Buildup for Tiger Woods’s Return Begins With a Familiar Image

Abstract: Tiger Woods will be back on television this weekend during the Transitions Championship , bashing the air with a right-hand uppercut fist pump. The appearance will be brief, almost subliminal, but the statement will be unmistakable, the image powerful. In a 5-second sliver of a 30-second spot on NBC, the wordless message will be “Remember me?” The battle to rebuild Woods’s image is under way, and it will not be hurt by the PGA Tour’s use of his familiar celebratory ritual in a promotional spot for the Players Championship in May. The spot is scheduled to be broadcast this weekend. It will be a strong visual reminder to tour advertisers and sponsors that Woods will soon be back doing what he does best: playing golf and winning events. And although it is a spot for the Players , it will help the Masters , which will be broadcast by CBS, by emphasizing that Woods’s return there in April promises to be anything but ordinary. “This will be the most-watched Masters ever,” said Bill Sutton, a sports marketing consultant and professor at the University of Central Florida. “The golf people will want to see how he competes and there will be other people who watch this because, ‘Wow, Tiger Woods, I hear all these bad things about him. I want to see what he looks like.’ ” On the level of the Woods brand and his personal well-being, the return will be the apparent culmination of one stage of a rehabilitation process marked by his somber apology last month at the T.P.C. Sawgrass clubhouse. Seeking forgiveness from his wife, Elin, his family, friends, business associates and fans, he referred to his “repeated irresponsible behavior,” admitted he was unfaithful and said, “I am the only person to blame.” Now, as Woods returns to golf to restore his career, the focus shifts to a key crisis-management objective: changing the subject. Augusta National is the best place to accomplish the objective, and the process has already begun, said Bob Dorfman, the executive creative director at Baker Street Advertising in San Francisco. Dorfman rates the endorsement value of athletes in the Sports Marketers Scouting Report. “Certainly in the sense of the public, and dealing with that, and dealing with the media, this is the smartest place to return,” Dorfman said. “The crowd will be policed very closely and if there are any untoward comments, they’ll yank those people out.” Woods will sit with the news media for an interview session early in the week of the Masters, which Dorfman and other crisis management specialists say will be a critical moment if he is to begin closing the chapter on questions about his precipitous fall. This, many experts agree, could very well be Woods’s most important Masters appearance. But not so fast, said Mike Paul, an image expert who is the president of MGP & Associates PR in New York. Paul is not convinced Woods has put in enough time in therapy at a sex addiction center, and added that without tough questioning by the news media about his behavior, Woods is not yet equipped to face the extreme pressure and scrutiny he will undergo when he returns to golf. “If he were my client, I would tell him that until you have had a number of tough questions asked and answered by the mainstream press, you’re going to continue to be in crisis,” Paul said. “What’s happening right now is that we’re starting to drink the Kool-Aid already. We’re switching focus from a man who was a serial adulterer with many different women as the root of the crisis to a man that we want to watch play golf again. “Some inexperienced people believe that his coming back and winning golf tournaments is going to make it all go away. That’s just not true.” Ready or not, here Woods comes and marketers will be among those watching closely, looking for any evidence that his appeal to consumers has eroded. Fellow competitors will be evaluating whether his skills have slipped or whether his legendary confidence has been shaken. Some will be looking for improved demeanor, including no more club throwing, for which Woods was criticized after hurling his driver at the T.P.C. Boston. Others will be monitoring for off-color language, sometimes picked up by parabolic microphones after errant shots. “A lot of people are not happy with his behavior on the course,” Sutton said, adding: “People will be watching for all kinds of things. But they mostly will be watching to see whether he can win.” Dorfman agreed. “In these kind of cases the most important thing is winning,” he said. “The sooner he can start winning, the sooner advertisers will come back and the fans will forget. We saw it happen with Kobe Bryant.” The idea that Woods could actually step back into the arena and win a major after a five-month absence from tournament golf is raised only because he has done the unthinkable before. Of the prospect of Woods winning the Masters, Sutton said: “It would be like Roy Hobbs stepping out of the hospital bed in ‘The Natural.’ With limited practice, limited game conditions, if you will, the world looking at him, and all the pressure on him, if he won the Masters, I think it would be more significant than the victory over Rocco Mediate in the U.S. Open .”

Woods Tiger
Masters Golf Tournament
Golf
Advertising and Marketing
Television


U.S. Open — Gambling With a Merion Course That’s Tough but Short

Abstract: ARDMORE, Pa. — After he won the 1971 United States Open at Merion Golf Club, Lee Trevino said, “I love Merion, and I don’t even know her last name.” The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jim Murray had a different assessment in the wake of the same championship. “Whatever else she is,” he wrote, “Merion ain’t no lady.” That was when Merion was respected for its architectural originality and the hidden challenges of a shortish layout. But since the club last hosted the United States Open, in 1981, the consensus has been that Merion’s pocket-size East Course was a test in its day, but nobody hit the ball 350 yards in the early 1980s (let alone 1904, the first time Merion hosted a national championship). As the 113th United States Open returns to the club Thursday, even after years of prep work and a lengthening of the course, the most asked question remains: Aren’t today’s powerful, long-hitting pros going to tear up that nice old place? Image The 17th hole at Merion Golf Club, which is hosting the United States Open. The course is tricky but short by Open standards. Credit Ryan Collerd for The New York Times The United States Golf Association is not shying from the question. In a daring experiment rarely attempted in other sports, the U.S.G.A. is symbolically willing to roll back the clock for the historical fun of it and, notably, perhaps to prove a point. On the national stage, Merion, a grand old lady that is still devilishly difficult, will test if the cutting-edge technology of today’s equipment has subverted the basic and traditional challenges of the game. If Merion is indeed overrun by the world’s greatest golfers, should the winning score be 15 under par, it may later be seen as the tipping point in the movement to inhibit how far the golf ball is allowed to travel. But if Merion grits its teeth and relatively low scores demonstrate that an old-style architectural marvel less than 7,000 yards long is not outdated, then the distance issue may lose some of its relevance, at least in the immediate future. “Coming back to Merion is a truly magical thing and an important thing for golf,” said Mike Davis, the U.S.G.A. executive director. “This is a special place, and people will see that. I would say that there are probably more players that can potentially win this U.S. Open than in any other U.S. Open venue we go to.” Davis insisted that at 6,996 yards, and a par 70, Merion will be anything but easy. And it will be neither a long hitter’s paradise nor an advantage for the more precise, finesse player. “The short holes are short, so yes, there will be more birdies made — trust me — at this U.S. Open than any we have seen in recent history,” Davis said. “But the long holes are also really long.” Image The club eschews hole flags for wicker baskets. Credit Drew Hallowell/Getty Images There are no par 5s at Merion after the fourth hole, which means there is no place for the long hitters to steal an easy birdie. The sloping greens will be mowed to a frighteningly fast 13.5 on the Stimpmeter . True to its 19th-century routing, there are blind shots, or semiblind shots, all over the golf course, and Davis called the uphill 521-yard, par-4 18th hole “the toughest finishing hole in all of the U.S. Opens.” “And the final five holes will challenge any level of golfer from any era,” Davis said. Yet the 13th hole is a measly 115 yards. Four other par 4s are shorter than 367 yards. But with the championship on the line late in the final round, some golfers will have to play the par-3 17th hole from 246 yards — a tee shot over a ravine to a green carved into a sloping hollow. Miss that green, and you’re either in the sand or have an impossible downhill lie. “It’s really two different golf courses,” said Webb Simpson, the defending United States Open champion who played at Merion when it hosted the 2005 United States Amateur. “Potentially, through 13 holes, if you drive it well, you can have nine wedge opportunities to the greens. And then the last five holes are going to be some of maybe the hardest that we have ever had in the U.S. Open. So you kind of have the best of both worlds. “But it’s going to take a good mind to play strategically, even after you make a mistake. And it will force a mistake. What I remember about Merion is that the second that you think you’ve got an easy hole is the second that you probably will make a mistake.” The U.S.G.A.’s plans at Merion have been pondered and contemplated for more than five years. It is not the same course as it was in 1981, or even in 2005 when Simpson played it as an amateur. Extra land has been bought by Merion members, and the course has been lengthened by about 400 yards since 1981. Some fairways have been realigned, and a few other tricky or demanding elements have been added to holes. The club has worked tirelessly with its neighbors in the small community enveloping Merion to make the small physical footprint of the place work. But if the weather does not cooperate and there is rain before or during the tournament, Merion’s treacherous greens and narrow fairways will be softened and the golf course will be largely defenseless to low scoring. Image Merion Golf Club has plenty of challenges, including the 16th, known as the Quarry Hole. Credit Drew Hallowell/Getty Images “I would contend that if you saw Merion firm for four straight days versus soft for four straight days, you may see an 18- to 20-shot difference in the winning score,” Davis said. “But we can’t control the weather.” The Merion East Course, surrounded by a suburban neighborhood and a college, is wedged into about 110 acres, or about half as many as a usual American championship layout. On the second hole, a public road runs no more than 10 yards from the right edge of the fairway. Expect to see a lot of balls bounding down the macadam, which is out of bounds, and over a retaining fence. There is another street just behind the sixth green. Elsewhere, there are fieldstone, estate-like homes that stand 20 or 25 yards from fairways and greens. They will receive some camera time as well, and they are also out of bounds. But one of the best-known features of Merion, and viewers will hear all about it on the network broadcasts this week, comes near the end of the round: the 430-yard, par-4 16th known as the Quarry Hole . It’s not an overly long hole, but a large, scruffy, gorgelike area — a filled-in old quarry — intersects play. Full of overgrown grasses, weeds, shrubs and wildflowers, the chasm is in the middle of the fairway and also obscures the view of a tilted green. The golfers will have to carefully and strategically play in front of the gorge, and then take their best aim at where they think the hole is. With the tournament up in the air, it could be a matter of hit and hope. Does that sound easy? With the lethal 17th to follow and a closing hole that might be the most difficult in Open history, that may be the more appropriate question of the week.

