Owls and San Diego State Aztecs Head to Second Overtime

In the late goings of today's Round of 32 contest between the Temple Owls and the San Diego State University Aztecs, it looked like the Aztecs were going to get the second NCAA Tournament in the program's history (the first coming against Northern Colorado on Thursday). 
With less than two minutes to go, the Aztecs held a 54-49 lead, but the game wasn't in the bag quite yet. Temple fought back on the strength of a three-pointer from Khalif Wyatt and a Lavoy Allen jumper to tie the score 54-54 with less than a minute to go.

San Diego State had a final shot opportunity with four seconds left in regulation, but Chase Tapley's couldn't get a floater to go. The game went to overtime.
Juan Fernandez scored five of Temple's seven points in the overtime period, but the Aztecs were able to keep pace. They had yet another final shot opportunity, but Malcolm Thomas jumper was no good. The game went to a second overtime with scored tied at 61-61.
At this very moment, there is 2:38 to go in the second overtime period, and San Diego State has a 65-61 lead. As soon as the game goes final, we'll gave a full recap.
For more on the NCAA Tournament, check out our 2011 March Madness Home Page.

UCSD Policy Limits

With transfer applications soaring and budget cuts looming, the University of California San Diego is raising the threshold on a guaranteed admission program for the state’s community college students.
For years, community college students who took specific courses and obtained a 3.0 grade-point average could count on admission under the program called Transfer Admissions Guarantee, or TAG.
But faced with growing demand and limited capacity, UCSD officials in recent weeks have notified community college officials statewide that for guaranteed admission in 2012 and beyond TAG students will have to earn GPAs of 3.5 or better.
Mae Brown, assistant vice chancellor and director of admissions at UCSD, said that TAG applications have grown from 443 five years ago to 8,715 for fall admission this year.
“We saw the exponential growth in TAG applications — this is a guarantee — and the obvious issue is we don’t have the capacity,” Brown said. “Given the severe budget situation, and the university (statewide) taking a $500 million or more budget reduction, if we are going to guarantee, we should be guaranteeing admissions to the best prepared.”
UCSD’s program started in the early 1980s and involved only two-year schools in San Diego and Imperial counties. Later, UCSD entered agreements with 33 colleges around the state. And since 2009 it has offered the program to all 112 California community colleges.
Brown said applications spiked dramatically for 2011 largely due to a new computer-based process that makes it easier for TAG students to apply to multiple campuses. Still, she said, the trend was already overtaxing the campus’ capacity.
The university’s decision has prompted a sharp response from officials of Southwestern College, which serves a predominantly minority population in the South Bay.

Gonzaga Beats St. John’s in NCAA

Gonzaga University played spoiler in St. John’s University’s return to the national men’s college basketball tournament after a nine-year absence.
Gonzaga, seeded 11th in the Southeast Region, knocked off sixth-seeded St. John’s 86-71 in the last of yesterday’s three upsets in Denver, where No. 13 Morehead State shocked Louisville 62-61 and No. 12 Richmond ousted Vanderbilt 69-66.
“They’ve had a wonderful year,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said of St. John’s. “But I couldn’t be happier for our guys to move on and get another chance to play again.”
University of Kentucky coach John Calipari heaved a sigh of relief after his Wildcats escaped with a 59-57 win against Princeton University yesterday in Tampa, Florida, to avoid their biggest upset loss in a record 51 trips to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.
Thirteen of yesterday’s 16 games were won by favorites, including double-digit victories by Pittsburgh, Florida, San Diego State, Brigham Young, Connecticut and Wisconsin.
Morehead State pulled the tournament’s first major upset as a 10 1/2-point underdog. The Morehead, Kentucky- based school beat two-time national champion and Southwest Region No. 4 seed Louisville on a 3-pointer with 4.2 seconds left.

Big East Record

Gonzaga capped the day by beating St. John’s, one of a record 11 teams in the tournament from the Big East Conference. The Spokane, Washington-based Bulldogs, making their 13th straight NCAA tournament appearance, held a 41- 18 rebounding advantage and hit 54 percent of their shots.
Gonzaga advances to play Brigham Young, the No. 3 seed in the Southeast, which beat Wofford 74-66 behind a 32- point performance by Jimmer Fredette, the nation’s leading scorer.
“I’m just excited we’re able to live another day,” Fredette said after hitting 10 of 25 shots.
Pittsburgh was the only No. 1 regional seed in action yesterday, beating the University of North Carolina- Asheville 74-51 in the Southeast Regional. The other three top seeds begin tournament play today, when 16 more games are scheduled.
Ohio State, the No. 1 seed in the East region, meets Texas-San Antonio in Cleveland, and Southwest top seed Kansas plays Boston University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Defending champion Duke, the top team in the West, meets Hampton University in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Butler Advances

Butler University, which lost to Duke in last year’s NCAA tournament championship game, advanced yesterday with a 60-58 win against Old Dominion on Matt Howard’s layup as time expired. Eighth-seeded Butler next faces Pittsburgh.
Seventh-seeded Temple University also won in the final second, beating 10th-seeded Penn State 66-64 on a contested jump shot by Juan Fernandez with 0.4 seconds on the clock.
The Owls move on to a matchup with No. 2 San Diego State, which beat Northern Colorado 68-50 in Tucson, Arizona, for the first tournament win in school history.
Florida, the No. 2 seed in the Southeast, routed California-Santa Barbara 79-51 and will face No. 7 UCLA, which held off No. 10 Michigan State 78-76 in Tampa.
Southeast No. 4 seed Wisconsin beat Belmont 72-58 in Tucson and next plays No. 5 Kansas State, a 73-68 winner against Utah State.

Huskies Cruise

Big East tournament champion Connecticut, seeded third in the West, rolled past Bucknell 81-52 in Washington as Kemba Walker had 18 points and 12 assists. The Huskies, who are 16-1 in tournament openers since 1990, advance to play Cincinnati, which defeated Missouri 78-63. Connecticut’s 29-point margin of victory was the biggest in yesterday’s games.
“I didn’t think it was going to be this easy, especially when I was back in my hotel room watching all the games, watching some upsets,” said Connecticut’s Alex Oriakhi, who scored nine points. “I was a little bit nervous, to be honest. I’m just happy we pulled it off and we won by a lot.”
Kentucky fought past Princeton on Brandon Knight’s driving layup with two seconds left and next plays West Virginia, which rallied for an 84-76 victory against Clemson.
Darius Miller scored 17 points and Josh Harrellson added 15 as Kentucky overcame a five-point second-half deficit against the Ivy League’s tournament representative.
While Princeton came up short, Morehead State’s win means a 13th seed has now won in 20 of the last 27 NCAA tournaments.
Thanks to Richmond, No. 12 seeds have pulled at least one upset in 21 of the last 23 tournaments. Morehead State and Richmond will play in the next round.

