“Time has come for Wizards to free Antawn Jamison: Windhorst Beat Blog - Cleveland Plain Dealer” plus 4 more |
- Time has come for Wizards to free Antawn Jamison: Windhorst Beat Blog - Cleveland Plain Dealer
- The Happiest People - New York Times
- Recession fuels shift from private to public schools - USA Today
- New Northrop Grumman CEO Wesley Bush shows why he got the job - Los Angeles Times
- China jails Tibetan film-maker for six years - YAHOO!
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| Time has come for Wizards to free Antawn Jamison: Windhorst Beat Blog - Cleveland Plain Dealer Posted: 06 Jan 2010 09:05 PM PST By Brian WindhorstJanuary 06, 2010, 11:53PMUPDATED: 12 a.m. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Thoughts following the Cavs' 121-98 victory over the Washington Wizards: He's intensely loyal to the Wizards franchise. He was very close to owner Abe Pollin, who recently passed away. With all the antics the Wizards have pulled over the last five years, he's constantly been the grownup. His level of class stood out even more when his teammates were committing dirty fouls, were talking brashly without results to back it up, or their coaches were openly admitting a game plan to to injure the opponent's star. Back in 2007 when the Wizards played the Cavs in the first round of the playoffs and Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler were injured, Jamison was a complete warrior. The Wizards had no chance in the series and the Cavs were loading up on Jamison. But he came to play every game like it was the Finals. He averaged 32 points and 10 rebounds in that four-game sweep and single-handedly made three of the games competitive. I'm no Bill Simmons when it comes to NBA history, but that has to be one of the greatest forgotten playoff performances in history. People weren't even making a big deal about it then, even though I certainly tried to highlight it. It was a courageous display and a reminder of the type of person and player he is. All of that is why the Wizards now owe it Jamison to trade him and give him a chance with another team. They have been grasping on to this group for years hoping for health, luck and the right playoff seed. But for various reasons, much of it plain bad luck and a rising superstar in Cleveland, they haven't gotten there. Now with the Arenas suspension and the Pollin death and the impending doom (DeShawn Stevenson called it a "black cloud" over the team), there are no more illusions. The dam has broken, it is over in Washington. There's going to be a new owner and new faces. Obviously, the Cavs want Jamison in the worst way. He fits everything they want and need at the moment. A great shooter with size, a smart player with playoff experience, a strong character in the locker room, a willingness to fit into the team concept. He's not a great defender, he's had some injuries and he's owed $28 million over the next two years. With next summer's free agent haul, there aren't many teams willing to take on that sort of commitment. Especially for a 33-year-old, even if it does look like he's got a lot of gas in his tank. There aren't a lot of trade partners for the Wizards to just dump the salary, if they indeed want to go that route. Three months ago, it seemed impossible. The Wizards were a vogue pick to challenge for the East and there was so much hatred between these franchises. Now, the Wizards have so much more to worry about than the future of the Cavs. Could it happen? Could Jamison end up in Cleveland in the type of power-shifting midseason All-Star trade like the one that sent Rasheed Wallace to Detroit in 2004 and Pau Gasol to the Lakers two years ago? It looks like a stronger possibility now than ever. But even if it doesn't happen, Jamison deserves a chance to play for a title and the Wizards owe it to him because he's a champion. • David Falk, who is one of the most powerful agents in the history of pro sports (represented Michael Jordan) was in attendance Wednesday. He only represents a few NBA players these days, Mike Bibby and Elton Brand being two of the bigger names. He doesn't represent any Cavs or Wizards. Why was he in town? He does represent Cavs General Manager Danny Ferry and has for years. He was the man who did Ferry's famous 10-year, $37 million deal with the Cavs when Ferry was a rookie. He wrote all about the deal and many other deals he did in his fascinating book called The Bald Truth, which came out last year and I recommend for anyone who wants to know about the business of basketball. Also in town today was Cavs owner Dan Gilbert. Which presents the dots that seem easy to connect. Perhaps the men were ironing out a new deal for Ferry. As I wrote about on Sunday, Ferry is on the final year of his contract. He's done a strong job and deserves an extension. But one hasn't been done yet for whatever reason, maybe because Gilbert has been busy. No matter what, Falk being in town for the day is a positive sign for Ferry's future with the franchise. No one's record is perfect but I always give special credit to people who execute their promises. When Mike Brown arrived, he said he was going to have a defense-based team that was going to win in the playoffs. He's had failings, but he's done it and backed up every word. When Ferry was hired, he said there was going to be a culture of family and of winning within the team. That has been exactly on point, the Cavs have become one of the best-run franchises in pro sports with Ferry handling the operations. Recap: The Washington Wizards didn't have the suspended Gilbert Arenas Wednesday night. They didn't have much defense, either, as the Cavaliers posted a season-high point total in a 121-98 victory that was decided by halftime.