Golf
US Open Golf
United States Golf Assn
Merion Golf Club Haverford Township Pa


Mets Playing It Safe With Return of First Basemen

Abstract: PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Mets Manager Terry Collins crossed his arms, leaned back in his office chair and sighed. Opening day was about three weeks away, and his first basemen, Ike Davis and Lucas Duda, were hurt. Worse, Collins did not know when they would return. “I’m just hoping by the weekend,” Collins said Sunday. Because neither player did anything last season to merit a starting job in 2014, the very fact they were the two top candidates at first base when spring training began only underscored how incomplete a team the Mets remain. Nevertheless, Davis and Duda started their spring training competition in encouraging fashion. Davis homered in the opener and Duda homered the next day. But soon after they were sidelined — Davis with tight calves and Duda with a tight hamstring. On Monday, Davis wore a walking boot on his right leg. He played it down, saying it was just to relieve stress. He said that when he returned, he would catch up by taking extra at-bats while playing in minor league games. Before Davis was hurt, Collins had planned to get him 100 at-bats during spring training, hoping he would get off to a fast start this season. “That was a pipe dream, wasn’t it?” Collins said. Duda is further along than Davis. He ran, hit and threw on Monday for the first time in about a week. He felt good and said he expected to be back by Wednesday or Thursday. “I’d rather have them out in the first half of spring training rather than the last half,” General Manager Sandy Alderson said. “We’ve got lots of time left.” Dave Hudgens, the Mets’ hitting coach, indicated that Davis and Duda would need at least 10 days to properly prepare for the season. “I’d hate to have less than 10 days,” Hudgens said. “You want to make sure they’ve had enough work, seen enough pitching, get their timing a little bit. Then, hopefully, they’ll be ready to go.” But for the moment, they’re not. FIRST CUTS The Mets made their first round of cuts, optioning five players and reassigning 10 more. Among the players optioned were the left-hander Josh Edgin, who was expected to compete for a spot in the bullpen, and the left-handed reliever Steven Matz, a 22-year-old Long Island native who had made an impression.

Baseball
Mets
Ike Davis
Lucas Duda
Sandy Alderson


Audit of San Francisco Arts Panel Raises Tough Questions

Abstract: An official audit by the city controller’s office has confirmed what employees and the local arts community have suspected for years: The operations at the San Francisco Arts Commission are a mess. The audit of the commission, a city department that has 40 employees and an annual budget of $10.2 million, concluded that a general lack of oversight contributed to problems that include irregularities in its grant programs and the improper use of administrative money. The review was requested by JD Beltran, the interim director of cultural affairs, who assumed the job after the department’s previous director, Luis Cancel, resigned in late July. The city controller’s office published the results last month, and several leaders in the arts community said they feared that the negative report could adversely affect the city’s willingness to pay for arts programs. The arts commission was formed to promote the arts in San Francisco, which it does through various programs and projects. It is also responsible for the city’s public art collection, which is worth $90 million. The department is overseen by a panel of 15 volunteer commissioners who are appointed by the mayor. “The revelation of the controller’s office was that no one was watching the ship,” said Ms. Beltran, an artist who has been an arts commissioner since 2009. The audit attributed many of the problems to Mr. Cancel’s management, which, it determined, led to a climate of confusion. The audit described a “culture of mistrust” in the department, with many employees citing “fear of retribution” as a hindrance to reporting abuses of power. The review included interviews with past and current staff members. Mr. Cancel, responding to questions in an e-mail, sent a copy of the audit annotated with point-by-point rebuttals and denials. He said part of the audit “clearly reflects the political agenda of President Johnston,” referring to P. J. Johnston, the president of the 15-member commission. Mr. Johnston, a commissioner since 2003, denied that the audit was politically motivated. In one example of unusual spending cited in the report, Mr. Cancel used money from the department’s administrative fund, which is supposed to go toward general overhead costs and equipment, to finance unbudgeted special projects including a $189,000 book commissioned to celebrate the department’s coming 80th anniversary. Unlike other money, which is governed by bond rules or legislation, the administrative fund has relatively few restrictions on its use. Mr. Cancel said the spending from the administrative fund was approved by both the controller’s office and the mayor’s budget office. But a spokeswoman for the department disputed this, saying it was Mr. Cancel, not the budget office, who oversaw the fund. The audit also described problems with the Cultural Equity Grant program, whose budget was $2.2 million last year. Four of the eight grant categories did not fit the program’s legislated guidelines, it said. The program’s biggest grantee, the Center for Cultural Innovation, which received $477,000 over five years, should not have been eligible for the money, the audit said. As Ms. Beltran noted, the center is based in Los Angeles, not San Francisco, and it has an annual budget of more than $1 million — both violations of the program’s statute. Also, the report said, significant parts of financing that the center received from the Cultural Equity Grant program, including $90,000 approved this spring for studies of local Asian and Latino artists and groups, did not go through the public, competitive process mandated for all arts commission grants. Mr. Cancel resigned in July after news media accounts of his frequent absences from office and his differences with Jill Manton, the arts programs director. He received a severance package of around $50,000. Mr. Cancel, a New Yorker, was named director of cultural affairs in late 2007. He was highly praised for starting initiatives like the Art in Storefronts program, which enlivened empty storefronts across the city, and Street SmARTS, which paired graffiti artists with private property owners to create murals. But, the audit said, he also eliminated the deputy director position in 2009, for budget reasons, thereby removing the person responsible for overseeing staffing and fiscal policy. Mr. Cancel said the oversight responsibilities of the deputy director were reassigned to other department members, they were not eliminated. Last week, the commission announced that Tom DeCaigny, an arts consultant who used to lead the Performing Arts Workshop, a youth-oriented arts nonprofit in San Francisco, would become director of cultural affairs in early January. Some leaders in the city’s arts community said that even with new leadership, the problems in accountability and operations revealed by the audit would take years to repair, and that the review had come much too late. They said complaints about the department had been circulating for years. “If I were on the commission, and I heard this stuff, I would have called for the audit two years ago,” said Debra Walker, president of the San Francisco Planning Commission and former head of the San Francisco Arts Task Force, which released a report in 2006 advocating for changes in city arts programs. “It’s great that they called for it,” Ms. Walker said, “but it’s a day late and a dollar short.” Mr. Johnston, the current president, defended his work on the commission, saying he had “tried to raise questions all along the way.” But, he said, “government moves slowly.” “Yes, I wish that some of the problems that ultimately emerged in the controller’s audit, and in other reports, had been addressed sooner,” he said. But, Mr. Johnston said, there is a weakness in the system: The commission relies on the director to inform it of what is going on. Ms. Beltran, for instance, said she was disturbed to discover that a $90,000 grant she had approved as a commissioner was awarded without competitive bidding and included transcription services billed at $140 an hour. Members of the arts commission said they hoped the audit closed the book on a difficult period. “I’m looking forward to looking forward,” said Mr. DeCaigny, the new director. Rebekah Krell, who joined the department this fall as the new deputy director, said she anticipated putting out the last regime’s fires for the foreseeable future, making sure that there is “no pot of money that isn’t budgeted,” and dealing with the long list of workplace issues detailed in the audit. “That report is basically my job description, my mandate,” Ms. Krell said. “I am hopeful that I won’t be doing that forever.” A public meeting to discuss issues at the arts commission is scheduled for Dec. 12.