Gonzaga finally looking like the Zags we all love

The Mile High City had an underdog trifecta, something that's unlikely to be duplicated in any other pod in this tournament. 

Gonzaga, an 11 seed in the Southeast Regional, wrecked shop on No. 6 St. John's 86-71 in the final game in Round of 64 action at the Pepsi Center. The cruise-control "W" contrasted with what lower-seeded brethren Morehead State and Richmond did earlier in the day; the Eagles and Spiders dramatically pulled out victories to make it to Saturday.
"I'm just tickled pink, I guess, or whatever the saying is," Bulldogs coach Mark Few said upon plopping down to the podium at the postgame presser.
It was Gonzaga's best game of the season. Easily. The best sign for this team and its fans: the second-best game, according to Steven Gray, was the WCC title game, which preceded this one. The Zags defeated St. Mary's 75-63 in that one. So ... here comes a Gonzaga tournament run? No one's going there yet. Some guy named Jimmer stands in the way. (More on him and that matchup in a few.)
Because of the team's makeup and size up front, Few sort of took fleeting offense at the seeding his team received. They prepped all week as the superior team.
"We didn't consider ourselves a lower seed. We just knew it was a number that some random group assigned us," Few said. "We went into this game thinking we should win. That was the mindset as soon as the matchup popped up."
They played like the better team Thursday night. Gonzaga took a 15-14 lead with 15:14 left in the first half, then never looked back. The Bulldogs shot a very impressive 62.5 "effective field-goal percentage" from the floor. Effective field-goal percentage (referred to as eFG%) is a stat that properly weighs 3-point shots in correlation with 2-point ones. The Zags hit 9 of their 15 attempts from deep, led by Gray's four, boosting their broad field-goal percentage up from 53.8 percent.

Lee plays with an edge in guarding Michigan State's Lucas

TAMPA, Fla. - UCLA junior guard Malcolm Lee insists he's not playing with a chip on his shoulder after being slighted for Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year honors, an award that went to USC's Marcus Simmons.
He most certainly is playing with a chip in his left knee, courtesy of a small cartilage tear suffered in the closing seconds of regulation in the team's regular-season-ending win at Washington State.
But he certainly appeared to be playing with a certain something extra in the seventh-seeded Bruins' 78-76 barn-burning win over No. 10-seed Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Tampa's St. Pete Times Forum.
Lee locked down Michigan State's fantastic senior guard Kalin Lucas for more than 30 minutes, holding the Spartans' top scorer to zero points until a steal-and-layup with 7 minutes, 45 seconds left. "Like I've said before," UCLA head coach Ben Howland said emphatically, "Malcolm Lee is the best defender in the country at his position."
Lee held Lucas to 0-for-7 shooting in the first half as the Bruins broke open the game with a 42-28 lead.
Even as the Spartans marched back, ultimately giving themselves a chance to win, Lucas wasn't the biggest factor.
Lucas finished 4 of 14 from the field, 1 for 2 from the free-throw line, and had four turnovers, including a travel violation with less than a second to play that effectively ended the game.
"He's an All-American guard, and we knew that,"

Seann William Scott

The actor "voluntarily admitted himself for proactive treatment to address health and personal issues," says his rep.

 

Seann William Scott has checked himself into a treatment center, his rep says in a statement.
"Seann William Scott has voluntarily admitted himself for proactive treatment to address health and personal issues," the rep says of the American Pie star.
 "He appreciates the support of his many fans at this time," adds the rep, who did not disclose the nature of his issues.

Scott and screenwriter Steve Conrad, which aims to bring together directors, writers and actors for shorts, features, documentaries and episodic Web content, last year.

Nate Dogg Is Dead At 41

Nate Dogg, one of the most recognizable and smooth voices in rap and R & B, has died. He was 41.

Born Nathaniel Hale, Nate Dogg suffered from ill health for years. His death was first reported in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

The cause of death is not immediately known, though the Press-Telegram reports that he suffered two strokes, one in 2007 and another in 2008. TMZ reports it's confirmed Nate Dogg's death.

The hook singer first came to national attention on Dr. Dre's 1992 masterpiece "The Chronic." Nate earned the first of four Grammy nominations in 1995 for "Regulate," a collaboration with Warren G. His fourth and most recent nomination came for Eminem's "Shake That" in 2007.

Since the news broke of Nate Dogg's death, his friends and collaborators have sent messages out about him. "We lost a true legend n hip hop n rnb. One of my best friends n a brother to me since 1986 when I was a sophomore at poly high where we met," tweeted Snoop Dogg, who continued on for several tweets before concluding, "RIP NATE DOGG."

On Twitter, "Nate Dogg" quickly became a trend.

Nate Dogg released several solo albums, including a self-titled effort in 2008

St. Patrick’s Day celebrations

With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, people around the world are getting ready to celebrate. For ages, it has been the usual: wear green, eat corned beef and cabbage, and spend time with family. However, over the centuries, the St. Patrick’s Day holiday has developed into something even bigger.

Ireland closes down almost completely on St. Patrick’s Day. The only places opened are pubs and restaurants. People wear shamrocks on their clothing, and children wear green in their hair. Artists throughout Ireland paint and draw shamrock designs on people’s cheeks. Outside of Dublin, the biggest celebration is held in Downpatrick, which is in Northern Ireland. This celebration features 2,000 participants, including bands, floats, and performers, and is watched by more than 30,000 people.
    In the Manchester, U.K, a two week Irish festival is held prior to St. Patrick’s Day. The festival includes an Irish market, a parade, and cultural events throughout the two-week festival. This festival produces quite a turn-out since Manchester has the largest population of Irish citizens in Great Britain.
    The U.S. also has its annual ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. We hold parades and sporting events, such as hockey. The state of Chicago even dies its river green.
    Seattle, Washington, celebrates St. Patrick’s Day by hosting a week filled with fun activities. They even put on a mini-parade to prepare for the bigger one, which takes place on St. Patrick’s Day. In preparation for the main parade, a green stripe is painted down the center of the road on 4th Avenue.
    The parade in New York City is not only the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world, but also it is the oldest surviving parade, being held since 1762. This parade features 150,000 marchers that include firefighters, military and police groups, county affiliation groups, emigrant societies, and social/cultural clubs. This parade is led by the U.S. 69th Infantry Regiment. As many as 2 million spectators go to New York City to attend the parade. It runs for 5 hours on a 1.5 mile path along 5th Avenue.
    Even though people around the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in many different ways, all of the festivities are held for the same reason- to celebrate and remember St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland.

