Baylor Demotes President Kenneth Starr Over Handling of Sex Assault Cases

Abstract: Kenneth W. Starr, the former independent counsel who delivered a report that served as the basis for President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998, was removed as president of Baylor University on Thursday after an investigation found the university mishandled accusations of sexual assault against football players. The university also fired the football coach, Art Briles, whose ascendant program brought in millions of dollars in revenue but was dogged by accusations of sexual assault committed by its players — an increasingly familiar combination in big-time college sports. Mr. Starr was stripped of his title as university president but will remain Baylor’s chancellor and a professor at the law school. The chancellor position is “centered around development and religious liberty,” a regent said on a conference call Thursday afternoon, adding that Mr. Starr’s “operational responsibilities have been removed.” Mr. Starr’s demotion delivered a twist to the biography of a man whose reputation was built on what many considered an overzealous pursuit of allegations of sexual transgressions by Mr. Clinton. Now he is being punished for leading an administration that, according to a report by an outside law firm commissioned by the university’s governing board, looked the other way when Baylor football players were accused of sex crimes, and sometimes convicted of them. “We were horrified by the extent of these acts of sexual violence on our campus,” Richard Willis, chairman of Baylor’s Board of Regents, said in a statement. “This investigation revealed the University’s mishandling of reports in what should have been a supportive, responsive and caring environment for students.” Mr. Starr said in a statement to news organizations: “I join the Board of Regents and the Senior Administration of the University in expressing heartfelt contrition for the tragedy and sadness that has unfolded. To those victims who were not treated with the care, concern, and support they deserve, I am profoundly sorry.” Violence against women on college campuses has risen as a national conversation in recent years, and one particular thread has been whether athletes in big-time sports like football and basketball are afforded favorable treatment by universities and communities that come together to support and protect successful teams. Baylor Findings of Fact and Recommendations An investigation found “fundamental failure” by the university in its handling of sexual assault accusations against football players. Critics have said that Baylor sacrificed moral considerations — and the safety of other students — for the sake of its winning football team. The investigation said as much, describing the flouting of federal gender-equity law and rebuking a university leadership that “created a cultural perception that football was above the rules.” In one instance, according to a summary of the investigation released by the board, university administrators discouraged an accuser in a manner that “constituted retaliation against a complainant for reporting sexual assault.” What investigations did occur, the summary said, “were conducted in the context of a broader culture and belief by many administrators that sexual violence ‘doesn’t happen here.’” Mr. Starr, who was solicitor general and a federal judge before taking on the Clinton case, has been credited with raising hundreds of millions of dollars for Baylor, the country’s largest Baptist university, in part by yoking its fortunes to football. Much fund-raising was centered on building a gleaming on-campus home field, McLane Stadium, which opened in 2014, the same year that Mr. Starr added the title of chancellor to his role as president. “Let me be clear,” Mr. Starr wrote in a public letter in February: “Sexual violence emphatically has no place whatsoever at Baylor University.” That Baylor had an apparently functioning athletic department was seen as an achievement in itself: The university experienced one of the worst college sports scandals ever after a men’s basketball player murdered a teammate in 2003, with a subsequent investigation revealing drug use and payments to players, resulting in harsh N.C.A.A. penalties. Baylor said it had retained a law firm for the possibility of an N.C.A.A. investigation into the latest transgressions. Image During Art Briles’s tenure at Baylor, the team won or shared the Big 12 title in 2013 and 2014. Credit Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press The circumstances took on a new dimension nearly a year ago, when a former football player, Sam Ukwuachu, was convicted of sexually assaulting another Baylor athlete and sentenced to six months in jail. During the trial, a former girlfriend of Mr. Ukwuachu’s testified that he had assaulted her several years earlier, when he had been a football player at Boise State. Baylor denied that it had been apprised of Mr. Ukwuachu’s history; Boise State disputed that denial. The Ukwuachu case came a year after Tevin Elliott, a former Baylor player, was convicted of sexually assaulting a Baylor freshman. Two other Baylor students testified that Mr. Elliott had also sexually assaulted them. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Subsequent news reports have found several other accusations of sexual assault by Baylor athletes, including one against two players that Baylor did not investigate for more than two years. After Mr. Ukwuachu’s conviction, Mr. Starr chose Baylor’s faculty athletics representative, a former federal prosecutor, to lead an inquiry into the university’s handling of Mr. Ukwuachu. A week later, based on that investigation, Mr. Starr recommended that Baylor’s board hire outside lawyers to conduct another investigation. Soon, Baylor announced that the Regents had retained two lawyers from Pepper Hamilton to conduct a “thorough and independent and external investigation.” Pepper Hamilton, a firm based in Philadelphia, said it reviewed more than one million documents and conducted 65 interviews, including with “individuals who identified as victims/survivors of sexual assault or dating violence.” Such investigations are sometimes cited by defendants in Title IX lawsuits as proof that the university did not possess “deliberate indifference” to a problem of sexual assault, according to Erin Buzuvis, a Title IX expert and a law professor at Western New England University. Some courts, Ms. Buzuvis said, “might put a little more teeth on that requirement.” Baylor settled a lawsuit by an accuser of Mr. Ukwuachu’s last year, while one by an accuser of Mr. Elliott’s was filed earlier this year. The Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights is investigating nearly 200 postsecondary institutions under Title IX over sexual violence cases, but as of Thursday, Baylor was not among them. Athletic Director Ian McCaw was placed on probation, the board said, while Mr. Briles was suspended with intention to terminate. Several news media reports said the football team’s defensive coordinator, Phil Bennett, would serve as interim head coach. Mr. Willis, the board’s chairman, said on the conference call that Pepper Hamilton’s findings had nothing “specific” to implicate Mr. Bennett. Mr. Briles, a Texas lifer, was one of the most successful coaches in college football — and one of the best paid, with an annual salary of nearly $6 million, according to USA Today (as a private university, Baylor is not required to make such figures public). Formerly Houston’s head coach, Mr. Briles installed an unorthodox, wide-open offense and built the Bears, historically a football also-ran in a state dominated by larger neighbors like Texas and Texas A&M, into a powerhouse. In 2011, quarterback Robert Griffin III won the program’s first Heisman Trophy — a statue of Griffin, now with the Cleveland Browns, graces the front entrance to McLane Stadium — and the team won or shared the Big 12 title in 2013 and 2014. The allegations in the Baylor report are similar to others that have surfaced at universities with prominent athletics programs. Florida State’s Heisman-winning quarterback Jameis Winston was accused of rape in 2012 (he denied the charge) and was not disciplined by the university after an incomplete police investigation and a hearing. At Tennessee, a lawsuit filed this year partially blamed a noncompliant climate for sexual assaults by five athletes. Despite a Department of Education letter in 2011 advising colleges to have detailed, appropriate guidelines for handling accusations of sexual assault, Baylor did not appoint a full-time Title IX coordinator until late 2014, according to the investigation. In 1985, Baylor received a partial exemption to Title IX for several policies that it said conflicted with its sincerely held religious beliefs, such as condemnation of “premarital unchastity.” The report released on Thursday found that Baylor’s religiously informed outlook on drug use, alcohol and premarital sex made accusers fearful of coming forward.

College
Kenneth W Starr
College football
Rape
Art Briles
Coaches
Baylor University