San Francisco (Calif)
Budgets and Budgeting
Local Government


Soggy Game Ends With Chamberlain’s 1st Loss

Abstract: CHICAGO — As he surveyed the field here two hours before the scheduled first pitch, Yankees Manager Joe Girardi all but sighed. “We’ve seen that tarp on the field entirely too much,” he said. On the Yankees’ last road trip, Girardi had tried to outsmart the weather by holding back his starting pitcher for a rain delay that never came. This time, late-afternoon showers wiped out batting practice and delayed the start of the game 34 minutes. Phil Hughes started as planned, but after two and a half innings, the game was delayed again. Hughes did not return, leaving the game to four relievers. Joba Chamberlain lost it in the ninth, when Joe Crede’s one-out single gave the Chicago White Sox a 7-6 victory and Chamberlain his first major league loss. “It’s not the last time it’s going to happen,” Chamberlain said. “The disappointing part is letting my team down and not giving them a chance to win. I’ll get back on the mound, pull my hat down and go to work tomorrow.” Chamberlain retired the side in the eighth inning, but started the ninth by allowing a long fly out. Carlos Quentin followed by bashing a curveball off the left-field fence for a double, and Crede followed with a line-drive single to center. Melky Cabrera threw to the plate, but Crede slid in easily. Before the ninth, Chamberlain had been 3-0 in the regular season for his career, with two earned runs allowed in 33 innings for a 0.55 earned run average. His first loss came in his 27th career appearance. Hughes sparkled for two innings, throwing first-pitch strikes to the first five hitters and inducing a double play to the sixth. He even helped himself on defense, scooping a wild toss by Jason Giambi while covering first base. But when rain forced the second delay, Hughes’s spot became tenuous. The delay lasted 51 minutes, and when play resumed, it was Ross Ohlendorf, not Hughes, on the mound. “We made a decision as a staff that it was best not to send him out there,” Girardi said, adding later, “I just went up to him and said, ‘I know it stinks, but this is what we’re going to do.’ ” Hughes had lost his last three starts, but he said he felt better this time, staying tall over the rubber and driving his pitches toward the plate with a downward angle. He understood why Girardi pulled him, but he was frustrated. “It was like a good, short bullpen, basically,” Hughes said. “I wish I could go out and start in two days, but I’ll have to wait my turn again. It was certainly something positive, though.” It seemed to be poor planning by the Yankees, who have not carried a traditional long reliever all season. They have needed one repeatedly, but instead have pushed the job on Ohlendorf, who pitched in a short-relief role in spring training. Even more, the Yankees’ bullpen was already thin after Brian Bruney injured his foot on Tuesday, possibly tearing two ligaments and likely requiring a disabled list stint. Instead of getting a fresh pitcher to take Bruney’s spot, the Yankees made no move. Girardi acknowledged that the Yankees would have to bring in a fresh pitcher or two for Friday’s game in Cleveland, especially because of an elbow injury to Kyle Farnsworth. Farnsworth slipped on the wet mound on his final pitch of a scoreless seventh and could not return for the eighth. When he slipped, his arm angle dropped, which he said “put a little more stress” on his elbow. “If anything goes wrong there, it’s tough,” Farnsworth said. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.” Still, the thin bullpen did not deter the Yankees from looking out for Hughes’ health. On Sept. 12, 2006, as the Florida Marlins’ manager, Girardi let the rookie Josh Johnson stay in after an 82-minute rain delay. The next season, Johnson needed reconstructive elbow surgery, and Florida owner Jeffrey Loria implied that Girardi was to blame. A similar scenario would be devastating to the Yankees, and Girardi took no chances. Ohlendorf has pitched well this season, and he worked a 1-2-3 third inning. But the fourth was a fiasco, and the Yankees’ 3-0 advantage was quickly washed away. “In the fourth inning, my ball wasn’t sinking,” Ohlendorf said. “I was inside of it, and I was also up in the zone. My first inning, I was down in the zone more. I needed to stay on top of it a little more. It definitely didn’t go well. It was certainly too hittable that fourth inning.” Orlando Cabrera reached on an infield single with one out, and Ohlendorf walked Jim Thome. Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye followed with run-scoring singles, and A. J. Pierzynski tied the game with a R.B.I. double. Quentin came up with runners on second and third and chopped a two-hopper to Morgan Ensberg at third. Ensberg did not hesitate, whipping a throw home. It might have had a chance to catch Dye, but the throw was well wide of the plate and Dye slid in with the go-ahead run. A two-out double by Alexi Ramirez made the score 5-3, and only a friendly bounce into the stands kept another run from scoring. Ohlendorf was gone after that, replaced by LaTroy Hawkins. The second hitter was Thome, who improved to 8 for 16 in his career off Hawkins with a homer to center field, the 513rd home run of his career. It gave Chicago a 6-3 lead, and moved Thome past two Hall of Famers, Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews, for sole possession of 19th place on the career home run list. Hawkins retired his final five hitters, helping keep the Yankees in the game as their offense drew them closer. A double by Bobby Abreu had knocked in two runs in the third inning, and with two outs in the sixth, the Yankees had a final gasp against White Sox starter Gavin Floyd. Giambi doubled for his second hit of the game, and Cabrera followed with a homer onto a picnic deck just inside the right field foul pole. That cut the deficit to 6-5, and a rally in the seventh tied the game. Abreu came up with two outs and the bases empty in the seventh and singled off the left-hander Matt Thornton. Hideki Matsui then walked, prompting Ozzie Guillén to call on a right-hander, Scott Linebrink, to face Ensberg. Three times this series, Guillén ordered an intentional walk before Ensberg. Each time, Ensberg made an out. This time, after Matsui’s walk, Ensberg smoked a single up the middle, scoring Abreu to tie the game. Chamberlain could not keep it tied, a rare stumble by a dominant pitcher that even surprised his teammates. “We’re so used to him being automatic,” Hughes said. “Nobody expects him to go his whole career without a loss, but with the stuff he has, there won’t be too many of them.”

Baseball
Chicago White Sox
New York Yankees


Morning Agenda: Dodd-Frank Tussles, Sham Accounts at Wells Fargo, and a Curious Short

Abstract: The Dodd-Frank Act must be a real drag for private equity. After years of scant federal oversight, the sector was suddenly lumped with a new set of regulatory exams and reporting obligations. Private equity has been lobbying hard, though, and the years of persistence may just pay off today, when the House votes on a bill the industry has championed. If it passes, private equity firms will still have to put up with federal exams, but their reporting obligations will be loosened. The bill comes soon after several enforcement actions against private equity firms by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This, critics say, raises the question: Why would you undo restrictions on the industry just as the S.E.C. is identifying problems with it? And it’s not just any industry. It is one that, as an investigation by The New York Times found, has expanded its reach into parts of daily life in the United States. It almost makes you feel bad for banks. Just as private equity gets a little wiggle room, regulators spring a report on them suggesting that Congress should bar banks from getting involved in the physical commodities market or owning private equity-like stakes in outside companies. Wells Fargo Fined for Fake Accounts Wells Fargo has long presented itself as a bank that cares more about long-term relationships than making a quick buck. So much for that image . It took a hit when it emerged that employees secretly issued credit cards and set up sham accounts. The fraudulent banking practices cost the bank $185 million in fines. Regulators concede that the financial harm to consumers was not huge. But what does it say about the culture of the bank? Employees were rewarded financially for opening new accounts and said they felt extreme pressure to open as many accounts as possible. Maybe it’s time to examine these incentives a little more closely. Short-Selling Meets Computer Hacking Imagine a pacemaker being hacked. This was the disturbing vision raised by Carson Block, an investor known for betting against companies’ stocks. His hedge fund, Muddy Waters, was in a rather unorthodox partnership with MedSec, a company that engages in bounty hunting for bugs and considers its research on vulnerabilities in medical devices a public service. The pair announced last month that they had uncovered “troubling cybersecurity flaws” in pacemakers made by St. Jude Medical. It seemed more like a scene from a spy thriller than the usual accounting issues that Mr. Block specialized in. MedSec, however, has a curious history, and the story of how the company teamed up with Mr. Block is an interesting one.

Dodd Frank
Regulation and Deregulation
Private equity
Banking and Finance
Hacker (computer security)
Muddy Waters Research
Wells Fargo &
Carson C Block


Roommate Is Arraigned in Rutgers Spy-Suicide Case

Abstract: NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Eight months after he was accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate’s intimate encounter with another man, a former Rutgers University student on Monday stood in court for the first time to answer criminal charges. By itself, what prosecutors call an invasion of his roommate’s privacy, motivated by antigay bias, would have drawn no attention beyond the Piscataway campus where the defendant, Dharun Ravi , shared a room with Tyler Clementi . But three days later, Mr. Clementi, an 18-year-old freshman, stepped to his death from the George Washington Bridge, prompting a national outcry over cyberbullying, prejudice and suicide among gay young people. According to the Middlesex County prosecutor’s office, Mr. Ravi raised the stakes in the case by trying to persuade a witness not to cooperate with investigators, erasing text messages and changing a Twitter post related to his webcast of Mr. Clementi. He was indicted last month on 15 counts, including tampering with evidence, witness tampering and bias crimes. Looking somber in a dark gray suit, Mr. Ravi, 19, made a quick and wordless appearance in Superior Court here on Monday, not even speaking to plead not guilty to the 15 counts. His lawyer, Steven D. Altman, did the talking, and the two left without speaking to reporters. Mr. Ravi remains free on a $25,000 bond he had posted. In a sign of how much attention the case still commands, the lawyers’ statements in the packed courtroom could barely be heard over the clicking of several press cameras. The arraignment signaled that the case was unlikely to reach a conclusion any time soon, since Mr. Altman asked for time to review the case files, and Judge Glenn Berman set the next appearance for July 25. No trial date has been set. “I’m in a difficult position,” Mr. Altman told the court, explaining that he still must go through 88 computer discs, 1,600 pages of records and the accounts of 125 witnesses, and that he had not yet received the grand jury transcript. Mr. Ravi’s co-defendant, Molly Wei , made a deal with prosecutors this month in which the charges against her could be dismissed if she performs 300 hours of community service, undergoes counseling and testifies truthfully in Mr. Ravi’s case. On Monday, Mr. Clementi’s parents, Joseph and Jane, sat expressionless in the back row of the courtroom, and later Joseph Clementi read a brief statement to reporters, without making any direct reference to Mr. Ravi. “We are eager for the criminal justice process to unfold,” he said. His comments were more pointed when Ms. Wei appeared in court earlier this month. At that time, Mr. Clementi said, “Ms. Wei’s actions, although unlawful, are substantially different in their nature and their extent than the actions of Tyler’s former roommate.” Mr. Ravi has not been charged with playing a direct role in the suicide of Mr. Clementi, a shy aspiring violinist from Ridgewood, and the authorities have not said why Mr. Clementi killed himself. Mr. Ravi has been accused of setting up a webcam on Sept. 19, 2010, to view Mr. Clementi without his knowledge, then going to the room of Ms. Wei to turn the camera on remotely and watch. Ms. Wei and Mr. Ravi were high school friends from Plainsboro, N.J., and lived in the same dorm at Rutgers. “Roommate asked for the room till midnight,” said a message posted that night on Twitter that the authorities attribute to Mr. Ravi. “I went into Molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.” He is accused of setting up the camera again two days later, and urging others to watch. Posts on a gay chat site, believed to be by Mr. Clementi, show that he learned of the spying and decided to report it to a resident adviser. “I feel like it was ‘look at what a fag my roommate is,’ ” he wrote on Sept. 21, adding that Mr. Ravi’s friends seemed more upset about his having a gay roommate than about his spying. The next day, Mr. Clementi killed himself.

