By Sonia Oxley MANCHESTER, England, April 19 (Reuters) - For striker Wayne Rooney to be taken off the pitch because Manchester United needed a vital goal was once inconceivable but is now the reality facing a player whose future at the club is as shaky as his form. "We had to get that goal that mattered," was manager Alex Ferguson's reasoning on Friday for the decision to substitute the England striker in Wednesday's 2-2 draw at West Ham United. "As far as taking him off the other night, it was simple: he wasn't playing as well as Shinji Kagawa was. ...
Facebook has given its main "f" logo icon a makeover, flattening the design by removing the pale blue bar along the bottom, which gave the icon a reflective sheen/slight 3D effect, as well as moving the position of the f so it now bleeds right off the bottom. The overall effect is a simplified, unfussy and clean looking design with the f more clearly leaping out.
Not everyone likes the company picnicPublic release date: 17-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Tracy Dumas Tldumas@fisher.osu.edu Ohio State University
Social events don't build unity for those who differ from the rest of the team
COLUMBUS, Ohio The workers who may have the most to gain from attending company social events may be the ones who actually get the least value from them, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that, in general, workers tended to report closer relationships with their colleagues the more that they attended company social events and shared their nonwork lives with their co-workers.
But that positive association between workplace sharing and closer relationships didn't occur for workers who were racially dissimilar from their colleagues for example, the only black person in an all-white office.
"There is something about being different from your co-workers that can make socializing less effective in building closer relationships," said Tracy Dumas, lead author of the study and assistant professor of management and human resources at The Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business.
"We didn't see a negative relationship it doesn't make things worse to socialize with your co-workers. But when you're racially dissimilar, it doesn't have the same positive impact."
Dumas said it is unfortunate that company socializing is least effective for those who are different from their office mates. "Those are the employees who are arguably the most in need of help in forming closer relationships with their colleagues," she said.
The findings suggest that if employers promote social activities for workers, they should attend more closely to the quality of the workers' experiences at the events so that they benefit all attendees.
Dumas conducted the study with Katherine Phillips of the Columbia Business School at Columbia University, and Nancy Rothbard of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Their results appear online in the journal Organization Science and will appear in a future print edition.
The researchers conducted two related studies. The first study involved a series of surveys of 165 first-year MBA students in their first term of classes at a U.S. university. The students were either currently working or had been working immediately prior to enrolling. Of those surveyed, 10 percent were underrepresented minorities, including African Americans and Latinos.
Across three surveys, participants were asked several questions about how much social interaction they had with their colleagues, as well as the demographic information of those colleagues. For example, they were asked how much they discussed their nonwork life with co-workers and how often they attended company-sponsored or informal work-related gatherings.
They were also asked to rate on a five-point scale how close they felt to each individual colleague (up to 10 colleagues in total) in their immediate workplace.
The findings showed that the more social interaction participants had with their colleagues, the closer they felt if they were racially similar. But those who were dissimilar from their colleagues did not see an increase in closeness with more social interaction.
"This does not have to do with being a member of a particular racial category it is really about whether you are similar to others in your workplace," Dumas said. "Our findings suggest that a white person in an office of African Americans would have a similar difficulty building closer relationships with co-workers as would an African American in an office of all Asian Americans."
The second study involved a national online sample of 141 adults, with 24 percent being underrepresented minorities. The participants were asked many of the same questions as were those in the first study, and the results were similar social interaction was less likely to help workers feel closer to the colleagues when they were of a different race than the majority.
But this study dug deeper to find out why.
Results showed that workers who reported they enjoyed themselves more and felt more comfortable while socializing with their colleagues also reported closer relationships. Among employees who were racially similar to their coworkers, attending company social events more was associated with greater enjoyment and comfort at the events. But for those workers who were racially different from the majority, this positive association was not present.
"It's not that these dissimilar people were avoiding social encounters with their colleagues," Dumas said. "They were going, but for them, the connection between attending the events and enjoying the events was different. That seems to explain why they weren't feeling closer."
So why did they go if not to enjoy themselves?
Racially dissimilar people were more likely to report they participated in these social activities for external reasons, such as feeling they were expected to attend.
"Many feel like they have to go if they want to get ahead at the office or advance their career," she said. "They aren't going because they enjoy it."
Dumas said these results suggest employers need to do more than just provide social opportunities for their employees. They need to monitor the culture to determine whether employees see the events as mandatory, and also give more thought to what goes on at events like company parties so that all are included.
"We need to have experiences where everyone feels comfortable, where everyone has something to contribute. If everyone feels comfortable, that can lead to something positive."
Or, she said, employers can just put less emphasis on social events and opportunities as a way to build team cohesion.
"Sometimes you can create cohesion around the work task itself you don't need outside social interaction. If everyone can feel good about the work they do and celebrate the successes they achieve together, it is not necessary to find ways to connect outside of work," she said.