Blackhawks Fans Show That Chicago Can Love a Winner, Too

Abstract: CHICAGO — The national anthem had barely begun, but the red mass of pounding, stomping, cheering people inside the United Center was in full frenzy. If there is a Midwestern version of Los Angeles’s star-speckled courtside scene, it was in this crowd: John Cusack, the actor; Danica Patrick, the auto racer; Billy Corgan, the musician. The real celebrity in the house this June evening, though, was a thickset man in a dark suit, cheerfully posing for photo after photo with fans. Rocky Wirtz, the chairman of the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team, has reached a level of stardom likelier for someone in actual skates and pads. They addressed him by his first name only as they rushed to him in the stands, hugging him, thanking him. If the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup this week, it will be their third since 2010 — a stunning prospect for a city that adores its sports teams as much as its politics, but rarely ponders championships, much less dynasties. (Michael Jordan and his Bulls are a fading memory here.) “In business, no one pays you to have a really good year and then 10 bad years,” Mr. Wirtz said in an interview as his team battled the Tampa Bay Lightning during the best-of-seven Stanley Cup finals, which could end here as early as Monday night. Chicago leads the series, three games to two. These are not the Blackhawks I grew up watching. Back then, in the 1970s and 1980s, a decade between Stanley Cups would have been something to rejoice over. For years, the team had a far smaller following, in part because Mr. Wirtz’s father, William W., better known here as Dollar Bill for his frugality, would not put home games on television. As recently as a decade ago, the team sold just 3,400 season tickets, and people only half-joke that the place was so empty you could hear players talking to one another on the ice. Today, a waiting list for season tickets is over 15,000. But when I was a 10-year-old who got to escape to the old Chicago Stadium on Sunday nights with my father, it never dawned on me that the team was lacking for anything. Stan Mikita, whose book “I Play to Win: My Own Story” was tattered in our house from reading and rereading, always glanced in our direction as he took the ice because his wife sat near our seats. Tony Esposito, the goalie known as Tony O, performed puck-defying splits in impossible variations. And Keith Magnuson, the fight-prone defenseman, would thrill with his unwillingness to take guff from anyone, drawing blood and then the team doctors, who sat near us and would scamper down to the ice. Whatever the Hawks’ record, something about those Sunday nights brought a reliable rhythm to my growing up and a bond with my father over power plays and blue lines. On the nights when it was my turn (my father switched off taking my sister and me), we left for the stadium at the final tick of “60 Minutes”; parked at the Red Top No. 4 lot, where a guy named Larry always took care of us; and made it to Row H in time for the 7:35 p.m. face-off. Coming home along the Eisenhower Expressway, we would listen to the postgame radio show, waiting to hear who was deemed “player of the game.” Aside from the Jordan era, Chicago is accustomed to losing teams. The Cubs won their last World Series in 1908. Bears fans still live off memories of the 1985 team, the Super Bowl Shuffling champions. Until 2010, the Blackhawks had not won the Stanley Cup since 1961. And the White Sox’s championship in 2005 was the team’s first in 88 years. My grandmother Betty Davey did not live long enough to see that series, but she was as true a Chicago sports fan as there ever was. She was barely five feet tall in her pumps, but she bellowed at games like Mike Ditka. She taught me how to keep a shot chart during Bulls basketball games listening only to the radio play-by-play. And she was a devoted South Sider, which is, of course, to say a White Sox fan. As a kindergarten and first-grade teacher in the Chicago Public Schools, my grandma would unapologetically pin notes home on the children who came to school in Cubs jackets or caps, politely advising their parents that she would be more disposed to teaching their child to read if he or she wore something else. Image Rocky Wirtz, the team chairman, with a fan. After nearly half a century without a championship, the Blackhawks are seeking their third Stanley Cup since 2010. Credit Joshua Lott for The New York Times “The loyalty toward teams that have not been terribly successful is very deep in this city,” said Elliott J. Gorn, a professor of history at Loyola University Chicago who has written about urban life and Chicago sports. “Maybe it’s partly being the Second City. There’s this wistful longing to really be great and visible and celebrated. But then we kind of also know in our hearts who we really are. And it’s O.K.” Nearly everyone traces the Blackhawks’ shift to Rocky Wirtz’s ascent. He watched silently for decades as his father and grandfather made decisions about the team, which the family had bought in 1954. “It’s like going against City Hall,” Mr. Wirtz, 62, said of the prospect of arguing with his father. “He was the boss. He had the keys. Why argue with him?” When his father died in 2007, Mr. Wirtz made swift changes — ones that Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the National Hockey League, described in an interview as “a remarkable transformation.” Home games were televised. Modern marketing measures were ordered up. Not least of all, a new lineup began winning, and sellout crowds became the norm. “He’d be very excited,” Mr. Wirtz said of his father, “and he would not have agreed with a thing we’ve done.” Now Mr. Wirtz, whose family corporation also owns a large distributor of wines, spirits and beer, as well as banking, real estate and insurance businesses, is stopped by strangers so often for autographs that he carries Sharpies. When he drives on the Kennedy Expressway here, he gets honks. It took him a while to realize they were not complaints about his driving. Mr. Wirtz’s own son, Danny, 38, who was recently appointed president of the family’s beverage group, recalled how not long ago seeing someone wearing a Blackhawks logo was extremely rare. “It was like you were in a secret society with someone — like you were the only ones you knew,” he said. Today, the Blackhawks seem to be everywhere. On Michigan Avenue, team flags fly over the Chicago River bridge along with the city and American flags. Blackhawks helmets cover the heads of the iconic lions outside the Art Institute of Chicago . The team name can be seen in lights on the city’s nighttime skyline. But Chicago, it seems, is prepared to manage any outcome. It has before. “You feed on the affirmative, you move forward — that’s how I do politics, too,” said Representative Mike Quigley, a lifelong Blackhawks fan. He keeps a hockey net in his Washington office and can recite the names and numbers of the 1968 team without stopping for a breath. This may be the one thing in the universe that Mr. Wirtz has misjudged. It may not happen in business, but when it comes to sports, Chicagoans will actually take a single good year — and then 10 or 20 or even 30 bad years — and be right there with you. It turns out, those were good years, too. Just ask a Cubs fan.

Ice hockey
Rocky Wirtz
Chicago
Stanley Cup
Chicago Blackhawks


At Bergdorf Goodman, Their Own Private Dressing Room

Abstract: Beyond those elusive green shoots — 3 percent potential growth next year, a gradually rising Dow — one of the things you hear a lot about these days, economy-wise, is “the stratified American consumer” : that poor financial schizophrenic caught between the well-off (and apparently still-spending) Dr. Jekyll and the cash-strapped (and mostly middle-class) Mr. Hyde. According to a report released last month by Merrill Lynch and Bank of America, the top 10 percent of income earners in the country escaped the current crisis more or less unburdened; but those in the middle are unsurprisingly going under with a debt-to-income ratio of more than two to one. While this hardly serves as news in New York City — where a single digit added to your Park Avenue address (say, 1565 instead of 565) can often mean the difference between a public housing project and a classic East Side co-op — Manhattan does provide a good petri dish for studying the resilient bacterium of wealth. Take Room 4, for instance, a peach-walled dressing room in the personal shopping department at Bergdorf Goodman , at Fifth Avenue and 58th Street. The other day, despite the gloom and doom about another wretched retail season in the offing, the room had just been used by a local woman of means whose castaways — a multithousand-dollar black sequined ball gown among them — were still there hanging on the racks. “Everything is possible here,” said Todd Okerstrom, Bergdorf’s immaculately clad director of personal shopping. The room has room service — a Gotham salad, maybe, brought down fresh from the BG Restaurant on the seventh floor? — and free advisers to help you make your purchases or pack for your safari. If it’s Champagne you want, to lubricate your afternoon of shopping, well, it’s certainly not a problem. A member of the staff needs only pick up a black phone hanging on the wall to secure a glass. Much to his credit, Mr. Okerstrom points out that the clients who use Room 4 are not just “royalty or visiting heads of state” but also ordinary people, who use it as a tool for doing business. Indeed, he said, the main draw is not luxury but convenience. “The time factor is enormously important,” he explained. “People walk into this room with an array of merchandise already spread out for them and simply make their choices — bing, bing, bing.” Then again, as everybody knows, time is also money, and even the most “ordinary” personal-shopping clients are likely to be standing on the happy side of the national stratification. It is a blind spot of the boutique trade to create false divisions among the comfortable, the rich and the extremely rich. The WiFi service, the lighted three-way mirrors, the zebra-patterned ottomans are elegant and value-adding appointments, but they were clearly not put there with a Brooklyn steamfitter or a factory hand from Michigan in mind. The question is: So what? Investment dressing, as those in the industry are often wont to call it, is surely not for everyone, but that is less a moral judgment than a simple fact of life. Consumers, unlike citizens, are not created equal (and, barring revolution, probably never will be). In Room 4, everything is possible — for some, and at a price. There are fruit plates, steaming pots of tea and doting attendants to help you order tuna rolls from Nobu 57 . But there is still no such thing as a free lunch.

Shopping and Retail
Bergdorf Goodman
Fashion and Apparel


British News Media Agree to More Powerful Regulator

Abstract: LONDON — The editors of Britain ’s principal national newspapers met Wednesday under pressure from Prime Minister David Cameron and agreed to the establishment of an independent newspaper regulator with far greater powers than those available to the existing watchdog. But the editors, meeting over breakfast at a London restaurant, steered a careful course, embracing most but not all of the measures recommended in a report last week by a high-ranking judge, Lord Justice Sir Brian Leveson. They rejected the judge’s most contentious proposal, for a new law that would put teeth into a state-sanctioned system of oversight. That placed the editors broadly in line with the approach taken by Mr. Cameron, who has courted political opprobrium, particularly on the left, by saying that writing any part of a new regulatory system into law would risk eroding 300 years of press freedom in Britain. Reacting to the Leveson report last Thursday, the prime minister warned that once such a law existed, politicians would be tempted to broaden it, and start the country down the road to state control of the press. Lord Justice Leveson led a nine-month inquiry into a scandal surrounding abusive and illegal newspaper practices, including hacking into private computers and voice mail and bribing police officers and other public officials to obtain confidential information — practices that appeared to have been rife in some newsrooms. The Leveson inquiry and the parallel investigations by the police have focused especially on two mass-circulation tabloids that anchored Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper empire in Britain, The Sun and The News of the World . The company shut down The News of the World in July 2011, at the height of the scandal. In effect, some analysts said, the editors’ agreement reflects the price that Britain’s famously freewheeling newspapers are now paying for the tabloid papers’ excesses. Though Britain has no formal equivalent of the First Amendment, its tabloid newspapers in particular have prided themselves on being the scourge of the establishment, of privilege and of claims to a right of privacy by celebrities and others in the news. That attitude could now be curbed, perhaps even radically, by a new regulatory body responding to the public outrage stirred by the recent scandals, these analysts said. The newspaper The Guardian reported on its Web site on Wednesday that the editors — including representatives of the sensationalist “red top” tabloids like The Sun, the country’s most lucrative daily — had endorsed 40 of the 47 principal recommendations made in Lord Justice Leveson’s 2,000-page report. They agreed to scrap the weak and widely discredited Press Complaints Commission, set up by newspaper barons 20 years ago, and replace it with a new body appointed from outside the newspaper industry and the government. It would have a much larger budget, a strong investigative staff, and the power to order errant newspapers to publish prominent apologies and pay fines up to £1 million, or $1.6 million, or 1 percent of a publication’s annual revenue, whichever is less. Effectively, subscribing to the new system would be compulsory, since failure to sign up would deny newspapers access to a new system for arbitrating libel suits that could be far cheaper than fighting suits in the courts. “We endorsed virtually all the report, barring the clauses that dealt with statutory underpinning,” one of the editors who attended Wednesday’s meeting said. He spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing an agreement among the roughly 20 editors not to comment individually on the record while details of a new system are being worked out. Newspapers represented at the meeting included broadsheets like The Guardian, The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and two Murdoch-owned titles, The Times and The Sunday Times; two weekly journals, The Spectator and The Economist; and mass-market tabloids like The Daily Mirror, The Daily Express and Mr. Murdoch’s Sun, with readerships in the millions. The editor who spoke said that the group voted clause by clause on the 47 Leveson recommendations in a 90-minute meeting marked by a sense of urgency because of the mounting political pressure for tougher measures to rein in the newspapers. “There was a feeling that if we were to avoid something nasty, we had to do something quickly,” he said. On the political left and center-left, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats are pressing for a statute that would put the newspapers on notice that they would defy the new system at their peril. With his own Conservative Party deeply split on the issue, Mr. Cameron told the editors at a meeting on Tuesday that they should endorse the principles behind the Leveson proposals, and that if they did not, they would “get a statute,” an editor who was present said. With the editors now in line, senior aides to Mr. Cameron have said they will try to defuse the situation with a more detailed blueprint for an oversight system that would be independent but not depend on statutory backing, perhaps with a senior judge to act as a referee on appointments to the new regulatory body and on contested findings. The editors’ action put newspapers with a combined daily and weekend circulation of more than eight million copies — said to be read by more than one-third of Britain’s population of 62 million — on record in favor of substantially toughening the system of self-regulation by the newspapers that has been in place since 1953. In its current form, set up in 1991 after an earlier threat of government regulation, a voluntary body passes judgment on accusations of wrongdoing by the newspapers that participate. But critics who testified before the Leveson inquiry, including victims of the tabloid excesses, said the commission has been too pliant, especially in dealing with rambunctious tabloids like The Sun, which have had little to fear from the commission’s reproaches.