Japan Nuclear Plant Hit By Second Explosion

A second explosion occurred Monday at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, and officials say three reactors at the plant are now having cooling problems in the wake of Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami.
The latest blast blew the roof off a structure built around the reactor but did not harm the reactor itself or its so-called containment vessel, government officials said.
The containment vessel is a heavily reinforced barrier that surrounds the reactor's core and provides a second layer of protection against the release of radioactive material.

It's unlikely that the explosion released large amounts of radiation, said Yukio Edano, Japan's chief Cabinet secretary.
The blast affected reactor No. 3, one of six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant about 150 miles north of Tokyo. A similar explosion occurred Saturday at reactor No. 1, and apparently did release some radioactive material.
Both blasts were blamed on explosive hydrogen gas coming from the reactor cores.
Hydrogen can be produced when a reactor's core overheats, damaging the zirconium tubes that hold the nuclear fuel. Officials say both explosions occurred after hydrogen from the core leaked into the space outside the containment vessels but inside the building that houses them.
When the earthquake hit Friday, the reactors automatically shut down. But even after the nuclear reaction stops, some radioactive materials continue to produce heat and require a constant flow of cooling water to prevent the core from melting.

Jury Selection to Begin in Buffalo Mass Shooting

 

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The lone suspect in a deadly mass shooting outside a Buffalo restaurant could face life in prison without any chance of parole if he's convicted of murder.
On Monday, jury selection for his trial begins.
Riccardo McCray is charged with first- and second-degree murder in the shooting that killed four people and wounded four others leaving the City Grill restaurant in the early morning hours of Aug. 14.
McCray turned himself in as police were searching for him, but the 23-year-old denies he's the killer.

Has The Mysterious Lost City of Atlantis been found

 

The legendary lost city of Atlantis that has found place in tales and fables and was thought to have been swallowed up by a massive tsunami in 9600 BC, may be found in the marshlands of the Dona Ana Park, southwest Spain, claim researchers.

A U.S.-led team of researchers including geologists and archaeologists, who have been searching for the true site of Atlantis since 2009, revealed in a National Geographic show, Finding Atlantis, on Sunday.
Using satellite photography, ground-penetrating radar and underwater technology, researchers believe to have located the buried city underneath the marshlands.
Atlantis was fist mentioned in Greek philosopher Plato's dialogues, Timaeus and Critias, about 2600 years ago. Various speculations have been made about the actual existence of the city. Some historians thought it really existed, while others would rather consider it a fictious city.
In 1999, a British historian and cartographer Jim Allen, claimed that the legendary lost city of Atlantis was located where present-day Quillacas is, considering the similarities between Plato's description and the Bolivian altiplano that was once covered by extensive lakes and inland seas.

Future Of Nuclear Power Faces Intense Scrutiny

The crisis could hurt the Australian uranium industry.

THE partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the United States in 1979 stopped the growth of the world's nuclear power industry in its tracks.
Then the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Soviet Ukraine presented the industry with another roadblock.

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But come the turn of the century, along came growing global concerns about carbon pollution and global warming.
The role that nuclear power, with its near-zero emissions, could play in replacing coal-fired power stations fuelled talk of a renaissance for the industry. Given the world's 442 existing reactors are to be joined by 65 new reactors currently under construction, talk of a renaissance was fair enough.
But with the world now watching Japan struggling to control nuclear reactions at two if its northern power plants damaged by Friday's earthquake and tsunami, questions about the industry's future are again being asked. Will the industry again go into a multi-decade retreat as it did after Three Mile Island?
While Australia is not a nuclear power producer, it is intimately involved in the nuclear power cycle thanks to its uranium exports. Among others that the local industry supplies is Tokyo Electric Power Co, the owner of the power plants that have given sceptics of the industry's safety performance new ammunition.
Australia's four uranium mines (Ranger, Olympic Dam, Four Mile and the new Honeymoon mine) supply about 20 per cent of the uranium consumed by the world's nuclear plants.
At their current combined annual production rate of more than 10,000 tonnes of uranium, more than 400 million tonnes of greenhouse gases that would otherwise be emitted each year by fossil-fuelled power stations is said to be avoided.
That ''contribution'' to fighting global warming is set to grow with the planned tripling of uranium production at BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam, and the development of its Yeelirrie deposit in Western Australia, also home to the proposed Cameco development of the Kintyre deposit.
Whether the crisis in Japan - an earthquake in July 2007 knocked out the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata prefecture - forces those plans to be altered remains to be seen.
What is known is that a combination of Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and the collapse of the Soviet Union drove uranium prices to a low of $US7 a pound in the early 1990s, a level below the cost of production. The price is currently $US66.50 a pound.
Beyond its role as a major supplier to overseas nuclear power stations, Australia itself has warmed to the prospect of pursuing a nuclear power path to help tackle global warming concerns.
Only last month former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke said the ALP should have a serious debate about nuclear power in Australia.
Mr Hawke's said it was a fact that ''if we want as clean as possible an environment, the generation of electricity by nuclear power stations is going to be an increasingly positive feature of that''. His comments backed a call by Resources Minister Martin Ferguson for a shift in the party's uranium policy.
The ALP's long-held opposition to uranium mining, and by extension the nuclear power industry, has been whittled away in recent years. The ALP effectively embraced uranium mining at its national conference in 2007. And last year Queensland Premier Anna Bligh called for a debate on nuclear power at this year's conference, even if uranium mining in the state is currently banned.