###
Contact: Tracy Dumas, Tldumas@fisher.osu.edu
(It is best to reach Dumas first by email.)
Written by Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Not everyone likes the company picnicPublic release date: 17-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Tracy Dumas Tldumas@fisher.osu.edu Ohio State University
Social events don't build unity for those who differ from the rest of the team
COLUMBUS, Ohio The workers who may have the most to gain from attending company social events may be the ones who actually get the least value from them, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that, in general, workers tended to report closer relationships with their colleagues the more that they attended company social events and shared their nonwork lives with their co-workers.
But that positive association between workplace sharing and closer relationships didn't occur for workers who were racially dissimilar from their colleagues for example, the only black person in an all-white office.
"There is something about being different from your co-workers that can make socializing less effective in building closer relationships," said Tracy Dumas, lead author of the study and assistant professor of management and human resources at The Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business.
"We didn't see a negative relationship it doesn't make things worse to socialize with your co-workers. But when you're racially dissimilar, it doesn't have the same positive impact."
Dumas said it is unfortunate that company socializing is least effective for those who are different from their office mates. "Those are the employees who are arguably the most in need of help in forming closer relationships with their colleagues," she said.
The findings suggest that if employers promote social activities for workers, they should attend more closely to the quality of the workers' experiences at the events so that they benefit all attendees.
Dumas conducted the study with Katherine Phillips of the Columbia Business School at Columbia University, and Nancy Rothbard of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Their results appear online in the journal Organization Science and will appear in a future print edition.
The researchers conducted two related studies. The first study involved a series of surveys of 165 first-year MBA students in their first term of classes at a U.S. university. The students were either currently working or had been working immediately prior to enrolling. Of those surveyed, 10 percent were underrepresented minorities, including African Americans and Latinos.
Across three surveys, participants were asked several questions about how much social interaction they had with their colleagues, as well as the demographic information of those colleagues. For example, they were asked how much they discussed their nonwork life with co-workers and how often they attended company-sponsored or informal work-related gatherings.
They were also asked to rate on a five-point scale how close they felt to each individual colleague (up to 10 colleagues in total) in their immediate workplace.
The findings showed that the more social interaction participants had with their colleagues, the closer they felt if they were racially similar. But those who were dissimilar from their colleagues did not see an increase in closeness with more social interaction.
"This does not have to do with being a member of a particular racial category it is really about whether you are similar to others in your workplace," Dumas said. "Our findings suggest that a white person in an office of African Americans would have a similar difficulty building closer relationships with co-workers as would an African American in an office of all Asian Americans."
The second study involved a national online sample of 141 adults, with 24 percent being underrepresented minorities. The participants were asked many of the same questions as were those in the first study, and the results were similar social interaction was less likely to help workers feel closer to the colleagues when they were of a different race than the majority.
But this study dug deeper to find out why.
Results showed that workers who reported they enjoyed themselves more and felt more comfortable while socializing with their colleagues also reported closer relationships. Among employees who were racially similar to their coworkers, attending company social events more was associated with greater enjoyment and comfort at the events. But for those workers who were racially different from the majority, this positive association was not present.
"It's not that these dissimilar people were avoiding social encounters with their colleagues," Dumas said. "They were going, but for them, the connection between attending the events and enjoying the events was different. That seems to explain why they weren't feeling closer."
So why did they go if not to enjoy themselves?
Racially dissimilar people were more likely to report they participated in these social activities for external reasons, such as feeling they were expected to attend.
"Many feel like they have to go if they want to get ahead at the office or advance their career," she said. "They aren't going because they enjoy it."
Dumas said these results suggest employers need to do more than just provide social opportunities for their employees. They need to monitor the culture to determine whether employees see the events as mandatory, and also give more thought to what goes on at events like company parties so that all are included.
"We need to have experiences where everyone feels comfortable, where everyone has something to contribute. If everyone feels comfortable, that can lead to something positive."
Or, she said, employers can just put less emphasis on social events and opportunities as a way to build team cohesion.
"Sometimes you can create cohesion around the work task itself you don't need outside social interaction. If everyone can feel good about the work they do and celebrate the successes they achieve together, it is not necessary to find ways to connect outside of work," she said.
###
Contact: Tracy Dumas, Tldumas@fisher.osu.edu
(It is best to reach Dumas first by email.)
Written by Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The Boston?Marathon?bombing is easily becoming the most crowd-sourced terror investigation on American soil, with the FBI soliciting videos, cell phone pictures, and anything that could lead to the capture of whoever set off those pressure cooker bombs. The FBI's plea has more or less turned the interested and the Internet into amateur investigators armed with what we know the remains of the bag and the bomb look like. On Reddit that's spurned the "Find Boston Bombers" subreddit, with all kinds of analysis, but here's the find they're most excited about: They've found a photo of a man with a backpack that has straps which resemble what federal officials believe is the detonated backpack.?
