular stop on the pre-Oscars festivity circuit, and to an outsider
the scene seemed to fit every stereotype of Hollywood power and the aspiration to it. There was the blue-chip contemporary art on the walls (''Is that a real Francis Bacon?'' I heard someone ask); the panoramic views of the Los Angeles
basin and the San Fernando Valley; the Wolfgang Puck-catered dinner; the endless parade of agents, executives, movie
stars and aspirants to influence and fame.
Wasn't that Richard Parsons of Time Warner? Is she Paris Hilton? Is that the guy who used to be on that TV
show? And that must be his agent. It was like something from ''The Player,'' speaking of New Line releases.
This impression, however, was a bit misleading. Yes, it's true that in February 2004, New Line Cinema was on top
of the world, and Mr. Shaye and his colleagues, including his co-chairman, Michael Lynne, were riding high. The night
after the party, to no one's particular surprise, ''The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King'' swept every category in
which it was nominated, collecting 11 Oscars, among them best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay. But
New Line was hardly a typical blockbuster factory, the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy was not a typical franchise, and Bob
Shaye was far from a standard studio boss.
And that is why New Line -- which ceased to operate as a full-fledged studio on Thursday, when Time Warner
announced that it would be folded into Warner Brothers and Mr. Shaye and Mr. Lynne would depart -- will be missed.
New Line was not a specialty division or a genre label. It went highbrow and low, sometimes playing for the niches and
sometimes for the mass audience. It was an oddity and an anomaly.
Last year, in commemoration of its 40th anniversary, New Line put together a DVD sampler of some of its more
memorable productions. It was handsomely bound and presented, but the impression was less of a catalog of masterpieces than a collection of betting slips, a compendium of gambles, hunches and long shots. ''The Lord of the Rings''
was the most successful of these. (Others included ''Elf,''''Blow'' and the ''Austin Powers'' trilogy.)
No other studio was willing to sink several hundred million dollars into the simultaneous production of three movies directed by an obscure New Zealander named Peter Jackson. And when New Line did just that, there were a lot of
smirks and raised eyebrows in Hollywood.
As perhaps there are now, since schadenfreude is as essential to the health of the Hollywood body politic as Diet
Coke. The triumph of the ''Rings'' was followed by a long losing streak, exacerbated by messy litigation over the spoils
and the future of the Tolkien franchise. Mr. Shaye decided to dabble in directing, turning out a ghastly kiddie- magic
movie called ''The Last Mimzy.'' It began to seem as if New Line's days were numbered.
It's not for me to argue the merits of the decision to snuff out New Line's independence. The dissolution of one
corporate entity by another is rarely an occasion for sentiment, except perhaps among stockholders. But New Line Cinema was a link between the smooth, conglomerated present and a gamier, more entrepreneurial past. Mr. Shaye may
live like Hollywood royalty, but his roots are in New York retail and in the nervy, disreputable world of grindhouses
and exploitation pictures.
He was the man who made the 1930s drug-scare propaganda movie ''Reefer Madness'' into a staple of the late-'60s
campus counterculture. He picked up, on the cheap, North American rights to Bruce Lee movies, and he helped turn
John Waters's ''Pink Flamingos'' into a cult classic. And let's not forget Freddy Krueger of the ''Nightmare on Elm
Street'' series, or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Not a bad art collection, after all.
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New Line's 40 Years of Reaching Brows High and Low The New York Times March 1, 2008 Saturday
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: MOVIE & VIDEO DISTRIBUTION (90%); MOVIE INDUSTRY (90%); FILM (89%); ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS AWARDS (89%); CELEBRITIES (78%); DRAMA LITERATURE (78%); CATERING SERVICES
(72%); ANNIVERSARIES (60%); FILM DIRECTORS (89%); ACTORS & ACTRESSES (78%)
COMPANY: NEW LINE CINEMA CORP (90%)
PERSON: WOLFGANG PUCK (57%); PARIS HILTON (56%); RICHARD D PARSONS (56%)
GEOGRAPHIC: LOS ANGELES, CA, USA (79%) CALIFORNIA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (79%)
LOAD-DATE: March 1, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: Divine in New Line Cinema's ''Pink Flamingos.''(PHOTOGRAPH BY PHOTOFEST)(pg. B7)
Cast and crew members holding the 11 Oscars won in 2004 by the New Line film ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return
of the King,'' the final installment in the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy.(PHOTOGRAPH BY JOE CAVARETTA/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Mike Myers in New Line's ''Austin Powers in Goldmember.''(PHOTOGRAPH BY NEW LINE CINEMA)
Will Ferrell, the star of the New Line comedy ''Elf.''(PHOTOGRAPH BY ALAN MARKFIELD/NEW LINE PRODUCTIONS)(pg. B13)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1034 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 29, 2008 Friday
Late Edition - Final
New Line's Leaders Are Ousted as Warner Studio Takes Control
BYLINE: By BROOKS BARNES
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 505 words
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
Time Warner announced Thursday that New Line Cinema, one of its marquee movie studios, would become a unit
of Warner Brothers, ceasing to operate as a full-service, stand-alone unit.
In the process, New Line will shed an unspecified but substantial number of its 600 employees, including Robert
Shaye, the studio's founder, and his co-chairman, Michael Lynne.
Page 78
New Line's Leaders Are Ousted as Warner Studio Takes Control The New York Times February 29, 2008 Friday
New Line, which Mr. Shaye founded in New York in 1967, became famous for promoting the work of independent directors while minting box-office gold like the ''Nightmare on Elm Street'' series and later the ''Lord of the Rings''
trilogy. In recent years, the studio had been battered by poorly performing movies and legal wrangling over ''Lord of the
Rings.''
The consolidation -- the first far-reaching decision by Jeffrey L. Bewkes, Time Warner's new chief executive -could double New Line's earnings, according to analysts. The company said it expected to record a ''fairly sizable'' revamping charge tied to discontinuing some operations at New Line in 2008, and cautioned that earnings would not reflect the full benefit until 2010.
''We are moving quickly to improve our business performance and financial returns,'' said Mr. Bewkes, who is under pressure to lift Time Warner's share price. Its shares have recently traded at about $16.
In addition to cutting costs, another reason behind the move was the increasing importance of the international box
office, Mr. Bewkes said. New Line has largely relied on the advance sale of foreign rights to bankroll its pictures. But
Mr. Bewkes said that strategy leaves too much money on the table.
''The Golden Compass,'' the recent fantasy epic starring Nicole Kidman, is a prime example. The movie was a hit
overseas, generating some $260 million in ticket sales, but New Line had sold off most of the foreign rights.
Mr. Bewkes will now decide what to do with the company's two other boutique movie studios, Picturehouse and
Warner Independent Pictures.
While it had struggled, New Line was hardly moribund. It is releasing the movie version of ''Sex and the City'' this
spring and recently resolved its legal dispute with the director Peter Jackson, clearing the path for him to make ''The
Hobbit.''
Indeed, the consolidation may be as much about egos as economics. Mr. Shaye and Mr. Lynne -- whose aggressive style and loyalty to offbeat projects like ''The Last Mimzy'' have raised eyebrows -- have long resisted combining
New Line with Warner Brothers, leading to a running soap opera for the company.
Mr. Shaye, 68, and Mr. Lynne, 66, declined to be interviewed. In an internal memorandum, they said they intended to remain ''actively involved in the industry in an entrepreneurial capacity.''
Barry M. Meyer, chairman of Warner Brothers, and Alan F. Horn, the studio's president, also declined to comment. In an internal memo, they wrote, ''We want to take our time to make sure that we understand New Line's business
and properly align this valuable asset that's now affiliated with the studio.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: MOVIE INDUSTRY (91%); FILM (90%); MOVIES & SOUND RECORDING SECTOR PERFORMANCE (90%); ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS (90%); COMPANY EARNINGS (90%); MOVIE & VIDEO PRODUCTION (90%); MOVIE & VIDEO DISTRIBUTION (89%); EXECUTIVE MOVES (78%); BOARDS OF DIRECTORS (76%); COMPANY STRATEGY (73%); TICKET SALES (70%); INDUSTRY ANALYSTS (67%); SECURITIES TRADING (64%)
COMPANY: TIME WARNER INC (91%); NEW LINE CINEMA CORP (90%)
TICKER: TWX (NYSE) (91%); TWX (LSE) (91%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS518111 INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS (91%); NAICS517510 CABLE & OTHER PROGRAM DISTRIBUTION (91%); NAICS512110 MOTION PICTURE & VIDEO PRODUCTION (91%); NAICS517110 WIRED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS (91%)
PERSON: JEFF BEWKES (84%); NICOLE KIDMAN (53%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, USA (90%) UNITED STATES (90%)
LOAD-DATE: February 29, 2008
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New Line's Leaders Are Ousted as Warner Studio Takes Control The New York Times February 29, 2008 Friday
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1035 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 28, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
Clinton's Efforts on Ethanol Overlap Her Husband's Interests
BYLINE: By MIKE McINTIRE
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; Pg. 23
LENGTH: 1709 words
To big rounds of applause, three of the world's richest men -- Richard Branson, Ronald W. Burkle and Vinod Khosla -- trooped onto a New York ballroom stage with former President Bill Clinton to pledge support for renewable energy projects to combat global warming and create jobs.
It was September 2006, and the Clinton Global Initiative, the annual star-studded networking event for philanthropists and investors, had generated commitments to spend billions on ethanol and other alternative fuels. Cast as
good works, many were also investments by businessmen hoping for a profit.
And sitting in the audience was an influential public official who had also taken an active interest in renewable
sources of fuel: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Several months earlier, Mrs. Clinton had sponsored legislation to provide billions in new federal incentives for
ethanol, and, especially in her home state of New York, she has worked to foster a business climate that favors the sort
of ethanol investments pursued by her husband's friends and her political supporters.
One potential beneficiary is the Yucaipa Companies, a private equity firm where Mr. Clinton has been a senior
adviser and whose founder, Mr. Burkle, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Mrs. Clinton's campaigns. Yucaipa has invested millions in Cilion Inc. -- a start-up venture also backed by Mr. Branson, the British entrepreneur,
and Mr. Khosla, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist -- that is building seven ethanol plants around the country. Two are
in upstate New York.
A Cilion executive said Mrs. Clinton's office had been helpful to the company as it pursued its New York projects.
More broadly, by steering federal money, organizing investor forums and offering the services of her staff, she has
helped turn the upstate region into an incubator for ventures like Cilion's, while providing a useful showcase for her
energy proposals on the campaign trail.
Certainly Mrs. Clinton is doing what would be expected of a senator trying to stimulate a sagging rural economy
in her home state, not to mention a presidential candidate mindful of the importance of ethanol in corn-producing places
like Iowa. But her actions take on an added dimension when they intersect with Mr. Clinton's philanthropic and profitmaking endeavors, which have periodically raised questions as Mrs. Clinton seeks the Democratic nomination for president.
Page 80
Clinton's Efforts on Ethanol Overlap Her Husband's Interests The New York Times February 28, 2008 Thursday
Yucaipa's partnership with the rulers of Dubai and its investment in a Chinese media company drew attention to
Mr. Clinton's connection to the fund when his wife was preparing her presidential run last year. In December, aides to
Mr. Clinton said he was taking steps to end his relationship with Yucaipa to avoid potential conflicts of interest or political imbroglios for his wife, should she become the Democratic nominee.
Representatives of the Clintons declined repeated requests for comment that included a detailed set of questions
submitted to Mrs. Clinton's campaign more than a week ago.
Because Mr. Burkle's Yucaipa funds are private, and the Clintons have refused to release their tax returns, details
of Yucaipa's investments and Mr. Clinton's potential to profit from them are not publicly available. Last year, after Mr.
Clinton published a book on philanthropy that extols the virtues of investing in renewable energy and contains a reference to Cilion, a spokesman for the former president told New York magazine that he consulted for Yucaipa on renewable energy investments but was not involved in Cilion.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for Yucaipa declined to say how much it had invested in Cilion, but said it amounted to less than 5 percent of the company's equity -- small by Yucaipa standards, but enough for it to be represented on
Cilion's board. He said Mr. Clinton did not stand to profit from Yucaipa's investment in Cilion.
Under an agreement with Mr. Burkle in 2002, Mr. Clinton was to provide advice and find investment opportunities for several domestic and foreign funds in Yucaipa's portfolio, and would receive a share of the profits from those
funds. On a financial disclosure report that Mrs. Clinton filed as a presidential candidate last year, Mr. Clinton listed
several direct investments through Yucaipa, including one in a Brazilian sugar-cane ethanol company founded by Mr.
Khosla, but Cilion was not among them.
Mrs. Clinton is far from alone in proposing increased federal incentives for renewable energy -- her opponent,
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, backs even greater spending on biofuels -- and not all of her actions on ethanol would
benefit the interests of Mr. Clinton and his associates. She has voted to preserve a tariff on Brazilian ethanol imports,
which helps domestic ethanol producers but works against investors in Brazilian facilities.
In fact, Mrs. Clinton had long opposed ethanol subsidies, but in May 2006, she switched gears and introduced a
bill to create a $50 billion ''strategic energy fund'' to expand the use of ethanol and other alternative fuels. The bill,
which was reintroduced last year, would direct billions of dollars to develop cellulosic ethanol, an experimental fuel
made from organic materials other than corn.
In addition to the legislation, Mrs. Clinton has spent an increasing amount of time in upstate New York, promoting the region as fertile territory for renewable energy projects. In Lockport in July 2006, she said she was working with
the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry -- which has offered technical assistance to Cilion and other companies in the region -- to support locally produced ethanol, rather than ''just relying on
corn in the Midwest.''
''Because I want New York farmers, I want farmers around the country, to participate in this,'' she said. ''It's going
to take building production facilities, and we're starting to do that.''
Several business and academic leaders in the region said they had crossed paths more than once with Mr. Clinton,
Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Khosla on the issue of biofuels, specifically cellulosic ethanol.
Cornelius B. Murphy Jr., president of the environmental college, said Mrs. Clinton became very active in assisting
the school's renewable energy projects starting in late 2005, and has since been involved in about eight events with the
college. In 2006, the college also heard from Mr. Clinton, who wanted to talk to experts there about cellulosic ethanol
and the concept of using forest products in place of corn.
''I'm amazed at how much her husband has picked up on this,'' Dr. Murphy said of the former president. ''He was
very interested in the growth of energy feed stocks and how that could be worked into an integrated biorefinery.''
One of the biggest champions of cellulosic ethanol is Cilion's founder, Mr. Khosla, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems who has grown close to Mr. Clinton in recent years through a mutual interest in renewable energy. In November,
at a renewable energy forum in Iowa that was attended by some of the presidential candidates, Mr. Khosla opened his
PowerPoint presentation with a quote from Mr. Clinton on the economic benefits of green investments.
Mr. Khosla provided seed money to create Cilion in June 2006, and shortly before the Clinton Global Initiative
that September, Cilion announced it had received $160 million more, including an unspecified amount from Yucaipa.
Page 81
Clinton's Efforts on Ethanol Overlap Her Husband's Interests The New York Times February 28, 2008 Thursday
He is also backing another company, the Mascoma Corporation, which wants to build a plant in the Rochester area that
will convert forest products, like wood chips and switch grass, into cellulosic ethanol.
Mr. Khosla did not respond to a request for comment.
Although Cilion uses corn, it hopes to eventually make cellulosic ethanol once the technology becomes commercially viable, said Jerry Wilhelm, the company's executive vice president. Mr. Wilhelm said Cilion, which also has projects in California, Pennsylvania and Washington State, picked New York because of its large potential ethanol market,
the availability of farmland and local support.
Mr. Wilhelm said that the New York projects were at an early stage, but that Mrs. Clinton ''definitely has been
helpful,'' not only in writing letters but also in her general support of renewable energy initiatives in the region.
''We've gotten some letters of support from her that we've used in the permitting process,'' he said in an interview.
''We haven't asked for a lot, but what we've asked from her, she's responded.''
Late Wednesday, Yucaipa disputed that Mrs. Clinton had written any letters on behalf of Cilion. Efforts to reach
Mr. Wilhelm to clarify the matter were unsuccessful.
Cilion's efforts to set up a base of operations in upstate New York included joining the board of the Greater Rochester Enterprise, a nonprofit group that promotes business opportunities in the region. The group, which provided Cilion
with office space and made introductions to key people, has worked closely with Mrs. Clinton on several renewable
energy initiatives.
Mrs. Clinton arranged for the group to work with the U.S. Green Buildings Council to produce a report on the
economic benefits of renewable fuels and energy conservation in the Rochester area, where both of Cilion's ethanol
projects are. The report concluded, among other things, that there should be more incentives to use locally generated
renewable energy, and it cited a Cilion project, along with several others, as an example of available resources.
The 17-page report, which devotes a full page to Mrs. Clinton and mentions her eight times, ''would not have happened without the senator,'' said Dennis M. Mullen, president of the Greater Rochester Enterprise.
''We have met with the senator on numerous occasions, not only on ethanol but also other issues,'' Mr. Mullen
said. ''She has helped us promote that in numerous ways.''
Cilion, meanwhile, recently revamped its Web site and added comments from Mrs. Clinton and other presidential
candidates to illustrate the depth of political support for ethanol. The new site quotes Mrs. Clinton saying the country
needs ''an Apollo-like effort'' to invest in renewable energy, and it provides a link to her strategic energy fund at hillaryclinton.com.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: BIOFUELS (90%); ETHANOL (90%); ALCOHOLS (90%); US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008
(89%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (89%); RENEWABLE ENERGY (89%); POLITICAL CANDIDATES (87%);
WEALTHY PEOPLE (78%); LEGISLATION (77%); ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT (77%); ELECTRIC POWER
PLANTS (77%); ENERGY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS (77%); ALTERNATIVE FUEL PROGRAMS (77%); US
PRESIDENTS (77%); ENERGY & UTILITY POLICY (77%); PRIVATE EQUITY (76%); STARTUPS (76%); VENTURE CAPITAL (76%); CONFLICTS OF INTEREST (74%); US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (74%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (73%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (72%); JOB CREATION (72%); GLOBAL WARMING
(72%); EMPLOYMENT GROWTH (72%); PHILANTHROPY (71%); ETHYL ALCOHOL MFG (71%); BUSINESS
CLIMATE & CONDITIONS (68%)
COMPANY: YUCAIPA COS (83%); YUCAIPA COS LLC (69%)
PERSON: BILL CLINTON (94%); HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (94%); RON BURKLE (92%); VINOD KHOSLA (92%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, USA (94%) UNITED STATES (94%)
LOAD-DATE: February 28, 2008
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Clinton's Efforts on Ethanol Overlap Her Husband's Interests The New York Times February 28, 2008 Thursday
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: Former President Bill Clinton with Richard Branson in 2006. Both have been involved in efforts on alternative fuels. (PHOTOGRAPH BY RUBY WASHINGTON/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has sponsored legislation to provide incentives for ethanol and has worked to foster a
favorable environment for investment in it. (PHOTOGRAPH BY TODD HEISLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; TODAY IN BUSINESS; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 482 words
HINTING AT A RATE CUT In an appearance before Congress, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben S.
Bernanke, said the Fed's top priority was fighting a recession.
EASING REQUIREMENTS A federal regulator said it would remove portfolio growth caps for Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac, the two mortgage giants, a move that could make it easier for many to obtain home loans. [C1.]
LAWSUIT OVER SICK COWS The Humane Society of the United States sued the Agriculture Department for
creating a provision that it said allowed unhealthy cows to be sent to slaughter. [C1.]
LOAN PROGRAM SUSPENDED Affected by a tight credit market, a Pennsylvania lender that makes and guarantees student loans said it would curtail making federally guaranteed loans. [C1.]
MAKING ITS MARK The world's largest sovereign wealth fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, is buying
big stakes in Western companies. [C1.]
UBS WINS SUPPORT FOR PLAN Shareholders at UBS backed a bid by management to accept cash from Singapore's sovereign wealth fund and an anonymous investor in the Middle East. [C2.]
BAILOUT SCRUTINIZED The European Commission said it would investigate the rescue of two German banks.
[C2.]
MICROSOFT HIT WITH PENALTY European regulators levied a record $1.35 billion fine against Microsoft for
its failure to comply with an antitrust decision. [C3.]
CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRY A Senator questioned the Food and Drug Administration and the maker of an artificial spinal disk about potential financial conflicts of interest. [C3.]
SEEKING TO CHANGE FRAUD LAW A Senate panel wants to work with the Justice Department to strengthen
a federal law for whistle-blowers. [C3.]
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The New York Times February 28, 2008 Thursday
NORTEL POSTS A LOSS Nortel Networks announced a large accounting charge, a loss of $957 million for 2007
and plans to cut 2,100 jobs. But Mike S. Zafirovski, left, the company's chief executive, said other financial results were
a sign that a turnaround plan was working. [C4.]
OLYMPIC SPIN General Electric is planning to make the biggest splash it can at the Beijing Olympics. Advertising. [C4.]
ROOM TO GROW A shared-office venture in Manhattan offers clients a productive work space, networking and
advice for female entrepreneurs. [C5.]
LAYOFFS AT BMWCiting a strong euro, BMW, the German automaker, said it planned to eliminate 8,100 jobs.
[C5.]
A CHANGE OF MIND FOR AETNAAetna said that it had backed off a plan to stop paying for the use of a powerful anesthetic used in colonoscopies. [C5.]
THE HIGH-TECH NURSERY Babytronics are meant to help parents with keeping infants happy and healthy, if
not dry. Basics. [C6.]
HOUSING SLUMP CONTINUES Sales of new homes slowed last month to the lowest rate in almost 13 years,
the third consecutive monthly decline. [C8.]
Toll Brothers, the home builder, posted a loss in the first quarter as write-downs more than doubled on properties
it could no longer sell at a profit. [C8.]
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (92%); CONFLICTS OF INTEREST (90%); MORTGAGE BANKING
& FINANCE (90%); BANKING & FINANCE (90%); REAL ESTATE (89%); RECESSION (89%); ECONOMIC
NEWS (89%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (89%); COMPANY LOSSES (88%); NEW HOME SALES (78%); ANTITRUST & TRADE LAW (77%); AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENTS (77%); ACCOUNTING (77%); BAILOUTS
(77%); AUTOMAKERS (77%); FINES & PENALTIES (77%); RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION (76%); AUTOMOBILE MFG (74%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (73%); LAW ENFORCEMENT (71%); STUDENT LOANS (71%);
WOMEN (69%); AUTOMOTIVE MFG (69%); FINANCIAL RESULTS (68%); JUSTICE DEPARTMENTS (66%);
LAYOFFS (53%); SUMMER OLYMPICS (61%)
COMPANY: FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION (FANNIE MAE) (72%); FEDERAL HOME
LOAN MORTGAGE CORP (FREDDIE MAC) (84%); MICROSOFT CORP (55%); GENERAL ELECTRIC CO
(53%); ABU DHABI INVESTMENT CO (56%)
ORGANIZATION: HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES (57%); HUMANE SOCIETY (57%); EUROPEAN COMMISSION (55%); FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION (54%)
TICKER: FNM (NYSE) (72%); FRE (NYSE) (84%); MSFT (NASDAQ) (55%); GNEA (AMS) (53%); GNE (PAR)
(53%); GEC (LSE) (53%); GEB (BRU) (53%); GE (NYSE) (53%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS522292 REAL ESTATE CREDIT (84%); SIC6162 MORTGAGE BANKERS & LOAN CORRESPONDENTS (84%); SIC6111 FEDERAL & FEDERALLY-SPONSORED CREDIT AGENCIES (84%); NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (55%); SIC7372 PREPACKAGED SOFTWARE (55%); NAICS336412
AIRCRAFT ENGINE & ENGINE PARTS MANUFACTURING (53%); NAICS335222 HOUSEHOLD REFRIGERATOR & HOME FREEZER MANUFACTURING (53%); NAICS335211 ELECTRIC HOUSEWARES & HOUSEHOLD FAN MANUFACTURING (53%); SIC3724 AIRCRAFT ENGINES & ENGINE PARTS (53%); SIC3634
ELECTRIC HOUSEWARES & FANS (53%)
PERSON: BEN BERNANKE (91%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (79%); BEIJING, CHINA (67%) NEW YORK, USA (79%); NORTH
CENTRAL CHINA (74%) UNITED STATES (92%); GERMANY (90%); SINGAPORE (79%); UNITED ARAB
EMIRATES (79%); CHINA (74%); MIDDLE EAST (72%); EUROPE (72%)
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The New York Times February 28, 2008 Thursday
LOAD-DATE: February 28, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Summary
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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February 28, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
Juilliard And Met Meld Opera Training
BYLINE: By ALLAN KOZINN
SECTION: Section E; Column 0; The Arts/Cultural Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 778 words
The Metropolitan Opera and the Juilliard School have agreed to pool their resources in a program for young opera
singers, as well as pianists who hope to work as vocal accompanists or opera conductors, the two institutions announced
Wednesday.
The program is to begin in the 2010-11 season and will be called the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist
Development Program in Partnership with the Juilliard School. James Levine, the music director at the Met, will be its
artistic director and will conduct the participants and the Juilliard Orchestra in an annual opera performance -- either a
fully staged or concert version -- at the school's 900-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Brian Zeger, a prominent accompanist
and the artistic director of the Juilliard School's vocal arts department, will be the executive director of the new program.
Peter Gelb, the Met's general manager, said: ''One of my jobs at the Met is to integrate all the different aspects of
the company, and our young artist program has been less fully integrated than I'd like it to be. We have global talent
scouts looking for artists who should be on our stage, and I think they should be looking for young singers who should
be in this program as well. We want to attract talents from around the world.''
The idea of joining forces was first raised toward the end of last year, when Mr. Gelb met with Joseph W. Polisi,
president of the Juilliard School, and Ara Guzelimian, the school's recently installed dean, to discuss potential collaborations. Mr. Levine and Mr. Zeger later took part in the discussions, and, as Mr. Gelb put it, ''They spent a lot of time
together discussing philosophy, and they were on the same page.''
The program is essentially an expansion of the Met's young artist program, which Mr. Levine founded in 1980. It
was renamed the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in 1998, when George Lindemann, a telecommunications entrepreneur, and his wife, Frayda, made a $10 million gift to the Met's endowment campaign, earmarked for the
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Juilliard And Met Meld Opera Training The New York Times February 28, 2008 Thursday
training program. The Lindemann program -- for 13 singers and 3 pianists -- provides a stipend (currently $30,000 to
$40,000 annually), as well as coaching from the Met's artistic staff and performance opportunities, usually in smaller
stage roles but also in recitals. Singers who have participated include Stephanie Blythe, Dawn Upshaw, Anthony Dean
Griffey, Paul Groves, Nathan Gunn, Aprile Millo and Heidi Grant Murphy.
The new Met-Juilliard program will continue to provide the stipend and coaching. The term of the program also
remains three years. The Juilliard School is contributing vocal master classes, as well as acting and movement and access to academic courses in, for example, music theory. Though the program's participants will not be enrolled in a Juilliard degree program (they will be considered fellows or young artists rather than students), they will be able to use the
school's library and practice rooms. But the main draw is expected to be the annual production and the opportunity it
affords singers to perform at Lincoln Center, if not at the Met itself.
''One of the shortcomings of our young artist program in the past has been that when our young singers do get onstage, it's typically in a smaller role,'' Mr. Gelb said. ''Getting a major role is rare. This will help give them that experience.''
The partnership will also mean a reconfiguration of Juilliard's vocal program. Currently about 70 students are
working toward undergraduate or graduate degrees at the school. Under the new arrangement, the number of artist diploma candidates, who participate in the school's most advanced program, the Juilliard Opera Center, will be reduced to
8 from 14. The Juilliard Opera Center will be folded into the Juilliard Opera, a more general program open to all of the
school's singers. The Juilliard Opera will present two productions a year.
''There will no longer be a wall between one degree program and another,'' Mr. Polisi said, ''so that all our students
have an opportunity be cast in our own two productions and possibly have secondary roles in the Met-Juilliard productions.''
He added that the partnership presented an opportunity for the school and the Met to get to know each other better.
''And it's a chance to carefully educate and train the next generation of opera singers and respond to their needs in everything from ear training and score reading to repertory choices,'' he said. ''We're also hoping that as time goes on, our
graduate students and undergrads will have greater access to the Met's resources -- rehearsals for example -- that they
don't have now.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: OPERA (91%); CLASSICAL MUSIC (90%); KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS (90%); ARTISTS & PERFORMERS (90%); MUSIC (89%); TALKS & MEETINGS (76%); THEATER (76%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP
(72%); INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE (71%); ENDOWMENTS (60%); SINGERS & MUSICIANS (92%)
PERSON: CHRISTIE HEFNER (51%); GEORGE L LINDEMAN (52%)
LOAD-DATE: February 28, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1038 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
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Late Edition - Final
Page 86
Shared-Office Venture Lets Clients Be Tenants The New York Times February 28, 2008 Thursday
Shared-Office Venture Lets Clients Be Tenants
BYLINE: By MARCI ALBOHER
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; SHIFTING CAREERS; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 1245 words
WITHIN a few months of starting In Good Company Consulting, a business to advise female entrepreneurs, Amy
Abrams and Adelaide Fives discovered that they shared something with many of their clients. They, too, needed office
space that was well located and professional with a place for private meetings. And they wanted to be near like-minded
entrepreneurs.
They tried subletting space from another firm. They rented space at the corporate office suites HQ (now the Regus
Group) and BevMax Office Centers and visited virtually every flexible and temporary office space in Manhattan. But
they were disappointed with what they regarded as the often cold and impersonal qualities of those places, not to mention the shared restrooms that never seemed to be clean enough. ''And nothing had the energy and buzz we were looking
for,'' Ms. Fives said.
So they designed it. And last September, In Good Company Workplaces opened in the Flatiron district of Manhattan with its first 39 members. Their company Web site speaks of ''the three essential elements every successful business
needs: productive workspace, powerful connections and effective ideas.'' By many accounts it is an unusual hybrid:
equal parts business incubator, co-working and learning space and members-only networking group.
''They are onto something here,'' said Nell Merlino, founder of Count Me In, a nonprofit group that makes small
loans to female entrepreneurs. Ms. Merlino, who had never heard of In Good Company, said that the idea made sense
in light of the research she had conducted. ''Seventy-three percent of women business owners work by themselves, so
community is very important.''
Still, Ms. Merlino cautioned women who are considering this kind of move. ''An awful lot of women worry about
being defined by not having a nice space,'' she said. ''The focus has got to be about growth, not just 'I want to go and
hang out with other people' or 'I need to get out of the house so the kids are not climbing all over the place.' ''
The company's menu of offerings reads like a gym membership, with an annual fee and various options based on
how many hours of desk and meeting room time the entrepreneur wants to rent each month. All memberships include
free Wi-Fi, printing and faxing, a monthly 30-minute consultation with Ms. Abrams or Ms. Fives, free admission to
events and seminars and a listing in the member directory. Members can change their plans from month to month. At
the moment, the company has 110 members, with 60 percent on a basic plan that costs $300 a year and allows them to
rent meeting and desk space a la carte.
The space, which Ms. Adelaide and Ms. Abrams designed, has a loftlike feel and a sleek, minimalist style with
white desks, exposed brick walls and a rotating art exhibit featuring women artists with a connection to In Good Company. The common area has a collection of desks that members choose based on what is available on the days they
work. Members say that voices are fairly hushed during phone calls, which are generally on cellphones unless someone
chooses to use the landline next to the sofa in the back of the room. For more privacy on calls, members can briefly step
into an empty meeting room if one is available.
E. B. Moss, the founder of Moss Appeal, a marketing and promotion services company, uses a toll-free number
that automatically forwards to her cellphone when she is at In Good Company. Initially, she was concerned that when
clients came for meetings, they would have to look for In Good Company rather than her company's name on the directory. But she has grown comfortable with that. ''Transparency is what it's all about,'' she said. ''When I first started out, I
was protective about letting people know there were no bricks and mortar to me. It fits in with the green division of my
company. I like to keep my footprint small.''
Members, who find their way to In Good Company through word of mouth and the women's groups where the
founders have relationships are exuberant in their praise for the arrangement.
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Shared-Office Venture Lets Clients Be Tenants The New York Times February 28, 2008 Thursday
''The space is just a dream come true, with beautiful space options, which I utilize happily,'' said Emily Wolper, a
college and graduate school admissions consultant, who lives in New Jersey where she has a home office. Ms. Wolper
books meeting room space for client sessions and uses one of the desks in the open workspace area when she has time
in the city between meetings. She also uses Ms. Fives as a business consultant. ''As a solo practitioner, I don't have a
staff or a boss to talk about issues that come up, so I have found Adelaide to be an amazing resource.'' she said.
Galia Gichon, the founder of Down-to-Earth Finance, a financial advisory company, gravitated to In Good Company when Two Rooms, a workspace on the Upper West Side catering to working mothers, closed. Ms. Gichon was so
impressed with the way Ms. Fives and Ms. Abrams operated that she agreed to be on their advisory board. ''I was part of
two focus groups they did, and they were as professionally done as what Colgate-Palmolive does. As soon as they
opened their doors, I said, 'Sign me up.' '' Even as a board member, she pays full rates.
Many of the women say that the environment is a tonic against the loneliness that can plague a solo or start-up
business. ''There is just nothing like it in the city,'' said Marissa Lippert, who runs Nourish, a company that offers nutrition and lifestyle counseling. ''It's the best of both worlds -- you run your own schedule and company, but you have the
benefits of a corporate culture.''
The company gets high marks for its flexibility. Ms. Moss currently uses the highest level of membership, which
gives her about 20 hours a week of desk space and 2 hours of meeting room space. But she says she may downgrade to
a lower plan when business is slow. Ms. Wolper, whose business fluctuates with the school admissions calendar, also
appreciates the ability to change plans during the year.
Though many of the members say they were not specifically searching for an all-female office, some businesses
are particularly well suited to it. Krisztina Jenei, a custom dressmaker and seamstress, drapes a curtain over the glass
partition and uses the meeting rooms to do fittings with her clients. ''It's just not professional fitting clients in office
bathrooms,'' she said.
Though men cannot be members, they are welcome in the space as clients or at events. And though initially the
partners were courting female backers, the company's first round of investors were men. In fact, six of the company's
seven individual investors are couples in which the husbands signed on after being introduced to the company by their
wives.
The partners say they have found a way to take their business model further than they would have had they retained a pure consulting practice. ''Consulting is only as big as the people you have. You scale by hiring more people,''
Ms. Abrams said. ''We wanted to focus on how to touch more business owners. Also, a lot of women come because
there is a problem. Once you've solved the problem, you don't see them again. We wanted to develop something to help
in a more ongoing way.''
They said they also wanted to build something that would offer a model of a certain type of entrepreneurial behavior to their target market. ''Our plan,'' Ms. Abrams said, ''is to be much bigger than one space, and to build a bigger
business for many years to come.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ENTREPRENEURSHIP (91%); OFFICE PROPERTY (90%); WOMEN (90%); WOMAN OWNED
BUSINESSES (89%); TALKS & MEETINGS (77%); RENTAL PROPERTY (76%); NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS (65%)
COMPANY: IN GOOD CO AB (90%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (92%) NEW YORK, USA (92%) UNITED STATES (92%)
LOAD-DATE: February 28, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Adelaide Fives, left, and Amy Abrams, far right, designed the space at In Good Company in the
Flatiron district of Manhattan. (MARILYNN K. YEE/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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Shared-Office Venture Lets Clients Be Tenants The New York Times February 28, 2008 Thursday
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1039 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 27, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
Two Siblings Stuck in a Junkyard World, Struggling to Survive and Dream
BYLINE: By A. O. SCOTT
SECTION: Section E; Column 0; The Arts/Cultural Desk; MOVIE REVIEW 'CHOP SHOP'; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 776 words
Because the last shot of Ramin Bahrani's ''Chop Shop'' is as quiet and matter-of-fact as most of the rest of the film,
it takes a moment to register as a metaphor. For nearly an hour and a half we have been immersed in the rhythms of
daily life in the battered Willets Point section of Queens, and Mr. Bahrani's hand-held camera has remained studiously
fixed at street level. Now, all of a sudden, it pitches upward to follow a flock of pigeons breaking toward the sky, a shift
in perspective that also changes, subtly but unmistakably, our understanding of the movie.
Like its prosaic title, or like those homely birds, ''Chop Shop,'' written by Mr. Bahrani and Bahareh Azimi, dwells
mainly in the realm of the literal. Filmed inside shady auto-repair businesses, on bleak overpasses and in vacant lots in
the shadow of Shea Stadium, this film, like Mr. Bahrani's 2006 feature, ''Man Push Cart,'' is concerned principally with
the kind of hard, marginal labor that more comfortable city dwellers rarely notice. But there is nonetheless a lyricism at
its heart, an unsentimental, soulful appreciation of the grace that resides in even the meanest struggle for survival.
When you stop to think about it, the life of Alejandro (Alejandro Polanco) -- known as Ale -- should be cause
for despair. A skinny, fast-moving boy a year or so from puberty, he sleeps in a makeshift room above the shop where
he works. His main concern, aside from the daily scramble for cash, is his older sister, Isamar (Isamar Gonzales), who
seems more passive than her brother and more detached, perhaps self-protectively, from her emotions. Their parents are
never seen or mentioned, and school is more an abstract notion than a real possibility.
Ale's plan, equally a childish fantasy and a hard-headed entrepreneurial scheme, is to save enough money to buy
a broken-down vending truck and fix it up so he and Isamar can sell hot meals to chop shop workers and customers.
Isamar works in a similar business and also sells sex after-hours to drivers who park at the edge of the neighborhood.
Ale's desire, all the more acute for remaining unstated, is to rescue her from this fate and also, more generally, to formulate the plausible idea of a secure adult future for the two of them.
Mr. Bahrani does not treat his characters with pity, and they feel very little for themselves. Perhaps this is because
they are too young, and too focused on the present-tense demands of getting by, to dwell on what they don't have. But
the film's emotional restraint, while impressive, also feels limiting. Mr. Polanco and Ms. Gonzales have the wary inscrutability that often characterizes nonprofessional actors, and though Mr. Polanco is a lively and likable presence, there
are times when his performance is tentative and stiff.
Mr. Bahrani was born in the United States and lived for a while in Iran, his parents' native country (and Ms.
Azimi's), and the influence of recent Iranian cinema on ''Chop Shop'' is unmistakable. The oblique, naturalistic storytelling, the interest in children and the mingling of documentary and fictional techniques -- these have been hallmarks of
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Two Siblings Stuck in a Junkyard World, Struggling to Survive and Dream The New York Times February 27, 2008
Wednesday
the work of Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi, but they are rarely deployed with such confidence or effectiveness by
American filmmakers. ''Chop Shop'' suggests the potential of such an approach, which has roots in postwar Italian Neorealism, to compel an encounter with local reality that is both poetic and clearsighted.
Whether the situation in ''Chop Shop'' is entirely realistic is another question. I found myself wondering not only
about what had happened to Ale and Isamar's parents, but also about the total absence of any adult or institutional concern with these children's lives. The shop owners pay Ale his wages and teach him new skills, but there is a hardness in
their dealings with him that struck me as implausible. That may be wishful thinking on my part. Or it may be that I was
taken in by the rough surface of this film, seduced into mistaking a subtle, artful fable for the cold, hard facts of life.
CHOP SHOP
Opens on Wednesday in Manhattan.
Directed and edited by Ramin Bahrani; written by Bahareh Azimi and Mr. Bahrani; director of photography, Michael Simmonds; production designer, Richard Wright; produced by Lisa Muskat, Marc Turtletaub and Jeb Brody; released by Koch Lorber Films. At Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, west of Avenue of the Americas, South Village. Running time: 1 hour 25 minutes. This film is not rated.
WITH: Alejandro Polanco (Alejandro), Isamar Gonzales (Isamar), Carlos Zapata (Carlos), Ahmad Razvi (Ahmad)
and Rob Sowulski (Rob).
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: BIRDS (75%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (73%); PROPERTY VACANCIES (53%)
TITLE: Chop Shop (Movie)>; Chop Shop (Movie)>
LOAD-DATE: February 27, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Alejandro Polanco in Ramin Bahrani's new film, ''Chop Shop.'' (PHOTOGRAPH BY JON HIGGINS/KOCH LORBER FILMS)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Review
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1040 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 27, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
The Legions Of Frozen Yogurt Push East
BYLINE: By JULIA MOSKIN
SECTION: Section F; Column 0; Dining, Dining Out/Cultural Desk; Pg. 5
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The Legions Of Frozen Yogurt Push East The New York Times February 27, 2008 Wednesday
LENGTH: 1346 words
ACCORDING to Herodotus, even the mighty armies of the Greek and Persian empires took the winter off from
warfare.
But not the forces of frozen yogurt.
Since the Korean chain Red Mango opened a store directly across from California-based Pinkberry in Greenwich
Village in December, New York has become the second major battleground for the restyled, fluffed up, fruit-topped
new wave of frozen yogurt.
''I'd call it a quiet face-off on Bleecker Street,'' said Dan Kim, Red Mango's president for North America. Since
2006, Pinkberry has opened nine stores in New York, Red Mango has opened four, and competitors like Flurt, Berrywild and Yolato are scrambling to stay in the game.
California is already gripped by tribal conflicts among Pinkberry partisans, Red Mango loyalists, and the fans of
Yogurt World, a San Diego emporium where multiple flavors of yogurt and hundreds of toppings are available via selfserve: patrons wander around with an empty bowl and a wad of cash. ''God must have come down and created this place
Himself,'' wrote one feverish poster on yelp.com, the online city-guide site that has become an Internet hub for frozenyogurt enthusiasts. (Yogurt World alone has about 200 reviews.)
Most of these new yogurt joints, whether on the West or East Coast, are based on a simple formula of fresh fruit
toppings on a consciously tart, decidedly yogurt-flavor creamy swirl that drives certain people to distraction.
''At first I used to just crave it after Chinese food,'' said Anthony Castellano, who was ordering at the new Yoggi
Spot at Cafe Duke in Times Square, on a lunch break from supervising a nearby construction site. ''And then I started
thinking about how it would be good after pizza, and then after burritos. It's really refreshing, but it's still sweet.''
The next day, high-school girls in miniskirts, Uggs and goose bumps stood outside Yolato on the Upper West
Side, spooning up soft-serve. ''We come here every day,'' said Shira Cohen, a 10th-grader. ''I start thinking about the
toppings even before second period.''
No wonder entrepreneurs, despite the freezing weather, are not waiting to stake a claim. Did the slight chill of
the Yukon prevent the gold rush?
''New York has many women, many young people, many Asian-Americans, and many people with a high income,'' said Eric Yun, the United States president of Yogurberry, a Korean franchise with a new store on a busy strip of
Jackson Heights, Queens. ''All of those people love frozen yogurt.''
Yogurberry, which follows the basic pattern of tart yogurt with healthy and not-so-healthy toppings, has outlets in
Korea, Malaysia, China and Thailand, and is about to open in Syria and Dubai. The first Yogurberry opened in 2004;
Red Mango appeared in Seoul in 2002; Pinkberry opened in West Hollywood in 2005. ''There's a lot of give and take in
this business,'' Mr. Yun said of the endless speculation over which of the oddly similar, warm, inviting yogurt chains
with bright color schemes and Scandinavian design was the prototype.
''It's like fashion,'' said Pinkberry's founder, Young Lee. ''One season, suddenly everyone is doing bell-bottoms, or
boot cuts. It's the nature of fashion and the nature of competition.'' Mr. Lee, a 1989 graduate of Parsons, claims credit
for the design elements that make the Pinkberry stores subtly appealing: the hanging lamps that look like big creamy
swirls of yogurt; the bouncy pebble floors that make each store feel like a playground; the opportunity to pay $5 for a
cup of frozen yogurt with blueberries and ''to have a luxury experience, by sitting at a $500 table in a $350 chair, while
you eat it,'' Mr. Lee said. (Among the retailers he admires most, he said, are Apple, In-N-Out Burger, Target and Hermes.)
As the chains are trickling in, a few visionary New Yorkers have already struck out on their own, convinced that
they can build a better yogurt. (Most of the chains use a dehydrated yogurt formula that is rehydrated and churned in the
store.)
The most extremely artsy -- even artisanal -- rendition is eks, appropriately located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn,
where the yogurt is made from scratch. ''We start with gallons of low-fat milk, we inoculate it with the live cultures, and
we sweeten it with a little organic sugar,'' said the owner, Neo Kim.
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The Legions Of Frozen Yogurt Push East The New York Times February 27, 2008 Wednesday
Mr. Kim also designed the cherry-red stencils that cover the space (''parlor'' or ''shop'' being far too cozy to describe this echoing, Pop Art basement). Last weekend, a second eks outlet began dispensing yogurt in Manhattan, inside
a Beard Papa's cream puff shop at 740 Broadway, near Astor Place, making the storefront one of New York's many centers of Asian-dessert-youth-pop-culture.
Helen Lee, a Brooklyn resident who graduated from the French Culinary Institute and cooked at Per Se and Jean
Georges, is one of a group that opened Oko in Park Slope last summer. Oko focuses on eco-friendliness, with cups
made of corn and spoons of potato starch, as well as on flavor. ''Of course, we tasted the competitors' before developing
our own recipe,'' she said. ''Our yogurt is all natural, with lingering flavors and a clean finish, and it's even locally
sourced.'' The yogurt Oko freezes is made by a Greek family-owned creamery in Queens, she said.
Flurt, with outlets in Gramercy Park and Battery Park City, is New York's first homegrown chain. Its nonfat formula appeals to the yogurt-is-lunch weight-loss crowd.
Since the first frozen-yogurt craze of the 1980s, many New Yorkers have kept the flame alive, searching for a frozen treat that will magically combine the pure and satisfying taste of ice cream with the appetite-controlling qualities of
diet drugs. Most of the early versions of frozen yogurt contained only a small amount of actual yogurt, according to the
National Yogurt Association. But frozen yogurt can also be quite luxurious. Yogurt itself can have up to 9 percent milk
fat. Both Ciao Bella and Il Laboratorio del Gelato, among New York's best local ice-cream artisans, make wonderfully
rich gelato flavored with plain yogurt.
After the initial go-round, plain-flavor frozen yogurt was quickly eclipsed by new fakeries like Tofutti and Tasti
D-Lite. But it never completely left the city. A small band of devotees would trade tips about the holdouts at Bloomingdale's Forty Carrots, the cafe at Zabar's, and a chain of suburban parlors called Last Licks.
Apparently frozen yogurt spent its decades in exile well, mutating and gathering strength. Depending on whom
you believe, this transformation may have taken place in the timeless gelaterias of Bologna, where a lone genius named
Luciano Rabboni perfected the formula for yogurt-flavor gelato. (This is the Pinkberry creation legend.) Or it was bubbling up in the nascent youth-pop culture of Seoul, where the possibility of health benefits often fuels unstoppable food
trends (Red Mango).
But that perfect churn of air and water, cream and tang, sweet and sour is elusive, and subjective. Some like it
fluffy; others, dense. Some find the tang of Pinkberry excessive, even aggressive; others say that yogurt without tang is
just low-fat ice cream. The taste of a good plain yogurt is full of lactic acid, a natural byproduct of fermentation that
also gives depth to the flavors of foods like Parmesan cheese and prosciutto. Some of the newfangled yogurts also add
citric acid for flavor, lending a bright lemony flavor that is very appealing on top of the sweetness, dairy and lactic tang.
Pinkberry's yogurt is certainly more sour than that of Red Mango, but beyond that the distinctions become arcane,
and often bogged down in calorie-counting, the odd flavors of sugar substitutes, and obscure health claims. (Red Mango boasts that there are more than 400 million live cultures in each gram; Yogurberry says that its yogurt has the lowest
glycemic index on the block.)
''Ultimately, it has to be about the taste of yogurt,'' said Mr. Lee of Pinkberry's recipe for success. ''If the product
didn't back it up, Pinkberry would just be a furniture showroom.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: FROZEN FOODS (90%); DAIRY PRODUCTS (90%); RETAILERS (77%); ASIAN AMERICANS
(77%); INTERNET & WWW (71%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (62%)
COMPANY: CNINSURE INC (60%)
TICKER: CISG (NASDAQ) (60%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (93%); SAN DIEGO, CA, USA (79%) NEW YORK, USA (94%); CALIFORNIA, USA (92%) UNITED STATES (94%); NORTH AMERICA (79%); MALAYSIA (79%); NORTHERN
ASIA (79%); CHINA (79%)
LOAD-DATE: February 27, 2008
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The Legions Of Frozen Yogurt Push East The New York Times February 27, 2008 Wednesday
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: MULTIPLE SWIRLS: Malaika Tapper, above left, and Devon Donahue dig in at Red Mango in
Greenwich Village. At eks in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, left and top left, the frozen yogurt is made from scratch. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY TONY CENICOLA/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1041 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 26, 2008 Tuesday
Late Edition - Final
Mergers In a Time Of Bears
BYLINE: By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN.
The latest news on mergers and acquisitions can be found at nytimes.com/dealbook.
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; DEALBOOK; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1019 words
Most mergers fail.
If that's not a bona fide fact, plenty of smart people think it is. McKinsey & Company says it's true. Harvard, too.
Booz Allen Hamilton, KPMG, A. T. Kearney -- the list goes on. If a deal enriches an acquirer's shareholders, the statistics say, it is probably an accident.
But a new study puts a twist on the conventional wisdom. It's not that all deals fail. It's just that timing appears to
be everything. Deals made at the very beginning of a merger cycle regularly succeed. It's the rest that fall flat.
The study, published in this month's Academy of Management Journal, found that deals struck in the first 15 percent of a consolidation wave tend to do well, at least measured by the acquirers' share performance against that of the
broad market. The duds come later, when copycats jump on the bandwagon. Even in the merger game, there's a firstmover advantage.
The problem is that most C.E.O.'s don't have the guts to make acquisitions when everyone is running scared. That
is usually during a volatile market -- like the one we're living in right now. Which is exactly the wrong approach.
Notwithstanding Microsoft's $44.6 billion takeover bid for Yahoo or Electronic Arts' $2 billion offer for TakeTwo Interactive, 2008 is going to be an abysmal year for deal-making. Volume in mergers and acquisitions has plummeted 37 percent this year in the United States, according to Dealogic. (Factor out Microsoft-Yahoo and the drop is a
whopping 56 percent.) That's partly a result of the private equity folks' being taken out of the equation because of the
credit crisis. But it is also because C.E.O.'s and boards become paralyzed when the markets turn turbulent. Instead of
making investments, they hunker down and focus on putting their houses in order. Remember those pundits who said
corporations would fill the void left by private equity? They were wrong -- only they shouldn't have been.
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Mergers In a Time Of Bears The New York Times February 26, 2008 Tuesday
Baron Philippe de Rothschild, ever an opportunist, is said to have advised, ''Buy when there's blood in the streets.''
Investors like Warren Buffett do just that all the time. Hedge funds have been set up specifically to take advantage of
carnage in the markets.
But for some inexplicable reason, many corporate C.E.O.'s can't seem to stomach making a big deal when the going gets tough.
It all makes sense to Gerry McNamara, Bernadine Johnson Dykes and John Haleblian, the professors behind the
study, entitled ''The Performance Implications of Participating in an Acquisition Wave.'' The study examined 3,194 public companies that purchased other companies during acquisition waves between 1984 and 2004.
''Our findings suggest that the market rewards executives who perceive opportunities early, scan the environment
for targets and move before others in their industry,'' said Mr. McNamara, a professor at Michigan State University.
''Conversely, the market severely punishes followers, those firms that merely imitate the moves of early participants in
the wave, who jump on the acquisition bandwagon largely because of pressures created by competitors. Such companies
typically lose significant stock value.''
Take the telecommunications industry. AT&T's acquisition of Cingular (now AT&T Wireless), which was announced in February 2004, has turned out to be an unqualified winner. But the merger of Sprint and Nextel, unveiled 11
months later, was and is a disaster.
The numbers tell the story. Early movers -- companies that made acquisitions in the beginning of a consolidation
wave within their industry -- found their stock up, on average 4 percent relative to where the shares would ordinarily
trade, according to the study. Shares of latecomers, who bought at the end of a wave, fell by an average of 3 percent
during that time. Of course, at the end of every wave there are bigger and more deals. After all, stocks are usually up,
and so is boardroom confidence (read: exuberance). ''There's a social pressure,'' Mr. McNamara said. ''They like to be in
the herd.''
How do you define a consolidation wave? The professors looked at 12 industries over the 20-year period. To qualify as a wave, merger activity had to show a pattern in which the peak year had ''a greater than 100 percent increase
from the first year followed by a decline in acquisition activity of greater than 50 percent from the peak year.'' Waves
were as long as six years for some industries.
By the way, serial acquirers like General Electric don't seem to surf through consolidation waves. Companies that
''undertake acquisitions on a regular basis as part of their core business routines'' are less likely, the study finds, ''to either seize early-mover benefits or suffer from the costs associated with bandwagon pressures.''
There are a couple of caveats to the study. The professors measured the acquirers' stock appreciation or deprecation by using a fancy calculation of what they call ''abnormal returns,'' which examined share prices five days before the
announcement of the acquisition and prices 15 days later. The math is complicated, but they say the ''abnormal return'' is
predictive of stock performance in the future. Of course, critics could argue the study doesn't measure a long enough
period after a deal is made.
Nonetheless, the point is clear: C.E.O.'s should stop being such scaredy-cats. While everyone else is battening
down the hatches, go make a deal. The wave is just starting.
Addendum
I wrote on Feb. 12 that Michael S. Gross had 14 days to spend $300 million on acquisitions for his ''blank check''
company, or special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
Well, the deadline was Monday, and Mr. Gross beat it -- sort of. His company, Marathon Acquisitions, announced
last Thursday that it had signed a letter of intent to make an acquisition, but it refused to say what exactly it was buying.
The news leaves investors with more questions than answers. And unfortunately for other entrepreneurs trying to
clinch deals via such ''blank check companies,'' it makes SPACs even more dubious.
Mr. Gross now has until Aug. 30 to complete his mystery deal.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
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Mergers In a Time Of Bears The New York Times February 26, 2008 Tuesday
SUBJECT: MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS (78%); RESEARCH REPORTS (90%); TAKEOVERS (78%); SHAREHOLDERS (73%); PRIVATE EQUITY (68%); HEDGE FUNDS (50%); MERGERS (90%); CREDIT CRISIS (63%)
COMPANY: MCKINSEY & CO (91%); MICROSOFT CORP (54%); TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE
INC (54%); BARON PHILIPPE DE ROTHSCHILD SA (52%); ELECTRONIC ARTS INC (54%)
ORGANIZATION: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT (56%)
TICKER: MSFT (NASDAQ) (54%); TTWO (NASDAQ) (54%); ERTS (NASDAQ) (54%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (54%); SIC7372 PREPACKAGED SOFTWARE (54%);
SIC5182 WINE & DISTILLED ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES (52%)
PERSON: WARREN BUFFETT (51%); MICHAEL MCMAHON (55%)
GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (79%)
LOAD-DATE: February 26, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1042 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 26, 2008 Tuesday
Late Edition - Final
Cochlear Implant Supports an Author's Active Life
BYLINE: By JANE E. BRODY
SECTION: Section F; Column 0; Science Desk; Pg. 7
LENGTH: 1195 words
Josh Swiller was 22 and profoundly deaf when he applied to the Peace Corps in search of adventure. And indeed,
adventure he found. His experiences in Zambia are eloquently recounted in his hard-to-put-down memoir of deafness
and Africa, ''The Unheard'' (Holt, 2007).
But how could someone so hard of hearing get into the Peace Corps, let alone learn a foreign language and communicate in it? Mr. Swiller told me he had no problem with the interview, which was conducted one-on-one in a quiet
room, enabling him to hear and to read lips. Through the devoted efforts of an audiologist and his mother, he could
speak nearly as well as a normal-hearing person. And he did not have a problem learning the language of Zambia.
''I was so used to paying close attention when other people spoke,'' Mr. Swiller recalled in an interview. ''I was
used to asking people to repeat themselves.''
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Cochlear Implant Supports an Author's Active Life The New York Times February 26, 2008 Tuesday
He added: ''Being deaf and having three brothers, one of whom is also deaf, I learned how to communicate without language. I could conduct conversations when I understood only a few words in each sentence.''
That was remarkable in itself. But far more remarkable is that the interview with me was conducted over the telephone, something Mr. Swiller, 37, could not have done three years ago. In 2005, he and his brother underwent lifechanging surgery, substituting a cochlear implant for the hearing aids that were no longer working for them.
''Thirty years of amplified sound had worn out our ears,'' he explained. ''In most people with sensorineural hearing
loss, their hearing gets worse with time and they need stronger and stronger amplification. We started getting terrible
headaches all the time, and I finally had to stop using the aids altogether.''
Opened a 'Whole New World'
During those two soundless years, Mr. Swiller, who was fluent in sign language, attended the Lexington School
for the Deaf, in Jackson Heights, Queens, and the League for the Hard of Hearing, in Manhattan, and earned a master's
degree in social work. He now works part-time as a hospice social worker, a job he could not have held before the implant because it involves talking to sick people and lots of time on the telephone. His brother, now married and a real
estate entrepreneur, does much of his work through conference calls.
''The implant opened up a whole new world for me,'' a world that now includes a normal-hearing girlfriend who
mumbles, Mr. Swiller said, laughing.
With the implant, Mr. Swiller's hearing went from 25 percent to 100 percent. The deafness inherited by Mr. Swiller, his brother and one of their first cousins is caused by an autosomal recessive mutation in a gene called connexion 26,
the most common cause of sensorineural deafness in children.
Sensorineural hearing loss affects one to three of every thousand children born in developed countries, according
to a report in the Dec. 6 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. Hearing aids are helpful when the deficit is
mild to moderate, but are less effective or ineffective when hearing loss is severe.
Candidates for cochlear implants have severe sensorineural hearing loss in both ears but still have a healthy auditory nerve. A tiny microphone worn behind the ear picks up and amplifies noises filtered through a sound processor that
gives priority to speech. The resulting signals are sent electromagnetically to a receiver and stimulator implanted under
the skin. The signals are converted to electrical impulses and sent to the brain via the auditory nerve.
At least one company, Otologics, has developed a cochlear implant that is placed entirely under the skin, but it is
not yet approved for use in the United States. Mr. Swiller sees some advantages to the external receiver, which, for example, is easily removed for showering or swimming. ''One of my favorite things is the ability to turn it off,'' he said.
''On the subway, it's off.''
Mr. Swiller explained that the device also has built-in flexibility with four different programs, each with its own
volume and sensitivity control: ''In addition to the base program, one makes speech frequencies louder, which is useful
at a lecture or a meeting at work; another turns off all the microphones except the one picking up the voice of the person
I'm looking at, which makes it easier to hear in a noisy environment; and a fourth cuts the microphone pickup to a threeto-four-foot radius.''
''My hearing is so many light-years better than I ever could have imagined -- it's a miracle,'' Mr. Swiller said.
''Before the implant, I couldn't talk on the phone, I couldn't have a conversation. It was very frustrating to be in the
world and not in the world, watching people talking and not being able to follow what they were saying.''
Not an Easy Decision
Some deaf people are opposed to cochlear implants, because they regard the world of the deaf as a community,
which they believe that implants threaten. They also point out that the devices are still being perfected.
Nonetheless, Mr. Swiller says based on his experience, ''a small child with severe hearing loss should be implanted as soon as possible. Sign language can be learned down the road, but not English. It's a no-brainer to me if you want
the child to succeed in a hearing world.''
Mr. Swiller recalled meeting a deaf high school girl who received the implants at age 2. He said she was doing
well academically, captain of her basketball team and confident in social situations. Because of cochlear implants, he
said, deaf schools around the country are rapidly losing enrollment.
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Cochlear Implant Supports an Author's Active Life The New York Times February 26, 2008 Tuesday
Before his surgery, Mr. Swiller did a lot of homework. He read ''Rebuilt,'' a book by Michael Chorost about his
experience with an implant. He also attended a support group at the League for the Hard of Hearing where people with
implants spoke positively about them. Still, after much testing for eligibility and deciding to get the implant, Mr. Swiller
said he had to wait several months to be sure he would not change his mind. Then a month of healing followed the surgery before the device was turned on.
''The first week was a real disappointment,'' Mr. Swiller recalled. ''All I heard was nonsense. My brain was like a
muscle that needed to be strengthened and increase its tolerance for this new stimulus.''
''The first sound I heard was 'sh' -- I'd never heard that or 's' before,'' he continued. ''Then one day, I passed someone on the street talking on a cellphone, and I heard everything she said crystal clear. That had never happened before - hearing something when I was not paying attention to the sound. I can now hear conversations from another room;
before I couldn't hear distant speech at all.''
Mr. Swiller's surgeon, Dr. J. Thomas Roland Jr., co-director of the cochlear implant center at New York University, said in an interview that universal screening of newborns had made it possible to detect deafness by one month of
age, making cochlear implantation in infants one of the latest trends. Other trends are getting implants in both ears and
implanting older adults -- including those over 70 -- for whom hearing aids are no longer adequate.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: DEAFNESS (92%); INTERVIEWS (90%); MEDICAL DEVICES (89%); FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION (89%); HEARING AIDS (89%); DISABLED PERSONS (89%); DISEASES & DISORDERS (77%); LANGUAGE & LANGUAGES (76%); AUDIOLOGY (73%); REAL ESTATE (50%)
ORGANIZATION: PEACE CORPS (91%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (67%) NEW YORK, USA (67%) ZAMBIA (93%); AFRICA (90%);
UNITED STATES (67%)
TITLE: Unheard, The (Book)>; Unheard, The (Book)>
LOAD-DATE: February 26, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: DRAWING (DRAWING BY STUART BRADFORD)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1043 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 25, 2008 Monday
Late Edition - Final
On the Internet, Everyone Can Hear You Complain
BYLINE: By DAN FOST
Page 97
On the Internet, Everyone Can Hear You Complain The New York Times February 25, 2008 Monday
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 732 words
A San Francisco start-up called Get Satisfaction is the latest online ombudsman to try to mediate customer service
complaints.
Get Satisfaction allows people to post feedback about their experiences with any company they choose, and it encourages companies to visit its site, www.getsatisfaction.com, to respond publicly. Since September, when the site began, people have posted complaints or comments regarding 2,000 companies, and 40 percent of the companies have
answered, at no charge to either side.
The Internet is rife with sounding boards for the disgruntled, who have their choice of blogs, sound-off sites like
Yelp and Epinions, and dedicated customer service sites like Get Satisfaction, PlanetFeedback and Complaints.com.
All this venting can bring about some productive results -- happier customers, resolved disputes -- but it remains
to be seen whether the sites that serve as intermediaries can actually turn a decent profit.
Complaints.com and PlanetFeedback make money from advertisements; the founder of PlanetFeedback, Pete
Blackshaw, said in an interview that he made little money from the site but ran it mainly as a hobby. Matthew Smith,
the founder of Complaints.com, said his site was profitable, but would not offer specifics.
Get Satisfaction, which is backed by venture capital and aims one day to be financially stable, has little if any revenue and has not decided if it will sell ads; rather, its goal is to persuade companies to buy the software it has developed.
The software helps companies communicate with customers. It also organizes data about the people talking about their
products and what they are saying.
For now, companies that want to use Get Satisfaction can grab a free application, or widget, from its Web site and
put it on their own sites. The software code in the widget then directs customers to the dialogue on Get Satisfaction. As
with many start-ups, Get Satisfaction hopes to build an audience first and make money later.
The company asserts that the Internet can lead to better customer service dialogue -- if people make reasonable
complaints, customers can help one another solve problems. It can also make companies more open to acknowledging
their mistakes and to fixing them.
''We want to create a Switzerland for companies and customers, with specific tools that allow people to get answers to their questions,'' said Thor Muller, Get Satisfaction's chief executive. ''We want the best answers to rise to the
top, and not get buried in online discussion forums.''
Mr. Muller is a serial entrepreneur who had run a Web design company, Rubyred Labs, with his wife, Amy, as a
partner. They started Get Satisfaction last year with $1.3 million in venture capital from First Round Capital and O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. The company was originally named Satisfaction Unlimited but is changing the name to match
the Web address.
The first companies to respond to customers on the site are typically tech-oriented -- like Twitter, the instant
messaging service, and PBwiki, a collaborative software maker -- but the site aims to serve a broad realm of consumer
products. One early user is Timbuk2 Designs, which makes bags and briefcases.
''There were a lot of conversations going on outside of Timbuk2, on student blogs and other sites,'' said Patti Roll,
director for marketing at Timbuk2. ''Get Satisfaction is a way for us to aggregate that into a format that's easy to utilize.''
One Timbuk2 customer went to Get Satisfaction to complain about his effort to cancel an order for a custom-made
bag. By the time he canceled, the bag had already been made.
''Another person, not an employee, responded first,'' Ms. Roll said. ''They said, 'You're complaining that the service was so fast that they made your custom bag so quickly?' It's exactly what we were hoping to see -- customers
communicating with customers. That's really rich.'' Ultimately, she said, Timbuk2 waived its policy and returned the
customer's money, giving the bag to charity.
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On the Internet, Everyone Can Hear You Complain The New York Times February 25, 2008 Monday
Many people who study the business world say that companies need to be responsive to the new freewheeling discussions that consumers generate online. The risk, said Priya Raghubir, a professor at the University of California,
Berkeley, was that ''by not engaging consumers in this environment, the mere fact you haven't engaged them becomes
public knowledge.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: CUSTOMER SERVICE (90%); INTERNET & WWW (90%); VENTURE CAPITAL (89%); BLOGS &
MESSAGE BOARDS (78%); INTERVIEWS (78%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (78%); WEB SITES (77%); WEB
DEVELOPMENT (72%); COMPUTER SOFTWARE (89%)
LOAD-DATE: February 25, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Thor Muller, left, chief executive and a co-founder of the start-up company Get Satisfaction, and
Lane Becker, a co-founder. (PHOTOGRAPH BY THOR SWIFT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1044 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 25, 2008 Monday
Late Edition - Final
RISING INFLATION PROMPTS UNEASE IN MIDDLE EAST
BYLINE: By ROBERT F. WORTH; Nawara Mahfoud contributed reporting from Damascus, Syria.
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Foreign Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1413 words
DATELINE: AMMAN, Jordan
Even as it enriches Arab rulers, the recent oil-price boom is helping to fuel an extraordinary rise in the cost of food
and other basic goods that is squeezing this region's middle class and setting off strikes, demonstrations and occasional
riots from Morocco to the Persian Gulf.
Here in Jordan, the cost of maintaining fuel subsidies amid the surge in prices forced the government to remove
almost all the subsidies this month, sending the price of some fuels up 76 percent overnight. In a devastating domino
effect, the cost of basic foods like eggs, potatoes and cucumbers doubled or more.
In Saudi Arabia, where inflation had been virtually zero for a decade, it recently reached an official level of 6.5
percent, though unofficial estimates put it much higher. Public protests and boycotts have followed, and 19 prominent
clerics posted an unusual statement on the Internet in December warning of a crisis that would cause ''theft, cheating,
armed robbery and resentment between rich and poor.''
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RISING INFLATION PROMPTS UNEASE IN MIDDLE EAST The New York Times February 25, 2008 Monday
The inflation has many causes, from rising global demand for commodities to the monetary constraints of currencies pegged to the weakening American dollar. But one cause is the skyrocketing price of oil itself, which has quadrupled since 2002. It is helping push many ordinary people toward poverty even as it stimulates a new surge of economic
growth in the gulf.
''Now we have to choose: we either eat or stay warm. We can't do both,'' said Abdul Rahman Abdul Raheem, who
works at a clothing shop in a mall in Amman and once dreamed of sending his children to private school. ''We're not
really middle class anymore; we're at the poverty level.''
Some governments have tried to soften the impact of high prices by increasing wages or subsidies on foods. Jordan, for instance, has raised the wages of public-sector employees earning less than 300 dinars ($423) a month by 50
dinars ($70). For those earning more than 300 dinars, the raise was 45 dinars, or $64. But that compensates for only a
fraction of the price increases, and most people who work in the private sector get no such relief.
The fact that the inflation is coinciding with new oil wealth has fed perceptions of corruption and economic injustice, some analysts say.
''About two-thirds of Jordanians now believe there is widespread corruption in the public and private sector,'' said
Mohammed al-Masri, the public opinion director at the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan. ''The
middle class is less and less able to afford what they used to, and more and more suspicious.''
In a few places the price increases have led to violence. In Yemen, prices for bread and other foods have nearly
doubled in the past four months, setting off a string of demonstrations and riots in which at least a dozen people were
killed. In Morocco, 34 people were sentenced to prison on Wednesday for participating in riots over food prices, the
Moroccan state news service reported. Even tightly controlled Jordan has had nonviolent demonstrations and strikes.
Inflation was also a factor -- often overlooked -- in some recent clashes that were seen as political or sectarian. A
confrontation in Beirut between Lebanese Army soldiers and a group of Shiite protesters that left seven people dead
started with demonstrations over power cuts and rising bread prices.
In Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, inflation is in the double digits, and foreign workers, who constitute a
vast majority of the work force, have gone on strike in recent months because of the declining purchasing power of the
money they send home. The workers are paid in currencies that are pegged to the dollar, and the value of their salaries -translated into Indian rupees and other currencies -- has dropped significantly.
The Middle East's heavy reliance on food imports has made it especially vulnerable to the global rise in commodity prices over the past year, said George T. Abed, the former governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority and a director at the Institute of International Finance, an organization based in Washington.
Corruption, inefficiency and monopolistic economies worsen the impact, as government officials or business
owners artificially inflate prices or take a cut of such increases.
''For many basic products, we don't have free market prices, we have monopoly prices,'' said Samer Tawil, a former minister of national economy in Jordan. ''Oil, cement, rice, meat, sugar: these are all imported almost exclusively
by one importer each here. Corruption is one thing when it's about building a road, but when it affects my food, that's
different.''
In the oil-producing gulf countries, governments that are flush with oil money can soften the blow by spending
more. The United Arab Emirates increased the salaries of public sector employees by 70 percent this month; Oman
raised them 43 percent. Saudi Arabia also raised wages and increased subsidies on some foods. Bahrain set up a $100
million fund to be distributed this year to people most affected by rising prices. But all this government spending has
the unfortunate side effect of worsening inflation, economists say.
Countries with less oil to sell do not have the same options.
In Syria, where oil production is drying up, prices have also risen sharply. Although it has begun to liberalize its
rigid socialist economy, the government has repeatedly put off plans to eliminate the subsidies that keep prices artificially low for its citizens, fearing domestic reprisals.
Even so, the inflation of the past few months has taken a toll on all but the rich.
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RISING INFLATION PROMPTS UNEASE IN MIDDLE EAST The New York Times February 25, 2008 Monday
Thou al-Fakar Hammad, an employee in the contracts office of the Syrian state oil company, has a law degree and
earns just less than 15,000 Syrian pounds, or $293, a month, twice the average national wage. His salary was once more
than adequate, and until recently he sent half of it to his parents.
But rising prices have changed all that, he said. Now he has taken a second job teaching Arabic on weekends to
help support his wife and young child. Unable to buy a car, he takes public buses from his two-room apartment just outside Damascus to work. He can afford the better quality diapers for his son to wear only at night and resorts to cheaper
ones during the day. He cannot send anything to his parents.
''I have to live day to day,'' he said. ''I can't budget for everything because, should my child get sick, I'd spend a lot
of what I earn on medication for him.''
At the same time, a new class of entrepreneurs, most of them with links to the government, has built gaudy mansions and helped transform Damascus, the Syrian capital, with glamorous new restaurants and cafes. That has helped
fuel a perception of corruption and unfairness, analysts say. On Wednesday the state-owned newspaper Al Thawra published a poll that found that 450 of 452 Syrians believed that their state institutions were riddled with corruption.
''Many people believe that most of the government's economic policies are adopted to suit the interests of the newly emerging Syrian aristocracy, while disregarding the interests of the poor and lower middle class,'' said Marwan alKabalan, a political science professor at Damascus University.
The same attitudes are visible in Jordan. Even before the subsidies on fuel were removed this month, inflation had
badly eroded the average family's earning power over the past five years, said Mr. Tawil, the former economic minister.
Although the official inflation rate for 2007 was 5.4 percent, government studies have shown that middle-income families are spending far more on food and consuming less, he added. Last year a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit
found that Amman was the most expensive Arab capital in cost of living.
Mr. Abdul Raheem, the clothing store employee in Amman, said, ''No one can be in the government now and be
clean.''
Meanwhile, his own life has been transformed, Mr. Abdul Raheem said. He ticked off a list of prices: potatoes
have jumped to about 76 cents a pound from 32 cents. A carton of 30 eggs went to nearly $4.25 from just above $2;
cucumbers rose to 58 cents a pound from about 22. All this in a matter of weeks.
''These were always the basics,'' he said. ''Now they're luxuries.''
With a salary equivalent to $423 and rent at $176, paying for food and fuel exhausts his income, he said. ''But we
are much better off than others,'' he added. ''We are the average.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: INFLATION (92%); ECONOMIC NEWS (92%); FOOD PRICES (90%); OIL & GAS PRICES (90%);
PRICE INCREASES (90%); PRICE CHANGES (89%); WAGES & SALARIES (85%); ECONOMIC GROWTH
(78%); EMERGING MARKETS (77%); BOYCOTTS (77%); PROTESTS & DEMONSTRATIONS (77%); ROBBERY (76%); POOR POPULATION (76%); RIOTS (72%); CURRENCIES (66%); ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
(65%); PRIVATE SCHOOLS (64%); RESEARCH INSTITUTES (60%); CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES STORES
(50%); POVERTY RATES (75%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (66%)
GEOGRAPHIC: AMMAN, JORDAN (91%) INDIAN OCEAN (92%) JORDAN (93%); GULF STATES (92%);
MOROCCO (92%); MIDDLE EAST (92%); YEMEN (79%); SAUDI ARABIA (79%)
LOAD-DATE: February 25, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: Many in Jordan are feeling the squeeze of higher prices. At a mall in Amman, the empty aisles
reflect people's inability to spend.
Page 101
RISING INFLATION PROMPTS UNEASE IN MIDDLE EAST The New York Times February 25, 2008 Monday
The cost of many basic foods, like at this market in Amman, has doubled. Some in the middle class are tilting toward
poverty.(PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRYAN DENTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)(pg. A8)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1045 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 25, 2008 Monday
Late Edition - Final
A Tale of Race and Family And a $10,000 Question
BYLINE: By GINIA BELLAFANTE
SECTION: Section E; Column 0; The Arts/Cultural Desk; TELEVISION REVIEW 'A RAISIN IN THE SUN'; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 565 words
''A Raisin in the Sun,'' which plays Monday night on ABC, is a cleanser for selves soiled by a thousand ''Millionaire
Matchmakers.'' It is a noble enterprise never dulled by its good intentions. Starring core members of the cast of the 2004
Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 play, the television adaptation offers polish and feeling, grievance and
gut. It moves and it sings, even if the gifted Broadway musical star Audra McDonald, who appears as Ruth Younger,
doesn't ever actually get to hit a note.
Ms. Hansberry's play, the subject of many revivals over the years, never belonged to the literary category James
Baldwin once derided as ''protest fiction.'' It is a race play that exists as a quiet treatise on the economies of loss, asking
us to think less about the broad offenses of prejudice and more about the value of familial identity and obligation.
The best plays of the 1950s turned the concept of family into a tragic affair. Individuality and rebellion were expressions of courage. ''A Raisin in the Sun'' instead made a novel case for a certain kind of conformity that transcends its
racial theme. Our bloodlines make us stronger, it says; they don't tear us apart.
''A Raisin in the Sun'' revolves around the anticipation of a $10,000 check. The Younger family, struggling and
cramped into a tiny apartment on the South Side of Chicago, is expecting an insurance annuity from the death of its patriarch. Its divergent dreams hinge on the cash. Walter Lee (Sean Combs) wants to use it to join the entrepreneurial
classes and open a liquor store. His mother, Lena (Phylicia Rashad), seeks to put her life as a domestic behind her and
provide the means to send her daughter, Beneatha (Sanaa Lathan), a sophisticate in training, to medical school.
There are no mediocre performances here. Ms. Lathan is terrific at conveying the snobbery that comes from cultural self-loathing. Beneatha doesn't simply want better things; she wants to be part of a world of bigger and better ideas. Walter, a chauffeur to a wealthy white businessman, wants to live well and be seen. That Mr. Combs makes his desires seem like more than empty materialism must come in some part from the fact that he has been hungry at the same
table.
The play's most poignant speech is his, and he delivers it with all of the dignified vengeance it demands, showing
us that one of the great advantages of money is the power it provides to tell the wrong people off. The Youngers have
bought a house in a white working-class neighborhood whose community leader, a race baiter with a briefcase (played
Page 102
A Tale of Race and Family And a $10,000 Question The New York Times February 25, 2008 Monday
by a perfectly smarmy John Stamos) seeks to buy them out and retain the demographics. Walter is commendable and
Mr. Combs commanding and fierce.
A RAISIN IN THE SUN
ABC, Monday night at 8, Eastern and Pacific times; 7, Central time.
Directed by Kenny Leon; John M. Eckert, producer; Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Sean Combs, Carl Rumbaugh, Susan Batson and David Binder, executive producers; teleplay by Paris Qualles; music by Mervyn Warren; edited by
Melissa Kent. Based on the play by Lorraine Hansberry.
WITH: Sean Combs (Walter Lee Jr.), Phylicia Rashad (Lena Younger), Audra McDonald (Ruth), Sanaa Lathan
(Beneatha), John Stamos (Mr. Lindner), Justin Martin (Travis), Sean Patrick Thomas (George Murchison), David
Oyelowo (Joseph Asagai), Bill Nunn (Bobo) and Ron Cephas Jones (Willy Harris).
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: THEATER & DRAMA (90%); WEALTHY PEOPLE (89%); MUSICAL THEATER (72%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (72%); BEER WINE & LIQUOR STORES (50%)
PERSON: SEAN (DIDDY) COMBS (53%)
TITLE: Raisin in the Sun, A (TV Program)>; Raisin in the Sun, A (TV Program)>
LOAD-DATE: February 25, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Sean Combs and Phylicia Rashad in ''A Raisin in the Sun.'' (PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER
STRANKS/ABC)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Review
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1046 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 25, 2008 Monday
Late Edition - Final
He Stomps Like Godzilla, Stings Like a... Don't Ask
BYLINE: By JANET MASLIN
SECTION: Section E; Column 0; Arts and Leisure Desk; BOOKS OF THE TIMES; Pg. 10
LENGTH: 964 words
Page 103
He Stomps Like Godzilla, Stings Like a... Don't Ask The New York Times February 25, 2008 Monday
In ''Monster, 1959'' David Maine invites readers into the pea-sized brain of a 40-foot ''monstrous smorgasbord''
known as K. Described as ''something to cause Darwin to burn his notebooks and run shrieking to the nearest monastery,'' K. lacks lips but is a kissing cousin to Godzilla. He is a hapless, guileless, rampaging creature straight out of Bmovie science fiction. In light of Mr. Maine's flair for domesticating larger-than-life subject matter, his new book's
premise seems hard to resist.
Mr. Maine's three previous novels, particularly his dazzling ''Fallen,'' (a reverse-chronological account of Cain,
Abel, Adam and Eve), were extrapolated from Bible stories. This time, with reference points like the 1958 film ''The
Wild Women of Wongo,'' he appears to be working in a lighter vein. He has concocted a sly, minimalist pastiche of
monster-movie cliches, rendering them with perfect mimickry. (''That thing's got Betty!'') But ''Monster, 1959'' sometimes switches directions and stumbles toward the political allegory that is part of even the campiest ''Godzilla''-era
monster tales. At these moments it stomps with the heavy, seven-toed tread of its title character.
For the record, K. is a visual wonder: huge, antennaed, partly furry, partly red-feathered and equipped with blackveined yellow butterfly wings. He lives on an island somewhere in the South Pacific. ''Around K. the jungle scampers
with life,'' writes Mr. Maine, nicely setting this scene. ''Most of it is engaged in a single activity: running away from
him.'' Like the local mole people, he is a by-product of American nuclear tests conducted in this remote region.
Enter the humans. They are all stock characters, starting with blond, white Betty, who becomes one of the book's
running jokes. ''Where the hell's Betty?'' the book's other little people have a way of asking, because Betty often seems
to be in K.'s gigantic clutches. And K., of course, is in Betty's thrall. ''He calms down when you sing to him,'' Betty confides, once she and the monster have developed a rapport.
Betty is accompanied by her new husband, the stalwart Johnny, a safari leader who exudes manly reassurance.
(''Trust me, Betty. The nightmare's over.'') Their party also includes a crass entrepreneurial type named Billy, who will
eventually provide the book with its most crude display of American capitalism run amok. And the group includes
Cooke, the guide who is on the receiving end of the other characters' condescension and racism. (''Nobody's blaming
you, Coco. You're different, you're -- civilized. Not like these -- these -- savages.'') Sometimes such touches in ''Monster, 1959'' are deft, since they are indigenous to K.'s native movie genre.
After plot complications involving a native tribe, a big banquet and drugged wine, the visiting adventurers find
themselves in peril. So does K. Despite conflicts with an enemy like ''K.'s rival, the flying-reptile-dragon-dinosaureagle,'' the embattled creature has never had to give much thought to strategy. ''His conscious mind, such as it is, is taken up with the more pressing demands of Existence 101,'' Mr. Maine writes, adding a parenthetical illustration: ''(Broken bones take longer to heal when the patient is starving to death. Discuss.'') Meanwhile, off the island's coast, a boat
called the Ocean Princess stands ready to transport the captured behemoth to his new life. He will be turned into an
American circus attraction.
In a book that begins in 1955 and delineates each separate year's section as a film reel, the narrative lumbers toward a dramatic climax in 1959. At the end of that year, in New York City, K.'s story takes a cataclysmic turn. ''The
lame don't walk and the blind don't see, but it's close, it's close,'' Mr. Maine writes about the way a huge, destructive
beast affects the city's civilian population. Yet something positive awaits K., even in the midst of this meltdown. Out in
New York Harbor stands a huge green female to catch his eye.
It's not hard to grasp Mr. Maine's meaning when he gets to the Statue of Liberty. ''In the black night she glows
green, like something irradiated or unhealthy, like one of Marie Curie's nightmares,'' he writes. ''Like a refugee from
Bikini Atoll, or White Sands, or Nagasaki.'' And K., unlike the ''Godzilla''-era monsters who ravaged Japan, is in Manhattan to meet her.
Instead of leaving his readers to connect allegorical dots, Mr. Maine finally spells out his story's specific implications. In the course of the story he connects the captive K. to political prisoners, including Mohammed Mossadegh, the
Iranian Prime Minister deposed in a C.I.A.-backed coup in 1953, and Nelson Mandela, imprisoned a decade later in
South Africa. But ''Monster, 1959'' saves its greatest venom for Zionism. It equates K.'s ouster from his homeland with
the creation of Israel and the plight of Palestinian refugees, using statements from Golda Meir, David Ben-Gurion and
Winston Churchill to bolster its argument.