Daylight Savings Time 2011

Digital News Report – Daylight savings time is going to happen this Sunday, March 13, 2011. At 2 a.m., this is when most the United States will change their clocks to one hour ahead in order to adjust to the new current time. As you grumble about losing an hour of sleep this Saturday, here is some history and information about why we change our clocks each year.
Daylight Savings begins in the Spring and ends in the Fall. If you can remember that it is like a race for the year that you want to get ahead in the beginning of the year to hurry up to summer and in the Fall you want to fall back an hour to put off winter. There is another saying that is easy to remember. Spring ahead and Fall Back. Which is move one hour in advance in the Spring and in the Fall you go back one hour for the new current time.

atomic clocks

There are exceptions to which areas observe the Daylight Savings Time. Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the majority of Arizona don’t change their clocks and remain in standard time. The only place in Arizona that does participate in Daylight Savings is on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Indiana used to not participate in parts, but the state passed laws to make Daylight Savings Time observed statewide beginning in 2006.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 has extended the Daylight Savings Time period. Initially, the new law wanted to extend the time a whole two months, but was extended only three weeks earlier in the Spring, and one week more in the Fall. The reason for this was farmers and airlines said it would cause too many problems in their industries. Other countries might not observe, or have a different Daylight Savings Time schedule which can make it difficult to schedule flights. The farmers say that the livestock is affected by the shifting times.
Who originally thought up this idea of Daylight Savings? It turns out that it goes way back to Benjamin Franklin. He thought that setting the clocks for a person’s work day would help to extend daylight hours. This makes sense because there wasn’t any electricity back then. However, it wasn’t until London builder, William Willett promoted a pamphlet in 1907 suggesting adjusting the clocks in the spring and in the fall and its benefits. There is an online history lesson about daylight savings.

The Rascal Flatts

Rascal Flatts mashed up the old hymn “Oh the Blood of Jesus,” the Journey classic “Open Arms” and their own smash “Bless the Broken Road,” along with a generous measure of cheeky stand-up comedy, in a medley that got the crowd alternately laughing uproariously and singing along reverently.

Read more: http://newsok.com/concert-review-rascal-flatts/article/3548536#ixzz1GXGimh9K

As the multi-platinum-selling country trio officially closed its 10-year celebration in Oklahoma City, it took the appreciative audience on a nostalgic trip through its award-winning superstar career. Rascal Flatts features talented Picher product Joe Don Rooney scorching the stage on electric guitar, singer Gary LeVox and bassist Jay DeMarcus. From early favorites like “Prayin’ for Daylight” and “Mayberry” to new hits “Why Wait” and “I Won’t Let Go,” the three showed their style, musicianship and especially their signature harmonies have only gotten stronger and better with age.

Library of Congress Gets NY Man's Recording Trove

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — The Library of Congress has obtained part of a large collection of radio broadcasts of major league sporting events recorded over more than 20 years by an upstate New York man.  The Daily Gazette of Schenectady reports that between 1957 and his death in 1979, Patrick Rispole recorded about 10,000 complete radio broadcasts of baseball games involving the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees, Giants and Mets.  The collection includes Brooklyn's final game before moving to Los Angeles after the 1957 season and Sandy Koufax's first no-hitter in 1962.  John Miley of Evansville, Ind., acquired the collection from Rispole's estate in 1981 for $10,000.  On Wednesday, Miley donated a portion of the collection plus thousands of his own recordings to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The library plans to digitize the recordings and make them available online

It's Time to Spring Forward, Moorpark

It's that time of year again to spring forward an hour. Daylight saving time starts at 2 a.m. Sunday.

You will lose an hour of sleep, but you can look forward to an extra hour of sunlight at the end of every day. Spring is around the corner.

So don't forget to adjust the clocks around your home, in your car and on your microwave. And you might as well double check that your cell phone and computer clocks have made the leap. You'll be glad you did.

Most of the nation will make the switch from standard time, but there are some exceptions. Those who do not participate include Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

TSA To Retest Radiation Recorded From Full-Body Scanners

The Transportation Security Administration. (TSA) is blaming math mistakes for elevated radiation levels recorded on some full-body scanners during routine maintenance at airports around the country.


Still, the controversial full-body scanners will be retested out of "an abundance of caution to reassure the public," TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball says. The tests will be finished by the end of the month, and the results will be released "as they are completed," according to the agency's website.

The move comes as the TSA – under pressure from lawmakers – released the results of testing that was ordered last December. The TSA insisted the elevated levels were due to calculation errors and that the machines, used for screening passengers at airport security, were safe.

Back in 2008, a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the TSA had bungled the detection of radiation emitted from baggage X-ray machines and in fact the machines had radiation levels well beyond what regulations allowed. The review also found that the TSA's machines did not have all of the required safety features in place.

Lawmakers have been calling on the TSA to ensure the safety of full-body scanners to travelers' health. Scientists have also questioned whether the scanners pose a cancer risk.

US Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) released a statement yesterday saying that the TSA's latest findings are "unacceptable."

The agency, Collins wrote, "has repeatedly assured me that the machines that emit radiation do not pose a health risk. Nonetheless, if TSA contractors reporting on the radiation levels have done such a poor job, how can airline passengers and crew have confidence in the data used by the TSA to reassure the public?"

She said the records released Friday "included gross errors about radiation emissions. That is completely unacceptable when it comes to monitoring radiation."

U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz told USA Today that he was as troubled by the information posted by the TSA. Chaffetz (R-Utah) chairs a House oversight subcommittee on national security and has sponsored legislation to limit the use of full-body scans.

Chaffetz called the TSA's record-keeping haphazard and the agency's oversight paltry, telling the newspaper, "It is totally unacceptable to be bumbling such critical tasks."

He added, "These people are supposed to be protecting us against terrorists."

Victim's roommate testifies in AZ sweat lodge case

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The roommate of a woman who died in an Arizona sweat lodge ceremony described the scene following the two-hour event as alarming and chaotic, with people dragging "lifeless" and "barely breathing" participants outside and volunteers performing CPR.
Beverley Bunn testified Friday in the manslaughter trial of self-help author James Arthur Ray in Camp Verde, providing a detailed account of what happened at the October 2009 event near Sedona.
Bunn said that as the ceremony ended, she pinched and shook people to gauge their level of consciousness, and helped direct treatment. Some participants were physically and mentally unable to tend to others, she said.
Bunn, an orthodontist, said Ray did nothing to help those who became ill or passed out.
She offered a strong statement in support of the prosecution's theory that Ray conditioned participants to trust his judgment over their own: "You know what the rules are; he tells you what the rules are. Things are not optional.
"As you go through the week, you learn that there's consequences or reprimands or something to be called out in front of all the people you're there with if you question Mr. Ray," Bunn said.
Ray's attorneys say he didn't assert control over participants but encouraged them to make choices they felt comfortable with. He has pleaded not guilty to three counts of manslaughter.
Bunn's voice quivered as she spoke about Kirby Brown, the 38-year-old woman with whom she shared a room at the retreat Ray rented for his "Spiritual Warrior" event. Bunn said Brown was "on top of the world" before the sweat lodge began.
Bunn said she was helping two men drag a "lifeless" woman out of the sweat lodge when she looked back and recognized the bathing suit Brown was wearing as she laid on the dirt floor.
Bunn said she went looking for Brown after helping others, including a woman who was "barely breathing," another woman whose arm was turning blue because she was laying on it, and a man whose blood vessels had burst in his eyes.
She looked back toward the sweat lodge and saw one of Ray's volunteers performing CPR on 40-year-old James Shore, who was dragged out along with Brown and also died. She then saw Brown's stomach "going up and down."
Bunn said she asked if she could help because she knew CPR but was told to stay back.
Another participant, Liz Neuman, 49, slipped into a coma and later died at a hospital.
Defense attorney Tom Kelly questioned the level of detail in Bunn's testimony, saying her interviews with authorities lasted less than two hours yet her testimony took up an entire day. She was expected to resume testimony Tuesday.
Kelly took Bunn through a line of questioning that the defense has used to show that participants knew of the week's events ahead of time and had acknowledged the risks by signing waivers.
Bunn agreed with Kelly that she freely choose to participate in the events of the retreat.
Kelly also alluded to a statement made by another defense attorney regarding the cause of death for the victims. He asked Bunn whether she was aware during a hiking trip she took at the Grand Canyon last year that dehydration and an elevated body temperature are classic signs of heat stroke. She said she was.
Medical examiners ruled that Brown and Shore died of heat stroke, but the defense contends neither exhibited those classic signs and said prosecutors failed to consider other factors in the deaths.