Rutgers The State University of New Jersey


Plaintiff and Lawyer Ordered to Reimburse New York in False-Arrest Suit

Abstract: Nearly three years ago, a woman reported being abused by her husband. He was arrested, only to have the charge dropped after the wife recanted. The man, Patricio Jimenez, then sued New York City last year for false arrest. City officials, to say the least, were not amused. The police and hospital reports suggested that a violent altercation occurred in the couple’s Manhattan apartment. The wife said Mr. Jimenez, a restaurant cook, had come home drunk, become angry and started choking and slapping her, causing her to fall in the bathroom, according to court papers filed by lawyers for the city. The city contested Mr. Jimenez’s lawsuit, and a judge dismissed the case after finding the couple most likely lied about what had happened. The city decided to pursue sanctions against Mr. Jimenez and his lawyer. Last week, the judge, Shira A. Scheindlin of Federal District Court, ordered Mr. Jimenez and his lawyer, Gregory P. Mouton Jr., to pay $19,075 to reimburse the city for a portion of its work in defending the case. “Plaintiff’s claims were meritless from the beginning,” the judge said in an opinion imposing the sanctions, which was filed in court on Dec. 9. “Litigation is not a sport,” she added. “Litigation is not a lottery.” In September, when Judge Scheindlin dismissed the lawsuit, she noted that Mr. Jimenez’s wife, Maribel, could decline to testify against her husband to prevent him from being prosecuted for domestic assault. “But it is galling to then use that recantation as a predicate to sue the city for false arrest and related claims,” Judge Scheindlin wrote. The city should not be required to expend its lawyers’ time and its taxpayers’ resources defending against claims based on “patently unbelievable testimony,” she added. Ms. Jimenez later claimed that she had become dizzy and fallen in the bathroom, and denied any assault. The only piece of evidence supporting Mr. Jimenez’s version of events, the judge said in her ruling last week, was an affidavit prepared by his lawyer and signed by Ms. Jimenez, which the judge said was “very likely perjurious.” “The likelihood that both Mr. and Mrs. Jimenez have committed perjury is high,” the judge wrote in September. Ms. Jimenez denied that she had even reported a domestic assault, the judge noted. But other evidence, including hospital and ambulance records and a hospital volunteer’s report, all indicated that Ms. Jimenez had reported the assault, the judge wrote. Tobias E. Zimmerman, a senior lawyer with the city’s Law Department, said on Tuesday that the city hoped the decision would “discourage the filing of frivolous lawsuits based on false or inadequately investigated allegations.” The Law Department had asked for sanctions of about $92,000, citing its more than 260 hours of legal work. Mr. Mouton, the plaintiff’s lawyer, did not respond to messages seeking comment left by phone and sent by email. In a filing last month, he said the claim that he had created “a sham affidavit and then submitted it to the court is patently false, and, frankly, insulting.” He said the wife had not been found to have engaged in perjury, only that it was “highly likely,” and even if she had lied in the affidavit, he had no knowledge of it. “She has at all times appeared credible to me,” he wrote.

Domestic violence
Lawsuits
NYC
Perjury
Manhattan


Corporate Bankruptcy Is a Disappearing Option

Abstract: Harsh as it is, a bankruptcy filing has always offered a glimmer of hope for a business hobbled by debt or a downturn. A company could slim down, negotiate manageable payments to workers and suppliers and keep going, preserving jobs. But the credit crisis has trampled on that dream. More companies that file for bankruptcy protection are shutting down, lawyers say, because they cannot obtain enough financing to operate while they reorganize. Linens ’n Things, in bankruptcy since May, is liquidating now that creditors have refused to extend more credit. Another retailer, Mervyn’s, announced it would also liquidate, and several analysts expect the same at Circuit City, which filed for bankruptcy protection last week. On Wall Street, Lehman Brothers is being dismantled in the biggest bankruptcy ever. So companies battling for survival have lost another lifeline. While they might have once gotten together with their creditors and worked out a plan in the common interest, they are avoiding bankruptcy court if at all possible because they know that without ready access to credit, the odds of emerging from legal proceedings are slim. Is it any wonder that companies confronting serious problems — General Motors, for example — are reluctant to gamble? And if a corporate bankruptcy does not offer a path to reorganization, many of the jobs at struggling companies may vanish for good. That suggests a long and painful economic downturn. “It just further amplifies the recessionary spiral,” said Stephen F. Cooper, a restructuring expert who is advising companies trying to stay out of bankruptcy. “It will certainly have an impact on the employment — or unemployment — outlook and it will certainly have an impact on consumer spending.” Bankruptcy protection is supposed to give a company a breather, blocking creditors while workout specialists, lawyers and managers try to figure out how to return it to profitability. In court, the bankrupt company can renegotiate loan payments and modify contracts. Lenders to a company trying to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code decide whether they want to bet on the company’s success once it emerges from court oversight, by offering new loans or converting their existing loans into equity. If the company emerges, there is a chance it will repay investors. “Many companies in Chapter 11 are teetering between whether they are able to move forward with their reorganization or shut down because they can’t find additional funds,” said Mark D. Collins of Richards, Layton & Finger, which represents Linens ’n Things in its bankruptcy case. In past, less severe downturns, Mr. Collins said, more companies faced the relatively simple problem of owing too much money. Lenders, creditors and the company’s management could work out a palatable plan, then file for bankruptcy protection and use the legal proceeding to wipe away some of the company’s debt. That is known as a “prepackaged” bankruptcy. “But it doesn’t really work when you’ve got a much more difficult situation, where it’s a very challenging industry or when the company needs a lot of restructuring beyond just its balance sheet, such as eliminating or selling off unprofitable lines of business,” Mr. Collins said. Reorganizing a company under those circumstances requires an investment in the company’s future, but investors now are not optimistic enough to make such bets, he continued. “People are hesitant to do a lot of significant transactions.” Deterred by lack of credit and, in some cases, wagering on the possibility of a government bailout, corporate executives have chosen to avoid bankruptcy and delay changes that might keep businesses going, which can block a successful reorganization, said Lynn LoPucki, a law professor visiting at Harvard. “You have a whole country full of companies and people in financial distress, all of them trying to delay dealing with their problems, all waiting to see what the government is going to do,” Mr. LoPucki said. “And that in itself may be the financial crisis.” The pace of filing for bankruptcy protection has recently begun to pick up, but filings typically trail an economic downturn and so far the number is nowhere near levels in previous downturns. The number of corporate bankruptcies rose last year to 28,322, but that is the second-lowest number of filings since 1980, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. And many of the recent filings, lawyers say, are not efforts to reorganize at all. “True reorganizations, in the spirit of the bankruptcy code, are becoming extremely rare,” said Sandra E. Mayerson, a lawyer at Holland & Knight in New York. Instead, she said, many companies file for bankruptcy protection and proceed immediately to liquidation. Part of the problem is that in recent years, large lenders to corporations have been hedge funds, private equity investors or other institutions. Even if these lenders wanted to extend a loan to a struggling company, they might not be able to do so because they need cash quickly, from the sale of whatever assets a bankrupt company has, to satisfy their own nervous shareholders, Ms. Mayerson said. “Some of them don’t have it to give, their funds might be tapped out,” Ms. Mayerson said. “Some may choose not to put good money in after bad.” Even if creditors give a struggling company more rope, they are not patient about it, and tight repayment deadlines leave scant time to turn a big company around. Shutting down a company can be done more quickly. “A number of years ago, we had fairly long bankruptcies, where companies could come out as stand-alone enterprises,” said Joe Bondi, a managing director of Alvarez & Marsal, a turnaround and restructuring firm. Now, no one wants to hold the debt of companies whose prospects are in doubt. “They want to get paid off,” he said, whatever amount is possible. “People are concerned that we are in a very long-term economic doldrum.” The prospect of liquidation of enormous companies, like Detroit’s Big Three, is frightening; the collapse of one would wipe out tens of thousands of jobs. But the absence of credit poses a practical obstacle to their reorganization through bankruptcy proceedings: Who wants to extend a loan to companies with such shaky prospects? One solution, Mr. LoPucki said, would be for the federal government to extend loans to an automaker after it filed for bankruptcy protection. In that way, under bankruptcy law the government would be first in line to be repaid, before other creditors. And vendors might be more willing to work with a company backed by a loan made or guaranteed by the government, he said. “Otherwise, you’re just giving money to the creditors,” Mr. LoPucki said, because outside of bankruptcy proceedings, bailout funds given to the company could be paid out immediately to suppliers and other creditors. “You want to get ahead of other creditors. And you want to maintain jobs.”

Bankruptcies
Subprime Mortgage Crisis
Credit
Reform and Reorganization
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc


Nike’s Quarterly Profit Beats Expectations

Abstract: LOS ANGELES, June 26 (Reuters) — Nike posted higher fourth-quarter net profit on Tuesday as strong sales of Nike-branded footwear helped offset overall challenges in the American athletic shoe market. The results, which were announced after the close of regular trading, exceeded analysts’ expectations. Nike’s shares, which were up a penny in regular trading, rose as much as $2.78, or 5.2 percent, to $56.60, in after-hours trading. The company, the world’s top maker of athletic shoes and apparel, said quarterly net profit was $437.9 million, or 86 cents a share, compared with $332.8 million, or 64 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 9 percent, to $4.38 billion. Excluding items, earnings were 90 cents a share. That beat analysts’ average expectations of earnings of 86 cents, excluding items, on revenue of $4.36 billion, according to Reuters Estimates. Sluggishness in the athletic shoe market has been a worry on Wall Street since last year, with Nike’s two largest United States customers, Foot Locker and Finish Line, experiencing weakness in same-store sales. Nike has been working on initiatives to help its retail partners and has offered shoes in a broader range of prices to appeal to cost-conscious shoppers.