For a writer who, in earlier books, took on Biblical subjects with such temerity, Mr. Maine works much less confidently this time. His equation of lovably cheap cinema with political outrage is, even at the simplest stylistic level,
glaringly imbalanced. Shifting its tone from K.'s benighted obliviousness to omniscient sarcasm, the book burdens a
fragile, satirical structure with the weight of serious grievances on many subjects.
Page 104
He Stomps Like Godzilla, Stings Like a... Don't Ask The New York Times February 25, 2008 Monday
A campy 1950s sensibility becomes an umbrella excuse for folding racism, imperialism, the Cold War and IsraeliPalestinian strife into a book that roams confusedly all over the map. And Mr. Maine, ordinarily so much subtler a writer, creates a monster in more ways than one.
MONSTER, 1959
By David Maine
244 pp. St. Martin's Press. $23.95.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: HORROR FILMS (78%); NOVELS & SHORT STORIES (78%); SCIENCE FICTION LITERATURE
(76%); WRITERS & WRITING (76%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (60%)
GEOGRAPHIC: PACIFIC OCEAN (68%)
TITLE: Monster, 1959 (Book)>
LOAD-DATE: February 26, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO (PHOTOGRAPH BY UZMA ASLAM KHAN)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Review
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1047 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 24, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Amsterdam Tries Upscale Fix for Red-Light District Crime
BYLINE: By MARLISE SIMONS
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Foreign Desk; Pg. 10
LENGTH: 1370 words
DATELINE: AMSTERDAM
Some of the most visited brothels in Amsterdam's red-light district have gained unexpected new neighbors.
Page 105
Amsterdam Tries Upscale Fix for Red-Light District Crime The New York Times February 24, 2008 Sunday
For years, the brothels' large street-side windows have showcased women of all races, wearing minute bits of
clothing as they preened and beckoned customers. But in some windows, women have recently been replaced by plastic
mannequins in designer clothes.
What may appear to be a new form of street theater is, instead, the most visible sign of an ambitious new gentrification plan that may take years to complete. The city council has voted to clean up the historic but notorious district,
which has become bloated with expanding sleaze. The city is buying up brothels, and it has lent the first 18 windows
and boudoirs for one year to young designers and photographers.
The elders of the Dutch capital, long known for its broad-mindedness, insist they have not been seized by a wave
of prudishness. They say there is new evidence that criminal gangs, including East Europeans and Russians, have encroached on the area, making it meaner, more violent and more in the grip of the underworld of international sex traffickers.
It is not that city officials believe the sex trade here was ever benign. But the business has expanded rapidly and,
along with violence, it has spawned cheap hotels, gaudy souvenir shops and greasy snack bars along once-elegant nearby boulevards.
''We've realized this is no longer about small-scale entrepreneurs, but that big crime organizations are involved
here in trafficking women, drugs, killings and other criminal activities,'' said Job Cohen, the mayor. ''We're not banning
prostitution, but we are cutting back on the whole circuit: the gambling halls, the pimps, the money laundering.'' The
mayor said the cleanup was possible because of tough new zoning codes. The national government has also given cities
more leeway to revoke licenses.
By official estimates, sexual transactions alone yield about $100 million per year. But city planners hope they can
reduce the smut and attract art galleries, boutiques, upscale restaurants and hotels to the city's oldest quarter, valuable
real estate that is home to seven medieval churches and hundreds of historic buildings.
Once, prostitution was confined to a small area near the port. The brothels were usually run by older women who
had retired from the trade. But a report prepared for the mayor's office last year said that in the past 20 years, power had
shifted from madams to Dutch and Eastern European pimps. Tourism, the spread of pornography and changing mores
also worked to turn the old center into a vast, lewd bazaar.
On most days the district, covering less than half a square mile, has a parade of men moving along the canals and
the alleyways, lined with peep shows, live-sex theaters, legal marijuana cafes and enough shops with erotic films and
sex toys to equip an entire battalion. Brothels were legalized in 2000, and according to city statistics, there are now 142,
with some 500 display windows for prostitutes. Many more, who work with illegal immigrants, operate around town
secretly.
The planned makeover has angered the working residents and landlords, who have enlisted lawyers and formed
action groups to defend ''the unique character'' of the neighborhood, as one of their protests said. Posters saying ''Hands
Off'' have appeared in the windows of cafes and shops.
At the Love Club Thai 21, where a quartet of Asian women were waiting for clients on a recent evening, the club's
owner, Robin Fischer, invited a journalist inside. ''Come see, we are a normal business,'' he said in his small office,
fitted with a computer, a washing machine and a row of drying towels overhead. ''We have a license. We pay taxes.''
He and his friends say city leaders are being hypocritical in demanding change in the district. ''It's the diamond
dealers, the hotel people, the banks who want to drive us away,'' he said. ''Their business isn't clean, either.''
Mr. Fischer, who has worked in the red-light district for 20 years, and two other Dutch landlords who did not want
to be identified, blame foreign pimps for ruining the atmosphere.
''The guys from Eastern Europe bring in young and frightened women; they threaten them and beat them,'' Mr.
Fischer said. ''In the old days, pimps mostly stuck to the rules, and police would warn people, like, 'Hey Jan, you're
crossing the line.' There was a kind of balance. But the local sex bosses are too old or dead or in prison, and the market
has opened up.''
In some ways, city officials concede they are having to deal with problems created by the Netherlands' own lenient policies. A parliamentary inquiry, criminologists and prostitutes' support groups have warned in recent years that
prostitution and the permissive marijuana trade were increasingly a magnet for international organized crime.
Page 106
Amsterdam Tries Upscale Fix for Red-Light District Crime The New York Times February 24, 2008 Sunday
In a report about the sex trade, Karina Schaapman, a former prostitute and now a member of the City Council, described a police face book with some 80 ''violent pimps'' of whom only 3 were Dutch-born. She said more than 75 percent of Amsterdam's 8,000 to 11,000 prostitutes, including 1,000 men, were from Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.
Mr. Cohen, the mayor, recalled that in 2000, the Dutch legalized prostitution, intending to make the sex trade
more transparent and protect women by giving them work permits. ''We realize that this hasn't worked, that trafficking
in women continues,'' he said. ''Women are now moved around more, making police work more difficult.''
A task force set up by the mayor's office, in a report last year, said that the marijuana cafes and the licensed brothels had helped generate more crime by providing legal outlets. ''The marijuana and the women have to come from
somewhere, and organized crime fills much of this demand,'' the study said. The money earned in this lucrative trade is
pumped back into the area, widening the criminal circle, it said.
Metje Blaak, who runs the Red Thread, a support group for prostitutes, said her group had mixed feelings about
the city's plans. Cutting back crime and trafficking was great, but cutting back brothels would be worse for women.
''They may end up in a back room somewhere where we can't reach them,'' she said.
While Amsterdammers could ignore the red-light district if they wanted, its problems of human trafficking and violent turf wars have become the stuff of headlines.
Last year, after several turf battles broke into gunfights, the police arrested a gang of 12 men from Turkey who
were running a prostitution ring of about 90 women from Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Germany. In February, a trial
in a Dutch court involved three Polish women who the police said had ordered the killing of their Polish pimp.
Along some alleyways like Korte Niezel and Lange Niezel, there are some signs of the new cleanup campaign.
Pierre van Rossum, the campaign's project manager, pointed to Mata Hari, a gambling palace, and to Venekamp, a
butcher shop, that had just been boarded up. ''The butcher ran a few brothel rooms on the side; he was selling cold meat
and warm flesh at the same time,'' Mr. van Rossum said.
More closings will follow as the city applies tough new zoning codes and runs tax audits. ''Right now people seem
more eager to sell rather than fight,'' he said.
On the square facing Amsterdam's oldest church, the city has just bought five buildings used as brothels. In nearby
streets it bought 18 similar buildings last year, most of which have now been lent to young designers.
Herbert van Hasselt, who heads the foundation that looks after the 14th-century church and its tombs of prominent
citizens, said he was ''looking forward to a bit more loving discipline.''
''I'm not looking for bourgeois boredom,'' he said, ''but it would be nice to see a few more regular people and some
normal restaurants here. I'm tired of the roaming drunks that urinate every night on our ancient walls.''
Mr. Cohen, the mayor, an affable former university chancellor who seems an unlikely mafia hunter, recently took
a cautious view. ''Of course it won't all become impeccable and wonderful,'' he said. ''You can't normalize this business.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: PROSTITUTION (90%); CITY GOVERNMENT (89%); RESTAURANTS (89%); CITIES (89%);
MAYORS (89%); HUMAN TRAFFICKING (78%); HISTORIC DISTRICTS & STRUCTURES (78%); ILLEGAL
PROSTITUTION (78%); RETAILERS (77%); WOMEN (77%); CITY LIFE (75%); REGIONAL & LOCAL GOVERNMENTS (75%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (75%); PHOTOGRAPHY (73%); ZONING (73%); ORGANIZED
CRIME (72%); GAMING (72%); PORNOGRAPHY & OBSCENITY (71%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (70%); CANNABIS (68%); REAL PROPERTY LAW (67%); REAL ESTATE (65%); FULL SERVICE RESTAURANTS (61%);
MONEY LAUNDERING (50%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (53%)
GEOGRAPHIC: AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS (95%) NETHERLANDS (95%); EUROPE (91%); EASTERN
EUROPE (70%)
LOAD-DATE: February 24, 2008
Page 107
Amsterdam Tries Upscale Fix for Red-Light District Crime The New York Times February 24, 2008 Sunday
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: Pedestrians passing a new clothing shop in Amsterdam's red-light district, next to a peep show.
Amsterdam is trying to curb brothels there to cut crime. Left, prostitutes in the windows of a brothel.(PHOTOGRAPHS
BY HERMAN WOUTERS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1048 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 24, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Driven to Save A Vista From LIPA Lines
BYLINE: By ROBIN FINN.
E-mail: theisland@nytimes.com
SECTION: Section LI; Column 0; Long Island Weekly Desk; THE ISLAND; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 896 words
DATELINE: Water Mill
AND now, from the man who brought us, may it R.I.P., Peconika vodka -- a vodka that has gone the way of
many of the South Fork potato fields that stoked it -- comes a nonalcoholic civic venture that Steve Abramson promises will be a visual tonic for anyone who cherishes a more pastoral Hamptons. Cost of tonic: about $10 million.
Small potatoes? Not to the Long Island Power Authority. It is installing an eight-plus-mile transmission line
through the heart of the Hamptons budgeted at $20 million, with 55 percent of the line running underground. It would
cost another $10 million, which the authority declines to cover, if the line were fully buried.
The prettier option is, according to LIPA, too pricey; Kevin Law, its president, said 85 percent of the authority's
lines are overhead for fiscal and practical reasons, and the 55/45 split on this project is ''quite defensible.'' Sensitive to
local sensitivities, even.
Mr. Abramson begs to differ and says that even if the above-ground section were not in his immediate aesthetic
purview (he lives in Water Mill) he would have a.) objected to it and b.) pushed for the same solution, a people's payment to the people's utility company to cover the cost of banishing the cables below ground.
Nongreenies may call it an expensive resolution to an invisible problem; not everybody is sentimental about the
way light refracts in a meadow. To Mr. Abramson and others, however, underground power lines represent a vistasaver for a community motivated to preserve its untarnished landscapes. They are poised to fork over millions of dollars
to the utility company -- in the form of a monthly surcharge on the bills of roughly 5,000 customers -- to spare the sky
above a four-mile stretch of road just north of Montauk Highway from being bisected by power lines. Mr. Abramson
has mobilized hundreds of neighbors for the cause.
Page 108
Driven to Save A Vista From LIPA Lines The New York Times February 24, 2008 Sunday
''Scuttlehole Road is probably one of the most beautiful vistas of land-to-sea that still remains intact out here,'' protested the artist Eric Fischl, a longtime North Haven resident, in an e-mail rumination in support of using private dollars, including his, to ensure that the lines are buried and the skies left pristine. Who would want to paint, or meditate,
beneath gargantuan power lines?
''In some ways burying the LIPA cables is a no-brainer,'' wrote Mr. Fischl's wife, the artist April Gornik, in a separate missive.
The trouble is, the utility company is undecided about taking its customers' cash in exchange for burying the lines
-- the average cost is estimated at $44 a year, depending on use. Its board of trustees may vote on Tuesday to reject this
aesthetics-centric scheme from local government, civic groups and Mr. Abramson -- for lack of precedent, for lack of
indemnification by the Town of Southampton, and from worry that less affluent communities will perceive the innovation as an economic injustice to themselves.
''What we have here is a cliffhanger,'' Mr. Abramson says. ''But I am not going to allow some arrogant utilities
corporation to come in and destroy this place.''
Rather than tilt at windmills (the Hamptons loves them), Mr. Abramson, a retired printer and publisher, persists in
directing his considerable entrepreneurial energies against a utilitarian interloper -- power lines. And if this entails
antagonizing LIPA, the same public utility that keeps the lights twinkling and heat circulating in his own abode, so be it;
Mr. Abramson can always get himself a windmill.
The focus of his animosity is LIPA's well-intentioned plan (the demand for power on the insatiable East End is up
by 7 percent as opposed to 2 percent elsewhere). It would, Mr. Abramson says, ''defile and blight'' four miles of his
hamlet by carving it up with a hefty 69-kilovolt transmission system (more gridlike than spider web-ish) hoisted by
poles nearly the size of synthetic sequoias. The tallest stand 60 feet high with a 6-foot girth.
''Monstrous! Hit one of those and you die,'' says Mr. Abramson, whose other complaints against the line, actually
the midsection of an otherwise buried connection between the Southampton and Bridgehampton substations, are less
apocryphal.
The main problem for Mr. Abramson: the transmission line, which the utility had hoped to complete by July 4, is
plug ugly. He says its installation will hurt property values (LIPA contends it won't; a town-commissioned assessment
contends it could adversely affect them by $32 million). And how dangerous might overhead poles be in the event of a
hurricane evacuation?
Mr. Abramson, head of the Committee for a Green South Fork and co-chairman of the Water Mill Citizens Advisory Committee, translated his umbrage into a petition and so far has collected 2,400 signatures, many belonging to
local luminaries. The supermodel emeritus Christie Brinkley, a Hamptons-based supermom and environmental activist,
lent her name to an e-mail campaign. The writer E. L. Doctorow supplied a scathing e-mail message in which he deems
the LIPA plan ''stupid'' and ''injurious to the local economy, for why would vacationers want to come here if it puts them
in mind of the north end of the New Jersey Turnpike?''
Mr. Abramson foresees lawsuits and civil disobedience if LIPA rejects the surcharge.
Mr. Law was conciliatory, to a point: ''People sue us all the time,'' he said.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: UTILITIES INDUSTRY (89%); ART & ARTISTS (86%); ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS (76%); ENERGY & UTILITY LAW (76%)
COMPANY: LONG ISLAND POWER AUTHORITY (57%)
LOAD-DATE: February 24, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Page 109
Driven to Save A Vista From LIPA Lines The New York Times February 24, 2008 Sunday
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1049 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 24, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
For Rowland, Second Chance Of a Lifetime
BYLINE: By WOODY HOCHSWENDER.
E-mail: conn@nytimes.com
SECTION: Section CT; Column 0; Connecticut Weekly Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 975 words
DATELINE: Waterbury
THEY say there are no second acts in American life. They also say that you can't go home again.
You probably don't want to say either of those things around John G. Rowland, the former three-term governor of
Connecticut who is trying to resurrect his career as the economic development coordinator for Waterbury, the city
where he was born.
Mr. Rowland was hired for the job by Mayor Michael J. Jarjura, an appointment that didn't make everybody happy. But more on that later.
For Mr. Rowland, 50, who assumed his new position on Feb. 1, the challenge is to rehabilitate his home city -- and
thus redeem himself. Mr. Rowland resigned his governorship in the face of a corruption investigation in 2004, pleaded
guilty to one charge and spent 10 months in a federal correctional institution.
On a bitterly cold February morning, as he moved about his hometown, alternately walking or driving his Chevrolet Impala, the former governor expounded on his vision for the city. He stopped and chatted with at least 25 people
over a three-hour period, from security guards and nuns to artists and community organizers to old friends and neighbors. He knew all of their names, and they knew his.
If there was a cloud hovering over his head, you would never know it. For a politician who was in a federal prison
only a year ago, Mr. Rowland is an amazingly hopeful kind of a guy.
''It's good to be home,'' he said after exchanging bon mots with a police officer in front of the Palace Theater on
Main Street. ''He was two years behind me in school,'' he added, referring to Holy Cross High School.
''This whole area, Main Street, was the pits of the city,'' he continued. ''You can't believe how bad it was. Everything was vacant.''
Now a regional branch of the University of Connecticut sits on the former site of a decrepit department store.
Across the street is the beautifully restored theater, a former vaudeville house, with its grand lobby, ornate domed ceiling and plush orchestra seats.
''My legacy as governor was UConn and the cities,'' Mr. Rowland said. ''This is my passion. When I was governor,
I would call Waterbury the center of the universe.'' During his two-plus terms as governor, investment in the University
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For Rowland, Second Chance Of a Lifetime The New York Times February 24, 2008 Sunday
of Connecticut exceeded $2 billion. And restoring downtown theaters to their old splendor was a special interest of his
administration.
''The idea is to get people downtown,'' he said. For that you need something for them to come to, things to do. He
cited a need for more restaurants. ''My vision is to have an ESPN Zone in downtown Waterbury,'' he said, referring to
the national chain of sports bars. He would also like to see apartments and condominiums lining the blighted Naugatuck
riverfront.
It may not be so easy. Like many industrial towns in the Central Naugatuck Valley that runs along Route 8, Waterbury, once known as the Brass City, has found itself caught in a long, downward economic spiral. The last brass factory closed in the 1970s. Waterbury remains a town of broken windows -- block after block of red brick buildings, begrimed by time.
Here and there you see aimless young men in hoodies nonchalanting it on street corners. Waterbury has long been
perceived as a dangerous place.
''The reality is that it's safe,'' Mr. Rowland said. ''The problem is that perception is reality.''
Serious crimes are down to their lowest level since 1980, according to the Waterbury Police Department, with
sharp declines in homicide and rape. (There were five homicides in 2007, in a city of about 107,000.)
Even though it has millions of square feet of factory space -- in the sort of unused structures that artists, design
firms and dot-com entrepreneurs have transformed throughout the Northeast -- much of the soil around them has been
contaminated, from the effluvia of generations of brass production, metal plating and other industrial uses.
''The folks you are going to get to live downtown are artist types,'' Mr. Rowland said, but ''the investment cost of
bringing the old loft buildings up to code can be high.'' He is working on expediting brownfield projects, an Environmental Protection Agency program that provides seed money for cleanup and reuse.
''It's a work in progress,'' Mr. Rowland said. ''We're hoping to get $75 million statewide freed up for remediation.''
On the plus side, Mr. Rowland notes, is Waterbury's accessibility. The city sits at the junction of Routes 8 and 84 - 40 minutes from New Haven and Hartford, an hour and a half from New York. A prime area for development of
warehouse-distribution businesses, Mr. Rowland said, is Freight Street, a kind of chain-link-fence no-man's land right at
the junction of Routes 8 and 84.
Waterbury also has a large pool of skilled and unskilled workers. The downtown area has been designated as an
Information Technology Zone, with high-speed hookups. Real estate prices, both residential and commercial, are very
affordable compared with, say, Stamford or lower Fairfield County.
After two weeks on the job, Mr. Rowland said he is getting 100 phone calls a week, many from developers wanting to buy in while the market is low. Unlike his days as governor, where he wielded a huge checkbook, he now has to
rely on his skills at bringing people together and making things happen.
Mr. Rowland is being paid $95,000 in his new position, and editorialists around the state have been howling.
Some have writtten that Waterbury is the last place on earth he should be working. However, others say that a Democrat
in similar circumstances would be appearing on ''Oprah.''
''It is not about the money,'' said Mr. Rowland, a Republican appointed to the job by a Democratic mayor. ''It's the
public service aspect. Absolutely, I think it has qualities of redemption. The city gets a second chance. I get a second
chance.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: PRISONS (90%); GOVERNORS (89%); CITY GOVERNMENT (76%); ARTISTS & PERFORMERS
(66%); RETAILERS (61%); RESTAURANTS (61%); GUILTY PLEAS (69%)
GEOGRAPHIC: CONNECTICUT, USA (94%) UNITED STATES (94%)
LOAD-DATE: February 24, 2008
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: HE'S BACK: John G. Rowland on the job as a Waterbury official. (PHOTOGRAPH BY
GEORGE RUHE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg. CT2)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1050 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 24, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
A Capitalist Jolt for Charity
BYLINE: By STEVE LOHR
SECTION: Section BU; Column 0; Money and Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 2079 words
IN the summer of 2005, Miles Gilburne and Nina Zolt had long talks over dinner in their Washington home about
what to do next. For more than six years, Mr. Gilburne, a former AOL executive, and his wife, Ms. Zolt, a former lawyer, had supported a philanthropy that used books and online tools to enhance skills of inner-city students.
The program, which Ms. Zolt directed, had been moderately successful. Students liked writing online about books
and sharing their ideas with Internet pen pals, including adult mentors. Many teachers embraced the project, called
In2Books, and participating students outscored their peers in standardized tests.
Still, the costly venture grew only gradually, classroom by classroom. The couple had put $10 million into the
charity, a ''meaningful portion'' of the family wealth, Mr. Gilburne says. ''It was enough money that I did lie awake at
night thinking about the size of the checks,'' he recalls.
As philanthropy, the couple's efforts, however worthwhile, weren't sustainable. But their vision of using the Internet for communication and collaboration to improve education has taken on a new life -- as a business.
Today, the once-struggling venture has morphed into a primarily for-profit enterprise. And the striking transformation of In2Books is emblematic of a larger trend: charities are changing their spots and making use of some of capitalism's virtues.
The process is being pushed forward by a new breed of social entrepreneurs who are administering increasing
doses of bottom-line thinking to traditional philanthropy in order to make charity more effective.
To make a fresh start, Mr. Gilburne attracted like-minded angel investors, and at the end of 2006 the group bought
a for-profit company, ePals Inc., to expand on the original mission and support the foundation. The ePals company has
grown and now offers classroom e-mail, blogs, online literacy tools and Web-based collaborative projects on subjects
like global warming and habitats.
EPals says 125,000 classrooms around the world are using at least some of its free tools, reaching 13 million students, and its ambition is to become a global ''learning social network.''
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A Capitalist Jolt for Charity The New York Times February 24, 2008 Sunday
National Geographic is to announce this week that it is investing in ePals, based in Herndon, Va., and will supply
educational content for the ePals learning projects. Worldwide distribution should get a lift from Intel, which will soon
ship its Classmate laptops, designed for students in developing nations, with the ePals icon on the screens. And ePals is
also offered for use on the low-cost computers from One Laptop Per Child, a nonprofit group trying to bring the content
and experience of the Internet to children in developing countries worldwide.
Various versions of efforts like this are appearing across the philanthropic landscape as business-minded donors,
epitomized by Bill and Melinda Gates and their foundation, have treated their charitable contributions more like venture capital investments. They seek programs that can be catalysts for broad changes in fields like health, education and
the environment, they measure performance and results, and they encourage nonprofits to become more self-sustaining.
Yet to have the greatest possible impact, a further step down the capitalist road is sometimes needed, analysts and
others in the field say. Muhammad Yunus, the microfinance pioneer and Nobel laureate, calls this next step the ''social
business.'' The goal, according to Mr. Yunus, is to create ventures that more than pay for themselves -- in other words,
turn a profit.
Social business entrepreneurs, he writes, can help ''make the market work for social goals as efficiently as it does
for personal goals.''
PHILANTHROPIES are discovering that for-profit status and financing can be a useful tool. For example, many
microfinance lenders, modeled after Mr. Yunus's project, the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, aim to make the crossover
to profit-making institutions.
Mozilla, the nonprofit foundation that developed the open-source Web browser Firefox, decided that it needed a
for-profit unit to accelerate its business activities and gain market share against Microsoft's Internet Explorer. The business unit is freer to spend on marketing, charge for software service and technical support, and pay to compete for engineering talent in Silicon Valley.
Likewise, Google.org, the search giant's corporate foundation, chose for-profit status to be able to easily make investments in for-profit companies including alternative energy start-ups like eSolar and Makani Power.
''Capitalism is a very mutable, flexible beast, and what we're seeing is social entrepreneurs addressing some of
these social challenges in profoundly different ways than traditional nonprofit organizations,'' said John Elkington, coauthor with Pamela Hartigan of ''The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets that
Change the World,'' a new book that was handed out last month to attendees at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland.
Even among its hybrid peers, ePals has evolved into an unusual combination of a business and a social venture.
When Mr. Gilburne and Ms. Zolt established the for-profit arm in 2006, they attracted like-minded investors, acquired
ePals Inc. and began hiring talented staff. They gave the original education foundation a 15 percent stake in the ePals
company, and its endowment will grow if the business prospers. The nonprofit division is focusing on educational research and bringing technology into classrooms.
But the company is where the action is. ''This needs to be a large business to have a really significant social impact,'' Mr. Gilburne said. ''We couldn't do what we're doing as a nonprofit.''
Very few nonprofits get big. Only 144 of the more than 200,000 nonprofits established since 1970 had grown to
$50 million or more in revenue by 2003, according to a study published last year by the Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit
consulting firm that advises philanthropies.
With the rising influence of social entrepreneurs in philanthropy, many nonprofits have sought to generate revenue to become more self-sustaining. But it is still rare for a nonprofit to cross the chasm to become mainly a profitseeking business, as in the ePals experience.
''It's tricky, but it makes sense when the business is highly aligned with the mission of the social entrepreneurs,''
said Jeffrey L. Bradach, a managing partner of Bridgespan.
As a for-profit business, ePals can more easily attract financing for growth. But outside investors raise the risk that
the original social ideals will be lost in a single-minded pursuit of profit. Mr. Gilburne has tried to avoid that pitfall by
gathering a stable of angel investors among his longtime business friends, who bring not only money but also a shared
belief in the promise of the Internet to improve education.
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A Capitalist Jolt for Charity The New York Times February 24, 2008 Sunday
The group includes Stephen M. Case, the former chief executive of AOL; Mitchell Kapor, the founder of the early
spreadsheet maker Lotus Development and an open-source software supporter; and Yossi Vardi, an Israeli Internet entrepreneur.
''None of our investors are interested just in making another financial score,'' Mr. Gilburne said.
AFTER pooling their money, the angel investors bought the ePals company in December 2006 for an undisclosed
price. Mr. Gilburne had watched ePals for years, starting when he was at AOL in the 1990s, and he saw it as the foundation on which to build an educational social network.
EPals started as a Web-based electronic pen-pal service in 1996, offering point-and-click tools that teachers could
use to control how students use e-mail. A teacher in California, for example, set the controls so her class could communicate online only with a class in China that was engaged in a joint cultural exchange project.
Since the angel investors came aboard in 2006, the ePals work force has more than doubled, to 43, and the company continues to hire. It has improved the e-mail and blogging software and added links to outside resources, like National Geographic's digital library, to its Web-based software for online projects.
''We were a small company with little capital,'' said Tim DiScipio, a founder of the original ePals, who is the chief
marketing officer of the revamped company under its new ownership. ''But now we have the resources to really pursue
the vision of social learning over the Internet.''
Until last fall, ePals charged $3 to $5 a year for each student e-mail account, but the service is now free. The effect of free distribution was immediate and dramatic. The number of registered users has nearly doubled, to 13 million,
since September.
The growth and ambition of ePals have impressed National Geographic enough to make an investment and forge a
partnership.
''We're looking at them as a global network to distribute National Geographic content,'' explained Edward M.
Prince, the chief operating officer of the venture arm of the nonprofit scientific and educational organization.
The ePals team is betting that it can build a worldwide social network in education -- a serious, controlled version
of Facebook, for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. ''When markets go digital, they go collaborative and sharing,'' said Edmund Fish, the chief executive of ePals and a former executive of AOL, where he oversaw online education offerings. ''That can happen in education, too. A learning social network is not an oxymoron.''
Even the basic social networking of ePals e-mail exchanges, teachers say, helps improve writing skills and stirs
curiosity about other cultures. Mirjana Milovic, a teacher in Kragujevac, Serbia, says ePals has helped the 120 students
in her school with their English-language skills. Their correspondents in Alabama and Kansas have also learned that
jeans and Nike shoes are popular in Kragujevac but that the McDonald's in town closed for lack of business.
''We usually prefer our domestic food,'' wrote Marija, an 18-year-old.
Candace Pauchnick, who teaches English and sociology at Patrick Henry High School in San Diego, has been using ePals for what she calls ''virtual field trips.'' In their online exchanges with students in Italy, China and the Czech
Republic, her students have learned about family life and political systems in foreign lands and improved their writing
skills.
''If they were just writing for me, they wouldn't be as careful,'' Ms. Pauchnick said. ''But they're writing for a student in another country. It's not drudgery for them. They buy in and they enjoy it.''
Ms. Zolt, the chief program architect of ePals, endorsed the for-profit route but insisted that the digital network
also provide a free searchable database for educational research.
''The promise here is to be able to study, with vast amounts of real-time data, how children learn,'' she said.
Scholars are enthusiastic. ''Its potential is very exciting,'' said Linda B. Gambrell, a professor of education at
Clemson University, who is one of the academic advisers of ePals. ''This should help us quicken the pace of translating
innovative research into best practices in the classroom.''
Like many start-up companies, the revamped ePals is still working on its business model. Mr. Gilburne, the
chairman, says it will pursue corporate sponsors for certain project areas. These could be part of a company's communi-
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A Capitalist Jolt for Charity The New York Times February 24, 2008 Sunday
ty and social responsibility activities, providing approved adult experts to help students online. For example, General
Electric might sponsor ePals' global warming section by providing environmental experts as online mentors, Mr. Gilburne said, or perhaps Intel or I.B.M. would help in engineering projects.
There are commerce opportunities, Mr. Gilburne added, for education publishers who might want to market books
or curriculum materials for home-school students over ePals.
Eventually, Mr. Gilburne said, advertising will be part of the mix. ''But we'll go gingerly to figure out what is appropriate and doesn't impose on the classroom,'' he said.
The failure rate for entrepreneurs -- whether social or purely capitalist -- is high. Still, ePals' backers are betting
that it is worth the risk. ''These kinds of opportunities to do well and do good at the same time don't grow on trees,'' said
Mr. Kapor, the ePals investor and a philanthropist. ''But I do think that ePals could be one of them.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: PHILANTHROPY (89%); CHARITIES (89%); STUDENTS & STUDENT LIFE (89%); FOUNDATIONS
(89%); INTERNET & WWW (89%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (89%); CHILDREN (78%); INTERNET SOCIAL
NETWORKING (77%); TEACHING & TEACHERS (77%); FAMILY (74%); TRENDS (74%); VENTURE CAPITAL (74%); BLOGS & MESSAGE BOARDS (72%); NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS (72%); GLOBAL WARMING (69%); LAPTOP COMPUTERS (86%); DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (63%)
COMPANY: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY (52%); NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE (52%); INTEL CORP (51%)
TICKER: INTC (NASDAQ) (51%); INTC (SWX) (51%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS334413 SEMICONDUCTOR & RELATED DEVICE MANUFACTURING (51%)
PERSON: BILL GATES (50%)
GEOGRAPHIC: VIRGINIA, USA (72%) UNITED STATES (72%)
LOAD-DATE: February 24, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: EPals has for-profit and nonprofit arms. Candace Pauchnick, standing, uses its tools in her
class.(PHOTOGRAPH BY SANDY HUFFAKER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)(pg. BU1)
Bill Gates of Microsoft and Muhammad Yunus, who won a Nobel for his microfinance venture, have been pioneers in
harnessing business means for socially conscious ends. The Gates Foundation treats its grants like venture capital investments.
The XO machine from One Laptop Per Child, left, and the Intel Classmate PC feature ePals services, which connect
students and classrooms worldwide.(PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG KANTER/BLOOMBERG NEWS)(pg. BU8)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1051 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
Page 115
Courtney Coles, Jonathan Evans The New York Times February 24, 2008 Sunday
February 24, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Courtney Coles, Jonathan Evans
SECTION: Section ST; Column 0; Society Desk; Pg. 14
LENGTH: 250 words
Courtney Elizabeth Coles, a daughter of Maryellen Coles and Julian R. Coles of Cape Elizabeth, Me., was married
on Saturday to Jonathan Perry Evans, the son of Constance F. Tierney of New York and Robert S. Evans of Greenwich,
Conn. The Rev. Suzanne Meyer, a Unitarian minister, officiated at La Playa Beach & Golf Resort in Naples, Fla.
Mrs. Evans, 30, is a senior editor for Off the Record Research, a San Francisco company that does financial research for business clients. She works from her home in Ladue, Mo. She is the leader of the St. Louis chapter of Ladies
Who Launch, an association of entrepreneurial women that is based in New York. She graduated from James Cook
University in Townsville, Australia, and received an M.B.A. from Babson College in Babson Park, Mass. Her father is
the president of Allserve, a group of residential and commercial moving companies in Portland, Me. Her mother is a
substitute teacher at the Cape Elizabeth Middle School.
Mr. Evans, 31, works in St. Louis as a program manager in product development at Crane Merchandising Systems, which builds vending machines. His father is the chairman and former chief executive of the Crane Company in
Stamford, Conn., the parent of Crane Merchandising, and the chairman and former chief executive of Huttig Building
Products, a distributor in St. Louis. The bridegroom graduated from St. Lawrence University and received an M.B.A.
from Columbia. He is the stepson of Susan C. Evans and of Michael E. Tierney.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (76%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (76%); WEDDINGS & ENGAGEMENTS (73%); RESORTS (72%); TEACHING & TEACHERS (68%); PACKING & MOVING SERVICES (53%)
COMPANY: CRANE CO (68%); HUTTIG BUILDING PRODUCTS INC (55%)
TICKER: CR (NYSE) (68%); HBP (NYSE) (55%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS333996 FLUID POWER PUMP & MOTOR MANUFACTURING (68%); NAICS332912 FLUID
POWER VALVE & HOSE FITTING MANUFACTURING (68%); NAICS332911 INDUSTRIAL VALVE MANUFACTURING (68%); SIC3594 FLUID POWER PUMPS & MOTORS (68%); SIC3492 FLUID POWER VALVES &
HOSE FITTINGS (68%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, USA (93%); FLORIDA, USA (92%); CONNECTICUT, USA (88%); QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA (79%); MISSOURI, USA (70%) UNITED STATES (93%); AUSTRALIA (79%)
LOAD-DATE: February 24, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1052 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
Page 116
Sorry, Boys, This Is Our Domain The New York Times February 21, 2008 Thursday
The New York Times
February 21, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
Sorry, Boys, This Is Our Domain
BYLINE: By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
SECTION: Section G; Column 0; Style Desk; GEEK CHIC: NOT JUST FOR GUYS; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1549 words
THE prototypical computer whiz of popular imagination -- pasty, geeky, male -- has failed to live up to his reputation.
Research shows that among the youngest Internet users, the primary creators of Web content (blogs, graphics,
photographs, Web sites) are not misfits resembling the Lone Gunmen of ''The X Files.'' On the contrary, the cyberpioneers of the moment are digitally effusive teenage girls.
''Most guys don't have patience for this kind of thing,'' said Nicole Dominguez, 13, of Miramar, Fla., whose hobbies include designing free icons, layouts and ''glitters'' (shimmering animations) for the Web and MySpace pages of
other teenagers. ''It's really hard.''
Nicole posts her graphics, as well as her own HTML and CSS computer coding pointers (she is self-taught), on
the pink and violet Sodevious.net, a domain her mother bought for her in October.
''If you did a poll I think you'd find that boys rarely have sites,'' she said. ''It's mostly girls.''
Indeed, a study published in December by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that among Web users
ages 12 to 17, significantly more girls than boys blog (35 percent of girls compared with 20 percent of boys) and create
or work on their own Web pages (32 percent of girls compared with 22 percent of boys).
Girls also eclipse boys when it comes to building or working on Web sites for other people and creating profiles
on social networking sites (70 percent of girls 15 to 17 have one, versus 57 percent of boys 15 to 17). Video posting was
the sole area in which boys outdid girls: boys are almost twice as likely as girls to post video files.
Explanations for the gender imbalance are nearly as wide-ranging as cybergirls themselves. The girls include
bloggers who pontificate on timeless teenage matters such as ''evil teachers'' and being ''grounded for life,'' to would-be
Martha Stewarts -- entrepreneurs whose online pursuits generate more money than a summer's worth of baby-sitting.
''I was the first teenage podcaster to receive a major sponsorship,'' said Martina Butler, 17, of San Francisco, who
for three years has been recording an indie music show, Emo Girl Talk, from her basement. Her first corporate sponsorship, from Nature's Cure, an acne medication, was reported in 2005 in Brandweek, the marketing trade magazine.
Since then, more than half a dozen companies, including Go Daddy, the Internet domain and hosting provider,
have paid to be mentioned in her podcasts, which are posted every Sunday on Emogirltalk.com.
''It's really only getting bigger for me,'' said Martina, an aspiring television and radio host who was tickled to learn
about the Pew study.
''I'm not surprised because girls are very creative,'' she said, ''sometimes more creative than men. We're spunky.
And boys ... '' Her voice trailed off to laughter.
The ''girls rule'' trend in content creation has been percolating for a few years -- a Pew study published in 2005 also found that teenage girls were the primary content creators -- but the gender gap for blogging, in particular, has widened.
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Sorry, Boys, This Is Our Domain The New York Times February 21, 2008 Thursday
As teenage bloggers nearly doubled from 2004 to 2006, almost all the growth was because of ''the increased activity of girls,'' the Pew report said.
The findings have implications beyond blogging, according to Pew, because bloggers are ''much more likely to
engage in other content-creating activities than nonblogging teens.''
But even though girls surpass boys as Web content creators, the imbalance among adults in the computer industry
remains. Women hold about 27 percent of jobs in computer and mathematical occupations, according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
In American high schools, girls comprised fewer than 15 percent of students who took the AP computer science
exam in 2006, and there was a 70 percent decline in the number of incoming undergraduate women choosing to major
in computer science from 2000 to 2005, according to the National Center for Women & Information Technology.
Scholars who study computer science say there are several reasons for the dearth of women: introductory courses
are often uninspiring; it is difficult to shake existing stereotypes about men excelling in the sciences; and there are few
female role models. It is possible that the girls who produce glitters today will develop an interest in the rigorous science behind computing, but some scholars are reluctant to draw that conclusion.
''We can hope that this translates, but so far the gap has remained,'' said Jane Margolis, an author of ''Unlocking
the Clubhouse: Women in Computing'' (MIT Press, 2002). While pleased that girls are mastering programs like Paint
Shop Pro, Ms. Margolis emphasized the profound distinction between using existing software and a desire to invent
new technology.
Teasing out why girls are prolific Web content creators usually leads to speculation and generalization. Although
girls have outperformed boys in reading and writing for years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics,
this does not automatically translate into a collective yen to blog or sign up for a MySpace page. Rather, some scholars
argue, girls are the dominant online content creators because both sexes are influenced by cultural expectations.
''Girls are trained to make stories about themselves,'' said Pat Gill, the interim director for the Institute for Communications Research and an associate professor of gender and women's studies at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign.
From a young age they learn that they are objects, Professor Gill said, so they learn how to describe themselves.
Historically, girls and women have been expected to be social, communal and skilled in decorative arts.
''This would be called the feminization of the Internet,'' she said.
Boys, she added, are generally taught ''to engage in ways that aren't confessional, that aren't emotional.''
Research by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, the result of focus groups and interviews with young people 13 to 22, suggests that girls' online practices tend to be about their desire to express themselves, particularly their originality.
''With young women it's much more about expressing yourself to others in the way that wearing certain clothes to
school does,'' said John Palfrey, the executive director of the Berkman Center. ''It ties into identity expression in the real
world.''
That desire is never so evident as when girls criticize online copycats who essentially steal their Web page backgrounds and graphics by hotlinking (linking to someone else's image so it appears on one's own Web page). Aside from
depleting bandwidth, it is the digital equivalent of arriving at a party wearing the same dress as another girl, Professor
Palfrey said.
No wonder that girls post aggressive warnings on their sites such as ''Do not jock, copy, steal, or redistribute any
of my stuff!'' or, more to the point: ''hotlink and die.''
While creating content enables girls to experiment with how they want to present themselves to the world, they
are obviously interested in maintaining and forging relationships.
When Lauren Renner, 16, was in fifth grade, she and a friend, Sarada Cleary, now 14, both of Oceanside, Calif.,
began writing about their lives on Agirlsworld.com, an interactive e-zine with articles written for and by girls.
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Sorry, Boys, This Is Our Domain The New York Times February 21, 2008 Thursday
''Girls from everywhere would read it and would ask questions about what they should do with a problem,'' Lauren
said. ''I think girls like to help with other people's problems or questions, kind of, like, motherly, to everybody.''
Today Lauren and Sarada are among more than 1,000 girls who regularly submit content to Agirlsworld. They
make a few extra dollars writing online articles and dreaming up holiday-related activities, like Mother's Day breakfast
recipes, which are posted on the site.
''At school there's just a certain type of people,'' Sarada said. ''They're just local. Online you get to experience their
culture through them.''
THE one area where boys surpass girls in creating Web content is posting videos. This is not because girls are not
proficient users of the technology, Professor Palfrey said. He suggested, rather, that videos are often less about personal
expression and more about impressing others. It's an ideal way for members of a subculture -- skateboarders, snowboarders -- to demonstrate their athleticism, he said.
Zach Saltzman, 17, of Memphis, said content creation among his circle of male friends includes having a Facebook profile and posting videos of lacrosse games and original short films on YouTube.
''I actually really never thought about doing my own Web site,'' said Zach after returning from an SAT class.
He hasn't posted a video himself and doesn't have a blog because, as he put it, ''it really never interested me and I
don't have time to keep up with it.''
Zach does, however, have a Facebook profile where he uploads digital photographs.
''It's really the only way I keep my pictures organized because I don't make photo albums and stuff like that,'' he
said.
Asked whether the findings of the Pew study seemed accurate to him, he said: ''That's what I see happening. The
girls are much more into putting something up and getting responses.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: INTERNET & WWW (91%); WOMEN (90%); BLOGS & MESSAGE BOARDS (90%); INTERNET
SOCIAL NETWORKING (89%); MEN (89%); SPONSORSHIP (84%); RESEARCH REPORTS (78%); ANIMATION (77%); WEB SITES (77%); DOMAIN NAMES (77%); PODCASTING (77%); ADOLESCENTS (76%);
TEENS MARKET (76%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (60%); MUSIC (50%); HTML & XHTML (72%)
GEOGRAPHIC: FLORIDA, USA (77%) UNITED STATES (77%)
LOAD-DATE: February 21, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: SARADA CLEARY, 14 On Agirlsworld.com helped create an online game for National Spay
Day and contributes craft ideas like how to decorate jeans. (PHOTOGRAPH BY NATASHA CALZATTI FOR THE
NEW YORK TIMES)
MARTINA BUTLER, 17 Stars in her own indie music podcast on Emogirltalk.com. Last Sunday's episode included
music by Sequoyah Prep School and Death Cab for Cutie. LAUREN RENNER, 16 On Agirlsworld.com, blogged about
her daily life and worked on the site's ''My first prom'' magic story that lets girls fill in blanks and make a tale about
themselves. (PHOTOGRAPH BY NATASHA CALZATTI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
BITSIE TULLOCH: Plays Dylan Krieger in the MySpace series ''Quarterlife.'' (PHOTOGRAPH BY QUARTERLIFE/ELISABETH CAREN/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
VELMA: Of ''Scooby-Doo'' cartoon fame, she could barely see without her glasses but was the technological wizard of
the bunch. (PHOTOGRAPH BY WARNER HOME VIDEO/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
GRACE HOPPER (1906-1992): An admiral who helped create Univac I, the first commercial electronic computer.
(PHOTOGRAPH BY CYNTHIA JOHNSON/TIME LIFE, 1984)
AUGUSTA ADA BYRON (1815-1852): The countess of Lovelace has been called the first computer programmer.
(PHOTOGRAPH BY HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES) (pg.G8)
(PHOTOGRAPH BY ADAM STRANGE) (pg. G1)
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Sorry, Boys, This Is Our Domain The New York Times February 21, 2008 Thursday
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1053 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 21, 2008 Thursday
Correction Appended
Late Edition - Final
Picture, Picture on the Wall ...
BYLINE: By KIMBERLY STEVENS
SECTION: Section F; Column 0; House & Home/Style Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1210 words
THERE has always been a certain status attached to owning a home that is featured in a magazine. And a certain
pleasure, for a homeowner, in leaving the evidence lying casually on the coffee table.
But now there's another way to flaunt the importance of your house, and your affection for it: hire a well-known
photographer yourself to immortalize it. To some, that's even better than a magazine photo spread, because the results
can be displayed in entry halls and over fireplaces, just like any piece of art, or bound in a book.
''We fetishize homes now, in a way that we never used to,'' said Todd Eberle, a photographer whose work appears
in Vanity Fair and in prominent museums. He has been hired by many celebrities, including Martha Stewart and Bill
Clinton, to document their homes and offices. His clients, he said, want him both to memorialize their homes as they
really are, and at the same time to ''take it to a different level, and somehow improve upon the reality.''
Jon Miller, an architectural photographer and an owner of Hedrich Blessing, a firm in Chicago that has been documenting American architecture since the 1930s, said he had seen a marked increase in homeowner commissions in
recent years.
''People have a lot of pride in their homes, and they want to glamorize them,'' he said.
And George Penner, of Deasy/Penner & Partners, a boutique real estate firm in Beverly Hills, Calif., has observed
that potential buyers are often more impressed of late at seeing a house's portrait on the wall than in a magazine.
''It gives the house cachet,'' Mr. Penner said, ''and may even give it an edge in the market.'' Elliott Kaufman, a
well-known architectural photographer, recently started a company called Legacy Editions because he noticed the growing interest in photographing homes. He not only takes the pictures, but interviews clients about how they live, including their favorite time of day in the house and what space they particularly like.
Then he puts it all together in a hand-bound coffee table book. Some clients, he said, have books made for each
house they own. His fee starts at $3,500 for a day of shooting, comparable to his magazine day rate, and $3,500 more
for the bound book, and it climbs from there, depending on the time spent and the number of locations.
''My clients take great care of their homes and have deep personal connections to them,'' he said. ''It is my hope
that the images I create evoke emotion.''
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Picture, Picture on the Wall ... The New York Times February 21, 2008 Thursday Correction Appended
One client is Laura Bohn, 67, an interior designer with offices in New York. She hired Mr. Kaufman to photograph her country house in Pennsylvania and two apartments in New York, and said she regrets not having her homes
photographed sooner. She and her husband have moved eight times, and though pictures of many of her homes have
been published in design magazines, she said it's not the same because a magazine doesn't have the staying power, or
the beauty, of a glossy hand-bound book.
''Ultimately, I'd love to have one big coffee table of all my homes, divided into chapters,'' she said. ''It preserves
that moment in time and in your life, and it's a way to keep those memories alive.''
Often, the decision to hire a photographer, for fees that can run to $75,000, is made when someone buys an architecturally important house or oversees a painstaking renovation. Dana Garman, 35, and her husband, James Jacobsen,
36, commissioned the architectural photographer Julius Shulman, who is 97 and whose prints now sell for $10,000 and
up, to do their home in Los Angeles. (Mr. Shulman's archive was recently acquired by the Getty Research Institute,
which like the Getty Museum in Los Angeles is owned by the Getty Trust.)
''His images are so iconic, we were thrilled that we live in a home that he felt was worthy of photographing,'' said
Ms. Garman, whose 1952 house, which she and her husband have restored, was designed by the architect A. Quincy
Jones.
Mr. Shulman spent the day shooting the house and entertained the couple with stories about famous architects and
Los Angeles history. He even praised their renovation, which meant more to them than having the photographs taken,
said Ms. Garman, who owns Superstudio, a production company in Santa Monica, Calif., and whose husband is a real
estate developer.
''To get a stamp of approval from someone as legendary as Julius is incredible,'' she said, adding, ''It was really
much more about the experience of having him photograph,'' although they plan to frame and hang many of the photographs, whose cost they would not disclose.
For others, it's just fine to hire the local big fish in a small pond. When Julia Butler and her husband, Malcolm,
both 50, recently completed the renovation of their 1852 town house in Savannah, Ga., one of the first things they did
was commission a photographer.
''Much in the way you might have portraits of your children taken, we wanted the same quality in a photograph of
our home,'' Ms. Butler said.
The Butlers, who run an investment management company in Savannah, bought the house three years ago and
spent two years renovating, trying to blend its 19th-century architecture with modernism. They documented the project
with their own snapshots, but Ms. Butler said they didn't have the professional equipment or the eye to do the house
justice. They decided to hire Eric Prine of Attic Fire Architectural Photography in Savannah, which typically does
commercial advertising work. His fee starts at $4,000.
The couple hung one of his pictures in their front hall, a highly stylized portrait that makes the house appear to
glow. ''Every single person who has walked into our house has commented on it,'' she said. ''I think it really reads like a
piece of fine art. And when people see it, they understand why it's important to hire a professional. He really captured
the magic.''
Mr. Prine does a lot of retouching on his photographs -- garbage on the street and telephone poles can disappear in
a flash. ''The client wants to see their home shown in the best way possible, so we enhance every aspect and detail,'' he
said.
Mr. Eberle put it more bluntly. ''The most successful picture is a complete lie,'' he said.
Four years ago, Mr. Eberle photographed a Norman Jaffe house in Sagaponack, N.Y., for Sandy and Steve Perlbinder, who won his services in a local charity auction.
Although Ms. Perlbinder, whose husband is a retired real estate developer, did not want to say how much they
paid (it was a silent auction), the catalog said the minimum bid was $10,000 for the photo shoot, which it valued at
$20,000.
The house, which had been photographed and shown in magazines after it was built in 1969, had survived a fire
and a move prompted by beach erosion, and had been renovated by her son-in-law Cristian SabellaRosa.
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Picture, Picture on the Wall ... The New York Times February 21, 2008 Thursday Correction Appended
''I think Todd Eberle was pleasantly surprised when he found out about our house,'' she said. ''I think he was nervous he might get a McMansion.'' (Indeed, Mr. Eberle said, he was.)
She has the three framed portraits hanging in her New York apartment to remind her of the house. ''They are modern and abstract and beautiful,'' she said. ''When my family comes to stay, someone always comments on those shots.
They bring us all there.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: PHOTOGRAPHY SERVICES (90%); PHOTOGRAPHY (90%); INTERVIEWS (78%); INTERIOR DESIGN SERVICES (73%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (71%); REAL ESTATE (71%)
PERSON: MARTHA STEWART (56%)
GEOGRAPHIC: LOS ANGELES, CA, USA (79%); NEW YORK, NY, USA (64%) NEW YORK, USA (92%); CALIFORNIA, USA (87%); GEORGIA, USA (79%); PENNSYLVANIA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (92%)
LOAD-DATE: February 21, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
CORRECTION-DATE: February 28, 2008
CORRECTION: A picture caption last Thursday with an article about homeowners who hire professional photographers to take pictures of their houses misidentified Juergen Nogai, who was shown with two such homeowners. He is a
photographer and the business partner of another photographer, Julius Shulman, who was also pictured. Mr. Nogai is
not Mr. Shulman's assistant.
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: ALL IN THE FAMILY: After Julia and Malcolm Butler, above, renovated their 1852 town
house in Savannah, Ga., left, they commissioned a photographer to shoot it, ''much in the way you might have portraits
of your children taken,'' Ms. Butler said. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEPHEN MORTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
ATTIC FIRE ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY) (pg. F1)
GROUP SHOTS: Elliott Kaufman, above, has photographed Laura Bohn's Manhattan apartments, above and right, as
well as her country house. (PHOTOGRAPH BY JOYCE DOPKEEN/THE NEW YORK TIMES
ELLIOTT KAUFMAN) (pg. F5)
PRACTICED EYE: Julius Shulman (above and left) was commissioned by Dana Garman and James Jacobsen (both
standing at left, with Mr. Shulman's assistant, Juergen Nogai), to shoot their home in Los Angeles (center left and right).
(PHOTOGRAPH BY ABOVE AND ABOVE RIGHT, MONICA ALMEIDA/THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg. F5)
COUNTRY IN THE CITY: After Sandy Perlbinder, left, and her husband, Steve, won a Todd Eberle photo session at a
charity auction, they had him photograph their home in Sagaponack, N.Y. The three framed portraits hang in her Manhattan apartment to remind her of the home. ''They are modern and abstract and beautiful,'' Ms. Perlbinder said. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY ABOVE AND TOP RIGHT, JOYCE DOPKEEN/THE NEW YORK TIMES
ABOVE AND ABOVE LEFT, JULIUS SHULMAN AND JUERGEN NOGAI) (pg. F5)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1054 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
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Passports Essential for These M.B.A.'s The New York Times February 21, 2008 Thursday
February 21, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
Passports Essential for These M.B.A.'s
BYLINE: By JAMES FLANIGAN
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; ENTREPRENEURIAL EDGE; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 1024 words
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA universities have long led the nation in the number of students enrolled from other
countries. Now the universities' business programs are taking the globalization of education to a different level, offering
courses that go beyond dry corporate case studies and broadening their collaboration with universities and businesses
abroad, particularly in Asia.
The Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the National University of
Singapore have programs allowing students in the executive master of business administration program to be awarded
degrees from both universities after 15 months of taking classes in Singapore and Los Angeles, and also in Shanghai
and Bangalore, India.
The Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in collaboration with Jiao Tong University in Shanghai has a global M.B.A. program involving executives from 10 countries studying in China and Los Angeles. The Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine, collaborates with the Indian Institute
of Technology, Peking University in Beijing, City University of Hong Kong and others in teaching business courses
around the world.
The programs are not simply overseas duplications of standard courses in accounting and finance. ''In our global
access courses, we challenge teams, in a language that is not that of the United States, to drop an egg from two stories
without breaking it,'' said Andrew Policano, dean of the Merage School. ''One must learn to innovate with other cultures.''
Judy Olian, dean of the Anderson School at U.C.L.A., agreed. ''It is critical to learn other cultures,'' she said. ''We
are taking entrepreneurial leaders to operate in Palestine and Israel, in India and China''
She added: ''That has not been thought of as the mission of business schools, but it is in the emerging world of today. If we did not do this, we could be accused of staring at our own navel.''
C. L. Nikias, provost and head of academic affairs at the University of Southern California, wants the university to
become a place where ''students and faculty can cross academic and geographic boundaries to innovate, an institution
with a public service mission that spans continents.'' About 21 percent of the students at the university's Marshall
School are international. The university is ''receiving requests to put branches of the school in many countries,'' said
Adam Clayton Powell III, vice provost for globalization.
The Global Access Program at the Anderson School provides a good illustration of the new types of offerings.
The program enrolls 175 M.B.A. candidates who are working at other jobs during the three years it takes to earn their
degrees. Their average age is about 33. Students consult for six months at a time for international companies that want
to get into the American market or simply ''operate beyond their current borders,'' explained Robert Foster, dean of the
program. The students, who work in teams of five or six, average 500 hours of work on a typical project.
Payem Tehrani, who graduated last year, counseled ICAR Vision Systems, a developer of identification cards and
equipment in Barcelona, Spain. ICAR wanted to break into the American market. But after the students surveyed that
market and worked in Spain, Italy and other countries, ''we found that its equipment was not advanced enough to make
it in the U.S. market, but that ICAR had opportunities for expansion in Italy,'' said Mr. Tehrani, a 35-year old electrical
engineer who now works for Yahoo. The Spanish company, like all other corporate customers of the program, contributed $15,000 to the Anderson School to cover part of the program's expenses.
Page 123
Passports Essential for These M.B.A.'s The New York Times February 21, 2008 Thursday
Gerald Gutierrez, 33, who also graduated from the program last year, worked with an Italian company that wanted
to sell thermoplastics to Boeing and Airbus. But the company's products were less advanced than the thermoplastics the
companies already used to build aircraft. ''We advised the company that it needed to do more research and development,'' Mr. Gutierrez said.
In another case, a team of students studied markets in Russia for the Technology Agency of Finland, a government
office, on behalf of software, communications and construction service firms. Why would Finland hire American students to study a market in Russia? The answer, Mr. Foster said, is that the Americans ''know how to commercialize
technology, to map out the complex of distribution channels, marketing and finance that any product needs to be successful.''
The global access program is expanding in 2008 to 240 students and 48 projects, reaching out to India and China,
Mexico, Spain and Austria for new companies and opportunities.
Global study brings perspective. Ronald Lewis, 21, a student at the Marshall School, studied for four months at
the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and visited the bustling port city of Shenzhen, China. It was, he
said, ''my first time immersed in another culture,'' an experience that he will bring to a management consultant job at
Bain & Company after graduation this year.
Alda Mostofi, 28, found that his fellow students of many nationalities, had differing views about Western culture
when they visited the General Motors plant in Shanghai as part of their studies for the dual business degree from
U.C.L.A. and the National University of Singapore.
Ronson Wong, an executive at Reach.com, a Hong Kong-based provider of cable and satellite communications,
said, ''A degree from an American university, from U.C.L.A., is highly valued in Asia.'' He received a dual degree
from U.C.L.A. and Singapore last year.
American universities are so prized abroad because ''we have a different kind of pedagogy,'' said James Ellis,
dean of the Marshall School. ''We are much more inclusive of students, allowing their participation on many levels, in
contrast to the classic Oxford lecture model. The students learn from one another, particularly in the global classes
where individuals from different cultures work together.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: STUDENTS & STUDENT LIFE (89%); GLOBALIZATION (78%); EDUCATION (78%); COLLEGE
STUDENTS (78%); PASSPORTS & VISAS (77%); MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS (73%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (73%); ACCOUNTING (66%); BUSINESS EDUCATION (92%)
COMPANY: CNINSURE INC (91%)
ORGANIZATION: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (90%); UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (83%);
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (LOS ANGELES) (82%)
TICKER: CISG (NASDAQ) (91%)
PERSON: TZIPORA LIVNI (53%)
GEOGRAPHIC: LOS ANGELES, CA, USA (94%); SHANGHAI, CHINA (90%); BEIJING, CHINA (72%); DELHI,
INDIA (54%) CALIFORNIA, USA (94%); EAST CHINA (90%); NORTH CENTRAL CHINA (77%); KARNATAKA, INDIA (54%) UNITED STATES (94%); CHINA (94%); SINGAPORE (93%); INDIA (92%); ASIA (92%);
PALESTINIAN TERRITORY (79%); ISRAEL (79%); HONG KONG (77%)
LOAD-DATE: February 21, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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Passports Essential for These M.B.A.'s The New York Times February 21, 2008 Thursday
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: The Anderson School of Business at U.C.L.A. assigns consulting work with international companies as part of its curriculum for the M.BA. program. Judy Olian is dean of the school. (PHOTOGRAPH BY J.
EMILIO FLORES FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1055 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 20, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
With These Nutrition Bars, Every Order Is Special
BYLINE: By LISA NAPOLI
SECTION: Section H; Column 0; Small Business; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 781 words
DATELINE: Los Angeles
AVA BISE and Anthony Flynn share more than a typical mother and son: a birthday, a love of healthy food and a
devotion to athletics. Ms. Bise, who teaches belly dancing and practices yoga, taught Mr. Flynn how to snowboard after
she learned at age 44.
Both mother and son faced a challenge common to many active, health-conscious people: how to eat well during a
busy day. In theory, a nutrition bar could be eaten between more substantial meals, but the dozens of bars on the market
did not appeal to either of them.
''They disguise it as healthy,'' said Mr. Flynn, 24. ''It's like, how is that healthy? It's sugar, low-quality sugar,
even.''
Ten years ago, Ms. Bise started making her own nutrition bars at home, using pure, mostly organic ingredients
like soy-nut butters, nuts, granolas and dried fruits. Her son began making his own when he was around 18, and the two
would swap recipes. Friends had asked them to customize the bars to individual tastes, and Mr. Flynn and Ms. Bise
complied, sealing their creations in wax paper.
One night two years ago, they decided to start a business making bars to order for a wider market. Mr. Flynn was
weeks from graduating from the University of Southern California with a degree in business administration.
Because neither mother nor son had experience in food service, Mr. Flynn took a job at a juice bar to see how the
business worked. Then he wrote a computer program that allowed online customers to choose the base ingredients for
their bars, as well as fruit, protein and vitamin infusions. They could even name the bar whatever they liked. The You
Bar (youbars.com) was born.
After starting the business in their homes and later borrowing commercial kitchen space from the synagogue that
Ms. Bise attends, the duo moved into their own space last summer, not far from the Farmers Market in downtown Los
Angeles. The 800-square-foot kitchen and warehouse is bright and neat and filled with jars of nut butters and containers
of dried fruits, as well as food scales and mixers.
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With These Nutrition Bars, Every Order Is Special The New York Times February 20, 2008 Wednesday
Although the bars are not sold in stores, orders come from all over the world via the Internet. With eight employees, Mr. Flynn and Ms. Bise weigh and mix the requested ingredients, mold the bars and seal them in packages. They
then print computer-generated labels stating the bars' names and nutritional facts.
Gary Meyer, a fitness and nutritional consultant who runs the Elite Fitness Center in Wilmington, Mass., stumbled
onto the You Bar Web site four months ago while looking online for an organic protein powder. He has ordered them
ever since and encourages his clients to do so.
''Learning to eat healthy and eat six meals a day is difficult for most people,'' he said. ''Supplements like nutrition
bars have become a necessity because it's quick and easy. But the wrong kind of bar can be counterproductive. Most of
the ones available are just candy bars infused with protein -- reverse liposuction.''
Mr. Meyer says some members of his fitness center are nervous about making the wrong choices when they design their own You Bars, which cost $40 for a baker's dozen.
''You experiment until you get it right,'' he said. Mr. Flynn and Ms. Bise allow customers dissatisfied with their
choice of ingredients to return them and reorder.
Mr. Flynn said he had received only five or six return orders, usually from people complaining the bar was too dry
for whom he would recalibrate the recipe.
''Originally I was afraid that I'd see the bad side of humanity come out,'' he said of the ''satisfaction guaranteed'' offer. ''But people haven't taken advantage of it. They've been great.''
For those who want You Bars but cannot make decisions about the ingredients, the site offers several popular recipes with ideas on customizing them.
Ms. Bise, a certified snowboard instructor who specializes in teaching women over 30, said she had never imagined such a partnership with her son. She said each contributed strengths to the business.
''He has a lot of energy and interest in technology and was right out of business school,'' she said. ''I have all these
odd things I've done over the years. It's been fascinating to get to know my son not just as my son but as my business
partner.''
It took a while for suppliers to treat Mr. Flynn as an equal partner in the business because of his youth, Ms. Bise
said.
You Bar, a private company, prefers not to specify sales, but Mr. Flynn said orders had been doubling each month
for the last eight months.
''I knew there was an industry where I would wake up every morning just stoked to go to work,'' he said. ''Every
day it's like I just jump out of bed and love it.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: NUTRITION (91%); SNACK FOODS (90%); FUNCTIONAL FOODS (89%); ORGANIC FOODS
(78%); EXERCISE & FITNESS (78%); RESTAURANTS & FOOD SERVICE (78%); FOOD INDUSTRY (76%);
ENTREPRENEURSHIP (73%); FRUIT & VEGETABLE STORES (72%); INTERNET & WWW (69%); BUSINESS
EDUCATION (71%)
ORGANIZATION: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (54%)
GEOGRAPHIC: LOS ANGELES, CA, USA (93%) CALIFORNIA, USA (93%); MASSACHUSETTS, USA (79%)
UNITED STATES (93%)
LOAD-DATE: February 21, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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With These Nutrition Bars, Every Order Is Special The New York Times February 20, 2008 Wednesday
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: THE MIX: At You Bar's kitchen in Los Angeles, Marcia Monterroza, a worker, and Dennis and
Anthony Flynn. Anthony and his mother are the owners. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ANN JOHANSSON FOR THE NEW
YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1056 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 20, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
Go On, Leave Your Job
BYLINE: By ELIZABETH OLSON
SECTION: Section H; Column 0; Small Business; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 575 words
FOR those who have started their own business or are thinking of doing so, there's inspiration, comfort, camaraderie -- as well as nitty-gritty advice -- online. Dozens of blogs offer small-business owners and entrepreneurs free startup tips and business advice -- much of it drawn from their creators' experiences.
The blogs include the inspirational and motivational, for those who are thinking about chucking corporate life and
going out on their own. One of these is escapefromcubiclenation.com, where Pamela S. Slim, a former leadership development consultant, writes about traits that fence-sitters should consider about themselves -- like their working styles
and finances -- before deciding whether to take the leap into self-employment.
After a decade advising corporations like the networking systems supplier Cisco Systems, Ms. Slim decided in
2006 that she wanted to switch her focus to helping people who were pondering the idea of striking out on their own.
In her first posting, Ms. Slim, 41, castigated corporations for how they treated their workers and pledged to lure
their ''brightest, most creative, hard-working and passionate employees'' to the self-employed life.
At the other end of the spectrum are blogs offering practical advice, like franchisepundit.com, where a Chicago
lawyer, Ryan M. Knoll, 32, helps his readers navigate the sometimes treacherous waters of franchise ownership.
In 2004, Mr. Knoll decided to post his research into buying a franchise, a deal he eventually decided not to pursue.
Instead, he went to law school but continued the blog, where he lists specifics like the 10 most common mistakes in
buying a franchise.
He also gives thumbs up or down to some popular franchise picks, and his advice can be blunt. His blog -- which
readers contribute to -- tries to point out potential franchise problems and steer his audience clear of losers. For example, he flagged eBay retail stores, which were ''exploding over the last five years,'' as potentially troublesome for a longterm investment. ''Now they're all closing,'' he said.
Those already running small businesses are the audience for Anita P. Campbell's blog, smallbiztrends.com, which
she began in 2003. It draws some 100,000 readers monthly.
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Go On, Leave Your Job The New York Times February 20, 2008 Wednesday
Some of her most popular entries recently have been about how to avoid employee embezzlement, top marketing
secrets and what to do if your Web site is hacked -- like hers was once.
She also posts guest columns from small-business experts. But mostly Ms. Campbell, who operates from Medina,
Ohio, tries to talk about ''real-life situations to make blogging more real and valuable.''
For those who want to skip the corporate trenches and go right to being the boss, there is younggogetter.com, run
by three small-business owners in their 20s.
One is Aaron Kuroiwa, who operates LeTranslator, an online business and legal language translation service, and
gives concrete advice -- like his recent posting of three steps to becoming more productive.
While blogs can motivate those who are thinking about taking the plunge into self employment -- or offer an
online shoulder for those reeling under the time demands of running their own business and the lack of a paycheck -they can also be a marketing tool.
Ms. Slim, for example, said she got enough interest from readers that she was able to earn a living by coaching
them on how to leave the corporate suite and become their own boss.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: BLOGS & MESSAGE BOARDS (90%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (90%); SELF EMPLOYMENT
(90%); FRANCHISING (89%); SMALL BUSINESS (89%); TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT MFG (73%);
LAW SCHOOLS (65%); RETAILERS (50%); EMBEZZLEMENT (50%); FRANCHISEES (86%)
COMPANY: CISCO SYSTEMS INC (56%)
TICKER: CSCO (NASDAQ) (56%); CSC (LSE) (56%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS334210 TELEPHONE APPARATUS MANUFACTURING (56%); SIC3661 TELEPHONE &
TELEGRAPH APPARATUS (56%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (52%)
GEOGRAPHIC: OHIO, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (79%)
LOAD-DATE: February 21, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: BYE: Escapefromcubiclenation.com, an advice blog on self-employment.
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1057 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 20, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
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Inspiration Strikes Only a Desk Away The New York Times February 20, 2008 Wednesday
Inspiration Strikes Only a Desk Away
BYLINE: By DAN FOST
SECTION: Section H; Column 0; Small Business; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 304 words
ONE of the most frequently cited advantages of coworking is the cross pollination that takes place. People share
ideas rather than actually drum up business.
''I'll ask Ryan for video tips, or I'll ask John for travel advice,'' said Eddie Codel, a Web video producer who works
at the Hat Factory in San Francisco, referring to his office mates Ryan Bailey, who runs a Web video start-up called
Viddyou, and John Vlahides, executive editor of 71miles.com, a travel site.
At Citizen Space, Kurt Smith, who works for a Dutch firm, Culgi, that makes software for computational chemistry, took a desk two months ago. His company is delighted that he has found a place to tap into the entrepreneurial
mentality of Silicon Valley. ''Everybody's got a blog,'' he said. ''Everybody's on Twitter. I've never been on the cutting
edge.''
But with his coworkers as inspiration, he got his more far-flung coworkers -- the Culgi employees in Europe and
Asia -- onto a Twitter group, which is fostering interoffice conversation that never existed before.
Similarly, if someone is looking for a Web designer, there's a good chance the coworker at the next desk could do
the job or has a network to tap into.
Jeremy Pepper, a technology publicist who rents a desk at Sandbox Suites, said he often lends expertise in social
media to a woman who works for a large corporation and rents a desk nearby. He'll also tap others for their insights into,
say, engineering.
At the Werks in Brighton and Hove, England, one person who owns a comedy club has tapped engineers for free
help, said James McCarthy, a founder of the space. It happened because he griped out loud about the difficulty he had
with his Web site.
''That coincidence would never happen without the coworking resource,'' he said. ''That's the feeling we're aiming
for.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: INTERNET VIDEO (90%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (78%); BLOGS & MESSAGE BOARDS (72%);
VIDEO INDUSTRY (72%); HAT CAP & MILLINERY MFG (72%); WEB DEVELOPMENT (70%); ENGINEERING (70%); CHEMISTRY (69%); INTERNET SOCIAL NETWORKING (90%); COMPUTER SOFTWARE (77%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (52%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA, USA (57%) CALIFORNIA, USA (88%) UNITED STATES
(88%); ENGLAND (69%); UNITED KINGDOM (69%); EUROPE (69%); ASIA (54%)
LOAD-DATE: February 21, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: THE CAT FACTORY: Eddie Codel, left, John Vlahides and a friend. (PHOTOGRAPH BY
RANDI LYNN BEACH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
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Inspiration Strikes Only a Desk Away The New York Times February 20, 2008 Wednesday
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1058 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 20, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
It's on to Plan B as a Hot Trend Cools Off
BYLINE: By DEE GILL
SECTION: Section H; Column 0; Small Business; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 1147 words
IN 2005, meal assembly shops were the hottest trend in small business, a concept taken on with gusto by mom-andpop entrepreneurs. In storefront and shopping-center kitchens nationwide, they sold millions of uncooked entrees in
freezer-ready Ziplocs and to-go tins, with stick-on instructions for boiling, simmering, baking or stir-frying the contents
into quick dinners at home.
The concept boomed, as the number of stores mushroomed from four in 2002 to 1,400 in 2007, almost exclusively by catering to women who wanted to provide home-cooked meals for their families, according to the Easy Meal
Preparation Association.
The customers placed their orders online days ahead, paid about $200 for 12 meals and donned store-supplied
aprons to personally assemble each dish at the site one or two times a month. They adjusted the recipes to their families'
tastes, maybe leaving the chopped onions out of the enchiladas. They often came with friends, sipped glasses of wine as
they worked and treated the two-hour assembly sessions as guilt-free nights out.
The loyalty of these wives and mothers landed meal assembly companies on various lists of top franchises and hot
new businesses throughout 2005 and 2006.
But growth in the industry has slowed sharply, long before reaching expectations. Industry revenue, which two
years ago was forecast to reach $1 billion annually by 2010, is now projected around $650 million by then, said Bert
Vermeulen, an industry consultant and founder of the easy meal association.
Some 264 meal preparation stores closed during 2007, Mr. Vermeulen said, more than three times as many as in
the previous year. He forecasts fewer than 50 openings in the United States this year, compared with 562 in 2006.
It turns out that lots of people are simply not motivated to plan so many meals in advance. The desire for lastminute convenience remains powerful in America, often trumping the more ephemeral rewards of home cooking.
Finding themselves ill prepared to offer such convenience in the context of a business model built on prescheduled
two-hour sessions, meal assembly owners are trying to find new ways to bring ready-to-cook meals to the masses.
The typical customers ''were women who enjoyed the time away from the kids -- getting out, having a glass of
wine -- because they felt good about taking care of their families' meals,'' said Bill Byrd, chief executive of Super Suppers, the second-largest franchiser in the business. ''What we found is that the market wasn't as big as we thought it
was.''
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It's on to Plan B as a Hot Trend Cools Off The New York Times February 20, 2008 Wednesday
Super Suppers, which is based in Fort Worth, once forecast it would have 600 stores by the end of 2006; it now
has about 200. Dream Dinners, based in Snohomish, Wash., originated the concept. It has 236 stores, not quite meeting
expectations. No single competitor of Super Suppers and Dream Dinners has more than 70 stores.
The majority of owners bring in less than $25,000 a month, or $300,000 a year, in revenue, according to Mr. Vermeulen's data. He figures that is about $5,000 a month short of what they need to stay out of financial trouble.
Book It N Cook It, an independent store in the Tampa, Fla., suburb of Lutz, never exceeded $4,000 in monthly
revenue in its eight-month life, said Terry Warner, its former owner. Monthly expenses averaged about $7,500. Mrs.
Warner and her husband closed the store in November after losing about $250,000.
The Warners, retired insurance adjusters who spent two years studying the industry before jumping in, say they
underestimated the public's aversion to meal planning.
''People here have a grab-and-go mentality,'' Mrs. Warner said of Florida, where free time can be spent outdoors
year-round. ''The last thing anyone wants to do here is plan dinner.'' She said that the burger joint next door to her shop
seemed to be doing great.
Book It N Cook It did keep preassembled meals ready for walk-in customers, but Mrs. Warner said that attracting
foot traffic was difficult.
The industry is selling more preassembled uncooked meals. In 2008, Mr. Vermeulen forecasts, store employees
will assemble more meals than customers will for the first time. In 2004, customers in prebooked sessions assembled
about 90 percent of all meals sold.
Dinner by Design, the third-largest franchiser, expects to get out of the session business completely, said John
Matthews, chief executive of the company, which is based in Grayslake, Ill.
Dinner by Design renovated a store in Gurnee, Ill., to sell only preassembled uncooked entrees, side orders and
desserts for pickup or delivery. Customers can phone in to pick up meals, order online or buy from the store's fridge.
Mr. Matthews, who came to meal assembly after building sandwich and pizza franchise companies, hopes to copy
the model throughout the chain.
''There's a huge market that is not going to book a session,'' he said, including his wife. ''She wanted to know why
we don't have drive-through windows.''
Deeelish (yes, three e's), based in Menlo Park, Calif., runs meal assembly sessions but is expanding mainly
through delivery. For a $25 additional fee, the store will send frozen, uncooked meals by overnight delivery via FedEx
to homes in several Western states.
The FedEx program is a small part of Deeelish's more than $1 million in annual revenue, said Jeff Stevens, a coowner. But he expects corporate deliveries, in which office workers preorder meals to take home, will account for half
of sales by the end of the year. Deeelish trucks fresh (not frozen) meals to commercial refrigerators it has installed in
three office buildings so far.
Not everyone thinks that preassembled meals will be the salvation. ''We think a lot of the rush to change has been
from lack of success with the core business,'' said Erik Ginsberg, referring to the sessions. Mr. Ginsberg is president of a
Baltimore partnership that owns some of the highest revenue-generating stores in the business. ''That hasn't been our
experience.''
Average annual sales for all his nine stores -- called Let's Dish, although independent of that franchise -- is
about $1.3 million, Mr. Ginsberg said. About 85 percent of sales come from traditional session customers, a percentage
he expects will shrink but remain the majority of business.
Dream Dinners' stores rely solely on preordered meals, mainly assembled by session customers. Darin Leonard,
the chief executive, argued that his competitors blundered in chasing the grab-and-go business, which he says turned
their $200-a-month session customers into $50-a-month pickup customers.
Despite moving toward pickup sales, the industry strives to set itself apart from fast food. Mr. Byrd of Super
Suppers pointed out that his meals were healthier than most takeout fare and cheaper than those in casual restaurants.
That's true even if Mom had nothing to do with making them.
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It's on to Plan B as a Hot Trend Cools Off The New York Times February 20, 2008 Wednesday
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: TRENDS (92%); SMALL BUSINESS (90%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (90%); RETAILERS (90%);
FRANCHISING (89%); COOKING & ENTERTAINING (89%); PREPARED FOODS (89%); CONSULTING SERVICES (65%); FRANCHISORS (78%)
GEOGRAPHIC: BALTIMORE, MD, USA (59%) ILLINOIS, USA (79%); MARYLAND, USA (68%) UNITED
STATES (86%)
LOAD-DATE: February 21, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: DISHING IT: Melissa Tillman, above, brought together some neighbors recently for a party at
Let's Dish, a meal assembly business in Timonium, Md., near Baltimore. Jen Bores, left, stocking a freezer with preassembled uncooked meals at a Dinner by Design franchise in Rockford, Ill. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOSHUA LOTT
FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
STEPHANIE KUYKENDAL FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1059 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 20, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
Study Says Education Gap Could Further Limit Poor
BYLINE: By ERIK ECKHOLM
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; Pg. 14
LENGTH: 775 words
Economic mobility, the chance that children of the poor or middle class will climb up the income ladder, has not
changed significantly over the last three decades, a study being released on Wednesday says.
The authors of the study, by scholars at the Brookings Institution in Washington and sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts, warned that widening gaps in higher education between rich and poor, whites and minorities, could soon
lead to a downturn in opportunities for the poorest families.
The researchers found that Hispanic and black Americans were falling behind whites and Asians in earning college degrees, making it harder for them to enter the middle class or higher.
''A growing difference in education levels between income and racial groups, especially in college degrees, implies that mobility will be lower in the future than it is today,'' said Ron Haskins, a former Republican official and welfare expert who wrote the education section of the report.
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Study Says Education Gap Could Further Limit Poor The New York Times February 20, 2008 Wednesday
There is some good news. The study highlights the powerful role that college can have in helping people change
their station in life. Someone born into a family in the lowest fifth of earners who graduates from college has a 19 percent chance of joining the highest fifth of earners in adulthood and a 62 percent chance of joining the middle class or
better.
In recent years, 11 percent of children from the poorest families have earned college degrees, compared with 53
percent of children from the top fifth.
''The American dream of opportunity is alive, but frayed,'' said Isabel Sawhill, another author of the report, ''Getting Ahead or Losing Ground: Mobility in America.'' The report is at economicmobility.org
''It's still alive for immigrants but badly tattered for African-Americans,'' said Ms. Sawhill, an economist and a
budget official in the Clinton administration. ''It's more alive for people in the middle class than for people at the very
bottom.''
The report and planned studies constitute the most comprehensive effort to examine intergenerational mobility,
said John E. Morton of the Pew Trusts, who is managing the project. It draws heavily on a federally supported survey
by the University of Michigan that has followed thousands of families since the late 1960s.
A chapter of the report released last fall found startling evidence that a majority of black children born to middleclass parents grew up to have lower incomes and that nearly half of middle-class black children fell into the bottom fifth
in adulthood, compared with 16 percent of middle-class white children.
The Pew-sponsored studies are continuing with the involvement of research organizations and scholars. Another
report expected in the spring by the more conservative Heritage Foundation will focus on explanations for the trends
described in the current report.
Stuart Butler, vice president for economic studies at the Heritage Foundation, said, ''It does seem in America now
that for people at very bottom it's more difficult to move up than we might have thought or might have been true in the
past.''
Mr. Butler said experts were likely to disagree about the reasons and, hence, on policies to improve mobility. Conservative scholars are more apt to fault cultural norms and the breakdown of families while liberals put more emphasis
on the changing structure of the economy and the need for government to provide safety nets and aid for poor families.
''We may well have an economy that rewards certain traits that are typically passed on from parents to children,
the importance of education, optimism, a propensity to work hard, entrepreneurship and so on,'' he said.
To the extent that the economy rewards those traits, he added, ''you'd expect the incomes of children to track more
with that of their parents.''
The small fraction of poor children who earn college degrees are likely to rise well above their parents' status, the
study showed.
More than half the children born to upper-income parents, those in the top fifth, who finish college remain in that
top group. Nearly one in four remains in the top fifth even without completing college.
Evidence from model programs shows that early childhood education can have lasting benefits, Mr. Haskins said,
although the Head Start program is too uneven to produce widespread gains.
In addition, he said, studies show that many poor but bright children do not receive good advice about applying
for college and scholarships, or do not receive help after starting college.
''If we did more to help them complete college,'' Mr. Haskins said, ''there's no question it would improve mobility.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: CHILDREN (91%); RESEARCH REPORTS (91%); FAMILY (90%); POOR POPULATION (90%); RESEARCH INSTITUTES (89%); AFRICAN AMERICANS (89%); TRENDS (78%); US REPUBLICAN PARTY
(77%); RESEARCH (77%); CHARITIES (77%); EDUCATION (76%); HISPANIC AMERICANS (76%); TRUST
Page 133
Study Says Education Gap Could Further Limit Poor The New York Times February 20, 2008 Wednesday
ARRANGEMENTS (72%); FOUNDATIONS (72%); POLLS & SURVEYS (71%); COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES
(71%); CAUCASIAN AMERICANS (77%)
ORGANIZATION: BROOKINGS INSTITUTION (58%)
GEOGRAPHIC: MICHIGAN, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (95%)
LOAD-DATE: February 20, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: CHART: UPWARD MOVEMENT: A person born into a poor family who graduates from college has a 19
percent chance of entering the top fifth of earners in adulthood. (Source: Economic Mobility Project, Pew Charitable
Trusts) Chart showing economic mobility at a standstill.
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1060 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 18, 2008 Monday
Late Edition - Final
A Start-Up Says It Can Predict Others' Fate
BYLINE: By MATT RICHTEL
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 559 words
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO
Is your start-up worthy of investment? Ask the venture investor in a box.
Two former Oxford University students are getting attention (and seed money) in Silicon Valley for developing
new technology that automates aspects of the venture capital decision-making process.
Kirill Makharinsky, 21, and Bob Goodson, 27, call their software a ''start-up predictor,'' and they say their company, YouNoodle.com, might give an edge to venture capitalists and other investors trying to decide whether to sink
money into an early-stage company.
''We don't want to replace investors,'' Mr. Goodson said. ''We simply believe that industries of comparable size
have utilized artificial intelligence to inform decision-making.''
''Give us some information, and we'll give you some idea of what the company will be worth in five years,'' he
said.
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A Start-Up Says It Can Predict Others' Fate The New York Times February 18, 2008 Monday
Starting Monday, the company is emerging from a private test and is opening up parts of its Web site and services
to the public.
The idea of a start-up predictor has drawn skepticism. Some venture capitalists say that the idea of using formulas
or historical data from past deals to predict how other start-ups will do in the future has been tried many times in vain.