Wiretapping and Other Eavesdropping Devices and Methods


Venezuelan Opposition Dispute Maduro Victory

Abstract: CARACAS, Venezuela — It hardly seemed like a victory celebration. Nicolás Maduro stepped onto a stage here Sunday night after being declared the winner by a narrow margin in the presidential election to replace his mentor,Hugo Chávez, but his supporters were already streaming away in droves. The long faces told the story. “It’s not the same coming here and not seeing Chávez,” said Octavio Fuentes, 35, a government worker, walking out early. “We won, but you can’t compare Maduro with Chávez.” Mr. Maduro was supposed to ride Mr. Chávez’s immense popularity and the wave of mourning over his death last month to a resounding victory that would ratify the leader’s idiosyncratic revolution. Instead he squeaked by, with 51 percent of the vote, compared with 49 percent for the opposition leader,Henrique Capriles Radonski, according to an updated vote count released by electoral authorities. They reported that Mr. Maduro had gotten about 262,000 more votes out of more than 14.8 million cast. The result is politics turned on its head in Venezuela, with an election winner who appears weakened and a loser who seems strengthened. Now, the country seems headed toward a high stakes political showdown. The Electoral Council, which has a majority of government loyalists, certified the voting results on Monday even though Mr. Capriles, claiming he is the winner, had asked for a recount. as did the Organization for American States, through its secretary general, José Mighel Insulza. In Washington, a State Department spokesman, Patrick Ventrell, said a recount was “an important, prudent and necessary step to ensure that all Venezuelans have confidence in these results.” Image Members of the opposition protesting the results of the presidential election. Many demanded a recount. Credit Meridith Kohut for The New York Times Denied the recount, Mr. Capriles called on his supporters to protest. As the Electoral Council head, Tibisay Lucena, read the official certification, hundreds of demonstrators, most of them young people, faced off with National Guard troops in Altamira, a middle-class section of Caracas that is an opposition bastion. They burned rubbish and blocked a highway, as National Guard soldiers fired tear gas and anti-riot projectiles. Some in the growing crowd demanded a recount. Others chanted, “Fraud! Fraud!” And as Mr. Maduro gave a speech broadcast nationally on television and radio, opponents in cities around the country banged pots and pans and honked car horns in a traditional sign of protest. At a news conference, Mr. Capriles said, “We believe we won the election,” although he provided no evidence. Referring to Mr. Maduro, he said, “If you go, in a cowardly way, to be certified today, you are an illegitimate president, and I say it to Venezuela and the world.” Government officials quickly fired back. “We ratify to the world that yesterday there was a winner in Venezuela,” Foreign Minister Elías Jaua said in a televised news conference. “It was Nicolás Maduro.” The powerful National Assembly president, Diosdado Cabello, on Monday rejected the possibility of a recount. “We won, and we will insist it be respected,” he said. Ms. Lucena also appeared to discourage a recount, defending the country’s digital voting system as bulletproof. Digital voting machines in Venezuela print out a paper voucher that records each voter’s choice. Voters then deposit the voucher in a sealed cardboard box. When voting is finished, boxes in 54 percent of precincts are opened and the votes recorded on the vouchers are counted to verify the digital count. Mr. Capriles is asking for a full recount of all vouchers and also insisted that the vouchers be checked against notebooks showing how many people voted at each precinct. Video Supporters of the newly elected Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, celebrated on the streets of Caracas, while the opposition engaged in energetic protests, with many demanding a recount. In his remarks after the election certification Mr. Maduro accused the opposition of trying to provoke violence. The election results were particularly striking compared with the election in October, in which Mr. Capriles faced off against Mr. Chávez, and the ailing incumbent won by 11 percentage points. Now Mr. Maduro’s relatively poor showing, even in victory, has made him vulnerable, exposing him to pressures from the opposition and, ultimately, from competing interests within Mr. Chávez’s movement. “He’s a weakened president,” said Vladimir Villegas, a former ambassador in Mr. Chávez’s government. “He was on the brink of a defeat that would have been terrible for Chavismo.” Mr. Maduro ran on his pledge to carry out Mr. Chávez’s instructions to the letter, calling himself “the son of Chávez.” But he turned out to be a poor campaigner, struggling to connect with audiences. Comparisons with his charismatic former boss were clear and unfavorable, and he squandered what had appeared to have been a large lead. The roots of Mr. Maduro’s weak candidacy lay in part in Mr. Chávez’s form of governing, which built a cult of personality that glorified a leader who made all major decisions. Mr. Chávez never allowed other leaders in his movement to develop, perhaps out of fear that they might turn into competitors. Mr. Chávez’s foreign minister for six years, Mr. Maduro was named vice president last October and became interim president after Mr. Chávez, who had cancer, died on March 5. “The problem is you have a governance model that’s based on one-man rule and nobody else makes the decisions,” said Michael Shifter, president of Inter-American Dialogue, a policy group in Washington. “And then he dies and you have someone who is completely out of practice and has no political skills at all.”

Venezuela
Election
Nicolas Maduro
Henrique Capriles Radonski
Hugo Chavez


Lannan Signs With Mets

Abstract: John Lannan agreed to a minor league contract with the Mets and is expected to compete for the fifth starter’s job at spring training. Lannan, 29, was 3-6 with a 5.33 earned run average for Philadelphia last year.


Once an Internet Giant, InfoSpace Dismantles Itself

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO — A couple of weeks ago, the handful of people who were still trying to use InfoSpace.com to look up phone numbers and addresses started finding themselves on the homepage of SuperPages, the business-listings site owned by a Verizon spinoff. Anyone who took note of this might remember that InfoSpace was once an Internet juggernaut, worth $31 billion back in March 2000. Supporters said at the time that it was poised to dominate the market for local online advertising. Today, the company’s share of the search industry does not even reach 1 percent, and its name joins the scrap heap of once-formidable Internet brands, like AltaVista, that did not make it through. InfoSpace is still around, although it is gradually dismantling itself, according to analysts who still watch the company. Late last year, it sold off its directory businesses — including Switchboard.com — for $225 million to Idearc, a spinoff of Verizon. It had bought the unit for $108 million in 2004. At around the same time, it sold its mobile-applications businesses to Motricity, a vendor of content for mobile devices, for $135 million. The company has given shareholders $500 million in dividends since May 2007. InfoSpace says it is now focused on its “metasearch” services, which include Dogpile, MetaCrawler and WebCrawler. Those services combine results from other search engines, like Google, Yahoo and Ask.com . Jim Voelker, InfoSpace’s chief executive, does not pretend that InfoSpace can compete directly with the likes of Google. And yet, advertising sales rose 18 percent in the first quarter. “Users who use us, love us,” he said. “The problem is there are not enough users.” He said the company was stepping up its marketing efforts to bring in more traffic. He also said the metasearch niche was a “very profitable business,” but when InfoSpace reported a net profit for 2007, the sale of assets made the difference. On an operating basis, the company lost money in 2007. Still, a well-managed search site can thrive, he said, because it is “scalable” and does not require much capital investment. Comparing InfoSpace to Google, Mr. Voelker said, “is like saying the little latte shop on the corner shouldn’t try to compete with Starbucks.” Selling off the directory business “was a great decision,” said Kevin Ryan, the global content director for Search Engine Watch. Verizon ’s SuperPages and AT&T ’s Yellow Pages dominate the market for paid business listings, and Web users are increasingly using Google and other search engines to find businesses online. “The old idea that you had to be in a yellow book is going away,” Mr. Voelker said. As part of its deal with Verizon, the Idearc unit will use the infospace.com domain for 18 months and then return it to InfoSpace. Only 5 percent of InfoSpace’s directory traffic came from infospace.com itself. The remainder was from Switchboard.com, suggesting that SuperPages is unlikely to get much of a boost from the InfoSpace name over the next 18 months.