Frederick, Advocate for Sports Fans, Is Busy

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Brian Frederick might be the country’s most important sports fan, but he rarely wears the colors of his favorite teams or can be heard cheering them on. Frederick, a boyish and lanky 35-year-old, was dressed in a charcoal-gray suit and a tie on a recent weekday. Between meetings with F.C.C. commissioners and the National Taxpayers Union , he sat in a soundproof studio of Sirius XM . He was a guest on a sports talk show, cheerleading through a microphone to an unseen audience. “We’re fighting to give fans a voice in public policy issues,” Frederick said. That is part of his stump speech as the newly named executive director of a year-old nonprofit interest group, the Sports Fans Coalition . Frederick’s mission: to find (the easy part) and organize (the hard part) a diverse and unwieldy group of dedicated but often disenfranchised people known as American sports fans and turn them into a unified, political power. “A lot of people say they don’t think that sports and politics should mix,” Frederick said. “Well, they’re already mixed. And fans are the ones without a spot at the table.” Frederick spent much of the past week railing about the bitter contract negotiations between Fox and Cablevision. Thousands of households were greeted by blank screens instead of N.F.L. and baseball playoff games on Sunday because the sides could not agree. As Brad Blakeman, a founder of the Sports Fans Coalition, put it: “The fan gets treated like a fumbled pigskin, instead of like the source of all wealth, which it is.” Since being hired in August as the coalition’s first full-time employee, Frederick has been in perpetual motion — blogging and updating the group’s Web site from the dining room of a house off U Street; talking on radio stations across the country; and traveling to games with a clipboard in search of members. Across four days, during the week in Washington and over a weekend in Colorado, it was obvious that Frederick’s message strikes a populist tone. He consistently recited the group’s primary targets: television blackouts (especially at taxpayer-funded stadiums), the Bowl Championship Series and the ballooning cost of attending games. Looming is the possibility of a lockout in the N.F.L. next year. “You’ll have owners and you’ll have players, but who represents the fans?” Frederick said. “We’d like to step into that void.” That was how the Sports Fans Coalition began. David Goodfriend, a deputy staff secretary for the Clinton White House and now a lobbyist, got a call from a Senate staff member looking for a witness to speak on behalf of fans during a committee hearing. “I said, ‘There has to be somebody,’ ” Goodfriend said. “I mean, we have an association for houseplants in this city.” He found nobody, so he decided to start a fan advocacy group. Wanting it to be nonpartisan, he asked Blakeman, the deputy assistant to the president for appointments and scheduling for four years under George W. Bush, to join him. The two met while debating on MSNBC a few years ago. “This is one issue in a very partisan town of Republicans and Democrats that people can agree upon, because these are very fundamental issues of fairness and equity,” Blakeman said. Still, skeptics were quick to dismiss it as another Washington front group with a hidden agenda. Goodfriend, 42, is a former executive for the Dish Network satellite-television company and remains a paid lobbyist for it, as well as for other organizations. This month, Frederick sent a letter to Rupert Murdoch expressing concern that Fox and its regional sports networks were preventing fans from seeing games “because of contract disputes between your company and satellite and cable carriers.” Scott Grogin, a Fox spokesman, was quick to note Goodfriend’s associations. “They’re cloaking themselves in the flag of fans, when in fact they’re a house organ for the Dish Network,” Grogin said. “It just doesn’t pass the smell test.” Watchdog groups said that kind of arrangement was not unusual. “It’s not uncommon for a lobbyist to have a variety of clients,” said Dave Levinthal, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics , which tracks political spending. “Ultimately, it’s up to the organization that hires that lobbyist whether there’s a conflict of interest.” For financing, the coalition solicits money from corporate donors. It has received financial support from two companies: Verizon (which operates Fios ) and Time Warner Cable . Each has concerns over access to sports programming on its systems, and together they have contributed as much as $15,000 a month. Companies in the satellite industry, including Dish, have not donated “despite my best efforts,“ Goodfriend said. Asked why Time Warner Cable supports the coalition, Maureen Huff, the company’s senior director of public relations, said, “Like Time Warner Cable, the Sports Fans Coalition is opposed to the threat of blackouts in programming disputes.” Verizon did not respond to calls seeking comment. “It was an essential, existential question in forming this thing: Should we or shouldn’t we?” Goodfriend said about whether the group should solicit and accept corporate money. “The ideal remains a fully member-funded organization. But at this stage, to get it off the ground, we had to accept corporate donations.” That is not uncommon for interest groups, experts said. “It doesn’t make it right or good, but it’s definitely not unusual at all,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen , a consumer advocacy group. “To their credit, they’re disclosing it. They don’t have to.” He added that there was a “huge need for sports fans and consumers to be engaged in the intersection of sports and policy issues.” “But it’s crucial to be an authentic representative of fans, a group that can be independent of the parties involved in some of these contentious policy issues,” Weissman said. Goodfriend and Blakeman, 52, said transparency was the antidote to criticism. “I tell people, you can contribute if you like what we’re doing, but you don’t get a vote,” Goodfriend said. The group’s bylaws state that the agenda is set by its board of directors and the fans. So far, 1,300 fans have signed on (it is free). Registering them could be Frederick’s toughest assignment. Ralph Nader led an advocacy group in the late 1970s that focused on similar concerns and fizzled as its membership dried up. A more recent Nader group, League of Fans , went dormant but will be revived soon, he said in a telephone interview. “Fans are notoriously perceptive about how they are being gouged and all that,” Nader said. “But it’s very hard to get them together, especially in a dues-centered group.” For now, the Sports Fans Coalition’s main goal is to be noted, if not feared. When leagues, owners, networks, cable companies or others ponder decisions that will affect fans, the desire is to make them think: what will the Sports Fans Coalition say about this? “If they think that someone’s watching, it’ll make a difference,” Blakeman said. “ ‘You know, the Sports Fans Coalition could cause us a lot of trouble on this. Maybe we should talk with them.’ We would welcome that.” Frederick is now in the role of front man. He grew up in Lawrence, Kan., where his father, Bob, was the Kansas athletic director from 1987 to 2001. His brother Brad is a longtime assistant basketball coach at Vanderbilt. Brian Frederick took a circuitous route to his new career, starting as a high school English teacher, earning a master’s degree in journalism from North Carolina and a doctorate in communications from Colorado . He worked a few months on John Edwards’s 2008 presidential campaign, then moved to Washington and worked for Media Matters , a nonprofit research group that tries to dispel conservative assertions in the media. “I’m really just your average sports fan who grew up in sports and got involved in politics,” Frederick said in his interview at Sirius XM. “And I can, hopefully, merge the two.” Frederick went to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver on a Friday night wearing jeans and a faded Kansas Jayhawks shirt, carrying a backpack full of business cards and sign-up sheets. The jammed, noisy festival proved a difficult place to engage people mostly interested in their next sample of pale ale. In Boulder the next morning, Frederick wore a faded Colorado Buffaloes T-shirt as he trolled through tailgaters before a football game. “I live in D.C., but I’m a Colorado grad, and I’m trying to get support for a college football playoff,” he told a group near Folsom Field. A man nearly knocked over a barbecue to grab the clipboard, sign his name and provide his e-mail address. On a recent Wednesday, Frederick met with Senator Al Franken’s chief of staff. He returned home to take a call from a Baltimore radio station, explaining that his purpose was “just to make sure that the fans’ voice is heard here in the halls of power.” He hurried to a nearby Starbucks to meet with Matt Sanderson of PlayoffPAC , which is also trying to dismantle the B.C.S. Later, on the subway, Frederick finally leaned back and considered what he was doing. “This could evolve into the perfect job,” he said.

Frederick Brian
Sports Fans Coalition
United States Politics and Government
Lobbying and Lobbyists
Athletics and Sports


Newcomer and Powerhouse Reach Final

Abstract: PHILADELPHIA — Daniel Ciampini scored a hat trick to lift Union College over Boston College, 5-4, on Thursday at Wells Fargo Center. The Dutchmen (31-6-4) advanced to their first N.C.A.A. final, where on Saturday they will face Minnesota, the No. 1 seed. In the second semifinal, the Golden Gophers beat North Dakota, 2-1, on a short-handed goal with 0.6 of a second left by defenseman Justin Holl. Holl, who beat Zane Gothberg to the glove side with a shot just inside the post, had not scored in his previous 37 games this season. By defeating North Dakota (25-14-3), Minnesota (28-6-6) advanced to its 11th championship game and its first since 2003, the year it won the last of its five titles. Though Ciampini dominated the score sheet for Union, he credited defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere with igniting the team’s offense. Gostisbehere’s initial shot from the blue line allowed Ciampini to score on a rebound for his first goal, and Ciampini’s second goal was a deflection of a Gostisbehere one-timer that was so hard it broke Ciampini’s stick. “I thank my linemates, and Shayne for blasting my stick away there,” Ciampini said with a smile. “It broke on the tip.” Gostisbehere, a junior defenseman, was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2012, but he had not been to the team’s arena in South Philadelphia before this week. Image Union’s Daniel Ciampini, left, in the second period after scoring one of his three goals against Boston College. Credit Chris Szagola/Associated Press Shortly after the goal, momentum seemed to swing back to the Eagles (28-8-4) when Union’s Matt Hatch was given a major penalty and game misconduct for checking Scott Savage from behind into the boards. But Union held Boston College to only three shots on goal during the man advantage, and the Dutchmen scored four seconds after the penalty expired to increase their lead to 4-2, with forward Mike Vecchione putting a rebound past Eagles goaltender Thatcher Demko. “I grew up watching B.C. and watching them dominate and everything,” Vecchione said of the five-time national champion. “So to come out here and play them and end up beating them in the end is just an amazing feeling.” Though Union seemed comfortably ahead, the game ended with a flurry of scoring in the last two minutes. With Demko pulled, Boston College narrowed the lead to 4-3 on a rebound goal by Ryan Fitzgerald. Ciampini responded with an empty-net goal, his third tally of the night, less than one minute later. Patrick Brown pulled the Eagles within 5-4 with 4.2 seconds remaining, but the Eagles were able to get off only one more shot, far from the net, before the final horn. Colin Stevens made 34 saves for Union, a small liberal arts college in Schenectady, N.Y. Union competes in Division III in all other sports, but it has become a consistent power in hockey and entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed. Boston College was seeded second. Boston College forward Johnny Gaudreau opened the scoring 2 minutes 8 seconds into the first period on Boston College’s first shot on goal. He leads the N.C.A.A. with 36 goals. Gaudreau, a Hobey Baker finalist, grew up in the Philadelphia region in the township Carneys Point, N.J., and said the opportunity to play in front of family friends made the game a special experience, even in defeat. “It’s going to be a pretty good memory I’m going to have,” said Gaudreau, fighting back tears.