Paul S. Kedrosky, a venture capitalist and the author of the Infectious Greed blog, said that his industry was indeed inefficient at picking winners; typically, 90 percent of venture investments are not home runs. But he does not particularly trust a company that professes to be able to do better than venture capitalists.
''If their tool did such a good job, they'd raise a fund themselves and beat the tar out of us,'' Mr. Kedrosky said.
''It's hard to imagine what they're mathematical combination of factors is.''
On that point, the founders of YouNoodle.com are not forthcoming. They say their algorithm uses sophisticated
modeling pertaining to how social capital and networks can affect an organization's performance.
They also say that they are focusing in general on assessing the experiences and social and business contacts of
entrepreneurs who start a company, and on how the entrepreneurs within that company might fit with one another.
They will not disclose precisely what factors they use to predict a start-up's success, or how their algorithm processes
those factors.
They certainly have their own well-heeled network. YouNoodle's financial backers include Paypal co-founders
Max Levchin and Peter Thiel, and the Founders Fund, a venture capital firm. YouNoodle has not disclosed the amount
of its seed financing.
The company is also is trying to build a network of early-stage companies, and to provide tools that can be used
for business plan competitions, businesses school classes and other emerging entrepreneurial ventures. It provides
those tools free, but in so doing the users provide data about their new ventures that YouNoodle uses to refine its predictor algorithm.
The company plans to give away a simple version of its predictor but will charge investors who want the newer
and more powerful version of the software.
So the question arises: Has YouNoodle used the predictor to determine if it will itself succeed?
''So far, we haven't run ourselves through it,'' Mr. Goodson said, adding that the results could prove baffling. ''If it
says we'll fail, and it's right, that's something of a paradox.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: VENTURE CAPITAL (93%); STARTUPS (89%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (89%); HISTORY (78%);
STUDENTS & STUDENT LIFE (78%); ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (69%); BLOGS & MESSAGE BOARDS
(67%); BUSINESS PLANS (73%); COMPUTER SOFTWARE (71%)
COMPANY: PAYPAL INC (51%)
TICKER: PYPL (NASDAQ) (51%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (53%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA, USA (90%) CALIFORNIA, USA (90%) UNITED STATES
(90%)
LOAD-DATE: February 18, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Bob Goodson, left, and Kirill Makharinsky will examine if a company deserves start-up money.
(PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER DASILVA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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A Start-Up Says It Can Predict Others' Fate The New York Times February 18, 2008 Monday
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1061 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 18, 2008 Monday
Late Edition - Final
Tax Scandal in Germany Fans Complaints of Inequity
BYLINE: By CARTER DOUGHERTY and MARK LANDLER; Nicholas Kulish contributed reporting from Berlin.
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1483 words
DATELINE: FRANKFURT
For wealthy Germans, many of whom have long hidden their money outside the country to avoid its high taxes, this
has been a weekend of high anxiety. For their fellow citizens, it has been a riveting spectacle, dominating the public
discussion for days.
Prosecutors are investigating hundreds of people, including several who are household names in Germany, on
suspicion that they evaded taxes by steering money to Liechtenstein, a postage-stamp principality known for its striking
Alpine scenery and discreet banks.
The fast-spreading scandal has already brought down one of Germany's most powerful business figures, Klaus
Zumwinkel, who resigned Friday as the chief executive of the German postal service after the police raided his home.
He is suspected of evading $1.46 million in taxes.
The scandal bears the hallmarks of a Robert Ludlum novel, with a mysterious informant who was paid by German
intelligence to turn over a data disc containing evidence of tax fraud on a vast scale.
The ripples are extending far beyond Germany's moneyed elite, inflaming the suspicions many ordinary Germans
have long felt toward well-paid corporate bosses and the free market in general.
A leftist party that campaigns against the excesses of business has made notable inroads in recent German state
elections, raising hurdles for the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is viewed as pro-business but has been
sharply critical of the suspected tax evasion.
Evidence that Germany's rich tucked away their cash in Liechtenstein and other tax havens is creating a new narrative in German politics: the betrayal of the elites, who have spent the last decade calling for a painful reform of the
welfare state, even as they apparently avoided paying their fair share.
''The political implications of this are going to be great,'' said John C. Kornblum, a former American ambassador
to Germany who is a banker here. ''In the U.S., we send people off to prison and say 'good riddance,' but it doesn't actually shake people's belief in the system. Here, it does.''
German authorities say they began unraveling the scandal in 2006, when a person, whose identity has not been
disclosed, approached the country's Federal Intelligence Service, its equivalent of the Central Intelligence Agency, offering a CD-ROM with data on German clients of a bank in Liechtenstein.
Page 136
Tax Scandal in Germany Fans Complaints of Inequity The New York Times February 18, 2008 Monday
After checking out a sample of the information on the CD, the German finance minister, Peer Steinbruck, authorized a payment of about 5 million euros ($7.3 million) for the information.
By late last year, the material had passed through the tax agency in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, officials
said, and landed on the desk of a special financial crimes group in Bochum, a gritty industrial city.
There, the investigators recognized a kind of tax dodge they knew existed but could seldom document.
Liechtenstein, a tiny German-speaking principality wedged between Switzerland and Austria, has strict banking
secrecy laws and grants favorable treatment to foundations. Many are filled with cash spirited out of Germany through
various means, some as crude as stuffing a suitcase with cash and driving across the border. Smugglers are arrested regularly.
Foundations are taxed in the low single digits and are permitted to disburse money to their founders and to founders' family members. The foundations are also permitted to open bank accounts in their own names outside the principality, which gives the owners access abroad to their cash.
Any effort to trace the owners of the foundations runs up against Liechtenstein's tough banking secrecy laws.
Data from the LGT Group, a Liechtenstein bank with a subsidiary that specializes in foundations, appears to have
formed the basis of the German investigation. The bank, which is owned by the royal family of Liechtenstein, has said it
cannot confirm its part in the investigation.
But on Friday, the bank said that the German scandal might be linked to data stolen by a disgruntled employee in
2002, and it conceded that it was not sure how many clients had been exposed. ''The scope of the presumed data transfer
cannot be determined,'' LGT said.
In Bochum, the prosecutors had enough information to obtain 13 search warrants against three people, Mr.
Zumwinkel among them. With television cameras in tow, they arrived at his villa in an affluent suburb of Cologne on
the morning of Feb. 14 and carted away boxes of documents.
Prosecutors announced that they had obtained an arrest warrant for Mr. Zumwinkel but did not execute it after he
agreed to cooperate with them and posted a large bond.
The warrant outlined a typical Liechtenstein tax fraud, according to the German magazine Focus and the paper
Bild am Sonntag: a foundation with the mailing address of Mr. Zumwinkel's Italian vacation home, filled with 12 million euros ($17.5 million) that he obtained by selling 10 family businesses.
Mr. Zumwinkel, who helped transform Deutsche Post, the German postal service, from a stodgy state bureaucracy
into a publicly listed logistics and freight-delivery powerhouse, initially tried to cling to his job. But after pressure from
Chancellor Merkel and others, he stepped down.
The prosecutors announced that they had evidence against ''several hundred'' other German tax evaders, and an official said there would be additional raids in the coming week. Mr. Steinbruck, the finance minister, urged suspects to
surrender to avoid jail time.
''The authorities are telling people even destroying documents will do them no good,'' said Rudolf Schwenger, a
former tax investigator in Frankfurt. ''The best they can do is turn themselves in and get away with only a financial penalty.''
This latest scandal has echoes of one several years ago, in which an anonymous whistle-blower gave Bochum
prosecutors a CD with names of 200 Germans who worked with a Liechtenstein citizen to hide money. The man, Herbert Batliner, who also worked with the financier Marc Rich, was a pioneer in the use of the foundation as a tax dodge.
The German Tax Union, an advocacy group, estimates that Germany loses 30 billion euros ($43.8 billion) a year
to tax evasion. The government tried to recoup some of that with a 15-month tax amnesty program that ended in mid2005. But it brought in only a fifth of the 5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) that the finance ministry had hoped for when it
took the controversial step.
Spiriting money across the border is a deeply rooted tradition in Germany. During and after World War II, many
wealthy Germans stashed assets in Switzerland to escape the political turmoil here -- first under the Nazi regime, then
under the threat of the Soviet army at their border.
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Tax Scandal in Germany Fans Complaints of Inequity The New York Times February 18, 2008 Monday
They continued to take suitcases of cash to Liechtenstein, Switzerland and other havens through the postwar economic boom, when tax rates became some of the highest in Europe.
In 2002, analysts estimated that 300 billion euros ($438 billion) was hidden from tax authorities in Switzerland,
Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Austria. These four nations are more convenient for Germans to visit, and place assets
in, than other tax havens, like those in the Caribbean.
But Austria and Luxembourg are now members of the European Union, making them less attractive. Like Switzerland, Liechtenstein is outside the union and depends on foreign deposits in its banks.
Several German celebrities have been caught trying to evade taxes. In 2002, the tennis champion Boris Becker
was found guilty of claiming residency in Monaco when he was living in Munich.
The tax scandal comes at a moment when Germany is undergoing what analystsdescribe as a shift to the left politically. Despite rising employment, many Germans are dissatisfied with stagnant wage growth and do not feel that they
are sharing in the gains, according to surveys.
The starkest example of this shift was the surprising strength of the Left Party in recent regional elections. The
party, which brings together disaffected Social Democrats, hard-core leftists and former Communists, moved beyond its
strongholds in the states that made up the former East Germany to wins seat in the state Parliaments in Lower Saxony
and Hesse, for the first time.
Next Sunday, voters in the city-state of Hamburg go to the polls, and conservatives fear a rout if the public seizes
on the election as a chance to vent frustrations about tax evasion and what it seems to symbolize.
Even a few German business leaders ventured their own harsh words for tax evasion over the weekend.
''Not only family entrepreneurs but also the overwhelming majority of business executives is rightly worried in
light of the damage that is being inflicted on the entire profession by the misbehavior of a small group,'' the head of the
German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Ludwig Georg Braun, said in an open letter published in the German
news media.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: TAX FRAUD (93%); FRAUD & FINANCIAL CRIME (90%); TAX LAW (89%); TAXES & TAXATION (89%); INVESTIGATIONS (89%); BANKING & FINANCE (89%); PUBLIC FINANCE AGENCIES &
TREASURIES (78%); TAX AUTHORITIES (78%); JUSTICE DEPARTMENTS (77%); INTELLIGENCE SERVICES (75%); BANKING & FINANCE AGENCIES (75%); EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (72%); ELECTIONS
(71%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (71%); PUBLIC FINANCE (68%)
PERSON: KLAUS ZUMWINKEL (57%); ANGELA MERKEL (54%); PEER STEINBRUECK (51%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA, GERMANY (92%); FRANKFURT, GERMANY (79%) GERMANY (96%); LIECHTENSTEIN (94%); UNITED STATES (92%); CENTRAL EUROPE (91%)
LOAD-DATE: February 18, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Klaus Zumwinkel was the first to fall in the tax investigation. (PHOTOGRAPH BY INA FASSBENDER/REUTERS)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
Page 138
After China Ships Out iPhones, Smugglers Make It a Return Trip The New York Times February 18, 2008 Monday
1062 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 18, 2008 Monday
Late Edition - Final
After China Ships Out iPhones, Smugglers Make It a Return Trip
BYLINE: By DAVID BARBOZA; John Markoff contributed reporting from San Francisco.
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1151 words
DATELINE: SHANGHAI
Factories here churn out iPhones that are exported to the United States and Europe. Then thousands of them are
smuggled right back into China.
The strange journey of Apple's popular iPhone, to nearly every corner of the world, shows what happens when the
world's hottest consumer product defies a company's attempt to slowly introduce it in new markets.
The iPhone has been swept up in a frenzy of global smuggling and word-of-mouth marketing that leads friends to
ask friends, ''While you're in the U.S., would you mind picking up an iPhone for me?''
These unofficial distribution networks help explain a mystery that analysts who follow Apple have been pondering: why is there a large gap between the number of iPhones that Apple says it sold last year, about 3.7 million, and the
2.3 million that are actually registered on the networks of its wireless partners in the United States and Europe?
The answer now seems clear. For months, tourists, small entrepreneurs and smugglers of electronic goods have
been buying iPhones in the United States and then shipping them overseas.
There the phones' digital locks are broken so they can work on local cellular networks, and they are outfitted with
localized software, essentially undermining Apple's effort to introduce the phone with exclusive partnership deals, similar to its primary partnership agreement with AT&T in the United States.
''There's no question many of them are ending up abroad,'' said Charles R. Wolf, an analyst who follows Apple for
Needham & Company.
For Apple, the booming overseas market for iPhones is both a sign of its marketing prowess and a blow to a business model that could be coming undone, costing the company as much as $1 billion over the next three years, according to some analysts.
But those economic realities do not play into the mind of Daniel Pan, a 22-year-old Web site designer in Shanghai
who says a friend recently bought an iPhone for him in the United States.
He and other people here often pay $450 to $600 to get a phone that sells for $400 in the United States. But they
are happy.
''This is even better than I thought it would be,'' he said, toying with his iPhone at an upscale coffee shop. ''This is
definitely one of the great inventions of this century.''
Mr. Pan is among the new breed of young professionals in China who can afford to buy the latest gadgets and the
coolest Western brands. IPhones are widely available at electronic stores in big cities, and many stores offer unlocking
services for imported phones.
Chinese sellers of iPhones say they typically get the phones from suppliers who buy them in the United States,
then have them shipped or brought to China by airline passengers.
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After China Ships Out iPhones, Smugglers Make It a Return Trip The New York Times February 18, 2008 Monday
Often, they say, the phones are given to members of Chinese tourist groups or Chinese airline flight attendants,
who are typically paid a commission of about $30 for every phone they deliver.
Although unlocking the phone violates Apple's purchase agreement, it does not appear to violate any laws here,
though many stores may be avoiding import duties.
Considering China's penchant for smuggling and counterfeiting high-quality goods, the huge number of iPhones
being sold here is not surprising, particularly given the popularity of the Apple brand in China.
Indeed, within months of the release of the iPhone in the United States last June, iPhone knockoffs, or iClones as
some have called them, were selling here for as little as $125. But most people opt for the real thing.
''A lot of people here want to get an iPhone,'' says Conlyn Chan, 31, a lawyer who was born in Taiwan and now
lives in Shanghai. ''I know a guy who went back to the States and bought 20 iPhones. He even gave one to his driver.''
Negotiations between Apple and China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile-phone service operator with more than
350 million subscribers, broke down last month, stalling the official release of the iPhone in China. Long before that,
however, there was a thriving gray market.
''I love all of Apple's products,'' said a 27-year-old Beijing engineer named Chen Chen who found his iPhone
through a bulletin board Web site. ''I bought mine for $625 last October, and the seller helped me unlock it. Reading and
sending Chinese messages is no problem.''
An iPhone purchased in Shanghai or Beijing typically costs about $555. To unlock the phone and add Chinese
language software costs an additional $25.
For Apple, the sale of iPhones to people who ship them to China is a source of revenue. But the company is still
losing out, because its exclusive deals with phone service providers bring in revenue after the phone is sold. If the
phones were activated in the United States, Apple would receive as much as $120 a year per user from AT&T, analysts
say.
But there are forces working against that. Programmers around the world collaborate on and share programs that
unlock the iPhone, racing to put out new versions when Apple updates its defenses.
While Apple has not strongly condemned unlocking, it has warned consumers that this violates the purchase
agreement and can cause problems with software updates.
Some analysts say abandoning the locked phone system and allowing buyers to sign up with any carrier they
choose, in any country, could spur sales.
''The model is threatened,'' Mr. Wolf, the analyst, said. But ''if they sold the phone unlocked with no exclusive carrier, demand could be much higher.''
An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on the proliferation of iPhones in China. When asked about the
number of unlocked iPhones during a conference call with analysts last month, Timothy D. Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, said it was ''significant in the quarter, but we're unsure how to reliably estimate the number.''
The copycat models are another possible threat to Apple. Not long after the iPhone was released, research and development teams in China were taking it apart, trying to copy or steal the design and software for use in knockoffs.
Some people who have used the clones say they are sophisticated and have many functions that mimic the iPhone.
In Shanghai, television advertisements market the Ai Feng, a phone with a name that sounds like iPhone but in
Chinese translates roughly as the Crazy Love. That phone sells for about $125.
Some of the sellers of the copycats admit the phones are a scam.
''It's a fake iPhone, but it looks nearly the same,'' said a man who answered the phone last week at the Shenzhen
Sunshine Trade Company, in southern China's biggest electronics manufacturing area. ''We manufacture it by ourselves.
We have our own R. &D. group and manufacturing plant. Most of our products are for export.''
Most people here seem to want the glory that comes with showing off a real iPhone to friends.
''My friends envy me a lot,'' says Mr. Pan, the Web designer. ''They say, ''Wow, you can get an iPhone.' ''
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After China Ships Out iPhones, Smugglers Make It a Return Trip The New York Times February 18, 2008 Monday
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: EXPORT TRADE (89%); IMPORT TRADE (78%); ELECTRONICS (76%); NEW PRODUCTS (76%);
ALLIANCES & PARTNERSHIPS (90%); INDUSTRY ANALYSTS (74%); MOBILE & CELLULAR COMMUNICATIONS (74%); RADIO TELEVISION & ELECTRONICS STORES (72%); SMALL BUSINESS (71%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (71%); WEB DEVELOPMENT (61%); MOBILE & CELLULAR TELEPHONES (91%); CONSUMER ELECTRONICS (77%); COMPUTER SOFTWARE (65%)
COMPANY: APPLE INC (92%); CNINSURE INC (93%); NEEDHAM & CO INC (66%)
TICKER: AAPL (NASDAQ) (92%); CISG (NASDAQ) (93%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS423430 COMPUTER & COMPUTER PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT & SOFTWARE MERCHANT WHOLESALERS (92%); NAICS334112 COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICE MANUFACTURING (92%);
NAICS334111 ELECTRONIC COMPUTER MANUFACTURING (92%); SIC5045 COMPUTERS & COMPUTER
PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT & SOFTWARE (92%); SIC3572 COMPUTER STORAGE DEVICES (92%); SIC3571
ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS (92%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (57%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SHANGHAI, CHINA (90%) EAST CHINA (91%) CHINA (98%); UNITED STATES (94%); EUROPE (93%)
LOAD-DATE: February 18, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: Deals for the iPhone advertised at a market in Shanghai. (PHOTOGRAPH BY RYAN PYLE
FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg.A1)
A store manager with an iPhone in Shanghai, where the iPhone costs about $555, more than the $400 in the United
States. (PHOTOGRAPH BY RYAN PYLE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg.A8)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1063 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 17, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Two Paths for the Aspiring Alpha Female
BYLINE: By HARRY HURT III
SECTION: Section BU; Column 0; Money and Business/Financial Desk; OFF THE SHELF; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 960 words
Page 141
Two Paths for the Aspiring Alpha Female The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday
IN the 1964 film ''My Fair Lady,'' Prof. Henry Higgins, played by Rex Harrison, famously asked, ''Why can't a
woman be more like a man?'' The subtexts of two new books that aim to guide women through the worlds of commerce
and finance pose a strikingly similar question -- Why can't a businesswoman be more like a businessman? -- and come
up with strikingly different answers.
''Seducing the Boys Club: Uncensored Tactics From a Woman at the Top'' (Ballantine Books, $25), by Nina
DiSesa, is unabashedly hard-charging though with a feminine twist. Ms. DiSesa, the chairwoman of McCann Erickson
New York, the ad agency, urges women to make up their own rules and to use tactics like flirting to woo colleagues and
conquer rivals.
In ''What Men Don't Tell Women About Business'' (Wiley, $22.95), Christopher V. Flett, a Canadian-born entrepreneur, urges women to forgo flirting and take a much more straightforward approach. By ''Opening Up the Heavily
Guarded Alpha Male Playbook,'' as his subtitle puts it, he sets women on the path he thinks they ought to take.
''Seducing the Boys Club'' is equal parts autobiography and how-to manual. Ms. DiSesa bases her recommendations on her 35-year career in advertising. (In 1999, Fortune magazine named her one of the ''50 Most Powerful Women
in American Business.'') She recounts her fight to climb the corporate ladder while coping with divorce, breast cancer,
remarriage and sexist male colleagues she calls ''hooligans.''
She lists seven deadly sins -- humility, timidity, cowardice, submissiveness, blind obedience, visible fear and hypersensitivity -- as common female traits to be avoided at all costs. On the other hand, she also warns women to avoid
male tendencies like getting ''drunk with power.''
The two principal tactics advocated by Ms. DiSesa are seduction and manipulation. After bundling them together
in a glib Madison Avenue abbreviation, she declares that, ''All the men in our lives -- the ones we work with or live
with, admire or desire, and love or hate -- are easier to control if we master the Art of S.& M.'' Why would men fall for
such tactics? ''First of all, they love seduction,'' she writes. ''And second, they are oblivious to manipulation.''
Ms. DiSesa points out that sex and seduction are not one and the same. The first implies sleeping one's way into
the executive suite, an approach she deplores. The second, as she illustrates in rambling anecdotes, is more about using
sophisticated charm and sugar-coated words to win the support of male business associates.
''One of the greatest tools, or weapons, we have as women is flirting,'' she says, later adding, ''Men like women
who like them.''
Ms. DiSesa's specific advice is often contradictory. ''First be honest and then be shrewd,'' she urges. But she also
concedes that her ''personal code of ethics'' permits ''not telling the whole truth,'' and gives several examples of how she
used half-truths and deliberate ambiguities to achieve her objectives.
In a chapter titled ''How to Outmaneuver Men Who Outrank You,'' Ms. DiSesa thanks a former male colleague she
ousted in a corporate power struggle ''for making a man out of me.'' A half-dozen pages later, she says: ''A female culture -- one that embraces compassion, nurturing, collaboration and sensitivity -- by nature creates a more productive,
pleasant place to work than an atmosphere of fear, danger and macho competition. Maybe a combination of the two
cultures is the perfect workplace; it would be exciting but still fun.''
There are no maybes in ''What Men Don't Tell Women About Business.'' Mr. Flett describes himself as a ''reformed alpha male'' who is now dedicated to helping women outwit alpha males.
Mr. Flett says the foundation of the 21st-century business model is ''authenticity.'' But instead of recognizing the
new paradigm, he says, many women keep hiding behind personality masks to play roles like Mother and Geisha or try
to pass themselves off as ''one of the boys'' by feigning interest in macho sports like ice hockey. At the same time, he
accuses other women of committing a laundry list of typical female mistakes he details in chapters with subheadings
such as ''Taking Things Personally,'' ''Making Excuses'' and, in a description of perhaps the most egregious mistake,
''Not Keeping Secrets.''
But Mr. Flett also seems to contradict himself. ''Women don't have to become men in order to be successful,'' he
says. ''In fact, they should appreciate that they hold a lot of the skills men attempt to learn.'' That said, he proceeds to
advise women to act more ruthlessly. Among the dictums he says he has learned from his own male colleagues are
''Success is yours for the taking,'' ''Leadership is given to those who take complete responsibility'' and ''The world drives
over weakness.''
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Two Paths for the Aspiring Alpha Female The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday
Frankly, I found the ways in which Mr. Flett and Ms. DiSesa invoked persistent sexual stereotypes to be rather
depressing. To my mind, the most illuminating comments in either book come from James Patterson, a former advertising mogul who now writes best-selling mystery fiction. Ms. DiSesa reports that Mr. Patterson urged her to think of life
as a game in which we juggle five balls labeled Work, Family, Health, Friends and Integrity.
''One day you understand Work is a rubber ball. You drop it and it bounces back,'' Mr. Patterson is quoted as saying. ''The other four balls are made of glass. Drop one of those, and it will be irrevocably marked, scuffed, nicked and
maybe even shattered.''
Both men and women might do well to remember those universal challenges, whether they are trying to seduce
their way into so-called boys clubs or use tactics borrowed from the alpha-male playbook to gain advantage in the
workplace.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: MEN (89%); WOMEN (77%); MARKETING & ADVERTISING (75%); MARKETING & ADVERTISING AGENCIES (74%); NON FICTION LITERATURE (72%); BIOGRAPHICAL LITERATURE (72%); PROFILES
& BIOGRAPHIES (65%); DIVORCE & DISSOLUTION (63%); BREAST CANCER (51%)
LOAD-DATE: February 17, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1064 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 17, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
It's Lonely At the Top, The Middle ...
BYLINE: By CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY
SECTION: Section ST; Column 0; Style Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1721 words
KATHY RULAND decorated her family's new two-bedroom condo at the Plaza Hotel with care. The windows,
overlooking Central Park, are draped with gold silk, and the living room showcases her beloved Indonesian painting of
the Hindu goddess Sita, which was bought at a gallery near her main residence in Laguna Beach, Calif. When she
wakes up to front-row views of Central Park, she says she feels like a princess.
But she's a lonely princess.
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It's Lonely At the Top, The Middle ... The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday
In the time she has been living, on and off, at the newly converted Plaza Hotel, she has met five residents of the
181-unit building. In fact, she has no idea who lives on either side of her; of the 10 apartments on her floor, she knows
not a soul, not a face, not a name.
She wouldn't mind meeting someone other than the decorators, real estate brokers and other service workers fussing over the apartments. But even the building's security guards can't offer much information.
''I keep asking, 'Has anybody else moved in?' and they shake their heads,'' she said. ''The place has been deserted.''
The Plaza Hotel, which has spent much of its 100-year history packed with guests like the Vanderbilts and the
Beatles, not to mention debutantes and Frank Lloyd Wright, closed in 2005 to reopen as part hotel and part condominium. The hotel is scheduled to reopen March 1, and the condominiums have been finished for months. Buyers have
closed on nearly 100 apartments.
Yet for the most part, no one is home. Only a half-dozen residents live there full time and another three dozen residents live there on weekends, according to Lloyd Kaplan, spokesman for the Plaza's owner, Elad Properties.
On any night, the Plaza has rows and rows of darkened windows. The hallways on upper floors are silent except
for the occasional shudder of wind. When young girls ask Ed the doorman whether Eloise is home, they are told she is
on vacation in Paris.
So the buyers actually residing at the Plaza are finding life a little strange. Not that they regret their decision to
move in. It's hard to complain, after all, about living in multimillion-dollar apartments in one of Manhattan's most legendary buildings, or to grouse about too much privacy. In New York, with its doubled-up roommates, clotted sidewalks
and elbow-to-elbow dining, privacy is one of the ultimate luxuries.
But the Plaza does provide a window into the transient lives of the latest wave of the ultrarich in New York. Most
of the buyers of luxury condos like those at the Plaza -- including current and former top executives of Staples, JetBlue,
Viacom and Esprit, as well as a few Russian billionaires -- are rarely there. The city is just one more place they spend
time around the country or the world. When they are living at the Plaza, some say they find themselves longing for a
nod from a neighbor by the elevator, a hello in the lobby, a friendly wine and cheese gathering. Like anyone else, they
long for a community, albeit a community of the megawealthy.
Kathy Ruland's family owns two apartments in the Plaza. Her parents, Betty and Fred Farago, bought a onebedroom $5.8-million apartment in July on the 15th floor, and a two-bedroom in October for themselves, the children
and the grandchildren.
When they first bought the one-bedroom, the Faragos encouraged Ms. Ruland's 17-year-old son, Stan, to spend
the night by himself in the Plaza, one of the first people to overnight there.
The family knew the building was nearly empty, but thought Stan could be like the character Macaulay Culkin
played in the movie ''Home Alone.'' That night, Stan ordered pizza, Cokes and cheese bread for the security guards and
hung out with them downstairs. When it was time for bed, he reluctantly went upstairs to the family apartment. ''It was a
little bit spooky because it was totally dead,'' he said. ''It was this huge hotel, and I was the only one up there.''
In the fall, his 21-year-old sister, Kelley, moved into the apartment.
She had just transferred to Columbia University and didn't want to stay in her dorm room, because she was lonely. Her roommate, it turned out, was always away with her boyfriend.
Kelley thought the Plaza would be busier, she said. But security guards called her Eloise as she headed in and out.
Although her mother and grandmother often visited, she felt isolated. Last month, Kelley transferred back to the University of California, Los Angeles, moving into a shoe-box-size room at the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house. ''It
doesn't matter where you are or how nice the place is -- you get lonely,'' she said. ''The only time I wasn't lonely was
when my mom and grandma were there.''
Of course, New York can be a lonely place, even for the rich who make Manhattan their primary home and live in
the equivalent of private clubs -- 740 Park, for instance. Entry into those co-ops requires not just money, but also the
right credentials. That means that they are closed off to the Russian billionaires and wealthy entrepreneurs from other
American cities who live here part time.
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It's Lonely At the Top, The Middle ... The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday
Contrary to what outsiders think, those residents can also be isolated. Michael Gross, who wrote a book about 740
Park, said the residents he interviewed talked about how they rarely saw one another and often rode elevators alone. The
only exception was in the early 1970s when one vertical line of apartments, the D-line, filled with young families. But
that closeness quickly disappeared when the D-line became known as the divorce line, because of all the marriages that
fell apart.
''They don't do secret deals to rule the world in the elevator,'' he said. ''They rarely see these people.''
The Plaza residents are isolated partly because the building is still filling up. Some buyers are waiting for decorators to customize their apartments for their art collections. Other buyers are staying at their third and fourth -- or in some
cases eighth and ninth -- homes until the building's restaurant and gym are open. That may not be until the spring.
In some ways, the Plaza Hotel's residents are like newly wealthy New Yorkers during the Gilded Age in the late
19th century. Back then, newly transplanted New Yorkers lived in luxury hotels rich with dining rooms and men's and
women's lounges.
David Nasaw, a biographer of Andrew Carnegie and a history professor at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, said that Mr. Carnegie lived in amenity-rich hotels like the St. Nicholas when he first moved to New
York.
He later upgraded to the Windsor Hotel, and established himself socially by spending time in the hotel's dining,
drawing and reading rooms. Back then, Mr. Carnegie's accommodations were looked down upon by older New York
families who lived in private residences.
''Nobody who had any kind of money would dare live in an apartment building where there weren't services,'' he
said. ''You wouldn't imagine in the 1870s or 1880s getting your services anywhere else. These places prided themselves
on the amenities.''
Mr. Nasaw said the superwealthy in the 19th century may have had an easier time figuring out how to meet the
neighbors. The social rules on how and when to call on one another were far more explicit, and it was easy to tell
whether social overtures were accepted or rejected. Think of the invitations and rejections Countess Olenska receives in
Edith Wharton's novel ''The Age of Innocence.''
''These formal structure and rituals allowed people to navigate,'' Mr. Nasaw said.
THERE are, of course, no real rules anymore. That's why when all the decorating is done, brokers say, it may not
be easier for the neighbors to be neighborly. For many residents, this will be just fine. ''The ones who bought there are
not looking to be part of a community,'' said Kathryn Steinberg, a broker with Edward Lee Cave, who sold two apartments at the Plaza. ''They have their community.''
John Coustas, president of the Greek shipping company Danaos, closed last month on a two-bedroom apartment.
He doesn't plan on living there full time, but isn't worried about being lonely. He has three sets of friends who also
bought there. ''Of course we hope that we're going to meet more people,'' he said. ''We'll see how it develops.''
Ms. Ruland said meeting people is hard simply because it's hard to tell the residents from the help. One neighbor
cast his eyes away from her one day when she walked through the lobby with a mop and bucket. She said she felt like
telling him her family owns two apartments in the Plaza.
She hopes, she said, that over time she will meet someone there who shares her love of art and running. Her mother hopes that she will find neighbors who like to play canasta or bridge.
''It's going to be easier when we go to the fitness center,'' she said. ''I would love to meet people. The sooner the
better. It's getting. ... It's getting. ... We're ready.''
Bernard and Joan Spain say the fitness center may not be the answer. The couple, whose main home is in Philadelphia, bought their $7 million two-bedroom apartment in June. After renovations, they moved in last month, replacing their space at the nearby Sherry-Netherland Hotel. In their five years at the Sherry-Netherland, they said, they never
saw any neighbors at the gym.
They have high hopes for the Plaza. In August, they attended the 100th anniversary party to see if they could meet
future neighbors. And when they moved in, the Spains introduced themselves to the single woman who lives on their
floor with her mammoth dog, and also to a Swedish family they met in the lobby.
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It's Lonely At the Top, The Middle ... The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday
Ms. Spain has held three cocktail parties for friends who live nearby. ''We popped some popcorn and put out some
mixed nuts,'' she said.
They invited the neighbor with the dog, but she took a rain check. And last week, Mr. Spain said, he met another
neighbor while taking out the trash.
The views help prevent them from getting lonely. They entertain themselves by watching thousands of people mill
in and out of the Apple Store below. They also talk on the phone with a friend's friend who bought a third-floor apartment, but has not yet moved in. They hope that they will meet people when the shops and restaurants open.
''We expect that we'll meet very interesting people,'' Ms. Spain said. Her husband added, ''We're optimistic people.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: CONDOMINIUMS (90%); RESIDENTIAL CONDOMINIUMS (90%); RESIDENTIAL COOWNERSHIP (89%); REAL ESTATE (78%); HINDUS & HINDUISM (72%); REAL ESTATE AGENTS (68%);
WEALTHY PEOPLE (60%)
COMPANY: VIACOM INC (50%); JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP (50%)
TICKER: VIA (NYSE) (50%); JBLU (NASDAQ) (50%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS515210 CABLE & OTHER SUBSCRIPTION PROGRAMMING (50%); NAICS512110 MOTION PICTURE & VIDEO PRODUCTION (50%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (79%) NEW YORK, USA (92%); CALIFORNIA, USA (91%) UNITED
STATES (92%)
LOAD-DATE: February 17, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: HELLO?: The Plaza isn't really this dark. It only seems this way to the half-dozen or so fulltime residents of its new apartments.(PHOTOGRAPH BY ROB BENNETT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
ILLUSTRATION BY THE NEW YORK TIMES)(pg. ST.1)
2BR, PARK VU: Betty Farago, above at left, and her daughter, Kathy Ruland, hope their new neighbors at the Plaza
will share their interests. Bernard and Joan Spain, left, who also live there, have held three cocktail parties for people
who live nearby.(PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARILYNN K. YEE/THE NEW YORK TIMES)(pg. ST7)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1065 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 17, 2008 Sunday
Correction Appended
Late Edition - Final
Page 146
The Power of Whimsy The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday Correction Appended
The Power of Whimsy
BYLINE: By PHYLLIS KORKKI
SECTION: Section BU; Column 0; Money and Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1995 words
SANDRA BOYNTON'S studio, in a converted barn next to her Connecticut home, bears the milestones of her singular career: a long rack of greeting cards featuring quirkily drawn animals; a room full of small, sturdy children's
books, with names like ''Snuggle Puppy!'' and ''Barnyard Dance!''; and, upstairs, where she does much of her work, oldtime radios and jukeboxes representing her more recent foray into music CDs for children.
Ms. Boynton's CDs have garnered three gold records and one Grammy nomination. These accomplishments, on
top of the hundreds of millions of cards and tens of millions of books she has sold, are all the happy -- and profitable -results of an unconventional approach to business.
As an entrepreneur, Ms. Boynton maintains a firm grasp on market realities and her finances, but she says she
has succeeded by refusing to make money her main objective. Instead, she says, she has focused on the creative process,
her artistic autonomy, her relationships and how she uses her time.
''I don't do things differently to be different; I do what works for me,'' she says. ''To me, the commodity that we
consistently overvalue is money, and what we undervalue is our precious and irreplaceable time. Though, of course, to
the extent that money can save you time or make it easier to accomplish things, it's a wonderful thing.''
While Ms. Boynton may make all of this sound relatively straightforward, she has overcome hurdles in three industries that have routinely tripped up or roundly laid low legions of would-be entrepreneurs.
MS. BOYNTON, 54, describes what she calls an ''absurdly happy childhood'' in Philadelphia. The third of four
daughters, she attended Germantown Friends, a K-12 Quaker school famed for its arts education and interdisciplinary
teaching. Her father, Robert Boynton, was an English teacher at the school. ''The best English teacher I ever had,'' she
says.
She was fascinated by business at an early age and remembers selling pretty yellow flowers door to door for a
dime when she was 8. Later, she discovered that they were weeds, but she still had takers. ''I always liked selling
things,'' she says. ''It gives you a sense of self-sufficiency.''
When Ms. Boynton was 14, a local newspaper printed drawings from an exhibit of her school artwork. She used
the $40 she earned from her first published work to invest in two shares of AT&T -- though she mistakenly thought she
was buying shares of I.B.M. She still has the stock but has no clue how much it is worth.
Stocks held a special glamour for her: Her grandfather worked at a silver company, rising from the mailroom to
the vice president's perch. ''Family legend has it that the company offered penny-a-share stock to employees, and he
bought as much as he could afford,'' she says. ''And he became a wealthy man. That stock eventually put most of his 17
grandchildren through college.''
In addition to her investing activity, she developed a strong interest in art, music, literature and writing -- all of
which were central to the Friends curriculum. The school was so stimulating, academically and artistically, she says,
that her first year at Yale was a disappointment.
At Yale, she majored in English, became involved in drama courses and productions and met her future husband,
Jamie McEwan, in an acting class. She also worked on her drawing. Ever the entrepreneur, she started illustrating gift
enclosure cards that were precursors of her animal-populated greeting cards.
In 1974, Ms. Boynton met Phil Friedmann, a partner in Recycled Paper Greetings, a greeting card company based
in Chicago, at a stationery trade show. After Mr. Friedmann and his business partner, Mike Keiser, saw Ms. Boynton's
work, they asked her to start making cards for their company.
They wanted to pay her a flat rate. Though she was only 21 and unknown, Ms. Boynton, who had learned a lesson
or two from her father's other careers as a writer and publisher, demanded royalties.
Page 147
The Power of Whimsy The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday Correction Appended
''We quickly relented,'' Mr. Keiser recalls of the royalty negotiations. It was a shrewd move on his part, too. He
says that over about a decade -- from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s -- revenue at Recycled Paper went from $1 million to $100 million, largely because of the popularity of Boynton cards. Ms. Boynton has made 4,000 different cards
for Recycled Paper, including the still popular ''Hippo Birdies 2 Ewes'' birthday card.
By Mr. Keiser's rough estimate, Ms. Boynton has sold around a half-billion cards, which, he says, makes her one
of the best-selling card creators of all time.
Her cards have become such a part of the mainstream that it is easy to forget how radical they were when they
were introduced. Dominated by powerhouses like Hallmark and American Greetings, the card industry in the 1970s
relied on flowery, color-saturated art and equally flowery prose, written in flourishes and curlicues.
Ms. Boynton's cards, on the other hand, were populated with cats, cows, hippos, ducks, sheep, dragons and various other beasts, humanized through the placement of a dot for a pupil, or a single, expressive arc for an eyelid or
mouth. She was also among the first greeting card artists to use white backgrounds.
Her cards were thoughtful, wry and whimsical. While the sentiments may have been unconventional, they resonated with the public.
''Things are getting worse,'' said one card that featured a bewildered hippo. On the inside it said ''please send chocolate.''
Whimsy, it turns out, had been undervalued. And the big card companies eventually took some of their artistic
cues from her.
''It's a lot easier to start in this business today than it was when Sandra Boynton got started,'' Patti Stracher, manager of the National Stationery Show, the country's biggest annual greeting card showcase. ''She fueled a trend in what
were then called alternative greeting cards. Alternative cards helped people communicate about topics that were really
hard to address or that you could poke fun at.''
AFTER the cards came the books. Continuing with the chocolate theme, in 1982 Ms. Boynton published a general
market book titled ''Chocolate: the Consuming Passion'' that became a best seller. Its publisher, the Workman Publishing Company, went on to print some of her children's board books -- small books with thick, boardlike pages, with 5 to
10 rhythmic words per page.
The books feature some of the same furry and feathery characters that her cards do, presenting a world that her editor of 27 years, Suzanne Rafer, calls ''safe, unexpected and pleasurable'' for children.
The most popular board book by Workman, ''Barnyard Dance!'' (''Bow to the horse. Bow to the cow. Bow to the
horse if you know how.'') was published in 1993 and has 2.3 million copies in print.
Wendy Rhein of Atlanta has been reading Ms. Boynton's books to her son, Nathan, 2 1/2, since he was born. ''The
drawings are entertaining,'' she said, ''and there's a lyricism and rhyming that goes on that's very singsong, and they're
fun for me to read to him.''
Succeeding in the children's book market is hard and becoming more so, said Michael K. Norris, senior analyst at
Simba Information, a market research firm. Technology is luring children away from books, and only a small percentage of children's books wind up on families' shelves.
''The market favors authors who have built up their brands over time,'' Mr. Norris says. He says she also has an
edge because ''she knows exactly who her audience is and knows how to reach them.''
FROM books, Ms. Boynton decided to extend her rhythmic sensibility into song. She says she was helped along
by ''dumb luck.''
When she was working on the album ''Philadelphia Chickens'' in 2001, for instance, she told Mike Ford, her
songwriting partner, that Meryl Streep (a fellow Yale alumna and a friend) was the only person who could do justice to
the song ''Nobody Understands Me.''
The very next day, Ms. Streep happened to stop by her studio. She recorded the song and then suggested that the
actor Kevin Kline might want to record one, too. He sang ''Busybusybusy.'' Another friend of Ms. Boynton's, Laura
Linney, sang for the album, and Ms. Linney helped arrange for Eric Stoltz to put in an appearance.
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Buoyed by her Hollywood supporters, Ms. Boynton approached some of the biggest names in the music industry - including Alison Krauss, Blues Traveler and the Spin Doctors -- to contribute to her next album, ''Dog Train.'' From
there, she was able to persuade some of her music idols -- including Neil Sedaka, B. B. King, Steve Lawrence and Davy
Jones -- to sing on her most recent effort, called ''Blue Moo: 17 Jukebox Hits From Way Back Never.''
It was lucky, Ms. Boynton says, that many managers of the big musical acts were men in their 30s who had
young children who loved her books. And there was another stroke of luck: she decided to use her longtime publisher,
Workman, to package her CDs inside of books instead of selling them in music stores. In retrospect, that alternative
form of distribution was a stroke of genius, because it came just as the music business seemed to be imploding.
Ms. Boynton's studio is not far from the farmhouse that she and her husband, Mr. McEwan -- also a children's
book author -- bought 28 years ago. In addition to creating greeting cards and children's books, the couple also raised
four children there, now ages 18 to 28.
The studio and her five-bedroom home, built in 1728, sit on 100 acres of rolling northwestern Connecticut countryside -- evidence of a life that is comfortable, but not lavish.
When she is working on her music, Ms. Boynton drives five miles across winding rural roads to Mr. Ford, her
songwriting partner, who also works out of a studio next to his house. The two sit side by side in leather chairs in front
of an electronic keyboard and a computer loaded with music software, working to find the right sounds for her lyrics.
One three-minute song, from writing to final recording, can take a month to complete. She and Mr. Ford put in 14hour days when they are in the thick of a project. ''You have to enjoy the process of making it happen,'' she says.
BECAUSE she has made so much money from her cards and books, Ms. Boynton says, she doesn't need to rely on
her CD business for income. Although the CDs make money for her publisher, she says they don't make money for her.
Essentially, she views them as ''loss leaders'' -- products that are valuable not because they are profitable but because
they help her maintain contact with her audience.
That philosophy helped persuade the blues singer B. B. King to record ''One Shoe Blues'' on her most recent CD.
The song is a soulful lament that captures a toddler's anguish about not being able to find a missing shoe when Mama is
ready to go.
''At the level of detail I think is necessary to make them what they are, they simply can't pay for themselves,'' Ms.
Boynton says of the CDs. ''In purely business terms, it's an irrational enterprise. And it's also the best work I do.''
Ms. Boynton doesn't have an agent. She has just one employee: her assistant, Kathleen Sherrill. There is no Inc. or
LLC after her name. She prefers to be an unincorporated business with an orbit of ''licensees,'' for lack of a better word,
around her.
Whenever she has made products like stuffed animals, mugs, jewelry, sheets or towels, she has maintained control
over the finished product so it doesn't stray from her vision -- or saturate the market.
''Theoretically, I could choose to trade artistic autonomy and pride in my work for increased income -- say, by
broadly licensing my characters to be used for television,'' she says. But that would be foolish, she says.
''I love what I do, I love the people I work with, I care very much about the value of the work I create, and I don't
need more money than I have. This is not revolutionary philosophy. It's just common sense.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: CHILDREN (89%); PRIMARY & SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS (85%); CHILDREN'S LITERATURE (77%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (73%); MUSIC (71%); ART & ARTISTS (62%); ENTERTAINMENT &
ARTS AWARDS (55%); PUBLISHING (72%)
GEOGRAPHIC: PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA (68%) PENNSYLVANIA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (79%)
LOAD-DATE: February 17, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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CORRECTION-DATE: February 24, 2008
CORRECTION: An article last Sunday about Sandra Boynton, the children's book author and greeting card creator,
quoted incorrectly the final part of a passage from her book ''Barnyard Dance!'' It is ''Bow to the horse. Bow to the cow.
Twirl with the pig if you know how,'' not ''Bow to the horse if you know how.''
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: Sandra Boynton in her Connecticut studio, which she shares with some of her quirky characters.
(PHOTOGRAPH BY PHIL MANSFIELD FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
Mike Ford and Ms. Boynton are songwriting partners. One of their three-minute songs can take a month to complete.
(PHOTOGRAPH BY PHIL MANSFIELD FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
''Blue Moo'' combines a book and CD. Ms. Boynton decided to sell her music this way instead of through music stores.
(PHOTOGRAPH BY TONY CENICOLA/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
DRAWING: Cards by Ms. Boynton helped Recycled Paper Greetings vastly increase its revenue. CHART: LITTLE
BOOKS BY THE MILLIONS: Sandra Boynton has written and illustrated more than 40 children's books. These are
some of her most popular. (Sources: Simon & Schuster
Workman Publishing)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1066 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 17, 2008 Sunday
Correction Appended
Late Edition - Final
Master Builders Of Ballet's Future
BYLINE: By ALASTAIR MACAULAY
SECTION: Section AR; Column 0; Arts and Leisure Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1411 words
BY the end of the last century ballet was looking more like a museum art than it had in more than 400 years. With
the deaths of George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan and Jerome Robbins, the ranks
of world-class choreographers specializing in ballet looked thin or just empty. The three biggest names creating new
ballets were Twyla Tharp, William Forsythe and Mark Morris: each, by ballet standards, in some way controversial and
offbeat.
But the new millennium has brought to the fore two young men who are full-time exponents of ballet as an art
both traditional and new: Christopher Wheeldon, the Anglo-American who has been resident choreographer at New
York City Ballet since 2001 but is giving up the post this month, and Alexei Ratmansky, the Russian who announced
just weeks ago that he was leaving the artistic directorship of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow to focus on choreography.
New York has been the best place to watch them. Mr. Wheeldon created ''Polyphonia,'' the ballet that pushed him
into the big time, for City Ballet in 2001. Mr. Ratmansky made his breakthrough with ''The Bright Stream'' at the Bol-
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Master Builders Of Ballet's Future The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday Correction Appended
shoi in 2003 but produced his next major work, ''Russian Seasons,'' for City Ballet's Diamond Project in 2006. All of
which suggests that City Ballet, so inseparable from the artistic legacies of Balanchine and Robbins, is again becoming
the world's liveliest fulcrum of new ballet choreography.
Now Mr. Wheeldon, 34, is leaving City Ballet to run his own company, Morphoses. For a time it seemed that Mr.
Ratmansky, 39, would succeed him. But now, it turns out, he is coming here just to make two ballets over the next three
years. Why does it matter who takes these positions? What exactly does a resident choreographer do? How does the job
differ from that of artistic director?
The matter is especially ambiguous at City Ballet, which, unlike most companies today, employs not an artistic director but a ballet master in chief, Peter Martins. And there is a built-in risk at City Ballet: What if the resident choreographer or ballet master guides the company into a new style at odds with its inheritance?
Artistic directors are often not choreographers at all; they deal with fund-raising, casting, daily classroom teaching, commissions, repertory and (not least) the board of directors. If a company wishes ballet to remain, at least in part,
an art of the new, it will try to employ a resident choreographer (assuming any is suitable, available and affordable). The
person in that role will produce at least one new ballet a year, draw new qualities out of the company's dancers, shape
new roles to which other dancers aspire and develop some style that becomes part of the company's identity.
At City Ballet, Balanchine filled all those roles and more. He took the title of ballet master in chief because the
foundation of his work was his classroom teaching, in which he developed aspects of academic ballet to new intensity.
His teaching began at the student level, as the basis of what was and is taught at the School of American Ballet.
Ballet master, or maitre de ballet, had been the standard title of teacher-choreographers from the 17th to the 19th
century, and it applied to the makers of the greatest surviving 19th-century ballets: August Bournonville in Denmark
and Marius Petipa in Russia. The ballet master, now as then, takes the academic language of this impersonal and traditional art, with its turnout of the legs and its five positions of the feet, and develops in the classroom a style that is vitally connected to the idiom of the new ballets he choreographs for the company to dance onstage. He trains dancers to his
specifications and then gives them new vehicles in which they may reveal themselves.
City Ballet had other resident choreographers in Balanchine's lifetime, notably Robbins, who was named a company ballet master though he was not a teacher. (To make matters more confusing, he had at one time been artistic director of his own company, Ballets U.S.A.) But it was Mr. Martins who eventually succeeded Balanchine as ballet master in chief. He led and leads the classroom teaching through the school and the company, and he has continued to choreograph.
The task of running a ballet company is far more onerous today than it used to be. There are now a number of such
leaders whose initial talent for choreography (which helped to get them the jobs) has lost its inspiration. Mr. Martins is
one; David Bintley at Birmingham Royal Ballet and Helgi Tomasson at San Francisco Ballet are two more; there are
others. They deliver premieres, but not works of art the audience can inhabit.
Perhaps Mr. Martins admitted as much when he appointed Mr. Wheeldon resident choreographer in 2001. Or perhaps not: this job, though new as a position at City Ballet, was effectively the same one Robbins had done for decades.
Neither Mr. Wheeldon nor Mr. Ratmansky is known as a teacher, but each looks more like a true ballet master
than anybody else currently on the scene. That is, they build ballets that find accents and life within the traditional vocabulary of ballet. This is why both ''Polyphonia'' and ''The Bright Stream'' caused such stirs. Both men have since been
in demand to create ballets for the world's foremost companies.
Mr. Ratmansky is also the most promising Russian-born choreographer since Balanchine. Perhaps others in the intervening years began with as much talent, but the aesthetic constraints of the Communist era either nipped several choreographic blooms in the bud or perverted them into agitprop apparatchiks.
Unlike any other Russian post-Balanchine dancemaker I know of, Mr. Ratmansky choreographs from a broad and
unclouded command of the classical-ballet lexicon. And despite his work in the West, he seems, so far, very much a
Russian artist.
He has choreographed to Shostakovich music that was composed during the Soviet era and then fell out of favor
(''The Bright Stream''); to a Prokofiev score that succeeded in Stalinist Russia and has won international success ever
since (''Cinderella,'' for the Kirov); to a score by the emigre Stravinsky (''Jeu de Cartes,'' choreographed for the Bolshoi
as ''Go for Broke''); and to music by two composers of the post-Communist era, Yuri Khanon (''Middle Duet,'' choreo-
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Master Builders Of Ballet's Future The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday Correction Appended
graphed for the Kirov and danced by City Ballet since 2006) and Leonid Desyatnikov (''Russian Seasons,'' for City Ballet).
It's quite possible that, as Mr. Ratmansky matures, he may develop a style that would clash with the Balanchine
precepts still pursued at City Ballet: tight closed positions contrasted with stretched open ones; weight placed over the
front of the foot; simple delivery; complex musicality. At the Bolshoi he has taken steps to revive ballets by the Moscow-born Leonide Massine, whose symphonic ballets in the late 1930s and '40s were seen by New York dancegoers as
the antithesis of Balanchine.
Today, nonetheless, the Ratmansky and Balanchine styles look congenial. And I can't help speculating what connections would arise between Balanchine's emigre-Russian classicism and Mr. Ratmansky's new-Russian idiom if he
eventually were to take the City Ballet post.
In the years that Mr. Wheeldon has been the resident choreographer there have certainly been links between his
oeuvre and Balanchine's. Although I don't see that his work has shown anyone how to dance Balanchine better, he has
often spotted those who are dancing Balanchine with distinction and given them a new bloom in his own choreography.
Perhaps Mr. Ratmansky could do as much, or more. His 2008 and 2010 premieres for City Ballet will be keenly
watched. Could he yetbecome resident choreographer?
While Balanchine was alive, modernity took precedence over tradition in City Ballet's repertory; his choreography was the living epitome of New York Modern. Now Balanchine is tradition, and it has been hard for anybody to
know how to be modern in his (still radical) wake. Yet Mr. Ratmansky has not, to date, looked inhibited by his great
precursor, and his ballets have more sheer authority than Mr. Wheeldon's.
Like Balanchine, Mr. Ratmansky draws on his complex sense of Russia like a great well. New York, where Russian emigres are as influential a part of dance as they were in Balanchine's era, would be an exciting place to watch him
at work. Roll out the next Ratmansky premiere at City Ballet: May 29.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ARTISTS & PERFORMERS (90%); FUNDRAISING (78%); BOARDS OF DIRECTORS (73%); MILLENNIUM (73%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (69%); BALLET (92%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (90%); MOSCOW, RUSSIA (56%) NEW YORK, USA (94%) UNITED
STATES (94%); RUSSIA (87%)
LOAD-DATE: February 17, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
CORRECTION-DATE: March 2, 2008
CORRECTION: An article on Feb. 17 about the ways in which choreographers have shaped the New York City Ballet
misstated the post that George Balanchine held while at the company. He was ballet master -- not ballet master in chief,
a title created after his tenure.
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: George Balanchine in 1958, when he was ballet master in chief of the New York City Ballet,
working with Maria Tallchief. (PHOTOGRAPH BY MARTHA SWOPE) (pg.AR1)
Alexei Ratmansky of Russia was negotiating to become resident choreographer with the New York City Ballet. (PHOTOGRAPH BY NICOLE BENGIVENO/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
Jerome Robbins rehearsing ''The Concert'' (1956) with members of the New York City Ballet, where his legacy remains
strong. (PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY NEW YORK CITY BALLET ARCHIVES) (pg.AR7)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
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Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1067 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 17, 2008 Sunday
Correction Appended
Late Edition - Final
Harlem Pas de Deux
BYLINE: By TRYMAINE LEE
SECTION: Section CY; Column 0; The City Weekly Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 2322 words
THE boy pressed his face to the window of the men's salon, his breath fogging the glass. He stood there, on a wintry day, staring at the sharply dressed men swathed in hot towels.
After a few minutes he walked in, his tattered sneakers squeaking on the gleaming hardwood.
''He asked what we did here,'' said Tony Van Putten, who owns the year-old jewel of a shop, called BBraxton, at
Fifth Avenue and 116th Street in Harlem. ''And when I told him that we cut hair, he gave me this look. And he asked if
it was O.K. if he could get his hair cut here, too.''
The boy seemed more accustomed to the streets than to a place like BBraxton, Mr. Van Putten said, but inside the
shop he saw men who were black like him although they were wearing slacks and sweaters and shoes that shined as if
they'd been dipped in pomade. Twice. The boy's eyes seemed to ask: Am I good enough to be in a place like this?
For the past decade, Harlem has been gentrifying rapidly. But while affluent white professionals are the visible
symbol of that change here and everywhere else, the fact is that often the well-off arrivals, like the patrons at BBraxton,
are black.
Gentrification in any color makes similar impacts -- rising rents, high-end merchants, displacement, home renovations -- but black gentrification has an emotional texture far different from the archetypal kind, both for residents and
for newcomers. This is particularly true in Harlem, the historic capital of black America.
Some local residents, like the boy peering through the window, are a bit uncomfortable with the well-off set but
aspire to join it. Others resent the incursions on their turf and feel that the newcomers, like other affluent professionals,
are interested mostly in maintaining property values and their comfortable lifestyles.
The black arrivals, in turn, may feel a special duty as blacks to help Harlem and its people, or they may feel illtreated or wrongly labeled by them, or they may feel guilty knowing that others of their own race are in need -- and often standing right outside the polished doors of their new brownstones.
The truth is elusive and ethereal, with opinions based on a mere glance, a perception, a nuance. But given the blistering pace of Harlem gentrification -- the average sale price of an apartment in the last quarter of 2007 was 93 percent
higher than in the same period of 2006 -- the black-black issue is both very real and very complex.
''There are black people here in Harlem who share physical residence,'' said Howard Dodson, general director of
the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the major repository in Harlem of books and other artifacts of
African-American cultural life. ''But saying 'a community' is another thing. The question is: Can community be built
across these racial and class lines in the new Harlem, in this new reality?''
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Harlem Pas de Deux The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday Correction Appended
'A Lot of Anger'
A few months after 9/11, Leah Abraham, a 47-year-old woman of Eritrean and Ethiopian descent, along with her
Italian-born husband, Nino Settepani, opened a bustling cafe and bakery called Settepani at Malcolm X Boulevard and
120th Street. They had purchased two vacant storefronts in 1999, broken down the dividing wall and pumped about $1
million into the business.
''The morning we opened, I had a sign on the door saying that we would open at 9 o'clock,'' Ms. Abraham said as
she sat at a little square table across from the glass dessert counter in her shop one afternoon last fall. ''About 8:30 I realized there was a line of people outside. So I came out and I said: 'You know, you have to wait. I've been working on this
for a year and I want it to be perfect when I open these doors.' ''
Then her eyes widened as she recalled the moment, the remnants of an accent rolling easily off her tongue. ''A
woman standing on line looked at me and put her hand on her hip and she said, 'Well, we've been waiting for you for 30
years,' '' Ms. Abraham said. ''So I had to open the doors.''
Longtime residents appreciate not just the pastries at Settepani, but also its other amenities, like not having to pass
their money under a pane of bulletproof glass. For all the local warmth, however, there have been chilly moments.
''I have found more hostility over the last couple years,'' Ms. Abraham said. ''There is a lot of anger.'' People have
come into the shop and kicked furniture and chastised customers for patronizing the shop, she said; last summer, one
man stood outside shouting, ''This is my neighborhood.''
The anger has dismayed Ms. Abraham, who moved to Harlem from Westchester about a year ago. ''I feel like I
have done something very positive,'' she said, ''but I also feel that the biggest sacrifice is made by us. We put a lot of
money into this place.
''We are not investors,'' Ms. Abraham continued. ''We came in, and I'm putting my face at the door every single
day.''
Noting that the shop had been robbed twice, she said: ''I have had a gun pointed to my head. I have really committed to this neighborhood. I moved here. It's a whole different commitment when you buy and you fix and you rent or if
you come and you live in it.''
A Tradition of Amity
Black entrepreneurs like Ms. Abraham may encounter hostility, but in the opinion of Kevin McGruder, a Harlemite who is a co-owner of Harlemade, a Harlem-centric gift shop on Malcolm X Boulevard, black residents are generally more accepting of the black newcomers than of white ones.
''People focus on the white people and that's more the fear,'' Mr. McGruder said. ''There is a feeling that a black
person, even if he or she is upper-income, many or most will be able to identify with things that are happening in Harlem. Some of them are only a generation removed from where other people in Harlem are.''
Warner Johnson, a 45-year-old Internet entrepreneur who recently started a Web site called Fabsearch.com that
gathers travel articles from high-end fashion magazines, suggests that tradition also helps to smooth black-on-black relations.
''You always had people that had means and people that didn't have means in Harlem,'' Mr. Johnson said. ''If you
were black back in the day and had money, there was nowhere else you could live. So we never looked at that as something of a dividing point.''
Mr. Johnson, who moved to Harlem in 1993 (''when police helicopters were still flying outside of my window''),
also says Harlem's role as the nation's black capital helps ease black-black tensions. ''Being a culture mecca,'' he said,
''supersedes all the notions of the affluence component.''
Some observers, however, argue that today's black newcomers to Harlem are seen as much different from their
predecessors.
''There was some kind of turning point where black people coming back could be seen as a revitalizing force in the
community,'' said Monique M. Taylor, a visiting sociologist at Al Quds University in Jerusalem and the author of a gentrification study called ''Harlem: Between Heaven and Hell.'' ''Then, they got mixed in with white gentrifiers.''
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The changes over the last two decades have deepened black-black tensions. Today, Ms. Taylor said, skeptical residents often wonder: ''Can I believe what you say when you say, 'I'm here to help you, brother'? Or are you simply making the rent higher?''
Dr. Dodson, of the Schomburg Center, summed up the new, wary assessment of black newcomers another way:
''They did not come here to slum.''
The Property That Got Away
A signature New York emotion, real estate envy, may be another source of local ill feeling.
On a recent tour of some prized Harlem brownstones, Willie Kathryn Suggs, owner of a local real estate firm that
bears her name, said that in the 1970s and '80s such properties went for a fraction of today's prices.
Back then, the city took over many crumbling buildings abandoned by slumlords, and eventually it became the
biggest landowner in Harlem. In the early '90s, the Dinkins administration set up a lottery to sell the properties to Harlemites at below-market prices, but many residents simply didn't seize the opportunity. Now that housing in Harlem is
too costly for most residents, Ms. Suggs said, there is much regret.
''It's about blacks who own and blacks who don't own,'' she said. ''Their grandparents were smart enough to own
their house, and the grandchildren lost it for whatever reason. The blacks whose parents owned and left are not happy.
''A lot of them don't like being told that they blew it,'' Ms. Suggs went on. ''Now what you hear are a whole bunch
of should've, would've, could'ves.''
Among others, like Evette Rolack, a 48-year-old security guard, the sore feelings have less to do with regret than
with paying their dues during the hard years.
''We've been here for a long time and have struggled with drugs and crime, for good schools,'' said Ms. Rolack,
who remembers when Harlem had few banks or supermarkets, and crack cocaine was king. ''Now, I feel like we have a
lot of people coming into the community who don't come with anything to help those of us who have been here through
it all.''
Ms. Rolack also bristled about the attitude she senses in some of the newcomers. ''It's the way they act,'' she said.
''Like, don't touch me, like they are so much better than me. But really, it's like, I'm black and you're black.''
Spikes on the Wall
Sometimes black-black relations come down to turf. Just ask Paula Sheppard, 43, product manager for a women's
clothing catalog. She was born and raised in St. Nicholas Houses, a public project on the neighborhood's western flank,
but she suspects that local residents, misled by her middle-class lifestyle, do not know she's a homegrown Harlemite.
When Ms. Sheppard and her family moved to a white limestone house on a corner lot surrounded by a four-foot
concrete wall, she also inherited a bunch of young guys who, she said, used the wall as their hangout. They would leave
the litter of their idle time -- liquor bottles, trash -- along her family's property.
In the beginning, Ms. Sheppard asked them just to keep the noise down and clean up, and she donated a trash can
for their convenience. When that didn't work, she began installing spikes on the wall to discourage sitting. But then,
halfway through the project, someone pried the spikes from the wall. Workmen eventually finished the job, but the
young loiterers simply got more creative, she said, and used tape and cardboard to make cushions to put on top of the
spikes.
Last summer, Ms. Sheppard marched to the corner and confronted the young men.
''The leader of the group said, 'We have always sat here and' -- in other words, you just got here,'' she said. ''I've
been here almost all of my life, but he saw me as an outsider. He was staking his claim because he lived across the
street.''
Sound of the Drummers
In its traditions and the names of its streets and its parks, Harlem is so filled with homage to African-American heroes that, said Sheila Bridges, a local interior designer, ''I always joke that you have to know your black history to know
your way around Harlem.''
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But Ms. Bridges does not take this history lightly.
''I always want that to be a part of where I live,'' she said. ''My concern is that the people who are coming here and
the developers that got breaks for buying real estate here, in addition to those who moved here because the D train is an
express, don't care so much about the history. That is part of what contributes to people feeling the way they do about
this.''
Last summer, a mild drama unfolded over these African and African-American themes. The cast included traditional African drummers who for decades have been playing on Sunday afternoons in Mount Morris Park, in the heart
of Harlem, and some new residents of the renovated brownstones and condominiums that surround the park. The
drumming often persists into the night, and some neighbors -- largely whites but also a few blacks -- complained that it
was an annoyance and a violation of noise ordinances. Claims of racism and cultural insensitivity followed.
''If you set up 20 people playing drums in front of your window from 1 o'clock to 10 o'clock, you would want it to
stop,'' said one complainer, a black resident who declined to give his name because of the delicacy of the matter. ''And
all those people pushing this thing to make it a cultural thing instead of a noise abatement thing, they are playing into
the race-baiting and the newcomer versus the old-timer issue.''
For a time, the drummers moved to a hill in the center of the 20-acre greenspace, which is also known as Marcus
Garvey Park, but the steps there proved troublesome for many elderly drummers and spectators. So the drummers returned to the edges of the park, nearer to the brownstones and to the complaints.
When Kim Martin-Shah, a 31-year-old stay-at-home mom, looks out from her plush Harlem condominium apartment, she sees a world that saddens her. She sees black mothers struggling to feed their children while she and her husband, who works for Merrill Lynch, and their 22-month-old son, Ameer, live the American Dream.
Ms. Martin-Shah said that she, too, has been shunned by the new black bourgeoisie in Harlem, who have mistaken
her for a longtime resident, perhaps, she said, because of the way she dresses on weekend play dates and story time at
the library, in her ''Timberlands and a North Face bubble jacket and big gold hoop earrings.''
''Gentrification is definitely not just a black-white thing,'' she said. ''It's an economic thing.''
Still, she is hardly unaware of her racial kinship with the less fortunate outside her window.
''I don't think I have done anything wrong, nor do I feel I am responsible for the dire situation many of my neighbors are in,'' Ms. Martin-Shah said. But she added, ''These are my people, even though I might not relate to some of their
financial woes.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: RETAILERS (76%); AFRICAN AMERICANS (75%); BUILDING RENOVATION (64%)
ORGANIZATION: APOLLO THEATER FOUNDATION INC (59%)
LOAD-DATE: February 17, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
CORRECTION-DATE: February 24, 2008
CORRECTION: A picture caption last Sunday with an article about gentrification in Harlem referred imprecisely to an
increase in apartment prices there. While prices for some apartments have indeed doubled in the past year, the prices of
other apartments did not increase that much. (As the article noted, the average sale price in Harlem in the last quarter of
2007 was 93 percent higher than in the last quarter of 2006.)
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: TWO FACES: Hawking umbrellas near the Apollo Theater, top, and attending to a patron,
above, at BBraxton, a stylish men's salon. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY VINCENT LAFORET FOR THE NEW YORK
TIMES
TOP, OZIER MUHAMMAD/THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg.CY1)
Page 156
Harlem Pas de Deux The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday Correction Appended
CHILL ''I have found more hostility over the last couple years,'' said Leah Abraham, a proprietor of Settepani, a Harlem
cafe and bakery. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY VINCENT LAFORET FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
MIDDLE PHOTOGRAPH BY HIROKO MASUIKE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
BOTTOM LEFT PHOTOGRAPH BY LIBRADO ROMERO/THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg.CY8)
ROOTS: In a gentrifying Harlem, black history serves as backdrop and sore point. PRICEY As construction booms,
apartment prices have nearly doubled in a year. (pg.CY8)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1068 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 17, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Despite The Wig, A Bronx Boy At Heart
BYLINE: By JEROME CHARYN.
Jerome Charyn's new novel, ''Johnny One-Eye: A Tale of the American Revolution,'' is being published this month
by Norton.
SECTION: Section CY; Column 0; The City Weekly Desk; NEW YORK OBSERVED; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 959 words
I GREW up in the rough-and-tumble Morrisania section of the East Bronx. I'm not sure when Morrisania's gangs
began, but they were already there during the Revolutionary War.
It wasn't patriots and Tories who battled it out in Morrisania during the British occupation of Manhattan, a period
that lasted from 1776 to 1783, but their surrogates, called Skinners and Cowboys, who scalped men, molested women
and murdered children of both sides.
The gangs of Boston Road and Southern Boulevard circa 1950 weren't as mean and malicious, but I lived in a
whirlwind of chaos nevertheless, where I was my own urban guerrilla who had to battle his way to school block by
block.
There were terrible racial and religious divides in Morrisania. I belonged to the little enclave of poor Polish and
Russian Jews that collected at the borders of Crotona Park.
There might have been physicists living in the Byzantine palaces of Crotona Park East, but they were failed physicists, men inhabiting some mysterious cocoon that no one could explain, least of all themselves.
We had errant, bewildered entrepreneurs like my father, who manufactured toy bears that no one seemed to want
and that he eventually had to pulp with his own hands. That curse of failure rubbed off on Morrisania's children, whose
boisterousness was often the first signal of a cruel descent into silence.
We all suffered from the same shortage of vocabulary, as if language itself had fled the Bronx, and curiosity had
been bleached out of us. School was of little help. Our teachers had succumbed to the neighborhood's affliction, a kind
of constant, sluggish sleep.
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Despite The Wig, A Bronx Boy At Heart The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday
Still, we had one hero, George Washington, a failed farmer, who though he came from Virginia could have been
born in the Bronx. He had the sluggish silence of our borough. He was rescued by the Revolution, which turned him
into a guerrilla fighter, living on the run. I wished him into being as my own father -- tall, with his striking nose -- a man
who dispatched Redcoats rather than toy bears.
Washington's stay in Manhattan was very short, from April through August 1776, at which point the British nearly
captured him. But during those five months he often rode his white charger into the woodlands north of his headquarters
on Harlem Heights to calm his own nerves.
I liked to imagine him crossing the King's Bridge at Spuyten Duyvil Creek and galloping onto the mainland of the
Bronx, then down to Morrisania, where he could have thwacked Cowboys and Skinners alike with his silver-handled
sword. And thus I cemented him in my own mind as patron saint of Crotona Park.
EVEN with all his heroics, this brooding giant wasn't enough to keep me in the Bronx. I crossed the Harlem River
for the first time at the age of 14 to attend the High School of Music and Art, where I was suddenly introduced to a little
nation of strivers, boys and girls who trembled with ambition. I had longed to become an usher at Loews Paradise or a
shoe salesman at Thom McAn; they dreamed of Toscanini, Picasso and F. Scott Fitzgerald. I absorbed as much of their
culture as I could and got into Columbia College.
It was there that I encountered my brooding giant again. Given to such long silences, Washington had to depend
on his wartime amanuensis, Alexander Hamilton, to write his letters and lend a certain song to his thoughts, and Hamilton was the favorite son of my college, with his own statue in front of Hamilton Hall.
I did not like him. He was deceitful, as cunning as a snake. Washington was no match for his eloquence, his sway
with words -- sadly, that sway was soon also mine; I had become a reader at Columbia, a voracious wolf who devoured
Laurence Sterne and Jonathan Swift, and realized that the world was a poor substitute for my own little library, wherein
I could wait a hundred pages for Tristram Shandy to get himself born or find Lemuel Gulliver on the ground with Lilliputians in his hair.
A preference for the 18th century, with its measured music and mathematical wit, seemed an odd choice for a boy
from the mean streets of Morrisania. But the comic nightmare of Sterne and Swift felt close to the sound and fury of my
childhood and the gargoyles I had encountered in Crotona Park: pretzel vendors with Ph.D.'s, parkies who played the
cello, high school dropouts who were writing their own dictionaries.
Swift's mocking disregard for all sentiment had much more clarity than the psychological minefield of modern
times, where some poor Gulliver in the land of six-inch men would be looked upon as a gigantic codpiece, akin to Kafka's cockroach.
And within my 18th century, I could recapture George Washington, whose ghost had once loomed over me and
my Bronx childhood. He was powerful in all his imperfections. He often stumbled, made mistakes, was reckless on his
white charger. But he was also the last man on the last boat when his army retreated from Brooklyn Heights in late August 1776, during the battle of Long Island, one of the worst debacles of the war. A lesser general might have given up,
but Washington had that wild tenacity of my borough.
He was not ''voiceless,'' as I had thought, but a man with a welter of feelings under his dour demeanor. And I had
to reconsider my former Bronx affliction, that brooding silence and sense of the void, of some empty space where language could not dwell. I realized that it was no affliction at all, but camouflage and a protective covering.
My imagination had been born in those empty spaces. I had been a novelist at the age of 9, inventing journeys
with George Washington, where I might cross the Bronx with him on his white charger and battle whatever Cowboys
and Skinners were around. And that imagined journey hasn't failed me yet.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: JEWS & JUDAISM (69%); RELIGION (69%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (95%) NEW YORK, USA (95%) UNITED STATES (95%); UNITED
KINGDOM (73%)
LOAD-DATE: February 17, 2008
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Despite The Wig, A Bronx Boy At Heart The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO (PHOTOGRAPH BY RUTH FREMSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1069 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 17, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Silicon Valley Starts to Turn Its Face to the Sun
BYLINE: By G. PASCAL ZACHARY.
G. Pascal Zachary teaches journalism at Stanford and writes about technology and economic development. E-mail:
gzach@nytimes.com
SECTION: Section BU; Column 0; Money and Business/Financial Desk; PING; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 963 words
CAN Silicon Valley become a world leader in cheap and ubiquitous solar panels for the masses?
Given the valley's tremendous success in recent years with such down-to-earth products as search engines and
music players, tackling solar power might seem improbable. Yet some of the valley's best brains are captivated by the
challenge, and they hope to put the development of solar technologies onto a faster track.
There is, after all, a precedent for how the valley tries to approach such tasks, and it's embodied in Moore's Law,
the maxim made famous by the Intel co-founder Gordon Moore. Moore's Law refers to rapid improvements in computer chips -- which would be accompanied by declining prices.
A link between Moore's Law and solar technology reflects the engineering reality that computer chips and solar
cells have a lot in common.
''A solar cell is just a big specialized chip, so everything we've learned about making chips applies,'' says Paul Saffo, an associate engineering professor at Stanford and a longtime observer of Silicon Valley.
Financial opportunity also drives innovators to exploit the solar field. ''This is the biggest market Silicon Valley
has ever looked at,'' says T. J. Rogers, the chief executive of Cypress Semiconductor, which is part-owner of the SunPower Corporation, a maker of solar cells in San Jose, Calif.
Mr. Rogers, who is also chairman of SunPower, says the global market for new energy sources will ultimately be
larger than the computer chip market.
''For entrepreneurs, energy is going to be cool for the next 30 years,'' he says.
Optimism about creating a ''Solar Valley'' in the geographic shadow of computing all-stars like Intel, Apple and
Google is widespread among some solar evangelists.
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Silicon Valley Starts to Turn Its Face to the Sun The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday
''The solar industry today is like the late 1970s when mainframe computers dominated, and then Steve Jobs and
I.B.M. came out with personal computers,'' says R. Martin Roscheisen, the chief executive of Nanosolar, a solar company in San Jose, Calif.
Nanosolar shipped its first ''thin film'' solar panels in December, and the company says it ultimately wants to produce panels that are both more efficient in converting sunlight into electricity and less expensive than today's versions.
Dramatic improvements in computer chips over many years turned the PC and the cellphone into powerful, inexpensive
appliances -- and the foundation of giant industries. Solar enterprises are hoping for the same outcome.
To be sure, Silicon Valley's love affair with solar could be short-lived.
''We've seen a lot of pipe dreams in the industry over the years, a lot of wild claims never came through,'' says Lisa Frantzis, a specialist in renewable energy at Navigant Consulting in Burlington, Mass.
Another brake on the pace of solar innovation might be consumer behavior. It often can be hard to get consumers
to change their habits, and homeowners may be slow to swap out expensive water heaters for newfangled solar solutions. Reliability is also an issue: while current solar technologies have proved relatively durable, it's unknown how
resilient the next generation of solar will be.
''We need technologies that can survive on a rooftop for 20 years,'' says Barry Cinnamon, chief executive of Akeena Solar Inc. of Los Gatos, Calif., a designer and installer of solar systems.
Affordable solar development is also still dependent on government subsidies.
''Mass adoption requires technological innovations that dramatically lower costs,'' says Peter Rive, the chief operations officer of SolarCity in Foster City, Calif., a system designer and installer.
So what does the valley bring to the mix? Expertise in miniaturization and a passion for novelty among its entrepreneurs.
''There are suddenly a lot of new ideas coming into this field,'' says Paul Alivisatos, a professor of chemistry at
the University of California, Berkeley, who also has his own solar start-up.
One novel approach is called ''solar thermal,'' which uses large mirrors to generate steam to run conventional turbines that generate electricity.
In 2006, Vinod Khosla, a veteran venture capitalist best known as a co-founder of Sun Microsystems, discovered
an obscure Australian company, Ausra, pursuing solar thermal. He persuaded the management of Ausra to move to Silicon Valley and helped it raise money.
Ausra recently signed a deal with PG&E, the big California utility company, to supply a large solar plant. ''The
best work in solar is happening in Silicon Valley,'' Mr. Khosla says.
Another exciting area is thin-film solar, in which cells are created in roughly the same way that memory is created
on dense storage devices like hard-disk drives -- allowing the nascent industry to tap into the valley's expertise.
At Nanosolar, for instance, some of those in top management come directly from Seagate Technology and I.B.M.,
two traditional titans in computer storage.
The promise of Solar Valley has investors opening their wallets as never before. But some worry that promising
technologies of today must be renewed, and quickly, if the logic of Moore's Law is to define solar.
''There's a lot of money being thrown at the problem and that's healthy; it gives it a real chance of succeeding,'' Mr.
Alivisatos says. ''But so much of our effort is going into short-term victories that I worry our pipeline will go dry in 10
years.''
The fear of a solar bubble is legitimate, but after years of stagnation, entrepreneurs say the recent developments
in the field are welcome. Long ignored by the most celebrated entrepreneurs in the land and now embraced as one of
the next big things, solar energy may gain traction because of a simpler rule than Moore's Law: where there's a will,
there's a way.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
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Silicon Valley Starts to Turn Its Face to the Sun The New York Times February 17, 2008 Sunday
SUBJECT: COMPUTER CHIPS (90%); ENGINEERING (90%); SOLAR ENERGY (90%); MICROPROCESSORS
(90%); SEMICONDUCTOR MFG (90%); SEMICONDUCTORS (78%); RENEWABLE ENERGY (78%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (71%); PHOTOELECTRIC CELL MFG (68%); CONSUMER ELECTRONICS (77%); PERSONAL
COMPUTERS (75%)
COMPANY: GOOGLE INC (53%); NAVIGANT CONSULTING INC (50%); SUNPOWER CORP (85%); INTEL
CORP (57%)
TICKER: GOOG (NASDAQ) (53%); GGEA (LSE) (53%); NCI (NYSE) (50%); SPWR (NASDAQ) (85%); INTC
(NASDAQ) (57%); SPWRA (NASDAQ) (85%); INTC (SWX) (57%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS518112 WEB SEARCH PORTALS (53%); SIC8999 SERVICES, NEC (53%); SIC7375 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES (53%); NAICS334413 SEMICONDUCTOR & RELATED DEVICE MANUFACTURING (57%); NAICS519130 INTERNET PUBLISHING & BROADCASTING & WEB SEARCH PORTALS (53%)
PERSON: STEVEN JOBS (52%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SAN JOSE, CA, USA (88%); SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA, USA (93%) CALIFORNIA,
USA (93%) UNITED STATES (93%)
LOAD-DATE: February 17, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: T. J. Rogers, chief of Cypress Semiconductor, on the roof of a company building covered in solar
panels. Cypress is an owner of the SunPower Corporation. (PHOTOGRAPH BY JIM WILSON/THE NEW YORK
TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1070 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 16, 2008 Saturday
Late Edition - Final
Paid Notice: Deaths MODELL, BILL.
SECTION: Section B; Column 0; Classified; Pg. 7
LENGTH: 2663 words
MODELL--Bill. The Mitchell family is deeply saddened by the passing of Bill. My heart goes out to Shelby and
family for their loss. Joyce Mitchell, Nancy and Mitch Karl, Alan and Beth Mitchell MODELL--William. The Board of
Governors and the members of the Seawane Club record with sorrow the loss of our beloved founding member William
Modell.