Japan rates quake less serious than 3 Mile Island, Chernobyl

(Reuters) - A nuclear accident in Japan on Saturday rates as less serious than both the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 and the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Japan's nuclear safety agency said.
An official at the agency said it has rated the incident at Tokyo Electric Power's nuclear plant north of Tokyo a 4 according to the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) .
Three Mile Island was rated 5 while Chernobyl was rated 7 on the 1 to 7 scale, the official said.

Map Of California: Areas That Could See Tsunami (PHOTOS)

Much of California is currently under a tsunami warning, the most severe tsunami advisory.
While massive 23-foot waves swept over Japan soon after the quake, it took several hours for waves to hit Pacific islands. Waves have also begun crashing in Washington state.
California is expected to experience higher waves within the hour. The images below, from NOAA show which areas are currently at risk for seeing tsunami waves, as well as the energy dispersal from the quake itself.

 

 

Tsunami Caused Millions Of Dollars In Damage To Hawaii

Governor Abercrombie has signed a State of Disaster Proclamation, the first step in the process of seeking federal funds to recover and rebuild.
Damage from this morning's tsunami is estimated in the millions of dollars.

The Big Island -- specifically the west and northwest facing shores -- suffered the most damage.

These are some of the haunting images we'll remember whenever we talk about the tsunami of March 2011.
"There's about 12 homes we verified have been destroyed or severely damaged,' said Quince Mento, Hawaii County Civil Defense.

This home didn't even have a chance in the battle against Mother Nature.

It was the only one that ended up in Kealakekua Bay.

A car also ended up in the bay; nine cars in all reported to be flooded.
And this is video from Kailua Kona. You can see the water just coming over the sea wall, damaging the road, and flooding the King Kamehameha Hotel.
"And most of the businesses across the street are totally destroyed," said Mento.

The tsunami also caused an estimated $1M in damage to the Kailua Kona pier, as well a damage to the Keauhou landing site, and ancient fishponds in South Kohala.

And Hulihee Palace also had major damage.
"In the basement of Hulihee Palace, where there are artifacts, it was flooded by four feet of water," said Ed Teixeira, Hawaii State Civil Defense.

While the Big Island took the hardest beating, Maui also had damage.
Some boats docked at Maalaea Harbor reportedly sank or were knocked around.
"And there's just a danger to all recreational and commercial traffic at this time," said Cmdr. Jason Neubauer, U.S. Coast Guard.

Lahaina Harbor also had damage, so did the areas of Kahului and Kihei.

"We had water running over the roads in Kihei. There were reports of residential units being flooded over," said Teixeira.

And on Oahu, there were two trouble spots.
Haleiwa Small Boat Harbor suffered an estimated $300,000 in damage.
There's no access to about 20 boats docked there.
A pier the boats were attached to was demolished.
But the biggest damage happened at Keehi Small Boat Harbor, where docks were ripped away with vessels still attached, causing an estimated $1M in public infrastructure damage, and millions of dollars in damage to private owners.

Despite the damage, Governor Abercrombie says Hawaii was lucky.
"The tsunami effects were minimal in terms of the kinds of damage seen elsewhere in the world, particularly in Japan," said Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

Low-rated Shows Need Lowlife Charlie Sheen

We live in strange times, and cable news is in business to chronicle that.
As you may know, there is big money in the cable news universe, but two of the big players, MSNBC and CNN, are having major ratings problems.
Last month in prime time, the Fox News Channel was the second-highest-rated cable channel in the United States behind the USA network. MSNBC came in 26th, CNN 29th. Not good for them.

So if I’m an executive at those two networks, I may be looking for a program host who is filled with tiger blood. An unchained warlock who is all about “winning.”
That man, of course, is Charlie Sheen.
Here are his qualifications for hosting a cable chat show. Sheen believes the attack on Sept. 11 was an inside job, asserting that the Bush administration was behind the mass murder.
Hear that, MSNBC?
Sheen is also extremely successful by his own account.
He told ABC’s “20/20”: “Every day is just filled with wins. All we do is put wins in the record books. We win so radically in our underwear before our first cup of coffee, it’s scary.”
Sheen riffed that off the top of his head. THAT’s scary. And I believe CNN needs some wins.
In this crazy high-tech age, cable news is all about being provocative. Larry King found that out the hard way.
Who is more provocative than Charlie Sheen?
Gadhafi? Maybe. Bin Laden? Assured.
But both would have trouble getting green cards, so they’ll probably wind up hosting shows on Al Jazeera.
Sheen might be better suited for the E! Network, but that is not where the money and prestige are. Today in America, the cable news prime-time people can become stars. That is something Sheen embraces, telling “The Today Show”: “I’m tired of pretending like I’m not a total bitchin’ rock star from Mars. And people can’t figure me out; they can’t process me. I don’t expect them to. You can’t process me with a normal brain.”
That bio might be a bit much for CNN, although I’d love to hear James Earl Jones introduce Sheen using outer space terminology.

5 Swept Out To Sea, 1 Killed AsTsunami Hits Crescent City, Cal.

Five people have been swept out to sea after tsunami-created waves of up to eight-foot high crashed onto the shore of Crescent City, California, a small fishing village near the Oregon border.