Cavs 121, Wizards 98 Game No. 37 at The Q What happened: Using Shaquille O'Neal to establish a tone and then overwhelming the Wizards with outside shooting, the Cavs shook off Sunday's loss to the Bobcats with a blowout win. O'Neal had 16 of his 17 points in the first half, LeBron James neared a triple double and Delonte West had an excellent all-around game. The star: James had 23 points, seven rebounds and eight assists while sitting out the fourth quarter. The co-star: Antawn Jamison had 26 points for the Wizards. Highlight: James made a jumper over the corner of the backboard while falling out of bounds in the third quarter. Lowlight: The Cavs gave up 18 points off turnovers. Third Quarter: Cavs 101, Wizards 80 • That wasn't exactly the best defensive quarter in the Mike Brown era. Antawn Jamison ripped them up, which is what he often does. This highlights the spot of need the Cavs have, someone to guard the stretch power forwards. Jamario Moon isn't here and Anderson Varejao and J.J. Hickson haven't been able to stay attached to him. Which is why Jawad Williams has been playing tonight. Jamison had 18 points in the quarter. • Then again, the Wizards don't care about defense, either. I can't remember the Cavs cracking 100 before the fourth quarter in the LeBron era. Six different Cavs have eight points or more and LeBron is sniffing a triple double. • This has become a 3-point shooting contest. The two teams combined for nine 3s in the third alone. Anthony Parker is having his best night of the year, he's got 16 points and has hit four 3-pointers. Halftime: Cavs 65, Wizards 43 • Shaq is getting his shots and he's showing a lot of energy and it is working across the board. He's got 16 points and six rebounds and because of him the Cavs have a stunning 32 points in the paint and are shooting 55 percent. What is very noticeable is how the Cavs are being creative getting him the ball. Off pick-and-rolls, off weakside feeds and from the top of the key. They had fallen into a rut of always entering from the wing and it made it easy to defend. • Delonte West is having a fantastic game. Mo Williams didn't even score in the first quarter because he wasn't really needed. West was great at penetrating and pushing the tempo, the Cavs have a 15-4 lead in fast-break points. This is Delonte at his best and the way he played on a nightly basis last season. • Jawad Williams just played the 12 most effective minutes of his NBA career. He had five points and three assists and played strong defense. Jawad was great in summer league and he has the body and skills to be a quality NBA player. When he was in the D-League last season he was a big-time scorer. LeBron has long supported him. Do the Cavs have a secret weapon here? Perhaps, perhaps. First Quarter: Cavs 29, Wizards 23 • As expected, the Cavs came out and tried to set up Shaq early and they got good results. He made a basket and was able to get to the line twice and it helped them get an early lead. He got two fouls, otherwise he may have been more of a factor. It helped open up the outside for the Cavs, but they didn't shoot the ball very well. • Interesting that Mike Brown is using Jawad Williams instead of Daniel Gibson. With Jamario Moon out, it was expected that Gibson would get more time. Maybe he will later in the game. • The Cavs rolled out some new offensive looks, especially in how they got Shaq the ball. That is what happens when they actually get a chance to have a real practice. They are also getting into their "early" offense more, which means they are getting into the play faster instead of slowly setting things up. Starting lineups Wizards: Randy Foye, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Andray Blatche, Fabricio Oberto Cavs: Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, LeBron James, JJ Hickson, Shaquille O'Neal Officials: Bennett Salvatore, Tommy Nunez, Gary Zielinski • Gilbert Arenas won't be playing, he's been suspended indefinitely by the NBA. He was asking for it for days with his behavior, his quotes, and his demeanor. He'll get no sympathy from the Cavs. They have their own player with gun issues, but Arenas' disrespectful act wore thin on them three years and two playoff series ago. Not that they'll say it. • No idea how the Wizards will come out in this game. Maybe they will come out liberated. Maybe they will come out crushed. One thing is for sure, you will see emotion. The Cavs better be ready for that. • Two of Shaq's biggest games this season, one in the preseason, came against the Wizards. He's been able to draw fouls and get inside. They are a little more healthy with their big men tonight than the last couple meetings. But they don't have much center depth. Shaq has been able to take advantage of that. It should be part of the game plan again. • Mike Miller has killed the Cavs off the bench this season. Now, Jamario Moon isn't around for defense. Might want to stay attached to him if the Cavs want to win.