NCAA Men's Ice Hockey
Union College Schenectady NY
Boston College
Ice hockey
University of Minnesota
University of North Dakota


Dustin Johnson Takes Four-Shot Lead at Pebble Beach

Abstract: PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — If Dustin Johnson feels at home amid the windswept bluffs and Cypress trees that sit above the Pacific Ocean, perhaps it is because he has plenty of company. For three days, he has been paired with his fellow South Carolinian D. J. Trahan. His amateur partner is Joe Rice, a cigar-chomping, wisecracking personal injury lawyer from Charleston. And the gallery of about a dozen who followed them around the Poppy Hills course Saturday announced their arrival with a distinct twang. “It definitely makes for a great experience,” said Johnson 24. “We had fun out there and kept it loose.” Johnson and friends should have more company Sunday after his five-under-par 67 vaulted him into a commanding lead entering the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Johnson’s 15-under-par 201 leads Mike Weir by four strokes and Retief Goosen by five. Phil Mickelson, who won the event two years ago, avoided missing the cut for the second year in a row by sinking a birdie putt on his final hole. There was far less drama for Johnson. He had six birdies Saturday, including one on each of the five par-5s. His enabler was a driver with which he has averaged 288.1 yards, second longest in the tournament. On the 516-yard 10th, Johnson needed only a driver and a 9-iron to reach the green. “I got that one pretty good,” he said. Johnson, who is 6 feet 4 inches and 190 pounds and can dunk a basketball, is the type of athlete that the Tiger Woods era has spawned. His playing partner Sunday is the opposite. Weir, a diminutive left-hander, struggled to hit one drive 205 yards into the wind “with a full-out rescue club.” But Weir, who is 5-9 and 155 pounds, has made a career out of sneaking up on people. He has come from behind in the final round in seven of his eight PGA Tour victories. In three of those, he had trailed by at least four strokes, including the 2003 Nissan Open in Los Angeles, where he overcame a seven-stroke deficit. “I don’t change my mentality when I’m behind,” said Weir, who played the Spyglass Hill course Saturday. “I’m not the type of player that has a second gear where I can say, ‘I’m going to bomb this one out there.’ My game is just down the middle, playing smart golf, trying to make a lot of putts and wedge it great. Sometimes it’s good enough, sometimes it’s not. Hopefully it is tomorrow.” Goosen is also hopeful of a better tomorrow. He called his round of 74 terrible after carrying a two-stroke lead into the day. “I played myself a little bit out of the tournament now,” he said. “I’m going to need a very low round tomorrow to have a chance of catching the leader.” Catching Johnson may not be possible without catching a break from the weather. Rain has hit the area this week, but it has mostly come at night and given way to nice conditions. A storm with high winds was expected to arrive Sunday morning and last through the day, perhaps pushing the final round to Monday. If the weather does hold, Johnson should have much more company along the fairways than he does at the top of the leader board. His round Saturday was played almost exclusively to his band of Carolinians. His girlfriend, Amanda Caulder, said Johnson was the most laid-back person she knew. The only way it was possible to detect that he was playing well — particularly when he rebounded from his only bogey with birdies on Nos. 9, 10, 11 and 12 — was his habit of walking briskly when he was excited. “I have very poor vision, but I can see when he starts walking faster,” Caulder said. “He gets his little swagger.” That swagger was replaced by firm conviction later when Johnson was asked about handling the added attention and pressure that will come Sunday. As a rookie fresh out of qualifying school last year, he was just two shots off the lead at Pebble Beach after three rounds. But he faded on the final day. “I like when there’s more people around,” said Johnson, who won the Turning Stone Resort Championship last August in Verona, N.Y. “Of course you get nervous, but it’s a good nervous. You like getting that feeling. You like being in the hunt and getting those juices flowing.” If he needs calming, he will be able to turn to Rice, who helped broker a nearly $250 million settlement from tobacco companies more than a decade ago. Rice and Johnson had never met until they were paired last year. This year, Johnson requested Rice as his partner, and Rice brought along a pair of fraternity brothers and their wives. Thanks to a couple of Rice’s putts, the twosome is tied for the Pro-Am lead at 23-under. That means that, unlike last year, Rice will accompany Johnson on the final round. Whether he proves to be a helping hand or good luck charm, it seems sure he will provide what Johnson has had all week: a little Southern comfort.

Golf
Johnson Dustin
Weir Mike
Goosen Retief


$60 Billion Refinance Package for GMAC’s Mortgage Lender

Abstract: MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — GMAC said on Wednesday that it had completed a refinancing package worth more than $60 billion aimed at improving the liquidity of its struggling subsidiary, the mortgage lender Residential Capital. As the mortgage lending market began deteriorating in mid-2007, ResCap posted large losses. It continued to struggle, losing $859 million in the first quarter. That put it in danger of failing to meet financial obligations. Before Wednesday’s announcement, ResCap increased the size of an existing credit arrangement with GMAC and said it was selling some of its assets to GMAC and its majority stakeholder, Cerberus. General Motors , GMAC’s former parent, still has a large minority stake. As part of the overall plan, ResCap offered to exchange as much as $14 billion in debt to extend the dates on which the notes came due. Bondholders participating in the exchange offer will get new debt at higher interest rates, which ResCap will have longer to pay back. Additionally, GMAC provided a $3.5 billion credit line to ResCap, which includes $750 million from G.M. and Cerberus. G.M. and Cerberus would take the first loss if ResCap defaulted. GMAC and ResCap said more than 50 institutions worldwide were participating in the plan. ResCap said on Tuesday that it needed about $2 billion in cash by the end of June to meet liquidity demands, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It previously estimated it needed just $600 million by the end of the month.


House Passes JOBS Act by Large Margin

Abstract: WASHINGTON — The House overwhelmingly approved legislation on Thursday to ease small businesses’ access to investments and capital markets, a sign that the shadow of the November election is pressing Congress into action. The large margin of victory — the bill passed 390 to 23 — on the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act is expected to propel the legislation into law. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said a Senate version would probably be unveiled early next week. It largely reflects the House bill, which is known as the JOBS Act , and Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said he expected it to pass before the end of the month. The vote came on the same day that Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio said that the House was likely to set aside contentious efforts to draft its own transportation and infrastructure bill and take up a bipartisan Senate version once it passed . The Senate version cleared a crucial procedural hurdle on Thursday on the way to expected passage early next week. Republican leaders were open about the political pressure that was driving them toward bipartisanship. “We are in an election season, and the test for any candidate is whether they can produce results,” Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House majority leader, said after the jobs bill passed. Big fights are still ahead, especially over a budget proposal in the House and a dozen annual spending bills. But this week produced rare moments of cooperation among House Republicans, Senate Democrats and the White House. “Today’s vote shows both sides should be able to find common ground on this issue, and the president urges them to pass a bill and bring it to his desk without delay,” said Amy Brundage, a White House spokeswoman. In a news conference, Mr. Reid called the House bill “commendable” and “a step forward,” and he urged the lower chamber to approve the Senate transportation bill. If success produces a thousand fathers, the JOBS Act will need a paternity test. White House officials stressed that many elements of the House version originated with President Obama’s jobs council and proposals he laid out in the fall. And Mr. Schumer noted that he and Senator Patrick Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, first introduced the centerpiece of the House bill, which is ascribed to the freshman Representative Stephen Fincher, Republican of Tennessee. The one sour note came on Wednesday when Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, angrily accused House Republican leaders of stealing a bill written by a Democrat, Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, and giving it to a Republican, Representative Ben Quayle of Arizona. After Representative Jeb Hensarling, Republican of Texas, said Democrats were too concerned about credit, Mr. Frank accused him of issuing “the most hypocritical and dishonest statement” he had “ever heard uttered in this House.” The words were stricken from the official record. The jobs legislation is narrowly tailored, even though it is being praised by all sides as a big help to the economy. The centerpiece would delay some Securities and Exchange Commission regulations that were passed as a response to the recession and would create a category of “emerging growth companies” that would lower the costs of initial public offerings for smaller firms. Another measure would abolish an S.E.C. rule that prohibits small companies from advertising for investors, a ban that dates to 1982. The bill would also lift restrictions on “crowd funding,” which would let entrepreneurs raise capital from large pools of small investors. And the JOBS Act would increase the number of shareholders permitted to invest in a community bank to 2,000, from 500. The 23 members who voted against the bill were mostly from the most liberal wing of the Democratic Party , and they expressed concern that the bill went too far in dismantling regulations that were intended to protect investors. But for most, the imperative was to be seen as doing something about the recovering, but still anemic, job market. Representative Shelley Moore Capito, Republican of West Virginia, said: “I think there’s a huge sense of frustration with everybody, regardless of party. Nothing’s getting done on the most significant issue facing them.” She said lawmakers would say that their votes were not about the election, but, she added, “Obviously you turn the corner in an election year.” The transportation bill will be promoted as a jobs measure, too. Mr. Boehner surprised many Republicans when he told reporters what he had been hinting for a week: “The current plan is to see what the Senate can produce and to bring that bill up.” That would be a retreat for Mr. Boehner, who had pressed for a five-year transportation bill to be financed by opening up vast tracts of federal property — on land and sea — to oil production. Representative Bill Shuster, Republican of Pennsylvania, who was put in charge of the bill after the chairman of the House transportation committee failed to unite Republicans, expressed surprise at Mr. Boehner’s statement. But Ms. Capito, a member of the committee, said she understood the politics behind the announcement. “It’ll bring a different dynamic if the Senate passes a bill, and we’re the ones holding back,” she said. “Our constituents want something done.”