InfoSpace Incorporated
Company Reports
Computers and the Internet
Verizon Communications
Telephones and Telecommunications


A Haven for New York Relics Saved From the Trash Heap. In Connecticut.

Abstract: IVORYTON, Conn. — If New York had an attic, it could well be the sprawling complex of old brick buildings on Main Street in this sleepy village, a two-hour drive northeast of the city. There is no sign to indicate that inside this former piano-key factory is one of the largest collections of architectural artifacts salvaged from city buildings. “It’s the sixth borough,” joked the owner, Evan Blum, 59, who has spent four decades as a collector and dealer of architectural remnants. Mr. Blum has been filling the buildings over the past few years with newly rescued items as well as overflow from an inventory acquired over the decades. Inside is a sea of ornamental fixtures and furnishings that have been pulled from buildings being demolished or renovated — and most of it is for sale . There are a pair of carved oak transoms that once hung over the main entrance to the first Helen Hayes Theater, on West 46th Street in Manhattan. Cost: $14,000 each, including restoration. For $15,000, you can pick up a carved oak fireplace reclaimed from John D. Rockefeller’s estate in Lakewood Township, N.J. For another $15,000, you could buy a bank of seven phone booths from the Roseland Ballroom, which closed in 2014. Image Mr. Blum’s collection comprises tens of thousands of items, from small fixtures to whole facades. Credit Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times There is the centuries-old carved oak paneling that once adorned a room in Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s mansion on Fifth Avenue (price tag: $75,000). In a city that is constantly evolving, the business of architectural salvaging is well established , and perhaps no one in the field is better known than Mr. Blum. His eclectic showroom at Demolition Depot & Irreplaceable Artifacts on East 125th Street in Harlem is popular among collectors and designers. The showroom is vast, but contains only a tiny percentage of the immense stock that Mr. Blum keeps mostly in Connecticut, which few people, even many of his most devoted clients, have seen. The motherlode lies in a complex of seven large buildings that Mr. Blum bought several years ago for its 15 acres of indoor floor space. He says his is the largest private collection of architectural ornaments in the country, and it is growing faster than ever, as New York City’s construction boom yields more artifacts than he can save. “They’re taking down and gutting buildings faster than we can keep up with right now,” he said. “I have 25 churches to do before the end of the year.” The sheer quantity is staggering — tens of thousands of artifacts, from windows, doors, toilets, tubs and light fixtures to entire saloon bars, building facades and paneled room interiors. Mr. Blum has about 65 of these interiors, some of which are set up in the huge storage areas like museum exhibits, including a paneled room from an apartment on West 12th Street where the publisher Malcolm Forbes once lived. Then there are the nearly 500 ornate fireplaces, many of them from prominent Manhattan mansions. There is a rare French marble fireplace from the New Canaan, Conn., home of Huguette Clark , the reclusive heiress who died in 2011, and another from Ms. Whitney’s mansion in Manhattan. Image A carved oak transom that once hung over the first Helen Hayes Theater, on 46th Street in Manhattan. Credit Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times “I got 90 of these out of the Plaza,” Mr. Blum said, pointing out marble fireplaces taken from the Plaza Hotel. Their details were highlighted with gold paint, which he described as being “Ivana-ized,” a reference to Ivana Trump, who helped run the hotel in the late 1980s, when her husband at the time, Donald J. Trump, owned it. Prices for the fireplaces range from $6,500 to $19,500, depending on size and type, he said. Other fireplaces have severely distressed finishes and cracked paint, a look that attracts some of the high-end designers who are Mr. Blum’s clients. He said he had pulled about 30 of the fireplaces from a hotel on Houston Street that had been boarded up for decades. Nearby were some old panes of Tudor-style stained glass recovered from a penthouse on 57th Street where the actor Errol Flynn once lived. They would soon be installed in a P. J. Clarke’s restaurant set to open in Philadelphia, said Mr. Blum, who offers design services for restaurants, hotels and other spaces that incorporate his pieces. He paused at the transom from the Helen Hayes Theater, which was torn down in 1982 despite heated opposition from preservationists. He said that back then he had been hired by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to dismantle the theater and put the artifacts into the agency’s salvage collection program. When the program folded, he said, he bought much of the inventory, including the theater transoms. Some preservationists have criticized Mr. Blum and other salvagers, arguing that selling reclaimed artifacts induces developers to sell original elements of buildings and creates a vibrant market for items that might be better placed in museums. But Mr. Blum said he acquired pieces only when buildings were being torn down. Typically, he makes agreements with companies that gut or demolish buildings, he said, sometimes for a fee. “I hate to see a building come down, but I don’t have the authority to stop it,” he said. “So I pick up the pieces and save what I can from going to the landfill.” Image The collection is stored on roughly 15 acres of indoor space in a seven-building complex that was formerly a piano-key factory. Credit Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times “By background, I’m a preservationist,” he added. “I don’t loot — I don’t need to.” In one of his storage buildings, he pointed out the front and back bars from Gino’s, a restaurant that had been a fixture of Lexington Avenue until it closed in 2010. Elsewhere were the reception counter and several display cases from the 21 Club , as well as a vast expanse of bathroom furnishings that he said was merely one-twentieth of his reserve of such materials. “I have the largest collection of vintage plumbing in the world,” he said. Moving on, he came upon the phone booths from the Roseland Ballroom, covered with rock band stickers and graffiti. Mr. Blum recalled one of his workers asking if they should be stripped clean. “I said, ‘No, don’t touch it — that’s the best part of it,’” he recounted. On the grass outside the old factory buildings were entire building fronts that had been removed piece by piece. There was the terra cotta facade from the Savoy Theater on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, and, next to a stream, the disassembled facade from the old RKO Jefferson Theater that once stood on East 14th Street in Manhattan, he said. Mr. Blum owned a Manhattan showroom on Second Avenue and Houston Street, which became mired in controversy in 2000 after a partial collapse . The authorities attributed the collapse to dubious construction and later charged him with negligence. Mr. Blum denied the charges. He said they were retaliation for a lawsuit he had filed against the city for barring him from the property after the collapse, which he said facilitated the theft of artifacts by a city employee. The building was eventually knocked down, and while Mr. Blum was acquitted of the most serious charges, he was convicted of a misdemeanor count of reckless endangerment. Over the years, Mr. Blum said, he has held onto the property and turned down lucrative offers from developers because he plans to build a museum for architectural art and preservation with educational programs. “It’s going to be one giant mosaic of a lot of pieces I’ve saved over the years,” he said, adding that the size of the Ivoryton buildings had allowed him to spread out his collection and take stock of it as he develops his museum design. “It’s about leaving a legacy behind and creating a public awareness about our architectural history and culture, and preserving what we can before it gets eradicated,” Mr. Blum said. Referring to how the extraordinary pace of development in New York City is accelerating the demise of older buildings, he added: “We’re losing it by the boatloads. I wish I had more staff and more warehouse space.”

Evan Blum
Ivoryton CT
NYC
Architecture
Collecting


Bondholders Propose an Alternative to G.M.’s Plan

Abstract: A committee representing bondholders of General Motors has proposed an alternative plan to restructure the automaker, in which the bondholders, not the government, would be in the driver’s seat. Under the proposal released Thursday, G.M. ’s bondholders would receive 58 percent of the restructured company in exchange for tearing up their $27 billion in unsecured G.M. bonds. The United Automobile Workers, through an entity known as a VEBA, which holds workers’ health care obligations, would get about 41 percent to offset the $20 billion G.M. owes the union. Current shareholders would receive 1 percent. The government, which has given G.M. $15.4 billion in emergency loans, would receive no equity under the bondholders’ plan. Instead, it would remain a secured creditor of the reorganized company. “This is certainly fairer in terms of how the equity is split,” Shelly Lombard, a bond analyst with the firm Gimme Credit, said. “It sounds like the union gets its entire claim exchanged into equity, and that’s a bigger risk than the last plan.” G.M. is hoping to avoid a bankruptcy filing by reaching an agreement for an out-of-court restructuring before a June 1 deadline imposed by Washington. Under the proposal that G.M. made this week, bondholders would get 10 percent of the company for their unsecured debt, while the government would receive 50 percent in exchange for forgiving at least half of G.M.’s outstanding Treasury debt by June 1, which G.M. estimates would be about $10 billion. The VEBA would get 39 percent of the equity for giving up $10 billion of the $20 billion G.M. owes it, while current shareholders would get 1 percent. The bondholder committee quickly rejected G.M.’s proposal, calling it “a blatant disregard of fairness.” The committee said its counterproposal would save taxpayers $10 billion because the government would not be exchanging debt for new G.M. equity. The plan would put the burden on the VEBA instead, by forcing it to give up all its future claims in exchange for stock, which is barred under rules set up between the VEBA and G.M. “We do not believe that nationalizing one of America’s largest and most important companies is the right policy decision for our country,” Eric Siegert of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, a financial adviser to the bondholders, said in a statement announcing the counterproposal. G.M. refused to comment specifically on the bondholders’ counterproposal and said through a spokesman that it was “proceeding with the tender and consent solicitations as outlined in the prospectus.”