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Paid Notice: Deaths MODELL, BILL. The New York Times February 16, 2008 Saturday
We extend heartfelt sympathy to his wife Shelby and family. Michael Yohai, President MODELL--William. Vicki
and Fred Modell and the Jeffrey Modell Foundation sadly mourn the loss of our dearest cousin and founding Board
member, Bill Modell. Bill's wisdom and insight helped us create Jeffrey's Foundation. His love and strength guided us,
encouraged us, and gave us our courage. A profound void has been left in all our lives, but his star and legacy will shine
brightly and forever through all those whom he loved and who loved him. We loved him so much. Vicki and Fred Modell Jeffrey Modell Foundation MODELL--William. The Officers, Governors and members of the Friars Club deeply
mourn the loss of their esteemed member, William Modell. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to his family. Services
will be held on Sunday, February 17th at 11:00am at Temple EmanuEl, 1 East 65th St. Jerry Lewis, Abbot Freddie Roman, Dean Michael Gyure, Executive Director MODELL--William. Your presence will always be felt in our thoughts
and in our daily lives. Thank you for being such a wonderful human being. We love you always... Missy, Brittany and
Leslie MODELL--William. Words can not express our deep remorse over the death of our beloved Poppy. He filled our
souls with love and wisdom and inspired us to always have an open mind and open heart. Thanks Poppy for all the lives
you've touched, especially ours. We will always love you... Missy and Brittany MODELL--William D., We note with
deep sadness the passing of a giant in our industry and mark with profound sorrow the loss of a dear friend. Bill Modell
was a brilliant entrepreneur who built a business that was a showplace of ingenuity and creativity. While he established the largest, privately owned sporting goods chain in the country, he created an enterprise that was known for its
integrity and honesty, its service to its customers, and its concerns for its associates and employees. Bill was an extremely caring and compassionate individual whose myriad acts of charity and tzedokah are legend. He single handedly
raised millions of dollars for numerous charitable causes, most particularly The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America which he founded in memory of his dear son Michael who succumbed to that dreaded disease, and to which he devoted every fiber of his bountiful energy. Bill was a captain of industry and a role model to all who dealt with him in
business; a devoted husband to his dear wife Shelby whom he adored; a loving father to his children and grandchildren;
and a dear and dedicated friend to all who were fortunate enough to know him. We send our sincerest condolences to
his life's partner Shelby; to our dearest friend and business associate, his son Mitchell who carries forward his father's
legacy in commerce and kindness, in business and philanthropy, with dignity and grace; his sister Doris; his daughter
Leslie and to all the members of the Modell Family who we know will feel an emptiness and a void that has been created by the passing of a very special human being who graced this Earth and all of us with his presence. Bill, we too will
miss you greatly. Sol and Esther Werdiger & the entire Outerstuff Family MODELL--William D. A giant of a man and
a legend in his own time has left this earth for greener pastures. Our beloved friend ''Billy'' will be remembered always
as a maven in the retail business. He represented the best values as a husband, father and grandfather. He was loved and
admired by those who worked for him. He was loved and admired by those who did business with him. He was loved
and admired by those who knew him. He had a big heart, always willing to help others. Along with his wife, Shelby,
they created charitable organizations to help those with disease and those less fortunate. He had a wonderful, dry sense
of humor and knew how to put a smile on your face. Our entire family will mourn the loss of this dear, wonderful, loving giant of a man. Our condolences are extended to Shelby, Leslie, Mitchell, Doris, and Bill's entire family. Evelyn and
Benjamin Kerr, Carol and John Harrison, and Susie and Michael Kerr MODELL--William D. The love of my life is
gone. We began our journey together with laughter. Now it has ended in tears. My precious, beloved husband devoted
his life to me, our children and grandchildren, and his sister and brother-in-law and gave us the most precious gift of all,
his love. He became a legend in his own time, building Modell's Sporting Goods into the largest, privately owned sporting goods chain in the country. His brilliant business acumen earned him many honors and awards. Yet, his greatest
pleasure was seeing all those he mentored succeed in their careers. During World War II, he proudly served in the
Army's Ninth Air Corps and continued to serve his country and New York City throughout his life, as a member of the
negotiating committee for the Panama Canal Treaty under President Jimmy Carter, as New York City's Commissioner
of Public Affairs for Mayor Abe Beame, and as a founding patron of the Metropolitan Opera House and Lincoln Center
for Performing Arts. Though he met world leaders, celebrities and many of America's greatest athletes, he was at heart a
down-toearth man, who cared deeply about his family, friends, and . Associates. A humble and gentle man, he helped
countless individuals in their time of need. He was the founder of American Digestive Disease Society, a co-founder of
the Jeffrey Modell Foundation for Immunological Research and the Hewlett House for breast cancer survivors, and was
especially dedicated to Gilda's Club of New York and Worldwide which he helped found. No cause meant more to Bill
than finding a cure for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. In 1967, when our son Michael was diagnosed with
Crohn's disease, he co-founded the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America and raised many millions of dollars for
research. Bill never realized his dream to find a cure, and we lost our darling Michael to complications caused by
Crohn's disease six years ago. Yet, despite his unspeakable sorrow, Bill never gave up hope. He continued to raise millions to save others from the suffering that our son endured. For me, his children and grandchildren, his friends, and all
those who knew him, Bill was a man who filled the world with his vibrant presence, his compassion and love, his sense
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Paid Notice: Deaths MODELL, BILL. The New York Times February 16, 2008 Saturday
of humor, his wisdom and integrity, his quiet courage, and his abundant goodwill. The services will be held on Sunday,
February 17, 2008, 11am, Temple Emanu-El, 5th Ave at 65th St., New York. I have lost my best friend and partner in
life and I am shattered with sorrow. Billy, you were and always will be my soul mate. I will love you and miss you forever. Your Shelby MODELL--William. The Directors and staff of the Police Athletic League extend their deepest sympathy to the Modell family on their loss. We offer heartfelt condolences to PAL Director, Mitchell Modell, whose enthusiasm and energy continue to motivate PAL's work on behalf of our city's children. Robert M. Morgenthau, PAL
Chairman MODELL--William D. The Partners of Newmark Knight Frank and Newmark Knight Frank Retail deeply
mourn the loss of our respected colleague and friend, William D. Modell. We extend our deepest condolences to the
Modell Family on the loss of this brilliant businessman and passionate philanthropist whose generosity impacted countless charities, including the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America and Gilda's Club. Though he will be sorely
missed, William Modell's integrity, wisdom, humor and goodwill will remain an inspiration to us all. MODELL-William D. The National Board of Trustees, staff, and volunteers of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America
mourn with profound sadness and admiration, the loss of our committed co-founder, supporter, and friend. Bill Modell
was a humble man who set out to make a difference in people's lives through his leadership in business, public administration, and philanthropy. His devotion to finding a cure for Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis helped bring critical research, education, and support to the millions suffering around the country. We pay tribute to the great distance he
helped bring the organization in finding a cure and carry on his quest. We express our deepest condolences to Shelby,
Mitchell, Leslie, Abby, and the rest of the Modell family and friends. Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America National
Board of Trustees, Staff, and Volunteers MODELL--William. We have lost our dear friend and regal champion. Shelby,
our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. We love you dearly. Suzi, Joel and family MODELL--William
D. Gilda's Club of NYC mourns the passing of its founder, Bill Modell. We extend heartfelt condolences to Shelby and
the entire family and we will remember him forever. Your Friends at Gilda's Club MODELL--William D. Willie, you
have been our dear friend and CCFA Co-Founder with Shelby for over 40 years as we shared a single dream to end the
pain and find the cures for Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis. We will miss you terribly. Irwin and Suzanne MODELL-William. We are saddened by the loss of our treasured friend Bill, one half of the William and Shelby Modell Team that
makes the world a better place. We, along with countless others owe you so much. Your life truly made a difference.
Our love to Shelby, Leslie, Mitchell, Robin, Abby and the entire Modell family. The Axelrod Family MODELL-William D. It is with great sorrow that we mourn the loss of Bill Modell. A very unique individual who was loved by
his wife, his children, his grandchildren, his sister and brother-in-law. With his wisdom and talent he created and developed Modell's into the largest sporting goods store in the country. He was a major benefactor of several important charitable causes. His warm personality and behavior endeared him to all of his family, friends and business associates. He
will be missed greatly. We express our sincere condolences to his entire family. The officers and employees of Jacques
Moret Inc. MODELL--William D. Dear Shelby, Mitchell, Leslie and family, our love and thoughts are with you. Bill's
great spirit and passion for life will be with us always. Adrianne and Jerry L. Cohen and family MODELL--William.
We are filled with sorrow at the passing of our cousin, William Modell. Bill was a great inspiration to all of the members of his family. He touched the hearts of all his friends and so many members of the New York community. His
sense of humor and enthusiastic outlook on life inspired all of us to achieve our potential. Our heartfelt condolences go
out to Shelby, Mitchell, Leslie, Doris and all of his grandchildren. We shall always remember Bill with love in our
hearts. Paula, Jerry, Gregg, Steven, and Eric Modell MODELL--William. Laura Wheat, Angelica Berrie, Joanna Bull,
and Vivien Hoexter and the Board and Staff of Gilda's Club Worldwide mourn the passing of our longtime founding
Board member. Our hearts and prayers go out to Shelby, Mitchell, Leslie, and the entire Modell family. MODELL-William. It is with much sadness that we recognize the grief my sister Shelby and her family are experiencing on the
loss of their beloved Bill. Iris and Alvin MODELL--William D. We are deeply saddened and mourn the passing of our
dear friend, William D. Modell. William's own keen business acumen was only overshadowed by his tireless commitment and devotion to his charities and fundraising. He will be forever remembered for his kind nature, compassion and
his unsurpassed friendship. Our deepest sympathies to Shelby, Leslie, Mitchell and the rest of the Modell family. The
Gural Family MODELL--William. To the Modell family, we were saddened by the loss of your husband, father, grandfather and friend. We know he will live on in your hearts forever. Amy and Jan Sussman MODELL--Bill. The world
has lost a great friend and a great humanitarian. Whenever Bill met somebody they became a member of the family and
a friend for life. Bill was a leader who inspired us all to go higher places and achieve as much as we can by being the
best teacher and mentor that anyone could have. We will miss him. Bill's life was to help those who needed help the
most, and would never take no for an answer. Bill Modell made a difference in this world and he will be missed. With
heartfelt condolences to the Modell family. Joe Conley MODELL--William D. The Board of Trustees, Chapter President, staff and volunteers of the Greater New York Chapter of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA),
mourn the passing of our Founder and friend, William D. Modell, Bill to everyone who knew him. Bill was a brilliant
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Paid Notice: Deaths MODELL, BILL. The New York Times February 16, 2008 Saturday
man who loved life like he loved his wife Shelby, his children and grandchildren, who were the highlight of his life. He
was a true humanitarian in every sense of the word. His commitment and generosity to CCFA and its mission were unsurpassed. We honor Bill for his leadership, courage, strength and friendship. The World has lost a wonderful Man. We
extend our deepest sympathy to his beloved wife Shelby, the entire Modell Family and to all the Modell's Sporting
Goods Friends and associates. Suzanne and Irwin Rosenthal, National Co-Founders, Richard J. Geswell, CCFA National President, Howard L. Swarzman, Greater New York Chapter President, Greater NY Chapter Staff and Board of Trustees, National Board of Trustees and Staff MODELL--William. To Our Dear Bill: Words cannot describe the kindness
and humanity you have shown so many. We will deeply miss your laughter and sense of humor. You have enriched our
lives and you will be in our hearts forever. We extend sincere condolences to the entire Modell family. The Goldman
Family The Landau Family MODELL--William D. It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of Bill Modell.
Our relationship with Bill Modell, his family and business extends back over thirty years. It was with great friendship
and admiration that we watched Modells Sporting Goods grow and prosper under his watch. To those of us who worked
with him, he was always a bright, hard working, creative gentle man. He was always interested in the people around
him and a delight to do business with. His contributions to New York City and those charities so dear to him will preserve his memory for years to come. Bill, we enjoyed your company and you will be sorely missed. With deepest sympathy to Shelby, Leslie and Mitchell Modell and to all the rest of Bill Modell's loving family. The Partners and Staff at
Janover Rubinroit, LLC Certified Public Accountants MODELL--William. Bill Modell was a hero. There are people
who give money to charities, but are rarely involved. This was not Bill. His sacrifice, time and energy to CCFA is legendary. Along with Shelby, Bill literally saved our son, and grandson's life. It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye.
But he will always be in our thoughts and prayers. The Aarons family MODELL--William. We are saddened by the loss
of Bill. Our hearts go out to Shelby. Barbara and Bob Murray Bruce and Hilary Murray Vicki and Rick Birdoff MODELL--William D. With profound sorrow, the LeFrak Family mourns the passing of one of our dearest and most esteemed friends. Cherished by all who knew him for his generosity and kindness, his lasting impact on family and
friends will never be forgotten; and he will always be an inspiration because of his fortitude, gentleness, and sterling
character. We extend our deepest and most sincere condolences to his loving wife, Shelby, and to his children and
grandchildren.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: DEATHS & OBITUARIES (90%); CHARITIES (89%); DISEASES & DISORDERS (78%); VOLUNTARY HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS (78%); PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES (77%); FAMILY (73%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (65%); COLON DISEASE (60%); GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS (60%); SPORTING
GOODS STORES (50%)
GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (79%)
LOAD-DATE: February 16, 2008
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DOCUMENT-TYPE: Paid Death Notice
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Late Edition - Final
Rounding Up The Usual Suspects
BYLINE: By ROBERTA SMITH
SECTION: Section E; Column 0; Movies, Performing Arts/Weekend Desk; ART REVIEW BROAD CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM; Pg. 31
LENGTH: 1416 words
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
The inaugural exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's spanking new Broad Contemporary Art Museum has no title, because it isn't really an exhibition.
All but 30 of the nearly 180 works on view come from the private collection and art foundation of Eli Broad, the
Los Angeles entrepreneur who gave $56 million toward the new museum's construction, and his wife, Edythe. The
works are intended to reflect the Broads' penchant for collecting in depth. But the accumulation reads foremost as a display of pricey trophies, greatest hits of the present and recent past. It's a sign that you are deep in the land of known
quantities when a room of paintings by an artist of the stature of Leon Golub feels like a surprise.
I don't mean to disparage the many impressive works of art here. They represent artists of some or much importance, among them Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Ellsworth Kelly, with a richness that will
be both entertaining and informative to the general public. The problem is what they add up to.
The ensemble conveys very little in the way of curatorial shape or imagination, or historical perspective. And the
museum should be ashamed of the dominance of white male artists here. (Of the 29 artists, only Jean-Michel Basquiat is
not white; only 4 are women.) It should also be embarrassed by the dominance of New York artists (21 out of 30) at a
point when Los Angeles has one of the liveliest art scenes on the planet. How many museum exhibitions and collections
look like this? Too many to count.
With the new Broad building, the museum, traditionally encyclopedic, announces an increased emphasis on contemporary art. (Its role model, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has developed a similar fixation on the new.) In addition, it represents a healthy shift in the balance of power between Los Angeles and New York.
It was hoped that Mr. Broad might mark the completion of the new building with a gift of some art. (His total
holdings number around 2,000 modern, postwar and contemporary works.) But that hasn't happened; much to the consternation of many in the art world, he and his wife, or their foundation, retain ownership of the work.
Excluding the ground floor, where two large works by Richard Serra are parked beneath ceilings that are a bit low
for them, the largest spaces in this three-story building go to market-hardy perennials of the moment: Jeff Koons, Cindy
Sherman and Damien Hirst. Also extremely prominent is a three-story melange of words and pictures in red, white and
black by Barbara Kruger: it lines the large glass-fronted elevator shaft.
The Koons display would make a nice miniretrospective spread out among several smaller galleries, but in one
open space it looks chaotic, like a one-artist sculpture park crossed with a don't-touch playground. The assembled works
span from an eerily sarcophaguslike stack of Hoover floor polishers (1981-87) to a hyperrealist painting dated 2008. In
it four images of a stunningly beautiful, scantily clad blonde are set against a wallpaperlike expanse of the splintery images of H. C. Westermann -- an excellent artist who is not on many collectors' must-have lists these days. The standout
here is Mr. Koons's taut, gleaming ''Balloon Dog (Blue),'' which seamlessly unites the erotic and innocent tendencies in
his work.
The several postwar masters on view -- Warhol, Ed Ruscha and Roy Lichtenstein, for example -- are often represented by selections that are motley or unbalanced, even when they include wonderful things. Thankfully, John Baldessari's slyly ironic early paintings convey the show's main hint of the Conceptual Art revolution. But do we need four of
them, and not much from recent years?
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The Johns display includes ''Watchman,'' a haunting painting from 1964, but also a so-so 1967 flag painting from
the Broads and a weaker double flag from 1973, lent by the writer Michael Crichton. It seems included here as backup,
the flag of last resort.
Five paintings by Cy Twombly create a rare moment of cohesion and serenity. The Broads' great 1955 Rauschenberg -- mostly red with newspaper collage and a peach-colored line across it deeply fringed with drips -- keeps company
with four other early paintings lent by the Sonnabend Collection. And five works by Ellsworth Kelly look at home as
almost nothing else in the building does. In the natural light of the Broad building's third floor, their saturated colors and
sharp shapes balance delicately between the physical and the visual. It is the show's one moment of perfection.
One floor down, Mr. Hirst takes up a lot of room with glittery cabinet sculptures, butterfly paintings and ''The Collector,'' a room-size glass vitrine. Inside a life-size animatronic scientist bends (repeatedly) over a microscope at a desk
surrounded by plants and stacked with butterfly specimens, while live ones flutter overhead. A presentation of 49 works
by Ms. Sherman forms another miniretrospective that, like the Koons display, could use several galleries. But a striking
triple hanging of around 20 works, predominantly from Ms. Sherman's History Portraits series, gives it focus.
From here galleries devoted to installation works by Robert Therrien, Christopher Wool, Jenny Holzer and Chris
Burden pass in a lackluster blur. They emphasize the absence of Los Angeles artists like Paul McCarthy and Jason
Rhoades, whom the Broads don't collect, but whose works, if borrowed from elsewhere, would have added strength.
Then comes the only departure from the one artist-one space pattern.
Several once-big names who emerged in the 1980s, and whose reputations may have peaked, are clustered in a
single gallery, represented by one work each: Julian Schnabel, David Salle, Ross Bleckner, Susan Rothenberg, Jack
Goldstein, Mark Tansey and Robert Longo. They form a useful if inadvertent cautionary tale. But well-chosen groups of
paintings by Mr. Salle or Mr. Schnabel would have looked fresher and nervier. The Golub gallery follows, and then a
room of fierce paintings by Basquiat.
The inaugural installation, like the new building itself, seems to have suffered from too many cooks. Joanne
Heyler, the curator of Mr. Broad's foundation, was involved in its formation, which was overseen by Lynn Zelevansky,
a curator of the Los Angeles museum, and undoubtedly Michael Govan, its charismatic director, who has galvanized
and reshaped the museum virtually since his arrival barely two years ago from the Dia Center for the Arts in New York.
Happily, there are other signs of new life to celebrate at the museum. Mr. Burden's new permanent sculpture,
''Urban Light,'' in front of the new entry pavilion, may be an instant landmark and museum mascot. It consists of a dozen rows of vintage streetlights so tightly regimented that they can look like a total hall-of-mirrors illusion.
Beyond the new entry pavilion, the main museum looks wonderful. Tony Smith's ''Smoke'' sits imperiously, like a
giant architectonic spider in a box, in the atrium of the Ahmanson Building, which has been rehabilitated with new,
broad stairs. Up these stairs, 85 works of European modernism -- selected from the promised gift of Janice and Henri
Lazarof -- offer all kinds of riches, including a raft of Giacometti sculptures and 19 Picassos. And nearby two large galleries have been stunningly upgraded with beautiful dark wood floors; they form a velvety unbroken plain that makes
the postwar paintings and sculptures on view look like a mirage.
There is also more hope for the nascent Broad Museum. At the over-the-top Hollywood-style opening celebration
on Saturday, Mr. Govan publicly praised Mr. Broad's generosity and finished by thanking him for the gift of $10 million
that made possible the purchase of one of the Serras. ''Eli has given us a great work of art,'' he concluded, ''and he'll give
more.''
Perhaps he will. The show with no name exemplifies an especially dismaying dance that museums must perform
with their biggest donors. But as dances go, the evening is still young . In the end the Los Angeles museum doesn't need
to own all of Mr. Broad's art; better that its curators have a chance to choose a few really great works. Public and private
collecting has the best results when approached, like making art, as an act of individual imagination spurred by the desire to be different. The goal should be to do something that no one else is doing, not the thing that everyone has already
done.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ARTISTS & PERFORMERS (91%); ART & ARTISTS (90%); MUSEUMS & GALLERIES (90%); EXHIBITIONS (90%); VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS (90%); HISTORY (78%); PAINTING (78%); MEN (65%)
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PERSON: ELI BROAD (73%)
GEOGRAPHIC: LOS ANGELES, CA, USA (95%); NEW YORK, NY, USA (54%) CALIFORNIA, USA (95%);
NEW YORK, USA (54%) UNITED STATES (95%)
LOAD-DATE: February 15, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: A three-story melange of words and pictures by Barbara Kruger lines the museum's elevator
shaft. Five works by Ellsworth Kelly are on display at the new Broad Contemporary Art Museum in Los Angeles.
(PHOTOGRAPHS BY MONICA ALMEIDA/THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg. E39)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Review
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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Late Edition - Final
Paid Notice: Deaths MODELL, WILLIAM D
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Classified; Pg. 21
LENGTH: 670 words
MODELL--William D. It is with profound sorrow that we mourn the passing of our beloved Chairman of the
Board. Bill Modell was more than a brilliant businessman; he was an enlightened leader who not only created the largest, privately owned sporting goods chain in America, but created a business environment that respected and cared for
all its associates. Bill's word was his bond and his integrity was legend. He encouraged the best in each of us and mentored the careers of many.
By example, he taught us to care for our city, our country and our fellow citizens. With unquenchable optimism and
humor, he worked tirelessly to heal the suffering of others through philanthropic work. He was deeply committed to
Gilda's Club New York and Worldwide, which he helped to found, and raised millions of dollars for research, especially
for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America. When our co-president and his son, Michael, died, he took up the
reins and led us with unassuming courage. Throughout his own painful battle with cancer, he continued to work for
Modell's and for the many research foundations that he co-founded. With kindness, dedication and goodwill, Bill made
our world a better place in which to live. Our friend and colleague has been taken from us, but the inspiring legacy of
his life will remain with us forever. The Officers and Associates of Modell's Sporting Goods
MODELL--William D. The love of my life is gone. We began our journey together with laughter. Now it has ended in tears. My precious, beloved husband devoted his life to me, our children and grandchildren, and his sister and
brother-in-law and gave us the most precious gift of all, his love. He became a legend in his own time, building Modell's
Sporting Goods into the largest, privately owned sporting goods chain in the country. His brilliant business acumen
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earned him many honors and awards. Yet, his greatest pleasure was seeing all those he mentored succeed in their careers. During World War II, he proudly served in the Army's Ninth Air Corps and continued to serve his country and
New York City throughout his life, as a member of the negotiating committee for the Panama Canal Treaty under President Jimmy Carter, as New York City's Commissioner of Public Affairs for Mayor Abe Beame, and as a founding patron of the Metropolitan Opera House and Lincoln Center for Performing Arts. Though he met world leaders, celebrities
and many of America's greatest athletes, he was at heart a down-toearth man, who cared deeply about his family,
friends, and . Associates. A humble and gentle man, he helped countless individuals in their time of need. He was the
founder of American Digestive Disease Society, a co-founder of the Jeffrey Modell Foundation for Immunological Research and the Hewlett House for breast cancer survivors, and was especially dedicated to Gilda's Club of New York
and Worldwide which he helped found. No cause meant more to Bill than finding a cure for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. In 1967, when our son Michael was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, he co-founded the Crohn's & Colitis
Foundation of America and raised many millions of dollars for research. Bill never realized his dream to find a cure,
and we lost our darling Michael to complications caused by Crohn's disease six years ago. Yet, despite his unspeakable
sorrow, Bill never gave up hope. He continued to raise millions to save others from the suffering that our son endured.
For me, his children and grandchildren, his friends, and all those who knew him, Bill was a man who filled the world
with his vibrant presence, his compassion and love, his sense of humor, his wisdom and integrity, his quiet courage, and
his abundant goodwill. The services will be held on Sunday, February 17, 2008, 11am, Temple Emanu-El, 5th Ave at
65th St., New York. I have lost my best friend and partner in life and I am shattered with sorrow. Billy, you were and
always will be my soul mate. I will love you and miss you forever. Your Shelby
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: DEATHS & OBITUARIES (90%); PRIVATELY HELD COMPANIES (89%); SPORTING GOODS
STORES (89%); CELEBRITIES (78%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (77%); PHILANTHROPY (74%); CHARITIES
(74%); MEDICAL CHARITIES (74%); FOUNDATIONS (74%); DISEASES & DISORDERS (73%); GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS (68%); IMMUNOLOGY (68%); ARMIES (68%); COLON DISEASE (68%); CANCER
(68%); US PRESIDENTS (67%); PERFORMING ARTS CENTERS (67%); ARMED FORCES (60%); VISUAL &
PERFORMING ARTS (60%); AWARDS & PRIZES (50%); WORLD WAR II (67%)
ORGANIZATION: CROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA (56%)
PERSON: JIMMY CARTER (51%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (90%) NEW YORK, USA (93%) UNITED STATES (94%); PANAMA
(79%)
LOAD-DATE: February 15, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Paid Death Notice
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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The New York Times on the Web
Spare Times: For Children
BYLINE: By LAUREL GRAEBER
SECTION: Section ; Column 0; Movies, Performing Arts/Weekend Desk; Pg.
LENGTH: 3195 words
FOR CHILDREN
'READY FOR ACTION!' For a parent Sesame Street Live doesn't have quite the charm of ''Sesame Street'' on television. You lose the intimacy of the close-ups with the cheery characters, and the noise -- including the loud bangs of
containers of confetti bursting over the audience's heads -- may make you long for a remote control. But enough Oscarlike grouchiness. None of this seems to bother the energetic toddlers who throng Madison Square Garden every year for
the 90-minute live extravaganza.
The latest, ''Ready for Action!,'' begins with a topic dear to small children: superheroes. Grover, whose selfdescription as Super Grover is treated tongue-in-cheek on TV, has lost his ''superness''; when he tries to fly, he collapses
in a heap (hilarious if you're under 6). Some of his fellow Muppets -- Telly, Zoe (and her pet rock), Elmo and Rosita -step in as the Fabulous Five (above, flanking Grover), accepting assignments from the Big Cheese (a talking cheese
wedge, of course) until Grover recovers.
Happily, Sesame Street Live is as clever as the television series in reinterpreting pop music. The source material in
''Ready for Action!'' ranges from ''A Chorus Line'' (''I really need this call,'' the Muppets sing, as they await the Big
Cheese) to James Brown's ''I Feel Good,'' turned into an ode to robust health. And even familiar nursery tunes get an
imaginative spin. At the end of a new version of ''Old MacDonald Had a Farm'' Muppet sheep in kilts do a highland
fling (hilarious no matter what your age).
The problems the Fabulous Five confront include an overtired Big Bird (he needs a nap), an overeating Cookie
Monster (he needs nutritious food) and an Elmo's World so soiled that it has become Oscar's World (it needs hygiene).
Yes, there's a theme here. And when Grover sleeps, eats right, bathes and exercises, he regains his superness. This may
seem like a terribly simple formula, but consider the audience. For preschoolers, taking naps, eating broccoli and submitting to baths may very well be heroic. (Friday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 2 and
5:30 p.m.; Monday at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden, 212-465-6741, sesamestreetlive.com; $19.50 to $54.)
LAUREL GRAEBER
'ARCHAEOLOGY ZONE: DISCOVERING TREASURES FROM PLAYGROUNDS TO PALACES' (Saturday
through Thursday) Children will step into the shoes of an explorer like Indiana Jones in this exhibition at the Jewish
Museum, but the adventures will be purely scholarly. Still, there is plenty of excitement in analyzing artifacts like a jar
handle, a clay jug and a bangle, and figuring out the purpose behind ancient pieces like a Greek helmet and a bullshaped vessel. This interactive show also includes a recreated home from the Ottoman period (about 1900), where
young archaeologists can dress in costume. (Through June 15, 2009.) Saturday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 5:45
p.m., and Thursday to 8 p.m., 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, (212) 423-3200, thejewishmuseum.org. Free with admission: $12; $10 for 65+; $7.50 for students; free for under 12, members and for all on Saturdays.
'BRAIN TEASERS' (Saturday through Thursday) Intellects need exercise too, and this exhibition is intended to be
push-ups for gray matter. Devised by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, it consists of 20 challenges, including number games, visual puzzles and, in one case, handcuffs made of rope. It even includes an enigma, called the FiveRoom House, that has never been solved. (Through May 4.) At the Staten Island Children's Museum, 1000 Richmond
Terrace, Livingston, (718) 273-2060, statenislandkids.org. Hours: Monday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m.; Saturdays
and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free with admission: $5; free for members.
'CENICIENTA' ('CINDERELLA') (Saturday) The heroine could easily lose her glass slipper dancing the tango in
this Latin-flavored musical from Teatro SEA, presented in an easily understood combination of English and Spanish.
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The production also features a surprise: an unexpected character who fills in for the ill fairy godmother. At 3 p.m., Los
Kabayitos Puppet and Children's Theater, 107 Suffolk Street, at Rivington Street, second floor, Lower East Side, (212)
529-1545, sea-online.info; $15; $12.50 for 2 to 12; free for under 2.
CHILDREN'S CHOIR FESTIVAL OF SONG AND WORD (Sunday) The talents of young and old will combine
in this performance, which celebrates the 90th birthday of the choir director Helen Kemp, as she practices her specialty:
leading children's voices. The young members of nine choirs will take part in the festival, at 4 p.m., Trinity Church,
Broadway at Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, (212) 602-9633, trinitywallstreet.org; free, but contributions are accepted.
THE CHILDREN'S THEATER COMPANY (Saturday and Sunday) In New York you're never too little for the
stage, and this company welcomes actors as young as 4 or 5, as well as those much older. Its latest showcase features
the premieres of three short musicals: ''The Ugly Duckling,'' an updated version of the Andersen tale; ''The Lorax &
Money Bags,'' an adaptation of Dr. Seuss's story ''The Lorax''; and ''Wayward Knight,'' whose title character ends up
serving the public rather than the king. (Through March 2.) At 4:30 p.m., Bahai Unity Center, 53 East 11th Street,
Greenwich Village, childrenstheatercompany.org. Reservations required: (212) 633-6629. $12.
'A DOLPHIN UP A TREE!' (Saturday and Sunday) The only dolphins around New York can be found in the water, typically in the aquarium on Coney Island. But these days at least one member of the species occupies a far more
unusual position: up a tree in Manhattan. The title character in this show by Kimberly Foster (book and lyrics) and John
Fleming (music and lyrics) is actually a little girl named Tina, and she has far more to worry about than just being
beached in some branches. For ages 2 to 8, the musical is in an open-ended run. At 10:30 a.m. and noon, the DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 239-6200; $20.
'DREAM' (Friday through Sunday) As in ''A Midsummer Night's ...'' Granted, it's midwinter, but there is sure to
be plenty of warmth in Ryan Gilliam's adaptation of this Shakespearean comedy, which stars the adolescent members of
her troupe, Downtown Art, as the confused and confusing young lovers. Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2
p.m., Downtown Art, 59 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 479-0885, downtownart.org; $10; $5 for 18 and under.
FAMILY WEEK AT THE MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE -- A LIVING MEMORIAL TO THE HOLOCAUST (Monday through Thursday) The Dominican Republic is probably not a place that usually comes to mind when
children think of Jewish history, but the workshop ''Exploring Identity, Immigration and Memory Through Art and Culture of the Dominican Republic'' will demonstrate how this nation provided a safe haven for Jews fleeing the Nazis. To
be held in conjunction with the museum's new bilingual exhibition, ''Sosua: A Refuge for Jews in the Dominican Republic,'' about the town that was built by Jewish refugees who were welcomed there for resettlement in 1938, the workshop will also feature educators from El Museo del Barrio. Each family will make a ''memory box'' using writing, portraits and collage. From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (drop-in sessions), 36 Battery Place, Lower Manhattan, (646) 437-4202,
mjhnyc.org; free. Reservations are advised.
'THE FESTIVAL OF THE VEGETABLES' (Saturday and Sunday) Children don't always welcome vegetables,
but they should make an exception for these: they're members of the Truly Fooly Children's Troupe in a theater-dancemusic piece about the dreams of a toddler who falls asleep in a grocery store. Written by Michael Kosch, the production
has stars like a strutting zucchini and a giant flying tomato. At 11 a.m., Metropolitan Playhouse, 220 East Fourth Street,
East Village, (212) 995-5302, metropolitanplayhouse.org; $10; $8 for 12 and under.
FUNKEY MONKEYS (Saturday and Sunday) These aren't zoo residents but a band formed by Joshua Sitron,
composer and musical director for the Nickelodeon show ''Dora the Explorer.'' The members make up stories and do
comic bits along with their music, which is funky of course. And their intended audience -- those 2 to 8 -- can participate in their show, playing in an open-ended run. At 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Daryl Roth Theater, 101 East 15th Street, Manhattan, (212) 239-6200, funkeymonkeys.com; $20.
'HANSEL & GRETEL' (Saturday and Sunday) It's easy to imagine the title characters of this fairy tale as lost in
the Black Forest, but in this musical version from Manhattan Children's Theater they're surrounded by Kentucky bluegrass. Kristin and Michael Walter, the show's writers, have set the story in Appalachia, with a score to match, and the
brother and sister have become Hank and Gerti. But the witch is still a witch. (Through March 30). At noon and 2 p.m.,
52 White Street, near Church Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101; manhattanchildrenstheater.org; $20; $15 for 2 through
17 and 65+.
HARLEM SCHOOL OF THE ARTS (Friday through Sunday) ''A Rose Among Thorns,'' a one-woman show by
Ella Joyce, presents the life of a historical figure whose influence was embodied in a quiet but revolutionary act of defiance: Rosa Parks. To be presented at the school by the New Federal Theater in honor of Black History Month, the pro-
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duction encourages young people to engage with politics today. The school will also be the host for the Negro Ensemble
Company's ''Edna the Otter,'' a show for elementary school children about a helpful young otter who matches wits with
other animals. ''Rose,'' Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.; ''Edna,'' Saturday at noon; 645 St. Nicholas
Avenue, at 145th Street, Hamilton Heights, www.harlemschoolofthearts.org. ''Rose,'' $18; ''Edna,'' $5.
KIDSCREATE (Saturday) There are precocious children, and then there are really precocious children. Those featured in this new monthly workshop series for ages 5 and older at the Children's Museum of Manhattan definitely fall
into the ''really'' category: they are authors, inventors, entrepreneurs, scientists. The first installment features Toni Valentini, 11, whose book ''When I Grow Up'' began as a third-grade assignment. She will read, and participants will create
their own books. At 4 p.m., the Tisch Building, 212 West 83rd Street, (212) 721-1223, cmom.org. Free with museum
admission: $9; $6 for 65+; free for members.
LIVING HISTORY DAYS (Saturday) Meeting the founding fathers in history class can sometimes be a little dry.
But children can meet early American heroes in person (well, reasonable facsimiles thereof) at the New-York Historical
Society in conjunction with its exhibition ''French Founding Father: Lafayette's Return to Washington's America.'' In
honor of Black History Month, on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., re-enactors will portray the First Rhode Island Regiment, the first all-black regiment in the Revolutionary War. At 11 a.m. the museum will also offer the '' 'Don't Know
Much About History' Quiz Show,'' presented by the historian Kenneth C. Davis. Taking the format of a television series
like ''Jeopardy!,'' the show will invite families to test their knowledge of American presidents. At 170 Central Park
West, at 77th Street, (212) 873-3400, nyhistory.org. Free with admission: $10; $7 for educators and 65+; $6 for students; free for 12 and under and members.
MIDWINTER RECESS KIDS' TOUR OF THE JEWISH LOWER EAST SIDE (Sunday) From 10:45 a.m. to 1
p.m., children ages 7 to 15 will taste the full flavor -- cultural and culinary -- of this historic neighborhood in a walk
sponsored by Timeline Touring. The stops are to include a landmark synagogue, immigrants' former homes, the building that housed The Forward and plenty of places to nosh. Reservations and meeting place: (212) 209-3370, timelinetouring.com; $23; $16 for children.
MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (Monday through Thursday) Why not spend the winter break from school
with the Loch Ness monster? That's on the agenda at this museum, which will have screenings of the film ''The Water
Horse: Legend of the Deep'' daily at 1:30 p.m. The movie, recently in theaters, is the tale of a Scottish boy who finds an
egg that hatches to be, yes, Nessie. At 1 and 3:30 p.m. daily the museum will also offer a motion workshop for ages 6
and older that includes the principles of moviemaking and the opportunity to make digital cartoons and old-fashioned
optical toys. At 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, (718) 784-0077, movingimage.us. Free with admission:
$10; $7.50 for 65+ and students; $5 for 5 through 18; free for under 5.
NEW YORK HALL OF SCIENCE (Saturday through Thursday) This week the museum will celebrate both work
and play. The work is engineering, the focus of Eweek 2008, a series of programs from Monday through Thursday highlighting the field and the diversity of its practitioners. The programs will include American Society of Civil Engineers
activity stations (Monday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.); a visit from the author Elizabeth Mann (for ages 7 and older, Monday
at 2 and 4 p.m.); science sessions, using computer simulations (Tuesday through Thursday, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.); and
''Ship Shape: From Specs to Decks,'' a program on ship and plane design, co-sponsored by the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space
Museum (Wednesday and Thursday at 11:30 a.m. and 1 and 2:30 p.m.). As for play, on Saturday the museum is opening an entire exhibition devoted to it. ''Invention at Play,'' through May 11, explores the relationship between children's
toys and play and adult creativity and technology. At 47-01 111th Street, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens,
(718) 699-0005, nyscience.org. All events free with museum admission: $11; $8 for 2 through 17, students and 62+;
free for under 2. Free to all on Fridays from 2 to 5 p.m. and on Sundays from 10 to 11 a.m.
'THE PERFECT MONSTER' (Friday through Monday) Dr. Frankenstein had the best intentions. So did the
founders of Jurassic Park. And so does Sybil, an insecure teenager who makes friends the hard way: by creating them in
her basement lab. In this musical by Janine Nina Trevens and Deirdre Broderick, presented by Tada!, the youth theater
company, Sybil learns some of the same lessons as her literary predecessors, but with a happier ending. Friday at 7 p.m.
(sold out); Saturday and Sunday at 2 and 4 p.m.; Monday at noon and 2 p.m. (both sold out). Tada! Theater, 15 West
28th Street, Chelsea, (212) 252-1619, www.tadatheater.com; $18; $8 for 15 and under.
'PINKALICIOUS, THE MUSICAL' (Saturday and Sunday) It's time to think pink again. This show from Vital
Children's Theater has been revived, so if you missed it last year, you can now catch it at New World Stages. Elizabeth
and Victoria Kann adapted their children's book, in which the pink-obsessed title character finds out that sometimes
being in the pink can be too much of a good thing. (John Gregor wrote the score and some of the lyrics.) (Through May
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Spare Times: For Children The New York Times February 15, 2008 Friday
25.) Saturday at 2 p.m.; Sunday at noon and 3 p.m.; 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, vitaltheatre.org;
$28.
'REPRESENT!: A CELEBRATION OF YOUNG TALENT AT THE APOLLO' (Sunday) The Apollo Theater is
taking an old-fashioned idea -- the variety show -- to highlight something new: a generation of young performers. This
family series, having its debut in honor of Black History Month, will open with acts including the singer Keke Palmer
(star of the film ''Akeelah and the Bee''); the children's African dance troupe Batoto Yetu; the Harbor Latin Youth Ensemble, a salsa band; and JoSunJari, a trio of siblings and string musicians. The young urban laureates known as the
Mayhem Poets will be hosts. At 5 p.m., the Apollo, 253 West 125th Street, Harlem, (212) 531-5305, apollotheater.org;
$12; $10 for groups of five or more.
'A (TOOTH) FAIRY TALE' (Saturday and Sunday) In the film ''Bruce Almighty'' Bruce changed places with
God; in this new musical from Vital Children's Theater, written by Rick Hip-Flores and Ben H. Winter, the exchange is
a bit more humble but equally complicated. Oliver, tired of being a kid, trades positions with the Tooth Fairy, who's sick
of retrieving teeth and delivering change under pillows. (Through Feb. 24.) Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.,
McGinn Cazale Theater, 2162 Broadway, at 76th Street, fourth floor, (212) 352-3101, vitaltheatre.org; $18.
'THE VELVETEEN RABBIT' (Saturday and Sunday) Literally Alive Children's Theater, which dramatizes literary works, offers a musical ''Velveteen Rabbit'' that manages no easy feat: it is both upbeat and faithful to its source,
Margery Williams's poignant 1922 children's classic. Before the show, which has a book and lyrics by Brenda Bell and
music by Mark McGee, young audience members can join a workshop to help decorate the stage and make themselves
rabbit ears. (Through May 11.) Workshop ($5) at 11 a.m., show at noon, the Players Theater, 115 Macdougal Street,
near West Third Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 866-5170, literallyalive.com; $25; $20 for children.
WINTER FESTIVAL (Saturday through Thursday) You can see lots of birds in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, but
this is a rare occasion when multicolored parrots will be among them. They are the stars of ''The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill,'' a feature-length documentary about a homeless man in San Francisco who has devoted himself to those
birds. It will be shown on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday as part of the Children's Film Festival at the Audubon
Center, which will screen another documentary, ''Swim for the River,'' about the Hudson, on Sunday, Tuesday and
Thursday. Both features will be accompanied by short films about nature. The Lefferts Historic House in the park will
also be open daily for ''Coming In From the Cold,'' a program in which visitors can step into the 19th century with oldfashioned games and activities like spinning and weaving. The Audubon Center, near the Lincoln Road and Ocean Avenue entrance, (718) 287-3400, Ext. 114; Lefferts Historic House, Children's Corner of the park, near the Willink entrance, Flatbush Avenue and Empire Boulevard, (718) 789-2822. All events run noon to 4 p.m. and are free; prospectpark.org.
WINTER KIDS WEEK (Saturday through Thursday) Dinosaur footprints, a mastadon tooth, a meterorite and a
four-legged chicken are among the unusual sights in this series of explorations at the Staten Island Museum. The fun
will begin on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon with ''Racecars: Rubber Bands and Balloon Propulsion,'' in which children
ages 8 to 13 will build racecars from CDs and cardboard boxes as part of the Junior Science Club; $8; $5 for members.
Other highlights include a tour through the Hall of Natural Science (Monday at 2 p.m.) and a program on how the ancient Indians lived on Staten Island (Wednesday at 2 p.m.). Both free with museum admission: $2; $1 for students and
65+; free for children under 12 and members. At 75 Stuyvesant Place, St. George, (718) 727-1135, statenislandmuseum.org. LAUREL GRAEBER
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: CHILDREN (90%); POP & ROCK (72%); TELEVISION PROGRAMMING (72%); VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS (65%); ANTHROPOLOGY & ARCHAEOLOGY (50%); ARCHAEOLOGY (50%)
COMPANY: WASHINGTON MUTUAL INC (50%)
TICKER: WM (NYSE) (50%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS522120 SAVINGS INSTITUTIONS (50%); SIC6036 SAVINGS INSTITUTIONS, NOT FEDERALLY CHARTERED (50%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (56%)
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LOAD-DATE: February 16, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Schedule
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1074 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 14, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
Dog Running: Easier Does It
BYLINE: By SARAH TUFF
SECTION: Section G; Column 0; Style Desk; PHYSICAL CULTURE GEAR TEST, HANDSFREE LEASHES; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 569 words
FOR those who run with their dogs, trying to stay fleet of foot with a dog on a leash can be an exercise in futility.
While the two-legged jogger aims for an even pace, the four-legged set sniffs, pulls, doubles back and dashes forward,
yanking the shoulder socket. Regular leashes can also cause gait problems for serious runners, said Kelly Liljeblad, a
dog owner and marathoner from Boulder, Colo. ''If you run with the leash in the left hand, you'll naturally bend to the
left,'' she explained.
In the last few years, some entrepreneurs and pet-gear companies have introduced hands-free systems, which
loop a belt, attached to leash, around the runner's waist. Recent innovations include swiveling mechanisms for tanglefree runs, quick-release buckles, fixtures for multiple dogs, reflective trim and pouches for personal items.
While recovering from a 2:47:13 finish (the women's winning time) at the Miami Marathon last month, Ms.
Liljeblad tested five sets of hands-free leashes on 20- to 30-minute runs around the Boulder Reservoir. Her co-testers
were her yellow Labradors, Aggie and Pre.
LARZ PET GEAR Z-HANDS FREE LEASH $56 ($85 and up for multiple dogs), www.larzpetgear.com. At first,
Ms. Liljeblad said, she found the modular attachments ''overwhelming'' but added that ''it is nice to have options.'' She
rated this system her second favorite. She said, ''This swivel mechanism was the best out of all the leashes'' and ''the
padding is great on the belt if your dog pulls a little.'' Because of the variety of attachments, ''you can basically design
your own belt.''
THE BUDDY SYSTEM $26, ($20 for smaller dogs); Lunge Buster, $12.50, www.buddysys.com. A ''lightweight,
easy-to-use and nonbulky'' design earned this ''simple'' leash best-in-show for Ms. Liljeblad. She liked how it slid
around the belt as she ran with Aggie. Also ''nice'' was the ''bungee like'' Lunge Buster (the Buddy System has a regular
leash). ''It was a perfect stiffness and length because it didn't jerk me around,'' Ms. Liljeblad said.
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Dog Running: Easier Does It The New York Times February 14, 2008 Thursday
CARDIO CANINE $55, www.cardiocanine.com. Ms. Liljeblad appreciated the water-bottle holder and pocket on
the back of this system, modeled after a rock-climbing belt. ''This would be great for a long run or even a hike,'' said Ms.
Liljeblad, who also used the leash's shortened loop to help steer Aggie. But the ''metal latches were bulky and heavy''
and she missed the bungee leash and swivel action of some other systems. Pre and Aggie, top, fight over the Cardio
Canine.
RUNNING DAWG $21.95, www.runningdawg.com. ''This is a nice, simple leash,'' said Ms. Liljeblad, who
thought the nylon belt pack was very useful. But the bungee-type leash was ''a little too soft and flexible'' for Ms.
Liljeblad and Pre, who ''kept forgetting he was on the leash.'' She also wished it had a swivel system, and she had concerns about chafing. ''The belt strap wasn't that comfortable,'' Ms. Liljeblad said. ''But I like the simplicity.''
DOGMATIC FREELEASH PRO $24.99, www.dogmaticproducts.com. New this month, the updated Freeleash
Pro has a buckle system designed to withstand 500 pounds of force, but after using it on Pre, Ms. Liljeblad said she
''wasn't crazy about the heavy metal latches.'' She did like the quick-release system and the anti-tangle swivel, though it
got caught on her jacket a few times. She gave a thumbs-up to the simple design and lightweight, reflective strap.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: DOGS (93%); MARATHONS (78%); PETS (78%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (70%)
GEOGRAPHIC: COLORADO, USA (72%) UNITED STATES (72%)
LOAD-DATE: February 14, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: RUNNING DAWG: $21.95, www.runningdawg.com. ''This is a nice, simple leash,'' said Ms.
Liljeblad, who thought the nylon belt pack was very useful. But the bungee-type leash was ''a little too soft and flexible''
for Ms. Liljeblad and Pre, who ''kept forgetting he was on the leash.'' She also wished it had a swivel system, and she
had concerns about chafing. ''The belt strap wasn't that comfortable,'' Ms. Liljeblad said. ''But I like the simplicity.''
DOGMATIC FREELEASH PRO: $24.99, www.dogmaticproducts.com. New this month, the updated Freeleash Pro has
a buckle system designed to withstand 500 pounds of force, but after using it on Pre, Ms. Liljeblad said she ''wasn't crazy about the heavy metal latches.'' She did like the quick-release system and the anti-tangle swivel, though it got caught
on her jacket a few times. She gave a thumbs-up to the simple design and lightweight, reflective strap. LARZ PET
GEAR Z-HANDS FREE LEASH: $56 ($85 and up for multiple dogs), www.larzpetgear.com. At first, Ms. Liljeblad
said, she found the modular attachments ''overwhelming'' but added that ''it is nice to have options.'' She rated this system her second favorite. She said, ''This swivel mechanism was the best out of all the leashes'' and ''the padding is great
on the belt if your dog pulls a little.'' Because of the variety of attachments, ''you can basically design your own belt.''
THE BUDDY SYSTEM $26, ($20 for smaller dogs)
Lunge Buster, $12.50, www.buddysys.com. A ''lightweight, easy-to-use and nonbulky'' design earned this ''simple''
leash best-in-show for Ms. Liljeblad. She liked how it slid around the belt as she ran with Aggie. Also ''nice'' was the
''bungee like'' Lunge Buster (the Buddy System has a regular leash). ''It was a perfect stiffness and length because it didn't jerk me around,'' Ms. Liljeblad said. CARDIO CANINE: $55, www.cardiocanine.com. Ms. Liljeblad appreciated the
water-bottle holder and pocket on the back of this system, modeled after a rock-climbing belt. ''This would be great for a
long run or even a hike,'' said Ms. Liljeblad, who also used the leash's shortened loop to help steer Aggie. But the ''metal
latches were bulky and heavy'' and she missed the bungee leash and swivel action of some other systems. Pre and Aggie, top, fight over the Cardio Canine. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEPHEN COLLECTOR FOR THE NEW YORK
TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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As Mores Evolve, India's Divorced Seek Second Chance The New York Times February 14, 2008 Thursday
1075 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 14, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
As Mores Evolve, India's Divorced Seek Second Chance
BYLINE: By SAHER MAHMOOD and SOMINI SENGUPTA
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Foreign Desk; NEW DELHI JOURNAL; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 1020 words
DATELINE: NEW DELHI
Above a working man's diner in the middle of a hurly-burly city market, Yuvraj Raina abets what until recently
would have been seen as a radical challenge to the social order.
He picks up a folder on his desk and reads aloud. ''Divorcee, '68 born, she is a financier, 40,000 income per
month. She has a daughter, 8 years old.''
Another folder: ''Brahmin, '59 born, 5'3'', she is an accountant, no issue. She is a divorcee. Reason for divorce she
has written boy was mentally disturbed.''
And a third, an unusual candidate who had never before been married but was considered too old to find a husband the conventional way: ''She has opted for a divorce. She is '68 born. Hardly get any unmarried boy.''
Mr. Raina, divorced himself, is an entrepreneur courting a small but promising market: He runs a matrimonial
agency for men and women seeking to marry again. Once, such a notion would have been anathema in middle-class
India. Marriage was socially compulsory, divorce was frowned upon and widows, at least in some Hindu communities,
were subject to a life of austerity and in some cases, exile.
Marriage is still, by and large, socially compulsory. But in a measure of the slow churning of Indian social mores,
divorce and remarriage are slowly gaining acceptability. ''In general, it's no taboo these days,'' Mr. Raina said gamely,
and went on to praise the anonymity that big cities in particular offered to those who wanted a fresh start. To get away
from clucking tongues and wagging fingers, a divorced man, as Mr. Raina put it, ''just has to change his house. From
East Delhi to South Delhi, he is a new person.''
The work of Mr. Raina's agency, called the Aastha Center for Remarriage, is not all that countercultural anymore.
The matrimonial sections of Sunday papers carry advertisements from other marriage bureaus specializing in secondtimers. An Internet portal was created six months ago, called secondshaadi.com -- shaadi being the Hindi word for marriage -- and already has a database of 25,000 clients.
Even conventional marriage portals, like shaadi.com, are beginning to see listings from people who want to tie the
knot a second time. Sunil Gangwani, who runs a shaadi.com branch in Nagpur, a small provincial city in central India,
said about 5 percent of his clients were divorced.
Divorce rates are difficult to quantify because cases are filed in local courts across the country, but there is anecdotal evidence of a rise. The Delhi Commission for Women, which runs a telephone help line, estimated that the number of calls from women asking about divorce proceedings had grown at least 20 percent since 2000.
Mr. Raina's agency alone has 5,000 prospective brides and grooms on file. For the most part, relatives come to
sign up their kin, as older brothers and fathers and aunts would in the case of a traditional first marriage. Their files contain old-fashioned details: caste, income, whether vegetarian -- and the exact time of birth, for astrological purposes. But
they also identify whether the clients are divorced or widowed, and describe briefly why, if divorced, the marriage col-
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As Mores Evolve, India's Divorced Seek Second Chance The New York Times February 14, 2008 Thursday
lapsed. Mr. Raina says he is not interested in details. ''If I hear their stories it will take two days,'' he said. ''I write 'incompatibility.' ''
He sifts through them carefully and sends clients the files of prospective matches. He found a match for himself
this way -- a woman whose first husband had died, leaving her a business to run. They have been married a little more
than a year.
The Aastha office is a narrow room on top of a two-story walk-up. Its walls are plastered with larger than life
posters of smiling couples in wedding garb. A variety of desires brings people here.
Manju Singh, 56, came looking not so much for a husband but for a companion her age. ''I need someone to talk
to,'' she said. ''The evenings are lonely.''
Anubha Suri, 29, was encouraged by her parents to start anew, even as she waited for her divorce to be finalized.
''People might be saying, 'See how fast this girl is,' '' she said. ''I don't care. I'll show the world a woman can live without
marriage or with marriage.''
Savi Nagpal, 39, came because she grew weary of having to organize her daughter's birthday parties by herself.
''As you know, in India everybody asks the father's name -- the first thing,'' she said. To have a father figure, she said,
would be good for her daughter, who is 8 years old.
And yet, Ms. Nagpal remains wary of remarrying. It took her more than three years even to approach Mr. Raina's
agency. She is still a bit frightened of a new relationship. ''Looking for a second husband for me now is not a matter of
love but a purely practical consideration,'' Ms. Nagpal said.
This is a society in transition, gingerly embracing new habits, but still deeply traditional in matters of marriage.
No one knows this better than someone who is divorced and looking for a fresh start.
Inderbir Singh, 35, stopped being invited to outings with friends after his divorce 15 months ago. If a business associate asks about his family and he confesses to being divorced, the conversation enters an awkward silence. His
friends have urged him to find a new partner, but no one has set him up on a date. ''Suddenly I'm an outcast from my
society,'' he said, only half joking.
He sees his society in conflict with itself. ''People are O.K. with divorce. Nobody forces you to stay in a marriage
and torture yourself for the rest of your life,'' he said. ''But the attitude towards a divorce is still the same. They're outcasts. They think divorce won't happen if the person is a good person.''
Mr. Singh has not been shy about going out on the marriage market again. He listed himself on conventional marriage portals but scored what he called ''a 100 percent failure rate.'' He put out a newspaper ad, soliciting proposals
without luck. Then, he tried secondshaadi.com.
So far, he has met seven women, and liked one of them enough to ask her out on two dates. He described her as
''a very promising contact.''
''Let's see how it goes,'' he said.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: MARRIAGE (90%); DIVORCE & DISSOLUTION (89%); WOMEN (78%); FAMILY LAW (75%);
WEB SITES & PORTALS (60%); SEARCH ENGINES (60%); WEDDINGS & ENGAGEMENTS (90%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW DELHI, INDIA (90%); DELHI, INDIA (70%) INDIA (96%)
LOAD-DATE: February 14, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: At the Aastha Center for Re-Marriage in New Delhi, above, employees work on matching couples for potential remarriage. The shop has 5,000 prospective brides and grooms on file. Inderbir Singh, 35, left, eating
at a McDonald's in New Delhi, calls himself an ''outcast from my society'' because of his divorce. (PHOTOGRAPHS
BY TOMAS MUNITA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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As Mores Evolve, India's Divorced Seek Second Chance The New York Times February 14, 2008 Thursday
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1076 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 14, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
Mom and Pop Get a Partner: Microsoft
BYLINE: By DAVID POGUE
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; STATE OF THE ART; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1334 words
So Microsoft is making a hostile bid for Yahoo.
Has it come to this? Is Microsoft's innovation engine so dead that the only way it can grow is to buy other companies?
It's sad, in a way, because under the right circumstances, Microsoft, or pieces of it anyway, are still capable of
fresh ideas and polished work. The company itself may be a massive fallen redwood tree, slowly rotting in an oldgrowth forest. But sprouting from that decaying Windows/Office log are little green start-up shoots. They prove that
even if the bureaucracy has made Microsoft top-heavy and leaden, innovation still thrives in pockets.
Nowhere is this old Microsoft/new Microsoft dichotomy more apparent than in the company's suite of online tools
for small businesses, which reopened Monday in an improved 2.0 version (www.smallbusiness.officelive.com).
What makes Office Live Small Business so compelling is its sharp focus on a single problem: that half the small
businesses in America, and 70 percent of one-person businesses, don't even have Web sites. Obviously, the percentage
that exploits Internet marketing tools like e-mail newsletters, search engine ads and online stores is even lower.
Suppose you're among them. Suppose you train dogs, or translate documents, or retouch photos, or sell knickknacks on eBay, or make seashell jewelry. And right now, your idea of a marketing plan is taping up fliers in the grocery store.
How are you supposed to get a Web site? Who will design it, and who will host it? Who do you pay to place
search engine ads for you, and how will you know if they're working? How do you send out e-mail newsletters without
being blocked as a spammer? And how will you know if that effort is paying off?
And above all: how much is all this going to cost you?
Office Live Small Business (O.L.S.B.) is a centralized Web site where you can set up all of those small-businessy
things -- a Web site, an online ad campaign, e-mail promotions, in-company communications -- all by yourself, even if
you're not very technical. For the first time, these big-league tools are within your reach, partly because you don't have
to hire somebody to set them up and partly because many of them are free.
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Mom and Pop Get a Partner: Microsoft The New York Times February 14, 2008 Thursday
The changes from the original 2006 version are apparent immediately. Internet Explorer used to be the required
Web browser to set up your online presence, but now Firefox is O.K., too. And that means you can take advantage of
Office Live even if you use (gasp) a Macintosh. That's the New Microsoft, baby.
A credit card is no longer required to get started, either. You can start playing with the service by supplying nothing more than a name, e-mail address and ZIP code.
There are no longer three different tiers of Office Live service, with different fees and different features; that's the
Old Microsoft way (see also: Windows Vista). Instead, there's just one free service that includes a wide assortment of
useful tools, plus a handful of a la carte extras.
The freebies begin with a Web site for your business, complete with 500 megabytes of storage. Simple tools let
you design clean-looking pages, with your choice of color and design themes, logo and photos, links, and so on, even if
you have absolutely no experience doing this sort of thing. (You can see the results at, for example, whineranddiner.net,
murphyoutdoors.com and ameliascakes.com -- real sites created by actual Office Live users.)
Microsoft hosts your site free, and also offers free analysis tools. With one click, you can see a graph of your
site's traffic over time; where the visitors are coming from (for example, search engines or links from other sites); and
even which Web browsers they're using.
A number of useful Office Live features that used to cost you money are now free. For example, only paid subscribers enjoyed the ability to synchronize their Office Live address books and calendars with Outlook, so they could
work on them when not connected to the Internet. That's now free to everyone.
Similarly, if you wanted to design your own Web pages (or hire someone to do it) instead of using Microsoft's
canned page designs, you used to have to pay; now that's free, too. As a bonus, you can now remove the small Office
Live logo from your site -- a welcome change.
The old fee-based tiers also included a long list of features for the technically inclined: list managers that help you
track employees, resources, reservations, and so on; project and time trackers; a document-sharing module; and collaboration tools for internal company discussion. Those are all free now.
Unfortunately, Microsoft giveth and Microsoft taketh away.
The most famous feature of the original Office Live was the free domain-name registration. That is, your free Web
site could have any dot-com name you liked -- BobsFleabag.com, for example -- and you also got 25 e-mail addresses
to match (sales@bobsfleabag.com, info@bobsfleabag.com and so on).
Those unheard-of perks are gone; after the first year, Microsoft now charges $15 a year for those custom domain
names and e-mail addresses (at least for new members). If you decline, your free Web site will be stuck with a clunky
name like bobsfleabag.accommodations.officelive.com.
Nor is that the only way Microsoft intends to make money from this service.
For example, there are small ads on the Office Live Web site (the one with the tools -- not the site you create).
Because these ads are aimed at you, the small-business owner, they're not especially bothersome, for the same reason
that people don't mind, say, ads for cameras in a photography magazine. Meanwhile, Microsoft can charge advertisers
more for these ads because they are, again, so targeted.
Office Live offers an easy-to-use e-mail marketing system that includes newsletter design and address database.
You can also track the results of your e-mail initiatives: how many people opened your mail, as well as how many
clicked a link in it. Microsoft even does the e-mail sending for you, so your e-mail won't get blocked by your own Internet provider as spam. That's all free during the current testing phase, but Microsoft will charge a monthly fee after that.
Ditto for the terrific build-your-own-online-store feature. You get a traditional online shopping cart, integration
with eBay, and auto-calculations of shipping and even taxes (according to the buyer's state). But you'll pay $40 a month
for this high-end luxury, plus a $30 monthly PayPal fee if you want to accept payment by credit card right on your Web
site. (Otherwise, your customers will be shunted off to PayPal.com to complete the transaction.) PayPal charges about 3
percent of each sale either way.
Finally, of course, you have to pay to place ads in the results of Web search sites; here again, Office Live tracks
the results, making it crystal clear which of your ads are producing the best results.
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Mom and Pop Get a Partner: Microsoft The New York Times February 14, 2008 Thursday
This, though, may be the goofiest part of Office Live. You can place ads only on Microsoft's search sites and
Ask.com, which together represent less than 8 percent of search engine popularity. If you're going to advertise, you'd
almost certainly prefer the exposure of the Big Two -- Yahoo and Google -- but they're not available through Office
Live.
Now, plenty of companies sell similar services individually: Web hosting, for example, or online marketing. But
Microsoft claims to have no competition for Office Live's concept. Nobody else offers a complete one-stop selfcontained unified Internet toolkit for small businesses -- especially not at these prices.
The result is exciting for two reasons. First, Office Live Small Business gives the nation's 25 million small businesses a chance to use the same online tools as the big boys.
Second, Office Live Small Business has all the hallmarks of a start-up: innovative, focused, fast-moving, gamechanging, quick to respond to customer feedback and nimble in recovering from mistakes. When was the last time anyone described Microsoft that way?
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: SMALL BUSINESS (90%); ONLINE MARKETING & ADVERTISING (89%); EMAIL MARKETING
(87%); ELECTRONIC MAIL (87%); INTERNET AUCTIONS (78%); TAKEOVERS (78%); SMALL BUSINESS
ASSISTANCE (75%); ONLINE ADVERTISING (73%); INTERNET & WWW (73%); ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING
(73%); MARKETING CAMPAIGNS (71%); FORESTS & WOODLANDS (71%); INTERNET RETAILING (68%);
GROCERY STORES & SUPERMARKETS (68%); MARKETING & ADVERTISING (67%); MARKETING PLAN
(66%); INTERNET BROWSERS (60%)
COMPANY: MICROSOFT CORP (90%)
TICKER: MSFT (NASDAQ) (90%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (90%); SIC7372 PREPACKAGED SOFTWARE (90%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (83%)
GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (77%)
LOAD-DATE: February 14, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Office Live Small Business lets entrepreneurs set up a Web site and more. Most features are
free. DRAWING (DRAWING BY STUART GOLDENBERG)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1077 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 13, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
Page 179
Dell to Buy E-Mail Service to Better Compete With Rivals The New York Times February 13, 2008 Wednesday
Dell to Buy E-Mail Service to Better Compete With Rivals
BYLINE: By REUTERS
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 330 words
Dell, the computer maker, said on Tuesday that it would buy the business e-mail services provider MessageOne,
which was co-founded by Michael S. Dell's brother, in an effort to compete with similar services provided by Microsoft
and Google.
The $155 million cash deal is Dell's latest in a wave of acquisitions ranging from small shops like the software
company Everdream to the $1.4 billion purchase in November of the network storage provider EqualLogic.
MessageOne's software, which is delivered to customers over the Internet, helps companies manage and archive email messages, minimize failure and prevent data losses, Dell said in a statement.
Dell's chief information officer, Stephen F. Schuckenbrock, said the acquisition would help the company compete
against offerings ''that are emerging in the market from companies like Google, like Microsoft and others.''
Last year, Google paid $625 million to acquire the e-mail security company Postini to bolster its online Apps service to make it more useful inside businesses.
Dell said MessageOne was partly owned by two investment funds: Impact Venture Partners and the Impact Entrepreneurs Fund. The founder and chief executive of Dell, Michael, and his family are investors in the funds, which
are managed by his brother, Adam.
Dell said it expected Michael; his wife, Susan; and their children's trust to receive about $12 million from the deal.
Adam Dell will get about $970,000, and his parents will receive about $450,000.
Michael Dell intends to donate the proceeds to charity, the company said, adding that he was excluded from negotiating the acquisition.
Dell has stepped up the pace of acquisitions since Mr. Dell resumed the helm a year ago. Last month, the company completed the purchase of EqualLogic, its largest acquisition since the company was founded in 1984. EqualLogic
specializes in data storage technology, Dell's fastest-growing business.
Shares of Dell fell 22 cents, to $19.71.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ELECTRONIC MAIL (90%); MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS (90%); COMPUTER MAKERS (79%);
ENTREPRENEURSHIP (78%); INTERNET & WWW (78%); SOFTWARE MAKERS (78%); COMPANY LISTS &
RANKINGS (78%); NETWORK STORAGE TECHNOLOGY (76%); VENTURE CAPITAL (71%); DATA STORAGE DEVICES (71%); COMPUTER SOFTWARE (90%)
COMPANY: DELL INC (84%); GOOGLE INC (84%); EQUALLOGIC INC (57%); MICROSOFT CORP (56%)
TICKER: DELL (NASDAQ) (84%); DEC (LSE) (92%); GOOG (NASDAQ) (84%); GGEA (LSE) (84%); MSFT
(NASDAQ) (56%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS334111 ELECTRONIC COMPUTER MANUFACTURING (98%); SIC3571 ELECTRONIC
COMPUTERS (98%); NAICS518112 WEB SEARCH PORTALS (84%); SIC8999 SERVICES, NEC (84%); SIC7375
INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES (84%); NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (56%); SIC7372
PREPACKAGED SOFTWARE (56%); NAICS519130 INTERNET PUBLISHING & BROADCASTING & WEB
SEARCH PORTALS (84%)
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Dell to Buy E-Mail Service to Better Compete With Rivals The New York Times February 13, 2008 Wednesday
PERSON: MICHAEL DELL (94%)
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
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Late Edition - Final
$300 Million To Burn, With a Catch
BYLINE: By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN.
The latest news on mergers and acquisitions can be found at nytimes.com/dealbook.
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; DEALBOOK; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1205 words
Here's an odd predicament: You have to spend $300 million in the next 14 days or it all goes poof.
That's what's facing Michael S. Gross, a co-founder of the big private equity firm Apollo Management and a director of Saks. And a similar conundrum could be in store for a string of other big-name gamblers on Wall Street:
Ronald O. Perelman, Bruce Wasserstein and Nelson Peltz, among them.
Mr. Gross, a 46-year-old entrepreneur with a penchant for shoot-for-the-moon risk, is one of dozens of deal
makers who have recently piled into an obscure corner of Wall Street -- one of the few places amid the market decline
where money is still gushing in. If you haven't heard about this little netherworld, you will: it is called -- and please
don't let your eyes glaze over this alphabet soup of an acronym -- SPACs, short for Special Purpose Acquisition Companies. In the 1990's, a variation on the same idea was called a ''blank check company.''
Think of it is as a publicly traded buyout fund -- or perhaps, more accurately, poor man's private equity. Average
Joes finally get access to Masters of the Universe, at least that's the sales pitch. Mr. Perelman, Mr. Wasserstein and Mr.
Peltz have all started their own SPACs or are in the process of doing so.
Here's how it works: Average Joe buys shares in an initial public offering for an investment company with no assets to speak of other than the pot of money from the I.P.O. The company's sole mandate is to make one big acquisition.
Average Joe has no idea what it will buy. And frankly, neither do the folks running the investment company. It's a blind
bet that the Masters of the Universe will live up to their name.
Of course, there's a catch (there is always a catch), and here's where Mr. Gross enters the picture: These investment companies have only 18 months to 24 months to find something to buy with all the money they raised and get
shareholders to sign off on the acquisition. If the investment company can't find an acquisition, it must dissolve itself
and give back the money to shareholders, less the costs it incurred on its failed hunting expedition for a takeover target.
(Not a bad insurance policy.)
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$300 Million To Burn, With a Catch The New York Times February 12, 2008 Tuesday
Mr. Gross started a SPAC called Marathon Acquisitions and raised $300 million in the summer of 2006. Take a
look at the calendar: his 18 months are almost up. Starting today, he's got exactly 14 days left; that's only 10 business
days (but who's counting).
Maybe he was diddling for too long, but whatever the case, he hasn't found anything to buy -- at least he hasn't
said so publicly. (He's been hinting to friends that he might pull a rabbit out of his hat at the 11th hour.) Mr. Gross, who
declined to comment, was at one point so desperate to buy something -- anything -- he told bankers on Wall Street and
his friends that he was prepared to offer a $15 million reward to find a successful acquisition target. For him, not only
will his chance of a big deal fall apart, he'll be out about $5.5 million of his own cash he put into the deal (unlike regular
shareholders, principals don't get their money back).
And therein may lie the ultimate problem with this new tool of capitalism: the incentives to do a deal are pretty
perverse. As a result, companies that have no business being public may soon be getting ticker symbols.
The way people like Mr. Gross get paid is by making sure they can get a deal across the finish line -- not necessarily how great an investment it turns out to be five years later. If Mr. Gross can persuade shareholders to give the deal
the thumbs up, he gets -- are you sitting down? -- 20 percent of the entire company. That's a lot more than the 20 percent
of the profits that private equity players take for at least ostensibly improving a company. And all he has to do is hold
onto his shares for six months to a year after the deal is complete before he's free to dump his shares.
Actually, it used to be a lot worse. In the 1990's, blank check companies were involved in a series of frauds where
shareholders were taken to the cleaners while entrepreneurs ran off with their money. The Securities and Exchange
Commission got involved. Other blank check companies worked initially, but then went bankrupt. Jon Ledecky, who is
behind one of the most successful recent SPACs -- the acquisition of American Apparel -- and has two more coming,
presided over several deal-oriented companies he put together in the mid-1990s; all ended up in bankruptcy after he
had left the companies and mostly cashed out. Now, he has reinvented himself as the SPAC King.
Today at least, shareholders, especially those that get in at the beginning, have a fighting chance. Hedge funds
have been plowing into SPACs because they see it as a free option at a potentially great deal. If the investment company
buys something that shareholders think is a dud, they can vote against it and get their money -- which is put in an escrow account -- back with interest. Heads you win, tails -- well, at least you don't lose. Most of the risk is borne by the
principals in the deal like Mr. Perelman or Mr. Peltz. They have to put their money, name and time into the investment
company and can't get it out if they can't complete a deal.
Last year, there were 66 initial public offerings for SPACs, raising a total of $12 billion, according to Dealogic.
The biggest one ever was just completed, a company called Liberty Acquisition Holdings, which raised $1.03 billion. Its
Master of the Universe is Nicolas Berggruen, a billionaire investor. He just finished another successful SPAC, Freedom
Acquisition Holdings, which bought GLG Partners, a hedge fund manager. Its stock is up. Others haven't been as lucky.
If you got in early to Services Acquisition Corporation, which bought Jamba Juice, you did well. If you stuck around,
you're not a fan of SPACs. It's stock price is down 60.5 percent since the I.P.O., to $2.76 a share; its shares traded as
high as $12.25.
While early shareholders may be protected, it is the long-term investor, and a company that maybe shouldn't be
public, that may end up being the sucker. Most hedge funds jump into SPACs in the very beginning and sell immediately once the deal is completed, pocketing the difference. Whom do they sell their shares to? Average Joe. Once again, the
big money makes out no matter what.
The timing of all these SPACs may be telling: with the market in turmoil, promoters say they should have a good
chance of picking up distressed assets that would have gone to private equity firms -- and maybe buy some businesses
from private equity themselves. Some call them the next version of private equity. It's even possible some SPACs could
end up buying entire private equity firms, allowing firms that wanted to follow in Blackstone Group's footsteps to become public through the back door even though the I.P.O. window closed on them. They might even buy other public
companies.
Of course, virtually every bank is trying to get in on the action: Citigroup, Credit Suisse, UBS, Deutsche Bank,
Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch to name a few.
But take note, one bank, so far, has refused to play the SPAC game: Goldman Sachs. Hmmm. Maybe that should
tell you something.
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$300 Million To Burn, With a Catch The New York Times February 12, 2008 Tuesday
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: PRIVATE EQUITY (90%); SHAREHOLDERS (89%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (77%); BUYINS &
BUYOUTS (77%); MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS (77%); STOCK OFFERINGS (76%); TAKEOVERS (74%); INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS (69%)
COMPANY: APOLLO ADVISORS LP (84%)
PERSON: BRUCE WASSERSTEIN (72%); RONALD PERELMAN (72%)
LOAD-DATE: February 12, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
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The New York Times on the Web
Start-Up Brings Free Calls to Mobile Phones
BYLINE: By VICTORIA SHANNON
SECTION: Section ; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg.
LENGTH: 489 words
DATELINE: PARIS
''In a few years' time, we'll look back and say how strange it was that we didn't always use Facebook on our mobile
phones,'' predicts Avi Shechter, an Israeli technology entrepreneur.
Mr. Shechter, who was a general manager of the pioneering ICQ chat service that AOL bought in 1998, now runs
Fring, which is essentially a mobile-phone version of Skype. He believes that just about everything that people like to
do on the Internet at their desks today -- like network on Facebook -- they will soon want to do on their cellphone.
''We have turned the corner -- people now expect to take their Internet experience mobile,'' he said.
Like Skype on personal computers, Fring uses peer-to-peer Internet technology to send calls from mobile phones
over the Internet at no charge. Like Skype, both sender and receiver have to have the Fring application on their phones
for the calls to be free. And as with Skype, people can also use Fring to have instant-message text chats on their cellphones.
Fring and its various start-up rivals -- Truphone, Yeigo, Rebtel, Jajah and Skype's own mobile version -- are services that grate on mobile phone operators, since they exploit the data subscriptions that the carriers offer. With Fring,
callers are not paying for using air time or sending SMS text messages, Mr. Shechter said.
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Start-Up Brings Free Calls to Mobile Phones The New York Times February 12, 2008 Tuesday
''In the short term, not all of them like it that much,'' he said, ''but at the end of the day, they need to serve their
customers.''
Last week, Fring upgraded its service by adding support for users of Yahoo and AIM to the other online communities it supports, like Skype, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ and Twitter. Fring users can also now transfer files -including MP3s, digital photos and video clips -- to one another.
While Fring is a free download and free to use, callers still pay their normal monthly data charges. The service requires a smartphone using the Symbian 8 or 9, Windows Mobile 5 or 6, or UIQ operating systems, which means about
450 cellphone models. That would apply to about 250 million of the three billion or so active mobile subscribers today.
In its newest version, Fring is available in six languages besides English. Mr. Shechter said people in 160 countries are ''Fringsters,'' but noted that not a single country contributes more than 8 percent of the traffic.
After a second round of venture capital funding last year, Mr. Shechter is concentrating on creating a market and
not yet on generating revenue. Shechter said Fring was attracting 100,000 registered users a month, though he would not
specify the number of active users. ''I think it reflects users' need to be connected not just when they are in front of their
PCs,'' he said. ''At the end of the day, the mobile device is a voice-centric device, but with the addition of chat and file
transfer, convergence is finally here.
''We see ourselves as an Internet company that is focused on the mobile area,'' he said.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: INTERNET SOCIAL NETWORKING (90%); INTERNET & WWW (90%); TELECOMMUNICATIONS
EQUIPMENT (90%); INSTANT MESSAGING (89%); WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS (77%);
ENTREPRENEURSHIP (77%); MOBILE & CELLULAR COMMUNICATIONS (77%); VENTURE CAPITAL
(77%); PRODUCT ENHANCEMENTS (76%); COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEMS (74%); COMPUTER NETWORKS (70%); TEXT MESSAGING (77%); MOBILE & CELLULAR TELEPHONES (92%); PERSONAL COMPUTERS (69%)
COMPANY: FACEBOOK INC (58%); GOOGLE INC (53%); FREE SAS (91%)
TICKER: GOOG (NASDAQ) (53%); GGEA (LSE) (53%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS518112 WEB SEARCH PORTALS (53%); SIC8999 SERVICES, NEC (53%); SIC7375 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES (53%); NAICS519130 INTERNET PUBLISHING & BROADCASTING &
WEB SEARCH PORTALS (53%)
LOAD-DATE: February 12, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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Late Edition - Final
Page 184
ON THE WEB The New York Times February 12, 2008 Tuesday
ON THE WEB
BYLINE: By REUTERS
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; ARTICLES ON THESE DEVELOPMENTS ARE AT
NYTIMES.COM/BUSINESS.; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 318 words
TRIAN PARTNERS, the hedge fund run by the investor Nelson Peltz, said on Monday that it was trying to gain
control of the board at the hamburger chain Wendy's International, which it is trying to buy. (REUTERS) HASBRO,
THE TOY COMPANY, posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, in part because of strong demand for its Transformers, Nerf and Furreal Friends product lines. (REUTERS)
THE LOEWS CORPORATION, the conglomerate run by the Tisch family, said that fourth-quarter profit fell 31
percent, hurt by subprime investment losses and weaker-than-expected results in its insurance, tobacco and drilling
businesses. (REUTERS)
ECONOMY
EXPORTING EDUCATION The United States is exporting one of its great strengths -- its deep infrastructure for
higher education and basic research. In doing so, does it risk losing its competitive edge? DANIEL ALTMAN
blogs.iht.com
MEDIA
DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH With the writers' strike appearing close to a conclusion, viewers want to know
when they will see new episodes of their favorite shows. The answer is, a while. BRIAN STELTER nytimes.com/tvdecoder
ABC'S FALL LINEUP Granting renewals to four new series and five returning hits, ABC has ordered new episodes of nine prime-time television shows for fall 2008. BRIAN STELTER
nytimes.com/tvdecoder
TECHNOLOGY
THE RENTAL STORE NEXT DOOR Another idea from the first dot-com boom -- renting items from your
neighbors -- is making a comeback. BRAD STONE
nytimes.com/bits
NET CALLING FALLS SHORT Internet telephony remains an underdeveloped niche technology, industry experts say, citing the market clout of large phone companies, a labyrinth of new technical standards and consumer indifference. KEVIN J. O'BRIEN nytimes.com/technology
SMALL BUSINESS
THE SECOND WORK LIFE It's not a retirement job. It's an ''encore career,'' says Marc Freedman, a social entrepreneur. MARCI ALBOHER
nytimes.com/smallbusiness
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: FAST FOOD (90%); NETWORK TELEVISION (90%); RESTAURANTS (78%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (77%); TOYS & GAMES MFG (77%); INTERIM FINANCIAL RESULTS (77%); TOYS & GAMES (77%);
SMALL BUSINESS (77%); BLOGS & MESSAGE BOARDS (77%); TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR PERFORMANCE (76%); INTERNET & WWW (74%); HEDGE FUNDS (73%); COMPANY PROFITS (72%); RESEARCH (70%); SUBPRIME LENDING (70%); INDUSTRY ANALYSTS (70%); TELEVISION PROGRAMMING
Page 185
ON THE WEB The New York Times February 12, 2008 Tuesday
(67%); COMPUTER TELEPHONY (64%); INTERNET TELEPHONY (64%); COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES
(54%); PRIMETIME TELEVISION (67%)
COMPANY: LOEWS CORP (72%); WENDY'S INTERNATIONAL INC (58%); HASBRO INC (72%)
TICKER: LTR (NYSE) (72%); WEN (NYSE) (58%); HAS (NYSE) (72%); L (NYSE) (72%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS524126 DIRECT PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE CARRIERS (72%); NAICS334518
WATCH, CLOCK & PART MANUFACTURING (72%); NAICS312221 CIGARETTE MANUFACTURING (72%);
NAICS213111 DRILLING OIL & GAS WELLS (72%); SIC6331 FIRE, MARINE, & CASUALTY INSURANCE
(72%); SIC6311 LIFE INSURANCE (72%); NAICS722211 LIMITED-SERVICE RESTAURANTS (58%); SIC5812
EATING PLACES (58%); NAICS339932 GAME, TOY & CHILDREN'S VEHICLE MANUFACTURING (72%);
NAICS339931 DOLL & STUFFED TOY MANUFACTURING (72%); SIC3944 GAMES, TOYS, & CHILDREN'S
VEHICLES, EXCEPT DOLLS & BICYCLES (72%); SIC3942 DOLLS & STUFFED TOYS (72%)
GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (79%)
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
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The New York Times on the Web
Discovering Second Acts in Sustained Working Lives
BYLINE: By MARCI ALBOHER
SECTION: Section ; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg.
LENGTH: 1220 words
Marc Freedman has become the voice of aging baby boomers who are eschewing retirement for what he calls ''encore careers,'' long periods of meaningful and sustaining work later in life. Mr. Freedman, who was one of the founders
of Experience Corps, now runs Civic Ventures, an incubator of programs and ideas to redefine the second half of life.
One of those programs, the Purpose Prize, gives monetary awards to entrepreneurial innovators over the age of 60
who have contributed to the social good.
After reading his book, ''Encore'' (PublicAffairs, 2007), I decided to chat with Mr. Freedman about the growing
phenomenon of encore careers, the obstacles facing older workers, and why it is so hard to come up with language to
describe this new period of work and life.
Following are excerpts from our conversation:
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Discovering Second Acts in Sustained Working Lives The New York Times February 11, 2008 Monday
Q.You have coined the term ''encore career'' to describe work in the second half of life that combines continued
income, new meaning and a significant contribution to the greater good. When did you notice this was happening?
A. During the time of the first Clinton administration there was a great deal of enthusiasm around programs like
AmeriCorps and Teach for America. A lot of the focus was on young people, and I felt there was an undiscovered continent of idealism and experience in the older population. So, along with the late John Gardner and others, I helped to
create Experience Corps, a national service program for people over 55. It was designed to be like the Peace Corps -something you do for a year or two and then move on. What we discovered is that no one ever leaves. Instead of being
something you do for a year or two, it became as significant to people as the work they did before.
Q.How big do you think this movement is?
A. It's hard to say. The research we've done shows that there are millions of people launching second careers in
areas like education, health care, the nonprofit sector and government. And they don't want to wait until they are 62 or
65 to get started. They want to do it early enough so that they have enough time to go through the inevitable ups and
downs, explore different options and do something significant for a significant period of time.
Q.You've talked to hundreds of people forging these encore careers. How hard is it to create something that provides the kind of meaning and purpose you talk about?
A. Society is set up to make retirement happen seamlessly. But if you want to launch a significant second career in
an area of social importance, you are often on your own, even though we desperately need people to move into this direction. And the media often does a disservice by making it look easy. Take those personal finance stories with photos
of a couple next to their B&B or vineyard, their dream instantly realized. It gives people who have the usual ups and
downs, confusions, setbacks, a sense that they are failing because in reality it takes years.
Q.You talk in your book about the difficulty in naming this stage of life, which happens roughly when people hit
the age of 60. You mention some phrases that didn't stick: ''second act,'' ''zoomers,'' ''seasoned citizens,'' and have come
up with some of your own, like ''the experience movement'' and ''practical idealists. Why is the language around this
issue so thorny?
A. There is this proliferation of oxymorons to describe this stage of life. The young old. Sixty is the new 50.
Whenever opposing words like these get jammed together, it's a sure sign that something new is being born. But, in fact,
it is an entirely new stage of life and of work. And it is much more difficult to come up with something new than to
tinker with something that already exists. Even for Mark Penn, who wrote Microtrends and coined the phrase ''soccer
moms,'' the best he could do was ''working retired.''
Q.Is there really no one left who aspires to the old-fashioned one you depict in the early chapters your book -- a
life of 24/7 leisure in a Sun Belt golf or tennis community?
A. The fact is that there are very few people who can afford to be retired for 30 years. What happens is that people
are having false retirements. They are retiring from what they were doing in their midlife careers because they are tired,
need a break, or have deferred many priorities. Then, after a year or five, they are rested and restless and looking ahead
to a period that might be 20 years in duration. So what seemed like retirement was a sabbatical or hiatus as opposed to a
final destination. The original purpose of retirement still exists. It is just getting pushed back further and further to a
point where people are at the same point physically as the kinds of people that went off to Sun City in the 1960s.
Q.Are retirement communities changing to embrace this?
A. You are starting to see retirement communities open up in areas that aren't particularly warm and sunny because even those people want to remain close to work and family. Developers are also designing plans with home offices so people can continue working.
Q.You have expressed concern that many older people end up in what you call ''bridge jobs,'' at places like Starbucks, Hope Depot and Wal-Mart. What's so bad about a bridge job?
A. It's important that the retail sector is pursuing older people, and the reason they are doing that is that they recognize them as a source of talent and experience. What troubles me is that the bridge job is becoming the new default
position for people moving into their 60s and 70s. I know from our research that there are millions of people looking for
something different who don't want to phase out but instead want to focus in on work that is significant beyond them-
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Discovering Second Acts in Sustained Working Lives The New York Times February 11, 2008 Monday
selves and they are having a much more difficult time following that path. I worry that the restful golden years are going
to be supplanted by the Wal-Mart decades.