United States Politics and Government
Law and Legislation
Labor and Jobs
Elections
House of Representatives
Democratic Party
Republican Party
Small Business


Community Colleges Offering Quick Prep Courses for Jobs Draw Students

Abstract: SAYVILLE LIFE’S demands have so far kept college and a career out of reach for Monica Juarez. She is 19 and a single mother of two. She works two jobs — at a Waldbaum’s supermarket in Hauppauge and a Teachers Federal Credit Union in Amityville — and shares a one-room apartment in Central Islip with her boys, Alexavier, 2, and Geremiah, 3 months. That hasn’t kept her from yearning for something better. “It’s too hard,” she said last month, standing outside a community college classroom in Sayville. “I need a bigger place for my kids. Everything is for my kids.” What brought her to the Sayville Downtown Center, a branch of Suffolk County Community College, is not the usual quest for an associate’s degree. Instead, Ms. Juarez has spent most weekday evenings since mid-September with eight other students as they hustle through the college’s Pharmacy Technician/Pharmacy Technician Assistant Program. That eight-month, noncredit course will prepare them for a national certification exam. If they pass, they can make $11 to $25 an hour as a retail or hospital pharmacy assistant. It is one of the fastest-growing occupations in the country, according to the Department of Labor, and Ms. Juarez has decided it is her path to a solid future. “Everyone’s going to need medical care, right?” she said. Students across the region, and the country, are swelling the rolls of community colleges, seeking a two-year associate’s degree as a bridge to a four-year university or as a way to retrain after a job loss. But in these shaky economic times, more students are skipping a degree and heading straight for the colleges’ noncredit training and certification programs — courses that end in months or weeks, designed to propel them swiftly into the job market. Once viewed more as a way to learn flower-arranging or how to work your new computer, noncredit programs have been steadily shifting their focus to the workplace. First-time students use them as a jumping-off point for a career or an entree to higher education (some noncredit courses can be used toward a credit degree). Some take skill-boosting classes to help insulate themselves from a layoff or to chart a new career path. The courses are generally listed under the heading of Continuing Education or Lifelong Learning and are sometimes created in cooperation with local industry, labor departments and unions. (Local 338 of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union is paying for Ms. Juarez’s program.) Although the classes meet in college buildings and are administered by the college, the teachers are paid through the noncredit class tuition and the programs are not subject to the same lengthy state accreditation process required for degree programs. As a result, courses can sometimes be set up in weeks. “Continuing education has changed,” said Andrea Morville, assistant dean of Continuing Education at Westchester Community College. She said career programs had gone from about 25 percent to 40 percent of the classes in her division in the last 10 years. Other administrators put their numbers even higher. In Connecticut , about 50 percent of noncredit courses are aimed at job training, said Mary Anne Cox, assistant chancellor for the System of Connecticut Community Colleges. And in New Jersey, the number of registrations for noncredit professional training increased by 20,000 between 2005 and 2007, said Jacob C. Farbman, spokesman for the New Jersey Council of County Colleges. Lifestyle-enhancing courses are still popular, of course (Suffolk Community offers basket-weaving this fall), and predominate at some colleges. But at many others, the shift toward job training has broadened into a significant role in stocking the work force. Noncredit offerings increasingly read like a roster of where jobs are. Of the 30 occupations for which the Labor Department is predicting the largest national growth in the next eight years, 22 are in areas that do not require a college degree. Most are directly addressed by continuing education. Courses in health care, high-skills manufacturing, management, hospitality and culinary arts, and — as always — computers are booming, regionally and nationally. But so are many other continuing education programs tailored to the needs of the surrounding community. “Instead of designing those courses to get state aid, we design courses that will travel well in the workforce,” said G. Jeremiah Ryan, president of Bergen Community College. Program directors scan the job landscape like doctors seeking a pulse. A new industry requirement, a government regulation, a lifestyle trend or a product release, like the Microsoft Office 2007 program, can send droves of workers back to class. “I don’t plug into my crystal ball and imagine what industry might be interested in, I ask them,” said Lynn Lederer, director of professional community programs at Middlesex County College in New Jersey. “I check with industry experts, census figures on demographics, watch the classes that have increased enrollment and maybe add a section of something similar.” A program on beginning an animal-based business was successful, for example, so she added a veterinary assistant program. Real estate licensing classes may be down, but enrollment spiked in a course on buying foreclosures, Ms. Lederer said. At Westchester, “green” lifestyle classes are beginning to migrate to the workforce side, Ms. Morville said. Next spring her college will offer a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification program to builders and others seeking accreditation by the United States Green Building Council, she said. Costs vary depending on a course’s length and intensity, but tuition for a noncredit program is far less than for an associate’s degree. The seven-month Computerized Healthcare Billing and Coding Certificate Program at Bergen Community College in New Jersey, for example, runs $2,995, while a two-year degree program for a medical office assistant costs about $8,500. “It takes much longer to get a degree, where with a noncredit course I can have them in the work force in 16 weeks making between $13 to $18 an hour,” said David Chrzanowski, director of extended studies at Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. While classes are often aimed at entry-level access to the job market, students take them for all sorts of reasons. “Some of them have bachelor’s or master’s but now they want to learn about information systems,” said Jennifer Dudley, the continuing education director at Passaic County Community College in New Jersey. Enrollment is up for English as a Second Language study and in a citizenship training course she runs. At Essex County College, one of the Labor Department’s One-Stop Career Centers is situated at the Newark campus to match the underemployed with noncredit programs, said Mitra Choudhury, director of Training Inc. at the college. Allied health courses are particularly popular, she said. Among the biggest areas of growth is customized training for businesses or government agencies, coordinated by the colleges and held on campus or at the business site. Connecticut’s 12 community colleges provide such programs to about 600 businesses a year, said Ms. Cox, the assistant chancellor. Designed to help workers upgrade skills in a downsizing job market, company-subsidized classes can offer targeted training in areas like management, business writing and high-skill manufacturing. Programs can be started in as little as a few weeks, said James Polo, associate vice president of lifelong learning at Nassau Community College, which recently ran a medical coding program for employees of Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola. Work force training programs also help prepare workers for shudders in the local job market — for example, when a large hotel breaks ground or a major employer moves out. When the Peter Paul plant closed in Naugatuck, Conn., last year, Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury worked closely with the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board, a private, nonprofit organization constituted by the General Assembly that administers federal and state funds to dislocated workers for retraining. And when Executive Greetings closed its New Hartford offices several years ago, “we were able to take a host of those people and turn them into health care employees because they had computer graphic-type skills; you look at a CAT scan and it’s a computer graphic,” said Catherine Awwad, the board’s executive director. “Re-educated at the community college level.”