General Motors Corp
Automobiles
United States Economy


Jets’ Kris Jenkins Vows to Soldier On

Abstract: Days after knee surgery, Kris Jenkins stopped three times because of a rapidly deflating tire on the drive from New Jersey to Washington to see his agent. Imagine a 6-foot-4-inch, 360-ish-pound nose tackle on crutches, fiddling with an air hose next to his BMW. Onlookers stared, or laughed, and on some level even Jenkins recognized the scene’s hilarity. It symbolized the crossroads at which he found himself, attempting another comeback , with one foot in the future (broadcasting) and another in the present (with the Jets ), the timeline tied to a bum tire. “Go ahead and laugh,” Jenkins said as he recalled the incident. Over the past month, Jenkins offered a window into his thoughts leading to his decision to return to football after sustaining another serious injury. In the moments before his fourth major operation, he spoke candidly about the anxiety he felt, and he promised to end his career on a typically dramatic note. At the hospital, the Jets’ headquarters in Florham Park, N.J., and a Manhattan hotel suite, Jenkins, 31, exhibited a range of emotions: nervous, excited, bored, energized, certain, reflective, stubborn. “However you look at it, my career is winding down,” he said. “I’m not the young man anymore. And I’m fine with that. I want to see what I can do as an old man out there.” Shortly before dawn on Sept. 29, Jenkins underwent his third operation to repair an anterior cruciate ligament, the second on his left leg in 11 months. Wherever Jenkins went at the Morristown Surgical Center in New Jersey, doctors and nurses reminded him of his frequent visits, sometimes inadvertently. They repeatedly recalled the previous year’s experience — same knee, same surgery, same staff. One nurse turned to his wife , Tashia. “You poor thing,” she said. “You’re here again.” As Tashia recorded video of the scene before surgery, Jenkins appeared nervous on the bed. He wore a hospital-issued gown and slippers, and a shower cap that drew laughter from Tashia. A nurse shaved his left leg. At one point, Jenkins told Tashia, “For five seconds now, I just thought in my head, why do I play football in the first place?” But he never lost his sense of humor. When the anesthesiologist asked Jenkins if he had any questions, he did not hesitate: “Where’s the nearest Popeyes ?” Nearly five hours later, doctors found Tashia in the waiting room, where she was doing online research about Halloween costumes for their two children. The doctors said that the torn meniscus in the left knee had started healing and that the operation had gone perfectly. If Jenkins wanted to try a football comeback, nothing from that morning would discourage it. While he spent the next week resting, Jenkins felt like LeBron James because the decision consumed his life. He considered his family, and how Tashia had delayed her dream of attending cosmetology school. He noted how Coach Rex Ryan had restored his childlike joy for playing football. He thought about all the decisions he had made for others, and he chose to make this one for himself. “I’m coming back,” Jenkins said a week after surgery, announcing his intention in a conference room at Jets headquarters before telling Tashia or the team. “I have to. Because it’s my choice. I’m coming back to play. No other reason.” From that moment, Jenkins insisted he never doubted himself. He repeatedly said he cared little what others thought. He acknowledged his salary for next season — a shade under $5 million — could be prohibitive, but said he would consider restructuring his contract, or playing elsewhere. For Jenkins, this comeback was not about money or accolades. It was about defining his legacy, leaving on his terms. “I don’t think he’s through playing,” Ryan said. “I really don’t. If he says it, and he believes it, he’ll go out and do it. I’m not betting against him.” Jenkins was injured six defensive plays into this season, allowing more time for recovery. Most weekdays, he works on range of motion, strengthening muscles and maintaining his upper body at the Jets’ facility. In the basement of his home in West Orange, N.J., the Jets set up rehabilitation equipment. Jenkins added a PlayStation and transformed that space into a man cave. He decided his leg felt stronger than it did after surgery last year, a result of using a patella tendon, instead of part of a hamstring, to repair the knee . While reflecting, Jenkins decided to wear a knee brace when he next steps onto the field. He did not last season, Jenkins said, because he was stubborn, because he did not want to use the brace as a crutch. He said that he entered training camp with his left knee only 70 percent healthy, and that not wearing the brace could have contributed to the injury. “I misfired some with last year’s rehab process,” Jenkins said. “I’m not 24 anymore, and I just assumed that I could do things the way I did when I was in Carolina. That wasn’t the case.” Soon after September’s operation, Jenkins spent most days bored, resting. Tashia had to adjust to his constant presence around the house. They fought more than usual until Jenkins filled his schedule. He went to ESPN and conducted a series of interviews the network calls a car wash. He solicited broadcasting advice from producers in preparation for his next career. (They told him to read more and to work on his camera presence.) Jenkins also spent more time in the locker room around his teammates. He resumed working with his favorite charity in Washington and started searching for a charity in New Jersey. He took Tashia into Manhattan for two getaway weekends. The Jets, meanwhile, embarked on a 5-1 start, good for a share of the N.F.L.’s best record. Jenkins said that watching them had been “a little traumatic,” but that the solid play of his replacements (Mike DeVito and Sione Pouha) raised his spirits. “I’m a 31-year-old man,” Jenkins said. “Am I supposed to sit in the house and pout? No. If I have some animosity in my heart, I need to go the gym, work on my marriage, hang with my kids. I need to get it out through motivation.”

Jenkins Kris
New York Jets
Sports Injuries
Football


Ethics of Sexting and Hacking Debated by Teenagers

Abstract: Some of the cases debated on Saturday at the Long Island High School Ethics Bowl: Experimental Parenting: A group of scientists admitted to using their children in studies of human brain development. Some subjected the children to M.R.I. tests; others conducted extensive verbal exams. In some cases, the child’s nonscientist parent signed a consent form. Were these experiments conducted ethically? Should children ever be the subjects of scientific experiments? Sexting: A recent survey indicated that one in five teenagers had used cellphones to send nude or sexually provocative photos of themselves to friends. In one case, a girl committed suicide after a former boyfriend circulated photos of her. Some prosecutors have brought obscenity or pornography charges against teenagers who engage in so-called sexting, but civil libertarians argue that the practice is protected speech. Should possessing nude photos of minors be treated as possessing child pornography? Is sexting immoral? Hacking for Clues: Fred, a student in computer science, committed suicide. His sister, who was appointed executor of his estate, asked her boyfriend, Hal, who also studied computers, if he could look at the personal files on Fred’s computer for evidence of what might have made him take his life. What should Hal do? And if Hal came upon information that would be painful to Fred’s survivors — whether or not it had any bearing on the suicide — should he edit his findings?

Ethics
Long Island (NY)
Text Messaging
Hackers (Computers)
Education (K-12)


ESPN Apologizes for Slur Used in Headline on Lin

Abstract: ESPN apologized for the use of an ethnic slur early Saturday in reference to Jeremy Lin after the Knicks ’ loss to the New Orleans Hornets the night before. The slur was in a phrase that was part of a headline on ESPN.com ’s mobile Web site that went on to say, “Jeremy Lin’s 9 turnovers cost Knicks in streak-snapping loss to Hornets.” It appeared from 2:30 to 3:05 a.m. before being removed. The phrase had two meanings, one of them an ethnic slur. Lin is of Chinese descent; his parents grew up in Taiwan. In its statement, ESPN said: “We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize for this mistake.” Rob King, ESPN’s senior vice president for editorial, print and digital media, said on Twitter: “There’s no defense for the indefensible. All we can offer are our apologies, sincere though incalculably inadequate.” The same offensive phrase was used on ESPNews on Wednesday night when an anchor, Max Bretos, was interviewing Walt Frazier, the Knicks’ analyst on the MSG Network. An on-air statement delivered by Jorge Andres, another ESPN anchor, said an “anchor used an inappropriate word in asking a question about Jeremy Lin.” The statement continued: “ESPN apologizes for the incident and is taking steps to avoid this in the future.” The ESPN incidents occurred about a week after Jason Whitlock, a columnist for Fox Sports, apologized for a post on Twitter that used an Asian-American stereotype to refer to Lin after he scored 38 points in a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Asian American Journalists Association called what Whitlock wrote “inappropriate on so many levels,” and not up to the standards of Fox Sports. It demanded an apology. Whitlock said the post “overshadowed my sincere celebration of Lin’s performance.” He agreed with the journalists’ group that he had “debased a feel-good sports moment,” and added, “For that I’m truly sorry.” In its first comment, Fox Sports said that Whitlock’s tweet about Lin “was inappropriate, insensitive and showed extremely poor judgment. Jason quickly realized how hurtful words, even those meant in jest, can be and issued a sincere apology, admitting he had given in to his ‘immature’ and ‘sophomoric’ nature. We’re confident that he’s learned from this experience and is applying his new-found understanding to his life and work.”

Lin Jeremy
Basketball
ESPN
New York Knicks
Chinese-Americans
New Orleans Hornets


Phyllis Schlafly’s Lasting Legacy in Defeating the E.R.A.