The tsunami also destroyed the harbor in Crescent City and several other coastal towns in northern California and Oregon.
"There has been major damage to our harbor," Crescent City Councilman Richard Enea told CBS News.
"At least 35 boats by count so far have been damaged or destroyed by the surges and the tsunamis. Our docks have been destroyed."
Although four people were rescued from the ocean waters off the coast iof southern Oregon, at least one person is missing and feared dead in Crescent City.
Officials reported waves of 6.5 feet in Crescent City and 6 feet in Morro Bay [near San Luis Obispo], said Caltech scientist Lucy Jones, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"Clearly, very large drawdown of water in Half Moon Bay," Jones said earlier in the day. "We are coming to high tide in a couple [of] hours. As long as we're still growing on tide, we need to keep a watch on the water.... Currents may be very significant.”
The economic damage wrought by the tsunami is unknown at present but likely to be in the millions of dollars.
However, no private homes in Crescent City were reported damaged.
In March 1964, a tsunami struck Crescent City and killed eleven people.
"This is just devastating. I never thought I'd see this again," a retired mill worker who lived in Crescent City in 1964, told reporters.

Japan's massive quake seen as sign of Pacific region's future

 

The massive earthquake that hit Japan today may signal that the Pacific Ocean region is entering a new phase of geological turmoil that potentially could last for decades and bring repeated waves of destruction along the shores of the world’s largest ocean, a specialist said this morning.
Seismologist John E. Ebel of Boston College’s Weston Observatory said today that Pacific Rim countries suffered major earthquakes between 1946 and 1964.
In geological terms, the region then underwent a period of relative peace. But, beginning with the Indonesian quake of 2004 that hit 9.1 on the Richter scale and created a tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people, the Pacific Rim has recently suffered a series of massive quakes. Chile, for example, was hit last year with 8.8 quake, the latest in a series of major quakes in the South American country.
“We seem to be in a time now where we are having another one of those periods where we have truly massive earthquakes’’ of magnitude 8 or greater, Ebel said in a telephone interview. “We don’t know how long this period will last.’’

Ebel said the Japanese earthquake occurred when two tectonic plates, the Pacific Plate and the Asian Plate, which were touching each other, suddenly separated by as much as 30 feet. He said there will be strong aftershocks, but also that there may be another, separate earthquake as happened in Indonesia three months after 2004 quake.
The Japanese-centered quake launched a tsunami that raced across the Pacific Ocean at 400 miles an hour before hitting Hawaii this morning.
While Hawaii is famous for its tall waves beloved by surfers, Ebel said a tsunami wave 6 feet in height is radically different because it brings with a seemingly unending flow of sea water.
“It might be six feet tall, but the water just keeps coming and coming and coming,’’ Ebel said. “It doesn’t immediately release like a small surfing wave does.’’
In Hawaii, Ebel said, emergency safety procedures – the state has already launched evacuations in low-lying areas – will likely keep damages relatively minimal.
He said beachfront houses could be wrecked, but large, strongly built hotels in a state that relies heavily on tourism may suffer some water damage, but will weather the flooding.
California coastal communities are also on alert, but Ebel said much of the tsunami’s energy may have been exhausted by the time it reaches the West Coast.
However, he cautioned, the tsunami will still be a public safety concern, especially in Crescent City in the northern part of California.

Earthquake Aftermath: From California to Chile, Residents Prepare for Waves

Topics: california tsunami, earthquake, japan, japan earthquake, oregon tsunami, south america tsunami, tsunami, vancouver tsunami, washington tsunami

 

People walk with a dog on the beach in Tijuana March 11, 2011. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said a tsunami warning was posted from Mexico down the Pacific coast of South America after a massive 8.9 earthquake hit Japan. The advisory was later extended to a stretch of the U.S. West Coast from Point Conception, California, north through Oregon.

REUTERS/Jorge Duenes

As the world reels from news of destruction after an earthquake in Japan, the west coast of North America and South America had to face the quake's effects. Though massive damage is not suspected, many residents along the coasts evacuated, moved to higher ground or simply stayed alert for incoming waves.
Note: This information is constantly changing, so head to Time.com or CNN's live blog for up-to-the-minute updates.
(More on TIME.com: See pictures of the quake in Japan)
California: With effects of the tsunami already showing up on California's shores, various parts of the state remain subject to tsunami warnings (coastal areas north of Point Concepcion) and less serious tsunami advisories (south of Point Concepcion). The National Weather Service instructs those up north to move inland to higher ground, while in the south, people are to, well, “move out of the water” and get away from beaches, harbors, and marinas.
Some California beaches and schools have been closed, and thousands have been evacuated. The San Francisco Examiner reports that the city's Great Highway will be closed for eight hours. According to the NWS, waves in Crescent City, likely to be the hardest hit place in the state, have damaged harbor structures and boats. In an alert, the NWS also warns “Don't be fooled…tsunami waves can stop for long periods and then begin again. Wait for the official all clear to return to threatened areas.” For more information, head to SF Weekly's live blog.
Oregon: Five-foot waves hit parts of Oregon's coast around 10:30 a.m. ET after a number of residents were evacuated early this morning. The peak of the waves was expected to hit the state's southern coast around 12:20 p.m., but it appears most residents were aware of the tsunami threat early. Sirens sounded around 7 a.m., with many coastal residents evacuating in the early morning hours to higher ground. So far, the effects and damage have been minimal. In Port Orford, Ore., no damage has been reported as the city's low-lying areas appeared all but completely empty. One city official said the waves surged between low and high tide levels.

Washington: According to the Associated Press, the coast of Washington experienced "vigorous waves similar to any stormy day on the coast." The National Weather Service had forecasted waves measuring up to 3.3 feet, but it appears the waves were less severe, though stronger waves could be expected. The coast of the state was placed under a tsunami advisory. Residents in some smaller coastal cities were asked to evacuate and move to higher ground, many local businesses were shut down and eastbound traffic piled up as residents attempted to move away from the coast.

Vancouver, British Columbia: Though Vancouver Island was under a weather advisory Friday morning, reports indicate waters rose less than one meter on the island's north and west coasts. About 150 residents of Tofino, located near the west coast, were told to be aware of the incoming waves, especially if they lived on houseboats or near the coast. No residents were evacuated.