Education and Schools
Colleges and Universities
Vocational Training
Connecticut


For Those Facebook Left Behind

Abstract: Last month, the standards editor at The New York Times wrote a memo that shocked — shocked! — bloggers everywhere. He asked Times writers to avoid using the word “tweet” (as in, “to say something on Twitter ”). “We don’t want to seem Paleolithic,” he wrote. “But we favor established usage and ordinary words over the latest jargon or buzzwords.” That the Internet’s reaction was so swift and harsh only proves the point: the techno-savvy population can’t even conceive of the existence of a less savvy crowd. If you use jargon every day, you can’t imagine that millions of people have no idea what you’re talking about. I do a lot of public speaking. And even today, when I ask my audience how many know what Twitter is, sometimes only a quarter of the hands go up. The response depends a lot on where I’m giving the talk and the audience’s age. But one day it occurred to me: how would they know? All of these buzzy social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter sort of crept up on us. The government never mailed fliers to every household explaining what it’s all about. As a public service, therefore, I’m offering a handy clip-’n’-save guide to the social networking services you’re most likely to hear about at this summer’s barbecues. (Warning: This is an extremely basic overview. If you’re already someone who, you know, tweets, this will all seem like old news. But it’s not intended for you.) These services all have a few things in common. They’re all free. They’re all confusing at first. They all require time to understand and exploit. You can interact with them from your cellphone, which is part of why they’re so popular. FACEBOOK This is the biggest social networking service, with almost 500 million members — 22 percent of everyone on the Internet — and it’s growing by 5 percent a month. It’s a glorified “facebook”— name-and-photo directory — of the sort that colleges distribute to incoming freshmen. (In fact, Facebook started out exactly that way, as an electronic facebook at Harvard.) You answer as many questions about yourself as you feel comfortable sharing: your name, contact information, relationship status, favorite music and maybe a few photos. Then you search for friends, past or present. When they accept your friend invitations, you can now see their Facebook pages and they can see yours. Why you’d bother: Facebook is great for sharing news, photos and videos with people who might care; for finding long-lost friends (or snooping on old lovers); for joining groups that support various causes or interests; for sending messages (it’s somewhat more streamlined than regular e-mail); and for playing games with each other (FarmVille, Mafia Wars). Why not: Facebook keeps making policy and programming blunders that expose personal information to other Web sites. It also lets its advertisers place ads on the pages of very targeted members: divorced 45-year-olds in Texas , for example. Similar: MySpace (a teenage and preteenage crowd, heavily focused on pop music and do-it-yourself page designs), Bebo and many others. LINKEDIN It’s Facebook for the professional set. Here, the concept is establishing a “who you know” network of current and former business colleagues. Why you’d bother: LinkedIn is especially useful when you’re looking for a new job — or a new employee, which helps explain its 70-million-strong global membership — because you’re no longer limited to asking your immediate colleagues for referrals. Now you can ask colleagues of colleagues, which greatly expands your reach. LinkedIners can also vouch for one another as references. A popular feature called Answers lets you ask business-related questions of people who might know — advice on everything from résumé formatting to business software. Why not: As with Facebook, not all connections are legitimate. When people accept “friend” invitations from people they don’t actually know, the whole trusted-colleague concept weakens. TWITTER This is the service that lets you send tweets — er, brief, 140-character updates that feel a lot like text messages . They can be news, jokes, observations, links, gripes, questions, anything. Except instead of sending them to just one person’s cellphone, you’re sending them to a handful, or thousands — as many as have signed up to receive them from you. Meanwhile, you’ve signed up to receive other people’s postings (to “follow” them). Once you’ve signed up for a few good ones, the messages scroll up your screen, like the transcript of a global cocktail-party conversation. You can use Twitter on its Web site, but it’s much easier if you do it using a free Twitter-reading app for your computer or phone, like TweetDeck, Twitterific and Twitter (the official Twitter app for the iPhone , formerly called Tweetie). Why you’d bother: News frequently breaks on Twitter (by being passed around so fast that pretty soon, everybody’s heard it). It’s fun to follow famous people; the stuff they (or their minions) type appears directly on your phone or computer screen, without any layers of interpreters in between. Using search.twitter.com , you can find out what the world is saying about you, your company or any topic that interests you. And if enough people, or the right people, follow you, you can get something truly revolutionary: expert, instantaneous feedback on questions or opinions. Why not: Twitter can be a lonely place when you first sign up. Figuring out whom to follow, and how to get people to follow you, takes time and effort. And Twitterites use a lot of conventions and shorthand codes that can be confusing at first. Similar: Google Buzz, FriendFeed, Facebook updates. FOURSQUARE As cellphones with GPS become more popular, crazy new possibilities pop up — like Foursquare. It knows where you are. So when you open the Foursquare app on your iPhone, Palm , BlackBerry or Android phone, you see a list of restaurants, bars and shops near where you’re standing. By “checking in” (tapping the name of the one you’re in), you broadcast your location to your friends. There’s a game element, too: you earn points whenever you check in. In fact, whoever visits a certain place the most becomes its “mayor,” and may be rewarded by a giveaway from that business. Why you’d bother: You can see where your friends are right now, making it easy to meet them. Businesses can offer you free products as you walk by (“Since you’re right outside, how ’bout a free coffee?”) — win-win marketing. And your buddies can leave pointers about an establishment (“avoid the halibut”) that appear right on your screen as you enter. Really cool concept. Why not: With not quite two million members — mostly bar-hopping twenty-somethings — Foursquare isn’t for everyone. Most people don’t use it, and most businesses aren’t listed yet. Similar: Gowalla, Loopt, Brightkite. YELP It’s a huge database of restaurants, shops, hotels, doctors, museums and attractions, all easy to find, with store hours, directions and phone numbers, covering 34 cities. But the magic is in the customer reviews: 11 million of them so far, mostly helpful and articulate. Why you’d bother: Armed with those reviews, you have no excuse to go to a terrible restaurant or shady shop again. Why not: There’s always a chance that the reviews are being manipulated (although the company says it’s diligent about filtering out suspicious ones). Similar: OpenTable, Urbanspoon. THE BOTTOM LINE These sites all derive their power the same way: We, the people, provide the information — not the Web site owner. Some of these services establish lines of communication between people who might otherwise never meet, joining them by interest rather than geography. Others connect you with people you do know, or once knew, so that you can help each other out. You may find absolutely nothing of value to you in these sites, and that’s fine. But isn’t it better to make that decision now that you know what you’re ignoring? Happy tweeting!


Widow of Sept. 11 Pilot Seeks More Cockpit Security

Abstract: WASHINGTON — The widow of a United Airlines pilot who died on Sept. 11, 2001, is lobbying for legislation that would require airlines to install a second security door to prevent would-be hijackers from rushing cockpits. But the move is opposed by the airline industry, which says the existing security measures are good enough. Ellen Saracini, whose husband, Victor, was the captain on the hijacked United Flight 175, which crashed into the World Trade Center’s South Tower, said she learned in August that United had begun removing the secondary security doors from newer planes. She began lobbying Congress this year, making trips to Washington from her home in Yardley, Pa. “It’s quite upsetting to me,” Ms. Saracini said in an interview. “When Victor and the others died, United did the right thing and added these doors. Now they are backsliding.” After the 2001 attacks, Congress required airlines to install reinforced cockpit doors that could withstand gunfire and explosives. Some airlines, United in particular, went further by installing retractable, fencelike barriers between the cockpit and the outer security door. But pilots who work for United say the airline, which merged with Continental in 2010, is removing the doors to save money. The pilots say they believe that Continental, which runs the new company created in the merger, ordered the doors removed because its planes had no doors and it did not want to have to put doors in all the merged company’s planes — about 1,000 in all. The secondary doors are believed to cost $5,000 to $12,000 each. United declined to comment on the doors. It is unclear how many of them remain in the planes. Ms. Saracini is supported by the Air Line Pilots Association and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, which represents officers from various federal agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration and the Secret Service. A bipartisan coalition of 22 lawmakers, mostly from states where the hijacked planes crashed on Sept. 11, have taken up the cause. They have introduced a bill, the Saracini Aviation Safety Act, that would force airlines to install secondary barriers. The bill has been referred to the House Transportation Committee. Representative Michael G. Fitzpatrick, Republican of Pennsylvania, the bill’s main sponsor and Ms. Saracini’s congressman, said he had made several attempts to get answers from United about the removal of the second doors and other security measures. “They have given some vague answers about security measures they have, basically saying, ‘Just trust us,’ ” Mr. Fitzpatrick said. “The bill that I’m sponsoring simply fulfills the intent of the efforts that were started over a decade ago by adding another layer of protection.” Pilots and law enforcement officials say the current security doors do protect cockpits from attacks — except when pilots open the doors for bathroom breaks or meals, which they say would give a well-trained group of terrorists a five-second opening to breach the cockpit. Image A second door would let pilots shut one behind them before opening the outside door. Credit Eric Cabanis/Agence France-Presse With two doors, pilots and law enforcement officials say, when a pilot leaves the cockpit, he can close one behind him before opening the door to the rest of the plane. Airline industry and law enforcement officials, who asked not to be quoted, said there have been at least 11 attempts worldwide by individuals to get into a cockpit since the Sept. 11 attacks. The officials said they could not say if any of the attempts had been in the United States. The Federal Aviation Administration and the T.S.A., agencies with oversight of airline security, have acknowledged that the secondary security doors provide additional safety. An F.A.A. report in 2011 concluded that of all the security measures — including human barriers and galley carts placed before the doors — the secondary doors were the most “cost-effective, efficient and safest way to protect the cockpit.” The agency declined to make the doors mandatory. A spokeswoman for the F.A.A. said the agency would review any legislation on the secondary security doors but would not require them unless directed to do so. Most airlines contacted said they did not have the secondary barrier doors and had no plans to install them. “Installing a secondary barrier door to the cockpit of our aircraft is not in the current plans for our fleet,” said Michelle Agnew, a spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines. Delta Air Lines did not respond to questions about the secondary security doors. In 2007, Northwest Airlines, which has since merged with Delta, installed secondary doors on some flights but decided against installing them on all the planes in its fleet. Although United Airlines did not address specific questions about the removal of the doors, a spokeswoman said the airline took the safety and security of its customers and workers seriously. “Security measures have evolved in the years since the secondary barriers were ordered, and many more layers of security now exist on each of our aircraft,” said Christen David, the spokeswoman. “While we don’t discuss the details of which security measures are used for a particular aircraft or a particular flight, we are thorough in carrying out our security responsibilities for every flight.” Airlines do not disclose their security measures, but F.A.A. documents and interviews with pilots show that the measures include positioning flight attendants in front of a door or in some cases placing a food cart in front of the cockpit door. “I wouldn’t even call that security,” said Jon Adler, president of the law enforcement union. Ms. Saracini said the secondary doors were a small price to pay to prevent another terrorist attack. “I’m not doing this for Victor. I can’t help him,” she said. “I’m doing this so no one else will have to suffer through what my two girls and I had to suffer through.”

9/11,Sept 11
Airlines,airplanes
Security
Ellen Saracini
United Airlines
Continental Airlines
Pilots
Plane Crashes and Missing Planes