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| The Happiest People - New York Times Posted: 06 Jan 2010 09:05 PM PST SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica Skip to next paragraph  Nicholas D. Kristof Hmmm. You think it's a coincidence? Costa Rica is one of the very few countries to have abolished its army, and it's also arguably the happiest nation on earth. There are several ways of measuring happiness in countries, all inexact, but this pearl of Central America does stunningly well by whatever system is used. For example, the World Database of Happiness, compiled by a Dutch sociologist on the basis of answers to surveys by Gallup and others, lists Costa Rica in the top spot out of 148 nations. That's because Costa Ricans, asked to rate their own happiness on a 10-point scale, average 8.5. Denmark is next at 8.3, the United States ranks 20th at 7.4 and Togo and Tanzania bring up the caboose at 2.6. Scholars also calculate happiness by determining "happy life years." This figure results from merging average self-reported happiness, as above, with life expectancy. Using this system, Costa Rica again easily tops the list. The United States is 19th, and Zimbabwe comes in last. A third approach is the "happy planet index," devised by the New Economics Foundation, a liberal think tank. This combines happiness and longevity but adjusts for environmental impact — such as the carbon that countries spew. Here again, Costa Rica wins the day, for achieving contentment and longevity in an environmentally sustainable way. The Dominican Republic ranks second, the United States 114th (because of its huge ecological footprint) and Zimbabwe is last. Maybe Costa Rican contentment has something to do with the chance to explore dazzling beaches on both sides of the country, when one isn't admiring the sloths in the jungle (sloths truly are slothful, I discovered; they are the tortoises of the trees). Costa Rica has done an unusually good job preserving nature, and it's surely easier to be happy while basking in sunshine and greenery than while shivering up north and suffering "nature deficit disorder." After dragging my 12-year-old daughter through Honduran slums and Nicaraguan villages on this trip, she was delighted to see a Costa Rican beach and stroll through a national park. Among her favorite animals now: iguanas and sloths. (Note to boss: Maybe we should have a columnist based in Costa Rica?) What sets Costa Rica apart is its remarkable decision in 1949 to dissolve its armed forces and invest instead in education. Increased schooling created a more stable society, less prone to the conflicts that have raged elsewhere in Central America. Education also boosted the economy, enabling the country to become a major exporter of computer chips and improving English-language skills so as to attract American eco-tourists. I'm not antimilitary. But the evidence is strong that education is often a far better investment than artillery. In Costa Rica, rising education levels also fostered impressive gender equality so that it ranks higher than the United States in the World Economic Forum gender gap index. This allows Costa Rica to use its female population more productively than is true in most of the region. Likewise, education nurtured improvements in health care, with life expectancy now about the same as in the United States — a bit longer in some data sets, a bit shorter in others. Rising education levels also led the country to preserve its lush environment as an economic asset. Costa Rica is an ecological pioneer, introducing a carbon tax in 1997. The Environmental Performance Index, a collaboration of Yale and Columbia Universities, ranks Costa Rica at No. 5 in the world, the best outside Europe. This emphasis on the environment hasn't sabotaged Costa Rica's economy but has bolstered it. Indeed, Costa Rica is one of the few countries that is seeing migration from the United States: Yankees are moving here to enjoy a low-cost retirement. My hunch is that in 25 years, we'll see large numbers of English-speaking retirement communities along the Costa Rican coast. Latin countries generally do well in happiness surveys. Mexico and Colombia rank higher than the United States in self-reported contentment. Perhaps one reason is a cultural emphasis on family and friends, on social capital over financial capital — but then again, Mexicans sometimes slip into the United States, presumably in pursuit of both happiness and assets. Cross-country comparisons of happiness are controversial and uncertain. But what does seem quite clear is that Costa Rica's national decision to invest in education rather than arms has paid rich dividends. Maybe the lesson for the United States is that we should devote fewer resources to shoring up foreign armies and more to bolstering schools both at home and abroad. In the meantime, I encourage you to conduct your own research in Costa Rica, exploring those magnificent beaches or admiring those slothful sloths. It'll surely make you happy. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | ||