Nicaragua: The government issued a green alert for the Pacific area, which makes up 427 coastal kilometers and is home to 100,000 people early this morning. The Chief of Civil Defense, Mario Perezcassar mobilized units to the area, though he has not yet ordered evacuation.
(More on TIME.com: See stunning video of the Japan quake)
Ecuador: President Rafael Correa declared a national emergency and ordered evacuation of the entire coastal region as well as the Galápagos Islands, taking a “better safe than sorry” approach. “If nothing happens, then that's great, but we can't take any risks,” Correa told reporters. Ecuador's heavy crude oil pipeline operator suspended oil shipments.
Colombia: Issued an alert, though no evacuation was ordered. Luz Amanda Pulido, the director of the National System for Disaster Attention and Prevention had a higher alert for the four Pacific coastal regions of Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Nariño.
Chile: Waves are expected on Easter Island, located 3,500 off the coast of Chile, by 3:47 pm EST. Residents of Easter Island planned to evacuate several hours before waves were expected. The mainland will not be affected until 9 p.m. President Sebastian Pinera told residents to remain calm, despite still feeling the effects of a previous earthquake. "We now have a much better system," Pinera said.
Peru: Peru's coast may be hit by waves at around 6:00 p.m. EST, according to Peru's president, Alan Garcia.
Mexico: The country's Interior Department said the tsunami "represents a moderate danger," as they expected waves measuring up to 6 feet high. But the first reports from the Mexican navy measured swells of only 2.33 feet. The coastal city of Acapulco saw some schools suspend classes, and the port of Cabo San Lucas closed to all traffic. The Interior Department urged Mexicans to avoid taking boats out on the water.

San Diego State defeats Utah, 64-50, in Mountain West quarterfinals

Kawhi Leonard and Malcolm Thomas each had a double-double as No. 7 San Diego State defeated Utah, 64-50, in the Mountain West Conference tournament quarterfinals Thursday at Las Vegas, giving the Aztecs the first 30-win season in their 90-year history.

Leonard had 13 points and 12 rebounds for his 19th double-double before sitting out the final seven minutes as a precaution because of a tight back. Thomas had 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Aztecs.

San Diego State (30-2) got off to a slow start against the seventh-seeded Utes (13-18), but it closed the first half on a 16-3 run and led, 30-15, at halftime.

No. 8 Brigham Young 64, Texas Christian 58: Jimmer Fredette had 24 points and the Cougars overcame a slow start against the Horned Frogs (11-22) in the Mountain West quarterfinals. With suspended forward Brandon Davies on the bench in street clothes, top-seeded BYU (29-3) had a tougher time than expected against a TCU team that went 1-15 in conference play before snapping a 13-game skid with a win over Wyoming in the play-in game.


No. 21 Connecticut 76, No. 3 Pittsburgh 74: Kemba Walker used a crossover dribble and shoulder roll to shake off a defender, then stepped back and swished the winning basket at the buzzer as the Huskies (24-9) beat the Panthers (27-5) in the quarterfinals of the Big East Conference tournament at New York.

No. 11 Syracuse 79, No. 17 St. John's 73: Freshman center Fab Melo scored 12 points, including two layups in the final two minutes, and the Orange (26-6) defeated the Red Storm (21-11) in the Big East quarterfinals. Brandon Triche had a season-high 22 points for Syracuse.

No. 2 Kansas 63, Oklahoma State 62: Mario Little's three-point play broke a tie with 71 seconds to go and the Cowboys missed a desperation shot at the buzzer, allowing the Jayhawks (30-2) to escape with a victory over the Cowboys (19-13) in the Big 12 Conference tournament quarterfinals at Kansas City, Mo.

Etc.

The three officials cited for two errors in the final seconds of the St. John's-Rutgers game Wednesday withdrew from the rest of the Big East tournament. Veteran referees Jim Burr, Tim Higgins and Earl Walton missed two calls — a travel and stepping out of bounds — in the final 1.7 seconds of St. John's 65-63 second-round victory. Conference officials acknowledged after the game that the officials blew the calls. On Thursday, Commissioner John Marinatto said the three officials have "voluntarily withdrawn" in "the best interests of those involved."

Big TenTournament: Northwestern Stays AliveTo Dream Another Day

INDIANAPOLIS - The Northwestern men's basketball team thought - no, they knew - this was going to be The Season.
The past four months didn't go exactly as the Wildcats and their purple-clad followers planned, but at least for one more day, their hopes of ending one of college basketball's most incomprehensible streaks remain alive. The eighth-seeded Wildcats defeated ninth-seeded Minnesota, 75-65, on Thursday in the first round of the Big Ten tournament to set up a date with top-seeded Ohio State in Friday's quarterfinals.
For the past 71 springs, the school that hosted the inaugural NCAA tournament in 1939 has watched every other program from the big-six Division I conferences go dancing. All the Ivy League teams have earned NCAA tournament berths, as well.
But not Northwestern. Never Northwestern.
The Wildcats (18-12) understand the path to a conference tournament championship - and that elusive first NCAA tournament invite - is arduous, and they know history will provide them no comfort. Northwestern has never even advanced past the second round of the Big Ten tournament.
"We had pretty high expectations going into this year, and then we had some bad injuries, so it knocked us out of the box a little bit," said Northwestern Coach Bill Carmody, who twice led Princeton to the NCAA tournament. "So we knew 31/2 weeks ago that we needed to win these four games to get in. That's tough. That's tough. But I told them: 'It's not like a David-and-Goliath sort of thing. Stranger things have happened.' You just have to go out there and be ready to play."
On Thursday, Northwestern took on a towering, physical Minnesota front court with a pencil-thin starting forward, John Shurna, who Carmody has said "looks like he's 14," and a starting center, Luka Mirkovic, whose visibility was constantly hindered by the plastic face mask he was wearing to protect the nose he broke last summer.
And still, the Wildcats "only lost the rebounding battle by six," said senior guard Michael Thompson, who is generously listed at 5 feet 10.
Indeed, this is an ornery Northwestern squad that remains undeterred - and perhaps steeled by - its inferior size. The Wildcats feed off of Thompson, who when not firing three-pointers from well beyond the arc drives unconsciously toward the rim, regardless of the sizeable obstacles in his way.
Against Minnesota, Thompson played all but one minute, scored a game-high 35 points and made sure to stick out his chin at opposing Gophers after every crucial basket he made.
"We've got that little Thompson guy," Carmody said. "He just plays really well, and it rubs off on some of these other guys."
Those other guys include sophomores Drew Crawford and Alex Marcotullio, who combined to score 28 points Thursday, and Shurna, the team's leading scorer who has missed time this season because of an ankle injury in December and a concussion in late January.

Massive 8.9 Quake, Tsunamis Hit Japan

  I just woke up at 0246 time here in Texas and checked the CNN web site and saw the headline:  “Massive 8.9 quake, tsunamis hit Japan.”  That is a big earthquake.  
  Our hopes and prayers are with everyone in Japan and any other areas effected by the quake.