Q.You acknowledge that employers aren't helping. What would you like to see employers doing?
A. Employers need to recognize, particularly those facing talent shortages, that there is more than one place to
look when filling these gaps. While many young people have an enormous amount to offer, there is another vast and
growing pool of talent and commitment. And employers need to correct some misconceptions. They often assume that
people in their 50s and 60s have one foot out the door. But an accumulation of evidence supports the fact that turnover
is less with this population than with young people. So it is worth investing in these individuals.
Q.You make a lot of policy suggestions including revamping higher education, creating programs to train older
workers, allowing people to buy into Medicare, giving workers earlier access to tax-advantaged savings and pensions,
and my favorite -- the national sabbatical. Do you think we can hope to see some of these policy changes in a next administration?
A. The answer is dispiriting. It's hard enough to get the candidates to talk about the hot-button issues of Social Security and Medicare. But no one is talking about these issues even though many of them are themselves nearing this
juncture. There is no creative policy debate around these issues. No recent candidate has embraced them. And with
10,000 boomers turning 60 every day, it's about time.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: OLDER WORKERS (78%); BABY BOOMERS (78%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (77%); NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATIONS (70%)
GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (79%)
LOAD-DATE: February 11, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Question
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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February 11, 2008 Monday
Late Edition - Final
Yahoo Bidder Wants a More Aggressive Microsoft
BYLINE: By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN.
Steve Lohr contributed reporting.
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 1
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Yahoo Bidder Wants a More Aggressive Microsoft The New York Times February 11, 2008 Monday
LENGTH: 927 words
When Yahoo sends its letter rejecting Microsoft's $44.6 billion on Monday, it will end up in the inbox of a largely
unknown executive on Microsoft's sprawling campus, Christopher P. Liddell.
Mr. Liddell, a former banker from New Zealand, is the behind-the-scenes architect of Microsoft's hostile takeover, the company's first unsolicited bid and perhaps the most audacious attempt by a technology company to wrestle
control of a competitor.
With Yahoo's board rejecting Microsoft's advances, it will fall to Mr. Liddell, an outsider to the software industry
who joined Microsoft as its chief financial officer just two years ago, to plot the company's next steps in this bitter battle
-- and in the process, reshape Microsoft's not-invented-here culture toward making aggressive acquisitions.
''You have to be disciplined and ruthless,'' Mr. Liddell said by telephone last week, before Yahoo's board decided
to rebuff the offer. ''We should see acquisitions as a way of growth. We should not be embarrassed at all.''
Microsoft has made acquisitions over the years, but mainly smaller ones to jumpstart a fledgling business or pick
up a needed technology. Its media player, voice recognition, health search and business software, among others, are
technologies Microsoft bought along with the companies that created them.
However, when it has come to making big deals, it has balked until recently. In late 2003, Microsoft talked to the
big German business software maker SAP about buying it. The deal, had it been pursued, would have cost Microsoft
more than $50 billion.
The talks, made public in a court case in 2004, were abandoned, Microsoft said, because of the ''complexity of the
potential transaction,'' especially the management headaches of trying to put the two big software companies together.
Mr. Liddell, who calls himself Microsoft's ''gatekeeper of funding,'' spent the weekend devising ways to raise the
stakes in the fight for Yahoo now that the company's original proposal has been rejected, holding a series of marathon
conference calls with his cadre of Wall Street advisers.
More an accountant than a technologist, Mr. Liddell, who joined Microsoft after serving as chief financial officer
at International Paper, the giant forest products company, clearly has no compunction about ruffling any digital feathers.
Among his alternatives is a series of bare-knuckle Wall Street tactics: First, Microsoft is planning to crisscross the nation to meet with Yahoo's largest shareholders in an election-style campaign, hoping they can put pressure on Yahoo's
board, people briefed on the company's plans said.
Microsoft may have an easier time than it could have had two weeks ago: since then, millions of Yahoo's shares
have traded hands to short-term-oriented hedge funds that typically favor a quick sale, as opposed to value investors
who hold shares for the long term.
Microsoft could also decide to make an offer directly to shareholders, called a tender offer, which would put more
pressure on Yahoo's board to negotiate. At the same time, Microsoft could also set a deadline for its bid, known as an
''exploding offer.''
And if Microsoft decides to make this a nasty battle, it could start a proxy contest to oust Yahoo's board at its next
election; it would have until March 13 to nominate a new slate of directors.
Microsoft's advisers in the takeover attempt are Morgan Stanley and the Blackstone Group. Its lawyers are Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft.
They are facing Yahoo's team of bankers at Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Moelis & Company, and its
lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Microsoft also hired outside public relations advisers, Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher and Waggener
Edstrom Worldwide. Yahoo has Abernathy-McGregor and Robinson, Lehrer, Montgomery.
Microsoft may simply raise its offer to clinch a deal. Analysts have suggested the company could afford to pay as
much as $35 a share for Yahoo, up from its current offer of $31.
But Mr. Liddell, speaking generally about negotiations, seemed to suggest he was willing to play hardball. ''You
have to be willing to walk away,'' said Mr. Liddell, who plays rugby regularly and has completed several triathlons.
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Yahoo Bidder Wants a More Aggressive Microsoft The New York Times February 11, 2008 Monday
For Mr. Liddell, who sends e-mail messages to colleagues at all hours and is a PowerPoint whiz, the prospect of
joining Microsoft as an outsider and trying to transform it into a financially oriented acquisition machine was daunting.
''I knew there had been a history of people coming in here and it not working,'' he said.
Mr. Liddell was one of several high-profile outside hires at Microsoft in recent years including Ray Ozzie, the
creator of Lotus Notes, as the company's chief software architect; and B. Kevin Turner, a former Wal-Mart executive,
as chief operating officer.
Mr. Liddell, who has a master's degree in philosophy from Oxford, found that with Bill Gates and the president,
Steven A. Ballmer, ''If you do a good job, you fit in. They don't suffer people very well who don't come prepared.''
He has a background as an investment banker at Credit Suisse First Boston in Auckland. Since he joined the company, Microsoft has made 50 acquisitions.
He has pushed the company to use its cash -- it has spent $54 billion on stock buybacks and dividends since his
arrival. And it has even taken on, dare it be said aloud at Microsoft, debt for the first time in the company's history. If
the company's bid for Yahoo is successful, Microsoft will be doing both.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: TAKEOVERS (90%); SOFTWARE MAKERS (89%); TALKS & MEETINGS (89%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (76%); COMPANY STRATEGY (76%); VOICE RECOGNITION (71%); SHAREHOLDERS (71%);
BUSINESS SOFTWARE (65%); HEDGE FUNDS (50%); CONSUMER ELECTRONICS (75%); COMPUTER
SOFTWARE (89%)
COMPANY: SAP AG (84%); MICROSOFT CORP (90%); INTERNATIONAL PAPER LAURENT (51%); YAHOO
INC (95%)
TICKER: SAP (NYSE) (84%); SAP (LSE) (91%); SAP (FRA) (84%); MSFT (NASDAQ) (90%); YHOO (NASDAQ)
(95%); YAH (LSE) (92%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (91%); SIC7372 PREPACKAGED SOFTWARE (91%);
NAICS541512 COMPUTER SYSTEMS DESIGN SERVICES (91%); NAICS541511 CUSTOM COMPUTER PROGRAMMING SERVICES (91%); SIC7379 COMPUTER RELATED SERVICES, NEC (91%); SIC7371 COMPUTER
PROGRAMMING SERVICES (91%); NAICS518112 WEB SEARCH PORTALS (95%); NAICS518111 INTERNET
SERVICE PROVIDERS (95%); SIC7375 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES (95%); SIC7373 COMPUTER
INTEGRATED SYSTEMS DESIGN (95%); NAICS519130 INTERNET PUBLISHING & BROADCASTING & WEB
SEARCH PORTALS (95%); NAICS517110 WIRED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS (95%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW ZEALAND (90%)
LOAD-DATE: February 11, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1083 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
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For Your Pet, A Policy All Its Own The New York Times February 10, 2008 Sunday
February 10, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
For Your Pet, A Policy All Its Own
BYLINE: By JULIE BICK.
Fresh Starts is a monthly column about emerging jobs and job trends.
SECTION: Section BU; Column 0; Money and Business/Financial Desk; FRESH STARTS; Pg. 21
LENGTH: 857 words
SERIOUS illness can take a financial toll on families without health insurance -- even when the patient is the family pet.
''My bulldog has been treated for skin infections, paw problems and now she's on antibiotics for a cold,'' said Kelly
Fennelly, a personal trainer in Kirkland, Wash., who spends about $350 a year on veterinary care. Now she is planning
to buy pet health insurance, in case her dog, Maggie, becomes really sick or is hurt in an accident.
Enter the pet insurance sales agent, who tries to find a health policy that fits an animal's -- and its owner's -needs.
The specialty is small: there are less than 600,000 insured pets. That is less than 1 percent of the more than 160
million cats and dogs in the United States, according to Chris Ashton, who recently studied the market on his way to
starting Petplan USA, a pet insurance company based in Philadelphia.
Fewer than 20 companies now sell pet insurance in the United States, he said, and there are fewer than 500 pet insurance agents. Mr. Ashton's venture has only 11 employees, but he plans to expand to 100 in the next three years.
The field has been small because products have been too restrictive, too expensive or have not met consumers'
needs, according to John Volk, who studies pet-related spending for Brakke Consulting of Dallas. He said that many
people ''have never heard of pet health insurance.''
But that is likely to change. ''The industry is poised for rapid growth,'' Mr. Volk said. Veterinary technology is becoming more advanced, more available and more expensive, he said, leading to a greater need for insurance, especially
in emergencies. At the same time, many pets are being treated more like members of the family.
A typical pet insurance policy costs $300 a year, but can vary based on the age of the pet, species, level of coverage and other factors.
Both large companies and smaller start-ups are beginning to experiment with different offerings to customers, according to Mr. Volk. For example, Trupanion, based in Seattle, sells lifetime pet health insurance only for puppies and
kittens, so pre-existing conditions are not a factor. The company plans to increase the number of employees who can
sell insurance policies to 110 from 22 over the next three years. Nestle Purina began offering pet health insurance in
Canada last summer, and plans to enter the United States market this spring.
Veterinary Pet Insurance, based in Brea, Calif., is the largest company in the business, with 400 employees and
$150 million in sales of insurance premiums each year.
Like other types of insurance, pet health insurance is state-regulated, and only licensed agents can sell policies.
Licensing requirements vary among states, and employers typically pay for training. National companies serving customers via the Web have agents who are licensed in all 50 states.
Insurers look for various qualities in a potential sales agent. Lorin Young, vice president for sales and marketing
at Veterinary Pet Insurance, says he seeks employees who can communicate clearly and build rapport over the phone.
At Trupanion, the same agents who write the policies also process the claims, so they are expected to have two to
five years of experience in a veterinary clinic, along with some animal health training. ''They need to talk to policyhold-
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For Your Pet, A Policy All Its Own The New York Times February 10, 2008 Sunday
ers about their pet's medical conditions and understand doctors' reports,'' said Darryl Rawlings, Trupanion's founder and
chief executive.
Kevin Patcheak, a salesman for Veterinary Pet Insurance, says he likes providing help when people call seeking a
way to avoid the big medical costs that can occur over the lifetime of their pets.
On the other hand, he said, ''the hardest part of the job is when someone calls and the pet already has an illness or
a broken leg, and they want help paying the bill.'' As with many insurance policies, pre-existing conditions are not covered by pet health insurance.
Pet insurance sales agents make $30,000 to $100,000 a year, according to company representatives. Pay is a mix
of base salary and commission, depending on the employer. ''I was surprised, but you can actually support a family on
the salary,'' said Mr. Patcheak, who has a master's degree in education.
Potential customers have usually done some research on the Web, or received a recommendation or brochure from
their veterinarian, and are calling for more information. Pet insurance agents typically work in these call centers.
THERE are other options for those who are interested in the business. Field representatives visit trade shows, conferences, veterinary offices and pet stores to raise awareness of product offerings.
Adam Cooney, 22, joined Petplan USA to become a pet insurance agent last year when he graduated from the
Wharton School's undergraduate business program at the University of Pennsylvania. He said he chose the job in order
to join an entrepreneurial company in a growing industry.
''We just came back from a convention and there was so much energy and growth,'' he said. ''You don't always
have to go to Wall Street to find an exciting job.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: PETS (91%); HEALTH INSURANCE (90%); FAMILY (90%); SPECIALTY LINES INSURANCE
(90%); INSURANCE (90%); INSURANCE POLICIES (89%); CATS (89%); INSURANCE AGENCIES & BROKERAGES (89%); DOGS (89%); INSURANCE COVERAGE (78%); PET FOODS (78%); VETERINARY DRUGS
(77%); SALES FORCE (75%); INSURANCE PREMIUMS (73%); EXERCISE & FITNESS (73%); ANTIBIOTICS
(72%); FOOD INDUSTRY (70%); LICENSES & PERMITS (60%); SKIN DISORDERS (58%)
COMPANY: VETERINARY PET INSURANCE CO (51%); NESTLE SA (51%)
TICKER: NSTR (LSE) (51%); NESN (SWX) (51%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS312112 BOTTLED WATER MANUFACTURING (51%); NAICS311920 COFFEE AND TEA
MANUFACTURING (51%); NAICS311514 DRY, CONDENSED, AND EVAPORATED DAIRY PRODUCT MANUFACTURING (51%); SIC2095 ROASTED COFFEE (51%); SIC2086 BOTTLED & CANNED SOFT DRINKS &
CARBONATED WATER (51%); SIC2023 DRY CONDENSED & EVAPORATED DAIRY PRODUCTS (51%); NAICS311920 COFFEE & TEA MANUFACTURING (51%); NAICS311514 DRY, CONDENSED & EVAPORATED
DAIRY PRODUCT MANUFACTURING (51%); NAICS311320 CHOCOLATE & CONFECTIONERY MANUFACTURING FROM CACAO BEANS (51%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SEATTLE, WA, USA (79%) WASHINGTON, USA (93%); PENNSYLVANIA, USA (92%); CALIFORNIA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (94%); CANADA (79%)
LOAD-DATE: February 10, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Adam Cooney sells pet health insurance in Philadelphia. (PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE MERGEN
FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
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Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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Late Edition - Final
Negative Campaign
BYLINE: By ROB WALKER
SECTION: Section 6; Column 0; Magazine; CONSUMED; Pg. 26
LENGTH: 746 words
'Bush's Last Day' memorabilia
Remember George W. Bush? Given all the excitement generated by heated contests for both the Democratic and
Republican presidential nominations, it's easy to forget that the current resident of the White House will not be moving
out for nearly a year. Then again, maybe you know precisely when that particular change occurs, since the date -- Jan.
20, 2009 -- has found its way onto a variety of buttons, bumper stickers, T-shirts and even golf balls and hot sauce. In
fact, the rendering of that date as 1.20.09 was trademarked by a small company that sold more than $1 million worth of
''Bush's Last Day'' merchandise in 2007.
Not surprisingly, perhaps, the company is based in Vermont. Its founder, Elliott Nachwalter, is an artisan who
sells handmade pipes (fashioned from ''the rarest of plateaux briar burls from the hillsides of Greece and Italy''). Or at
least that's what he was doing in 2005, when he designed and handed out buttons adorned with the Bush era's expiration
date. The feedback was so enthusiastic, he says, that he decided to order a larger batch of buttons -- from a unionized
factory in New Jersey, he notes -- and sell them. This was followed by bumper stickers and hats and the like. In addition
to selling the items at bushslastday.com, he took a selection to the New York Gift Show -- a trade show -- and started
the process of building a network of more than 100 retailers. His BLD Designs added more and more products, and
sales momentum is still gathering. ''We haven't hit the crest yet,'' Nachwalter says. He now has six employees (some
part time). The pipe-crafting is on hold.
Given that the president's approval ratings have been no higher than the 30s for about a year now, Nachwalter's
product line has broad potential appeal. But there's no question that he's coming from a very specific political point of
view, suggested by the prominent use of peace symbols in his designs, as well as a list of ''groups we support'' on the
BLD Designs site that includes Greenpeace and MoveOn.org. Celebrities spotted in the company's T-shirts include Rosie O'Donnell and William Baldwin. On the other hand, in addition to the picture of a VW with a 1.20.09 sticker on the
Web site, there's a photo of a military vehicle sporting one, apparently sent in by a soldier in Iraq.
Nachwalter has received some hate mail, but laughs it off on account of poor spelling. Some friends and family
members who weren't too excited about his project when he was simply an artisan-activist handing out anti-Bush pins
have come around. ''Once it turned into a successful business, then it was O.K.,'' he says. He has proved to be fairly innovative in dreaming up new ways to meet demand for anti-Bush products. Bush Biskits -- the ''natural dog treats'' made
in the U.S.A. that ''every liberal dog in the country has been drooling for,'' a promotion says -- have taken on a life of
their own, with a separate Web site and pet-store distribution. (A box of 24 Bush-shaped biscuits costs $46.80.) Another
option: desk clocks that show both the current time and a preset countdown feature so you can track how many days,
hours and minutes are left in the Bush presidency. These are also available as key chains.
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Negative Campaign The New York Times February 10, 2008 Sunday
The obvious problem with a business tied to a specific event is that on Jan. 21, 2009, Nachwalter's entire stock becomes . . . dated. He does not sound concerned. Maybe it's an advantage for the peddler of novelty goods to know in
advance when the novelty will evaporate. But now that he has learned the ropes of trade shows and retail, it doesn't
sound as if he'll be making pipes again anytime soon: He says he has another entrepreneurial idea in the works (''not
political'' is pretty much all he'll say about it).
And in the meantime, he's counting on the Bush administration concluding in a wave of celebratory parties, which
should let his business go out with a bang.
Lately, BLD has started to sell merchandise that isn't simply anti-Bush, but pro-Hillary Clinton and Barack
Obama. So far, sales of these more upbeat items lag well behind the cranky 1.20.09 merch. But that makes sense, given
that competitive primaries and elections in general tend to be divisive affairs. Maybe it's only a politician leaving office
at a deeply pessimistic moment who can truly bring together all kinds of Americans in a coalition of shared disillusion,
expressed through shopping -- and become, however belatedly, a uniter.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: US REPUBLICAN PARTY (90%); RETAILERS (74%); LABOR UNIONS (65%); WEB SITES (60%)
PERSON: GEORGE W BUSH (92%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW JERSEY, USA (79%); VERMONT, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (79%); IRAQ (77%)
LOAD-DATE: February 10, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: DRAWING (DRAWING BY PETER ARKLE)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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Late Edition - Final
Brothers In Arms
BYLINE: By ADAM B. ELLICK; Jigar Mehta contributed reporting.
SECTION: Section CY; Column 0; The City Weekly Desk; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 2396 words
Mahammed Farooqi, a 49-year-old Pakistani news addict, was snoring through the story of his generation.
It was 8 a.m. on Dec. 27, and Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's opposition leader, had just been assassinated as her motorcade inched through a dense crowd in her homeland.
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Brothers In Arms The New York Times February 10, 2008 Sunday
Under ordinary circumstances, Mr. Farooqi would have been the first to know about such a politically transforming event. Every night, while his wife is sleeping peacefully in the bedroom, he dozes on the sofa in the living room of
his house in Dix Hills on Long Island, with the television set on.
On this historic Thursday, however, neither the television nor the incessant callers from around the world managed to wake him. The previous day, Mr. Farooqi, the editor and publisher of The Pakistan Post, a free, Queens-based
newspaper that reveres Ms. Bhutto, had completed his weekly 34-hour sprint to churn out his 20-page issue.
Among the more persistent callers was Khalil ur Rehman, a journalist who is Mr. Farooqi's counterpart on the
other side of the political fence.
Mr. Khalil, a stout, bearded 55-year-old who lives in Shirley, Long Island, is the editor of The Urdu Times, the
city's other top Pakistani weekly. His publication fervently supports President Pervez Musharraf, the former general
who had been Ms. Bhutto's chief rival since 2002 and who was immediately accused by some members of her party of
orchestrating her assassination. He has denied the charge.
Predictably, the two editors reacted to the killing in totally opposite fashion.
''I told him Pakistan isn't dying,'' Mr. Khalil said. ''This thing will be good for Pakistan.''
But in the opinion of Mr. Farooqi, the killing extinguished hope for democracy in the country from which they
both emigrated decades ago. ''He's a fascist,'' Mr. Farooqi said of his counterpart. ''He was happy. He said life goes on.''
The contrast between these two men transcends politics and publishing.
Mr. Farooqi is a disheveled, chain-smoking Muslim who boasts of his journalistic exclusives. Mr. Khalil is a dapper, entrepreneurial atheist who enjoys his whiskey and boasts about the lucrative advertisements he garners for his
publication.
While their Urdu-language pages exploit the divided political loyalties within New York's 400,000-memberstrong Pakistani community, these two editors are physically divided only by the wall between the unmarked storefronts
in which they work, on Hillside Avenue in the Pakistani enclave in Jamaica, Queens.
With parliamentary elections in Pakistan scheduled for Feb. 18, these neighboring storefronts offer a window into
Pakistan's embattled politics. Yet in a nation haunted by 60 years of political turmoil, the situation is never as it appears.
Nor is the 17-year relationship between these men, who, despite their differing styles and ideologies, were business
partners and are now best friends.
Shudders and a Shrug
The morning after Ms. Bhutto's killing, in the second-floor newsroom of The Pakistan Post, Mr. Farooqi stared
blankly at satellite television coverage showing Ms. Bhutto's coffin bobbing atop a protesting crowd.
''I'm a psych patient today,'' he said, lighting a cigarette. ''I'm talking, I'm walking, I'm driving, but I have no will
to do anything.''
A year ago, on one of Ms. Bhutto's final visits to New York, Mr. Farooqi had urged her to return home from exile.
''I said to her: 'You keep saying Pakistani people should speak out against the regime. Why should they when you're in
New York with a big car, a driver and kids in Dubai? You have to face the problem.' '' Now he feels guilt-stricken.
Next door, in the basement newsroom of The Urdu Times, a very different mood prevailed. There was no television; instead, Mr. Khalil bent over a computer screen and proudly pointed out his newspaper's 14 online editions, which
are published in the United States, Canada and Britain.
''He talks too much about -- what do you call it? -- democracy,'' Mr. Khalil said of his rival editor. ''He's confused.
Bhutto became the prime minister twice, and both terms she wasn't able to resolve the problems.''
New Lives, Two Newspapers
Mr. Farooqi has two addictions: cigarettes and journalism. He fixates on both each night, waking up on the hour to
smoke -- burn marks line his fingers -- or to telephone sources in Pakistan in pursuit of his next exclusive.
''My only skill is journalism,'' he said a few days after Ms. Bhutto's death, taking a break from drafting an editorial. ''I can't do anything else, can't fix a car. My children always say, 'Turn off the phone.' But you know, it's an addic-
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Brothers In Arms The New York Times February 10, 2008 Sunday
tion. To educate people on what is going on, this is my love, this is my passion, this is my romance, this is what I believe my body desires. It's my peanut and butter.''
Born in a lower-middle-class family in Karachi, Mr. Farooqi began his journalism career in Pakistan in the early
1980s, and in 1986 covered Ms. Bhutto's initial return from exile. It would be his first of dozens of interviews with her;
two decades later, in Washington, Ms. Bhutto would preside over the official debut of the English-language edition of
his newspaper.
But in 1986, with the political situation in Pakistan worsening, the 28-year-old idealist immigrated to Queens. On
his second day in Jamaica, he took a job at a grocery store, where for three years he earned $1 an hour dusting magazines. Later he drove a taxi.
During those years, Mr. Farooqi started two monthly newspapers. The first folded after one issue. The second
lasted 10 issues. His big break came in 1991, when he met Mr. Khalil.
Mr. Khalil was raised in an upper-middle-class publishing family in Islamabad. His parents, who were traditional,
disapproved of his marrying, claiming he was too young, but he married anyway, and in 1977, at age 24, he moved to
Jamaica in search of personal and religious liberation.
He found it. ''My five children have never set foot in a mosque,'' he said proudly, as if describing a straight-A report card.
Like Mr. Farooqi, Mr. Khalil spent several years working in menial jobs as a grocery store clerk and a deliveryman, but by 1981 he was running a pair of carpet stores. In an expression of his interest in social change, he also became active in the city's then burgeoning Pakistani community.
In 1982, when an Indian immigrant began publishing an anti-Pakistani newspaper, Mr. Khalil was so perturbed
that he barged into the man's office and begged him to stop writing negatively about his homeland. The publisher dared
Mr. Khalil to knock him out of business.
An hour later, Mr. Khalil was planning his first newspaper, The Eastern Times. The paper eventually folded, but a
few years later, now back on his feet financially, Mr. Khalil was offered a chance to take over a Pakistani newspaper,
The Urdu Times.
Mr. Khalil jumped at the offer. In 1991, he moved the paper's office from Manhattan to Jamaica and promptly
hired a down-and-out as his editor. That man was Mr. Farooqi.
A Rift, Then a Bond
It seemed like a match made in newspaper heaven. But after only three months, a bitter fight ensued involving financial matters. Regarding this dispute, the two men agree on only one fact: Days after the fight, Mr. Farooqi started
The Pakistan Post, and the two didn't speak for the next three years. But by 1994, in response to rising immigration from
Pakistan, the Urdu-language newspaper market began to swell. Prompted by economic considerations, the two leading
publishers agreed to meet with each other. In a bid to monopolize the market, they said, they set a minimum advertising
rate, and they have coexisted ever since.
Their publications, meanwhile, became local heavyweights, so much so that in 1995, Ms. Bhutto's party, which
was then in power, offered each newspaper $95,000 for a year of positive coverage. At the time, both editors declined
the offer and publicized it.
Last May, the two had a full-fledged reconciliation, which they both attribute to ''old age.'' Now they talk several
times a day and are bound by a shared skepticism of many groups within the Pakistani community, which, they contend,
do not have local interests at heart. And each man is the other's favorite companion.
''If I don't find Mr. Khalil in the evening,'' Mr. Farooqi said, plopping a cigarette butt into a stale cup of Dunkin'
Donuts coffee, ''I go directly home.''
On another occasion, Mr. Khalil said: ''The moment I walk into my home, my wife says, 'You're hanging around
him?' I say, 'How do you know?' She says, 'Because you smell like cigarettes.' ''
''And believe me,'' Mr. Farooqi interjected. ''When I get drunk, my wife says, 'You're with Khalil.' ''
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Brothers In Arms The New York Times February 10, 2008 Sunday
At least once a week the two men travel around the city inspecting the 200 newspaper distribution spots, mostly at
diners like Kebab King in Jackson Heights and Punjab Restaurant in Coney Island, where their free papers are stacked
atop metal racks. On these visits, they ensure their papers are displayed more prominently than the eight smaller Pakistani weeklies that also compete for the top shelf. Yet theirs is a delicate friendship. On one recent drive, the men were
asked if they would ever merge their newspapers.
''Don't ask touchy questions!'' Mr. Farooqi replied with some heat. ''All right?''
Nasim Syed, a poet and political commentator who has written for both publications, describes the friendship by
stretching his hands back and forth as if he is playing an accordion.
''Come back next week,'' Mr. Syed said, ''and they won't be friends.''
The Fate of a Nation
Six days after the Bhutto assassination, in a ballet that involved a complicated blend of political passion and global technology, both Mr. Farooqi and Mr. Khalil were working grueling overnight shifts to close their first issues following her death.
Because neither of the editors can type quickly in Urdu, both men fax handwritten articles to Pakistan, where they
are typed and laid out. Final proofs are e-mailed back to the editors, and printing takes place at separate presses in
Queens.
By 8 that night, Mr. Farooqi's grief was all but forgotten.
''This is the defining moment for Pakistan,'' he said of the forthcoming elections. ''I have the feeling that if we
don't understand the situation, we're going to lose the country.''
Later that night, Mr. Farooqi began working his phone every two minutes, dialing Pakistan with impressive dexterity for a man who cannot type.
''I've already asked him five times,'' he said to a source in Urdu. ''I'll ask him one more time. Give him the phone.
Give it to him in the bathroom.''
News had arrived: The date for the new election would be announced at 9 in the morning, six hours after both papers were scheduled to go to press. Without a flash of hesitation, Mr. Farooqi opted to wait.
His main headline, on the other hand, was already written: ''The Benazir killing robs her party, and robs the people
of Pakistan.'' The articles suggested that Ms. Bhutto had been killed not by radical Islamists but by agents of the
Musharraf regime.
Asma Amanat, a 24-year-old intern who produces the English-language supplement that The Pakistan Post publishes, smirked as the proofs arrived. ''It's a Bhutto flier,'' she said within hearing of her boss. Flipping through the pages
of a previous edition, she added: ''Here's Bhutto. This is about Bhutto. That's Bhutto there.''
''She's my critic,'' Mr. Farooqi said of his intern. ''But I don't support Bhutto. I always support democracy, free
speech and human rights. And if you believe in that, you have to support Bhutto.''
Next door at The Urdu Times, Mr. Khalil's ads were in place. He couldn't be bothered to wait for the announcement of the new election date.
He summarized his lead story with a shrug: ''Musharraf is committed to democracy. He's sincere: Nothing will
change.''
Mr. Khalil acknowledges that his politics are driven more by practicality than by ideology. ''This used to be a passion, but now it's a business,'' he said. ''For the last 25 years, my kids, my wife, everybody suffered because of this
newspaper. So nowadays we write whatever our readers want.''
Ideally, he said, Pakistan would not be run by a military dictatorship. But he does not believe that a country in
which a plate of biryani still buys a vote is ready for democracy.
President Musharraf, he said, has developed local industry and is the appropriate strongman to confront potentially
divisive radical Islamists. ''Opposition parties are just dynasties,'' he said of the Bhutto family, which owns numerous
houses abroad. ''She corrupted the nation. At least when the army corrupts, they spend it locally.''
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Brothers In Arms The New York Times February 10, 2008 Sunday
Ripples of Resentment
In both newsrooms, the awkward friendship causes uneasiness among the small staffs.
At 9 at night, without a knock or a buzz, Mr. Khalil climbed the steps to The Pakistan Post and walked into the
cloud of smoke that is Mr. Farooqi's unventilated office.
Mohammad Farrukh, The Post's 36-year-old editor, looked up in disgust. ''No one should come to our office,'' Mr.
Farrukh said as he stood out of earshot in the hallway. ''We're not a grocery store. We're not a gas station.''
In the basement next door, where Mr. Khalil's wife, Anjum Khalil, and his 30-year-old son, Atif, serve as his
overnight staff, there is similar discontent about the relationship between the men.
''If I had a fight like that, I probably wouldn't talk to that person,'' said Atif Khalil, a bookish individual who reads
Noam Chomsky between fielding calls from his layout liaison in Pakistan. ''But my dad still sends me up there to help
him with computer problems.''
Still, no manner of repairs can aid the ailing Urdu-language press. Immigration from Pakistan ceased after the attacks of 9/11, as thousands of illegal immigrants from Pakistan left the United States for Canada and Dubai. Compounding the problem, most members of the younger generation cannot read or write in Urdu.
And as these two men ponder an uncertain future, they are haunted by one dispiriting thought: despite 16 years of
weekly reports, little if anything has changed in their homeland.
''I'm born in chaos, and I'm now working in chaos, and I have a feeling that when I die, Pakistan will be in the
same position,'' Mr. Farooqi said. ''Since my childhood, I haven't heard any good news about my country.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: POLITICS (89%); JOURNALISM (78%); PUBLISHING (74%); MUSLIMS & ISLAM (73%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (71%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (66%); ELECTIONS (66%); RETAILERS (65%); RELIGION (60%); SMOKING (50%)
PERSON: BENAZIR BHUTTO (92%); PERVEZ MUSHARRAF (54%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (79%) NEW YORK, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (79%); PAKISTAN
(94%)
LOAD-DATE: February 10, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: COMPETITORS, FRIENDS: Mahammed Farooqi, above, and Khalil ur Rehman, below, rival
newspaper editors in Queens who will be closely following the elections in Pakistan on Feb. 18. (PHOTOGRAPHs BY
MICHAEL NAGL FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg.CY1)
RIVALS: Khalil ur Rehman, top, with his wife and managing editor of The Urdu Times, Anjum Khalil, and Samina
Bilqees, above, a Pakistan Post employee.
TEA BREAK: Mahammed Farooqi, left, and Mr. Khalil in Jackson Heights. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY, ABOVE AND
BELOW, RUTH FREMSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES
BOTTOM LEFT, MICHAEL NAGLE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL NAGLE
FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg.CY8)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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1086 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 10, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Underground Man
BYLINE: By WILL BLYTHE.
Will Blythe is the author of ''To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever.''
SECTION: Section BR; Column 0; Book Review Desk; POLITICS ISSUE; Pg. 12
LENGTH: 1331 words
MY REVOLUTIONS
By Hari Kunzru.
280 pp. Dutton. $25.95.
History may be written by the winners -- the winners of tenure anyway -- but the best fiction tends to be composed
by and about losers. Consider: A gloomy retired seaman imagines a shipwrecked sailor bobbing about the Pacific in a
coffin. Or a tubercular insurance agent, spooked by marriage, scared of his father, dreams up a man-turned-bug. What
hagiographies can compare with such portraits of loss by such intimates of failure? As the Buddhists like to point out,
life is suffering, and it is to fellow sufferers that readers in their innermost selves relate. Add to this the contemporary
novelist's lot as cultural wallflower, lacking even the evanescent glamour of an also-ran on ''American Idol,'' and it is
easy to see why a fiction writer's sympathies are likely to affix themselves to outliers, losers and superfluous men.
This brings us to the British writer Hari Kunzru's third novel, ''My Revolutions,'' an extraordinary autumnal depiction of a failed '60s radical. Imagine a former member of the Weather Underground, still in hiding, looking back on his
macrobiotic salad days as a subversive, when the revolution, always the revolution, seemed around the corner, as close
as a pop song blasting from a car radio. In assuming this persona (or the British equivalent of it, based on the so-called
Angry Brigade), Kunzru, born in 1969, gives an amazingly convincing account of a period he never witnessed. And by
treating the millenarian aspirations of his characters with respect, he rejects the popular view of such revolutionaries as
delusional adolescents, playing at revolt. He reveals the yearning behind the dreadful agitprop, the abiding message
inside the Molotov cocktail bottle. In doing so, Kunzru redeems a '60s sort of daring in the same way Tom Stoppard
does in his recent play, ''Rock 'n' Roll.''
Early in the novel, which shuttles back and forth between 1998 and the previous three decades, we see a British
couple on holiday in the South of France. The heat is oppressive, the temperature between them cool. They are having
refreshments in the afternoon in a village. The man spots a woman strolling up the hill, and there is something familiar
in her motions. He stands in wonder. His mate hasn't finished her mineral water. ''Can't you wait two minutes?'' she
asks.
The woman walking up the hill vanishes. Her name, the man believes, is Anna Addison, his old comrade-in-arms,
his lover even if love then was only a bourgeois relic. She is supposed to be dead, killed in 1975 while taking over the
West German Embassy in Copenhagen.
Until seeing Anna, the man rising in astonishment has been dead himself, or only half-alive, though the woman
finishing her mineral water does not know that. Nor does she does know his real name, this reticent fellow who shares
her bed and helps raise her daughter.
For the nearly two decades they've lived together, he's been marooned in a counterfeit life among -- irony of ironies! -- the capitalists he once sought to overthrow. Miranda Martin, the woman with whom he lives, is a ''thrusting en-
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Underground Man The New York Times February 10, 2008 Sunday
trepreneur of the type celebrated in the glossy magazines''; her talent has led her to money, ''like an ant following a
pheromone trail.'' He works in an antiquarian bookstore, playing with the cat during the long spells between customers.
He is known as Michael Frame; his real name is Chris Carver.
After their vacation, the couple return to England, where the past continues to intrude on Carver -- a nightmare return not of the repressed, but the oppressor. Miles Bridgeman, a mysterious figure who shadowed demonstrations back
in the '60s, filming the participants for a putative documentary, turns up for the first time in nearly three decades, bumping into Carver on the street. (He appears to be photographing the local cathedral.) He wants a large favor, and if it isn't
freely given, he'll have to take it. At stake is Carver's carefully constructed identity, now crumbling from inside and out.
In his student days, he is a braver sort, which is where his troubles begin. His idealism makes him intolerant of
compromise, and he falls in with a loose collective of radicals squatting in a poor London neighborhood. He encounters
Anna as she rails against ''atomized workers.'' Not necessarily the stuff of romantic poetry, but then this is the late '60s.
Soon afterward, he runs into her at a posh party where he feels out of place. Anna taunts Carver, challenging him to
overcome his middle-class proprieties, his aversion to confrontation. Together, they berate guests (''pigs'' being the epithet of choice), fling wine at them and escape laughing into the London night. Having vetted each other's revolutionary
sternness, they kiss.
Romance, however, is hard to maintain in squats where the personal and political are melded. Residents are required to criticize themselves and one another. Privacy is derided. The bathroom door is ripped off its hinges. Mattresses are jammed together; the inhabitants watch one another make love. Everyone is experimenting with limits, trying to
achieve escape velocity from their backgrounds.
In bed, Anna, a ferocious feminist, asks that Carver hit and humiliate her. ''Sex for Anna was always an assault -on comfort, on the thing in herself she was trying to eradicate,'' he says. ''Me, I wanted to smash myself up, to get rid of
structure altogether.'' What Carver would do to himself, he would also do to society.
He and his comrades steal food from the supermarket and deliver it to the community; they occupy and empty
flats on behalf of the poor. But the new world does not arrive. The radicals feel as if they are ''shouting into a vacuum.''
Carver and Anna argue over rhetoric, unsure of whether they are writing for the people or their peers. They post broadsides exhorting the masses to ''SMASH THE STATE! OFF THE PIG!''
They come to suspect that ''nothing takes place ... unless it's electronically witnessed.'' They decide to mount a
spectacle of bombings. They no longer care if society changes as long as it pays attention. At this point, the novel enters
its death zone, where utopians make the surprisingly short transit to terrorists. ''We began to judge ourselves by our willingness to take risks,'' Carver says.
After a series of increasingly unnoticed bombings, several radicals, including Anna, form an alliance with a Marxist-Leninist Palestinian organization. Ambivalent about the prospect of political bloodshed, Carver considers divulging
his comrades' plans. His revolution from then on becomes a series of painful turns on the karmic wheel: poverty, heroin
addiction, anonymity. There is the suggestion that liberation may not be found in the political realm. In turn, Anna disappears into the terrorist underground, surfacing for the last time in the attack on the West German Embassy. ''You can't
hate the world's imperfection so fiercely, so absolutely, without getting drawn toward death,'' Carver says of her.
Perhaps because of the novel's retrospective tack, Anna, for all her allure as a revolutionary pin-up girl, flaunting
cropped hair and a hard hat for riot wear, remains more slogan wrapped in denim than full-fledged character. The aging
Carver pines for her. But is it Anna he misses, or what she embodies: the past as that realm of prairielike openness and
possibility? And not just any past -- the '60s.
The related question that hangs over ''My Revolutions'' like a cloud of tear gas is the one Miles asks Carver: What
would freedom look like?
Carver and his fellow radicals may have lacked the winning answer, but the question at least fired their imaginations. The visionary aspirations for justice in our current epoch seem dull by comparison. It is a measure of how respectfully Kunzru treats his characters' yearning for a more generous time that ''My Revolutions'' feels less like an elegy for
their era and more like a requiem for our own.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
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SUBJECT: BOOK REVIEWS (92%); NOVELS & SHORT STORIES (90%); WRITERS & WRITING (90%); POP &
ROCK (73%); RELIGION (55%); EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (50%)
GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED KINGDOM (87%); UNITED STATES (79%); FRANCE (51%); GERMANY (50%)
TITLE: My Revolutions (Book)>; My Revolutions (Book)>
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GRAPHIC: DRAWINGS
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PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1087 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 10, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Gleaning the Tax Burden When You Own the Shop
BYLINE: By CONRAD DE AENLLE
SECTION: Section BU; Column 0; Money and Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 10
LENGTH: 804 words
YOU'RE thinking of starting your own business. Maybe you've lost your job, maybe you've just lost interest in it
and have decided to move on, or maybe you're just moonlighting.
Aside from giving you a more reasonable boss, self-employment can offer meaningful tax breaks. Experts in
small-business taxation caution, however, that those breaks do not come cheap.
Self-employment involves filling two roles, as an employee (doing the work) and as an employer (doing the paperwork). People who are considering joining the 20 million others who have established so-called microbusinesses
should be prepared to spend more time and money on preparing their taxes as entrepreneurs than they did as rank-andfile employees.
That is what Victoria McCargar found after she left her job as senior technology editor at The Los Angeles
Times two years ago to set up shop as a consultant in digital preservation, helping corporations and other organizations
prevent all those bits and bytes on computer drives and in cyberspace from vanishing, as they are prone to do.
''It was a big transition from working for an employer, where all the deductions were taken, to filing quarterly estimates,'' Ms. McCargar recalled. ''I had to hazard a guess as to what I would make. I didn't have much of a track record
to go on.''
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Gleaning the Tax Burden When You Own the Shop The New York Times February 10, 2008 Sunday
In addition to making estimated tax payments, she has several new schedules to file to the Internal Revenue Service with her Form 1040, as well as some additional state forms. Then there was the business license from the City of
Los Angeles that she had to buy, and the notice she was required to place in two local newspapers saying that she was
doing business as Victoria McCargar Consulting.
For her trouble, she has to pay a double portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes. She is on the hook for the
employee's part, as she was in her old job, as well as the employer's share, for a total of 15.3 percent of her net income.
The payoff for the self-employed comes when expenses are accounted for, said Elda Di Re, a partner in personal
financial services at Ernst & Young.
Salaried employees can deduct only unreimbursed work-related expenses above 2 percent of adjusted gross income, she noted, while the self-employed can write off virtually every penny spent on running their businesses. They
are also permitted to contribute far more money to a retirement plan, like a 401(k), than ordinary employees can.
Ms. McCargar decided to go into business as a sole proprietor, which for tax purposes makes no distinction between her business and herself. She could have instead established a corporation, which is a separate legal entity, but
she decided to keep things as simple as possible after consulting with professionals.
Being incorporated means paying additional, often arcane federal, state and local taxes and filling out the forms
that go with them. Record-keeping must also be more rigorous, with business and personal accounts well segregated.
For some small businesses, it may be more trouble than it's worth.
''Being a corporation forces you to act more like a business,'' said Benjamin A. Tobias, a financial planner in
Plantation, Fla., near Fort Lauderdale. ''If you incorporate, you have to have a separate set of books, and there are all
sorts of extra taxes that might not have been there for sole proprietors. It probably isn't necessary.''
The complications and expenses can start mounting even before the corporation exists, Mr. Tobias said.
''The actual incorporation papers cost next to nothing, but if you want to do it right, you need to hire an accountant,'' he advised. ''It could be anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.''
But incorporating may be worthwhile for any business that hires employees or owns real estate, and the legal status can protect an owner's personal assets in a business-related lawsuit. There is an important tax benefit, too, that often
compensates, and more, for the myriad extra expenditures.
Sole proprietors must pay Social Security and Medicare tax on net income, while self-employed corporate moguls
pay only on the portion of income taken as salary. That amount is left to their discretion, within broad I.R.S. guidelines.
If you think that incorporating seems to be the right choice, tax advisers often suggest using one of the legal structures reserved for small businesses, like a limited-liability company or a Subchapter S corporation. They stress that
there is no single correct form that a self-employed person's business should take, only that it should be formed correctly, with forethought and with tax reduction just one consideration among many.
''Somebody just starting out should have a business plan, but most do not,'' Mr. Tobias said. ''The most common
thing missing is common sense.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: TAXES & TAXATION (94%); SELF EMPLOYMENT (91%); TAX DEDUCTIONS (89%); SMALL
BUSINESS (89%); INCOME TAX (89%); EMPLOYMENT (89%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (78%); 401K PLANS
(77%); PENSION & RETIREMENT PLANS (77%); SOCIAL SECURITY (77%); PERSONAL FINANCE (77%);
CONSULTING SERVICES (76%); CORPORATE TAX (76%); ACCOUNTING & AUDITING FIRMS (72%); TAX
AUTHORITIES (72%); COMPANY EARNINGS (70%); MEDICARE (68%); BANKING & FINANCE (64%); SOLE
PROPRIETORSHIPS (77%)
COMPANY: LOS ANGELES TIMES (83%); ERNST & YOUNG (58%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (94%)
GEOGRAPHIC: LOS ANGELES, CA, USA (77%) CALIFORNIA, USA (77%) UNITED STATES (77%)
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The New York Times
February 10, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Paid Notice: Deaths BURDEN, WILLIAM DOUGLAS, JR., ''DOUG''
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Classified; Pg. 35
LENGTH: 173 words
BURDEN--William Douglas, Jr., ''Doug''. Aged 76, of Aspen, CO, died Saturday, January 26, 2008 of terminal
cancer. He was born August 13, 1931 in NYC, son of William Douglas Burden, and Katharine Curtin White. Doug
grew up in Bedford Village and NYC. He attended North Country School in Lake Placid, Eaglebrook School, Proctor
Academy, and Middlebury College where he captained the ski teams. He became one of America's top ski Racers and
competed internationally until a near fatal ski racing accident in Italy in 1954 ended his career. Despite his injury, he
was a beautiful, natural athlete who played superb tennis and golf and became ''coach'' to friends and family. Doug
served in the Navy. He was a development entrepreneur. He is survived by his son James, brothers Andrew and Christopher, sister Wendy B. Morgan, stepmother Betsy, and devoted partner, Marilyn Hodges Wilmerding. A memorial is
planned for spring. Contributions may be made to the Steadman Hawkins Research Foundation, 181 West Meadow Dr.,
Suite 1000, Vail, CO 81657.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: DEATHS & OBITUARIES (91%); STEPPARENTS (51%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (94%) NEW YORK, USA (94%); COLORADO, USA (90%) UNITED
STATES (94%)
LOAD-DATE: February 10, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Paid Death Notice
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Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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The New York Times
February 9, 2008 Saturday
Late Edition - Final
Searching For Title, Suns Take A Chance
BYLINE: By HARVEY ARATON.
E-mail: hjaraton@nytimes.com
SECTION: Section D; Column 0; Sports Desk; SPORTS OF THE TIMES; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 841 words
It wasn't Jerry Colangelo's money, any more than it was his call.
But the Phoenix Suns were the flagship of his long sports entrepreneurship, the desert seed planted 40 years ago.
It stands to reason that any man whose franchise legacy is priceless has a vested interest in the future.
Colangelo was a 28-year-old general manager in the team's first year, 1968. He had a couple of coaching runs and
wound up fronting an ownership group from 1987 until 2004, the year he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of
Fame.
''I maintain a title as chairman, and I am available to consult,'' Colangelo said Friday from Atlanta, on a different
kind of road trip, accompanying his wife and daughter while they tend to an antiques business at various shows. ''For
this deal, Steve Kerr and Mike D'Antoni did ask for my opinion. We talked about the pros and cons. At the end of the
day, I was supportive of going forward.''
Who can say now that by the end of the season, or the two subsequent to this one, Kerr the team president, D'Antoni the coach and the owner Robert Sarver will have invested in a Suns championship or wasted tens of millions for an
antiquated version of Shaquille O'Neal?
Given the pros, cons and likely consequences of doing nothing, how could they pass?
''We've had tremendous success over the years,'' Colangelo said, ''but we haven't won it all.''
Not with the team that pushed the Celtics hard in the 1976 N.B.A. finals or with the Charles Barkley-led group
that was one stop away from forcing Michael Jordan's Bulls to a seventh game on the road in 1993 or with the contemporary eye candy assembled by Bryan Colangelo, the son of the franchise Supernova, now administratively relocated to
Toronto.
Why would a team with the best record in the Western Conference sacrifice a core player, Shawn Marion, and
compromise its intrinsic run-and-gun playing style to accommodate a soon-to-be 36-year-old and increasingly stationary
or sidelined O'Neal?
Because the best record this week could become the fourth or fifth-best next week in a conference so stacked with
quality that its 10th-place team, Portland, would be fourth in the East.
Because Tim Duncan and the defending champion Spurs -- who defeated the Knicks, 99-93, in overtime Friday
night at Madison Square Garden-- are still in the way and because the Lakers keep getting bigger and better and because
Steve Nash isn't getting any younger.
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Searching For Title, Suns Take A Chance The New York Times February 9, 2008 Saturday
The best pair of point guard eyes west of Jason Kidd turned a youthful 34 Thursday but the legs tick to a different
body clock. If this is about a closing window, why not add O'Neal's strength to make sure it doesn't slam shut?
As Jerry Colangelo said, you can marvel at Nash's nifty assists, the Suns' video-game scoring tabulation and their
average of 59 victories over the past three seasons, and you still come away with zero titles.
''The biggest question in the playoffs was always about our halfcourt game,'' Colangelo said. ''And until someone
wins in playing the Phoenix style, that was going to be a question.''
It was one already answered by the Suns the last three years, when they were welcome catalysts in reversing the
trend of tedium that had overtaken N.B.A. offenses but, in the final analysis, not much more than a sexy marketing
scheme.
A preferred style is one thing. A team limited to that style is another. One day back in the early 1980s, a coach of
some renown, Red Holzman, eavesdropped on reporters covering his excitable young Knicks, arguing whether they
should run or play half-court. He later sidled up to one and said, ''Don't write that stuff,'' though not that blandly.
He explained that championship basketball invariably had to be a compendium of styles and strategies, and a roll
call of N.B.A. champions would bear that out, starting with the most recent. In their playoff series with the Suns last
spring, the supposedly staid Spurs won games by scoring 114, 111 and 108 points.
With a presumably healthy if diminished O'Neal, the Suns, who defeated the SuperSonics, 103-99, on Friday
night, can diversify their offense, and they will have someone to at least challenge Duncan, Yao Ming and the other
conference giants, freeing Amare Stoudemire to terrorize power forwards.
O'Neal is still 7 feet 1 inch and 325 pounds of obstruction, a four-time champion and a locker-room presence.
Coming from Miami, how can he not be re-energized by another chance to win and thwart Kobe Bryant in the process?
''Some people have already discarded the idea that Shaq can do for us what Kareem did for the Lakers at the end
of his career, but we'll see,'' Colangelo said, speaking of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, without choking on the name.
He lost the 1969 coin flip that landed Kareem in Milwaukee and settled for a competent center named Neal Walk.
But that's sports, the difference between good and great typically no more complicated than heads or tails, or playing a
hunch.
The better option, in this case, than doing nothing, just running and running, until Steve Nash is on empty.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ENTREPRENEURSHIP (90%); BASKETBALL (90%); SPORTS (89%); SPORTS & RECREATION
EVENTS (78%); STADIUMS & ARENAS (78%)
ORGANIZATION: PHOENIX SUNS (94%)
PERSON: SHAQUILLE O'NEAL (67%); MICHAEL JORDAN (53%)
GEOGRAPHIC: PHOENIX, AZ, USA (92%) ARIZONA, USA (92%); WEST USA (79%) UNITED STATES (92%)
LOAD-DATE: February 9, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: The Suns acquired Shaquille O'Neal, who will soon be 36, in the hope that his strength would
complement their speedy offense. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ROB SCHUMACHER/THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, VIA
A.P.)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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The New York Times
February 9, 2008 Saturday
Late Edition - Final
The Greener Side of Recession
BYLINE: By DAN MITCHELL
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; WHAT'S ONLINE; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 606 words
TONGUE planted firmly in cheek -- or maybe not, it's a bit hard to tell -- Fion MacCloud of the British site Finance Markets recently offered ''10 Ways the Recession Can Help the Environment.'' A recession, he noted, means less
waste dumped into landfills, fewer S.U.V.'s sold and fewer people taking vacations, in that way using less fuel.
In response, Michael Graham Richard of Treehugger.comnoted several ways that the environment is actually hurt
in hard economic times.
Companies ''will reduce their investments into research and development and green programs,'' he wrote.
Also, when consumers seek bargains, ''that usually means that greener products won't make it.'' If governments
''start taxing 'bads' instead of 'goods' (pollution, carbon, toxins instead of labor, income, capital gains),'' he added, ''the
least expensive products will also be the greenest.''
And with less access to capital, ''start-ups working on the breakthrough green technologies of tomorrow can have
trouble getting funds.''
Finally, during a recession, politicians may redirect their attention from environmental initiatives toward the
economy. ''Massive corn subsidies anyone?'' Mr. Richard wrote. ''Don't even think about progress on global warming.''
UNLIKELY
Has Silicon Valley become a hotbed of drug abuse, with hopelessly addicted venture capitalists demanding that
would-be entrepreneurs supply them with OxyContin before they will agree to finance start-ups?
Probably not, but that has not stopped Valleywag, the Silicon Valley gossip blog, from posting such allegations
over the last few months. It began in December, when the blog flatly claimed, based on an e-mail message from a single
anonymous ''tipster,'' that OC-80, a type of OxyContin, was becoming ''the Valley's next big drug.''
This week, Valleywag published the supposed account of an employee at a start-up who was fired because he
could not secure OxyContin for his boss to give to a venture capitalist. The boss purportedly wrote an e-mail message to
the employee saying: ''I told these investors we can get them OC. But just a couple days before I meet with them, you
tell me you can't get it. They were counting on it, Joe. We are not going to get funded. You are fired.''
The stilted language aside, would a boss in this situation really fire ''Joe'' via e-mail, spelling out the reasons so
frankly? Many Valleywag commenters thought not. ''O.K.,'' wrote one, ''I'm changing Valleywag's tag from 'News' to
'Fiction.' ''
SECRET SALES
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The Greener Side of Recession The New York Times February 9, 2008 Saturday
According to Linsey Knerl of the personal finance site Wisebread, Target stores are often filled with bargains, but
they can be hard to find. ''In addition to the fantastic finds on the end caps of most aisles,'' she wrote, ''there are fabulous hidden deals to be had for those of us who really want them.''
For instance, a product may be marked down, but there is no hint of its real price. ''The only way to really know if
an item is on 'secret clearance' is to scan it, made handy by the self-scanning stations placed throughout most stores.''
These and several other hints are available at wisebread.com.
PRE-'P.C.' TV
Cracked.comoffers videos of some of the most unintentionally ridiculous television spots from the golden age of
television. A spot for the Mattel Dick Tracy Tommy Burst toy machine gun features a young boy mock-killing a robber.
And a 1963 commercial for Folgers instant coffee depicts a man hinting to his wife that ''the girls down at the office''
might steal his affections thanks to their superior brewing skills.
Complete links are at nytimes.com/business. E-mail: whatsonline@nytimes.com
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: RECESSION (91%); ECONOMIC NEWS (91%); BLOGS & MESSAGE BOARDS (89%); VENTURE
CAPITAL (89%); ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES (77%); ENVIRONMENTALISM (77%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (75%); RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT (75%); SUBSTANCE ABUSE (69%); DISMISSALS
(66%); LANDFILLS (57%); GLOBAL WARMING (50%)
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1091 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 8, 2008 Friday
Late Edition - Final
In Northwest Colorado, the Workingman's Spa Town
BYLINE: By HELEN OLSSON
SECTION: Section F; Column 0; Escapes; AMERICAN JOURNEYS; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 1606 words
FOR many Coloradans driving west from Denver, Glenwood Springs is little more than an exit ramp, its landmark
hot-springs pool signaling the turnoff for Aspen, 40 miles to the south. But G-wood, as young hip locals call the town,
is worth more than a pit stop.
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In Northwest Colorado, the Workingman's Spa Town The New York Times February 8, 2008 Friday
Situated in a T-shaped valley at the confluence of the Colorado and Roaring Fork Rivers, this workingman's town
is rich in history and low on glitter. The Hotel Colorado, where both Al Capone and Teddy Roosevelt counted sheep,
sits next to a KFC outlet.
In summer, outdoorsy types come for the rafting, fly-fishing and hiking. Winter enthusiasts come for the skiing,
snowshoeing and snowmobiling at the Sunlight Mountain Resort nearby. Year round, visitors simmer in the pool (touted as the world's largest mineral bath), steam in natural underground vapor caves and explore the huge network of caverns that lace Iron Mountain.
Once known as Defiance, Glenwood Springs was founded in 1885. Entrepreneurs took note of the hot springs,
which the Utes had long seen as healing waters, and envisioned a world-class spa. After the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad arrived in 1887, hotels and the two-block-long pool, which still dominates the city landscape, were built, and
Glenwood quickly became a summer vacation enclave for the wealthy.
By the early 20th century, gambling halls, brothels and saloons had arrived, too. During Prohibition, the Chicago
gangster Diamond Jack Alterie often came to Glenwood to fish and take the waters. Hank Bosco, a blue-eyed octogenarian, remembers taking a ride in the rumble seat of Diamond Jack's chrome-plated Model A Ford. ''My mother had a
fit,'' he said. ''He always carried revolvers with pearl handles -- and he was a mean one.'' After a whiskey-fueled argument over a poker game, Diamond Jack shot two men through a door of the Hotel Denver, across the river from the hot
springs pool. (Decades later, another notorious killer would come through town. In 1977, Ted Bundy escaped from
Glenwood's jail by removing a metal ceiling plate and starving himself enough to squeeze through the opening.)
Mr. Bosco's father, Mike, who had come to Glenwood from northern Italy in 1914 via Ellis Island, owned the hotel.
In 1956, the Bosco family and several others from Glenwood formed Hot Springs Lodge & Pool Inc., which now
owns and operates the pool and its huge sandstone bathhouse, built in 1890. Hank Bosco is still the chairman. The bathhouse originally held a spa with Roman baths and a men's gambling hall. Later it served in turn as a hospital and a hotel,
and it's now being renovated to include a spa again.
The 90-degree main pool measures 405 feet in length, with a diving section and Olympic-size swimming lanes; an
adjacent 104-degree therapy pool is a mere 100 feet long. On a night last month, the pool glowed turquoise, steam rose
30 feet, and ''Le Freak'' by Chic played over the sound system. Bodies appeared and disappeared as the mists tumbled
over the water's surface. A self-described worker bee talked about his commute to the hive (Aspen) and described the
pool as standing-room-only in the summer. Wintertime is lower key.
One good prelude to a soak is a trek above town to Linwood Cemetery to see the final resting place of Doc Holliday, the dentist turned gunslinger and gambler of OK Corral fame, who died at the Glenwood Hotel in 1887. After a
big snow, you can snowshoe the half-mile to the graveyard, as my husband and I did; most days a pair of tractionenhancing Yaktrax over hiking boots will do.
Holliday came to the hot springs pools to ease the pain of tuberculosis, but the sulfuric vapors may actually have
aggravated his condition. Ancient junipers stand sentinel over a monument to Holliday that looks like a headstone
framed by a petite wrought-iron fence. But the exact location of his body is unknown because cemetery plot records
were lost over the years. Some theories hold that the body never made it to Linwood at all but is lying in somebody's
backyard in Glenwood.
For the back story on Holliday and Glenwood's early days, history buffs head to the Frontier Historical Society
Museum, which has a detailed walking tour guide ($3) of the downtown. To hear about more recent history, we met up
with a longtime resident and former mayor, Don Vanderhoof, over a breakfast of chicken-fried steak at the Daily Bread
on Grand Avenue, Glenwood's main street.
During World War II, Mr. Vanderhoof's brother, a navy pilot, was shot down over the South Pacific and badly injured. He ended up in the Hotel Colorado, which had been commissioned by the Navy as a convalescent hospital. In the
late 1940s, the Vanderhoofs opened Holiday Hill, a ski area, where the Sunlight resort is now. ''We rigged up a rope tow
using the rear wheels of a 1930s truck,'' he said. ''You can still see the chassis of the truck up there.''
Since its glamorous long-ago heyday, Glenwood has grown considerably, and not always in the most picturesque
ways. Route 82, the two-lane artery to Aspen, runs straight through the heart of town, down Grand Avenue. In the
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In Northwest Colorado, the Workingman's Spa Town The New York Times February 8, 2008 Friday
1950s, shop owners fought against a bypass, fearing business would dry up. ''The people won the battle,'' Mr.
Vanderhoof said, ''but they lost the war.''
With an Interstate, two rivers and 30 or so mile-long coal trains running through town daily and mountains hulking in every direction, Glenwood splays out like a tripod -- with strip malls, fast-food joints and even a new halfmillion-square-foot mall. But it also has charming streets lined with red-and-yellow-brick Victorian buildings and
neighborhoods filled with 100-year-old Queen Annes lovingly restored in bright purples, pinks and blues. Grand Avenue, once the site of three hardware stores, is now packed with ice cream and candle shops catering to tourists.
One of the newest attractions is the Glenwood Canyon Adventure Park, which runs tours of the limestone caves
inside Iron Mountain, at the north end of town. In the late 1890s, visitors dressed in their finest -- top hats and floorlength dresses -- rode burros up the mountain and clambered down into the caves. World War I effectively shut down
the operation in 1917. The caves reopened in 1999.
Today a tram whisks you 4,300 feet to the park. In winter, most of the amusement-park fare (zip-line, gemstone
panning, mechanical bull) is closed, but the tours run all year -- the temperature inside the caves hovers around 52 degrees, regardless of the season. On the basic walking tour, we saw an otherworldly labyrinth of whimsical calcite formations: stalactites, delicate soda straws and, the most amusing, cave bacon -- little wavy drapes marbled with iron oxide. Like Rorschach inkblots, the formations assumed recognizable shapes. Our guide pointed out King Kong, a tiny
fairy, even a garden gnome.
The air in the caves is humid, but nothing like the hair-curling veil of steam in the subterranean grottos at the
Yampah Spa. Inside the spa's dark and somewhat creepy vapor caves, we discovered contemplative types in the lotus
position, deeply inhaling the mineralized vapors. As we sat on slick marble benches, a wiry, bearded man offered a sniff
from his eucalyptus vial and spoke in hushed tones about politics and philosophy.
In the light of day, we drove east on the highway that was shoehorned into Glenwood Canyon in 1992. To lay
down four-lane Interstate 70 where once a narrow wagon road barely wedged between cliff and riverbank, engineers
designed an elevated highway reminiscent of ''The Jetsons,'' with 4,000-foot tunnels bored through granite and 7,000foot bridges high above the valley floor. If Glenwood is worth stopping the car for, this roadis equally worth the driving.
Glenwood Springs is a three-hour drive west of Denver or six hours by train on the California Zephyr (800-8727245; www.amtrak.com). The main sites can be reached on foot or a free bus.
An all-day pass to the Hot Springs Pool (800-537-7946; www.hotspringspool.com) is $13. Nearby, the Yampah
Spa Vapor Caves (970-945-0667; www.yampahspa.com/caves.html) offers unlimited cave and solarium time ($12) and
a variety of spa services.
The basic cave tour at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park (800-530-1635; www.glenwoodcaverns.com) costs
$20; the tram, $10. If you need outdoor gear, try Summit Canyon Mountaineering (732 Grand Avenue; 970-945-6994;
www.summitcanyon.com).
At the Hotel Colorado (526 Pine Street; 800-544-3998; www.hotelcolorado.com), built in 1893 and inspired by a
16th-century Italian mansion, rooms start at $169. The Lavender & Thyme B & B (802 Palmer Avenue; 866-526-3822;
www.lavenderthyme.com), in a 1903 Victorian house, offers rooms starting at $105 and European hospitality with
warm gluhwein from the Dutch owner, Peter Tijm.
Carnivores can't miss in Glenwood. Try the New York strip (starting at $23.50) at Juicy Lucy's (308 Seventh
Street; 970-945-4619) or the Rocky Mountain oysters ($7.95) at Doc Holliday's Saloon (724 Grand Avenue; 970-3842379). The small but boisterous night life scene starts at Doc's and ends at the Club Roxy (701 Cooper Avenue; 970384-2262).
For regional libations, order the sampler plate ($9) of eight brews in tiny jars at the Glenwood Canyon Brewpub
(402 Seventh Street; 970-945-1276; www.glenwoodcanyon.com) in the Hotel Denver.
For breakfast, try Rosi's Little Bavarian (141 West Sixth Street; 970-928-9186), where the display case is filled
with strudels ($2), but locals come for the huevos ($7.95).
Just 12 miles south of town, Sunlight (800-445-7931; www.sunlightmtn.com) is a folksy anachronistic ski area -with free parking and $48 lift tickets.
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URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: MOUNTAINS (90%); RIVERS (76%); TRAVEL HOSPITALITY & TOURISM (75%); FAST FOOD
(75%); RESORTS (73%); SEDANS (71%); SPORT FISHING (69%); GAMING (69%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP
(67%); WINTER SPORTS (88%); SKIING (69%)
GEOGRAPHIC: DENVER, CO, USA (92%) COLORADO, USA (94%) UNITED STATES (94%)
LOAD-DATE: February 8, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: WATERS AND LEGENDS: The Hot Springs Pool & Lodge, above, in Glenwood Springs,
where the Hotel Colorado, right, once played host to Al Capone and Teddy Roosevelt. Doc Holliday's Saloon, far right,
pays homage to another well-known visitor, who's interred in a local cemetery. Or is he? (PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL BRANDS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES) MAP Map details area of Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
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Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; TODAY IN BUSINESS; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 722 words
RATINGS AGENCIES TRY AGAIN Under fire for assigning triple-A ratings to many bonds backed by risky subprime home loans, Standard & Poor's and Moody's are scrambling to restore confidence in their credit ratings. Their
proposals have met with skepticism.
QUANDARY AT YAHOOJerry Yang, Yahoo's chief executive, faces enormous pressure as he decides whether
to try to rescue the company from the clutches of Microsoft, which intends to buy it, or accept the offer and watch the
company he founded become part of Microsoft's no-holds-barred brawl with Google. [C1.]
PICKING UP THE PIECES At the American Securitization Forum this week in Las Vegas, promoters of the kind
of wizardry that aims to turn risky mortgages into gilt-edged securities came to sip Cabernet and lick their wounds.
They also looked for ways to profit from the economic mess their industry helped to create. [A1.]
CONGRESS PASSES RESCUE BILL Moving with uncommon speed, Congress gave final approval to a $168
billion economic rescue package, including rebates for taxpayers and tax breaks for businesses, that lawmakers and
President Bush hope will spark the slowing economy. [A1.]
TALKING BEHIND THE SCENES
The boards of the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East may end their walkout as
early as next week, and the breakthrough appears to be the result of two intermediaries who worked as conduits between the unions and management. [C1.]
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The New York Times February 8, 2008 Friday
A TANGLED ESTATE A lawsuit filed by two court-appointed trustees of the estate of James Brown, the legendary soul singer, accuses his longtime business managers of looting millions of dollars from Mr. Brown. [C1.]
EXXON VS. VENEZUELA Exxon Mobil has won court orders freezing as much as $12 billion in petroleum assets controlled by Venezuela's government. [C2.]
DEUTSCHE BANK UNSCARRED Deutsche Bank can be added to the short list of global banks that avoided
being badly burned by the subprime bonfire. [C3.]
BAIL HEARING FOR TRADER Jerome Kerviel, the Societe Generale trader accused of losing $7.1 billion in illegal trades, faces a pivotal hearing Friday that will determine whether he remains free pending a trial. [C5.]
RATE CUT IN EUROPE'S FUTURE? The European Central Bank hinted that it might soon follow the Federal
Reserve's lead and cut interest rates. [C3.]
A GAZPROM THREAT Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas company, threatened to halt fuel supplies to
Ukraine unless that country settled a $1.5 billion debt by Monday or offered assurances that it would pay. [C4.]
SEATTLE'S FERTILE SOIL Many communities dream of becoming the next Silicon Valley. The Seattle area is
actually doing it, with a ''start-up ecosystem'' that encourages off-shoots from giants like Microsoft, Amazon.com, and
Google. VC Nation. [C6.]
WASHINGTON POST'S PUBLISHER Katharine Weymouth will become publisher of The Washington Post, its
parent company announced. Ms. Weymouth, who has worked in the company since 1996, is a niece of Donald E. Graham, the chairman of the Washington Post Company, and the granddaughter of Katharine Graham. [C3.]
A NEW AUDIENCE Jay-Z, below, the Grammy-winning rapper and entrepreneur, is joining forces with another
African-American entrepreneur, Steve Stoute, to open Translation Advertising, an agency that will help marketers
reach multicultural consumers. Advertising: Stuart Elliott. [C4.]
AN UPTURN, FOR A CHANGE Wall Street finished moderately higher in fitful trading as investors, still nervous about the economy, decided to buy back into a stock market. [C7.]
CARBON COST OF BIOFUELS
Almost all biofuels cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of
producing these ''green'' fuels are taken into account, two new studies have concluded. [A9.]
TOBACCO'S PROJECTED TOLL
Tobacco could kill up to a billion people during the 21st century, as cigarette sales soar in poor and middleincome countries, according to a World Health Organization report funded by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's foundation. [A6.]
QUESTIONS OVER LIPITOR AD
A Congressional committee investigating the Lipitor advertising campaign featuring Dr. Robert Jarvik wants information about payments to people who might have served as stunt doubles for the doctor in televised ads. [C3.]
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: SUBPRIME LENDING (90%); BONDS (90%); MORTGAGE BANKING & FINANCE (89%); OIL &
GAS INDUSTRY (89%); FINANCIAL RATINGS (89%); BANKING & FINANCE (89%); SUBPRIME MORTGAGES (89%); ECONOMIC DECLINE (78%); BAIL (78%); DECISIONS & RULINGS (77%); TAX LAW (77%);
LEGISLATORS (77%); TALKS & MEETINGS (77%); INTEREST RATES (74%); ECONOMIC NEWS (74%);
ECONOMIC POLICY (73%); APPROVALS (73%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (72%); LITIGATION (70%);
TAXES & TAXATION (69%); LAW COURTS & TRIBUNALS (69%); PETROLEUM PRODUCTS (67%); CENTRAL BANKS (67%); SUITS & CLAIMS (65%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (64%); SECURITIZATION (78%)
COMPANY: OAO GAZPROM (63%); EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK (63%); MICROSOFT CORP (57%);
GOOGLE INC (57%); EXXON MOBIL CORP (53%); DEUTSCHE BANK AG (53%); SOCIETE GENERALE SA
(53%); AMAZON.COM INC (50%)
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The New York Times February 8, 2008 Friday
ORGANIZATION: WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA WEST (55%)
TICKER: OGZD (LSE) (63%); MSFT (NASDAQ) (57%); GOOG (NASDAQ) (57%); GGEA (LSE) (57%); XOM
(NYSE) (53%); XOM (BRU) (53%); EXX (LSE) (53%); DBK (LSE) (53%); DBK (FRA) (53%); DBB (BRU) (53%);
DBA (AMS) (53%); DB (PAR) (53%); DB (NYSE) (53%); SGN (LSE) (52%); GLE (PAR) (53%); 8666 (TSE) (53%);
AMZN (NASDAQ) (50%); DBA (ASX) (53%)
INDUSTRY: SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (63%); NAICS486210 PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS (63%); NAICS221210 NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION (63%); NAICS213112
SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FOR OIL AND GAS OPERATIONS (63%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM AND
NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (63%); SIC4924 NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION (63%); SIC4923 NATURAL
GAS TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION (63%); SIC4922 NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION (63%); SIC1382
OIL & GAS FIELD EXPLORATION SERVICES (63%); NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (57%);
SIC7372 PREPACKAGED SOFTWARE (57%); NAICS518112 WEB SEARCH PORTALS (57%); SIC8999 SERVICES, NEC (57%); SIC7375 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES (57%); NAICS325110 PETROCHEMICAL
MANUFACTURING (66%); NAICS324110 PETROLEUM REFINERIES (66%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (66%); SIC2911 PETROLEUM REFINERIES (53%); SIC2869 INDUSTRIAL ORGANIC CHEMICALS, NEC (53%); SIC2865 CYCLIC ORGANIC CRUDES & INTERMEDIATES &
ORGANIC DYES & PIGMENTS (53%); NAICS523920 PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT (53%); NAICS523110 INVESTMENT BANKING & SECURITIES DEALING (53%); NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (53%);
SIC6282 INVESTMENT ADVICE (53%); SIC6211 SECURITY BROKERS, DEALERS, & FLOTATION COMPANIES (53%); SIC6021 NATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANKS (53%); SIC5961 CATALOG & MAIL-ORDER HOUSES (50%); SIC6081 BRANCHES & AGENCIES OF FOREIGN BANKS (53%); NAICS213112 SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FOR OIL & GAS OPERATIONS (63%); NAICS519130 INTERNET PUBLISHING & BROADCASTING &
WEB SEARCH PORTALS (57%)
PERSON: GEORGE W BUSH (55%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SEATTLE, WA, USA (92%) WASHINGTON, USA (92%) UNITED STATES (93%); EUROPE
(92%); VENEZUELA (92%); SOUTH AMERICA (91%); UKRAINE (79%)
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO GRAPH
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Summary
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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Page 212
Seattle Taps Its Inner Silicon Valley The New York Times February 8, 2008 Friday
Seattle Taps Its Inner Silicon Valley
BYLINE: By JOHN MARKOFF
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; VC NATION; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 712 words
DATELINE: Seattle
Many communities dream of becoming the next Silicon Valley. This one is actually doing it.
Stroll through the hip Fremont District and you will sense the Valley vibe. Google recently opened a research lab
here, its second in Microsoft's backyard. Technology start-ups are sprouting up amid quirky neighborhood landmarks
like a bronze statue of Lenin and the Fremont Troll, the giant concrete creature lurking beneath the George Washington
Memorial Bridge.
More young companies are moving in downtown, near the art galleries and bookstores around Pioneer Square.
Still others are spreading into the surrounding suburbs.
''The Seattle start-up ecosystem is vibrant, and growing rapidly,'' said Oren Etzioni, an artificial-intelligence expert
at the University of Washington and a serial technology entrepreneur.
The University of Washington, in fact, is one of the big draws. It is fostering the entrepreneurial climate here the
way Stanford University does in Silicon Valley. Another advantage is the tech-savvy talent at the Seattle-based Amazon
and nearby Microsoft.
Microsoft offshoots, sometimes called Baby Bills, after Bill Gates of Microsoft, are being joined by Amazon
progeny called Baby Jeffs, for Amazon's Jeffrey P. Bezos. Baby Sergeys -- those formed by veterans of Google, which
is based in Mountain View, Calif., and was co-founded by Sergey Brin -- are opening here, too, Mr. Etzioni said.
The influx of entrepreneurs and of venture capitalists to bankroll them is slowly reshaping this city and a regional economy long buffeted by the booms and busts of the aerospace and timber industries. A start-up ecosystem needs
social networks, support businesses and a business culture that views failure as a badge of honor, not shame. All of that
is in place in Seattle.
Tom A. Alberg, a partner at the Madrona Venture Group, one of Seattle's leading venture capital firms and an
early investor in Amazon, says the city is now home to a growing community of technology innovators who are willing
to take risks.
''People were more risk-averse in the '80s,'' said Mr. Alberg, who is on the board at Amazon. Madrona lost money
on HomeGrocer, the Seattle-based online grocery service, he said, ''but if you never invest in a HomeGrocer, you will
never invest in an Amazon.''
Money is pouring in. During the last 12 years, venture capital investment here has more than tripled, to about $1
billion annually. Last year Washington tied with Texas as the third-largest destination for venture capital money nationwide, behind California and Massachusetts.
A crucial part of the chemistry is the University of Washington, in particular its computer science and electrical
engineering departments. Washington State ranks first nationally in engineers employed for every 10,000 workers and
in percent of total payroll in high technology. And then there are Amazon, Microsoft and their offspring.
''Now tons of companies are spinning off people,'' said Ed Lazowska, a computer scientist who holds the Bill and
Melinda Gates Chair at the University of Washington. Veterans from Amazon, Microsoft, RealNetworks and other established companies are leaving to form start-ups and venture funds, he said. ''We're finally at the stage of becoming a
perpetual-motion machine.''
Several generations of start-ups are beginning to cross-fertilize, fostering the kind of rapid growth seen in biological systems, said Mr. Etzioni, whose latest venture, Farecast, uses data-mining techniques to anticipate fluctuations in
airfares.
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Seattle Taps Its Inner Silicon Valley The New York Times February 8, 2008 Friday
One example of the growing start-up economy is Jackson Fish Market, a Web software company founded by three
veteran Microsoft software designers. Inside a windowless loft in Pioneer Square, the company is now working on starting its third advertising-supported Web service.
The start-up culture ''is beginning to work now,'' said Walter Smith, one of Jackson's founders, who worked on
Microsoft's Vista operating system but left before it was introduced. ''Seattle is like an adolescent version of Silicon
Valley.''
Mr. Etzioni says Seattle has at least one advantage over its storied counterpart in California. ''People aren't distracted by too much sunshine,'' he said. ''They sit in their offices or garages and get creative.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ENTREPRENEURSHIP (90%); VENTURE CAPITAL (89%); INTERNET SOCIAL NETWORKING
(78%); ENGINEERING (77%); ART & ARTISTS (71%); BOOKSTORES (70%); INTERNET RETAILING (67%);
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING (60%); ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (54%); FORESTRY & LOGGING (50%);
COMPUTER SOFTWARE (77%)
COMPANY: MICROSOFT CORP (90%); GOOGLE INC (58%)
ORGANIZATION: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON (83%); STANFORD UNIVERSITY (56%)
TICKER: MSFT (NASDAQ) (90%); GOOG (NASDAQ) (58%); GGEA (LSE) (58%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (90%); SIC7372 PREPACKAGED SOFTWARE (90%);
NAICS518112 WEB SEARCH PORTALS (58%); SIC8999 SERVICES, NEC (58%); SIC7375 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES (58%); NAICS519130 INTERNET PUBLISHING & BROADCASTING & WEB SEARCH
PORTALS (58%)
PERSON: JEFFREY P BEZOS (55%); BILL GATES (55%); SERGEY BRIN (54%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SEATTLE, WA, USA (97%); SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA, USA (95%) WASHINGTON,
USA (98%); CALIFORNIA, USA (95%) UNITED STATES (98%)
LOAD-DATE: February 8, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: From left, Jenny Lam, Hillel Cooperman and Walter Smith of the software company Jackson
Fish Market. (PHOTOGRAPH BY STUART ISETT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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Late Edition - Final
Page 214
'An Intolerable Fraud' The New York Times February 8, 2008 Friday
'An Intolerable Fraud'
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Editorial Desk; EDITORIAL; Pg. 18
LENGTH: 573 words
An envelope arrived in our office the other day. It had the bulky, tawdry look of junk mail: pink and lavender Easter eggs, a plastic address window and a photo of a young man in fatigue shorts using crutches to stand on his only leg.
''Thousands of severely wounded troops are suffering,'' it read. ''Will you help them this Easter?''
It was a plea for money from the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes, one of the worst private charities -- but
hardly the only -- that have been shamefully milking easy cash from the suffering and heartache caused by the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
The coalition and its sister organization, Help Hospitalized Veterans, were among a dozen military-related charities given a grade of F in a study last December by the American Institute of Philanthropy, a nonprofit watchdog group.
These and other charities have collected hundreds of millions of dollars from kind-hearted Americans and squandered
an unconscionable amount of it on overhead and expenses -- 70 percent or 80 percent, or more. The usual administrative
outlay for a reputable charity is about 30 percent. Money that donors surely assumed was going to ease the pain and
speed the healing of injured soldiers went instead to junk-mail barrages, inflated executive salaries and other forms of
corporate-style bloat.
It's all legal. There is very little regulation in the charity game, and if someone like Roger Chapin, the ''nonprofit
entrepreneur'' who founded the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes and Help Hospitalized Veterans, wants to mismanage your money, he has great leeway in doing so. His veterans' charities raised more than $168 million from 2004
to 2006, but spent only a pittance -- about 25 percent -- to help veterans. The rest, nearly $125 million, went to fundraising, administrative expenses, fat salaries and perks. Mr. Chapin gave himself and his wife $1.5 million in salary,
bonuses and pension contributions over those three years, including more than $560,000 in 2006. The charities also reimbursed the Chapins more than $340,000 for meals, hotels, entertainment and other expenses, and paid for a $440,000
condominium and a $17,000 golf-club membership.
And what did the soldiers get? Try almost $18.8 million in ''charitable'' phone cards sent to troops overseas in
2006 -- not to let them call their families, but rather to call up a stateside business that sells sports scores.
Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, whose Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
has held hearings on the issue and documented the above abuses, has rightly called the conduct of charities like Mr.
Chapin's ''an intolerable fraud.''
Mr. Waxman deserves credit for exposing it, but Congress should follow through with stricter oversight and disclosure rules so Americans don't have to rely on House committee hearings to know where their money is being misspent.
Meanwhile, if you happen to get a mailing from the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes, by all means open it.
Look the contents over -- the glossy bunny greeting card, the earnest letter from the retired Brig. Gen. Chip Diehl -then shred or recycle it or both. And think of what Mr. Chapin told the House committee when asked what would happen if his charities ever told donors where their money went.
''If we disclose, which I'm more than happy to do,'' he said, ''we'd all be out of business. Nobody would donate. It
would dry up.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (90%); CHARITIES (90%); WAGES & SALARIES (89%); ARMED
FORCES (89%); FUNDRAISING (77%); PHILANTHROPY (75%); US DEMOCRATIC PARTY (70%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (69%); PERSONAL FINANCE (68%); EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION (65%); EASTER SEASON (78%); IRAQ WAR (76%)
PERSON: HENRY WAXMAN (51%)
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GEOGRAPHIC: CALIFORNIA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (94%); AFGHANISTAN (79%); IRAQ (56%)
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DOCUMENT-TYPE: Editorial
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
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The New York Times
February 8, 2008 Friday
Late Edition - Final
Is It Too Late For Yahoo?
BYLINE: By MIGUEL HELFT and BRAD STONE
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1423 words
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO
One of the first questions that Jerry Yang and his top lieutenants pondered after he became chief executive of Yahoo last summer was whether the company could remain independent. They quickly answered yes.
But Mr. Yang, who founded Yahoo along with David Filo in 1995, had a harder time coming up with convincing
answers for many of the more complex questions facing the company. How exactly would an independent Yahoo
sharpen its focus, shed marginal projects and become a stronger competitor to Google, the runaway leader in online
search and advertising?
Mr. Yang, a cerebral, highly analytic executive who, by all accounts, cares deeply about the company he helped
build and its workers, appears to have run out of time to answer those questions. A $44.6 billion bid from Microsoft is
once again forcing Mr. Yang and his board to consider the viability of Yahoo as an independent company.
This time, Mr. Yang, 39, faces enormous pressure as he decides whether to try to rescue the company from the
clutches of Microsoft, or accept the bid and watch Yahoo become part of Microsoft's arsenal in its no-holds-barred
brawl with Google.
Some analysts and several current and former Yahoo executives are, meanwhile, wondering whether things
would be different had Mr. Yang been quicker at making some of the tough choices that Yahoo faced.
''He came on board, announced a 100-day strategic review and promised there would be no sacred cows,'' said
Mark Mahaney, an analyst with Citigroup. ''One hundred days went by, and no cows were slaughtered.''