Abstract: The passage of time had in no way eroded life’s certitudes for Phyllis Schlafly. “It was a tremendous victory,” she said in May about her greatest triumph, stopping the Equal Rights Amendment in its tracks four decades ago. “And, of course,” she added, “we assumed that God was on our side.” Mrs. Schlafly — no Ms. for her, thank you — died last week at 92 , remembered as a guiding spirit of an unyielding conservatism that brooked no tolerance for abortion or for a constitutional amendment that, to her mind, would have inflicted untold harm on women and on the American family. Four months before her death, physically frail but mentally keen, she reflected on the legacy of her crusade in an interview with Retro Report , a series of video documentaries that explore major news stories of the past and how they continue to shape the national dialogue. In this first episode of a new season, she left no doubt that her opinion of the proposed amendment had not changed since she first focused on it in the early 1970s: “Well, this is absolutely crazy.” Enough time has gone by that many Americans may have but a dim memory of the fierce battle that once raged over the E.R.A., whose roots went as far back as 1923. Its key passage seemed straightforward enough: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” In 1972, it was sailing toward enshrinement in the Constitution, passed overwhelmingly by both houses of Congress. States legislatures then practically tripped over themselves in their dash to ratify it. By the end of 1972, 22 states had signed on. By late March 1973, the number had risen to 30, only eight short of the required three-fourths majority. In that environment, Mrs. Schlafly stepped up — a self-described housewife commanding a network of like-minded conservatives and possessing an unfailing assurance in her righteousness. “I think she’s probably the best political organizer we’ve seen in American history,” Rick Perlstein, an author who has chronicled the American right, told Retro Report. Vigorously, she mobilized her forces to block what had seemed a sure thing. In short order, state approvals of the E.R.A. slowed, peaking at 35 in January 1977. Several legislatures even rescinded their endorsements. In 1982, despite an extension of the deadline, the clock ran out and the amendment died . The “anti” arguments ran along various tracks, including a contention by some that the E.R.A. was not needed, given that the 14th Amendment already forbade any state to “deny to any person within its jurisdiction” — including women, presumably — “the equal protection of the laws.” Mrs. Schlafly preferred frontal assaults. She ominously warned of an America where husbands would no longer be required to support their wives, where anyone could walk into any public bathroom, where women would join men on the front lines of war, where gay men and women would be given “the same dignity as husbands and wives.” Had she been French, she might well have proclaimed: Vive la différence! “We do expect men to protect us,” she told Retro Report. “You know, it’s kind of like if you’re asleep with your husband and you hear a noise in the middle of the night. I don’t expect my husband to say, ‘Honey, you go on downstairs and find out what that noise is.’ I expect him to go down and protect me. That’s men’s job.” But even though Mrs. Schlafly prevailed on the E.R.A., she failed in the long run on many levels. Much of what she recoiled from has come to pass: Abortion rights are intact, albeit under siege in some jurisdictions. Same-sex marriage as a right has the Supreme Court’s blessing. Unisex bathrooms are a broadly accepted fact of life, notwithstanding struggles over transgender rights. And women today not only fill the ranks of the military but are also eligible for combat duty — not that Ms. Schlafly ever approved. “If you know what military combat is, it’s not a job for women,” she said in May. To Mr. Perlstein, “The anti-E.R.A. side won this particular battle, but I don’t think anyone would doubt who won the war.” He added, “Women take it as a matter of course that there’s more to life than being someone’s wife.” That point is reinforced in many ways. More than ever, albeit not proportionate to their share of the population, women are chief executives and hold major public offices. Their numbers in Congress are at an all-time high — 20 senators and 84 representatives. A woman, for the first time, stands a good chance of being elected president in November (even if Mrs. Schlafly endorsed her male opponent). Still, the gender gap is self-evident. Female representation on Capitol Hill, about 20 percent, hardly reflects the overall population. Gender pay equality , while widely recognized as a societal duty, remains elusive. Nationwide, women on average earn 79 cents on the dollar compared with men, and if anything, narrowing the divide has stalled in recent years, according to studies by the American Association of University Women . Reproductive rights are a matter far from settled in some states, like Texas. As for the E.R.A., ardent supporters never lost faith in the possibility of resurrection. Attempts to revive it over the years, both in Congress and some state legislatures, have plainly not succeeded, but groups like the ERA Coalition keep pushing. Some strategists propose restarting the process from scratch. Others seek legislation that in effect goes back to the future — to a status quo ante where the 35 state ratifications remain valid, only this time with no imposed deadline for rounding up the required three additional approvals. Predictably, Mrs. Schlafly viewed all this with a jaundiced eye. As far as she was concerned, female feminists were nothing but sourpusses. More than once in the Retro Report interview, she dismissed them as “disgruntled, unhappy women.” “I think American women are the most fortunate people on the face of the earth,” she said. “We don’t need any legislation to say any more than that.”

Phyllis Schlafly
Equal Rights Amendment
US Politics
Women's rights,Feminism
Abortion
Conservatism in the United States


In Iraq, Early Vote Is Marred by Attacks

Abstract: BAGHDAD — Iraq opened its polls early on Thursday for hundreds of thousands of soldiers and police officers responsible for protecting the country’s electorate, and they came under assault themselves. In all, three attacks in Baghdad, two in Mosul and another in Diyala struck near polling stations where Iraqi forces mustered to vote, a potentially ominous foreshadowing of the violence extremists have vowed to carry out in an effort to mar Sunday’s pivotal election of a new Parliament. There were other problems that could also undermine the elections and their legitimacy in the eyes of Iraqis and the world. Despite months of preparations by election officials and the United Nations, irregularities were reported at polling stations across the country, with thousands of names of soldiers and police officers missing from voter rolls. “This is an attack on our freedom to vote,” one police officer in Falluja said, failing to find his name on the lists of eligible voters. “Is this how the police are rewarded for their sacrifices?” The first day of voting, widely viewed as a measure of Iraq’s still uncertain transition from dictatorship to democracy after the American invasion seven years ago, was one of jarring contrasts. Soldiers in one part of Baghdad joyously waved their weapons and purple-stained fingers after casting their ballots, while only a few miles away, their colleagues picked through debris and bits of flesh in the gruesome aftermath of a suicide attack that struck a truckload of 27 soldiers who had just voted. At least a dozen people were killed across Baghdad — seven of them soldiers — and scores more were wounded, according to official counts that soldiers and police officers on the scene suggested understated the actual toll. Compared with the nihilistic bloodshed of the darkest years of the conflict here, and some of the large-scale attacks that Iraq has witnessed in recent months, the violence was small in scale. But with the American military largely operating in the background, it underscored the country’s precariousness ahead of the vote. In Diyala, a volatile province northeast of Baghdad, fliers and CDs scattered in the streets threatened to kill anyone who voted. The government has undertaken overwhelming security precautions, with months of planning and training with American military advisers. Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who faces a fierce contest to win a second term, declared a holiday from Thursday to Sunday, allowing security forces to vote early so they would be mobilized in force on election day. Far from experiencing a holiday atmosphere, though, much of the country felt under siege. Iraqis prepared for the election the way that Americans do when battening down for a hurricane. Residents cleared shops of meat, potatoes and other groceries, as prices soared. The usual congestion of traffic dissipated as a dust storm darkened the city at midday, creating a sense of gloom rather than celebration. In Baghdad and other cities, soldiers filled the streets near polling stations, as did scores of armored vehicles. Iraqi and American officials have braced themselves for violence, imposing strict controls on pedestrian and vehicular traffic and cordoning off entire streets and neighborhoods. Thursday’s attacks made it clear there were still gaps in security. Metal detectors stood sentry beside blast walls outside the polling stations — most of them schools — and yet at at least half a dozen sites, they were unplugged, effectively useless. One officer claimed that the one near him was solar powered, while another said that it was safer to pat down voters by hand than to rely on machines. While the government opened a handful of polling centers to the news media on Thursday, they tried to bar correspondents and photographers from the site of the attacks, seemingly to avoid having the image of the day be bloodshed. At the scene of a suicide attack in the once upscale neighborhood of Mansour, the carnage suggested that the death toll was far higher than three killed, as the government’s official account had it. As a truck overfilled with 27 soldiers, waving and cheering, left the polling station, a suicide bomber approached on foot and blew himself up, according to a policeman at the scene. The force of the blast shattered shop windows on either side of the street and scattered debris and charred body parts. Two empty shoes lay on the ground alongside blood and shards of glass. An improvised bomb struck another school in Baghdad that is scheduled to be a polling station on Sunday but was not open for early voting. At least five people were killed and two dozen were wounded. In the northern city of Mosul, two bombs exploded at empty polling stations, without causing injuries, while another damaged the home of a candidate in an electoral alliance challenging Mr. Maliki’s. The security forces appeared to have thwarted some attacks. In Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar, the police stopped a truck heavy with explosives on a bridge over the Euphrates. The driver tried to detonate his bomb, but the charge only fizzled in the truck’s cab. He fled by jumping into the river, according to local security officials. The police also stopped a second tanker truck rigged with explosives in the city, killing its driver and defusing its bomb. The early voting involved nearly one million security officers and other voters, including prisoners and patients in hospitals. It amounted to a dress rehearsal for Sunday. Election officials said they would not announce any results before the full vote on Sunday. One effect of the years of violence in Iraq has been to create a sense of resilience and sometimes even defiance. “The last two or three months we’ve been receiving warnings about violence around the elections,” a senior federal police commander said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of orders from the Ministry of the Interior. “And we know that even after the elections, until they form a government, we have to worry about attacks.” He received a text message on his telephone about the day’s first bombing, and then vowed not to let violence disrupt the elections. “Even if they hit a polling station somewhere,” he said, shortly before two suicide bombers did just that, “we will have it open within 30 minutes and people will continue to vote.” Thursday’s violence came a day after a large, coordinated wave of attacks killed at least 31 people in Baquba, the capital of Diyala. The morning after a group of police officers at one polling station began to dance elatedly: several of them had survived a suicide attack on the city’s hospital. “They promised each other to dance in front of every one of the polling stations,” Ibrahim Said, a colleague, said as he watched.