“Tokyo (CNN) -- An 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan on Friday, triggering tsunamis and sending a massive body of water filled with debris that included boats and houses inching toward highways.
The epicenter was 373 kilometers (231 miles) away from the capital, Tokyo, the United States Geological Survey said. But residents there felt the tremors.
The quake rattled buildings and toppled cars off bridges and into waters underneath. Waves of debris flowed like lava across farmland, pushing boats, houses and trailers toward highways.

0 like Will The Khan Academy Revolutionize the Classroom?

Technology continues to become of more and more importance in the classroom. But is it being used properly and to the best of its’ ability? Many would argue the  answer is no. And one man is on a mission to change that – Salman Khan. Khan, along with his fellow brainiacs at the Khan Academy (and with the help of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as Google), want to revolutionize the way technology is utilized, making the use of computers and videos to have a more positive and powerful impact.  How?
Shantanu Sinha, the president of Khan Academy, stated in a piece for the Huffington Post that, “for the most part, we didn’t teach kids with the computer, we taught them how to use the computer. Most kids need no help and could probably teach their parents.” He added that, “in the end, computer labs were a side show, expensive investments largely squandered due to a lack of good content or purpose.”
The schools, they apparently have the computers.  But the Khan Academy are on a quest to bring the content and “building the software and tools we think teachers and students really need.”
Last fall, the Khan Academy began their pilot program for math in a few 5^th and 7^th grade classes in Los Altos, California – a journey that has been captured by a documentary crew from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Their quest is to ensure that “students can truly work at their own pace on their own time.,“ and that “students actually master concepts before they move on.” They also want to provide educators with “real-time data.”  Their hope is that this will allow teacher to “ make much better use of classroom time, with more peer tutoring, project-based learning, and one-on-one coaching. Most importantly, we are making learning fun.”
Sounds pretty good to me. But your child needn’t be in the pilot program in Silicone Valley to experience the Khan Academy’s approach. They want to educate everyone, anyone, anywhere, and everywhere.  Their website features over two-thousand videos as well as about a hundred “self-paced exercises” on topics such as “arithmetic to physics, finance, and history.”And all for free. You can check out the Khan Academy and maybe learn something yourself right here.

Kemba Walker And Dwight Hardy Both Make Bronx Proud At Garden, But Walker Steals The Spotlight

 

The great New York City basketball day was really supposed to be about St. John's at the Garden, be about the second game of the afternoon doubleheader, maybe be about a Bronx guard named Dwight Hardy who had so much to do with bringing St. John's back this season. Only now it was all about the ending to the first game, the one between UConn and Pitt, all about Kemba Walker, out of the Sack Wern Houses in the Soundview section of the Bronx. It was all about the ball in Walker's hands against Pitt, game tied. Walker's day now. His time, even with hardly any time left on the clock against the Pitt Panthers and the game tied at 74.
"Anybody in the world knew the ball was coming to me," Walker said in the interview area later, "that I would take that shot."
"Rule number one," Barry (Slice) Rohrssen, the outgoing coach at Manhattan and a former Pitt assistant, said upstairs at the Garden a few minutes later. "Never let the best player on the other team beat you."
Jim Calhoun, the Connecticut coach, sat next to Walker and talked about the various options on the last play, especially once Pitt's 6-11 center Gary McGhee switched out on Walker.
"There wasn't any doubt in my mind," Calhoun said, "which option (Walker) would choose."
New York City guard. New York City moment. Game tied at the Garden in March against one of the best teams in the country. Later Hardy, out of JFK High in the Bronx, would try to put St. John's back in the semis of the Big East, get them back to Friday night. But after some of the big shots Hardy had made in the second half, some of them shots off his own Bronx playgrounds, he traveled with the ball with just under 30 seconds left and Syracuse up four points on St. John's.
But that was for later.
The place belonged to Walker now, off Lafayette Ave., a kid who would later move downtown to play his high school ball at Rice. This was the moment at the Garden that all city kids imagine for themselves, kids out of the projects and playgrounds and rec centers, out of all the old ideas about city basketball.
"I was taking that shot," Walker said.
He would take it on tired legs. He and his UConn teammates were playing their third game in three days. You could see it with Walker most of all, especially down the stretch. He had 22 points before the last shot but if he had his legs Thursday he would have had 30 easy. He was missing shots he usually makes, not just in his dreams, but in his sleep.
But there was no other option for him on that last play against Pitt. He knew it and Calhoun knew it and so did the rest of the UConn players and all of their fans at the Garden.

Dalai Lama To Cede State Role; Vote Ahead

DHARAMSALA, India, March 10 (UPI) -- The Dalai Lama said Thursday he would step down as leader of the Tibetan government in exile, giving that authority exclusively to an elected prime minister.
The Dalai Lama, 75, has been Tibet's spiritual and state leader, although since 2001 Lobsang Tenzin, 71, also known as the Samdhong Rinpoche, has been prime minister of the government in exile, with final authority over political matters.
But the Dalai Lama said he wanted to make the spiritual-state distinction clearer.
"As early as the 1960s, I have repeatedly stressed that Tibetans need a leader, elected freely by the Tibetan people," the Dalai Lama said in Dharamsala, India, on the 52nd anniversary of the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. "Now, we have clearly reached the time to put this into effect."
His decision "has nothing to do with a wish to shirk responsibility," said the Dalai Lama, whose religious name is Tenzin Gyatso. "It is to benefit Tibetans in the long run. It is not because I feel disheartened."
He said he trusted "that gradually people will come to understand my intention, will support my decision and accordingly let it take effect," he said.
The Dalai Lama said he would begin the formal process of stepping down at a meeting of the Tibetan Parliament in exile Monday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told The New York Times Beijing saw his plans as "his tricks to deceive the international community."
The Tibetan Parliament's Monday meeting coincides with the third anniversary of the March 2008 uprisings that erupted into riots across China's Tibetan plateau after the suppression of a peaceful protest by monks in Lhasa, Tibet's administrative capital.
Beijing at the time accused the Dalai Lama of orchestrating the unrest, a charge the Dalai Lama denied, saying it was a result of widespread Tibetan discontent.
China this week temporarily banned foreigners from traveling to the region.
The Dalai Lama has said he does not want independence for Tibet, only meaningful autonomy.
Lobsang Sangay, a Tibetan legal scholar and an expert on international human-rights law, currently at Harvard University, is the front-runner for prime minister, with "wide popularity among young Tibetans," the Times said.