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Is It Too Late For Yahoo? The New York Times February 8, 2008 Friday
It took until last week, more than six months into Mr. Yang's tenure, for him to announce that Yahoo would cut
1,000 employees. At the same time, however, Mr. Yang warned investors that he had decided to make larger-thanexpected investments in the business. The announcement sent the company's shares down to their lowest level in more
than three years, precipitating Microsoft's bid.
''Why couldn't those things be hashed out in the first 100 days?'' Mr. Mahaney asked.
Yahoo declined to make Mr. Yang available for an interview. But other Yahoo executives strongly defended his
short tenure, saying Mr. Yang had quickly set priorities and laid out a precise strategy for making Yahoo more competitive.
''We have moved quickly and aggressively to implement our strategy,'' said Hilary Schneider, an executive vice
president in charge of Yahoo's network of advertisers and publishers.
By most measures, Mr. Yang is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley history. He helped
build Yahoo from an early directory of Web sites into a sprawling Internet giant that offers services from online dating
to e-mail that are used by nearly 500 million people around the globe. His wealth is estimated to top $2 billion.
Early on, as Yahoo's business grew, Mr. Yang and Mr. Filo recognized that they did not have the experience to
run the company. They called themselves Chief Yahoos and hired others to fill the chief executive post: Tim Koogle
and then Terry S. Semel. Mr. Filo worked as an architect of Yahoo's computer systems. Mr. Yang played the role of
strategic adviser and represented Yahoo in front of investors and business partners.
Last June, Yahoo investors became increasingly disenchanted with Mr. Semel, as Yahoo struggled to compete
with Google in the online search business and faced growing threats from successful social networks like MySpace and
Facebook.
Mr. Semel resigned and Mr. Yang was unexpectedly thrust into the chief executive job. He inherited a long list of
problems, including a demoralized work force and a company that had grown bureaucratic and cluttered with too many
projects.
At the time, Mr. Yang said his years as a Yahoo strategist had prepared him well for the job. And he dismissed
speculation that his tenure would be short-lived.
But many Yahoo executives, as well as some of Mr. Yang's friends, say he accepted the job only reluctantly, out
of a sense of responsibility and care for his company.
Mr. Yang himself, at times, suggested that some of the burdens of his new role weighed heavily on him. Speaking
to Yahoo advertisers at a conference in October, he described the chief executive job as ''lonely.''
''As a founder everybody loves you,'' he said. ''When you become C.E.O., you can tell somewhat the behaviors
change.'' He later added: ''You have to make tough calls.''
Mr. Yang is generally well liked by Yahoo's workers, and his appointment helped improve employee morale. He
took steps to restore aspects of the company's start-up culture, for example, by being more open about the challenges
facing it. He held some meetings with executives in the middle of the cafeteria.
Mr. Yang and Yahoo's president, Susan L. Decker, also moved quickly to hash out a strategy. The two thought
that Yahoo's business plan was basically sound but that the company needed to be better managed and had to get out of
some businesses that were not vital to its future. They reorganized to make business units more accountable, and they
made some acquisitions to build Yahoo's advertising and e-mail technology.
''They have moved faster than they have in the past and focused on increasing the value they provide to the advertiser,'' said David W. Kenny, chief executive of Digitas, an interactive marketing agency that is part of the Publicis
Groupe.
Mr. Yang and Ms. Decker also began meeting regularly with an expanding group of top executives in the offices
of Stone Yamashita Partners, a consulting firm in San Francisco. According to executives who attended those meetings,
Mr. Yang and Ms. Decker were quick to outline Yahoo's top priorities: becoming a starting point for consumers on the
Web, developing technology and relationships to sell ads on Yahoo and other Web sites, and opening up Yahoo to outside programmers and publishers.
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Is It Too Late For Yahoo? The New York Times February 8, 2008 Friday
But to achieve those, Yahoo also had to cut some things. In particular, it had to prune its sprawling Internet portal
so that employees could be reassigned to crucial projects.
''You can't place your chips on every spot and every color and every number,'' said Dan Finnigan, an executive
vice president who ran Yahoo's HotJobs site and left last year. ''Businesses like travel, shopping, music and even
HotJobs were all great products, but none were going to make a huge difference in the fight with Google unless we used
them to drive the main search business.''
Many other executives agreed that Yahoo had to focus on fewer things. To stress the point, Mr. Yang invited Steven P. Jobs, Apple's chief executive, to give a pep talk to some 300 Yahoo vice presidents. Mr. Jobs told them that years
earlier many Apple insiders wanted the company to compete with Palm's personal digital assistants. Mr. Jobs said he
decided against it, and noted that had Apple gone after Palm, it might not have been able to develop the iPod.
But cutting was not easy for Mr. Yang, who choked up in front of employees years ago when Yahoo made its first
significant layoffs after the dot-com crash. When a group of executives presented options, he stalled.
''Instead of saying yes or no, there were no decisions,'' said a person who attended many of the meetings. ''These
decisions are agonizing for him. It's his caring about the people and the company that make him both great for this job
and difficult for the job.''
One top executive countered that Mr. Yang had already shuttered some projects and turned Yahoo into a more efficient company, without jeopardizing profitable businesses.
Some analysts said the only move that could have averted Microsoft's bid was for Yahoo to outsource its search
advertising business to Google -- something the company is now considering.
Jordan Rohan, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, noted that this decision would have required Mr. Yang to
admit defeat in a critical area. ''It would also have required a sense of urgency that Jerry has not necessarily shown,'' he
said.
On Wall Street, patience was running thin. Yahoo shares kept declining, from a high of more than $34 in October
to about $24 at the end of the year and a low of $18.58 last week.
''We are still trying to do too many things, and fund them in a way that we need to in order to win,'' said a senior
executive who has grown disillusioned with Mr. Yang. ''With the stock at $24 or $25, we'd be having a very different
conversation now. But there were decisions made that were naive that have left us in a position where we can't control
our destiny.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ENTREPRENEURSHIP (78%); INTERVIEWS (78%); INDUSTRY ANALYSTS (76%); ONLINE
MARKETING & ADVERTISING (75%); INTERNET & WWW (75%); ONLINE DATING SERVICES (70%)
COMPANY: GOOGLE INC (57%); MICROSOFT CORP (56%); CITIGROUP INC (54%); YAHOO INC (95%)
TICKER: GOOG (NASDAQ) (57%); GGEA (LSE) (57%); MSFT (NASDAQ) (56%); CGP (LSE) (54%); C (NYSE)
(54%); 8710 (TSE) (54%); YHOO (NASDAQ) (95%); YAH (LSE) (92%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS518112 WEB SEARCH PORTALS (95%); SIC8999 SERVICES, NEC (57%); SIC7375 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES (95%); NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (56%); SIC7372 PREPACKAGED SOFTWARE (56%); NAICS523120 SECURITIES BROKERAGE (54%); NAICS522210 CREDIT
CARD ISSUING (54%); NAICS522110 COMMERCIAL BANKING (54%); SIC6021 NATIONAL COMMERCIAL
BANKS (54%); NAICS518111 INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS (95%); SIC7373 COMPUTER INTEGRATED
SYSTEMS DESIGN (95%); NAICS519130 INTERNET PUBLISHING & BROADCASTING & WEB SEARCH
PORTALS (95%); NAICS517110 WIRED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS (95%)
PERSON: JERRY YANG (96%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA, USA (79%) CALIFORNIA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES
(79%)
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LOAD-DATE: February 8, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: The Yahoo tent at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Microsoft has offered
$44.6 billion to buy the company. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBYN BECK/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE)((pg. C5)
Yahoo's chief executive, Jerry Yang, is facing his toughest challenge: whether to keep his company independent.
(PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN G. MABANGLO/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY)(pg. C1)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1096 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 8, 2008 Friday
Late Edition - Final
A New Venture for Jay-Z, on Madison Avenue
BYLINE: By STUART ELLIOTT
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; ADVERTISING; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 1072 words
JAY-Z is a Grammy-winning rapper, a club owner, a clothier, a fledgling hotelier, the part-owner of a basketball
team and the former president of a record label. Now, he gets to add adman to his resume.
Jay-Z -- real name, Shawn Carter -- is joining forces with another African-American entrepreneur, Steve Stoute,
to open Translation Advertising in New York, an agency that will help marketers reach multicultural consumers.
The new agency will be part of Translation Consultation and Brand Imaging, which has worked for mainstream
advertisers like General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, McDonald's and Reebok.
Translation Advertising expects to announce its first clients soon, said Mr. Stoute, who sold Translation Consultation last October for an estimated $10 million to $15 million to the Interpublic Group of Companies in New York.
Interpublic, the third-largest agency company (behind the Omnicom Group and the WPP Group) also owns agencies like Campbell-Ewald, Deutsch, Draft FCB, GolinHarris, R/GA and Universal McCann. Interpublic and Translation
Consultation share clients like the Chevrolet division of G.M.
Interpublic will own 49 percent of Translation Advertising. The majority stake will be owned by Mr. Stoute, 37,
and Jay-Z, 38, who will be the co-chairmen.
''You know his story,'' Mr. Stoute said of his new partner, who grew up in the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn. ''He
came from nothing and turned it into something before our eyes.''
Mr. Carter, in a telephone interview, said he considered his involvement in an agency ''part of the natural growth''
of his career.
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A New Venture for Jay-Z, on Madison Avenue The New York Times February 8, 2008 Friday
''As an artist, you make music,'' Mr. Carter said. ''And if you see people who don't know how to market your music, you get involved in it.''
Otherwise, what you want to accomplish ''gets lost in translation,'' he added, ''no pun intended.''
Mr. Carter was referring to his work first at Roc-A-Fella Records and later at Def Jam Recordings. Mr. Carter
stepped down last month as president at Def Jam, part of the Universal Music Group.
''He left his day job at Def Jam; he has to do something,'' Mr. Stoute said, laughing.
The Interpublic venture, which is to be announced on Friday, is indicative of the intensifying interest on Madison
Avenue in minority consumers.
One reason is the growth of the African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American populations in the United
States, which together account for an estimated $2 trillion in consumer buying power.
Another is the increasing influence of minority consumers on the general market, by setting trends and influencing
buying decisions in categories like apparel, automobiles, beverages, food, music and sports.
For instance, think back to the commercials that appeared nationally on Sunday during the Super Bowl, the biggest night of the year for advertising.
A spot for Diet Pepsi Max featured musicians like Missy Elliott, Macy Gray, LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes. Naomi Campbell danced in a commercial for SoBe Life Water to a song by Michael Jackson.
Another Super Bowl spot, for Bud Light, was centered on the comedian Carlos Mencia. And the basketball players Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade appeared in commercials for T-Mobile and Vitaminwater.
Some advertisers already believe there is no longer ''a so-called general market,'' said Lisa Skriloff, president at
Multicultural Marketing Resources, a consulting company in New York, but rather a coalition or collection of diverse
consumer groups.
''It's especially true for companies doing business in 'minority majority' states'' like California and Texas, she added.
Despite those demographic and cultural changes, Ms. Skriloff said, estimates are that ads aimed at minority consumers account for less than 4 percent of the total ad spending in the United States.
''There are major advertisers that are still not getting it, that don't have anyone in-culture helping them, in the
company or at an agency,'' she added, while others ''are afraid of missteps, afraid they will do the wrong thing.''
That apprehension is not totally unfounded.
''There are people who don't understand the culture,'' Jay-Z said, citing as an example a commercial for a wireless
carrier ''that shows guys break-dancing in the phone store.''
''It's just not something we do,'' he added dryly.
''We go into the stores and want the same thing as everyone else,'' Jay-Z said, adding: ''We may care about the
style of the phone a little bit more, but we want our phone to work. We care about the functionality.''
Mr. Stoute described multicultural consumers as ''a very loyal audience if you come to them in the right way -- if
you speak to them, and not speak down to them.''
Interpublic owns 49 percent stakes in several agencies that specialize in multicultural marketing to primarily Hispanic and Asian-American consumers, among them Accentmarketing, the IW Group and Siboney USA.
But Interpublic has not been represented in the multicultural/African-American realm for several years, since selling a 49 percent stake in an agency named GlobalHue back to its managers.
''It's all part of the integrated-offering approach,'' said Michael I. Roth, the chairman and chief executive at Interpublic -- integrated not in a racial way but in a marketing way, providing clients with a multitude of advertising services
that ''we can bring to the table all at once,'' Mr. Roth said.
Jay-Z is not the only urban entertainment figure to become involved in advertising.
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A New Venture for Jay-Z, on Madison Avenue The New York Times February 8, 2008 Friday
Spike Lee leads an agency, Spike DDB, that is part of the DDB Worldwide division of Omnicom. And Damon
Dash has announced the start-up of BlockSavvy.com, an interactive ad agency and social-networking Web site.
''If we sit in a room,'' Mr. Carter said, ''and offer our ideas of how to reach consumers, how to speak to them -- and
this is not a cocky statement -- put us up against anything, and we'll win our fair share of battles.''
Mr. Carter said his role at Translation Advertising would be to offer his creative and entrepreneurial ideas. Mr.
Stoute described it as not ''day-to-day operations'' but rather ''using his eye, his taste, his understanding of the culture.''
''As an owner of the New Jersey Nets, he's not coaching,'' Mr. Stoute said of Mr. Carter.
Mr. Carter's work as an endorser in ads will be independent of what he does for Translation Advertising. He has
appeared as part of campaigns for brands like Hewlett-Packard and Reebok.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: MARKETING & ADVERTISING (90%); MARKETING & ADVERTISING AGENCIES (90%); RAP
MUSIC (89%); HIP HOP CULTURE (89%); MUSIC INDUSTRY (89%); MINORITY BUSINESSES (89%); AFRICAN AMERICANS (89%); SPORTS TEAM OWNERSHIP (78%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (78%); ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS AWARDS (78%); CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES STORES (78%); APPOINTMENTS (77%); INTERVIEWS (77%); HISPANIC AMERICANS (76%); AUTOMAKERS (75%); FAST FOOD (75%); BASKETBALL
(78%); SPORTS (73%); RESUMES & CURRICULA VITAE (89%)
COMPANY: OMNICOM GROUP INC (84%); INTERPUBLIC GROUP OF COS INC (85%); HEWLETTPACKARD CO (57%); GENERAL MOTORS CORP (57%); WPP GROUP PLC (56%); LINTAS: CAMPBELLEWALD (56%); UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP (55%); CAMPBELL-EWALD (57%); UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP
INTERNATIONAL LTD (52%); WPP PLC (56%)
TICKER: OMC (NYSE) (84%); IPG (NYSE) (85%); HPQ (NYSE) (57%); HEW (LSE) (57%); GMR (LSE) (57%);
GMP (PAR) (57%); GM (NYSE) (57%); WPPGY (NASDAQ) (56%); WPP (LSE) (56%); GMB (BRU) (57%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS541820 PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCIES (85%); NAICS541810 ADVERTISING AGENCIES
(85%); NAICS541613 MARKETING CONSULTING SERVICES (85%); SIC8743 PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCIES (85%); SIC8742 MANAGEMENT CONSULTING SERVICES (85%); SIC7311 ADVERTISING AGENCIES
(85%); NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (57%); NAICS334119 OTHER COMPUTER PERIPHERAL
EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING (57%); NAICS334111 ELECTRONIC COMPUTER MANUFACTURING
(57%); SIC3571 ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS (57%); NAICS336112 LIGHT TRUCK & UTILITY VEHICLE
MANUFACTURING (57%); NAICS336111 AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURING (57%); SIC3714 MOTOR VEHICLE PARTS & ACCESSORIES (57%); SIC3711 MOTOR VEHICLES & PASSENGER CAR BODIES (57%); NAICS541830 MEDIA BUYING AGENCIES (56%); SIC7319 ADVERTISING, NEC (56%); SIC7372 PREPACKAGED
SOFTWARE (57%)
PERSON: JAY-Z (98%); ANN LIVERMORE (74%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (72%) NEW YORK, USA (92%) UNITED STATES (94%)
LOAD-DATE: February 8, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Steve Stoute, left, and Jay-Z are opening Translation Advertising in New York to help marketers
reach multicultural consumers. ''There are people who don't understand the culture,'' Jay-Z said.
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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The New York Times
February 7, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
6 City Schools Designated By the State As Failing
BYLINE: By ELISSA GOOTMAN
SECTION: Section B; Column 0; Metropolitan Desk; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 507 words
Six New York City public schools, five of them middle schools, were newly placed on the state's list of schools
performing so poorly that they are at risk of being shut down. Four other city schools, state officials said, would have
been added to the list, released on Wednesday, had the city not already decided to close them.
Four city schools improved enough to come off the list, the State Education Department said, bringing the total to
32 New York City schools on the list. Of the 32, the city is already planning to close five.
The five middle schools added to the list are clustered in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. They are Intermediate
School 286 (Renaissance Military Leadership Academy), Middle School 326 (Writers Today and Leaders Tomorrow),
Public School-Intermediate School 224, Middle School 201 and the New Millennium Business Academy Middle
School.
To be designated by the state as failing, or among the ''schools under registration review,'' a school must fail to
meet rudimentary performance benchmarks. If it does not improve in three years, it risks being closed.
The SURR list, as it is known, is different from the list of schools designated as failing under the federal No Child
Left Behind law, which considers not only overall test scores but factors like attendance and the performance among
subgroups of students, including those who are black or Hispanic.
The state also judges schools by a different standard than the city does for its new A through F school report
cards; one school just removed from the state list, Legacy School for Integrated Studies in Manhattan, received an F on
its city report card.
Andrew Jacob, a spokesman for the city Education Department, said in a statement that the city had ''fewer SURR
schools than ever before.'' Last year, the city had 35 schools on the list, some of which have since been closed.
Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers, suggested that city officials were too quick to
close schools rather than try to improve them.
''We believe that closing schools should be the last resort, not a first step,'' she said in a statement. Ms. Weingarten
noted that fewer schools were removed from the list this year than in 2005, when 16 were removed, and 2002, when 12
were removed. She said that the new additions to the list showed that ''our middle schools are not getting the supports
they need.''
The sixth city school added to the list is Bushwick Community High School, a transfer school for students at risk
of dropping out. The schools that would have been listed had the city not decided to close them are Walton High School
and the Business School for Entrepreneurial Studies in the Bronx, and Junior High School 49 (William J. Gaynor) and
South Shore High School in Brooklyn. The other schools removed from the list are Intermediate School 117 (Joseph H.
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6 City Schools Designated By the State As Failing The New York Times February 7, 2008 Thursday
Wade) and Intermediate School 219 (New Venture School) in the Bronx, and Junior High School 265 (Dr. Susan S.
McKinney Secondary School of the Arts) in Brooklyn.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: PRIMARY & SECONDARY EDUCATION (90%); EDUCATION SYSTEMS & INSTITUTIONS (90%);
EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS (89%); STUDENTS & STUDENT LIFE (89%); EDUCATION (89%); SCHOOL
PERFORMANCE (89%); BENCHMARKING (78%); ACADEMIC STANDARDS (78%); CITIES (78%); PRIMARY
& SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS (78%); CITY GOVERNMENT (78%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (77%);
BUSINESS LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT (76%); EDUCATION LAW (73%); US NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
ACT (73%); TEACHING & TEACHERS (70%); BUSINESS EDUCATION (89%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (96%) NEW YORK, USA (96%) UNITED STATES (96%)
LOAD-DATE: February 7, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1098 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 7, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
Drop Down and Give Me More Than She's Doing
BYLINE: By ABBY ELLIN
SECTION: Section G; Column 0; Style Desk; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 1138 words
JOE DUFFY, a cross-country skier who skis marathons, considers himself fit and motivated. About three years ago
he decided to focus on strength, balance and endurance. He knew his workouts would be more interesting if he had people to compete against. So instead of visiting the gym on his own, Mr. Duffy and his wife, a former marathoner, exercise twice a week with a group of seven to nine people and a personal trainer at 501Fit in Minneapolis.
''It's an hour and a half workout, and if I did it on my own it would seem like three hours,'' said Mr. Duffy, 58, the
chairman of Duffy & Partners, a design firm in Minneapolis. ''When I do it with the group, it seems like it's 30 minutes.''
Though it sounds like an oxymoron -- personal training in a group? -- it is a growing trend at large health clubs
and small gyms alike. A survey by the IDEA Health and Fitness Association, an organization for fitness professionals,
showed that 71 percent of personal trainers had two or more clients per session in 2005, up from 50 percent in 1999; 44
percent said they had groups of three to five clients, up from 43 percent nine years ago.
Groups can be made up of friends, couples or strangers, and the average number of participants is around six. Besides the significant cost savings -- depending on the size of the group, it can cost as little as $20 a session, compared
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Drop Down and Give Me More Than She's Doing The New York Times February 7, 2008 Thursday
with as much as $100 for individual training -- the group dynamic can help foster camaraderie and lure more people into
the club. While trainers and patrons say that it's a lot of fun, group training sessions can also feel a bit like being back in
the proverbial sandbox. Competitive streaks can turn friendly companions into huffy ones. Those hoping to impress the
trainer cut corners to complete assignments first. And a ''boys against the girls'' dynamic explains quite a bit of the behavior.
For the last three months, Russell Bryant, 31, a Denver entrepreneur, has been training in a group of six to eight
people led by Courtney Samuel, the owner of Bodies by Perseverance, in Denver. He pays $30 for an hour session. ''The
competitive part of me wants to finish first for personal reasons,'' he said. ''There's one girl that's in really good shape -she was a dancer for a pro team -- so I'm always trying to compete.'' If he sees a woman doing much better than him,
''I'm like, 'You better step it up, Russ.' ''
Casie Collignon has been exercising with her best friend, Emily Ahnell, for a year and a half on Monday and
Wednesday nights with Mr. Samuel. ''Emily and I are both naturally competitive people and it helps our work out,'' said
Ms. Collignon, 30, a lawyer.
But one time, the routine had been especially grueling and Ms. Collignon thought that her friend had outperformed her. ''I got a little pouty,'' she admitted, so much so that she stormed out of the gym instead of catching a ride
with Ms. Ahnell. ''I didn't want to talk to her so I just walked home, '' Ms. Collignon said. (Mr. Samuel says this happens a lot with his group-training clients.)
Mr. Samuel said he was especially fascinated by how behavior breaks down by gender. ''Men want to win by any
means necessary, even jeopardizing their form,'' he said. For example, if the task is to complete two rounds of 20 pushups, instead of doing the exercise properly, they'll go halfway down to finish first, he said. His female clients, on the
other hand, are usually slower, have great form and don't cheat. But, he said, ''Their competitive spirit begins to rumble
if they see someone cheat.''
There is plenty of research on teamwork and competition to explain why the desire to be seen as ''the best'' supersedes the need to get into shape. ''You don't want to be last, so you ratchet it up -- that's the human spirit,'' said Dr.
Leonard Zaichkowsky, a sports psychologist at Boston University.
Julie Rennecker, Ph.D., a behavioral scientist in Austin, Tex., has examined group interactions in the workplace.
Typically, she said, people try to differentiate themselves at all costs. They also compare themselves with one another.
According to a 1998 report in the journal Leisure Sciences, this social comparison can inhibit people who are embarrassed by their limitations, or who don't like to display too much of their bodies.
Not all group sessions devolve into tournaments. People who work out together can feel accountable to their peers
-- what psychologists call social facilitation -- and they are helpful and motivate one another. Sylvia Burrell, a trainer at
Lady of America in Manor, Tex., sees this behavior at her gym.
Ms. Burrell has two group sessions of five women, each of whom pays $30. The women in one session check in
with one another daily. ''They go down the list until the last lady calls the first, a kind of pay it forward,'' Ms. Burrell
said. Those women are more successful than the other group, and have collectively lost 23.5 pounds since December.
For group personal training to truly work, experts say, instructors must place like-bodied people together. This
makes sense: who wants to work out with someone who bench presses 180 if you're at 30? Many trainers say they do
group people by ability, but often friends and family members would rather work out with someone they know.
''Pitfalls can occur if the group is not homogeneous,'' said Carol Scott, the chief executive of ECA World Fitness
Alliance, an industry organization that offers training and workshops for fitness professionals. She also recommends
that groups be no larger than six; other experts say smaller is better.
Some say true homogeneity in workout groups is impossible. ''Two people are not going to be equal,'' said Joe
Dowdell, the founder and an owner of Peak Performance, a personal training gym in Manhattan. ''So a danger is that the
one person who doesn't have the capabilities may push themselves in a manner that's not conducive to a good training
effect.''
Much of the way a person reacts depends on personality. Type A's might find friendly competition energizing;
others might wilt. Rich Roe, a certified personal trainer who does individual and small-group training in San Diego and
Los Angeles, said group training can be a ''disaster'' for noncompetitive people. He recalled a weight loss contest between two clients. For a while it worked, then one took a big lead and the other felt like giving up.
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Drop Down and Give Me More Than She's Doing The New York Times February 7, 2008 Thursday
But sometimes disparities can be exhilarating. For four years, Doreen Goniu, 49, has been working out at Form
and Fitness in Mequon, Wis., with three men whom she did not know before. She finds the male-to-female ratio exciting. ''By the 10th or 12th rep I can feel myself failing,'' she said, ''but then I'll look over and see a guy doing it and I
think: 'I can do it. I'm not going to be wimpy because I'm a girl.' ''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: EXERCISE & FITNESS (91%); SKIING (90%); SPORTS (90%); TRENDS (72%); POLLS & SURVEYS
(69%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, USA (79%); MINNESOTA, USA (72%) UNITED STATES (79%)
LOAD-DATE: February 7, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: IN THIS TOGETHER: Brandy Hendelman, foreground, and Courtney Gordon motivate each
other when they train at a health club in Armonk, N.Y. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ALAN ZALE FOR THE NEW YORK
TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1099 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 6, 2008 Wednesday
The New York Times on the Web
From Prince Andrew, Critical Words for U.S. on Iraq
BYLINE: By STEPHEN CASTLE
SECTION: Section ; Column 0; Foreign Desk; Pg.
LENGTH: 891 words
While Prince Andrew declares himself a fan of the United States -- and his cellphone ring tone comes from the
American TV drama ''24'' -- the man who is fourth in line to the British throne has some critical words for America's
Iraq policy and thinks that Washington should have listened to advice from London.
In a rare Buckingham Palace interview ahead of his departure Tuesday for a 10-day U.S. trip to support British
business, the prince described the United States as Britain's No. 1 ally but conceded that relations were in a trough.
There are, he added, ''occasions when people in the U.K. would wish that those in responsible positions in the U.S.
might listen and learn from our experiences.''
The prince has a full-time role as a trade envoy for Britain but for 22 years he was in the Royal Navy, serving as a
helicopter pilot during the Falklands conflict, and Iraq is a preoccupation.
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From Prince Andrew, Critical Words for U.S. on Iraq The New York Times February 6, 2008 Wednesday
Because of its imperial history, Britain has experienced much of what the United States is going through, Prince
Andrew said.
''If you are looking at colonialism, if you are looking at operations on an international scale, if you are looking at
understanding each other's culture, understanding how to operate in a military insurgency campaign -- we have been
through them all,'' he said. ''We've won some, lost some, drawn some. The fact is there is quite a lot of experience over
here which is valid and should be listened to.''
Prince Andrew's view that post-invasion chaos in Iraq could have been avoided if President Bush's administration
had listened more is widely shared in Britain. Geoff Hoon, the former British defense secretary, has said that British
views on Iraq were ignored in the decisions to outlaw the Baath Party and dissolve the Iraqi military.
The fallout from Iraq has fueled, the prince argues, ''healthy skepticism'' toward what is said in Washington, and a
feeling of ''why didn't anyone listen to what was said and the advice that was given.''
After all, British views had been sought -- ''it's not as if we had been forcing that across the Atlantic.''
The prince, 47, says it was an adjustment to go from a life in the navy to being a figurehead for business as special
representative for international trade and investment, the role he took on in 2001. His office has reminders of his former
life, including paintings of 19th-century naval scenes.
''I was the glamorous one dressed in a uniform who flew his helicopter and I was there to defend, to be an instrument of Her Majesty's government whenever and wherever they so chose. And I thought it was frightfully glamorous,''
he said.
He added, ''When you then come out and go into the business world, actually you realize that the real people who
are actually making the United Kingdom what it is are the people who are doing business.''
The Falklands War in 1982 was a formative experience and one that, he says, changed him ''out of all recognition''
and left ''a different view of life.'' Since then he has been to Argentina, visited the country's navy and found himself at a
memorial to the Belgrano, an Argentine warship sunk by the British that resulted in the loss of 368 lives.
Prince Andrew says he was very fortunate to marry Sarah Ferguson; they divorced in 1996 after their 10-year marriage ''didn't go quite according to plan.'' The prince speaks warmly of his ex-wife and praises her success in the United
States, where her weight-loss campaigning and other activities are reported to have cleared her substantial debts.
''We have managed to work together to bring our children up in a way that few others have been able to do and I
am extremely grateful to be able to do that,'' he said.
Though periodically portrayed by the British tabloids as a playboy, Prince Andrew is regarded as the most affable
of the queen's children.
The only faint signs of irritation in the interview last week appeared when asked about his travel expenses, which
have been criticized by the British media. They are, he says, a ''little tiny spot in the ocean by comparison to many people.''
The trauma that followed the 1997 death of Diana, Princess of Wales, underlined the need for the British royal
family to modernize, and Prince Andrew's transformation into a trade envoy seems part of that process.
His role involves helping small British businesses make the right contacts, meeting influential trade partners,
sometimes lobbying on specific contracts and selling the merits of his country as a location for investment. Britain, he
says, is ''probably the most open free market economy in the world.'' That is a message he will carry to Florida, California, Georgia and New York.
Since he does not close deals, it is difficult to quantify the value of his work. But Sir Digby Jones, the British minister for trade promotion who will accompany him, describes the prince as very effective.
''He gets in to see people because he is the son of the queen. The U.K. would be foolish not to use this.''
Ironically, it falls to a member of the royal family to dispel the image of Britain as an old-fashioned, class-ridden,
society. British businesses are, Prince Andrew says, ''a good deal more discreet -- they're not as brash as perhaps U.S.
companies are -- so you might not see the outward vestiges of entrepreneurialism that is actually going on here.''
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From Prince Andrew, Critical Words for U.S. on Iraq The New York Times February 6, 2008 Wednesday
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: NAVIES (88%); INTERVIEWS (76%); TELEVISION PROGRAMMING (73%); REBELLIONS & INSURGENCIES (70%); DEFENSE DEPARTMENTS (67%); FOREIGN INVESTMENT (65%); INTERNATIONAL
TRADE (65%); BRITISH MONARCHS (77%)
PERSON: GEORGE W BUSH (53%)
GEOGRAPHIC: LONDON, ENGLAND (92%) UNITED STATES (99%); IRAQ (94%); UNITED KINGDOM
(94%); ENGLAND (92%); FALKLAND ISLANDS (79%)
LOAD-DATE: February 6, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1100 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 6, 2008 Wednesday
Correction Appended
Late Edition - Final
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a Guide On the Beatles' Spiritual Path, Dies
BYLINE: By LILY KOPPEL
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 10
LENGTH: 1149 words
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who introduced transcendental meditation to the West and gained fame in the 1960s as the
spiritual guru to the Beatles, died Tuesday at his home and headquarters in Vlodrop, the Netherlands. He is believed to
have been in his 90s. Steven Yellin, a spokesman for the organization, confirmed the Maharishi's death but did not give
a cause.
On Jan. 11, the Maharishi announced that his public work was finished and that he would use his remaining time
to complete a long-running series of published commentaries on the Veda, the oldest sacred Hindu text.
The Maharishi was both an entrepreneur and a monk, a spiritual man who sought a world stage from which to
espouse the joys of inner happiness. His critics called his organization a cult business enterprise. And in the press, in the
1960s and '70s, he was often dismissed as a hippie mystic, the ''Giggling Guru,'' recognizable in the familiar image of
him laughing, sitting cross-legged in a lotus position on a deerskin, wearing a white silk dhoti with a garland of flowers
around his neck beneath an oily, scraggly beard.
In Hindi, ''maha'' means great, and ''rishi'' means seer. ''Maharishi'' is a title traditionally bestowed on Brahmins.
Critics of the yogi say he presented himself with the name, which he was ineligible for because he was from a lower
caste.
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Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a Guide On the Beatles' Spiritual Path, Dies The New York Times February 6, 2008
Wednesday Correction Appended
The Maharishi originated the transcendental meditation movement in 1957 and brought it to the United States in
1959. Known as TM, a trademark, the technique consists of closing one's eyes twice a day for 20 minutes while silently
repeating a mantra to gain deep relaxation, eliminate stress, promote good health and attain clear thinking and inner
fulfillment. Classes now cost $2,500 for a five-day session.
The TM movement was a founding influence on what has grown into a multibillion-dollar self-help industry, and
many people practice similar forms of meditation that have no connection to the Maharishi's movement.
Over the years since TM became popular, many scientists have found physical and mental benefits from mediation in general and transcendental meditation in particular, especially in reducing stress-related ailments.
Since the technique's inception in 1955, the organization says, it has been used to train more than 40,000 teachers,
taught more than five million people, opened thousands of teaching centers and founded hundreds of schools, colleges
and universities.
In the United States, the organization values its assets at about $300 million, with its base in Fairfield, Iowa,
where it operates a university, the Maharishi University of Management. In 2001, disciples of the movement incorporated their own town, Maharishi Vedic City, a few miles north of Fairfield.
Last March, a branch of the organization, Global Financial Capital of New York, moved into new headquarters it
bought in Lower Manhattan.
The visibility and popularity of the organization can largely be attributed to the Beatles. In 1968, the band, with
great publicity, began studying with the Maharishi at his Himalayan retreat, or ashram, in Rishikesh, in northern India.
They went with their wives, the folk singer Donovan, the singer Mike Love, of the Beach Boys, the actress Mia Farrow
and Ms. Farrow's sister Prudence.
They left in the wake of rumors of sexual improprieties by the Maharishi, an avowed celibate, though no sexualmisconduct suits were filed and some of the participants later denied that anything untoward had occurred.
Nevertheless, public interest in the movement had been aroused in the West, and it continued to grow in the 1970s
as the Maharishi took his movement around the world and as its techniques gained respectability in the medical world.
Later in life, the Maharishi refused to discuss the Beatles. Another one of his disciples was the Indian spiritualist
Deepak Chopra, who was a friend of the former Beatle George Harrison and who promotes his own teachings based on
traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine and meditation.
The Maharishi's movement began losing followers the late 1970s, as people were put off by the organization's
promotion of a more advanced form of TM called Yogic Flying, in which practitioners try to summon a surge of energy
to physically lift themselves off the ground. They have never gone beyond the initial stage of flying, described as ''frog
hops.''
Mahesh Prasad Varma was born near the central Indian town of Jabalpur, into a scribe caste family. Called Mahesh, he studied physics at Allahabad University and for the next 13 years became a student and secretary to a holy
man, Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, who the young disciple Mahesh called Guru Dev.
''Right from the beginning the whole purpose was to breathe in his breath,'' the Maharishi wrote in his ''Thirty
Years Around the World: Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment,'' published in 1986. ''This was my ideal. The whole purpose was just to assume myself with Guru Dev.''
After the death of his master in 1953, Mahesh went into seclusion in the Himalayan foothills. He emerged two
years later and began teaching a system of belief, which grew into the worldwide TM movement.
''It would appear that Maharishi cobbled together his teaching after his master died, when he found himself unemployed and out-of-grace with the ashram,'' said Paul Mason, a critic of the Maharishi and the author of a biography,
''The Maharishi: The Biography of the Man Who Gave Transcendental Meditation to the World.'' ''He reinvented himself and became a 'maharishi' and wanted to be seen as a messiah.''
Since 1990, the Maharishi had lived in Vlodrop with about 50 of his adherents, including his ''minister of science
and technology,'' John Hagelin, a Harvard-educated physicist, who is expected to oversee the organization in the United
States.
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Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a Guide On the Beatles' Spiritual Path, Dies The New York Times February 6, 2008
Wednesday Correction Appended
Late in life, the Maharishi tried to breathe new life into TM, establishing in 2000 his ''Global Country of World
Peace,'' with the goals of preventing war, eradicating poverty and promoting environmental sustainability. One effort
tried to reach young people across the United States with the support of celebrities like Donovan and the filmmaker
David Lynch, who went on a speaking tour of colleges to promote the cause.
The Maharishi also sought to rebuild the world according to Vedic principals. He called for the demolition of all
toxic buildings and unhealthy urban environments, even the demolition of historic landmarks if they were not built according to ''Vedic architecture in harmony with Natural Law.'' The Maharishi contended that the White House was
wrongly situated. He said that a more suitable location for the capital of the United States was the small town of Smith
Center, Kan.
In the last years of his life he rarely met with anyone, even his ministers, face-to-face, preferring to speak with followers almost exclusively by closed-circuit television.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: CELEBRITIES (89%); CULTS & SECTS (78%); HINDUS & HINDUISM (78%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (74%); DISEASES & DISORDERS (71%); TEACHING & TEACHERS (61%); COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES (60%); DEATHS & OBITUARIES (78%)
GEOGRAPHIC: ALBANY, NY, USA (79%) IOWA, USA (79%); NEW YORK, USA (79%) UNITED STATES
(92%); EUROPE (88%); NETHERLANDS (90%)
CATEGORY: Medicine and Health
PERSON: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
LOAD-DATE: February 6, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
CORRECTION-DATE: February 15, 2008
CORRECTION: An obituary on Feb. 6 about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who introduced transcendental meditation to
the West and gained fame as the spiritual guru to the Beatles, described incorrectly those who may bear the title of Maharishi, Hindi for ''great seer,'' and misstated his own eligibility for it. The title may be bestowed on people of any caste,
not only Brahmins. He was not ineligible because he was from a lower caste.
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: The Maharishi in 2006 during a video news conference from his headquarters in the Netherlands, where he moved in 1990. An Indian guru who taught the West a form of meditation. (PHOTOGRAPH BY
HERMAN WOUTERS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
The Beatles joined the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, center, in 1967 for a weekend of meditation. (PHOTOGRAPH BY
ASSOCIATED PRESS)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1101 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
Page 229
India's School Shortage Means Glut of Parental Stress The New York Times February 6, 2008 Wednesday
The New York Times
February 6, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
India's School Shortage Means Glut of Parental Stress
BYLINE: By SOMINI SENGUPTA
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Foreign Desk; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 1221 words
DATELINE: NEW DELHI
They offer prayers. They set aside bribe money. Their nights are restless.
This is the winter of disquiet for parents of small children in India, especially here in its prospering, fast-growing
capital, where the demands of ambition and demography collide with a shortage of desirable schools.
This year, admissions for prekindergarten seats in Delhi begin for children as young as 3, and what school they get
into now is widely felt to make or break their educational fate.
And so it was that a businessman, having applied to 15 private schools for his 4-year-old son, rushed to the gates
of a prestigious South Delhi academy one morning last week to see if his child's name had been shortlisted for admissions.
Alas, it had not, and walking back to his car, the fretful father wondered if it would not be better for Indian couples to have a child only after being assured a seat in school. ''You have a kid and you don't have a school to send your
kid to!'' he cried. ''It's crazy. You can't sleep at night.''
In a measure of his anxiety, the father, 36, who runs his own company, refused to divulge his full name for fear of
jeopardizing his son's chances of getting into a good school. He reluctantly agreed to be identified by his first name,
Amit.
The anxiety over school admissions is a parable of desire and frustration in a country with the largest concentration of young people in the world. About 40 percent of India's 1.1 billion citizens are younger than 18; many others are
parents in their 20s and 30s, with young school-age children.
Today, for all but the very poor, government schools are not an option because they are considered weak, and the
competition for choice private schools is fierce.
The scramble is part of the great Indian education rush, playing out across the country and across the socioeconomic spectrum. The striving classes are spending hefty amounts or taking loans to send their children to private
schools. In some cases, children from small towns are commuting more than 40 miles every day to good, or at least
sought-after, schools. New private schools are sprouting, as industrialists, real estate developers and even a handful of
foreign companies eye the Indian education market.
That market is a lot like other things in India. Supply lags far behind demand as cities grow, pocketbooks swell
and parents who themselves may have struggled in their childhoods want something better for their offspring.
The father named Amit acknowledged the cravings of his social class this way: ''Branding has really taken over.
Everyone is looking at what car you're driving, what clothes you're wearing, where your child is going to school.''
A retired civil servant, Vir Singh, 68, recognized this shift in his own family. One of his sons attended government
school and moved to the United States to work as an engineer. Another attended a decent private school here in Delhi
and went on to work for a multinational company, but today refuses to send his daughter to his own alma mater. Mr.
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India's School Shortage Means Glut of Parental Stress The New York Times February 6, 2008 Wednesday
Singh said that son wanted his child to attend none but the city's best. ''Now they want more high-fly schools,'' is how he
put it. ''It's a changed society.''
One morning, in search of a ''high fly'' school, Mr. Singh arrived at a branch of the coveted Delhi Public School
here -- as in Britain, ''public'' means private -- to see if his granddaughter's name had appeared on the admissions
shortlist. No such luck. Mr. Singh grumbled about the school's criteria for shortlisting; he was appalled that the child of
a single parent was getting preference. ''You want the parents to split up?'' he asked incredulously.
The admissions process has never been easy in elite Indian schools. Once, private school admissions were based
on an opaque mix of connections, money and preferences for certain kinds of families for certain kinds of schools. Today, as a result of litigation, court-mandated rules in Delhi have been devised to make the process fairer and more transparent, at least on paper.
Schools are allowed to set their own admissions criteria, but those must be made clear to parents and followed
consistently. Many schools this year have created a point system that rewards girls, students with older siblings in the
same school, children of alumni and, to encourage neighborhood schooling, those who live nearby.
Over the past few weeks, it was hard to find parents who were not complaining about the new rules.
Sridhar and Noopur Kannan, seeking admission to the Delhi Public School for their 4-year-old son, found it absurd that girls were being rewarded, even as they counted their one enviable blessing: Mr. Kannan was an alumnus of
the school, and a member of the screening committee remembered him as a good student.
Rumana Akhtar's alma mater, where her daughter would have had an edge, was impractical because it was far
across town from where she lives. Alok Aggarwal's efforts to ply his connections had done nothing to secure a seat for
his 4-year-old son. Ashok Gupta rued his own lack of connections, but had set aside more than $2,500 in case a ''donation'' would open doors.
Many parents said that despite the new criteria, some schools continued to make exceptions in exchange for contributions to school funds.
The pressures can be felt on the other side of the door as well.
This year, Suman Nath, principal of Tagore International School, in a crowded middle-class neighborhood, received 2,014 applications for 112 prekindergarten seats. The other day, she said, a tailor who stitches clothes for her
family came to appeal on behalf of her child. Government ministers called to lobby on behalf of certain children. A director at another school recalled receiving a phone call from the electricity board, threatening to cut off her school's
power if a certain child was not admitted.
The one change that many parents and school administrators have welcomed is that children are no longer subjected to interviews for admissions. At least now, Mrs. Nath said, ''children aren't experiencing rejection.''
That brought little comfort last Friday afternoon, when Tagore International posted its list of children selected for
admission. Parents elbowed their way through a thick crowd to have a look at the list. Most came away looking bereft.
''They need to open a new school for children who haven't gotten in anywhere,'' said Sarika Chetwani, 28, who
had applied unsuccessfully to 12 schools for her 4-year-old daughter. ''I'm totally messed up. I don't know what to do
next.''
Shailaja Sharma, 26, said her only hope was to find an influential someone to ply another influential someone with
money. Mandira Dev Sengupta, carrying her 3-year-old-son son, Rio, in her arms, bit her lip and fought back tears. After 17 applications, Rio had been admitted to only one school, and it was not one that she particularly liked.
This week, even before the nursery school race was over, another race had begun. Twelfth graders across India
braced for final examinations, which determine whether students will get coveted university seats, and where.
On Monday, The Hindustan Times published tips for parents of exam takers. ''Do not nag your child,'' was one.
''Remember, he is not a machine that can study for four to five hours at a stretch,'' was another.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
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India's School Shortage Means Glut of Parental Stress The New York Times February 6, 2008 Wednesday
SUBJECT: CHILDREN (90%); PRIVATE SCHOOLS (89%); EDUCATION SYSTEMS & INSTITUTIONS (89%);
ENTREPRENEURSHIP (77%); ACADEMIC ADMISSIONS (72%); REAL ESTATE (50%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (60%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW DELHI, INDIA (92%); DELHI, INDIA (88%) INDIA (96%)
LOAD-DATE: February 6, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: A woman checks a list to see if her child has been admitted to the Delhi Public School of
Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.
Parents crowd around the list of children accepted to Tagore International School. The school, in New Delhi, received
2,014 applications for 112 prekindergarten seats.
Children occupy coveted seats at the private Tagore Preparatory School in New Delhi. Except for the very poor, government schools are not considered an option.(PHOTOGRAPHS BY TOMAS MUNITA FOR THE NEW YORK
TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1102 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 6, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
Paid Notice: Deaths ROMIGUIERE, ANNALEE KIERNAN CUTRONE,
''LEE''
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Classified; Pg. 11
LENGTH: 419 words
ROMIGUIERE--Annalee Kiernan Cutrone, ''Lee'', traded the catwalks of Paris for a diner under the viaduct on
125th street. Afterall she was born and raised on the Upper Westside, the eldest of nine, daughter to Bertha and Peter, a
NYC fireman. Her glamorous escape to the city-of-light merely set the scene for her homecoming and marriage to a
streetwise local boy.
A ''creature des reves,'' to debonair Frenchmen, Annalee Cutrone became a familiar face in the neighborhood as
both a mother and entrepreneur. When she wasn't volunteering at Columbia Greenhouse Nursery, the April 1962 Playboy covergirl could be found slinging hash at her 125th St. Diner, or up the block pouring a stiff drink at her bar the
712. When a small, below street level location at the corner of Amsterdam and 116th opened up, Annalee's The Restaurant moved in. Across from the Columbia gates, Annalee's was a crossroads where students could afford to dine with
the likes of Edward Said and Zbigniew Brzezinski to name a few. Annalee herself was a true neighborhood personality;
not the sort broadcast indiscriminately and everywhere, but one who is well known to you if you happened to have been
there. Any passerby seeing such a classic beauty stepping out of the AMC Pacer she won in a Fuji Photo contest had in
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Paid Notice: Deaths ROMIGUIERE, ANNALEE KIERNAN CUTRONE, ''LEE'' The New York Times February 6,
2008 Wednesday
their memory an unforgetable snapshot. We shall always remember Annalee moving blithely among us, an ethereal
blonde with a delicate toeto-heel gait, gliding, it seemed, a feather's breath off the ground. Her soothing voice and blueeyed gaze touched with a loving caress, so tangible were the affections she held in her heart. Indeed, Annalee was the
very personification of the gentlest love to the families Agnez, Attardo, Cutrone, Dajani, Drelich, Duff, Kiernan, Romiguiere and Sadlon, and to her dear friends Madeleine, Ingrid, Joyce and Rosemarie. She leaves behind a husband and
an ex-husband both devoted to her and remaining steadfastly by her side until her passing in Connecticut where the family used to spend their summers. Her daughterOona and her son Don were also her neighbors, as adoring of her as her
grandsons Drew and Shane. Annalee, a woman of pure grace, always seemed a diamond in the rough where the rough,
in her mind, could glisten just as brightly as the streetlamps along the Champs-Elysses. And so she passed kissing her
husband with a last breath while he sang the same Estonian lullaby her mother used to sing while rocking infant Annalee to sleep. Remember Annalee as you will, and always.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: RESTAURANTS (78%); DEATHS & OBITUARIES (78%); MARRIAGE (76%); FAMILY (76%)
GEOGRAPHIC: PARIS, FRANCE (90%); NEW YORK, NY, USA (90%) NEW YORK, USA (90%); CONNECTICUT, USA (51%) FRANCE (90%); UNITED STATES (90%)
LOAD-DATE: February 6, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Paid Death Notice
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1103 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 6, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
Calendar
BYLINE: By FLORENCE FABRICANT
SECTION: Section F; Column 0; Dining, Dining Out/Cultural Desk; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 234 words
Salmon on the Syllabus
A class on various kinds of salmon, including a tasting, will be held tomorrow from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Starwich,
525 West 42nd Street. There is no charge but reservations are required: (212) 462-2310.
Dip Into Dumplings
Page 233
Calendar The New York Times February 6, 2008 Wednesday
Children and adults can make their own pork, chicken and vegetarian dumplings, and then indulge in their handiwork on Sunday from 1 to 2:30 p.m. or 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the China Institute, 125 East 65th Street. The family workshop
is $35 for a child and an adult who are institute members, $40 for nonmembers and $15 for additional participants:
(212) 744-8181, extension 118, or www.chinainstitute.org.
Every Bite Counts
The Mermaid Inn restaurants, 96 Second Avenue (Fifth Street), (212) 674-5870, and 568 Amsterdam Avenue
(88th Street), (212) 799-7400, will donate 5 percent of total sales on Sundays to Kiva, a group that lends money to entrepreneurs in low-development countries.
Charitable Edibles
A tasting benefit for the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program, which helps high school students nationwide
who want to go into the restaurant and hospitality business, will be held Feb. 27 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Pier 60, 23rd Street
and the Hudson River. More than three dozen restaurants will participate. The event will honor Alfred Portale. Tickets
are $600 and $1,000; general admission, after 6:30 p.m., is $450: (212) 974-7111 or www.ccapinc.org.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: CURRICULA (90%); CHILDREN (77%); HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (73%); STUDENTS & STUDENT LIFE (72%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (67%); MEAT FREE DIETS (76%)
COMPANY: 2ND AVENUE DESIGN (55%); CNINSURE INC (71%)
TICKER: CISG (NASDAQ) (71%)
LOAD-DATE: February 6, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO (PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRISTIE JOHNSTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Schedule
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1104 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 5, 2008 Tuesday
Late Edition - Final
The Art Of Giving A Bear Hug
BYLINE: By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN.
The latest news on mergers and acquisitions can be found at nytimes.com/dealbook.
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; DEALBOOK; Pg. 1
Page 234
The Art Of Giving A Bear Hug The New York Times February 5, 2008 Tuesday
LENGTH: 902 words
Steven Ballmer was laying it on thick.
He was explaining ever so politely how Yahoo and Microsoft, the company he runs, would make a beautiful marriage.
''Together we can unleash new levels of innovation, delivering enhanced user experiences, breakthroughs in
search, and new advertising platform capabilities,'' Mr. Ballmer wrote to Jerry Yang of Yahoo and his board last week.
''We hope that you and your board share our enthusiasm.''
As if.
This was no love letter. Mr. Ballmer was following a storied tradition on Wall Street: the bear hug letter. Before
mounting a hostile bid and going in for the kill, suitors send a bear hug -- named for a popular wrestling maneuver -- to
their targets.
One part Emily Post and two parts Machiavelli, these oh-so-cordial notes are sent by unwanted suitors in an attempt to broker a peaceful deal. But they always carry an implicit threat: Rebuff this advance and you're in for a fight.
Of course, less than 24 hours after sending the letter to Yahoo, Microsoft made it public, just in case there was any
confusion that it was a private correspondence among old friends. (At least Mr. Ballmer was kind enough to give Mr.
Yang a courtesy call before going public with his $44.6 billion bid.)
Some bear hug letters are kept from public view and are sent in confidence, in hopes of bringing a company to the
negotiating table. Those are known as teddy bear hugs. But others, like Mr. Ballmer's, are written for public consumption. Those are known -- less politely -- as grizzly bear hugs.
It's all a lot of high-priced theater. Companies might as well take out ads in the papers with the headline, ''Fair
Warning: We've Just Put a Price on Your Head.''
This unusual letter-writing practice dates back to the early 1980s. Bruce Wasserstein, Lazard's chairman and a
longtime player in the mergers game, tracks the practice back to 1982, when Boone Pickens sent a bear hug letter to
Cities Service, a small oil company.
Mr. Pickens made ''an offer directly to Cities' C.E.O. and announced it to the world,'' Mr. Wasserstein wrote in his
book ''Big Deal.'' ''The likelihood of that happening was slim. However, that wasn't the point. Pickens just wanted to
build pressure on Cities' incumbent managers and board of directors.''
Mr. Ballmer is taking a similar tough-guy approach. Mr. Ballmer, who famously threw a chair across a room when
he learned one of his lieutenants had taken a job at Google and uses four-letter words as often as most people breathe, is
hardly a warm and fuzzy bear. His bear hug letter wasn't written for Yahoo's board -- it was written for Yahoo's shareholders and the investing public. Like a big, burly bear, Mr. Ballmer is squeezing Yahoo.
In the most courteous way possible, Mr. Ballmer reminded Yahoo's board -- and at the same time conveniently
disclosed to the public -- that Microsoft had tried to buy Yahoo last year when Yahoo's stock price was much higher.
He then explained -- politely -- that Yahoo had rejected that overture based on its argument of ''the potential upside'' of a ''reformulated strategy based on certain operational initiatives.'' Of course, he added, ''a year has gone by, and
the competitive situation has not improved'' -- a very nice way of saying that Yahoo's management had failed spectacularly.
Mr. Ballmer's letter -- which, let's be fair, was written by an army of bankers and lawyers -- is vaguely reminiscent of dozens of other bear hug letters, many of which share the same language and tone.
Comcast tried to push around AT&T before buying AT&T Broadband six years ago. It didn't exactly ingratiate itself with AT&T's board, because it too immediately released its bear hug letter to the public. Rationalizing its loose lips,
the company said: ''In light of the significance of this proposal to both your shareholders and ours, we are publicly releasing the text of this letter.''
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The Art Of Giving A Bear Hug The New York Times February 5, 2008 Tuesday
Microsoft, too, did its own dance about going public with its letter, explaining, somewhat curiously, that it was
taking the step to avoid ''the potential for selective disclosures.'' (As if.)
Not all bear hug letters are disingenuous, as illustrated by Louis Gerstner, who wooed Lotus by mail when he was
chief executive of I.B.M.
''We respect the creative environment and entrepreneurial spirit you have fostered at Lotus,'' Mr. Gerstner wrote
to Lotus in 1995. ''We do not want to change that. We believe Lotus's employees are among the best in the industry at
developing innovative and successful products.''
Once the deal was done, I.B.M. actually integrated Lotus well and kept its word about respecting the creative environment. It was a poster boy for the teddy bear hug. On the other hand, Comcast quickly rid itself of many of AT&T
Broadband's top employees.
Some tough guys, of course, don't bother with hugs, bear or otherwise.
Take Larry Ellison, the chief executive of Oracle. When he decided to buy PeopleSoft, he simply announced that
he was starting a hostile bid. No letter to the board. No courtesy call to Craig Conway, the chief executive. Nothing.
Mr. Ellison was spoiling for a fight. Not one to mince words -- and clearly a lover of bears and even dogs -- he
later said: ''I think at one point Craig thought I was going to shoot his dog. I love animals. If Craig and the dog were
standing next to each other, trust me -- I have one bullet -- it wouldn't be for the dog.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS (78%); TAKEOVERS (78%); COMPANY STRATEGY (78%);
BOARDS OF DIRECTORS (78%); THEATER (63%); MERGERS (77%)
COMPANY: MICROSOFT CORP (58%); GOOGLE INC (50%); YAHOO INC (95%)
TICKER: MSFT (NASDAQ) (58%); GOOG (NASDAQ) (50%); GGEA (LSE) (50%); YHOO (NASDAQ) (95%);
YAH (LSE) (92%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (58%); SIC7372 PREPACKAGED SOFTWARE (58%);
NAICS518112 WEB SEARCH PORTALS (95%); SIC8999 SERVICES, NEC (50%); SIC7375 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES (95%); NAICS518111 INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS (95%); SIC7373 COMPUTER
INTEGRATED SYSTEMS DESIGN (95%); NAICS519130 INTERNET PUBLISHING & BROADCASTING & WEB
SEARCH PORTALS (95%); NAICS517110 WIRED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS (95%)
PERSON: STEVEN A BALLMER (94%); BRUCE WASSERSTEIN (52%); MICHAEL MCMAHON (55%); JERRY
YANG (72%)
LOAD-DATE: February 5, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Steven Ballmer's letter to Yahoo follows a storied tradition. (PHOTOGRAPH BY KIMBERLY
WHITE/GETTY IMAGES)(pg. C5)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1105 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
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A Young Generation, Eager to Tackle Problems The New York Times February 4, 2008 Monday
The New York Times
February 4, 2008 Monday
Late Edition - Final
A Young Generation, Eager to Tackle Problems
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Editorial Desk; LETTER; Pg. 22
LENGTH: 223 words
To the Editor:
Nicholas D. Kristof brings welcome attention to a generation solving crises, not just naming them (''The Age of
Ambition,'' column, Jan. 27).
They are a different crowd from my graying group of social entrepreneurs, whose personal and programmatic
success was often hailed as a positive aberration.
College students and colleges are changed fundamentally. Students are launching sustainable ventures -- some
nonprofit, some for-profit, some hybrid -- that attack social problems (for example, creating products that offset global
warming and introducing solutions to campus binge drinking).
They are no longer on the margins of the curriculum: a handful of colleges and universities are equipping these
passionate, optimistic, pragmatic networkers with tools that increase the odds of their work changing the world.
Some, like Clark University, offer tracks in social entrepreneurship taught by established practitioners.
This country and this world desperately need young entrepreneurs. It is our shared responsibility to engage,
trumpet and support them so that their work is far from an aberration.
Katya Fels Smyth
Ashfield, Mass., Jan. 28, 2008
The writer is the founder of the Full Frame Initiative, an organization that helps marginalized communities garner
the resources and services needed to thrive.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: LETTERS & COMMENTS (90%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (90%); STUDENTS & STUDENT LIFE
(76%); EDITORIALS & OPINIONS (74%); COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES (71%); GLOBAL WARMING (69%)
LOAD-DATE: February 4, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Letter
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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Campaign Conflicts Are Not Over Core Goals, but How to Get There The New York Times February 4, 2008 Monday
Correction Appended
The New York Times
February 4, 2008 Monday
Correction Appended
Late Edition - Final
Campaign Conflicts Are Not Over Core Goals, but How to Get There
BYLINE: By ROBIN TONER
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; POLITICAL MEMO; Pg. 18
LENGTH: 1296 words
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
Although the surviving presidential candidates furiously attack one another over the details of their tax, health and
Iraq proposals, there is more consensus in the parties these days than disagreement.
Democrats would roll back the Bush administration's tax cuts for wealthy Americans, for example, while Republicans would extend them. Republicans would try to make private health insurance more affordable through tax incentives, while Democrats would use subsidies and new government programs to try to cover every American.
Much of the conflict within the parties revolves around the candidates' character, leadership skills and consistency
-- rather than the big questions of taxing, spending and foreign affairs. In contrast to some primary elections, like 1968
for the Democrats or 1976 for the Republicans, these are not parties fundamentally in conflict over core principles.
Still, the candidates do disagree over means, if not ends. They do differ over the priority given problems. And given that several candidates have ''evolved'' on issues as the campaign has progressed, they do challenge one another's
commitment and sincerity.
Health Care
Some of the sharpest recent exchanges on the Democratic side have come over health care.
Both Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton have proposed multibillion dollar plans to expand coverage to the 47 million uninsured people in the United States, financed in part by rolling back Mr. Bush's tax
cuts for those making more than $250,000 a year.
Both would expand coverage by a combination of subsidies for families and employers and the creation of public
and private programs through which Americans can buy affordable coverage. But while Mrs. Clinton would require
everyone to acquire coverage, Mr. Obama would require insurance only for children.
The Obama campaign argues that Mrs. Clinton's requirement is onerous and unfair; Clinton forces counter that unless Democrats start with the goal of universal coverage, they will never come close to achieving it.
The debate over details troubles analysts like Robert D. Reischauer, president of the Urban Institute, who argues
that it obscures the overwhelming challenge of passing any big health plan. ''Laying out the vision is fine, but facing the
reality of how difficult fundamental change will be for a sector that represents 16 percent of our G.D.P, has to be front
and center,'' Mr. Reischauer said, referring to the health care industry's prominence in the economy.
While Democrats argue over universal coverage, Drew E. Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a
health care research group, said Republicans ''are articulating a different priority.'' The Republicans present their goal as
''creating a more efficient and therefore more affordable health care marketplace,'' Mr. Altman said.
Senator John McCain of Arizona, for example, proposes a new system of tax credits to encourage people to buy
insurance in the private marketplace.
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Campaign Conflicts Are Not Over Core Goals, but How to Get There The New York Times February 4, 2008 Monday
Correction Appended
Mitt Romney emphasizes giving states more flexibility with federal health money, encouraging deregulation of
private health insurance markets and increasing the deductibility of medical expenses. This represents an evolution for
Mr. Romney; the plan he signed into law as governor in Massachusetts included a requirement that everyone obtain
insurance, which drew fire from some conservatives and from the McCain forces as a ''big government mandate.''
Mike Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, promises to expand coverage with ''market-based, consumerbased policies'' like tax credits to buy private insurance.
Taxes
Here again, the distance between the parties is vast. Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform,
notes that while the Republican candidates ''didn't start in the same place'' on the Bush tax cuts, ''they've all moved in the
same direction.'' The main Republican candidates support the idea of making permanent the Bush administration's tax
cuts, which will otherwise soon begin to expire, and adding cuts for businesses and individuals.
As Mr. McCain puts it on his Web site, ''Entrepreneurs should not be taxed into submission.''
Even so, this subject has led to some sharp exchanges between Mr. Romney and Mr. McCain, who initially voted
against the Bush tax cuts on fiscal grounds. Mr. Romney has argued that Mr. McCain's initial votes throw his conservatism into question.
The Democrats would roll back the Bush tax cuts on the most affluent, and replace them with an array of tax cuts
for middle- and lower-income Americans. Mr. Obama, for example, would expand the earned-income tax credit for
low-income workers and create a ''Making Work Pay'' tax credit of up to $1,000 per family. ''When you work in this
country, you should not be poor,'' Mr. Obama said Sunday.
Mrs. Clinton has proposed middle-class tax cuts for health care, caregiving, energy efficiency and college costs, as
well as what aides characterize as the ''most aggressive matching tax cuts for savings'' that could produce nest eggs of
hundreds of thousands of dollars by retirement.
Both Democrats are also pushing major plans to stimulate the economy. Mrs. Clinton proposes aggressive action
to deal with the home mortgage crisis, including a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures and a freeze in rates on many
subprime loans. She cited her housing proposals as one of the big differences in economic policy between her and her
opponent in last week's debate.
''I think it's imperative that we approach this mortgage crisis with the seriousness that it is presenting,'' she said.
''There are 95,000 homes in foreclosure in California right now. I want a moratorium on foreclosures for 90 days, so we
can try to work out keeping people in their homes, instead of having them lose their homes.''
On the Republican side, there is one huge distinction among the candidates: Mr. Huckabee has proposed scrapping
the income tax system and replacing it with a national sales tax.
Social Security
The looming strains in the nation's entitlement system -- especially Medicare, the health program for the aged, and
to a lesser extent Social Security -- are likely to be one of the most difficult domestic challenges the next president will
face. But the issue has come to the forefront only briefly in the primary season, in a skirmish among the Democrats.
Both Democrats oppose the creation of private investment accounts in Social Security, which Mr. Bush sought in
2005. Both have expressed support for a bipartisan commission to look at the long-term financial health of the program.
But Mr. Obama has expressed interest in raising the cap on income subject to the Social Security tax -- currently
$97,500 -- while Mrs. Clinton has stopped short of that.
Iraq
On the Democratic side, the debate over Iraq has revolved around one big difference between Mr. Obama and
Mrs. Clinton: Mr. Obama, who was not in the Senate at the time, opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning, while
Mrs. Clinton voted for the resolution authorizing the use of force. Obama allies argue that his stance underscores his
good judgment and should override any fears about his lack of foreign policy experience.
Both candidates opposed the Bush administration's troop buildup. And both have proposed phased withdrawals of
combat troops from Iraq. Mr. Obama has promised to have combat troops out of Iraq 16 months after taking office. Mrs.
Clinton has said her goal is to remove most troops in her first year.
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Campaign Conflicts Are Not Over Core Goals, but How to Get There The New York Times February 4, 2008 Monday
Correction Appended
On the Republican side, Mr. McCain has been a forceful advocate for the troop buildup in Iraq and has opposed a
timeline for withdrawal. In recent weeks, he has tried to portray Mr. Romney as occasionally wavering in his support, a
charge fiercely denounced by Mr. Romney.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (90%); POLITICAL PARTIES (90%); PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
(90%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (90%); US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008 (90%); POLITICAL CANDIDATES (90%); US DEMOCRATIC PARTY (90%); TAX INCENTIVES (90%); US REPUBLICAN PARTY (90%);
TAX LAW (90%); TAXES & TAXATION (90%); US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (90%); HEALTH CARE
(89%); ELECTIONS (78%); HEALTH CARE POLICY (78%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (78%); FAMILY
(78%); HEALTH INSURANCE (78%); HEALTH CARE COSTS (78%); PRIMARY ELECTIONS (73%);
WEALTHY PEOPLE (73%); FOUNDATIONS (65%)
PERSON: HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (83%); BARACK OBAMA (83%); MITT ROMNEY (50%); JOHN
MCCAIN (50%)
GEOGRAPHIC: ARIZONA, USA (79%); GEORGIA, USA (79%) UNITED STATES (96%); IRAQ (92%)
LOAD-DATE: February 4, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
CORRECTION-DATE: February 5, 2008
CORRECTION: An article on Monday about the presidential candidates' stances on health care, taxes and other issues
misstated the cap on income subject to the Social Security tax. It is now $102,000 -- not $97,500, the cap for 2007.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Mike Huckabee tossing a torn-up tax form at a rally in Macon, Ga., on Sunday. Mr. Huckabee
has proposed scrapping the nation's income tax system and replacing it with a national sales tax. (PHOTOGRAPH BY
ERIK S. LESSER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1107 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 3, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Yahoo Sale Could Be Bad for Minnows
BYLINE: By BRAD STONE and MIGUEL HELFT
SECTION: Section BU; Column 0; Money and Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1634 words
Page 240
Yahoo Sale Could Be Bad for Minnows The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO
-- FOR decades, Silicon Valley has been the land of eternal optimism and high anxiety, traits that pitch into overdrive anytime a seismic business event washes across the corporate and entrepreneurial landscape here -- like, for example, Microsoft's blockbuster $45 billion bid for Yahoo on Friday.
The legions of high-tech entrepreneurs who have set up camp here with clever ideas, a willingness to scramble
for financing and the energy to weather round-the-clock days have typically tethered their dreams to a singular outcome:
getting fabulously rich by selling to one of the three Internet giants, Microsoft, Google or Yahoo.
But if Microsoft's takeover bid for Yahoo succeeds, that calculus becomes more harrowing because of a simple
reality: the field of large, lushly endowed suitors will narrow by one. And that is a fact sure to jangle nerves already
strained by growing fears of an economic recession.
''From a start-up and investor perspective, if there are more companies trying to vie for the same businesses, there
are more exits,'' said Bismarck Lepe, a former Google employee and now chief executive of Ooyala, a year-old video
host and advertising company. ''It's not great for competition if there are only two acquisition targets instead of three.''
To be sure, a Microsoft-Yahoo deal could be good for Silicon Valley, funneling money into the economy and triggering a round of copycat deals as other players like Google and the News Corporation look to keep up.
But Microsoft is buying Yahoo because it has steadily fallen behind Google in the lucrative online search market
and because the future of computing may not be forever linked to the desktop market that Microsoft now dominates.
Apparently unable to keep up with Google through internal efforts, the legendary software giant in Redmond, Wash.,
has gone outside to solve its problems by trying to buy Yahoo.
So the rationale for Friday's proposed mega-deal is based on Microsoft's own particular corporate needs and may
not be a harbinger of rampant deal-making in the Valley.
Moreover, with an economic recession looming nationally, the unsolicited bid for Yahoo comes at a difficult time
for the normally cocksure world of high tech. Visibly, much of the region maintains an almost obstinate belief that it
can weather any economic storm that emerges. Consumers are still flocking online, advertising is following, and the
current generation of start-ups has been built frugally -- with lessons from the dot-com bust of several years ago still
very much in mind.
Venture capitalists also raised nearly $35 billion last year, more than at any other time since before the dot-com
crash, according to the National Venture Capital Association. Those financiers are ready to make bets on countless entrepreneurs who hope to build the next Google, Facebook or YouTube.
But as the stock market lolls and an outsider, Microsoft, bids to gobble up a company that once was one of Silicon
Valley's crown jewels, the region's innovators and corporate stewards appear to be growing ever more anxious. That
trait is most visible in the top executives at public companies whose eyes are trained on parallel declines in consumer
confidence and public equities.
Shares of Google had dropped nearly 20 percent since the beginning of the year -- and then they fell an additional
8.6 percent on Friday after Microsoft made the play for Yahoo. Apple has dropped 33 percent since the start of the year.
That was enough to prompt Steven P. Jobs, Apple's chief executive, to send a reassuring memo to options-sick employees last week that concluded: ''Hang in there.''
Many in the typically overconfident venture capital world say it is foolish to believe the technology sector is
somehow sheltered from the storm.
''All markets are linked,'' says Peter Rip, a general partner at Crosslink Capital, adding that the pain might trickle
down from the public markets to large private companies and eventually to smaller start-ups. ''We just asked every one
of our companies to take a sharp pencil to their hiring plan this year. It is going to be a bumpy ride for a while.''
IN a blog posting this week titled ''Downturn, Now What?,'' Will Price, a partner at the San Francisco venture capital firm Hummer Winblad, said the recession could punish technology investors for succumbing yet again to investment fads and high valuations for companies without proven business models.
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Yahoo Sale Could Be Bad for Minnows The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
He calls these companies ''Field of Dreams'' start-ups, because their entrepreneurs believed that if they built popular online services, advertisers would inevitably come. Now that might not necessarily be the case.
''There's been a suspension of belief'' at Internet companies without a proven way to earn money ''that the market
is going to let you off the hook,'' Mr. Price said. ''These companies are going to have a hard time getting past experimental interest from advertisers when they want to start attracting really big spending.''
MOST Valley residents, including even the most pessimistic venture capitalists, are quick to say that the Internet
economy would be in an enviable position if there were a recession. Mutual funds, media companies and private equity
firms are all trying to get in on the Internet action. The online advertising market is booming.
This is where true believers are likely to ward off recessionary fear with two numbers: 21 and 7. Twenty-one percent of the average American's media-consumption time is spent online, analysts say, yet only 7 percent of all advertising is online. The hope is that advertising will inevitably shift online and close this gap, whatever the economic outlook.
''Consumer eyeballs are flooding from traditional media to the Internet,'' said Seth Sternberg, chief executive of
the online chat company Meebo. ''Recession or not, big companies have to figure out how to do really great brand advertising on the Web to keep their brands in front of users.''
For that reason, many Internet executives say that traditional media companies -- not Web properties -- are likely
to be the first victims of any advertising pullback. ''If our advertisers cut their marketing budget by 15 or 20 percent, that
will hurt,'' said John Battelle, who ran the Industry Standard magazine during the first dot-com boom and now runs the
online ad network Federated Media. (The New York Times Company has invested in Federated.) ''But my guess is that
they will cut it first in print or TV and not online.''
Still, the dot-com bust -- and its destructive reverberations -- continues to cast a shadow over even the most optimistic Internet evangelist. In 2000, as the stock market cratered and fear spread, venture capitalists pulled the plug on
hundreds of start-ups and wrote off millions of dollars in losses.
Frank Addante's online advertising company at that time, L90, went public and reached a tantalizing market capitalization of $500 million before the dot-com bubble popped and L90 was forced to sell its technology to a rival and file
for bankruptcy protection.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Addante is keeping one eye on the economy.
Now the chief executive of another online advertising company, the Rubicon Project, Mr. Addante, like other entrepreneurs, is confident that the tech sector would survive an economic downturn.
But he is also hedging his bets. Earlier this month, the company raised $21 million in venture capital before it
needed a cash infusion, in part, Mr. Addante said, because such capital may not be available in the coming year.
''When money is on the table and it's a decent deal, sometimes you have to go and take it,'' he said. ''You never
know what's going to happen in the markets.''
LIKE Mr. Addante, Max Levchin, the chief executive of Slide, says that the United States is on the road to recession and that Silicon Valley start-ups could be headed for a venture capital-mandated round of belt tightening. So Mr.
Levchin, who co-founded PayPal, a company that successfully weathered the dot-com crash, decided to take the money
while the going was good: He recently raised $55 million in additional financing for Slide, a company that makes videoand photo-sharing tools.
''We determined that if we were going to raise money, we would have a much easier time of it at the end of 2007
than at any time during 2008,'' he said. ''I don't think I was the only guy in town who thought that.''
Mr. Lepe of Ooyala recalls his drives to Mountain View, Calif., in 2001, when he would see a new empty billboard off Highway 101 each week as pessimism spread through the community.
The lesson: Economic downturns have a way of fostering panic and transforming a community's collective consciousness. ''So much in the Valley -- whether a company gets funded or not -- happens on gut instinct,'' Mr. Lepe said.
''If someone's house isn't being sold and they can't go out and buy their yacht, it does have an impact on their psychology.''
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Yahoo Sale Could Be Bad for Minnows The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
And what psychological impact could a potential Microsoft-Yahoo deal have on Silicon Valley's heady business
environment? While he worries about the reduced number of potential acquirers, Mr. Lepe also speculates it could have
a positive outcome, if it stimulates a flurry of deal-making in the industry.
But not many entrepreneurs are holding their breath -- for a new round of deals or for a sea change in the current
business climate -- because of a possible megamerger of Microsoft and Yahoo. Mr. Sternberg of Meebo said a marriage
of the two Internet titans could benefit start-ups like his if Yahoo and Microsoft were able to deliver on the promise of a
more efficient online advertising system. But that could be years off.
''Does this impact our world overnight? Definitely not,'' he said, ''at least as far as I can see.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ENTREPRENEURSHIP (90%); VENTURE CAPITAL (89%); TAKEOVERS (89%); INTERNET &
WWW (89%); RECESSION (88%); ECONOMIC NEWS (88%); ONLINE ADVERTISING (75%); ONLINE MARKETING & ADVERTISING (75%); SOFTWARE MAKERS (73%); MARKETING & ADVERTISING (67%);
MARKETING & ADVERTISING AGENCIES (66%); DESKTOP COMPUTERS (63%); PERSONAL COMPUTERS
(64%); COMPUTER SOFTWARE (77%); INTERNET SOCIAL NETWORKING (70%)
COMPANY: GOOGLE INC (90%); MICROSOFT CORP (90%); NEWS CORP (66%); FACEBOOK INC (50%);
YAHOO INC (95%)
TICKER: GOOG (NASDAQ) (90%); GGEA (LSE) (90%); MSFT (NASDAQ) (90%); NWS (NYSE) (66%); NCRA
(LSE) (66%); YHOO (NASDAQ) (95%); YAH (LSE) (92%); NWS (ASX) (66%); NWS (NASDAQ) (66%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS518112 WEB SEARCH PORTALS (95%); SIC8999 SERVICES, NEC (90%); SIC7375 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES (95%); NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (90%); SIC7372 PREPACKAGED SOFTWARE (90%); NAICS518111 INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS (95%); SIC7373 COMPUTER INTEGRATED SYSTEMS DESIGN (95%); NAICS519130 INTERNET PUBLISHING & BROADCASTING &
WEB SEARCH PORTALS (95%); NAICS517110 WIRED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS (95%)
GEOGRAPHIC: BISMARCK, ND, USA (70%); SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA, USA (93%) WASHINGTON,
USA (79%); NORTH DAKOTA, USA (70%); CALIFORNIA, USA (93%) UNITED STATES (93%)
LOAD-DATE: February 3, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Max Levchin, a PayPal founder who now runs Slide, says he expects that investors in start-ups
will rein in spending. (PHOTOGRAPH BY DAMON WINTER/THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg.BU7) ILLUSTRATION (ILLUSTRATION BY CHRISTOPHE VORLET)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1108 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 3, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Page 243
Eureka! It Really Takes Years of Hard Work The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
Eureka! It Really Takes Years of Hard Work
BYLINE: By JANET RAE-DUPREE.
Janet Rae-Dupree writes about science and emerging technology in Silicon Valley.
SECTION: Section BU; Column 0; Money and Business/Financial Desk; UNBOXED; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 1066 words
WE'VE all heard the tales of the apple falling on Newton's head and Archimedes leaping naked from his bath
shrieking ''Eureka!'' Many of us have even heard that eBay was created by a guy who realized that he could help his
fiancee sell Pez dispensers online.
The fact that all three of these epiphany stories are pure fiction stops us short. As humans, we want to believe that
creativity and innovation come in flashes of pure brilliance, with great thunderclaps and echoing ahas. Innovators and
other creative types, we believe, stand apart from the crowd, wielding secrets and magical talents beyond the rest of us.
Balderdash. Epiphany has little to do with either creativity or innovation. Instead, innovation is a slow process of
accretion, building small insight upon interesting fact upon tried-and-true process. Just as an oyster wraps layer upon
layer of nacre atop an offending piece of sand, ultimately yielding a pearl, innovation percolates within hard work over
time.
''The most useful way to think of epiphany is as an occasional bonus of working on tough problems,'' explains
Scott Berkun in his 2007 book, ''The Myths of Innovation.'' ''Most innovations come without epiphanies, and when
powerful moments do happen, little knowledge is granted for how to find the next one. To focus on the magic moments
is to miss the point. The goal isn't the magic moment: it's the end result of a useful innovation.''
Everything results from accretion, Mr. Berkun says: ''I didn't invent the English language. I have to use a language that someone else created in order to talk to you. So the process by which something is created is always incremental. It always involves using stuff that other people have made.''
The innovator Jim Marggraff, creator of an interactive world globe called the Odyssey Atlasphere, the LeapPad
reading platform for children and LeapFrog's Fly talking pen, explains that each creation built on the work that went
into making the previous one. That same process of accretion holds true for the Pulse Smartpen, introduced last week by
his new company, Livescribe; he hopes that the product, which records audio while it tracks what the pen writes, will
bring back computing to its pen-and-paper roots.
''The aha moments grow out of hours of thought and study,'' he says. ''If you look at my innovations, there's a
common theme. I take something familiar, intuitive and ubiquitous and recast it in a manner that will redefine its use to
drive profound change.''
The Atlasphere grew from his dismay that one in seven American adults could not find the United States on an
unmarked world map, and that one in four couldn't find the Pacific Ocean. He sees geographic illiteracy as a big obstacle to world peace, so he packed his interactive globe with games and tens of thousands of geographic and cultural facts,
all available at the touch of a stylus.
The ''near touch'' technology that went into the Atlasphere might have other educational benefits, Mr. Marggraff
realized. A self-described ''student of learning and learning systems,'' he had been puzzling over how to help his 4-yearold son understand reading.
''I was pointing to the words on the page and trying to explain what a word was, but I'd watch him and realize that
he didn't have any idea what I was talking about,'' he says. ''This black-ink thing here is called a letter -- I realized this
was all very abstract.''
Mr. Marggraff likes to go to bed with one or more problems on his mind. ''Typically, I'll fall asleep chewing on it
and then I'll wake up at 4 in the morning with some sort of solution,'' he says.
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Eureka! It Really Takes Years of Hard Work The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
That's a common theme in innovation, according to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist at the Claremont
Graduate University in California. ''Cognitive accounts of what happens during incubation assume that some kind of
information processing keeps going on even when we are not aware of it, even while we are asleep,'' he writes in ''Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.''
This time, Mr. Marggraff awoke at 4 in the morning determined to ''flatten out'' the globe so he could use the Atlasphere's near-touch technology on a single page and, ultimately, within a specially designed book to help children
learn how to read. Though some would call this an epiphany, it took years of trial and error to make the LeapPad a reality.
''There's an aha moment followed by a ton of work to figure out what it is that's actually going to work,'' agrees
Douglas K. van Duyne, co-founder of Naviscent, a Web usability consulting firm. ''It goes back to that old saw that invention is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. The idea of epiphany is a dreamer's paradise where people
want to believe that things are easier than they are. It takes a huge amount of determination and effort to follow
through.''
Businesses want to believe that a brilliant mind or a brilliant idea can make or break their innovation efforts, Mr.
Berkun says. The myth of epiphany has a long history because it's appealing to believe that there is a short, simple reason that things happen. The myth has staying power because there is a tiny core of truth within it.
''But as soon as you dig into what happened five minutes before that magic moment, or a day, or a week, or a
month,'' he says, ''you realize that there is a much more complicated story in the background.''
THAT more complicated story most often begins and ends with a determined, hard-working and open-minded
person trying, and failing, to find a solution to a given problem.
''Successful entrepreneurs do not wait until 'the Muse kisses them' and gives them a 'bright idea': they go to
work,'' Peter F. Drucker says in ''Innovation and Entrepreneurship.'' ''Altogether they do not look for the 'biggie,' the
innovation that will 'revolutionize the industry,' create a 'billion-dollar business' or 'make one rich overnight.' Those
entrepreneurs who start out with the idea that they'll make it big -- and in a hurry -- can be guaranteed failure.''
It's not that these magical moments of epiphany don't happen. In small ways, they happen all the time. But they're
not nearly as important as what the innovator did before -- or ultimately does after -- the magic light bulb goes on. As
the French scientist Louis Pasteur once said, ''Chance favors the prepared mind.''
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He Can't Stop Looking Over His Shoulder
BYLINE: By ANTHONY BIANCO
SECTION: Section BU; Column 0; Money and Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 3192 words
WHEN Martin J. Sullivan, now 53, took over the world's largest insurer, the American International Group, three
years ago, the company was the target of multiple criminal and civil investigations and its books were in such disarray
that its auditors refused to endorse them. During Mr. Sullivan's first 18 months on the job, A.I.G.'s bottom line was successively pounded by three huge hurricanes and a South Asian earthquake. Then came an equally costly disaster, though
one of human origin: the subprime credit market meltdown.
''The only thing I have missed is a plague of locusts,'' Mr. Sullivan says.
Despite all of this, Mr. Sullivan's most trying experience has been fending off challenges from his predecessor as
A.I.G.'s chief executive -- Maurice R. Greenberg. Mr. Greenberg, 82, and known as Hank, is widely credited as a visionary who single-mindedly built A.I.G. into the corporate giant it is today before state and federal investigations
drove him out of the company.
Long a mentor to Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Greenberg now is his nemesis in what other A.I.G. insiders describe as a corporate civil war of quasi-epic proportions. ''It's Martin and Hank and King Lear in reverse,'' says Richard C. Holbrooke,
former United States ambassador to the United Nations and a longtime A.I.G. board member. ''Come up with anything
Shakespearean or Greek that you want, and it will fit.''
A.I.G.'s current and former chief executives have wreathed each other in lawsuits, engaged in bare-knuckle competition in various insurance specialties and jockeyed for position and influence throughout Asia, which is A.I.G.'s
birthplace and its most important growth market. (The company, which operates in 130 countries, was founded in
Shanghai in 1919 by Cornelius Vander Starr.)