| Recession fuels shift from private to public schools - USA Today Posted: 06 Jan 2010 09:12 PM PST It has been a challenging transition: Maya, 16, now a high school sophomore, "doesn't like crowds — and her high school is as big as a small college," her mother says. Though Maya is learning a lot in the "amazing" science program, she's also hoping to leave the crowds behind by doubling up on coursework, graduating by the end of junior year "and then going and doing interesting things," Allyn says. Her younger children face their own challenges, from bullying to sheer boredom. The transition also has been an education for Maya's parents, who say they had "no choice" in the struggling economy but to switch to public schools. They're saving about $20,000 a year in tuition, but like many former private-school families, they're coming face-to-face with larger class sizes and the public school bureaucracy as they push to get services for their children. "We ask a lot of questions — we follow up on things," says Allyn, a former professional dancer who's the cultural arts coordinator for the city of Evanston. "We contact the school board. ... We'll challenge teachers, we'll challenge coordinators. My kids are mortified because they don't want to be singled out." It's too early to tell whether the recession has had a profound effect on public schools' educational mission. But parents and educators across the nation say it's already bringing subtle changes to the culture of many public schools as some families seek the personal attention they received from private schools. Private-school parents typically find that the structure of public schools takes some getting used to. In most states, funding for public schools is calculated on a per-student basis, based on average student counts during the first few weeks of the school year. If a student drops out after 40 days, the funding that student generated stays with the school — even if he or she does not return to that campus. Private schools, on the other hand, risk losing tuition payments once a student leaves. "Private schools tend to treat you more like a customer than the public schools," Allyn says. Public schools are "going to get their tax dollars whether or not you as a parent are upset. If you're in a private school and you yank your kid out, that's a lot of money walking out the (private school's) door." Enrollment figures for the current school year won't be available until next year, but the U.S. Department of Education's latest estimate finds that from 2006 to 2009, public school enrollment grew by nearly a half-million students, or about 1%, while private school enrollment dropped by about 146,000, or 2.5%. Government projections find that private schools could lose an additional 28,000 students this year, while public schools should gain 246,000. Actually, the trend could be worse, says Thomas Toch of the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington. Private schools "have weathered the first year of the downturn pretty well by providing more financial aid to families — and in a few cases, significantly more financial aid," he says. "Whether or not that model is sustainable is unclear." A boost for public schools? Stories about how the troubled economy is hurting public schools are plentiful these days: Many schools are cutting teaching positions and programs. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the USA's second-largest, laid off 2,000 teachers last spring and may need to lay off 5,000 more employees — including 1,500 teachers — next fall. But could the recession benefit public schools in the end by bringing in a new clientele? "In a way, it's a good thing for public schools," says New York University education professor Pedro Noguera. "I would say it's a good time for public schools to pitch the value they bring to middle-class parents." He's starting to see the effects on the public system in New York City as affluent parents in parts of Brooklyn switch their children from private to public schools and in the process push the public schools to improve. "College-educated parents are not going to subject their kids to second-class education," he says. So their influx "absolutely has a huge impact," whether it's by volunteering in classrooms or campaigning for more funding. Most years, public schools rarely see more than a few new students as families come and go. Last fall at Thomas Johnson Elementary-Middle School in Baltimore, 60 new students showed up — about half of those from private schools, including a nearby Catholic school that closed in the spring because of dwindling enrollment. James Dendinger, Johnson's principal, scrambled to accommodate them all, adding more lockers and an extra fourth-grade class, among other moves. He also noticed that many families who in previous years would have started their kids in private schools' pre-kindergarten or kindergarten programs were applying to Johnson. Interest in those slots was so intense that he had to freeze new admissions from outside the neighborhood. Since then, Dendinger has seen participation in Johnson's parent-teacher organization (PTO) grow — the group staged the school's first "fall festival" in five years as a fundraiser. "They're getting very involved," Dendinger says of the new parents. Among the new students: first-grader Miles Donovan, who attended preschool at the recently shuttered Catholic Community school. At first, Miles' mother, jazz pianist Sandy Asirvatham, says she and her husband were stunned by the difference. "I had to get past certain 'public school' things," she says, such as "big, big" classes unlike the tiny ones at Catholic Community. "To see 27 5-year-olds in my son's kindergarten last year was quite shocking at first," she says. But she acknowledges that Miles has flourished. "The energy of that room, as crazy as it could be sometimes, is something he really enjoyed," she says. So far, first grade has been "an incredible social learning experience for him that, in the small, rarefied environment of a private school, he might not have gotten." Knowing the front office Several parents at Johnson and surrounding schools in the Federal Hill section of Baltimore — once a blue-collar bastion that now attracts young professional families — say they sense a "critical mass" of families that's beginning to change the character of neighborhood schools. At nearby Francis Scott Key Elementary-Middle School, Tiffany Harlow says her children — 11-year-old Mia and 5-year-old James — weren't the only ones who had to adjust to a different way of doing things after switching from private school. Harlow remembers walking into the office at Catholic Community knowing the entire staff. "Now, when I go to this school, there's a lot of people — I might have never seen this person before." Since signing her kids up at Key last fall, Harlow helped arrange several fundraisers and social events. As a lunchroom volunteer, she pushes kids to recycle those little foil juice boxes. "There are a lot more parents who have the time, energy and skills to be involved," Asirvatham says. "They have the know-how to shake things up and get things done." And they tend to have a lot less patience when things don't go their way. Miles Donovan attended kindergarten at another area public school, which invited students to take entrance exams for a gifted program. It accepted only 15 students per grade. Parents complained when their kids didn't get a slot, so the program was expanded to accommodate more kids — and other parents complained because it got too big. A few families stuck with the program, others pulled out — and a few left the school altogether, Asirvatham says. "You come with a certain sense of, 'This is my school, it should be working for me,' " she says of parents whose kids have been in private schools. "I've heard parents say, 'That principal is my employee. I pay her salary.' " It's only natural that private-school parents would think that way, says Jeanne Allen, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Education Reform, which advocates for parental choice in education. "In a private school, you don't want to lose customers." Allen has a few friends and colleagues who have moved their kids to public schools — and like conscientious private-school parents, they "know everything about the curriculum and what's expected of their child," she says. "They investigated how the teachers grade and how you best approach them, whether they like parents or are a little bit scared. They go out of their way to understand all of the offerings in a way that your public-school parent traditionally doesn't." Allyn, in Evanston, Ill., agrees. "Those of us who have seen other options are not as likely to accept the P.R.," she says. "They'll tell me, 'It can't be done, it can't be done,' and I don't understand why it can't be done, because the private schools managed to do it." She says friends are still talking about how to get their kids into public schools with programs that suit their kids' needs and interests — much as they talked about private schools in years past. A few have gotten "so frustrated with their public school experience" — dealing with standardized testing and school bureaucracies — that they're considering home schooling. Noguera says schools must take the opportunity to keep these families in the fold. "Public schools play such an important role for our democracy as the only institution that serves all children," he says. "If you lose the people who have the power of choice because they have the resources and the information and the time to make a difference, it becomes a system that only serves people who have no other option. And that's a problem." | ||
| New Northrop Grumman CEO Wesley Bush shows why he got the job - Los Angeles Times Posted: 06 Jan 2010 08:43 PM PST Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Los Angeles Times, 202 West 1st Street, Los Angeles, California, 90012 | Copyright 2009 Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | ||
| China jails Tibetan film-maker for six years - YAHOO! Posted: 06 Jan 2010 08:50 PM PST BEIJING (Reuters) – A Chinese court has jailed a Tibetan film-maker for six years after he made a documentary in which ordinary Tibetans praised the Dalai Lama and complained about how their culture had been trampled upon, campaigners said. The film, "Leaving Fear Behind", features a series of interviews with Tibetans who talk about how they still love their exiled spiritual leader and think the Beijing Olympics did little to improve their lives. Dhondup Wangchen and his monk friend, Golog Jigme, were detained shortly after finishing the film, but managed to smuggle tapes out of the country. Dhondup Wangchen's sentencing took place on December 28 in Xining, Qinghai's provincial capital, said a statement on a website (www.leavingfearbehind.com) promoting the film, which is also campaigning for his release. The website said the film-maker had no access to outside legal help, and the government had barred a lawyer hired by his family from representing him. "I appeal to the court in Xining to allow my husband to have a legal representative of his own choosing," his wife, Lhamo Tso, said in the statement. "My children and I feel desperate about the prospect of not being able to see him for so many years. We call on the Chinese authorities to show humanity by releasing him. My husband is not a criminal, he just tried to show the truth." People's Liberation Army troops marched into Tibet in 1950. China has defended its iron-fisted rule, saying not only did it free a million Tibetans serfs but it also poured billions of dollars to develop the Himalayan region. Tibetan protests led by Buddhist monks against Chinese rule in March 2008 gave way to torrid violence, with rioters torching shops and turning on residents, especially Han Chinese, who many Tibetans see as intruders threatening their culture. At least 19 people died in the unrest, which sparked waves of protests across Tibetan areas. Tibetan exile groups say more than 200 people died in the subsequent crackdown. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Benjamin Kang Lim and Sugita Katyal)
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