Six-Run 11th Lifts Orioles in Washington

Abstract: Chris Davis broke a lengthy slump with a tiebreaking homer in the 11th inning, part of a six-run uprising that carried the Baltimore Orioles past the host Washington Nationals, 8-2, on Monday night. Manny Machado had a career-high five hits, including a homer in the 11th, and Nelson Cruz hit his 28th home run to help the American League East-leading Orioles to their seventh win in eight games. Anthony Rendon homered for the Nationals, who lost for only the second time in nine games. After Cruz led off the 11th with a broken-bat single off Craig Stammen, Davis worked the count full before launching a drive into the center-field seats after having gone 2 for 38. J. J. Hardy followed with a solo shot, Nick Markakis had a double, and Machado added a two-run drive off Aaron Barrett. T. J. Macfarland worked two scoreless innings for the win. ROYALS 6, RAYS 0 Kansas City’s James Shields sparkled in his return to Tropicana Field, limiting Tampa Bay to three hits and striking out 10 over seven innings, and the Royals beat his former team. Shields spent his first seven seasons with the Rays before being dealt to the Royals in December 2012 as part of a seven-player trade in which Kansas City sent to Tampa Bay the 2013 A.L. rookie of the year, Wil Myers, and another top young prospect. REDS 9, CUBS 3 Jay Bruce played first base for the first time since high school and committed an error that let in a run but later homered to help host Cincinnati rally for a win over Chicago in the opener of a five-game series. Image Alex Gordon singled in the third inning of the Kansas City’s 6-0 win at Tropicana Field. Credit Brian Blanco/Getty Images Billy Hamilton drove in a career-high four runs with a single and a bases-loaded triple. The Reds have won 11 of their past 16 games despite getting little production from the injured first baseman Joey Votto, who had another test on his troublesome left thigh on Monday. The Reds were awaiting results before deciding whether to put him back on the disabled list. Mike Leake gave up a two-run homer by Anthony Rizzo and an unearned run off Bruce’s error during seven innings. Leake is 8-2 in his career against Chicago, including 4-0 in his past four starts with a 1.71 earned run average. WHITE SOX 4, RED SOX 0 Scott Carroll pitched six and two-thirds innings of one-hit ball, and Dayan Viciedo hit a three-run homer to lead visiting Chicago over Boston. Making the eighth start of his career, Carroll walked two and struck out five while shutting down the defending World Series champions. Adam Dunn hit a solo homer in the second inning and doubled and scored on Viciedo’s home run in the fourth. Clay Buchholz allowed four runs on five hits and a walk, and struck out seven in seven innings. The Red Sox have lost six of seven and 12 of 17 to fall into last place in the A.L. East. METS PROSPECTS ARRESTED The Mets minor league outfielders Wuilmer Becerra and Vicente Lupo are facing drag racing charges. Becerra and Lupo play in Tennessee for the Kingsport Mets of the rookie-level Appalachian League. The Kingsport police said they stopped the players going over 100 miles per hour just after midnight Friday morning. Both players said they were from Venezuela, and neither carried a United States driver’s license, the police said. Jay Horwitz, a Mets spokesman, said the team was aware of the situation but declined to say more. General Manager Brian Paupeck of the Kingsport Mets confirmed Monday that the two people arrested were Becerra and Lupo. According to Kingsport’s roster, Becerra is 19 and Lupo is 20.

Baseball
Washington Nationals
Orioles
James Shields
Tampa Bay Rays
Kansas City Royals
MLB
Chris Davis


The Path to a Sentence for Dennis Hastert

Abstract: On Wednesday, a federal judge will sentence J. Dennis Hastert , the former speaker of the House, for avoiding federal banking requirements in what prosecutors say was an effort to cover up his sexual abuse of high school wrestlers decades ago when he was a coach. He pleaded guilty in October to the banking violation, which can carry as much as five years in prison. Mr. Hastert, 74, suffered a stroke in November; his lawyers are seeking probation. There is a trail of documents leading to the sentencing hearing: 1. A Plea Agreement Is Reached Under a plea agreement Mr. Hastert reached with federal prosecutors in October , prosecutors dropped one felony charge, and Mr. Hastert admitted to another — namely, structuring financial transactions to evade bank reporting requirements. Plea Agreement Agreement reached in October 2015 with the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. 2. Prosecutors File Sentencing Recommendation Federal prosecutors filed this sentencing memo this month. It gave the first details of the sexual abuse accusations against Mr. Hastert. The prosecutors say at least four wrestling team members described abuse, including “intentional touching of minors’ groin area and genitals or oral sex with a minor.” Mr. Hastert is not charged with sexual abuse, for which statutes of limitation would by now have run out. Prosecution Sentencing Memo The government's position on sentencing factors in the Dennis Hastert case. 3. Mr. Hastert’s Lawyers Respond Mr. Hastert’s lawyers answered the prosecution’s sentencing memo with this: Mr. Hastert's Response Dennis Hastert's response, from April 8, to the presentence report and sentencing recommendation. 4. Defense Lawyers Seek Probation In a sentencing memo from Mr. Hastert’s defense team filed this month, his lawyers say he should get probation. They note that he has apologized, is “overwhelmed by the guilt he feels,” and has in recent months contended with a series of medical problems: a stroke , a spinal infection and sepsis, a bloodstream infection. Defense's Sentencing Memo Sentencing memo submitted on behalf of Dennis Hastert. 5. Family and Friends Offer Support More than 40 letters were submitted by Mr. Hastert’s lawyers to a federal judge who is to decide his sentence on Wednesday. The writers included his wife, other relatives, former politicians and political operatives in Washington and Illinois, lawyers, former law enforcement leaders, former students and fellow wrestling coaches. Here are a few of them: Appeals for Leniency Defense lawyers submitted more than 40 letters in support of Mr. Hastert.

Child Abuse
US Politics
House of Representatives
Congress
J Dennis Hastert
Rape


German Rider Wins Opening Stage of Tour de France for a Second Year

Abstract: HARROGATE, England — Marcel Kittel of Germany won the first stage of the Tour de France on Saturday for a second consecutive year after a late crash took down his British rival Mark Cavendish in the presence of royalty. Kittel, who finished first in four Tour stages last year, won the 190.5-kilometer (118-mile) run in the mainly bucolic Yorkshire countryside from Leeds to Harrogate. He raised his arms skyward and cried after he edged Peter Sagan of Slovakia, who finished second, and Ramunas Navardauskas of Lithuania in third. “I am incredibly proud of this victory,” said Kittel, who rides for the Giant-Shimano team and who also won two Giro d’Italia stages in May. “It happened pretty easily. It was like coming out of a tunnel. I was able to accelerate like never before.” The favorites in the three-week race, Alberto Contador and Chris Froome, finished safely in a trailing pack that clocked the same time as Kittel: 4 hours 44 minutes. With fewer than 400 meters (about 437 yards) to go and the speedsters rushing ahead, Cavendish veered slightly to his left and bumped Australia’s Simon Gerrans. The two crashed, with Cavendish landing hard on his right shoulder. Cavendish got up gingerly and cruised over the finish line, cradling his right arm. After returning to his Omega Pharma QuickStep team bus with scratches on his back, he climbed into an ambulance without speaking to reporters. X-rays revealed that Cavendish had separated his right shoulder, the Tour said in a statement. Patrick Lefevere, Cavendish’s team manager, said before the results were known that Cavendish could continue racing Sunday “if nothing is broken.” A team spokesman did not immediately say whether Cavendish would remain in the race. Many British fans were hoping for a win by Cavendish, a native of the Isle of Man whose mother is from Harrogate. Prime Minister David Cameron, Prince Harry, Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, were among the throngs of British fans who lined the route. England hosts the first three stages of this 101st Tour before riders enter France on Tuesday. In all, the 198 riders are to cover 2,277 miles of road before the July 27 finish in Paris. Stage 2 on Sunday covers about 125 miles from York to Sheffield. A second German, Jens Voigt, excelled on the English roads, taking the polka-dot jersey as the race’s best climber. Voigt, 42, is in his 17th Tour, equaling the record, and is the oldest competitor this year. Yorkshire, the largest county in England, has paid richly for the right to host the Tour. The peloton sped by ruined abbeys and sights like the 14th-century Bolton Castle, near Leyburn, before finishing in Harrogate, which is known for its spas. Nearly three dozen countries are represented at this Tour, led by France with 44 riders. It is the second time the race has begun in Britain. The Tour also crossed the English Channel for stages in 1974 and 1994.