Through it all, Mr. Sullivan has given at least as well as he has gotten -- except, perhaps, when it comes to overt
insults. Mr. Greenberg, who declined to be interviewed, has elsewhere publicly called into question his successor's
managerial ability, his entrepreneurial verve, his educational credentials and even his nationality. In a recent interview
with Forbes, Mr. Greenberg dismissed Mr. Sullivan as ''Irish and good with insurance brokers,'' even though Mr. Sullivan's English roots are apparent every time he speaks.
For his part, Mr. Sullivan still respectfully refers to his predecessor as ''Mr. Greenberg'' while trying to deflect the
barbs with stoical good cheer, flavored at times with sarcasm. Asked whether Mr. Greenberg thinks that he is Irish, Mr.
Sullivan laughs uproariously. ''Having worked for him for 35 years, I would have thought he'd have worked it out by
now,'' he says.
It wasn't always this way. Mr. Greenberg once thought so highly of Mr. Sullivan that he designated him as his
eventual successor. But A.I.G.'s hopes of an orderly transition were dashed on March 15, 2005, when the board deposed Mr. Greenberg amid mushrooming allegations of accounting fraud and replaced him with a dazed but game Mr.
Sullivan.
''The only way I was going to do it from March the 16th on was my way,'' Mr. Sullivan says. ''Time will tell if my
way was the right way, but I had no other way of doing it. I'm a different person than Mr. Greenberg. We're nowhere
close in management style.''
During Mr. Sullivan's short tenure, A.I.G. has paid $1.6 billion to settle charges brought by federal and state authorities and turned over carton after carton of documents to the government to aid continuing investigations of Mr.
Greenberg and other former A.I.G. executives. Mr. Sullivan fired several A.I.G. executives for refusing to cooperate
with the investigations. After uncovering what A.I.G. called numerous ''accounting errors,'' the company also restated
financial results going back to 2000, lopping off about $3.9 billion, or 10 percent, from previously reported profits.
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He Can't Stop Looking Over His Shoulder The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
A.I.G. rebounded nicely in 2006, Mr. Sullivan's first full year as C.E.O., posting a record $14.05 billion in net income -- 34 percent more than the previous year -- on a modest 4 percent gain in revenue, to $113 billion. But the company turned in a disappointing third quarter in 2007, as pretax income fell by nearly 23 percent. Results were hurt by a
$352 million loss the company took in writing down the value of its subprime holdings.
Although A.I.G.'s shares hit a 52-week high of $72.97 in the middle of last year -- up 17.8 percent over the $61.92
they fetched as Mr. Sullivan began his first day as chief executive -- the stock has plunged with the market in recent
months. It now trades at $55.73. This uneven performance leads analysts and others -- including Mr. Sullivan's supporters -- to describe him, and the company, as works in progress.
''In many ways, Martin was the right guy at the right time. He was very different than Hank Greenberg and yet one
of the guys, too,'' says Robert B. Willumstad, a former senior executive at Citigroup who became A.I.G.'s chairman in
the fall of 2006. ''I am confident that Martin Sullivan will turn out to be a great C.E.O. But this is a big, complicated
company, and there is still a lot of work to do.''
EVEN as Mr. Sullivan laughs off Mr. Greenberg's insults, he must take seriously the threat that his predecessor's
rancor poses to his job security. A billionaire several times over, Mr. Greenberg controls 11.8 percent of A.I.G.'s stock
-- much more than Fidelity Investments, AllianceBernstein Investments or any other shareholder.
Last November, Mr. Greenberg officially put Mr. Sullivan on notice as corporate entities under his control notified the Securities and Exchange Commission that the group was shifting its status from that of a passive to an active
investor in A.I.G. Speculation abounded among Mr. Greenberg's former colleagues at the company that the ''strategic
alternatives'' he was considering to lift the value of his A.I.G. shares -- and exact his revenge -- included a proxy fight
to unseat Mr. Sullivan and certain directors.
''The place has been run by a bunch of lawyers who don't know anything about business,'' Mr. Greenberg complained to Forbes shortly after the S.E.C. filing.
But New York insurance regulators notified the Greenberg camp that it was in violation of a state law requiring it
to obtain regulatory approval before trying to take control of an insurer. After a month of legal quibbling, Mr. Greenberg retreated. On Jan. 9, the Greenberg entities notified the S.E.C. that they had no immediate plans to start a proxy
fight, begin a tender offer or make any other attempt to ''exercise a controlling influence'' over A.I.G.
Even so, such saber-rattling has put Mr. Sullivan on guard, especially because he doesn't enjoy the shield of a
steadily rising share price that won Mr. Greenberg so many admirers during his storied career.
Indeed, Mr. Sullivan has a very long way to go to rival Mr. Greenberg's market credentials. Despite the older
man's late-career flameout, he still commands respect on Wall Street -- and within A.I.G. -- as one of the great corporate builders of the modern era. In his 37 years as chief, he made many of his acolytes and investors rich by raising
A.I.G.'s stock market value 129-fold.
Yet no major stockholder or equity analyst has stepped forward to take Mr. Greenberg's side against his successor.
The consensus view on Wall Street seems to be that the former chief's criticisms of current management have been both
peevish and insubstantial. Analysts say Mr. Sullivan has not been in charge long enough to deserve blame for A.I.G.'s
flaws, most notably its $29.2 billion inventory of subprime debt or the chronic weakness of its life insurance business
in the United States. Nor do they hold Mr. Sullivan responsible for the eroding fundamentals of the property and casualty markets as a whole.
''While far from perfect, I'd say Martin Sullivan has done a better-than-O.K. job so far with the portfolio of businesses he inherited,'' says Jimmy S. Bhullar, an insurance analyst at JPMorgan. ''I certainly don't think that the performance of A.I.G.'s stock can be taken as a referendum on his performance as C.E.O.''
It doesn't hurt that Mr. Sullivan has an admirer in Eliot Spitzer, the governor of New York, who, as the state's crusading attorney general, was so incensed by what he viewed as Mr. Greenberg's high-handed attitude toward regulation
that in 2005 he threatened to slap an indictment on A.I.G. -- a likely death sentence for America's ninth-largest company
by revenue.
In his first weeks as C.E.O., Mr. Sullivan went hat in hand to the insurance commissioners of New York and other states and promised that A.I.G. would humbly turn over a new leaf in its dealings with them.
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He Can't Stop Looking Over His Shoulder The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
''Martin had a candor and an openness about him that was a breath of fresh air,'' says Howard D. Mills III, who
was New York's superintendent of insurance from 2005 through 2006. ''And he delivered on the promises he made.''
Last spring, Governor Spitzer effectively gave Mr. Sullivan a pat on the back by appointing him to a blue-ribbon
commission to streamline the state's approach to regulating the securities industry.
Mr. Sullivan, a factory worker's son whose formal education ended when he was 16, got his start at A.I.G. in 1970
as a clerk in its London office. He worked his way up and moved to New York in 1996. He was soon running the company's entire foreign property and casualty business, the jewel in Mr. Greenberg's corporate crown.
''A.I.G. was a tough place, but it also was a meritocracy,'' says Brian Duperreault, a former A.I.G. executive who
was recently named chief executive of the Marsh & McLennan Companies. ''Hank could browbeat you, but if you
knew what you were doing and were confident in your abilities -- and Martin always was very comfortable in his own
skin -- it wasn't so bad.''
When Mr. Sullivan became chief operating officer in 2002, the status of heir apparent became his to lose. (Mr.
Greenberg's two sons left the company after arduous apprenticeships that left them without any clear path to A.I.G.'s
chief-executive suite.) Although all of the company's operating executives still reported to Mr. Greenberg, Mr. Sullivan
accompanied the boss on foreign travels, handled special assignments and passed his audition.
One day in February 2005, as Mr. Sullivan recalls it, Mr. Greenberg summoned him to his office and gave him the
happy news. But it wasn't exactly a Hallmark moment. ''What he didn't say was, 'Martin, you've worked your way up
from the bottom to the top, and I couldn't be happier handing over to you,' '' Mr. Sullivan says. ''He just told me in a
very subdued way, and I went back down the hall to my desk and carried on.''
Whether Mr. Greenberg, the prototype of the imperial C.E.O., ever would have voluntarily relinquished power is
debatable. Even as A.I.G. approached $100 billion in annual revenue, Mr. Greenberg maintained such dominance over
the company that insiders joked that its initials actually stood for ''All Is Greenberg.''
Mr. Greenberg built A.I.G. by making lucrative specialties of risks so exotic that most competitors wanted no part
of them: kidnappings, environmental pollution and shareholder lawsuits. He was also a tireless globalist who excelled
at persuading countries closed to foreign insurers to open their markets to A.I.G. To this day, A.I.G. is the only foreign
insurer allowed to own 100 percent of its life insurance operations in China.
''People feared the power of Hank's personality,'' says one longtime former subordinate who was granted anonymity because his job requirements prevent him from making public comments. ''He wrestled with people and won so many
times that I think in his own view he became omnipotent.''
Retirement was anathema to Mr. Greenberg, a fitness and dietary devotee who periodically issued a pointed reminder to all concerned that his great-grandmother had worked as a pushcart vendor until she was 108 years old.
MR. GREENBERG'S fall was set in motion by the great corporate fraud scandals of several years ago that stiffened the spines of business regulators nationwide and spurred corporate governance changes. Although Mr. Greenberg
was openly contemptuous of the reform movement, he did bow to pressure from investors and A.I.G.'s directors by
finally agreeing to a succession plan.
His long-simmering conflicts with regulators came to full boil as he refused to cooperate with a criminal investigation into an unusual $500 million transaction that he personally had started with the General Re Corporation. Mr.
Greenberg sealed his fate by thumbing his nose at Mr. Spitzer, then attorney general, publicly chastising regulators who
''look at foot faults and make them into a murder charge.''
A.I.G.'s directors liked what they had seen of Mr. Sullivan. But was replacing an ousted C.E.O. with the successor he had designated really the best way to go? In deciding to stick with Mr. Sullivan, the board emphasized continuity
amid crisis. ''The notion of putting someone in as acting C.E.O. or going outside didn't seem right because of the urgent
need to deal with regulators,'' says Frank G. Zarb, a former chief executive of Smith Barney and the National Association of Securities Dealers, who initially succeeded Mr. Greenberg as chairman.
A day before the board demanded Mr. Greenberg's resignation, Mr. Sullivan was put to a final test: a four-hour
grilling by Richard I. Beattie, chief legal adviser to the outside directors, to find out whether he was complicit in any of
the matters under investigation. ''It was clear that Martin not only was not involved, but he did not even know about
most of these things,'' says Mr. Beattie, who is chairman of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett.
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He Can't Stop Looking Over His Shoulder The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
Mr. Greenberg left A.I.G. with a greater capacity for retaliation than the typical ousted C.E.O. In addition to controlling a large block of stock, he also remained in charge of three A.I.G. affiliates, including the Starr International
Company, known as SICO, which is an investment company that administers A.I.G.'s stock bonus program; C. V. Starr
& Company, an insurance agency; and the Starr Foundation, one of the country's best-endowed philanthropic organizations.
Mr. Greenberg leased a floor in the Park Avenue headquarters of Citigroup to house those entities and a small
cadre of loyalists, including Howard I. Smith, A.I.G.'s former chief financial officer. Mr. Greenberg kicked Mr. Sullivan
and his allies off the SICO board, stopped awarding bonuses to A.I.G. executives and terminated a longstanding Starr
Foundation program that gave college scholarships of as much as $14,000 a year to the children of lower-income A.I.G.
employees. (A.I.G. immediately reinstated the scholarship program on its own dime.)
Disentangling the Starr companies from A.I.G. has kept a lot of lawyers busy on both sides of the GreenbergSullivan divide. The main object of contention in a protracted lawsuit remains SICO's treasure trove of 250 million
A.I.G. shares, currently worth about $14 billion. A.I.G. contends that it should assume control of the shares because
SICO held them in trust for A.I.G. employees. SICO argues that it never had a contract with A.I.G. and can do whatever
it wants with the stock, aside from the 12.7 million shares already promised to A.I.G. executives.
Severing business ties between A.I.G. and C. V. Starr proved especially problematic. The Starr agencies long had
been part of A.I.G. in all but name. Most of their employees had been hired and trained by the company and occupied
space in A.I.G. offices. According to company executives, armed guards were posted in scores of A.I.G. offices around
the country to make sure that A.I.G. employees didn't steal C. V. Starr files and to prevent Starr employees from removing those files.
Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Greenberg finally worked out a truce in late 2006, settling 18 lawsuits and arbitration cases
simultaneously. Terms were not disclosed.
Starr now is an independent company. It competes directly -- and fiercely -- with A.I.G., which hired a few hundred new employees to rebuild what was lost when Starr decamped. The bitterness definitely lingers.
''A lot of people who were friends for a long time aren't anymore,'' says Ralph W. Mucerino, president of A.I.G.
Global Marine and Energy. ''What we went through was like the Civil War, with cousins fighting cousins.''
In some ways, A.I.G. is now a very different company than the one Mr. Sullivan inherited. Colleagues say that
his even-tempered, delegatory management style has meant more collegiality and a lot less bullying. ''It's the way adults
ought to be treated,'' says Rodney O. Martin Jr., who runs A.I.G.'s worldwide life-insurance operations.
A.I.G.'s accounting and compliance systems have been almost completely overhauled, and this once-secretive
company is much more forthcoming in its dealing with regulators and investors alike. And many of the same corporate
governance activists who viewed A.I.G. as a pariah now hail it as a pacesetter. ''They took just about every recommendation I made,'' says Arthur Levitt Jr., a former S.E.C. chairman who began advising A.I.G.'s board after it ousted Mr.
Greenberg. ''In terms of process and governance, now it is about as good as a board can get.''
The question dogging Mr. Sullivan now is whether he can accelerate A.I.G.'s growth beyond the modest increase
in net income it posted in the first nine months of 2007. Put another way, can Mr. Sullivan infuse the entrepreneurial
dynamism that Mr. Greenberg long personified into the kinder, gentler, altogether more strait-laced A.I.G. he has fashioned?
Mr. Sullivan is under mounting pressure not only to accelerate growth, but also to retool the blueprint he inherited
from Mr. Greenberg -- even, paradoxically, if it means shrinking the company. A growing number of investors and
analysts contend that it should sell off some of the non-insurance businesses that Mr. Greenberg built late in his tenure,
including its aircraft leasing, capital markets trading and consumer lending divisions.
Mr. Sullivan recently began discussing possible adjustments in strategy with his board, which is in no hurry to alter A.I.G.'s course. ''It's not like there is a giant strategic hole where competitors are eating A.I.G.'s lunch,'' Mr. Willumstad says.
Spinning off a division or two might placate some investors, but at the risk of further antagonizing Mr. Greenberg,
who has pursued revenge even in the smallest of ways.
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He Can't Stop Looking Over His Shoulder The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
For example, until recently, Mr. Sullivan's mother-in-law and father-in-law worked for Mr. Greenberg, and they
still reside on the grounds of a golf club under his control called Morefar Back O' Beyond. Situated in Brewster, north
of New York City, Morefar was once a private playground for A.I.G. executives and their guests. The fact that anyone
who works for A.I.G. is no longer welcome at Morefar has lent a furtive air to Mr. Sullivan's visits with his wife's parents. That, and the fact that Mr. Greenberg's country home is just down the street.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: INVESTIGATIONS (90%); INSURANCE (89%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (78%); INSURANCE
AGENCIES & BROKERAGES (73%); INTERVIEWS (88%); EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (73%); WEATHER
(71%); SUBPRIME LENDING (70%); CREDIT CRISIS (73%)
COMPANY: AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP INC (91%)
ORGANIZATION: UNITED NATIONS (54%)
TICKER: AIG (NYSE) (91%); AAIG (PAR) (91%); 8685 (TSE) (91%)
PERSON: MARTIN J SULLIVAN (94%); RICHARD HOLBROOKE (54%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SHANGHAI, CHINA (79%) ASIA (91%); CHINA (79%)
LOAD-DATE: February 3, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: Martin J. Sullivan took over as chief executive of A.I.G. in 2005 after Maurice R. Greenberg
was forced out. (PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSH HANER/THE NEW YORK TIMES) (pg.BU1)
Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York, third from the right, with Martin Sullivan behind him, at a news conference in January.
Last year, Mr. Spitzer appointed Mr. Sullivan to a commission to streamline the state's approach to regulating the financial services industry. (PHOTOGRAPH BY RICK MAIMAN/BLOOMBERG NEWS)
Mr. Greenberg controls 11.8 percent of A.I.G. stock. He has publicly called into question Mr. Sullivan's managerial
ability. (PHOTOGRAPH BY STEPHEN HILGER/BLOOMBERG NEWS) (pg.BU8)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1110 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 3, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
Yahoo Deal Is Big, but Is It the Next Big Thing?
BYLINE: By JOHN MARKOFF
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; SILICON VALLEY MEMO; Pg. 1
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Yahoo Deal Is Big, but Is It the Next Big Thing? The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
LENGTH: 1275 words
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO
In moving to buy Yahoo, Microsoft may be firing the final shot of yesterday's war.
That one was over Internet search advertising, a booming category in which both Microsoft and Yahoo were humble and distant also-rans behind Google.
Microsoft may see Yahoo as its last best chance to catch up. But for all its size and ambition, the bid has not been
greeted with enthusiasm. That may be because Silicon Valley favors bottom-up innovation instead of growth by acquisition. The region's investment money and brain power are tuned to start-ups that can anticipate the next big thing rather
than chase the last one.
And what will touch off the next battle? Maybe it will be a low-power microprocessor, code-named Silverthorne,
that Intel plans to announce Monday. It is designed for a new wave of hand-held wireless devices that Silicon Valley
hopes will touch off the next wave of software innovation.
Or maybe it will be something else entirely.
No one really knows, of course, but gambling on the future is the essence of Silicon Valley. Everyone chases the
next big thing, knowing it could very well be the wrong thing. And those who guess wrong risk their survival.
That is why, in this silicon-centric economy, front-runners do not stay front-runners for long.
Many big names of the 1980s -- Commodore, Tandem, Digital Equipment and MicroPro -- are in a graveyard
shared by the highfliers of the 1990s -- the At Home Network, Netscape and Infoseek, to name a few.
Now Yahoo, founded by Stanford graduate students who became media darlings and instant billionaires after an
exhilarating initial public offering of stock, may be the next to disappear.
And Yahoo, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is only 13 years old. Microsoft wants to buy the company for
$44.6 billion as its way to compete with Google, the hot company of this decade, which was also founded by Stanford
graduate students who became media darlings and instant billionaires after an exhilarating initial public offering.
''This is the very nature of the Valley,'' said Jim Breyerof the venture capital firm Accel Partners. ''After very
strong growth, businesses by definition start to slow as competition increases and young creative start-ups begin to attack the incumbents.''
The economist Joseph Alois Schumpeter had a name for this principle of capitalism: creative destruction. Perhaps
nowhere does it play out more dramatically -- and more rapidly -- than in Silicon Valley, where innovation unleashes a
force that creates and destroys, over and over.
Microsoft, at the still-young age of 32, is making its largest acquisition because it, too, is affected by this force.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft has had a longer run than most tech companies largely because it became very good at
chasing the next big thing: an operating system, point-and-click computing, software for servers, Web services, video
games, and, most recently, Internet search and online advertising.
Technological innovation may not have always been what gave Microsoft the edge. It has been frequently criticized for me-tooism and for getting it right the third time. Sometimes, marketing skill and bullying seemed also to be
keys to its success. (To be fair, the creative use of those skills can also be regarded as a form of innovation.)
Microsoft won huge business battles, starting with its domination of personal-computer software against Apple
during the 1980s. A decade later, it made quick work of Netscape Communications, which popularized Web browsing
in the mid-1990s.
While Microsoft remains very profitable because of its lock on desktop software, its efforts to dislodge the Valley's leading third-generation Internet company, Google, have so far failed.
Google's central innovation, Internet search, has confounded Microsoft, despite investing billions in both technology development and numerous smaller acquisitions. Internet technology has overtaken the PC desktop as the center of
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Yahoo Deal Is Big, but Is It the Next Big Thing? The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
the action, as people increasingly view the computer as merely a doorway to their virtual world. Google calls this phenomenon ''cloud computing.''
Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., has been setting up giant data centers around the globe. It benefited from
the software innovations of hundreds of nimble garage start-ups to develop programs that reach millions of users over
the Web.
It has unleashed the power of free -- not a new idea for the Valley -- to endear itself to a new generation of computer users with services they find they cannot live without, like e-mail, digital video and social networking.
Now Microsoft is trying to make up ground by buying what it has not been able to build. To many technologists
and entrepreneurs here, the deal does not indicate any imminent threat to the Valley's start-up culture or suggest that
the region might go the way of Detroit; it underscores the health of the heartland that has produced waves of ever-more
powerful technologies for more than half a century.
There is a sense here among investors that Microsoft, as a more effective counterweight to Google, might actually
serve to spur innovation in the Valley.
''When Microsoft was in the ascendancy, there were whole areas of investment that were of less interest to investors,'' said William R. Hearst III, an affiliated partner with the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
''Now you could enter a new area and people will think that maybe one of the two colossuses will be interested in acquiring your start-up.''
Innovation has been the driving force of Silicon Valley, and the results over the last quarter-century have been
stunning. More than a billion personal computers are in use around the world. Cellphones are in the hands of three billion people. The next generation of mobile computers appears destined to reach another two billion people in just six
more years.
The productivity gains from these devices have driven the world's economy to faster economic growth and a higher standard of living for an ever-widening swath of the world's population.
If Microsoft acquires Yahoo, some executives said, the question is whether it will shake its obsession with catching Google and instead look to the next generation of the Internet, even if it threatens Microsoft's dominant position in
PC software.
The bid for Yahoo ''underscores how Microsoft's hold on the personal computer desktop is meaning less,'' said
Nicholas Carr, author of ''The Big Switch,'' which describes the consequences of Internet computing.
In that sense, Microsoft may in a situation identical to the one faced by I.B.M. in the early 1980s. Dominant in the
mainframe business and threatened by PCs, I.B.M. responded by quickly becoming the largest PC vendor.
However, despite all of its manufacturing proficiency, the PC business was far less profitable and I.B.M. was unable to make that business work. It took a wrenching cultural change and the shedding of its management and tens of
thousands of employees to regain its footing.
Ultimately, Microsoft's challenge in making its new acquisition work will be a cultural one. Can the giant software
maker -- which, incidentally, is based in Redmond, Wash., about 850 miles from Silicon Valley -- use a huge acquisition to tap into what makes the Valley tick? Will it force Microsoft to look forward instead of backward?
To many, these questions frame the challenge that Microsoft confronts.
''To a large degree, it's the willingness to move on and abandon something,'' said David Liddle, a venture capitalist
at U.S. Venture Partners. ''It's that ability to let something go and move on to the next big thing.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS (89%); MICROPROCESSORS (76%); VENTURE CAPITAL (75%);
WEALTHY PEOPLE (75%); STUDENTS & STUDENT LIFE (63%); TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT
(53%); COMPUTER SOFTWARE (78%)
COMPANY: MICROSOFT CORP (90%); GOOGLE INC (58%); DIGITAL EQUIPMENT SPA (54%); ACCEL
MANAGEMENT CO INC (52%); YAHOO INC (95%); ACCEL PARTNERS (84%); INTEL CORP (56%)
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Yahoo Deal Is Big, but Is It the Next Big Thing? The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
TICKER: MSFT (NASDAQ) (90%); GOOG (NASDAQ) (58%); GGEA (LSE) (58%); YHOO (NASDAQ) (95%);
YAH (LSE) (92%); INTC (NASDAQ) (56%); INTC (SWX) (56%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS511210 SOFTWARE PUBLISHERS (90%); SIC7372 PREPACKAGED SOFTWARE (90%);
NAICS518112 WEB SEARCH PORTALS (95%); SIC8999 SERVICES, NEC (58%); SIC7375 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES (95%); NAICS518111 INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS (95%); SIC7373 COMPUTER
INTEGRATED SYSTEMS DESIGN (95%); NAICS519130 INTERNET PUBLISHING & BROADCASTING & WEB
SEARCH PORTALS (95%); NAICS517110 WIRED TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS (95%); NAICS334413
SEMICONDUCTOR & RELATED DEVICE MANUFACTURING (58%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA (79%); SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA, USA (94%) CALIFORNIA, USA (94%) UNITED STATES (94%)
LOAD-DATE: February 3, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1111 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 3, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
To Pull a Thorn From the Side of the Planet
BYLINE: By MIREYA NAVARRO
SECTION: Section ST; Column 0; Style Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1431 words
DATELINE: SANTA CRUZ, Calif.
THE Bonny Doon Garden Company, a downtown flower kiosk here, had signs posted all around it last week for
Valentine's Day, but the sales pitch wasn't just about romance.
A bucket held red and fuchsia anemones that were ''organic.'' Ecuadorean roses the size of baseballs were ''certified.'' Roses from a nearby farm were ''locally grown.''
Was the kiosk selling flowers, or lettuce?
Pesticide contamination doesn't usually come to mind when ordering long-stemmed roses for Valentine's Day. But
that is precisely what florists like Bonny Doon are asking their customers to think about. Teresa Sabankaya, the shop's
owner, said that when she opened in 2003, ''some people would look at me like, 'Are you nuts?' ''
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To Pull a Thorn From the Side of the Planet The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
Now, at least, ''people become engaged,'' she said. ''Forty percent of people will say: 'That's nice. Why would it
matter? We're not eating them.' ''
True, flowers are rarely eaten. They aren't worn against the skin like organic cotton, or rubbed on the body like
soap. Perhaps that's why organic flowers have not been a big business, especially compared with organic fruits and
vegetables. The Organic Trade Association says organic food and beverages had $17 billion in sales in 2006. Flowers -a $21-billion-a-year industry -- brought in $19 million in organic sales.
That may be changing. The environmentally correct flower is now sold on Web sites like organicbouquet.com, by
small florists like Ms. Sabankaya and by big retailers like Sam's Club and FTD, the floral delivery network, which last
year introduced a line of sustainably grown irises and lilies from California and roses from Ecuador.
And as in other industries with increasing demand for green products, the floral industry is debating what is environmentally correct. Should flowers be organic -- that is, grown without synthetic or toxic pesticides? Or should the
emphasis be on fair trade, meaning that the workers who grow and cut them are safe and well paid? Or should consumers favor flowers grown locally, not flown or trucked over long distances? In other words, what, exactly, is a green
flower?
A vast majority of cut flowers sold in the United States, 79 percent, are imported, mostly from countries with mild
climates, like Colombia and Ecuador. But only a small minority of flower farms have adopted environmentally friendly
methods, like banning toxic chemicals for pest control, said Nora Ferm of the International Labor Rights Forum, an
advocacy organization where she is the program director of a ''fairness in flowers'' public education campaign that began
a few years ago.
And few of those farms, Ms. Ferm said, bother with occupational health and safety measures for workers, who can
suffer pesticide-related illnesses like headaches, rashes and birth abnormalities among their children.
Ms. Ferm said that ''just using less-toxic pesticides would be much better for the environment and the workers.''
Whether consumers can be roused to passion about these issues is a challenge that distinguishes the fledgling
green-flower movement from other campaigns for environmental awareness. But big environmental groups like the
Natural Resources Defense Council have added flowers to their agenda and are encouraging the public to look for floral
eco-labels that can now be found in flower shops, grocery stores and other flower retailers.
The labels emphasize different aspects of sustainability. Fair Trade and VeriFlora, two big organizations whose
labels appear on flowers sold in the United States, impose strict environmental and labor standards on farms they audit,
though they do not require them to be fully organic. Use of pesticides is limited, and workers must be paid fairly; Fair
Trade also requires investments in community programs like child care. (Full criteria are at veriflora.org and transfairusa.org.)
Flowers labeled ''USDA Organic'' -- government certification that no toxic or synthetic pesticides or fertilizers
were used -- are hard to find beyond farmers' markets or online distributors like Organicstyle.com. While organic flowers do exist, mass production would be difficult for most farms because of the investment and technical assistance required, Ms. Ferm said. And more research is needed into ways to control pests and diseases, other experts said.
MICHAEL SKAFF, FTD's director of design and product development, said he decided to stock flowers certified
by VeriFlora, which also vouches for quality, rather than organic ones, because some organic flowers have blemishes
and smaller, imperfectly shaped petals.
''We want the consumers to be happy at the end of the day,'' he said. ''People buy sustainable flowers because they
know they're grown in environments that are good for everybody.''
But for the most part, florists say, organic and sustainably grown flowers are indistinguishable from those conventionally grown. (As with conventional flowers, durability and fragrance depend more on the variety and breeding than
how the flowers were grown.) And unlike organic fruit and vegetables, they usually cost about the same as pesticideladen versions, or slightly more.
Still, the most environmentally conscious flower buyers are bothered by buying flowers flown and trucked over
long distances, no matter how sustainable. Amy Stewart, author of ''Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad and the
Beautiful in the Business of Flowers'' (Algonquin Books, 2007), said buying local flowers should be the first choice.
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To Pull a Thorn From the Side of the Planet The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
But she said workers should also be supported. Visiting South America, she said, she found that ''life on any certified farm is better -- it doesn't matter which certification it is.'' Besides, she noted, it is difficult to assess what is greener: large loads of flowers transported over long distances efficiently or a smaller number grown locally, but requiring a
heated greenhouse and a trip to a farmers' market in a pickup truck. ''How do I compare the energy efficiency per flower?'' she asked.
Peter J. Moran, chief executive of the Society of American Florists, which includes retailers and growers, said
even growers not certified by any program are already moving toward more earth-friendly practices.
In California, where most American flower production is based, California Pajarosa Floral in Watsonville invested
about $100,000 to comply with all regulations necessary to be certified by VeriFlora, said Paul Furman, the manager.
He said his company, which grows roses hydroponically in 17 acres of greenhouses and is one of the nation's largest
flower growers, would have had to spend more if it hadn't already been using some green practices, like using predatory
mites to kill thrips and spider mites that discolor petals and damage foliage.
But Mr. Furman sees a payoff. ''We want to be part of pioneering something that's good for the industry,'' he said.
''We're in the infancy stage of this, so we don't know what to expect, but we do know that the whole world is going
green.''
Other entrepreneurs have taken up the cause. Hannah Ling opened a shop, Gardenia Organic, selling organic
and sustainable flowers, in December in the West Village in New York. Ms. Ling, a former management consultant
from Great Britain, said she spent her life savings on her shop.
''I'm kind of on a mission to show that you don't have to sacrifice quality if you're green,'' she said.
At Ms. Sabankaya's kiosk in Santa Cruz, some walk-in customers admitted not caring much about where their
flowers came from as long as they smelled good and had pretty colors. ''The carsand the coal and the petro, that's where
we have to make a change,'' said Arlene La Borde, 64, who retired as buyer for Lockheed Martin.
But Ms. Sabankaya, an organic gardener who grows some of the flowers she sells and dresses them up with organic myrtle, rose-scented geranium and other fragrant herbs, said she does a brisk Valentine's Day business -- she sold
2,000 roses last year -- and receives e-mail messages all the time from curious customers.
One, Karen Wolowicz, 28, a policy analyst at a local conservation agency, wanted to know which organic flowers
would be available in early May for her wedding in Carmel, Calif., next year. Ms. Wolowicz, who lives in the San Francisco area, said she can't afford a hybrid car, but she shops for organic food in farmers' markets and wants to do her part
in minimizing harm to the planet.
''It's the little things that you do that make a difference,'' she said. ''And as Californians, we have great flowers and
great food, so we might as well enjoy it and share it.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ORGANIC FOODS (90%); PESTICIDES (89%); FLORISTS (89%); ENVIRONMENTALISM (89%);
RETAILERS (78%); ORGANIC FOODS INDUSTRY (78%); SALES FIGURES (78%); FLORICULTURE PRODUCTION (78%); GREEN MARKET (77%); SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE (77%); TOXIC & HAZARDOUS
SUBSTANCES (76%); ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES (76%); IMPORT TRADE (72%); OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY AGENCIES (71%); PESTICIDE POLLUTION (71%); ENVIRONMENTAL ILLNESS (71%); FOOD & BEVERAGE TRADE (70%); WORKPLACE HEALTH & SAFETY (60%)
COMPANY: SAM'S CLUB (65%); GARDEN CO LTD (91%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (55%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA, USA (73%) CALIFORNIA, USA (93%) UNITED STATES
(93%); SOUTH AMERICA (92%)
LOAD-DATE: February 3, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
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To Pull a Thorn From the Side of the Planet The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: PRETTY IN GREEN?: A move is on to make flowers more eco-friendly.(PHOTOGRAPH BY
RANDI LYNN BEACH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)(pg. ST1)
FOR THE EARTH: At California Pajarosa Floral, left, the owners invested about $100,000 to gain a ''sustainability''
label. Hannah Ling, far left, sells organic and sustainable flowers in her West Village shop.(PHOTOGRAPH BY HIROKO MASUIKE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
(PHOTOGRAPH BY RANDI LYNN BEACH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)(pg. ST10)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1112 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 3, 2008 Sunday
Late Edition - Final
16 Ways of Looking at a Female Voter
BYLINE: By LINDA HIRSHMAN.
Linda Hirshman is the author of ''Get to Work: A Manifesto for Women of the World.'' This is her first article for
the magazine.
SECTION: Section 6; Column 0; Magazine Desk; Pg. 38
LENGTH: 4511 words
1. The Female Thing
FOR MONTHS before the presidential primaries began, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was widely held to
lead among women voters. That she would naturally appeal to her own sex accounted in no small part for her frontrunner status. By the end of last year, national polls showed not only that Clinton was ahead but also that women
supported her by 8 points more than men did.
But in the Iowa caucus her lead turned out, to use a Clinton phrase, to be more talk than action: 35 percent of female Iowa Democrats went for Senator Barack Obama while only 30 percent stood up for Hillary -- and Obama won.
Was Iowa an isolated case? Or had women voters turned their backs on Hillary?
Various explanations surfaced. A WNBC television reporter suggested that ''somewhere along the line she lost the
narrative of the first female president as a huge change.'' A blogger on The Huffington Post decided that what women
needed wasn't change; it was the whole truth and nothing but the truth: ''Women are too smart, informed and astute at
reading between the lines to back a presidential candidate who isn't being straight with them -- especially when she is a
woman.'' The snarky Washington-based blog Wonkette proposed that maybe Hillary lacked a certain something and that
Barack Obama, well, had it. ''I think Chris Matthews said,'' the post read, ''that we're all voting for Obama because we
want to date him, but they were showing a picture of Obama at the time, and I heard birds singing and bells ringing and
missed it.''
Then in New Hampshire, things suddenly changed: 46 percent of women in the Democratic primary voted for Hillary compared with 34 percent for Obama, giving Clinton the victory. Was it the welling up? Was it the specter, three
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16 Ways of Looking at a Female Voter The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
days earlier, of those male candidates piling up on her during a debate? Was it because the debate's moderator questioned how likable she was? The Times columnist Gail Collins briefly summed up the theories for Hillary's victory -''Do women Obama's age look at him and see the popular boy who never talked to them in high school? Did they relate
to Clinton's strategy of constantly reminding her audiences that she's been working for reform for 35 years?'' -- and then
added her own. Hillary, she wrote, ''was a stand-in for every woman who has overdosed on multitasking.'' As Collins
saw it, women simply wanted to get their own back: ''They grabbed at the opportunity to have kids/go back to
school/start a business/become a lawyer. But there are days when they can't meet everybody's needs, and the men in
their lives -- loved ones and otherwise -- make them feel like failures or towers of self-involvement. And the deal is that
they can either suck it up or look like a baby.''
There was one thing the commentators seemed to agree on. Women in Iowa and New Hampshire -- whether they
voted for or against Hillary -- were doing so for the same reason: because she was a woman.
2. Mind the Gender Gap
IN 1920, just as American women got the vote, the New York League of Women Voters tried to defeat a sitting
senator, James Wadsworth Jr. The league didn't beat Wadsworth that year, but his ally Gov. Nathan Miller nonetheless later denounced the league as a ''menace'' to ''our free institutions.'' There is no more need for a League of Women
Voters, he declared, than for a League of Men Voters. He need not have worried -- women didn't begin to vote as
often as men or differently from men for decades.
It wasn't until Ronald Reagan's victory in 1980 that observers first noticed the ''gender gap'': men supported
Reagan by 8 percentage points more than women did. Of course, more women supported the incumbent, President
Jimmy Carter, than did men. And ever since, women have been more likely than men to favor Democrats. Both parties
have tried a variety of strategies to open or close the gender gap: nominating a woman for vice president (Geraldine
Ferraro), pretending there was no difference, collecting women into smaller subgroups (soccer moms, security moms),
emphasizing feminist issues (equal opportunity, reproductive rights), emphasizing economics (health, welfare, child
care). A host of feminist institutions -- the Democratic pro-choice political action committee Emily's List; the nonpartisan White House Project, which promotes political activity among women -- have arisen to try to drive up the numbers
and harness the power of the women's vote.
Despite these efforts, the gender gap has neither widened nor narrowed much. It spiked in 1996, when women
supported Bill Clinton by 11 percentage points more than men did, and again in 2000, when women favored Al Gore by
12 points. But because the gap describes the difference between how many men and women vote for a single party's
candidate, it doesn't necessarily tell us whether women themselves are split. In the election 28 years ago that first pointed to the existence of a so-called gender gap, women still preferred Reagan by 46 percent to Carter's 45 percent. More
women may have voted for Carter than men did, but even more voted for Reagan.
3. Race Matters--and Class, Too
RACE FACTORS into the gender gap in two important ways. In 2004, for example, the nonwhite female vote
was 12 percent of the electorate; the nonwhite male vote was 10 percent. So when polled, women as a group were less
''white'' than men were -- and nonwhite women are more likely to vote Democratic than white women are. Second,
nonwhite women are more likely to vote Democratic than nonwhite men (75 percent to 67 percent in 2004). In other
words, nonwhite women make ''women'' more Democratic than the nonwhite men make ''men'' Democratic. In 2004,
55 percent of white women actually favored George Bush.
And as it does for men, economic status can affect how women vote. In a recent national poll of Democrats and
Democratic-leaning voters by the Pew Research Center, Hillary Clinton led Barack Obama among women in every category but two: self-described liberals and college graduates. Among college graduates, he is 3 points ahead. And
whereas among women with incomes of more than $50,000, Clinton leads Obama by a mere 5 percentage points,
among those who earn less, she leads by 36 points.
4. Winning Women Isn't the Same as Winning
WITH THE possible exception of 1996, women have never voted a candidate into the White House when men
thought the other guy should win. (Bill Clinton's so-called gender-based victory depended on splitting the male vote
with Bob Dole. In other words, women did not have to overcome fierce resistance in order to prevail.) In the 2004
election, there was a gender gap in virtually every demographic -- among old folks, married people, single people,
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16 Ways of Looking at a Female Voter The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
squirrel hunters -- but the gender gap still did not offset the robust men's vote. If men are Republican enough, the
Republicans need not care whether the women are less enthusiastic about them than men are.
5. Besides, Women Keep an Open Mind
STILL, THERE are ways in which women, as a group, behave differently than men. According to the Center for
American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, women in 2004 made up a higher percentage of undecided and
swing voters than men. In an independent survey conducted in October 2004, women accounted for 60 percent of undecided likely voters.
Just before the primary season began last month, the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California and Zogby International released their ''National Survey on Politics and Entertainment,'' which juxtaposes
Americans' cultural lives and their political views. They found that 62 percent of the ''moderates'' -- those with middling and flexible positions on the issues -- were women. Pollsters grouped respondents according to how they indicated their degree of agreement with certain statements. The Lear subjects clustered into three clear groups: blue, or
liberal; red, or conservative; and purple, or moderate, who were 24 percent of those surveyed. Although no one was
very surprised when the liberal group turned out to be 57 percent female, Johanna Blakley, deputy director of the
Lear Center and a lead researcher on the project, said she found it ''absolutely unbelievable'' that 62 percent of the
moderates were female. She had always thought of moderates as male independents, alienated from politics.
When asked to identify their party, the female moderates, it turned out, were actually more Democratic than Republican, but like most women, they voted only somewhat more for John Kerry than for George Bush in the 2004 presidential election. ''They don't see the political world as legible, especially in the media,'' Blakley suggested. ''That's why
they misidentify themselves, these words don't make sense to them, they don't have a value and a weight that makes
sense to them, a narrative for politics.''
6. What About the Middle Ground?
WHEN IT comes to politics, it's not just that women are ambivalent; it's that, as a group, they are less interested
than men are -- not all women, naturally, but on average. In a 2006 University of Michigan survey, 42 percent of
men responded that they were ''very interested'' in government and public affairs, compared with 34 percent of
women. At the uninterested end, women were more likely to say that they were only ''somewhat interested'' -- 60 percent of female respondents compared with 54 percent of male respondents.
These differences -- give or take a few percentage points -- have persisted for at least 20 years. Studies have
turned up many explanations for the difference -- education, partisanship, sex-role socialization -- but the interest-gap
remains. The only area where the gap narrows is in local politics, where women score close to men. Not surprisingly,
less interest translates into less knowledge.
In their 1996 study of Americans' political knowledge, ''What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters,'' Scott Keeter, director of survey research at the Pew organization, and his co-author, Michael X. Delli Carpini,
dean of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communication, reported that on average, men outscored
women by more than 9 percentage points on all political questions; by 15 points when asked to name their governor; by
10 on the identity of either of their senators. (It is true that women sometimes say that don't know when they do, but this
accounts for only about a quarter of the knowledge gap.)
In a separate survey done before the current election cycle, Pew asked men and women which of the Democratic
candidates is Hispanic, what Mitt Romney's religion is, the name of the current speaker of the House, what position
Robert Gates holds, which party has the House majority and how many U.S. troops have died in Iraq. The men outscored the women on every question, with the widest gap being the name of the secretary of defense (there was an 18
point difference between the number of men who answered correctly and the number of women who did) and the smallest that Mitt Romney is a Mormon (2 points). Many more men (13 points) knew the rough number of U.S. troop casualties in Iraq and that Nancy Pelosi is speaker of the House (6 points).
7. The Gap That Matters
THE PEW Research Center for the People and the Press has been following
tion in great detail for years. This is what that gap looks like:
POLITICAL INTERESTS
MEN
WOMEN
the gender divide in news consump-
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16 Ways of Looking at a Female Voter The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
International affairs
63%
37%
News about Washington
59
41
Local government
55
45
While men are more likely to follow international, national and local politics, women are more likely to attend to
religion, health and entertainment, community, culture and the arts, crime and the weather. Men are significantly more
likely than women to be regular consumers of ''hard news'' (32 percent of men versus 22 percent of women), and to turn
to the Internet, radio news, talk radio, newspapers, political comedy shows and political talk shows. Women, by contrast, are more likely to get their news from the morning news broadcasts and network news programs. Although morning shows do offer news, they tend toward true crime, entertainment and lifestyle, and they regularly put a humaninterest spin on government and foreign affairs.
Even if you factor in all the ways in which people gather news -- women supposedly also get political information
from the groups they join and from the people they know -- and control for political affiliations, race and class, men still
know more about politics than women do. The audiences for programs like ''The Daily Show'' and ''The Rush Limbaugh
Show,'' those on National Public Radio and the Web sites of national newspapers all scored significantly higher on political knowledge -- defined as familiarity with public figures and political policies -- than those surveyed who were not
part of those audiences. Of all of these outlets, only NPR has an audience that's roughly half female.
Of course, a quick glance at the numbers confirms that a lot of people, of both sexes, are hardly following the
news at all. Most voters aren't policy wonks. It may well be that there's a base line of information that is ''good enough''
for citizenship, and knowing more makes little practical difference. But there is a strong correlation between knowledge
and political participation. In most aspects of political action -- candidacy, fund-raising, proselytizing, propagandizing -men predominate.
8. What Makes Women Tune Out
A RECENT report assembled by the Shorenstein Center at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government
suggests that the absence of women in journalism and on television news programs reduces the likelihood that women
will form a significant part of the audience. Most hard-core news programs have hardly any women participants at all:
a 2001 White House Project study reported that on the Sunday-morning talk shows, only 11 percent of the guests were
women. A follow-up study in 2005 showed the percentage had increased by only 3 points. Similarly, a 2005 Project
for Excellence in Journalism study found that only one-third of news accounts cited any female sources at all.
9. Pride and Prejudice
NOT ONLY do fewer women turn to outlets with predominantly male sources for information, but studies also
tie women to what scholars call the negative-media effect. Women will sometimes back a candidate because the media they distrust are backing his or her rival.
There was a lot of speculation after the turnaround in New Hampshire that MSNBC's ''Hardball'' host, Chris Matthews, was at least partly responsible for Clinton's surge when he gleefully declared Hillary all but dead and buried after
her Iowa loss. Although there is no way to know how many women decided to vote for Clinton in response to the news
media's attacks on her, Rebecca Traister, a columnist for the online magazine Salon and a self-declared anti-Hillaryite,
was not alone in giving voice to the impulse. ''The torrent of ill-disguised hatred and resentment unleashed toward a
briefly weakened Clinton,'' she wrote, ''made me feel something that all the hectoring from feminist elders could not:
guilt for not having stood up for Hillary. I can't believe I'm saying this, but had I been a New Hampshire voter on Tuesday, I would have pulled a lever for the former first lady.''
10. XX Marks the Spot
HISTORICALLY, THERE is no reason to believe that women, even Democratic women, will automatically
support a female candidate. As Nancy Burns, a political scientist at the University of Michigan, demonstrated in a
recent article in the journal Politics and Gender, women, like men, have multiple commitments and connections,
which pull their electoral loyalties in many directions. And because women's lives are intimately connected with those
of men, women are a little harder to organize than, say, a segregated racial minority. Burns also maintained that
''gender consciousness,'' far from helping women to organize themselves politically, has little power to generate political action, and that its influence has ''waned over the last 30 years.''
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16 Ways of Looking at a Female Voter The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
On the other hand, the presence of a female candidate is consistently bracing to women voters -- even if they don't
end up voting for her. In their book, ''The Private Roots of Public Action,'' the political scientists Nancy Burns, Kay
Lehman Schlozman and Sidney Verba found that for women, ''living in a state with a statewide female politician has a
significant impact on each of the components of psychological engagement with politics: political information, interest
and efficacy.'' Women are more likely, for instance, to know the name of their state's U.S. senator or Senate candidate if
a woman held or was competing for the office. Seeing themselves as part of the political arena encourages women to get
involved.
Page Gardner, who founded Women's Voices Women Vote, an organization dedicated to increasing voter turnout
among single women, reports that female candidates are traditionally ''very motivational'' to her constituency. (Single
women vote less frequently than married women, by 13 percent.)
The degree to which women participated in recent primary elections suggests that a female candidate does increase turnout among women. In both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, 57 percent of those who voted were women, up 3 points from 2004. In Nevada, women made up nearly 60 percent of the record 116,000 Democratic caucusgoers.
11. When Sisterhood Is Power
MOST OF the data on the gender gap are gathered from research collected in the general elections. In the primaries, that gap cannot be explained simply by the fact that women tend to favor Democratic over Republican policies.
To a degree, the recent primaries are taking place in virgin territory. Not only is there a female candidate in the
Democratic presidential race, but a robust, viable female candidate, someone with a powerful organization, a large
checkbook and a legendary campaigner at her side.
From the beginning, Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's chief strategist, bet that women would propel Clinton to victory.
Though Penn has taken a lot of flak for this statement, it would seem a solid prediction. In the New Hampshire Democratic primary, Clinton scored 17 points higher with women than she did with men. And exit polls in Nevada showed
that Clinton won the backing of 51 percent of women voters, while Obama took about 38 percent. More important, in
Nevada, Hillary's support among women was large enough to offset Obama's support among men, which gave her the
popular vote.
Were women just waiting for a viable female candidate to form a bloc?
12. More Sense Than Sensibility
SAMUEL L. POPKIN, a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego, who has worked as a consultant to political campaigns, maintains that unless voters know how government works, they can't read the cues
about their legislators' intentions and priorities and rely on ''estimates of personal character instead of their attitudes
about parties and issues.''
Of course, recent work, like that of Drew Westen, a psychologist and the author of ''The Political Brain,'' suggests
that voters are more driven by their emotions than by any informed summing-up of their interests. (Westen's brain studies, incidentally, were done on men.) But even if voters act, as Westen says, on their feelings toward their party and its
candidate more than on their understanding of the issues, they can't begin to form those feelings if they don't know
something about the parties, candidates and issues. As Popkin has noted, a party is really just shorthand for a series of
issue positions -- you love your party because it stands for what you stand for.
So, if women as a group know less, does that mean they are more or less emotional when it comes to voting? Perhaps there's another way to pose the question. Maybe, as Ann Lewis, the director of women's outreach for the Clinton
campaign, told me recently, it's that men are the emotional ones, ''more likely to get swept away in abstract ideas and
symbolism, '' and that women are simply more practical. ''They may not frame their decisions in terms of policy or party
positions -- not use legislative jargon -- but they know what's in their family's interest,'' she said.
Marion Just, a political science professor at Wellesley who worked on the Kennedy School's Shorenstein report,
agrees. She characterizes the female agenda as focusing mainly on ''family, education, things that affect the household
budget, health care.'' Which today, she adds, also means war and peace. Similarly, Page Gardner told me that for her
single-women constituents, it's ''all about economic opportunity -- health, education for their children, wages, energy
costs.''
13. It Does Take a Village
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16 Ways of Looking at a Female Voter The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
''I UNDERSTOOD the networks for women's issues -- Emily's List, breast cancer,'' Ann Lewis also told me,
explaining her outreach work. ''Women naturally think of working with other women in network form, talking to
each other about what's important.'' The women's outreach for Hillary started with the legendary Clinton Rolodex -Friends of Hillary -- in Washington, in New York, in Arkansas, in Chicago. Once Clinton received endorsements
from female elected state officials, the network spread to the endorsers' networks. ''In my experience, all elected
women at the state level have a network,'' Lewis observed, ''and they are still in touch. Our campaign talks to the
women who are already engaged, and then we encourage them to reach out to the ones who are less engaged.''
''My goal, on Day 1,'' Lewis went on to say, ''was to have 100 women e-mailing 100 e-mails'' to their social networks, soliciting support for the candidate. The campaign has also focused on the issues they thought would attract
women's support, starting with events around Equal Pay Day last spring. ''The polling confirms what common sense will
tell you,'' Lewis said. ''Economics, health care, education, their own retirement.''
14. Or a Cybervillage
THE OBAMA campaign has also identified a woman-to-woman strategy. In addition to recruiting women
through field offices, the Obama campaign signed up women on its Web site, creating ''a 20,000-woman network.''
Becky Carroll, the 36-year-old national director of Women for Obama, says that that's the most important part of
how they reach out to women, but that Women for Obama is not confined to traditional networking. They have ''girls'
nights out'' where ''young, professional women host cocktail parties'' and book clubs around Obama's book ''The
Audacity of Hope.'' Carroll also speaks proudly of using ''new media in a very important way -- a really aggressive
outreach through our own blog, crossposts on hundreds of other blogs, a campaign newsletter.'' As a result, Carroll
says, women have formed a ''grass-roots movement,'' doing things on their own initiative.
Carroll's strategy has been to use the Internet to have voters hear directly from the Obama campaign. Certainly
Obama's oratorical skill is a vivid reminder of the role of rhetoric to inspire political commitment, and he has done extremely well with young women voters, those most likely to be wired.
15. The Political Is Personal
IN HIS essay ''Federalist No. 10,'' James Madison worried that small republics, where politics are conducted
face to face, were necessarily unstable. The constitution solved this problem by expanding the scope of representative
government so that interests would be diluted. The framework turned out to be quite functional for an expanding landbased empire with a diverse population. But the system always rested on the assumption that people would work to
represent their interests. The aversion of many women to big-sphere politics would seem to weaken the system and
ensure that their interests will be muffled.
Yet what Samuel Popkin, the political scientist at U.C., San Diego, describes as an emphasis on personality versus
issues, Page Gardner frames as marginalized citizens anxiously trying to figure out how to play the political game to get
what they need -- a very conventional political behavior. No less a figure than Carol Gilligan, the feminist scholar who
first posited that women express themselves in a different voice, reminded me that she never said a woman's tendency to
value relational connections excluded the self. ''Coming forward with their own voices is key to citizenship in a democratic republic,'' Gilligan told me. ''Women are using their emotional intelligence and relational intelligence to read the
biographies to figure out if this is a trustworthy person.''
And when women do come forward, they alter the political landscape. Scott Keeter, of the Pew organization, and
Michael Delli Carpini, of the University of Pennsylvania, found that as knowledge increases, ''both single and married
men become slightly more conservative, while married women move slightly in the liberal direction and single women
become quite a bit more liberal.'' These changes lead to a clear gender and marriage gap on domestic-welfare issues. As
Keeter and Carpini concluded in their study: ''A fully informed citizenry would have collective consequences, resulting
in a public-opinion environment that is more ideologically diverse and slightly more liberal.'' It may happen sooner than
we think. According to Women's Voices Women Vote, the single-female-voter demographic shifted 32 points in the
five days between Iowa and New Hampshire. As their advocate Page Gardner says: ''You'd better be paying attention.
Because they're up for grabs.''
16. By the Numbers
SINCE 1964, more women have voted than men have, and since 1980, they have voted at higher percentages: 54
percent of voters in the 2004 presidential election were female. If women care less about politics than men do, why do
they bother? In one recent study, women said that they vote to protect their interest. Whereas men said they vote be-
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16 Ways of Looking at a Female Voter The New York Times February 3, 2008 Sunday
cause they enjoy politics. To a campaign strategist, the female vote -- if you can get it -- must look like the Chinese
market does to an entrepreneur. Only a modest percentage has to want your product, and you'll succeed beyond your
wildest dreams.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 2008 (93%); VOTERS & VOTING (92%); PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS (92%); CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS (90%); US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS (90%); PRIMARY
ELECTIONS (89%); POLITICS (78%); US DEMOCRATIC PARTY (78%); CAUCUSES (78%); POLITICAL CANDIDATES (78%); POLITICAL PARTIES (78%); WOMEN (78%); POLLS & SURVEYS (72%); BLOGS & MESSAGE BOARDS (72%)
PERSON: BARACK OBAMA (95%); HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (94%); ARIANNA HUFFINGTON (56%);
MICHAEL MCMAHON (54%)
GEOGRAPHIC: IOWA, USA (93%) UNITED STATES (93%)
LOAD-DATE: December 2, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS (PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEPHEN LEWIS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES. PROP STYLIST:
MARK CHANDLER. STYLIST: COURTNEY WEINBLATT.)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1113 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 2, 2008 Saturday
Late Edition - Final
Where the Capitalism Is (Always on Display)
BYLINE: By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN
SECTION: Section B; Column 0; The Arts/Cultural Desk; MUSEUM REVIEW; Pg. 7
LENGTH: 1392 words
A few years ago, when irrational exuberance reigned, opening a handsome museum devoted to the history and celebration of money just a block from the New York Stock Exchange might have seemed somewhat vulgar. In times of
enthusiasm and plenty, celebration is superfluous. Why devote reverential attention to something when its powers are so
omnipresent that they provide daily fodder for gossip?
Now, of course, it's a different story. At a time of uncertainty -- as the market quavers, the dollar sinks, subprime lenders go belly up, and the Federal Reserve Bank rapidly twists its dials -- money becomes more puzzling and
more unpredictable, demanding closer scrutiny.
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Where the Capitalism Is (Always on Display) The New York Times February 2, 2008 Saturday
So while opening the Museum of American Finance on Wall Street last month might at first have seemed like bad
timing -- like buying a stock at its top, or selling at its bottom -- there was actually no better moment to mount this
tribute to the ''forces that have made New York City the financial capital of the world'' (as one of the museum's displays
puts it). And if our city's status and the currency that backs it are more contested than they once were, that only makes
the enterprise more urgently intriguing.
In fact, the museum was founded just after the 1987 market crash, because John Herzog, chairman of a trading
firm that has since become part of Merrill Lynch, said he felt that there was no ''institutional memory'' on Wall Street.
Moments of crisis require that expanded perspective, and, as the museum's founding shows, they also inspire it.
Once housed in a much smaller space at the United States Customs House (where it also had the more ponderous
title of Museum of American Financial History), the institution has now come into its own, leasing 30,000 square feet of
the former Bank of New York building. And since the nearby New York Stock Exchange has been closed to the public
since Sept. 11, this museum may also become a de facto visitors' center.
After $9 million in costs (and with a $3 million annual budget), the museum, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, now has a library and an auditorium, along with 10,000 square feet of exhibition space on what was once the
imposing ''private banking'' mezzanine. It is a magisterial space, its grand murals celebrating American industrial
achievements -- powered, presumably, by the investments of many who once banked here.
Unfortunately, the bank was completed just before the 1929 market crash, which must have left many clients in
straitened circumstances. But this museum is not shy about such vagaries in financial fortune. It sees its mission as both
celebratory -- paying tribute to the ''American democratic open market system'' -- and educational, depicting just how
that system evolved and the ways it works and sometimes falters.
So little is taught about this subject in the public schools, and so much still needs to be learned by those who have
not quite figured out the nature of derivatives and other financial instruments, that the museum is both welcome in what
it attempts and disappointing in how it falls short. In some cases it is too obvious (a wall display of the objects lying
behind the trade of pork belly and grain futures doesn't add much); in other cases too compressed (being taught about
the nature of bonds is one thing, understanding junk bonds is something else).
There are other problems as well. We wait to see how all of this will congeal into a clear understanding of the
ways American markets differ from others, or why capitalism, in this particular form, has become so immensely successful. There might also have been more exploration of the debates that have raged over the last 150 years. Winston
Churchill's quotation is left to speak for itself without commentary: ''The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.''
What is needed is a better strategy for teaching something about the economic system -- perhaps interactive displays outlining the way a market actually works. Instead too much space is devoted to freestanding touch-screen monitors offering extensive interviews with 16 entrepreneurs, including Robin Chase (Zipcar) and David G. Neeleman
(JetBlue); many of these figures are far less interesting than what they accomplished. And there is such a thing as too
much tribute: Citigroup gets an unnecessary, promotional display of objects and video, while a more detailed case history, demonstrating a single corporation's successes and failures, risks and ventures, would be far more revealing.
So I hoped for more. The frustration is that this is not just a good story; it is a great story, an epic, and here it can
be glimpsed only piecemeal. But there are so many fragments here, and so many compelling ones, that the individual
parts actually end up greater than their sum. Unusual items from the museum's 10,000-object collection range from early adding machines to the ticker tape detailing the plummeting prices of the 1929 crash; from a 1720 South Sea Company stock certificate signed by Isaac Newton, who lost his investment in a speculative ''bubble'' of the 18th century, to a
check signed by John D. Rockefeller.
Some of the displays, designed by C&G Partners (which created the deft exhibits at the redesigned Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles), tell their story with humor, using touch screens to give the history of bank robbery, or showing
a clip from ''It's a Wonderful Life,'' so that Jimmy Stewart can explain the virtues of a ''savings and loan.'' A small room
devoted to the history of American money could have been twice as large and was easily the most coherent in the museum, aided by nearly $6 million in rare coins and bills and a 60-pound ingot from the California Gold Rush, found in a
shipwreck. The armed guard outside that room served as a reminder of what this exhibition space once was.
Such sensations make the museum far less staid than it appears. What is shown again and again, in the charts and
anecdotes, is how difficult a partner fortune can be (though Fortune -- the magazine -- exhibited in a display of some
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Where the Capitalism Is (Always on Display) The New York Times February 2, 2008 Saturday
classic issues from the 1930s and '40s, was clearly both lovely and powerful). The wheel of fortune is an ancient concept, and it can be seen revolving here, not just in the history of the room itself, but in tumultuous stories condensed into
labels and objects. The distinctively American twist is the idea that the wheel can be manually turned -- and that anybody can spin it, even though some results may be unexpected.
A board game from 1886 is like a do-it-yourself Horatio Alger story. ''Game of the District Messenger Boy,'' reads
the faded box, ''or Merit Rewarded.'' Figures looking like racing Wall Street messengers move around the board as instructed by a spinning wheel: ''Advance to District Manager,'' reads one square; ''Drowsiness, go back to Reprimand,''
reads another.
Elsewhere we read of the ''oracle of Omaha,'' Warren E. Buffett -- the only pupil of the renowned Columbia University economist Benjamin Graham to have ever earned an A+ in his graduate work -- but also of ''Enron's
(Mis)Managers'' and of figures like William C. Durant, the founder of General Motors, who went from being a billionaire to (in the wake of the 1929 crash) becoming a dishwasher, running a bowling alley and selling a dandruff cure.
Some wealth is created out of risk and labor; but so, too, is some poverty. Freedom has come from capital; so, too, has
slavery. A scrap ofpaper becomes a fortune, and a fortune becomes worthless paper.
One display reminds us that Willie Sutton famously explained that he robbed banks ''because that's where the
money is.'' But we come to this former bank to see exactly what money is -- and what America has made of it. That
doesn't really happen. But enough is seen so that money starts to seem less like a material object than like something
more ethereal, affected by sea winds and psychology, faith and risk. And at this uncertain moment its mysterious powers seem all the more uncanny: it's a perfect time to see it in action. This museum is not a bad place to start.
The Museum of American Finance is open Tuesdays through Saturdays at 48 Wall Street, Lower Manhattan;
(212) 908-4110 or financialhistory.org.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: STOCK EXCHANGES (90%); MUSEUMS & GALLERIES (89%); BANKING & FINANCE (89%);
EXHIBITIONS (78%); PAINTING (78%); HISTORY (78%); CURRENCIES (77%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
(75%); CENTRAL BANKS (75%); US DEMOCRATIC PARTY (73%); BUDGET (69%); RENTAL PROPERTY
(62%); SUBPRIME LENDING (55%)
COMPANY: NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE LLC (58%); MERRILL LYNCH & CO INC (57%); BANK OF
NEW YORK MELLON CORP (53%)
ORGANIZATION: SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION (59%)
TICKER: MLY (LSE) (57%); MER (NYSE) (57%); BK (NYSE) (53%); 8675 (TSE) (57%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS523930 INVESTMENT ADVICE (54%); NAICS523920 PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT (54%);
NAICS523120 SECURITIES BROKERAGE (54%); NAICS523110 INVESTMENT BANKING AND SECURITIES
DEALING (54%); SIC6282 INVESTMENT ADVICE (54%); SIC6211 SECURITY BROKERS, DEALERS, & FLOTATION COMPANIES (54%); NAICS551111 OFFICES OF BANK HOLDING COMPANIES (53%); NAICS522110
COMMERCIAL BANKING (53%); SIC6712 OFFICES OF BANK HOLDING COMPANIES (53%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (79%) NEW YORK, USA (79%); CALIFORNIA, USA (79%) UNITED
STATES (95%)
LOAD-DATE: February 2, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: The Museum of American Finance: The museum, affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, is
newly relocated to 48 Wall Street, a block from the New York Stock Exchange.(PHOTOGRAPH BY NICOLE BENGIVENO/THE NEW YORK TIMES)(pg. B1)
Page 264
Where the Capitalism Is (Always on Display) The New York Times February 2, 2008 Saturday
Among the museum's collection of financerelated objects are antique games that convey a sense of an industrious,
getahead- in-business mentality.(PHOTOGRAPH BY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FINANCE)
Left, a museumgoer uses a touch-screen monitor to see interviews with business leaders
above, a 60-pound ingot from the time of the California Gold Rush.(PHOTOGRAPHS BY CASEY KELBAUGH FOR
THE NEW YORK TIMES)(pg. B11)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Review
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1114 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 2, 2008 Saturday
Late Edition - Final
Divisive Serbian Vote Offers Stark Choice of East and West
BYLINE: By DAN BILEFSKY
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Foreign Desk; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 897 words
DATELINE: BELGRADE
As Serbia prepared to choose a president, 25,000 supporters of the nationalist challenger, Tomislav Nikolic, packed
a stadium on Thursday where the warm-up performances included a haunting song celebrating Radovan Karadzic, the
fugitive Bosnian Serb leader charged with genocide, enthusiastic tributes to Moscow and rousing speeches by former
lieutenants of the late Slobodan Milosevic.
The rally for Mr. Nikolic, 55, a charismatic former cemetery worker known as the Undertaker, underlined the
stark choice Serbs face in a runoff on Sunday that could draw Serbia closer to the European Union or drag it back into
the nationalism and isolation of the past.
Mr. Nikolic's Radical Party edged out the Democratic Party of the pro-Western incumbent, Boris Tadic, in the
first round of elections last week. The latest opinion polls show Mr. Tadic, 50, a telegenic but understated psychologist,
who advocates closer ties with the European Union and Washington, ahead by three percentage points.
''Serbs face a choice between accepting or rejecting the economic and political renewal of Serbia that began after
Milosevic was finally thrown out of power in 2000,'' said Marko Blagojevic, an analyst with the Center for Democracy
and Free Elections, an election monitoring and polling group based in Belgrade.
The vote has also become a test between determination by Russia to extend its sphere of influence to the Adriatic
Sea and a campaign by the European Union and the United States to stabilize the Balkans.
A critical element of that contest is Kosovo, which is expected to declare its independence from Serbia this month.
Serbia, backed by Moscow, is vehemently opposed to independence and considers the territory, dominated by ethnic
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Divisive Serbian Vote Offers Stark Choice of East and West The New York Times February 2, 2008 Saturday
Albanians, its medieval heartland. Kosovo has been in limbo since 1999, when it came under United Nations control
after NATO intervened to halt Mr. Milosevic's repression of Albanians there.
The European Union and the United States support independence for Kosovo, and union officials have promised
to offset Serbia's loss by rewarding it with generous financial aid, visa-free travel and the possibility of membership.
Both candidates say Kosovo should remain part of Serbia. But Mr. Tadic has used the issue to press for closer ties
with Europe and Washington, while Mr. Nikolic has argued that a Serbia shorn of Kosovo should turn to Russia instead.
''I want the E.U.'s help and I want investment for Serbia,'' Mr. Nikolic said at the rally Thursday night. ''But I have
only one demand: do not touch our Kosovo.''
His pronouncement was made after a large screen showed a heroic report of his visit to Moscow this week, where,
accompanied by the brother of Mr. Milosevic, he met with Russia's likely next president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, and
praised the deal last week in which the Russian state energy giant Gazprom gained control of Serbia's national oil company.
Political observers here say Mr. Nikolic's message -- low on policy proposals and high on nationalism -- is resonating with Serbs, who are deeply disenchanted with the country's progress since Mr. Tadic's Democratic Party helped
overthrow Mr. Milosevic eight years ago.
Unemployment hovers around 21 percent, while the annual per capita gross domestic product of $7,400 ranks
Serbia among Europe's poorest countries.
The discontent was apparent this week at a crowded cafe in a poor neighborhood of New Belgrade, dominated by
concrete apartment blocks and Nikolic posters. A Radical Party student leader, Raso Vucinic, 20, said Serbia would
never relinquish Kosovo in return for European Union membership.
''We all want to live better,'' he said. ''But we will not give in to blackmail.''
Yet supporters of Mr. Tadic, who has made European Union membership a centerpiece of his campaign, say such
sentiments reflect a collective amnesia about the 1990s, when Serbia suffered from international economic embargoes
and the Radical Party backed Mr. Milosevic's wars.
Since Mr. Tadic became president in 2004, his supporters say, he has improved relations with the West and helped
Serbia rebuild the outward-looking image that the Radical Party helped destroy.
Rade Maroevic, 38, a former professional basketball player, noted with pride that three Serbian tennis players -Novak Djokovic, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic -- had worked their way into the top 10 in the world.
''For once, people know us for something other than being war criminals,'' he said. ''We don't want to go back to
the old days.''
Mr. Tadic made a similar point at his own rally Thursday night, saying, ''Never again can Serbia afford to be a
place of conflict, war, isolation and discrimination.'' Businesspeople warned that a Nikolic victory would bring economic costs, including diminished foreign investment. ''If Nikolic wins, this will destabilize the economy,'' said Zoran Mandic, a leading entrepreneur.
Analysts predicted that on Sunday economics would triumph over emotions and Mr. Tadic would win, if only by
the slimmest of margins. Mr. Blagojevic, the political analyst, said the swing vote would come from Serbs who were
unwilling to trade long-term economic welfare for hanging on to Kosovo.
But he cautioned that choosing between Kosovo and Europe was excruciating: ''Serbs are being asked to choose
between cutting off their right or left legs.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ELECTIONS (90%); VOTERS & VOTING (90%); INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS
(88%); SEPARATISM & SECESSION (86%); STADIUMS & ARENAS (78%); RUNOFF ELECTIONS (78%);
GENOCIDE (77%); POLLS & SURVEYS (75%); ELECTION MONITORING (74%); POLITICAL PARTIES (74%);
LABOR UNIONS (71%); INDUSTRY ANALYSTS (66%); OIL & GAS INDUSTRY (64%); CRUDE OIL & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (60%); PASSPORTS & VISAS (50%)
Page 266
Divisive Serbian Vote Offers Stark Choice of East and West The New York Times February 2, 2008 Saturday
COMPANY: OAO GAZPROM (60%)
ORGANIZATION: EUROPEAN UNION (84%)
TICKER: OGZD (LSE) (60%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS486210 PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION OF NATURAL GAS (60%); NAICS221210 NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION (60%); NAICS213112 SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FOR OIL AND GAS OPERATIONS
(60%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (60%); SIC4924 NATURAL
GAS DISTRIBUTION (60%); SIC4923 NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION (60%); SIC4922
NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION (60%); SIC1382 OIL & GAS FIELD EXPLORATION SERVICES (60%);
SIC1311 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (60%); NAICS213112 SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FOR OIL &
GAS OPERATIONS (60%); NAICS211111 CRUDE PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS EXTRACTION (60%)
GEOGRAPHIC: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (94%); BELGRADE, SERBIA & MONTENEGRO (92%) MEDITERRANEAN SEA (54%) SERBIA (99%); SERBIA & MONTENEGRO (95%); RUSSIA (94%); UNITED STATES (94%);
EUROPE (94%); BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA (92%); ALBANIA (92%); EUROPEAN UNION (92%)
LOAD-DATE: February 2, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1115 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 2, 2008 Saturday
Correction Appended
Late Edition - Final
When Just Handing Over a Ring Won't Do
BYLINE: By ALINA TUGEND.
E-mail: shortcuts@nytimes.com
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; SHORTCUTS; Pg. 6
LENGTH: 1167 words
I LIKE hearing marriage proposal stories, and I like telling about ours. All right, since you asked, my husband-tobe proposed in Paris in the back of a taxi.
He had planned to do it on the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge there, but it was raining and he got flustered and blurted it out in the back of the cab with a bored driver smoking in the front. It was great.
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When Just Handing Over a Ring Won't Do The New York Times February 2, 2008 Saturday Correction Appended
Some of our friends have very romantic tales of proposals on mountaintops in Tibet or at sunset on the beach,
while others are more mundane. One friend recalls eating Chinese food with her boyfriend in bed when he turned to her
and said, ''So, are we going to get married or what?''
Another said she knew her boyfriend was going to ask something important because he asked her to turn the TV
down. I guess it was not necessary to actually turn the set off.
The common link in these stories is that they are two-character plays -- but that is so last century. Now, they can
involve a cast of three, four or dozens.
I am thinking of proposals because it is almost Valentine's Day -- the most depressing or the most romantic of
holidays, depending on your view -- one of the big four holidays to propose. The others, according to Anja Winikka,
associate editor of the WeddingChannel.com, are Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. An estimated 40 percent of
proposals, or about a million, occur over those holidays each year.
Proposals are becoming increasingly elaborate and expensive, with proposal planners, proposal photographers and
others getting into the act of helping men -- and it is still overwhelmingly men who do the asking -- create an over-thetop presentation.
This goes along with the growing tendency to turn every experience surrounding the marriage ritual into a spectacle, from rehearsal dinners to the ceremony itself.
''Weddings are culturally valorized as incredibly significant events in our lives,'' said Cele Otnes, professor of
marketing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and co-author of ''Cinderella Dreams: The Allure of the
Lavish Wedding'' (University of California Press, 2003). ''Upping the ante gives it legitimacy.''
Jenifour Jones, founder of Go Get It Events, said that during her busiest time, she can plan three or four proposals
a week.
For one, she staged a fake show, which the bride-to-be assumed was real. The concierge of a hotel was in on it, as
was a comedy troupe and 150 actors playing audience members.
When the time came to kiss the frog, the girlfriend was ''chosen'' to come on stage and, unbeknownst to her, her
boyfriend was smuggled backstage. He changed into a frog suit and when she kissed him, he took off the costume and
presented the ring, while the audience waved lanterns.
The average cost of her proposals is $5,000 to $15,000, Ms. Jones said, but something like the frog play can run
more.
Ms. Jones's typical client is in his 30s or 40s, and, she said, she has helped same-sex couples, too.
''People are older, they're waiting longer, they have more disposable income,'' Ms. Winikka said.
Richard Heyderman, who hired Ms. Jones to help him, is 41, and getting married for the second time on Valentine's Day.
He knew that his fiancee, Tara Pokotilow, a teacher, loves the book ''Madeline'' by Ludwig Bemelmans. So with
Ms. Jones's help, he rewrote the story as ''Tara's Greatest Adventure.''
''I had someone drop a clue at her door,'' said Mr. Heyderman, who is president and chief executive of Multi Dimensional Resources. Then a character dressed as Madeline showed up.
During Ms. Pokotilow's surprise day out, which included a shopping trip, a spa treatment and serenading with one
of her favorite Broadway songs, she was given pages of the book, not knowing exactly what was going on.
The coup de grace was when she was handed a first edition of ''Madeline'' with a love note inside ''written by me,''
Mr. Heyderman said -- and taken on a helicopter ride to a sculpture garden in New Jersey, where he proposed.
Mr. Heyderman did not want to reveal how much he paid for the day, though he did confide that some of his
friends later told him, ''Rich you made our lives impossible, because how do we top that?''
Indeed, Ms. Winikka said one appeal of such proposals is the guy ''wants bragging rights with his friends.''
Does the woman like it as much? Elaine Pursey of Barkshire, England, whose husband planned a day that culminated in a private proposal on the Wollman Rink in Central Park in Manhattan, loved it.
Page 268
When Just Handing Over a Ring Won't Do The New York Times February 2, 2008 Saturday Correction Appended
''He had been secretly taking skating lessons for months,'' she said.
I can't help being a little cynical about some of this because it seems to be one more effort by the $70 billion dollar wedding industry to get a piece of the pie, or wedding cake, as it were.
But Ms. Otnes said it was not clear which came first -- the entrepreneurs or the grooms-to-be -- or even if it
stems from men or women.
She does see a few factors at play.
''There is an increasing fetishizing of luxury,'' she said. In addition, wedding movies like ''Runaway Bride,'' or the
newly released ''27 Dresses,'' magnify everything.
Proposal photographers are also an option. Terry Gruber, owner of Gruber Photographers in Manhattan, said he
has done about 15 such shots and charges $750 for each one. But surreptitiously shooting the moment of asking without
the woman knowing is not always the best idea, Mr. Gruber said.
''You don't want the bride to think its creepy,'' he said. It's better to come up with a pretext, like 'my mom wants
pictures of you and me,' '' he said. Then, when the photographer is snapping away, the man pops the question.
The marriage proposal is as ritualized as any tribal custom. A paper published last year in the journal Sex Roles
found that people -- or at least the 2,174 university students in the Midwest whom the researchers surveyed -- associated
more conventional proposals with stronger relationships.
If the hypothetical proposal adhered to a traditional script -- the man asking the woman's father first; the man asking the woman; the man getting down on one knee and giving a diamond ring -- then the students thought that the relationship would be stronger, said Alicia D. Cast, associate professor of sociology at Iowa State University and a coauthor of the study.
Nontraditional would be if the woman asked the man, there was no ring, a plain band or an alternative gem like a
ruby or sapphire.
There was no statistical difference in answers between men and women.
This research helps demonstrate that participants in a ritual like a proposal want to convey a certain message, creating ''in the minds of others that we are a legitimate and serious couple,'' Ms. Cast said.
Often those who want elaborate proposals are entering their second marriage, perhaps in the hope that if they start
this one right, it will last.
Both Ms. Pursey and her husband had been married before. How did the ice rink proposal compare with her first?
''I can't remember it,'' she said.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: MARRIAGE (89%); WEDDINGS & ENGAGEMENTS (90%); CHRONOLOGIES (72%); SMUGGLING
(60%); THANKSGIVING (70%); CHRISTMAS (70%); COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS (60%); BUSINESS EDUCATION (65%); ACTORS & ACTRESSES (73%)
GEOGRAPHIC: PARIS, FRANCE (88%) ILLINOIS, USA (90%); SOUTHWEST CHINA (72%); XIZANG, CHINA
(55%) UNITED STATES (90%); FRANCE (88%); CHINA (72%); TIBET (72%)
LOAD-DATE: February 2, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
CORRECTION-DATE: February 6, 2008
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When Just Handing Over a Ring Won't Do The New York Times February 2, 2008 Saturday Correction Appended
CORRECTION: The Shortcuts column in Business Day on Saturday, about elaborate marriage proposals, misspelled
the residence of Elaine Pursey, a British woman whose husband proposed on the Wollman Rink in Central Park in
Manhattan. She is from Berkshire, England -- not Barkshire (though it is pronounced BARK-shire in England).
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Richard Heyderman and Tara Pokotilow on the day he proposed marriage. Mr. Heyderman took
an elaborate route to the special day.
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1116 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 2, 2008 Saturday
Late Edition - Final
Berlusconi's Long Shadow Casts a Chill Over Italian Politics
BYLINE: By IAN FISHER and ELISABETTA POVOLEDO; Daniele Pinto contributed reporting.
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Foreign Desk; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 998 words
DATELINE: ROME
To Silvia Tomassini, owner of a boutique in Rome's ancient center, Silvio Berlusconi is ''arrogant.'' At 71, he's too
old. He endlessly commits ''brutta figura,'' which loosely means that you can't take the man anywhere nice.
Yet when elections come again to Italy -- and they may soon -- Ms. Tomassini will vote for him. Indeed, polls
show that nearly two years after he was voted out of the prime minister's office, Mr. Berlusconi would probably win it
back. In Ms. Tomassini's case, she does not love him, but thinks he cares for working people. Besides, she hates the
other side.
''He's not a person of class or culture,'' she said. ''But he's better than the center-left.''
When Mr. Berlusconi -- Italy's richest man, its media king and leader of the political center-right -- won elections
in 2001, he promised something new: as an outsider and entrepreneur, he would bring action and hope to do-nothing
politics.
Now, having lived through five years with Mr. Berlusconi as prime minister, Italians know pretty clearly what
they would be getting. He is now less a promising novelty than one option among the few open to voters, polarizing
Italians into nearly equal camps for and against him.
Those against him are appalled that, knowing what they do, Italians could even think of choosing him again, after
the center-left government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi fell last week. The list of complaints is long, starting with
his unconventional oratory (''I am the Jesus Christ of politics,'' Mr. Berlusconi said in 2006. ''I sacrifice myself for everyone.'') and ending, inevitably, with what critics say is his corruption.
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Berlusconi's Long Shadow Casts a Chill Over Italian Politics The New York Times February 2, 2008 Saturday
''We've seen Berlusconi at work, and we've seen that above all he's got his own interests at heart, passing tailormade laws to avoid trouble or get advantages,'' said Eugenio Scalfari, former editor in chief of La Repubblica, a liberal
newspaper that has strongly opposed Mr. Berlusconi.
Mr. Scalfari cited, as an example, Mr. Berlusconi's acquittal this week on charges of false accounting in the sale of
the state-owned SME food conglomerate. The court's decision was based on the fact that the charges were considered a
lesser criminal offense under changes made to the legal code in 2002 by the Berlusconi government.
But supporters, if several degrees less fervent than years ago, point to what they say were real, if limited, accomplishments in his term. Economic growth may have been zero, but he lasted five years, a record in Italy and a new level
of political stability.
''There's nobody else, and he's very popular,'' said Paolo Guzzanti, a journalist and senator in Mr. Berlusconi's
Forza Italia party. ''Berlusconi is hated for the same reasons he is beloved: He is an outspoken man. He is still considered not a political person, even if he has been in politics since 1994. He is always unpredictable.''
But nearly 14 years after he served his first, brief term as prime minister, Mr. Berlusconi's well-financed machine
is showing signs of wear. He had a pacemaker implanted after he collapsed in public in 2006. His dyed and ever-morerobust hair, his plastic surgery, his oddly reddish makeup -- all remain part of Italy's running national chuckle.
And his allies, never completely loyal, have scrambled back only reluctantly since Mr. Prodi's government fell.
Late last year one key member of the coalition, the suave and articulate Gianfranco Fini, head of the National Alliance Party, declared that he had broken forever with Mr. Berlusconi. It was, he said, ''a closed case.''
''He is a man with a very strict scale of moral values, and in first place are his own personal interests,'' Mr. Fini
was quoted in La Repubblica as telling a friend.
(The history behind the split is typically complicated: Mr. Fini was reacting in part to a failed effort by Mr. Berlusconi in November to bring down Mr. Prodi's government. Also, one of Mr. Berlusconi's three television stations
broadcast an embarrassing video of Mr. Fini's new girlfriend, a showgirl and lawyer, with a former lover.)
While Mr. Berlusconi and his allies lead in most opinion polls, his return to power is by no means assured. He will
probably face the popular mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, who is media savvy and nearly 20 years younger than Mr.
Berlusconi.
Some polls show the new Democratic Party, which Mr. Veltroni heads, not far behind Mr. Berlusconi and his allies.
Mr. Berlusconi must also convince the nation that he has its best interests at heart as he presses for holding elections before fixing an electoral law that is broadly considered, even by Mr. Berlusconi's allies, to produce unstable governments no matter which sides wins.
It was Mr. Berlusconi who passed the law before the 2006 election, and even he has conceded it should be
changed. But he says forming a strong government quickly with the blessing of voters is more important -- though critics say he is again putting his own interests above those of the country.
Next week the Senate president, Franco Marini, will decide whether there is enough support in Parliament to form
a temporary government aimed at changing the law or, as Mr. Berlusconi advocates, elections should be held as soon as
possible.
In the end, many Italians say, the issue is not so much Mr. Berlusconi but a blocked system that leaves few choices. Emilio Giannelli, a popular political cartoonist who depicts Mr. Berlusconi as a cunning dwarf in platform shoes,
said he cannot work up excitement to begin drawing him again.
''Even for political cartoonists, change is good because these eternal personalities bore even those who have to
draw them,'' he said. ''We have been drawing Berlusconi for 18 years, and we're tired of it.''
Asked which Italian politician he might prefer to draw as prime minister, Mr. Giannelli, who is also 71, said: ''I
want young people, new people, people with new ideas. I would happily go into retirement if I saw young and capable
people in power.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
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Berlusconi's Long Shadow Casts a Chill Over Italian Politics The New York Times February 2, 2008 Saturday
SUBJECT: ELECTIONS (90%); HEADS OF STATE & GOVERNMENT (90%); POLITICS (90%); ECONOMIC
GROWTH (72%); RELIGION (63%); ACQUITTAL (60%); CRIMINAL OFFENSES (60%); POLLS & SURVEYS
(57%); FOOD & BEVERAGE (50%); SETTLEMENTS & DECISIONS (50%); LITIGATION (50%); LAW COURTS
& TRIBUNALS (50%); PRIME MINISTERS (90%)
PERSON: SILVIO BERLUSCONI (94%); ROMANO PRODI (54%)
GEOGRAPHIC: ITALY (94%)
LOAD-DATE: February 2, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Naples last week. His eagerness to return to power
troubles many Italians.(PHOTOGRAPH BY MARIO LAPORTA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE -- GETTY IMAGES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1117 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 2, 2008 Saturday
Late Edition - Final
Jens Quistgaard, 88, a Designer of Popular Tableware
BYLINE: By MARGALIT FOX
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; The Arts/Cultural Desk; Pg. 17
LENGTH: 537 words
Jens Quistgaard, a celebrated Danish industrial designer whose clean-lined and immensely popular pieces for the
Dansk brand of tableware helped define the Scandinavian Modern style for postwar Americans, died on Jan. 4 at his
home in Vordingborg, Denmark. He was 88.
The death was confirmed by Paul Thonis, the design director for Dansk. News of Mr. Quistgaard's death was not
made public outside Scandinavia until this week.
Today a division of the Lenox Group, Dansk was founded in 1954 by Ted Nierenberg, an American entrepreneur
and engineer. Originally based in Great Neck, N.Y., the company quickly became known for making sophisticated European styles accessible to the average American consumer. Working from his studio in Copenhagen, Mr. Quistgaard
designed for Dansk from its inception until the mid-1980s.
A largely self-taught craftsman, Mr. Quistgaard was known for his fluid lines and for using unusual materials, often in combination. His signature pieces included salad bowls and cutting boards of teak and other exotic woods, and
elegant stainless-steel flatware that was an affordable alternative to sterling silver.
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Jens Quistgaard, 88, a Designer of Popular Tableware The New York Times February 2, 2008 Saturday
Mr. Quistgaard's bowls were often made from separate staves of wood arranged in a circle, much as barrels are
built. This used less wood than turning the bowls on a lathe and gave them striking radial lines in the process.
He was also one of the first designers to rehabilitate enameled steel as a medium for cookware. For years enameled steel pots were considered lowbrow -- flimsy speckled things that were at home over a campfire but not in a bourgeois kitchen.
Seeking a pot that would be lighter and less expensive than cast iron, Mr. Quistgaard created the Kobenstyle line
of steel cookware, which Dansk released in 1956. Sturdy, yet light and graceful, it was enameled in a range of vivid
solid colors, including an intoxicating fire-engine red. As a sign that the pots were handsome enough to be put on the
table, their lids, with distinctive flat cruciform handles, doubled as trivets.
Jens Harald Quistgaard was born in Denmark on April 23, 1919. His father, Harald, was a well-known sculptor
who provided his son's only formal training. As a child, Jens cheerfully made his own toys from the scraps of wood his
father brought home. For Christmas, the 14-year-old Jens requested, and received, a blacksmith forge and anvil.
As a young man, Mr. Quistgaard served an apprenticeship at Georg Jensen, the well-known Danish silversmiths.
During World War II, he was a member of the Danish underground.
In 1954 Mr. Nierenberg was visiting Copenhagen, where he caught sight of hand-forged flatware by Mr.
Quistgaard in a museum. It was made of stainless steel with teak handles, an unusual marriage of materials at the time.
He sought out Mr. Quistgaard, persuaded him that his singular creations could be properly mass-produced, and Dansk
was born.
Mr. Quistgaard's survivors include a son, Anders; a daughter, Jette; and several grandchildren. Information on
other survivors could not be confirmed.
His work, which won many international awards, is in the permanent collections of major museums, among them
the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Louvre.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: SILVERWARE & HOLLOWARE MFG (89%); SCULPTURE (78%); CUTLERY & FLATWARE MFG
(76%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (75%); APPRENTICESHIPS & INTERNSHIPS (74%); WORLD WAR II (50%)
GEOGRAPHIC: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (73%) UNITED STATES (93%); DENMARK (90%)
CATEGORY: Science and Technology
PERSON: Jens Quistgaard
LOAD-DATE: February 2, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Left, Jens Quistgaard in 1996. Above, a pot designed by Mr. Quistgaard. He created the Kobenstyle cookware line.(PHOTOGRAPH BY TONY CENICOLA/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1118 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
Page 273
A Green Energy Industry Takes Root Under the California Sun The New York Times February 1, 2008 Friday
The New York Times
February 1, 2008 Friday
Late Edition - Final
A Green Energy Industry Takes Root Under the California Sun
BYLINE: By MATT RICHTEL and JOHN MARKOFF
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1247 words
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO
The sun is starting to grow jobs.
While interest in alternative energy is climbing across the United States, solar power especially is rising in California, the product of billions of dollars in investment and mountains of enthusiasm.
In recent months, the industry has added several thousand jobs in the production of solar energy cells and installation of solar panels on roofs. A spate of investment has also aimed at making solar power more efficient and less costly
than natural gas and coal.
Entrepreneurs, academics and policy makers say this era's solar industry is different from what was tried in the
1970s, when Jerry Brown, then the governor of California, invited derision for envisioning a future fueled by alternative
energy.
They point to companies like SolarCity, an installer of rooftop solar cells based in Foster City. Since its founding
in 2006, it has grown to 215 workers and $29 million in annual sales. ''It is hard to find installers,'' said Lyndon Rive,
the chief executive. ''We're at the stage where if we continue to grow at this pace, we won't be able to sustain the
growth.''
SunPower, which makes the silicon-based cells that turn sunlight into electricity, reported 2007 revenue of more
than $775 million, more than triple its 2006 revenue. The company expects sales to top $1 billion this year. SunPower,
based in San Jose, said its stock price grew 251 percent in 2007, faster than any other Silicon Valley company, including Apple and Google.
Not coincidentally, three-quarters of the nation's demand for solar comes from residents and companies in California. ''There is a real economy -- multiple companies, all of which have the chance to be billion-dollar operators,'' said
Daniel M. Kammen, a professor in the energy and resources group at the University of California, Berkeley. California,
he says, is poised to be both the world's next big solar market and its entrepreneurial center.
The question, Professor Kammen says, is: ''How can we make sure it's not just green elite or green chic, and make
it the basis for the economy?''
There also are huge challenges ahead, not the least of which is the continued dominance of fossil fuels. Solar represents less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the $3 trillion global energy market, leading some critics to suggest that the
state is getting ahead of itself, as it did during the 1970s.
The optimists say a crucial difference this time is the participation of private-sector investors and innovators and
emerging technologies. Eight of more than a dozen of the nation's companies developing photovoltaic cells are based in
California, and seven of those are in Silicon Valley.
Among the companies that academics and entrepreneurs believe could take the industry to a new level is Nanosolar, which recently started making photovoltaic cells in a 200,000-square-foot factory in San Jose. The company said
the first 18 months of its capacity has already been booked for sales in Germany.
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A Green Energy Industry Takes Root Under the California Sun The New York Times February 1, 2008 Friday
''They could absolutely transform the market if they make good on even a fraction of their goal for next year,'' Professor Kammen said. ''They're not just a new entrant, but one of the biggest producers in the world.''
Many of the California companies are start-ups exploring exotic materials like copper indium gallium selenide, or
CIGS, an alternative to the conventional crystalline silicon that is now the dominant technology.
The newcomers hope that CIGS, while less efficient than silicon, can be made far more cheaply than silicon-based
cells. Indeed, the Nanosolar factory looks more like a newspaper plant than a chip-making factory. The CIGS material is
sprayed onto giant rolls of aluminum foil and then cut into pieces the size of solar panels.
Another example is Integrated Solar, based in Los Angeles, which has developed a low-cost approach to integrating photovoltaic panels directly into the roofs of commercial buildings.
In 2007, 100 megawatts of solar generating capacity was installed in California, about a 50 percent increase over
2006, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group.
That growth rate is likely to increase, in part because of ambitious new projects like the 177-megawatt solar thermal plant that Pacific Gas and Electric said last November it would build in San Luis Obispo.
The plant, which will generate power for more than 120,000 homes beginning in 2010, will be built by Ausra, a
Palo Alto start-up backed by the investor Vinod Khosla and his former venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield &
Byers.
The industry in California is also helped by state and local governments' substantial subsidies to stimulate demand. The state has earmarked $3.2 billion to subsidize solar installation, with the goal of putting solar cells on one
million rooftops. The state Assembly passed a law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020, which
could spur alternatives like solar.
Additional incentives have come from a small but growing number of municipalities. The city of Berkeley will
pay the upfront costs for a resident's solar installation and recoup the money over 20 years through additional property
taxes on a resident's home. San Francisco is preparing to adopt its own subsidy that would range from $3,000 for a
home installation to as much as $10,000 for a business.
The subsidies have prompted a surge in private investment, led by venture capitalists. In 2007, these seed investors put $654 million in 33 solar-related deals in California, up from $253 million in 16 deals in 2006, according to the
Cleantech Group, which tracks investments in alternative energy. California received roughly half of all solar power
venture investments made in 2007 in the United States.
''We're just starting to see successful companies come out through the other end of that process,'' said Nancy C.
Floyd, managing director at Nth Power, a venture capital firm that focuses on alternative energy. ''And through innovation and volume, prices are coming down.''
Whether any of this investment pays off depends, as it did in previous eras, on reaching the point at which solar
cells produce electricity as inexpensively as fossil fuels. The cost of solar energy is projected to fall steeply as cheaper
new technology reaches economies of scale. Optimists believe that some regions in California could reach that point in
half a decade.
At present, solar power is three to five times as expensive as coal, depending on the technology used, said Dan
Reicher, director for climate change and energy initiatives at Google.org, the philanthropic division of the Internet company. Among its investments, Google says, is $10 million in financing for eSolar, a company in Pasadena that builds
systems that concentrate sunlight from reflecting mirrors.
''We're at the dawn of a revolution that could be as powerful as the Internet revolution,'' Mr. Reicher said. The
problem is, he said, ''renewable energy simply costs too much.''
At a conference of alternative energy companies in San Francisco last month, to discuss how to encourage the industry's growth, Mr. Brown, the former governor, joked that if the participants wanted to make real headway selling
alternative energy, they should try not to come off as flaky. ''Don't get too far ahead of yourselves,'' said Mr. Brown,
now the state's attorney general. ''You will be stigmatized. Don't use too many big words and make it all sound like yesterday.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
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A Green Energy Industry Takes Root Under the California Sun The New York Times February 1, 2008 Friday
SUBJECT: SOLAR ENERGY (95%); RENEWABLE ENERGY (91%); ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS (90%);
ELECTRIC POWER INDUSTRY (90%); ENERGY & UTILITY TRADE (90%); ENERGY & UTILITY SECTOR
PERFORMANCE (90%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (89%); MOUNTAINS (89%); NATURAL GAS MARKETS
(76%); PUBLIC POLICY (75%); SALES PROJECTIONS (73%); NATURAL GAS PRODUCTS (73%); ELECTRICITY MARKETS (70%); COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS (67%)
COMPANY: GOOGLE INC (54%)
TICKER: GOOG (NASDAQ) (54%); GGEA (LSE) (54%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS518112 WEB SEARCH PORTALS (54%); SIC8999 SERVICES, NEC (54%); SIC7375 INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SERVICES (54%); NAICS519130 INTERNET PUBLISHING & BROADCASTING &
WEB SEARCH PORTALS (54%)
PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (55%)
GEOGRAPHIC: SAN JOSE, CA, USA (79%); SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA (79%); SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA, USA (93%) CALIFORNIA, USA (94%) UNITED STATES (94%)
LOAD-DATE: February 1, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Peter Rive of SolarCity, an installer of rooftop solar cells in California.(PHOTOGRAPH BY
NOAH BERGER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)(pg. C1)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1119 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
February 1, 2008 Friday
Late Edition - Final
Artistic Muscle, Flexed For Medicis
BYLINE: By HOLLAND COTTER
SECTION: Section E; Column 0; Movies, Performing Arts/Weekend Desk; ART REVIEW 'MICHELANGELO, VASARI AND THEIR CONTEMPORARIES'; Pg. 33
LENGTH: 1524 words
Michelangelo was a terrible kvetch. His back forever ached; popes were slow with the paychecks; the local food
was always an insult, a disgrace. No one worked half as hard as he did, and slacker artists made him nuts. ''Draw, Anto-
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Artistic Muscle, Flexed For Medicis The New York Times February 1, 2008 Friday
nio; draw, Antonio; draw and don't waste time,'' he scrawled on a sketch he gave to a lackadaisical young pupil and studio assistant, Antonio Mini, in 1524.
He gave Mini many drawings -- two trunks full, according to one account -- as he did to several other pretty men
he taught. You'll find a choice example from the Mini cache -- a stormy, swirling study of a muscular male leg -- in
''Michelangelo, Vasari and Their Contemporaries: Drawings From the Uffizi'' at the Morgan Library & Museum. That
sketch is just one of 79 16th-century Florentine works, shaped into a thematic exhibition that would give even the faultfinding master scant cause for complaint.
For Michelangelo drawing was the most practical and personal medium; it was a laboratory, a diary, an end in itself. If you could do a perfect drawing, he came to think, why bother to turn it into a painting or sculpture? Perfection in
any form was the goal. One of the most famously perfect drawings he made, ''Bust of a Woman, Head of an Old Man
and Bust of a Child,'' is in this show.
Of the three figures, the woman is the most vivid and polished. With her chiseled features bordering on masculine,
her breast-baring gown and horned helmet of braids, she blends Renaissance neo-Classicism with proto-Mannerist fantasy. She looks completely at home in the mannerist phase of our own postmodernism, and was hugely influential in her
time. Everyone wanted to make art this good and this strange.
The matter of influence is important. It is one reason that 16th-century Florence is usually cast in art history books
as something like the Age of Michelangelo and the Michelangelettes, or Michelangelini if you prefer, referring to the
many students and emulators who toiled in his shadow. The title of the Morgan show seems to echo this interpretation,
though the curator, Annamaria Petrioli Tofani, a former director of the Uffizi in Florence, has done something more
interesting. Through her selection of artists she has drawn a picture of Florentine art not as a heroic, strictly top-down
hierarchy but as a collective endeavor. This was exemplified by the decorative plan organized by Giorgio Vasari for the
Palazzo Vecchio, the hulking fortress-palace in the center of Florence that had been city hall since the 14th century and
later a Medici residence.
Heroes come first, though. Among them was Jacopo Carucci, called Pontormo (1494-1556), who zealously scrutinized Michelangelo's work, then took it in a new direction -- away from a reliance on natural forms -- to create an intensely personal, conceptual style known as Mannerism. In Pontormo's hallucinatory altarpiece of the Entombment at
Santa Felicita in Florence, mourning figures float around the body of Jesus like a funerary wreath of pink and blue
clouds. We are in the zero-gravity realm of mind and spirit, not on earth.
At the Morgan two side-by-side studies of a seated male on a single sheet of paper illustrate the transition between
these realms. The figure in red chalk on the right looks grounded enough; the figure in black chalk on the left, though, is
a snarl of snaking lines. It's as if Pontormo were drawing a constantly moving model and trying to record each motion in
an overlaid stop-action sequence. We don't see a solid figure; we see the vapor trails of moving atoms.
Pontormo was a difficult character who ended up living in paranoid isolation. But for art as a record of neurosis,
nothing quite compares with the work of his exact contemporary, Giovan Battista di Jacopo, known as Rosso Fiorentino, or the Redheaded Florentine, who all but erased the line between spirituality and satire.
A Rosso drawing of the Virgin and Child surrounded by saints is a brittle, twisting affair of posturing figures in a
depthless space. It looks the way Gesualdo's music sounds. It could be sincerely devotional; it could be a satire of devotion. More peculiar still is a presumably secular image of a nude woman sketched on an oddly cut sheet of paper. Is she
pregnant, or just out of shape? Or does she represent a foreign, Gothic standard of beauty? (Durer was hot in cinquecento Florence.) And what act or thought has prompted her look of languidly shocked distress?
We'll probably never know, just as we'll never know where piety ends and devilry starts in Rosso's religious art, or
what led to his death, reportedly a suicide, in 1540.
With younger artists, like Bronzino (1503-72), we are in a more consciously stylized Mannerist phase. The subjective energies that charged the drawing of Rosso and Pontormo are all but gone. In their place we have the chilled, expensive exquisiteness of a court art. A Bronzino drawing of a buff male nude might as easily have been based on a
sculpture as on a live model. It appears to be made of stone rather than flesh.
What links all of these artists is patronage. Each of them at one time or another worked for the Medici family, the
ruling dynasty of Florence. And each of them, early or late, contributed to the decoration of the Palazzo Vecchio. And
by focusing on this link Ms. Tofani transforms the show from a survey of Uffizi treasures into a concentrated historical
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Artistic Muscle, Flexed For Medicis The New York Times February 1, 2008 Friday
essay, one in which Vasari (1511-74) assumes a leading role. Vasari is best known now for his '' Lives of the Artists,''
the series of biographical essays that supply much of our firsthand knowledge of Italian Renaissance art from Giotto
onward. But he was admired in his day as a cultural polymath, a painter, architect and writer who was also an entrepreneurial art-world insider.
He was a familiar type, one common in New York today. Professionally and socially ambitious, he made his way
with shrewd judgment, acquired sophistication and engaging but dissembling charm, the charm of a back patter who is
also a backbiter. His artistic talents were broad but thin, made up of well-schooled expertise and a knack for imitation.
Because he lacked originality, he could mold himself to the needs of any patron, and he became house artist to rulers of
the era.
It was largely for his connections that Cosimo I, the Medici grand duke of Tuscany, hired Vasari in 1555 to bring
some order to the decoration of the Palazzo Vecchio interior. With a handpicked crew of artisans, Vasari began replacing the accumulation of older, piecemeal works -- Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Pontormo and Rosso had all contributed to the palace -- with a unified visual program that was essentially a walk-in piece of Medici propaganda.
Vasari was also a chief painter of the new scheme, and an entire wall of the Morgan's gallery is devoted to his
drawings, some for the Palazzo Vecchio. They range from sketches for an allegorical ceiling design to a swooning study
for an altarpiece to a worked-up image of the young Cosimo dressed in Roman armor and lording it over his political
foes.
To see so many Vasari drawings -- there are 14 -- makes for an interesting study in personal style, mostly because
none is apparent. You can tell a Pontormo or Rosso at a glance. To scan a dozen Vasaris is to see a dozen artists, all
related, all slightly different, some more imaginative than others.
This also applies to the selection of drawings by several artists who worked under Vasari on the Palazzo Vecchio,
in the majestic civic halls or in the Mannerist jewel box called the Studiolo. Some of these artists are familiar to even
beginning students of art history. Alessandro Allori, who had studied Michelangelo's work in Rome, is one; Santi di
Tito, leader of an anti-Mannerist, return-to-naturalism movement, is another. His murmurous art -- a sketch of a sleeping child is as soft as a lullaby -- stands out in a room of operatic voices.
Not all the artists display such assurance. Girolamo Macchietti (1535-92) had a fabulous hand, but could made
mistakes. In his study of a male figure made for the Studiolo, the left leg is, to my eye, slightly off; it doesn't quite belong to the body it's attached to.
Michelangelo, of course, would have spotted this in a flash and delivered a rebuke. (Draw, Girolamo, draw!) And
he might have had problems with another Michelangelino, a whippersnapper named Francesco Morandini (1544-97),
known as Poppi, at least until he saw the drawing titled ''The Punishment of Titius'' in the Morgan show.
It is Poppi's copy, exacting, almost stroke for stroke, of a drawing that Michelangelo had done decades earlier, in
1532, as a gift for Tommaso de' Cavalieri, his inamorato at the time. Imitation may be the highest form of flattery, but
copying is also a form of love, as Michelangelo knew. ''Poppi?'' you can almost hear him say, ''He's young. He's got a lot
to learn. But the kid's all right.''
''Michelangelo, Vasari and Their Contemporaries: Drawings From the Uffizi'' runs through April 20 at the Morgan
Library & Museum, 225 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 685-0008; morganlibrary.org.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: ARTISTS & PERFORMERS (90%); ART & ARTISTS (89%); SCULPTURE (77%); ART HISTORY
(77%); VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS (77%); MUSEUMS & GALLERIES (77%); HISTORY (74%); EXHIBITIONS (73%); LIBRARIES (68%)
LOAD-DATE: February 1, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: Michelangelo's ''Bust of a Woman, Head of an Old Man and Bust of a Child,'' from the mid1530s. Giorgio Vasari's chalk drawing ''Male Figure Seated on a Stool'' (1555-65). Pontormo's ''Two Studies of Male
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Artistic Muscle, Flexed For Medicis The New York Times February 1, 2008 Friday
Figures'' (1521), in ''Michelangelo, Vasari and Their Contemporaries'' at the Morgan. (PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE
UFFIZI) (pg. E40
E1)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Review
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1120 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
January 31, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
Ex-President, Mining Deal And a Donor
BYLINE: By JO BECKER and DON VAN NATTA Jr.; David L. Stern and Margot Williams contributed reporting.
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 2729 words
Late on Sept. 6, 2005, a private plane carrying the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra touched down in Almaty, a ruggedly picturesque city in southeast Kazakhstan. Several hundred miles to the west a fortune awaited: highly
coveted deposits of uranium that could fuel nuclear reactors around the world. And Mr. Giustra was in hot pursuit of an
exclusive deal to tap them.
Unlike more established competitors, Mr. Giustra was a newcomer to uranium mining in Kazakhstan, a former
Soviet republic. But what his fledgling company lacked in experience, it made up for in connections. Accompanying
Mr. Giustra on his luxuriously appointed MD-87 jet that day was a former president of the United States, Bill Clinton.
Upon landing on the first stop of a three-country philanthropic tour, the two men were whisked off to share a
sumptuous midnight banquet with Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, whose 19-year stranglehold on the
country has all but quashed political dissent.
Mr. Nazarbayev walked away from the table with a propaganda coup, after Mr. Clinton expressed enthusiastic
support for the Kazakh leader's bid to head an international organization that monitors elections and supports democracy. Mr. Clinton's public declaration undercut both American foreign policy and sharp criticism of Kazakhstan's poor
human rights record by, among others, Mr. Clinton's wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
Within two days, corporate records show that Mr. Giustra also came up a winner when his company signed preliminary agreements giving it the right to buy into three uranium projects controlled by Kazakhstan's state-owned uranium agency, Kazatomprom.
The monster deal stunned the mining industry, turning an unknown shell company into one of the world's largest
uranium producers in a transaction ultimately worth tens of millions of dollars to Mr. Giustra, analysts said.
Just months after the Kazakh pact was finalized, Mr. Clinton's charitable foundation received its own windfall: a
$31.3 million donation from Mr. Giustra that had remained a secret until he acknowledged it last month. The gift, combined with Mr. Giustra's more recent and public pledge to give the William J. Clinton Foundation an additional $100
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Ex-President, Mining Deal And a Donor The New York Times January 31, 2008 Thursday
million, secured Mr. Giustra a place in Mr. Clinton's inner circle, an exclusive club of wealthy entrepreneurs in which
friendship with the former president has its privileges.
Mr. Giustra was invited to accompany the former president to Almaty just as the financier was trying to seal a deal
he had been negotiating for months.
In separate written responses, both men said Mr. Giustra traveled with Mr. Clinton to Kazakhstan, India and China
to see first-hand the philanthropic work done by his foundation.
A spokesman for Mr. Clinton said the former president knew that Mr. Giustra had mining interests in Kazakhstan
but was unaware of ''any particular efforts'' and did nothing to help. Mr. Giustra said he was there as an ''observer only''
and there was ''no discussion'' of the deal with Mr. Nazarbayev or Mr. Clinton.
But Moukhtar Dzhakishev, president of Kazatomprom, said in an interview that Mr. Giustra did discuss it, directly
with the Kazakh president, and that his friendship with Mr. Clinton ''of course made an impression.'' Mr. Dzhakishev
added that Kazatomprom chose to form a partnership with Mr. Giustra's company based solely on the merits of its offer.
After The Times told Mr. Giustra that others said he had discussed the deal with Mr. Nazarbayev, Mr. Giustra responded that he ''may well have mentioned my general interest in the Kazakhstan mining business to him, but I did not
discuss the ongoing'' efforts.
As Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign has intensified, Mr. Clinton has begun severing financial ties with Ronald
W. Burkle, the supermarket magnate, and Vinod Gupta, the chairman of InfoUSA, to avoid any conflicts of interest.
Those two men have harnessed the former president's clout to expand their businesses while making the Clintons rich
through partnership and consulting arrangements.
Mr. Clinton has vowed to continue raising money for his foundation if Mrs. Clinton is elected president, maintaining his connections with a wide network of philanthropic partners.
Mr. Giustra said that while his friendship with the former president ''may have elevated my profile in the news
media, it has not directly affected any of my business transactions.''
Mining colleagues and analysts agree it has not hurt. Neil MacDonald, the chief executive of a Canadian merchant
bank that specializes in mining deals, said Mr. Giustra's financial success was partly due to a ''fantastic network''
crowned by Mr. Clinton. ''That's a very solid relationship for him,'' Mr. MacDonald said. ''I'm sure it's very much a twoway relationship because that's the way Frank operates.''
Foreseeing Opportunities
Mr. Giustra made his fortune in mining ventures as a broker on the Vancouver Stock Exchange, raising billions of
dollars and developing a loyal following of investors. Just as the mining sector collapsed, Mr. Giustra, a lifelong film
buff, founded the Lion's Gate Entertainment Corporation in 1997. But he sold the studio in 2003 and returned to mining.
Mr. Giustra foresaw a bull market in gold and began investing in mines in Argentina, Australia and Mexico. He
turned a $20 million shell company into a powerhouse that, after a $2.4 billion merger with Goldcorp Inc., became Canada's second-largest gold company.
With a net worth estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Mr. Giustra began looking for ways to put his
wealth to good use. Meeting Mr. Clinton, and learning about the work his foundation was doing on issues like AIDS
treatment in poor countries, ''changed my life,'' Mr. Giustra told The Vancouver Sun.
The two men were introduced in June 2005 at a fund-raiser for tsunami victims at Mr. Giustra's Vancouver home
and hit it off right away. They share a love of history, geopolitics and music -- Mr. Giustra plays the trumpet to Mr.
Clinton's saxophone. Soon the dapper Canadian was a regular at Mr. Clinton's side, as they flew around the world
aboard Mr. Giustra's plane.
Philanthropy may have become his passion, but Mr. Giustra, now 50, was still hunting for ways to make money.
Exploding demand for energy had helped revitalize the nuclear power industry, and uranium, the raw material for
reactor fuel, was about to become a hot commodity. In late 2004, Mr. Giustra began talking to investors, and put together a company that would eventually be called UrAsia Energy Ltd.
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Ex-President, Mining Deal And a Donor The New York Times January 31, 2008 Thursday
Kazakhstan, which has about one-fifth of the world's uranium reserves, was the place to be. But with plenty of
suitors, Kazatomprom could be picky about its partners.
''Everyone was asking Kazatomprom to the dance,'' said Fadi Shadid, a senior stock analyst covering the uranium
industry for Friedman Billings Ramsey, an investment bank. ''A second-tier junior player like UrAsia -- you'd need all
the help you could get.''
The Cameco Corporation, the world's largest uranium producer, was already a partner of Kazatomprom. But when
Cameco expressed interest in the properties Mr. Giustra was already eying, the government's response was lukewarm.
''The signals we were getting was, you've got your hands full,'' said Gerald W. Grandey, Cameco president.
For Cameco, it took five years to ''build the right connections'' in Kazakhstan, Mr. Grandey said. UrAsia did not
have that luxury. Profitability depended on striking before the price of uranium soared.
''Timing was everything,'' said Sergey Kurzin, a Russian-born businessman whose London-based company was
brought into the deal by UrAsia because of his connections in Kazakhstan. Even with those connections, Mr. Kurzin
said, it took four months to arrange a meeting with Kazatomprom.
In August 2005, records show, the company sent an engineering consultant to Kazakhstan to assess the uranium
properties. Less than four weeks later, Mr. Giustra arrived with Mr. Clinton.
Mr. Dzhakishev, the Kazatomprom chief, said an aide to Mr. Nazarbayev informed him that Mr. Giustra talked
with Mr. Nazarbayev about the deal during the visit. ''And when our president asked Giustra, 'What do you do?' he said,
'I'm trying to do business with Kazatomprom,' '' Mr. Dzhakishev said. He added that Mr. Nazarbayev replied, ''Very
good, go to it.''
Mr. Clinton's Kazakhstan visit, the only one of his post-presidency, appears to have been arranged hastily. The
United States Embassy got last-minute notice that the president would be making ''a private visit,'' said a State Department official, who said he was not authorized to speak on the record.
The publicly stated reason for the visit was to announce a Clinton Foundation agreement that enabled the government to buy discounted AIDS drugs. But during a news conference, Mr. Clinton wandered into delicate territory by
commending Mr. Nazarbayev for ''opening up the social and political life of your country.''
In a statement Kazakhstan would highlight in news releases, Mr. Clinton declared that he hoped it would achieve a
top objective: leading the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which would confer legitimacy on Mr.
Nazarbayev's government.
''I think it's time for that to happen, it's an important step, and I'm glad you're willing to undertake it,'' Mr. Clinton
said.
A Speedy Process
Mr. Clinton's praise was odd, given that the United States did not support Mr. Nazarbayev's bid. (Late last year,
Kazakhstan finally won the chance to lead the security organization for one year, despite concerns raised by the Bush
administration.) Moreover, Mr. Clinton's wife, who sits on a Congressional commission with oversight of such matters,
had also voiced skepticism.
Eleven months before Mr. Clinton's statement, Mrs. Clinton co-signed a commission letter to the State Department that sounded ''alarm bells'' about the prospect that Kazakhstan might head the group. The letter stated that Kazakhstan's bid ''would not be acceptable,'' citing ''serious corruption,'' canceled elections and government control of the news
media.
In a written statement to The Times, Mr. Clinton's spokesman said the former president saw ''no contradiction'' between his statements in Kazakhstan and the position of Mrs. Clinton, who said through a spokeswoman, ''Senator Clinton's position on Kazakhstan remains unchanged.''
Noting that the former president also met with opposition leaders in Almaty, Mr. Clinton's spokesman said he was
only ''seeking to suggest that a commitment to political openness and to fair elections would reflect well on Kazakhstan's efforts to chair the O.S.C.E.''
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Ex-President, Mining Deal And a Donor The New York Times January 31, 2008 Thursday
But Robert Herman, who worked for the State Department in the Clinton administration and is now at Freedom
House, a human rights group, said the former president's statement amounted to an endorsement of Kazakhstan's readiness to lead the group, a position he called ''patently absurd.''
''He was either going off his brief or he was sadly mistaken,'' Mr. Herman said. ''There was nothing in the record
to suggest that they really wanted to move forward on democratic reform.''
Indeed, in December 2005, Mr. Nazarbayev won another election, which the security organization itself said was
marred by an ''atmosphere of intimidation'' and ''ballot-box stuffing.''
After Mr. Nazarbayev won with 91 percent of the vote, Mr. Clinton sent his congratulations. ''Recognizing that
your work has received an excellent grade is one of the most important rewards in life,'' Mr. Clinton wrote in a letter
released by the Kazakh embassy. Last September, just weeks after Kazakhstan held an election that once again failed to
meet international standards, Mr. Clinton honored Mr. Nazarbayev by inviting him to his annual philanthropic conference.
Within 48 hours of Mr. Clinton's departure from Almaty on Sept. 7, Mr. Giustra got his deal. UrAsia signed two
memorandums of understanding that paved the way for the company to become partners with Kazatomprom in three
mines.
The cost to UrAsia was more than $450 million, money the company did not have in hand and had only weeks to
come up with. The transaction was finalized in November, after UrAsia raised the money through the largest initial public offering in the history of Canada's Venture Exchange.
Mr. Giustra challenged the notion that UrAsia needed to court Kazatomprom's favor to seal the deal, contending
that the government agency's approval was not required.
But Mr. Dzhakishev, analysts and Mr. Kurzin, one of Mr. Giustra's own investors, said that approval was necessary. Mr. Dzhakishev, who said that the deal was almost done when Mr. Clinton arrived, said that Kazatomprom was
impressed with the sum Mr. Giustra was willing to pay and his record of attracting investors. He said Mr. Nazarbayev
himself ultimately signed off on the transaction.
Longtime market watchers were confounded. Kazatomprom's choice of UrAsia was a ''mystery,'' said Gene Clark,
the chief executive of Trade Tech, a uranium industry newsletter.
''UrAsia was able to jump-start the whole process somehow,'' Mr. Clark said. The company became a ''major uranium producer when it didn't even exist before.''
A Profitable Sale
Records show that Mr. Giustra donated the $31.3 million to the Clinton Foundation in the months that followed in
2006, but neither he nor a spokesman for Mr. Clinton would say exactly when.
In September 2006, Mr. Giustra co-produced a gala 60th birthday for Mr. Clinton that featured stars like Jon Bon
Jovi and raised about $21 million for the Clinton Foundation.
In February 2007, a company called Uranium One agreed to pay $3.1 billion to acquire UrAsia. Mr. Giustra, a director and major shareholder in UrAsia, would be paid $7.05 per share for a company that just two years earlier was
trading at 10 cents per share.
That same month, Mr. Dzhakishev, the Kazatomprom chief, said he traveled to Chappaqua, N.Y., to meet with
Mr. Clinton at his home. Mr. Dzhakishev said Mr. Giustra arranged the three-hour meeting. Mr. Dzhakishev said he
wanted to discuss Kazakhstan's intention -- not publicly known at the time -- to buy a 10 percent stake in Westinghouse,
a United States supplier of nuclear technology.
Nearly a year earlier, Mr. Clinton had advised Dubai on how to handle the political furor after one of that nation's
companies attempted to take over several American ports. Mrs. Clinton was among those on Capitol Hill who raised the
national security concerns that helped kill the deal.
Mr. Dzhakishev said he was worried the proposed Westinghouse investment could face similar objections. Mr.
Clinton told him that he would not lobby for him, but Mr. Dzhakishev came away pleased by the chance to promote his
nation's proposal to a former president.
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Ex-President, Mining Deal And a Donor The New York Times January 31, 2008 Thursday
Mr. Clinton ''said this was very important for America,'' said Mr. Dzhakishev, who added that Mr. Giustra was
present at Mr. Clinton's home.
Both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Giustra at first denied that any such meeting occurred. Mr. Giustra also denied ever arranging for Kazakh officials to meet with Mr. Clinton. Wednesday, after The Times told them that others said a meeting, in Mr. Clinton's home, had in fact taken place, both men acknowledged it.
''You are correct that I asked the president to meet with the head of Kazatomprom,'' Mr. Giustra said. ''Mr.
Dzhakishev asked me in February 2007 to set up a meeting with former President Clinton to discuss the future of the
nuclear energy industry.'' Mr. Giustra said the meeting ''escaped my memory until you raised it.''
Wednesday, Mr. Clinton's spokesman, Ben Yarrow, issued what he called a ''correction,'' saying: ''Today, Mr.
Giustra told our office that in February 2007, he brought Mr. Dzhakishev from Kazatomprom to meet with President
Clinton to discuss the future of nuclear energy.''
Mr. Yarrow said his earlier denial was based on the former president's records, which he said ''show a Feb. 27
meeting with Mr. Giustra; no other attendees are listed.''
Mr. Dzhakishev said he had a vivid memory of his Chappaqua visit, and a souvenir to prove it: a photograph of
himself with the former president.
''I hung up the photograph of us and people ask me if I met with Clinton and I say, Yes, I met with Clinton,'' he
said, smiling proudly.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: URANIUM MINING (89%); FOUNDATIONS (89%); CHARITIES (89%); MINES & MINING (89%);
PHILANTHROPY (88%); LEGISLATIVE BODIES (78%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (75%); MAJOR GIFTS (74%);
NUCLEAR ENERGY (72%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (67%); SHELL CORPORATIONS (66%); HUMAN
RIGHTS (51%); ACQUISITIONS (64%)
COMPANY: CNINSURE INC (60%)
TICKER: CISG (NASDAQ) (60%)
PERSON: BILL CLINTON (93%); HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (83%)
GEOGRAPHIC: KAZAKHSTAN (95%); UNITED STATES (92%); INDIA (79%); CHINA (79%)
LOAD-DATE: January 31, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: DONATING MILLIONS: Former President Bill Clinton with Sir Tom Hunter, left, and Frank
Giustra, major donors to Mr. Clinton's charitable foundation. (PHOTOGRAPH BY EVELYN HOCKSTEIN FOR THE
NEW YORK TIMES)
HIGH-LEVEL MEETING: Mr. Clinton with Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, president of Kazakhstan, in September 2005.
(PHOTOGRAPH BY PROSITES-KAZAKHEMBUS.HOMSTEAD.COM) (pg.A27) CHART: A SPIKE IN URANIUM PRICES: In September 2005, the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra's company won the right to buy into
three Kazakhstan uranium projects. His timing was fortunate
the price of uranium more than tripled before the company was acquired in a $3.1 billion friendly takeover finalized in
April 2007. (Source: Trade Tech)
MAP: Kazakhstan
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
Page 283
1121 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
January 31, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
Riding the Falling Dollar Into Foreign Markets
BYLINE: By MARCI ALBOHER
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; SHIFTING CAREERS; Pg. 9
LENGTH: 1118 words
THE declining dollar spurred Peggy Karr Glass to exhibit its handmade fused glass products at a spring trade show
in London.
''We decided that if we could ever get a foothold in Europe, this would be the time to try,'' said Tim Seitz, senior
vice president of the company.
In fact, a wide range of small businesses in the United States -- from manufacturers and designers who see their
products as a bargain for euro-rich customers to service providers -- have started to take advantage of the exchange
rate.
''We are hearing about the credit crisis every day, but we are not hearing enough about how the weak dollar is a
good thing for business,'' said Raphael Amit, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Wharton School at the University
of Pennsylvania. ''It is one of the things that will help prevent a recession. When the dollar is weak, imports are more
expensive. So relatively speaking, domestic production and services are more competitive. Simple as that.''
The added benefit of falling interest rates, Professor Amit said, creates an ideal climate for certain small businesses to flourish. ''As interest rates go down, manufacturers can take out loans and use that money to finance the purchase of raw materials and capital equipment,'' he said.
Sales at Peggy Karr Glass had begun to slow, and it was considering new outlets for its wares, Mr. Seitz said,
when it received a fax this month from White Hound Advertising, an American company that has been working to persuade manufacturers in the United States to give Europe a chance.
In fact, White Hound Advertising sent out many faxes promoting the London Spring Fair trade show to companies that were gearing up for the gift industry's biggest trade show, which starts next week at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York. Adam Ash, White Hound's president, said he had formerly represented American companies
wanting to go to Europe to buy products. But he is now focusing on attracting American companies that want to sell in
Europe.
''I buy blocks of space at these shows and fill it with U.S.-based vendors,'' Mr. Ash said. His firm also provides
consolidated freight, warehousing and inexpensive lodging to exhibitors to make the whole export process less daunting.
Manufacturers have to weigh the risks of going overseas, so Mr. Ash says he tries to minimize the costs and absorb as much of the risk as possible. He also helps companies decide if the overseas market is appropriate for their
products.
Manufacturers are not the only small businesses hoping to capitalize on the discounted dollar. MBS Value Partners, a boutique investor relations firm in New York, has seen signs of interest from potential clients in Europe and
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Riding the Falling Dollar Into Foreign Markets The New York Times January 31, 2008 Thursday
Latin America, which it directly attributes to the state of the dollar. In the past, according to Lynn Morgen, a founder of
MBS Value Partners, companies based in London had a stronghold in helping foreign companies navigate American
financial markets.
''We have also seen opportunities to represent different kinds of companies,'' Ms. Morgen said. ''It's a lot like what
you're seeing on Fifth Avenue. It used to be just the richest people coming to shop, and now it's everyone. Well, it's the
same for us. We are now hearing from midsize European companies, which in the past might not have had the budget to
hire a firm to help gain additional visibility within the U.S. financial and business community. So we are seeing both an
increased amount of interest from foreign companies, and that demand is coming from new segments of the marketplace.''
When MBS Value Partners was founded in July 2006, serving foreign clients was not a core part of the firm's
strategy. ''We have a solid group of domestic clients we are very happy to work with,'' Ms. Morgen said. ''But it is always good to have a global client base. With different clients, we learn different things.''
The ebb and flow of global markets was part of the reason Handlery Hotels in California decided to pursue foreign travelers 30 years ago. The Web site for the hotel company, a family-owned business, is translated into seven languages, and Jon Handlery, senior vice president, makes regular marketing visits to travel agents overseas. The philosophy, according to Mr. Handlery, goes something like this: ''One year the pound might be strong so we increase marketing in the U.K. Another year it could be Japan. Things could shift globally year to year and we adjust accordingly.''
At the moment, the strategy is paying off. ''Right now America is on sale,'' he said, ''which is good news both for
foreign travelers and Americans who have decided it is too expensive to travel abroad.''
For some businesses, like Lost Canyon Winery in Oakland, Calif., the weak dollar has had mixed effects. Bob
Riskin, one of the partners, said the relatively low cost of American wines compared with European ones has attracted
customers in Canada and parts of Asia. Mr. Riskin said he was also looking elsewhere but ''there are certain markets
which are less conducive to American wines than others.'' France and Italy, for instance, ''aren't looking to see how
many American wines they can put on wine lists,'' he said. ''But in the U.K. and Scandinavia, it's different.''
But even as Lost Canyon has been able to enter new markets, it is also facing rising costs for barrels, which are
imported from France, and corks, imported from Portugal. ''When we started this business in 2001, we were paying
$630 or $650 a barrel. Now it is close to $1,000.'' The company has more than 200 barrels in the winery and uses each
one only twice because they do not lend the right flavor to the wine after that. ''We can't do much about that because
these barrels from France have unique characteristics we can't get in America,'' Mr. Riskin said, ''but we are looking for
options.''
Of course, companies that rely primarily on overseas production or exports to the United States are anything but
enthusiastic about the dollar's decline. And even the small businesses now well positioned know that market conditions
can change at any time. ''It's a window of opportunity even if it won't last forever,'' said Steven Wieting, an economist at
Citigroup, adding that any areas with positive growth should be viewed in context. ''Small business over all has had a
hard time in the past couple of years.''
And then there is the question of what would happen should the dollar stabilize. Ms. Morgen of MBS Value Partners said she was not worried. ''We look at this as a great opportunity to open a door,'' she said. ''We are confident that
once the door is opened, we'd stay put for the long term.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: US DOLLAR (90%); SMALL BUSINESS (90%); TRADE SHOWS (89%); ECONOMIC NEWS (89%);
CURRENCIES (89%); INTEREST RATES (89%); RECESSION (78%); EXPORT TRADE (78%); EXCHANGE
RATES (78%); IMPORT TRADE (78%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (77%); INDUSTRIAL PURCHASING (76%);
EURO (76%); WEALTHY PEOPLE (70%); INVESTOR RELATIONS (50%); COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS (74%); BUSINESS EDUCATION (90%); CREDIT CRISIS (70%)
ORGANIZATION: UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA (56%)
GEOGRAPHIC: LONDON, ENGLAND (73%) NEW YORK, USA (92%); PENNSYLVANIA, USA (79%) EUROPE (95%); UNITED STATES (94%); LATIN AMERICA (79%); ENGLAND (73%); UNITED KINGDOM (73%)
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LOAD-DATE: January 31, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Lynn Morgan is a founder of MBS Value Partners, an investor relations consulting firm that has
attracted foreign clients. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ROB BENNETT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1122 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
January 31, 2008 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
Zhang Hanzhi, Mao's Tutor, Dies at 72
BYLINE: By DAVID BARBOZA
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Foreign Desk; Pg. 14
LENGTH: 673 words
DATELINE: SHANGHAI
Zhang Hanzhi, a former Chinese diplomat who once served as Mao's English tutor and who also interpreted for
President Nixon during his historic trip to China in 1972, died on Saturday. She was 72.
Ms. Zhang's death was reported in the state-controlled media, and her daughter, Hong Huang, a media entrepreneur in Beijing, posted a notice of the death on her popular blog.
A funeral is planned for Friday, at Babaoshan, the Beijing cemetery for the Communist Party's elite.
Ms. Zhang, who was reared by a family with close ties to Mao, was selected by him to become a diplomat. She
was a member of the Chinese delegation that traveled to New York in 1971, when Beijing took back its seat at the United Nations.
Two years later, she married the head of China's United Nations delegation, Qiao Guanhua, who served as the
country's foreign minister from 1974 to 1976 and helped open the country to the West. The two traveled together for
high-level meetings with United States officials, including George Bush, while he was United Nations ambassador and
chief of the United States Liaison Office, as well as Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger.
Ms. Zhang later wrote a best-selling memoir and became something of a celebrity in Beijing. Two years ago, she
even played a small role in a movie alongside her daughter, Ms. Hong, herself a celebrity.
Zhang Hanzhi was born in 1935 to a Shanghai businessman and a shopkeeper who, after a dispute over who
would raise the child, allowed her to be adopted by Zhang Shizhao, a lawyer and scholar who at one time was the country's minister of education.
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Zhang Hanzhi, Mao's Tutor, Dies at 72 The New York Times January 31, 2008 Thursday
Among her adoptive father's close friends was Yang Changji, who was both Mao's college professor in Hunan
Province and the father of his second wife, Yang Kaihui.
In 1918, Zhang Shizhao helped persuade Yang Changji to move to Beijing to teach. Mao followed soon after and
found work at the library at Beijing University, where he began organizing revolutionary activities. A student group
Mao led even got financial support from the Zhang family.
Zhang Hanzhi, a graduate of Beijing Foreign Studies University, said her own friendship with Mao began in 1963,
when, at his 70th birthday, Mao greeted her and, learning that she knew English, asked that she serve as his private tutor.
She was 28, and not sure whether he meant it. A few days later, his office called.
''The chairman wanted the lessons to start the following day!'' she recalled in an essay published in Time magazine
in 1999. ''I was dumbfounded. I was to teach the great leader whom over a billion people worshiped as their god.''
The tutoring, which involved informal talks about the outside world as well as English instruction, ended after a
few months; in the early years of the Cultural Revolution, there was little contact with Mao, she said, except a few letters.
But in 1970, Mao summoned her again and asked her to join the diplomatic service. Soon after, she was working
in the Foreign Ministry and interpreting for Prime Minister Zhou Enlai during Mr. Kissinger's secret trip to China in
1971 and for Nixon during his 1972 visit, when the two countries re-established diplomatic ties and signed the Shanghai
Communique, outlining bilateral relations.
Her first marriage, to Hong Junyan, a professor at Beijing University, ended in divorce in the 1970s. She then
married Qiao Guanhua.
After Mao's death, Ms. Zhang and Mr. Qiao were put under house arrest as part of a purge of people suspected of
being close to Mao's fourth wife, Jiang Qing, and the Gang of Four, a group blamed for manipulating Mao and creating
havoc during the Cultural Revolution.
Ms. Zhang, who said her family had been victims during the Cultural Revolution, recalled in a 1999 interview
with The New York Times that the guards had left hints about what she should do: scissors, then a rope.
''But not for a moment did I ever think of killing myself,'' she said. ''I knew how to survive.''
She and her husband were released in 1980. Qiao Guanhua died in 1983 at the age of 70.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: DEATHS & OBITUARIES (90%); EMBASSIES & CONSULATES (78%); STUDENTS & STUDENT
LIFE (77%); INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (74%); STATE DEPARTMENTS & FOREIGN SERVICES (74%);
EDUCATION DEPARTMENTS (73%); TALKS & MEETINGS (73%); ADOPTION (72%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (71%); BLOGS & MESSAGE BOARDS (71%); PROFILES & BIOGRAPHIES (70%); YOUTH CLUBS &
ACTIVITIES (69%); EDUCATION (68%); RETAILERS (65%); BIOGRAPHICAL LITERATURE (65%); EXTRA
CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES (62%); POLITICAL PARTIES (56%); COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
(67%); ACADEMIC LIBRARIES (62%); FOREIGN RELATIONS (78%)
COMPANY: CNINSURE INC (93%)
ORGANIZATION: UNITED NATIONS (91%)
TICKER: CISG (NASDAQ) (93%)
PERSON: RICHARD NIXON (91%)
GEOGRAPHIC: BEIJING, CHINA (94%); SHANGHAI, CHINA (92%) NORTH CENTRAL CHINA (97%); EAST
CHINA (91%); CENTRAL CHINA (79%); XINJIANG, CHINA (58%); HUNAN, CHINA (58%) CHINA (97%);
UNITED STATES (92%)
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Zhang Hanzhi, Mao's Tutor, Dies at 72 The New York Times January 31, 2008 Thursday
CATEGORY: Education and Schools
Zhang Hanzhi
LOAD-DATE: January 31, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Zhang Hanzhi, a diplomat and interpreter, explained Chinese culinary art to Pat Nixon in Beijing
in 1972. (PHOTOGRAPH BY UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL)
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Obituary (Obit); Biography
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1123 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
January 30, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
New Rules to Help Smaller Companies Raise Funds
BYLINE: By BRENT BOWERS
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; IN THE HUNT; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 837 words
Federal regulators are about to ease rules that have made it difficult for small and medium-size publicly traded
companies to raise money. The changes, experts say, are well timed, given the tightening credit market.
The revisions in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Rule 144, which governs the sale of so-called restricted securities, affect companies with annual revenues of less than $700 million, and take effect on Feb. 15.
Restricted securities are shares or bonds sold in private placements, usually at a discount of about 10 percent from
the market price; the securities cannot be registered immediately with the S.E.C. Under current rules, investors must
wait one year to sell, and then usually only in stages of a specified number each quarter for the year after that.
Under the changes, which were approved by the commission on Nov. 15 and are retroactive, the investors must
wait only six months to sell the securities, and can part with them all at once.
''The changes will likely make private placements by smaller publicly traded companies much more attractive to
investors,'' said David Danovitch, a partner at the Manhattan law firm of Gersten Savage who specializes in securities
laws. ''When the credit markets tighten, people run to the equity markets, and now it should be easier for companies
that are starved for cash to tap into them.''
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New Rules to Help Smaller Companies Raise Funds The New York Times January 30, 2008 Wednesday
Two years ago, Mr. Danovitch said, the S.E.C. relaxed the rules governing registration statements filed by publicly traded companies with a market capitalization of $700 million or more to give them better access to the capital markets. Now, he said, it is extending the benefits to smaller companies.
Investors will also gain a greater degree of liquidity and thus a better chance of making a profit.
''Smaller businesses are a critical part of our nation's economy,'' the chairman of the S.E.C., Christopher Cox, said
in November in announcing the unanimous vote to make the amendments. He added that the new rules would ''make it
more efficient for companies of all sizes to access the private markets.''
One entrepreneur who is delighted with the changes is Ian Warwick, chief executive of the Aftersoft Group, a
$28 million maker of software for car repair shops, car parts distributors and other car-related businesses.
Aftersoft originated in Britain but entered the American market in the early 1990s and is now seeking to expand.
It is No. 1 in Britain, with 68 percent of the automotive software aftermarket, as it is called, and is hoping to achieve
the same status in the United States within two years. It now holds a 12 percent share.
Mr. Warwick said his company's software could be used in other industries as well. ''We could expand to the
lumber industry, the plumbing industry -- the possibilities are endless,'' he said. ''We have a very aggressive growth
plan.''
To achieve his ambitions, though, Mr. Warwick, 48, needs to raise money. ''We spent the better part of last year
raising funds,'' he said. ''It would have been a much quicker and more efficient process if the new rules had been in effect.''
He said he expected to go back into the market late next year. Before doing a private placement, he says, he wants
to get Aftersoft's stock price up to $2, from about 30 cents a share today. If he succeeds in increasing the stock price, he
will seek to raise equity to do a spate of acquisitions, perhaps shooting for as much as $100 million if he decides to
make a takeover bid for his major competitor, a company called Activant Solutions Inc.
The global effect of the looser S.E.C. standards is anybody's guess at this early stage. Brian Overstreet, president
of Sagient Research Systems in San Diego, said its PlacementTracker service found that the number of deals involving
private investment in public equity stabilized last year at 1,378, compared with 1,343 in 2006.
The funds raised, however, surged to $81.5 billion from $28.3 billion. He attributed about $40 billion of the increase to a frenzy of transactions by big investment banks in the last four months of 2007, aimed at resolving their subprime woes. Even taking that factor out the equation, though, he said, an increase to $41 billion from $28 billion was
significant.
He cautioned, however, that most of those deals were made under different and more investor-friendly terms than
those of Rule 144, and thus were not a barometer of future 144 activity. Still, he said, the changes approved by the
S.E.C. were bound to prompt more small companies to turn to the rule.
People are just starting to price deals under the new regulations, according to Mr. Danovitch of Gersten Savage.
And while the change will make it easier for small-capitalization companies to gain access to the capital markets on
more favorable terms, it is not clear yet how much more money will flow to them.
''I'd say the companies that will benefit the most from the changes are those with a market cap of less than $100
million,'' Mr. Danovitch said.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: PRIVATE PLACEMENTS (90%); SECURITIES LAW (90%); AGENCY RULEMAKING (90%); US
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (79%); AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES (78%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (78%); SMALL
BUSINESS (78%); BANKING & FINANCE AGENCIES (78%); BANKING & FINANCE REGULATION (78%);
MARKET CAPITALIZATION (77%); COMPANY PROFITS (77%); US SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 (77%); APPROVALS (73%); BANKING & FINANCE (73%); SOFTWARE MAKERS (60%); MOTOR VEHICLES & PARTS
WHOLESALERS (60%); AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR & MAINTENANCE SHOPS (60%); COMPUTER SOFTWARE
(84%)
ORGANIZATION: SECURITIES & EXCHANGE COMMISSION (84%)
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New Rules to Help Smaller Companies Raise Funds The New York Times January 30, 2008 Wednesday
PERSON: CHRISTOPHER COX (53%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (70%) NEW YORK, USA (70%) UNITED STATES (92%)
LOAD-DATE: January 30, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: Ian Warwick, chief of the Aftersoft Group, said the revised rules would give him options to expand his software company. (PHOTOGRAPH BY BRADLEY C. BOWER/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1124 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
January 30, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
Village Wants to Keep Its Fields as They Are
BYLINE: By CHARLES V. BAGLI
SECTION: Section B; Column 0; Metropolitan Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1242 words
Mellora Ansbro plays soccer for the Gotham girls' team on the huge green fields within Pier 40, where city noises
and river winds seem as remote as the Holland America Line ships that once pulled up alongside.
On Sunday she was among the hundreds of ballplayers, teenagers, parents and elected officials from Greenwich
Village who rallied at the two-story, 800-foot-square pier at the foot of West Houston Street to block a proposal to build
what opponents call ''Las Vegas on the Hudson.''
The plan, by the Related Companies, includes a $600 million entertainment complex anchored by a permanent
home for Cirque du Soleil and the Tribeca Film Festival, which are expected to draw a total of 2.7 million visitors a
year to the area.
Rather than eliminate the fields, Related proposes to move them to the roof of the pier, shore up its crumbling pilings and provide at least $5 million a year in rent. Opponents fear that the visitors who would flock to the site would
disrupt the neighborhood and diminish the feel of the playing fields as a local resource.
''We love Pier 40,'' said Mellora, 14. ''We need the fields,'' added her mother, Bonnie Ansbro. ''It builds a sense of
community. We don't want these kids to travel all over the city to play.''
A group of Internet entrepreneurs, lawyers and business executives whose children play soccer and baseball on
the fields have formed the Pier 40 Partnership and have developed a counterproposal for a nonprofit group, modeled on
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Village Wants to Keep Its Fields as They Are The New York Times January 30, 2008 Wednesday
the Central Park Conservancy, to rehabilitate the pier, preserve the playing fields and pay rent. They promise to raise
$30 million in private donations to preserve Pier 40, which is part of the five-mile-long Hudson River Park.
''Keep the park a park,'' said Rich Caccappolo, president of the partnership, whose members include Craig Balsam,
a founder of Razor & Tie Entertainment; Chris McGinnis, a real estate developer; and Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist.
''It's not a circus, a performing arts center, or a huge destination that'll draw 1,000 cars.''
Some executives who favor Related's plan say the community group, which they refer to as the Merry Band of
Millionaires, has offered an impractical proposal that cannot raise the money necessary to fix the pier.
The Hudson River Park Trust, a joint city and state organization whose board was appointed by the mayor and
governor to oversee and own the park, is scheduled to vote on the Related proposal on Thursday, as well as a second
plan from another private developer that is given little chance of success. The partnership plan is not formally under
consideration. Although there is widespread opposition to the Related plan, it is unclear whether the park trust will
make a final decision that day.
To avoid a deadlock, some officials are hoping for a compromise between Related, the community and the partnership. Diana Taylor, chairwoman of the park trust, contends that a decision must be made soon because the pier needs
repair, which could cost $280 million.
''Any developer has to work with the community and the realities of the financial markets,'' Ms. Taylor said. ''We
all want open space, but we need to figure out some way to pay for it.''
Pier 40 is at the heart of a battle over big development as well as a debate about the role of private developers and
public property in an era of diminishing resources, when politicians are reluctant to raise taxes for amenities like parks.
Related's supporters say theirs is the only viable way to raise the money necessary to preserve the pier and the playing
fields.
''Our plan offers over 50 percent more sports activity on far superior, modern fields, plus a wide range of community, cultural and arts amenities,'' said Joanna Rose, a spokeswoman for Related. ''It also ensures a reliable source of
income for the entire Hudson River Park.''
Opponents like State Senator Thomas K. Duane and Assemblywoman Deborah J. Glick, who represent the area,
say ''a mega-entertainment destination'' that enriches a private developer in a public park is the wrong course to follow.
''Those venues already exist in Manhattan,'' Ms. Glick said. ''What we don't have is park space.''
Under 1998 legislation, Pier 40 is one of three spots along Hudson River Park, which stretches from the Battery to
59th Street, where commercial development is allowed to generate revenue for park maintenance.
Pier 40 was built in 1964 for the Holland America Line, but it did not last long as a cargo pier. An electrified system that protected the pilings from rust was shut down during the fiscal crisis in the 1970s. Today, 40 percent of the
piles are estimated to be crumbling, and the building needs a new roof.
The pier's interior courtyard was used as a truck terminal before it was converted several years ago to playing
fields.
Still, parking on the first and second levels of the building, as well as the roof, generates about $6 million a year,
or 40 percent of the park's operating revenue.
The Hudson River Park Trust solicited proposals to redevelop the pier in 2003, but a viable plan failed to emerge.
It tried again in 2006, which brought the present proposal from Related and that of the second developer, CampGroup,
which would create private camps and recreational facilities.
In response to criticism, Related recently trimmed the size of its entertainment complex to about one million
square feet, added nine basketball courts and more community space and offered a museum instead of an 1,800-seat
music hall. Its plans call for a farmers' market and a 1.5-acre open space on the south side of the pier.
Related says it needs a lease as long as the 49-year arrangement given to the Chelsea Piers sports complex, which
is also within the park. The park legislation allows only 30-year leases.
The partnership, which raised $120,000 for a feasibility study by Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Alschuler, a development consultant, proposes retaining the fields and creating rental space for artists, galleries and a school. The New
School and New York University have expressed interest. A nonprofit organization would not need the kind of return on
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Village Wants to Keep Its Fields as They Are The New York Times January 30, 2008 Wednesday
investment sought by private companies, typically 15 percent, and could borrow money at lower interest rates, the partnership maintains.
Under the partnership proposal, a nonprofit entity would issue tax-free bonds, which would be repaid from the
rental and parking revenue. But given the recent difficulty in financing new garages at Yankee Stadium, Related and
some park trust executives say the partnership is being overly optimistic about the stability of that revenue source.
Without a compromise, the development effort could come to a standstill. Assemblywoman Glick and Senator
Duane have vowed to block any changes to the 1998 park legislation that would enable the trust to give Related the 49year lease it seeks.
Gary L. Ginsberg, an executive vice president of the News Corporation and a participant in the partnership, said
the group was not a bunch of ''doe-eyed, anti-development individuals'' from the Village.
''We all recognize that the pier needs to be rehabilitated in a major way,'' he said. ''Related's plan would maintain
the same acreage of ball fields, but transform the piers into an entertainment complex. It would be like putting Central
Park's ball fields on stilts over retail stores and theaters. We want the pier to be consistent with the surrounding park.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT (89%); PARKS & PLAYGROUNDS (78%); CITY GOVERNMENT
(78%); VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS (78%); MAYORS (77%); CHILDREN (77%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP
(75%); WEALTHY PEOPLE (75%); PERFORMING ARTS CENTERS (75%); ATHLETES (73%); ARTS FESTIVALS & EXHIBITIONS (73%); BOARD CHANGES (72%); NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS (71%); FESTIVALS
(70%); FILM (69%); VENTURE CAPITAL (69%); INTERNET & WWW (67%); BASEBALL (78%)
GEOGRAPHIC: NEW YORK, NY, USA (90%) NEW YORK, USA (90%) UNITED STATES (90%)
LOAD-DATE: January 30, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: The playing fields within Pier 40, at Houston Street. The site ''builds a sense of community,''
one resident says.(PHOTOGRAPH BY HIROKO MASUIKE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)(pg. B1)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1125 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
January 30, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
TV Showman, Once Exiled, Returns With Video Site
BYLINE: By BROOKS BARNES
SECTION: Section C; Column 0; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 3
LENGTH: 934 words
Page 292
TV Showman, Once Exiled, Returns With Video Site The New York Times January 30, 2008 Wednesday
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
One of Big Media's most controversial executives is back after a period of quasi-forced retirement.
Stephen Chao -- who was fired from a top position at the News Corporation after, in separate incidents, hiring a
male stripper to disrobe at a company meeting and nearly drowning Rupert Murdoch's dog at a party -- plans to announce on Wednesday the formation of a Web video company that he hopes to build into an educational alternative to
YouTube.
The site, WonderHowTo.com, aggregates how-to videos, from the mundane (like ''how to tie a tie'' and ''how to
market your lawn care business in the winter'') to the strange (''how to do Criss Angel's vanishing toothpick trick'') and
the off-color (''how to train your cat to use the toilet'' and beyond).
Mr. Chao says the business melds his two primary interests: a fascination with the bizarre -- he worked as a National Enquirer reporter after graduating from Harvard -- and the media frontier.
''I'm a video freak and I love turning over rocks and finding stuff,'' he said in a telephone interview. ''What I started to notice is that there is a lot of how-to information out there that is fabulous but kind of hard to find. We set out to
make it easy.''
Mr. Chao's resume includes high-profile stints at the News Corporation, where he helped create ''America's Most
Wanted'' and ''Cops'' for Fox. He has also logged time at various media companies run by Barry Diller. But Mr. Chao,
52 years old, is perhaps best known for one of corporate America's most spectacular flame-outs.
In 1992, Mr. Murdoch fired Mr. Chao, considered a gifted but quirky executive, after he engaged a man to remove
all of his clothes during a speech being delivered at a company management retreat. The purpose was to drive home a
point about decency, but Mr. Murdoch, seated in the audience next to Dick Cheney (then the secretary of defense), was
not amused. Now, after spending the better part of the last decade doing consulting work and surfing near his home in
Santa Monica, Calif., Mr. Chao has returned to reinvent himself as an Internet entrepreneur.
He and his partners, which include E. W. Scripps, have already cataloged nearly 100,000 videos. Scripps' television properties include HGTV, the Food Network, the DIY Network and the Fine Living Network.
In addition to contributing instructional segments from its vast archives, Scripps will handle advertising sales for
the new company. Scripps said it would aim at niche markets like glass-blowing or leatherwork that correspond to the
site's video categories.
General Catalyst Partners, a Massachusetts venture capital firm with about $1 billion under management, is the
primary investor in WonderHowTo.com. Michael Goedecke co-founded the company with Mr. Chao and will serve as
chief of product and technology.
So far, the number of videos on the site is tiny compared with YouTube, but Mr. Chao says that his business model will try to sidestep legal problems. YouTube, which is owned by Google, has been sued for copyright infringement
by big media companies; YouTube says that it works hard to keep copyrighted material off its site.
Mr. Chao said he would avoid the piracy sinkhole by linking to videos around the Web rather than being the host
of the videos, as YouTube does. ''Because I happen to come from television, I happen to believe that YouTube is guilty
of copyright infringement,'' he said. ''I don't want to have anything to do with that.''
The how-to field is considered one of the most promising areas in Internet video. New companies like Video Jug
have popped up to mine the niche, while more entrenched players like Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia see it as a
potential bonanza. Ms. Stewart's company, for instance, has been experimenting with ways to exploit its trove of instructional clips about the domestic arts, most recently introducing a video-on-demand service. Ms. Stewart's company
is also testing something it calls the Marthapedia.
''The idea is to create a one-stop-shop place to go for any information about how to do anything,'' Susan Lyne, the
chief executive of Martha Stewart Living, said in her most recent conference call with analysts. ''Literally millions and
millions of pieces of information.''
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TV Showman, Once Exiled, Returns With Video Site The New York Times January 30, 2008 Wednesday
How big is the how-to market? Mr. Chao said his research showed that instructional video just for topics like fitness, dancing, languages, auto repair and gardening generated $800 million to $1 billion annually.
Mr. Chao is an expert at getting attention, but it will be difficult to top some of his previous stunts. Once, during a
party at Mr. Murdoch's home, Mr. Chao nearly drowned his host's purebred puppy after throwing it in a swimming pool
to see if it could swim. Mr. Chao then had to jump into the pool, while in a business suit, to save it.
After parting ways with Fox, Mr. Chao spent six weeks working at a McDonald's in Redondo Beach, Calif. He
went on to head programming for USA Networks, where he helped develop the popular series ''Monk.'' But a fiery relationship with Mr. Diller, the head of the network, overshadowed that experience. The two executives had a hard time
living down an incident when both were at Fox in which Mr. Diller hurled a videocassette at Mr. Chao with such intensity that it created a hole in the wall. Mr. Chao framed that section of the wall.
He left USA Networks in 2001 and, aside from introducing several cable networks in Latin America, he has largely spent his time with his family in Santa Monica. What made him want to return to the public eye?
''You can't spend all your life surfing,'' he said.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: DISMISSALS (89%); TELEVISION INDUSTRY (78%); INTERNET VIDEO (78%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (77%); MARKET SEGMENTATION (77%); INTERNET & WWW (76%); INTERNET SOCIAL NETWORKING (76%); LANDSCAPING SERVICES (72%); INTERVIEWS (71%); CONSULTING SERVICES (68%);
MARKETING & ADVERTISING (50%); RESUMES & CURRICULA VITAE (89%)
COMPANY: NEWS CORP (94%); FOOD NETWORK (50%)
TICKER: NWS (NYSE) (94%); NCRA (LSE) (94%); NWS (ASX) (94%); NWS (NASDAQ) (94%)
PERSON: KEITH RUPERT MURDOCH (73%); BARRY DILLER (53%); DICK CHENEY (52%)
GEOGRAPHIC: LOS ANGELES, CA, USA (76%) CALIFORNIA, USA (78%) UNITED STATES (91%)
LOAD-DATE: January 30, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: ''I'm a video freak and I love turning over rocks and finding stuff,'' said Stephen Chao, whose
new site is a trove of how-to videos. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ANN JOHANSSON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1126 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
January 30, 2008 Wednesday
Late Edition - Final
Oh, Yugoslavia! How They Long for Your Firm Embrace
Page 294
Oh, Yugoslavia! How They Long for Your Firm Embrace The New York Times January 30, 2008 Wednesday
BYLINE: By DAN BILEFSKY
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Foreign Desk; LJUBLJANA JOURNAL; Pg. 4
LENGTH: 1061 words
DATELINE: LJUBLJANA, Slovenia
This spring, Bostjan Troha and 50 of his friends from across the former Yugoslavia plan to celebrate the official
116th birthday of the former dictator Josip Broz Tito with a pilgrimage in boxy Yugoslav-era Fico cars to Tito's Croatian birthplace and his marble tomb in Belgrade.
To mark the occasion, Mr. Troha has hired a Tito impersonator and dozens of child actors, who will wear Yugoslav partisan berets, wave Yugoslav flags and applaud enthusiastically after the impersonator's address. The revelers
will down shots of Slivovitz, the Serbian national drink, and dance to the lurching melodies of Yugoslav folk music
along the 360-mile route.
His group of pilgrims will be modest compared with the 20,000 from the former Yugoslavia's six republics -Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and the Republic of Macedonia -- who traveled daily to
the tomb during Communist times after Tito's death in 1980.
But sociologists here say it reflects a trend across the Balkans they call Yugonostalgia, in which young and old
yearn for the past -- even an authoritarian one -- as they struggle with a legacy of wars, economic hardship and the grim
reality of living in small countries the world often seems to have forgotten.
''I miss Yugoslavia,'' said Mr. Troha, 33, a Slovene entrepreneur, from a warehouse crammed with his collection
of Yugoslav memorabilia, including portraits of Tito, vintage sewing machines, Serbian dolls and 50-year-old bottles of
Cockta, the Yugoslav Coca-Cola. ''We didn't have anything, but we had everything.''
Cultural observers here say nostalgia for Yugoslavia is manifesting itself in different ways.
Nearly 5,000 Slovenian youths made a pilgrimage to Belgrade, the former Yugoslavia's capital and now the capital of Serbia, to celebrate the New Year. Cross-border investment among the former Yugoslavia republics has seldom
been higher. The ''.yu'' Internet domain name remains popular on Web sites. Croats have been discarding ethnic rivalries to vote for Serbian songs during the Eurovision Song Contest. Basketball, a unifying passion in the former Yugoslavia, is played in a league that includes teams from across the region.
All the while, Tito's image is still used to sell everything from computers to beer.
In the northern Serbian city of Subotica, one businessman, Blasko Gabric, was so distraught when the name of his
former country, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was finally abolished on Feb. 4, 2003, that he decided to build
Yugoland, a four-acre Yugoslav theme park, complete with a mini-Adriatic Sea and a model of Mount Triglav, Yugoslavia's highest peak. He said the number of visitors had recently exploded.
''As far as I am concerned, I am still a citizen of Yugoslavia,'' he said. ''Today, we have democracy and nothing in
our pockets.''
Here in Slovenia, a prosperous country of two million, Yugonostalgia is all the more surprising because the country this year will celebrate the 17th anniversary of its decision to become the first republic to secede from Yugoslavia. It
did not experience the brutal wars of its neighbors, its economy is thriving, it is a member of NATO and it recently became the first formerly Communist country to assume the rotating presidency of the European Union.
But Mr. Troha, who will open a Nostalgia Museum with his collection, said Slovenians nevertheless missed belonging to a large multicultural country of 23 million people that everybody knew.
Critics of Yugonostalgia -- and there are many -- say it is driven by a dangerous and anachronistic fringe of crybabies who crave the social safety net of the Communist era and the cult of personality of Tito while ignoring the poverty,
the rabid nationalism and 1,000 percent inflation of the 1990s, not to speak of the political repression and the censorship.
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Oh, Yugoslavia! How They Long for Your Firm Embrace The New York Times January 30, 2008 Wednesday
''I am puzzled by this nostalgia,'' said Dimitrij Rupel, Slovenia's foreign minister. ''People say it was not so bad,
that socialism was more human. But everyone was egalitarian in the former Yugoslavia because everyone was poor.
Yugoslavia was a dictatorship.''
For others, however, being Yugonostalgic means going back to a time of multicultural co-existence before Yugoslavia collapsed, before the autocracy of Slobodan Milosevic and before the Balkan wars of the 1990s in which at least
125,000 people died. ''Yugonostalgia expresses the pain of a severed limb that is no longer there,'' said Ales Debeljak, a
prominent Slovene cultural critic.
In Velenje, a onetime socialist model town in Slovenia still known by some as ''Tito's Velenje,'' a statue of Tito
dominates the town square. Vlado Vrbic, a local historian, said Slovenians were Yugonostalgic because even if Tito
kept tight control at home, Yugoslavs enjoyed free education and health care, open borders, a job for life, interest-free
home loans, generous pensions and, above all, peace.
''The Yugoslav passport was the best in the world, and you could travel anywhere,'' said Mr. Vrbic, who at 16
hitchhiked from Ljubljana to India. ''In the former Yugoslavia, the pension was guaranteed, so you didn't need to save
anything and the workday ended at 2 in the afternoon.''
Peter Lovsin, the lead singer of a punk band in the former Yugoslavia, agrees. Mr. Lovsin, who also founded Yugoslavia's best-selling sex magazine in the late 1980s, argued that Yugonostalgia was an outgrowth of the former Yugoslavia's heady mix of laziness and relative liberalism. Mr. Lovsin, whose lyrics ''Comrades, I don't believe you'' became
a subversive anti-Communist anthem in the late 1970s, said the band was never censored.
''Slovenia today is more dangerous than Iraq because Slovenia is so depressing,'' he said. ''In Yugoslavia, people
had fun. It was a system for lazy people; if you were good or bad, you still got paid. Now, everything is about money,
and this is not good for small people.''
Such idealized notions of the past irk historians like Joze Dezman, director of the National Museum of Contemporary History in Ljubljana, who says they ignore Tito's role in creating the mess and the carnage that followed.
''An abused child tries to rationalize his abuse and get out of the unpleasant reality by romanticizing the past,'' Mr.
Dezman said. ''But no one is calling for the reunification of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia is dead.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: HEADS OF STATE & GOVERNMENT (89%); MUSIC (89%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (78%); FOLK
& WORLD MUSIC (70%); SOCIOLOGY (69%); DOMAIN NAMES (61%); THEME PARKS (60%); BASKETBALL (60%); AMUSEMENT & THEME PARKS (60%)
COMPANY: COCA-COLA CO (54%)
TICKER: KO (NYSE) (54%)
INDUSTRY: NAICS312111 SOFT DRINK MANUFACTURING (54%); SIC2086 BOTTLED & CANNED SOFT
DRINKS & CARBONATED WATER (54%)
GEOGRAPHIC: BELGRADE, SERBIA & MONTENEGRO (93%) MEDITERRANEAN SEA (79%) SLOVENIA
(98%); SERBIA (96%); CROATIA (94%); SERBIA & MONTENEGRO (93%); MONTENEGRO (79%); BOSNIA &
HERZEGOVINA (79%); MACEDONIA (78%); CENTRAL EUROPE (56%)
LOAD-DATE: January 30, 2008
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: A statue of Tito in Velenje, Slovenia, towers over Vlado Vrbic, a historian who fondly recalls
the benefits of life as a Yugoslav. A poster of Tito, the leader of Yugoslavia in its heyday, is among Bostjan Troha's
collection of Yugoslav memorabilia in Slovenia, which is one of the six republics that once made up Yugoslavia.
(PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDREW TESTA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
1127 of 1231 DOCUMENTS
The New York Times
January 29, 2008 Tuesday
Late Edition - Final
World Spurns Bail for Profit, But It's a Pillar of U.S. Justice
BYLINE: By ADAM LIPTAK
SECTION: Section A; Column 0; National Desk; AMERICAN EXCEPTION; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1739 words
DATELINE: FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.
Wayne Spath is a bail bondsman, which means he is an insurance salesman, a social worker, a lightly regulated law
enforcement agent, a real estate appraiser -- and a for-profit wing of the American justice system.
What he does, which is posting bail for people accused of crimes in exchange for a fee, is all but unknown in the
rest of the world. In England, Canada and other countries, agreeing to pay a defendant's bond in exchange for money is
a crime akin to witness tampering or bribing a juror -- a form of obstruction of justice.
Mr. Spath, who is burly, gregarious and intense, owns Brandy Bail Bonds, and he sees his clients in a pleasant and
sterile office building just down the street from the courthouse here. But for the handcuffs on the sign out front, it could
be a dentist's office.
''I've got to run, but I'll never leave you in jail,'' Mr. Spath said, greeting a frequent customer in his reception area
one morning a couple of weeks ago. He turned to a second man and said, ''Now, don't you miss court on me.''
Other countries almost universally reject and condemn Mr. Spath's trade, in which defendants who are presumed
innocent but cannot make bail on their own pay an outsider a nonrefundable fee for their freedom.
''It's a very American invention,'' John Goldkamp, a professor of criminal justice at Temple University, said of the
commercial bail bond system. ''It's really the only place in the criminal justice system where a liberty decision is governed by a profit-making businessman who will or will not take your business.''
Although the system is remarkably effective at what it does, four states -- Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon and Wisconsin -- have abolished commercial bail bonds, relying instead on systems that require deposits to courts instead of payments to private businesses, or that simply trust defendants to return for trial.
Most of the legal establishment, including the American Bar Association and the National District Attorneys Association, hates the bail bond business, saying it discriminates against poor and middle-class defendants, does nothing
for public safety, and usurps decisions that ought to be made by the justice system.
Here as in many other areas of the law, the United States goes it alone. American law is, by international standards, a series of innovations and exceptions. From the central role played by juries in civil cases to the election of judges
to punitive damages to the disproportionate number of people in prison, the United States has charted a distinctive and
idiosyncratic legal path.
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World Spurns Bail for Profit, But It's a Pillar of U.S. Justice The New York Times January 29, 2008 Tuesday
Bail is meant to make sure defendants show up for trial. It has ancient roots in English common law, which relied
on sworn promises and on pledges of land or property from the defendants or their relatives to make sure they did not
flee.
America's open frontier and entrepreneurial spirit injected an innovation into the process: by the early 1800s,
private businesses were allowed to post bail in exchange for payments from the defendants and the promise that they
would hunt down the defendants and return them if they failed to appear.
Commercial bail bond companies dominate the pretrial release systems of only two nations, the United States and
the Philippines.
The flaw in the system most often cited by critics is that defendants who have not been convicted of a crime and
who turn up for every court appearance are nonetheless required to pay a nonrefundable fee to a private business, assuming they do not want to remain in jail.
''Life is not fair, and I probably would feel the same way if I were a defendant,'' said Bill Kreins, a spokesman for
the Professional Bail Agents of the United States, a trade group. ''But the system is the best in world.''
The system costs taxpayers nothing, Mr. Kreins said, and it is exceptionally effective at ensuring that defendants
appear for court.
Mr. Spath's experience confirms that.
If Mr. Spath considers a potential client a good risk, he will post bail in exchange for a nonrefundable 10 percent
fee. In a 35-month period ending in November, his records show, Mr. Spath posted about $37 million in bonds -- 7,934
of them. That would suggest revenues of about $1.3 million a year, given his fee.
Mr. Spath, who is 62, has seven bail agents working for him, including his daughters Tia and Mia. ''It probably
costs me 50 grand a month to run this business,'' he said.
Mr. Spath hounds his clients relentlessly to make sure they appear for court. If they do not, he must pay the court
the full amount unless he can find them and bring them back in short order.
Only 434 of his clients failed to appear for a court date over that period, and Mr. Spath straightened out 338 of
those cases within the 60 days allowed by Florida law. In the end, he had to pay up only 76 times.
That is a failure rate of less than 1 percent.
But he had just taken a $100,000 hit. ''Everything I worked for this year, I lost because of that one guy,'' he said.
''If I write a bad bond, it takes me 17 to make it right.''
Mr. Spath had thought the defendant, accused of drug trafficking, was a good bet because he had been cooperating
with the government. The defendant is in Brazil now, but Mr. Spath is very good at finding people, and he is not giving
up. He is working travel records, phone companies and a former girlfriend, and he is getting closer.
He sometimes requires collateral in addition to his fee, and has accepted rugs, an airplane and a winning Rhode Island lottery ticket. But mostly he is interested in houses.
''In this business, you have to understand real estate,'' Mr. Spath said. When the real estate market goes south, he
said, bail bondsmen get hurt.
According to the Justice Department and academic studies, the clients of commercial bail bond agencies are more
likely to appear for court in the first place and more likely to be captured if they flee than those released under other
forms of supervision.
That may be because bail bond companies have financial incentives and choose their clients carefully. They also
have more power. In many states, bond enforcement agents, sometimes called bounty hunters, may break into homes of
defendants without a warrant, temporarily imprison them and move them across state lines without entering into the
extradition process.
Still, critics say, efficiency and business considerations should not trump the evenhanded application of justice.
The experiences in states that have abolished commercial bail bonds, prosecutors say, have been mixed.
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World Spurns Bail for Profit, But It's a Pillar of U.S. Justice The New York Times January 29, 2008 Tuesday
''The bail bond system is rife with corruption,'' said Joshua Marquis, the district attorney in Clatsop County, Ore.
Since bond companies do not compete on price, they have every incentive to collude with lawyers, the police, jail officials and even judges to make sure that bail is high and that attractive clients are funneled to them.
Mr. Kreins, the industry spokesman, acknowledged scandals in Illinois, where ''basically all the agents were in
collusion with the judges,'' and in Louisiana, where sheriffs were also in the mix.
''We have acted responsibly every time an incident has occurred to seek stronger legislation,'' Mr. Kreins said. Mr.
Marquis, the Oregon prosecutor, said doing away with commercial bonds had affected the justice system in a negative
way as well. ''The fact of the matter is,'' he said, ''that in states like Oregon the failure-to-appear rate has skyrocketed.''
Oregon uses a combination of court deposits, promises to appear and restrictions on where defendants can live and
work.
The rest of the world considers the American system a warning of how not to set up a pretrial release system, F. E.
Devine wrote in ''Commercial Bail Bonding,'' a 1991 book that remains the only comprehensive international survey of
the subject.
He said that courts in Australia, India and South Africa had disciplined lawyers for professional misconduct for
setting up commercial bail arrangements.
Other countries use a mix of methods to ensure that defendants appear for trial.
Some simply keep defendants in jail until trial. Others ask defendants to promise to turn up for trial. Some make
failure to appear a separate crime. Some impose strict conditions on release, like reporting to the police frequently.
Some make defendants liable for a given sum should they fail to appear but do not collect it up front. Others require a
deposit in cash from the defendant, family members or friends, which is returned when the defendant appears.
But injecting money into the equation, even without the bond company's fee, is the exception. ''Even purged of
commercialism, most countries avoid a bail system based chiefly on financial security deposits,'' Mr. Devine wrote.
In the United States, the use of commercial bail bonds is rising, and they became the most popular form of pretrial
release in 1998. More than 40 percent of felony defendants released before trial paid a bail bond company in 2004, up
from 24 percent a decade earlier, according to the Justice Department.
Forty percent of people released on bail are eventually acquitted or have the charges against them dropped. Quite
a few of them paid a substantial and nonrefundable fee to remain free in the meantime.
Kate Santana, a 20-year-old waitress, had spent eight days in jail when she found her way to Mr. Spath.
''Me and my husband got into a fight,'' Ms. Santana ex