Tour de France
Biking
Road Cycling
Marcel Kittel
Mark Cavendish


In Morocco, Fears of Chaos Temper Calls for Change

Abstract: CASABLANCA, Morocco — For Morocco , a kingdom on the western edge of North Africa, the calls for change sweeping the region are muted by a fear of chaos, a prevalent security apparatus and genuine respect for the king, Mohammed VI . Since he took the throne in 1999, the king, who is only 47, has done much to soften the harsh and often brutal rule of his father, Hassan II. As in Jordan, demands for the resignation of the government have not touched the king, who is considered by many to be a reformer on the side of the poor. But the demands in Morocco include a desire for a more legitimate democracy, with limits on the power of Mohammed VI, who together with his close advisers controls most of the real power in the country. On Sunday, in response to a “February 20 Movement for Change” that began on Facebook, more than 10,000 people turned out in cities across the country to call for democratic change, lower food prices , freedom for Islamist prisoners, rights for Berbers and a variety of causes, including pan-Arab nationalism. In Rabat, the capital, and in Casablanca, the largest city, there were between 3,000 and 5,000 protesters, and there were smaller demonstrations in Marrakesh, Tangier and other cities. All were peaceful, though state radio announced that the rallies had been canceled, perhaps as a tactic to keep the turnout down. There were reports of scattered violence on Sunday evening in Marrakesh, where protesters, some of them throwing stones, clashed with the police and attacked a McDonald’s, and in the northern town of Larache, where a gas station was set ablaze. On Monday, Interior Minister Taib Cherkaoui said that five burned bodies were found in a bank that had been set on fire by demonstrators in another northern town, Al Hoceima. People in the town said police used tear gas against protesters Sunday night after they set fire to five cars and threw stones at a police station following the demonstration. Mr. Cherkaoui said that 120 people had been arrested on Sunday, but minors had been sent home, and that 128 people, including 115 members of the security forces, were wounded in several towns, though he did not specify the seriousness of any injuries. In Casablanca and Rabat, numerous undercover police officers were obvious in the crowd, sometimes photographing protesters. In Rabat, people chanted slogans like, “Down with autocracy,” and, “The king must reign, not govern.” In Casablanca, protesters called for the government to resign. One sign said: “Democratic Constitution = Parliamentary Monarchy.” “This is a start,” said Imane Safi, 18, who was at the demonstration in Casablanca. “The Arab world is changing and the Moroccan people need a change in the Constitution for more democracy. We want a country like Britain, with a constitutional monarchy and a strong Parliament that is not corrupt.” A doctor, 62, said that she was very happy to see the youth movement for change. “We hope that civil society will join, and we know it will take time, but we have to work at it,” said the doctor, who requested anonymity because she did not want to jeopardize her position. “The government is not real, and all key decisions are in the hands of the king and his friends, and people are tired of accepting a lie.” But an adviser to the king said that he saw an opportunity in the protests to accelerate a movement for needed reform in Morocco, where about 20 percent of the population lives below the poverty line; where the median age is 26.5; and where there is high unemployment, high illiteracy and a level of corruption judged to be more severe than in Tunisia, if below that of Egypt. These are some of the same factors — a large, youthful demographic combined with high unemployment, anger over corruption and the disparities between rich and poor — that set off the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt. But the adviser, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said that the king was listening, having recently promised to invest $1.9 billion in subsidies to ease high prices for food and basic commodities. Nor will anyone rule out a replacement of the conservative prime minister, Abbas el-Fassi, appointed by the king in 2007. “The king is trying to catch the wind of reform and use it,” the adviser said. “We have to listen to what people are saying, it’s reality. And you have to listen and accelerate change, because these kids want better things, not bad things.” Saad el-Bazi, 25, another of the demonstrators in Casablanca, noted the softer approach of this king, compared with his father, saying it provided a contrast to Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. “If Hassan were still in power, things would be very different here,” he said. But in fact the pace of the overhaul has slackened in Morocco, because of nervousness about the rise of radical Islam, including Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and a parallel conservative reaction to change, including a landmark family law promoted by the king that in 2004 raised the age for women to marry and allowed women to seek divorce. The slowdown was an effort to provide stability, but the current protests may provide a new momentum for change. Baudoin Dupret, director of research at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, said he viewed the protests as an opportunity for the king to “unlock” difficult issues like corruption, regionalization and overhauling the judiciary. “The Arab spring represents an opportunity for Moroccan leaders,” Mr. Dupret told the newspaper Le Monde, adding that the king retained legitimacy. “He is widely perceived as the ‘king of the poor,’ active in the social field, to the point that the most critical French-language newspaper had a headline this autumn, ‘Must he do everything?’ In other words, the challenge may be for the government, but it is more difficult to imagine that it affects the king. To that extent, the system will remain intact.” The king’s adviser warned, however, that the Internet allowed young people “to become a citizen of the world, but it’s a virtual world,” he said. “You begin to think that the life and experience of others is yours. Yes, we would like to live like the United States and Norway, but we have to get there.” It is important for the king and his government to get across the message of joint goals, he said, adding, “Let’s work together to get this. We want this for everybody.”

Morocco
Mohammed VI
Arab World Unrest (2010- )
Economic Conditions and Trends
Demonstrations Protests and Riots
Politics and Government


To Put More Students in the Seats, Colleges Cue the D.J.

Abstract: When Clemson played Notre Dame at home during a downpour last season, the weather dampened the Death Valley turf but not the crowd’s spirits. Part of the thanks for that went to Clemson football’s house D.J. As the Tigers pulled out a 24-22 victory in a matchup of unbeatens, it was D.J. Sha (pronounced Shay) who provided the soundtrack. His image was broadcast on the stadium’s giant video screen, and his music kept the students from fleeing for the exits as the Tigers opened a two-touchdown lead early in the second half. “It pretty much became a rain party with D.J. Sha and our student body,” recalled Mike Money, an assistant athletic director at Clemson. Clemson, now ranked fifth, needed little effort to attract fans to Saturday night’s matchup against No. 3 Louisville. But hiring D.J. Sha was nonetheless part of a concerted attempt by Clemson officials to play more to the crowd — specifically to the younger segment of it. More than ever, college football programs are finding it difficult to draw and retain the young fans who grow up to be lifelong season-ticket holders. In many athletic departments, the reasons can practically be cited as catechism: high-definition televisions, DVRs, diffuse fan bases and higher ticket and parking costs. In response, programs are going well beyond recorded drumbeats and free T-shirts to serve the customers who represent the future of their fan base. North Carolina, like Clemson, brought in a house D.J. Texas invited local restaurants, like Mighty Fine and Amy’s Ice Creams, to expand its concession offerings. Arizona carved out prime seating for students, shifting them to the 40-yard line. “What we’ve tried to do,” said Greg Byrne, Arizona’s athletic director, “is create a game-day experience that will make people say, ‘All right, televisions are big and all that, but it’s more fun being at the game.’” Attendance in top-tier college football has been in slow decline for a number of years, with average crowds falling by nearly 2,000 fans a home game from 2006 to 2015, according to N.C.A.A. data . Image Fans in the ZonaZoo student section at a football game between Arizona and Grambling State this season. Credit Carlos Herrera/Icon Sportswire, via Associated Press The problem is particularly acute among young fans, including students. A report published last year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics said that two-thirds of those born between 1978 and 1995 — 21- to 38-year-olds — go to sports events not often or never. The Wall Street Journal has found a decline in student attendance greater than 7 percent in recent years. “They’re not going,” Emily Golembiewski, who consults with colleges, said of young people. It helps if the team is winning, she added, “but it doesn’t change the meter enough.” Athletic department officials worry that the 19-year-olds sketched in studies — who are subscribed to Netflix, hooked to Snapchat and, like ducks, averse to going out in groups of fewer than 20 — herald a dismal future for ticket sales and in-game enthusiasm. “The student population becomes your new general-public season-ticket holder,” said James Francis, a senior associate athletic director at Arizona. “You want to address that trend early on, because you’re going to deal with that same mind-set and issue as they graduate.” That could explain why athletic departments, realizing that ticket sales reliably make up about a quarter of overall revenue, perceive young fans as critical bellwethers. “The students make or break the energy in the stadium,” said Rick Steinbacher, a senior associate athletic director at North Carolina. There is also a competitive angle: The more packed the stadium and the more engaged the crowd, the more difficult it may be for the opposing team to convert a third-and-9 in the fourth quarter. But preserving that edge takes planning; at Arizona, Francis organized iPad giveaways that could be collected only if the winner stayed for the whole game. At Arizona State, student attendance at home football games has nearly doubled since 2010, to about 9,000. William Kennedy, an associate athletic director, credited partnerships between officials and student leaders and the codifying of certain traditions, like calling the student section the 942 Crew, complete with its own Twitter feed . (No. 942 refers to the student section in the basketball arena, famed for its so-called Curtain of Distraction , which aims to destroy the focus of opposing free-throw shooters.) At Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium at Arkansas, four large student skyboxes can be rented out, at rates well below market price, by groups like fraternities and interest organizations. “It’s a guarantee that we’re going to get another 1,000 students in the building who might make a game-day decision to leave the pregame tailgate or pregame party,” said Chris Freet, a senior associate athletic director at Arkansas. Image The Arizona State student section watched as California Polytechnic State University fullback Jared Mohamed, center, carried the ball last season at Sun Devil Stadium. Credit Christian Petersen/Getty Images Noting that the idea arose out of a conversation he had with a student government president, Freet added: “It’s a good example of what the research tells you to do in engaging with them. They want a voice.” Ah, yes, the research. This college-age group — at some point it becomes impossible not to use the word “millennials” — is among the most studied in recorded history. While there is evidence that most of them just want a good game, the report by the association of athletic directors also called for attention to “digital integration,” “personalized storytelling,” “music and entertainment” and “locally relevant value.” The upshot is that at many prominent programs, there are more student-run social media accounts, group seating arrangements, pregame concerts and opportunities to meet the coach on the field than ever before. Arizona’s Byrne cited contests in which the prize was walking off the bus with the team or running onto the field with the players. At Clemson, which Money said routinely fills its student section with about 12,000 fans, D.J. Sha’s presence emerged more organically. D.J. Sha, whose real name is Donsha Butler, grew up in Ninety Six, S.C., and first came to the program’s attention via recruiting events. From there, Tigers Coach Dabo Swinney began inviting him to spin tracks for players before games. Starting this year, D.J. Sha’s position during games is in a booth built for him among fans near the western end zone. “Anybody can D.J.,” he said. “The biggest thing is being able to read your crowd, being able to communicate with your crowd.” Having a professional seems to be working. While D.J. Sha reverts to well-known songs during games — Usher, Run-D.M.C., current hits — he uses pregame warm-ups to showcase rising Atlanta hip-hop artists and performers like Lil Uzi Vert and Kodak Black. “It’s just real hype,” said Joey Williams, Clemson’s undergraduate student body president. Williams noted other perks at work in keeping students in the stands at Clemson, like consolidated upper-deck sections at Death Valley (the colloquial term for Memorial Stadium) and the successful fight to keep student tickets free. But Golembiewski, the college consultant, said the best practices for appealing to a younger demographic evolved from common sense. “The myth about millennials — that they’re really entitled and demanding, bratty customers — actually would not be my position,” she said. “I think they’re very savvy customers because they’ve been marketed to their entire life. ”

College football
Clemson
Stadiums Arenas
DJ
Youth