RELATED: Refusing to Be Terrorized by Terror
We have obscured the man's face because, well, the only suggestion of a connection to the bombings comes from people on Reddit who have been looking at photographs:?
And one more angle, showing extreme close up of the straps.?
RELATED: The Stories Behind the Most Indelible Images of the Boston Bombing
Again, we can only vouch for the image of the detonated bag, which the FBI says contained one of the pressure cooker bombs. There are no details on where the image of the man in the blue jacket came from, or at what time it was taken during the marathon, or the location? the only reference we have is that it trickled down from social media and Flickr, and down to sites like 4chan and Reddit.?Redditors, to their credit, haven't been shy in voicing the skepticism and concern with pinning this terror attack on an innocent man:
That isn't the only other photo popping up however, like this one who one poster believes could be smuggling a pressure cooker bomb because of the shape of his backpack:
And this, one, which we sorta have no idea why things are being circled:
Reading through the amateur forensics feels like an intense and puzzling game of Where's Waldo.??But it's a byproduct of what you get when the FBI asks the public for help. Jittery nerves lead to things like the?New Yorkers who reported 77 suspicious packages in the wake of the Boston bombings, and multiple incorrect Chris Dorner sightings in February. And the blue robe man, along with the pressure cooker backpack man, are all tips?tips that part of the thousand the FBI receives.?As The Washington Post reported:?
[Richard] DesLauriers said cooperation from the community will play a key role in the investigation. He said the range of suspects remained wide open, but by midday Tuesday more than 2,000 tips had been received.
Kate Middleton is in full nesting mode! With her July due date fast approaching, the six-months-pregnant Duchess of Cambridge is busy setting up house for herself and Prince William -- and it seems she's looking for something old to go with the something new they'll soon welcome into the world. On Saturday, April 13, the mom-to-be was spotted antique shopping in Fakenham, Norfolk, near Anmer Hall, the country home where she and her royal family will one day reside.
PHOTOS: Kate Middleton's motherhood prep
Wearing a purple sweater under a brown-leather vest by the Really Wild Clothing Company, the 31-year-old Duchess browsed the wares at Sue Rivett Antiques, the Fakenham Antique Center, and Mews Antique Emporium. A source told Us Weekly she was looking at vases and snapping pictures of pieces of her phone. "She seems to be very organized in her home decorating," the onlooker said.
PHOTOS: Kate's royal baby bump style
Another eyewitness noted that Middleton's baby bump was on full display. "She was showing," the source told Us. "She didn't have a coat on as it wasn't that cold...She looked beautiful."
Indeed, a spokesman for Mews Antique Emporium said Prince William's wife "looked radiant and well" on her brief shopping trip. "She was happy to mingle with other customers," the spokesman told Us, adding that "no purchases were made by the Duchess, although some were made by her friends."
PHOTOS: Royal pregnancies
Meanwhile, in another part of the U.K., Middleton's husband and his brother, Prince Harry, were spotted at a friend's bachelor party at the The Feathers Inn pub in the village of Hedley on the Hill, Stocksfield, Northumberland. "It was civilized, but they were all drinking a lot after eating dinner there," a local told Us of the fete. "William seemed quite rosy-cheeked."
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Congressional investigators say pharmacy boards in nearly all 50 states lack the information and expertise to oversee specialty pharmacies like the one that triggered a deadly meningitis outbreak last year.
A report released Monday by House Democrats shows that most states do not track or routinely inspect compounding pharmacies. Staffers surveyed officials in 50 states about their oversight of pharmacies and then compiled the responses.
The findings come as lawmakers debate how to prevent another outbreak like that caused by the New England Compounding Center, a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy. Contaminated injections distributed by the company last year have killed more than 50 people and sickened hundreds more.
Compounding pharmacies, which mix customized medications based on doctors' prescriptions, have traditionally been overseen by state pharmacy boards. But the growth of larger compounding pharmacies like the NECC, which mass-produced and distributed thousands of vials of drugs across the U.S., has prompted calls for more federal oversight.
The report from Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee argues that state regulators are not adequately policing the space, and that the Food and Drug Administration should be given direct authority over the pharmacies.
"In states from coast to coast, compounding pharmacies are going untracked, unregulated, and under-inspected, exposing patients everywhere to tainted drugs, disease and death," said Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass, in a statement. Markey represents the congressional district where NECC is located.
Of the 49 states that responded to the inquiry, only officials from Missouri and Mississippi could provide the exact number of compounding pharmacies in their state. Missouri and Mississippi were also the only two states that require permits or licenses for pharmacies that perform compounding.
None of the states indicated that they track whether pharmacies sell compounded drugs across state lines or in large quantities. That kind of mass production was a key issue in the case of NECC, which shipped more than 17,600 doses of its pain injection to 23 states.
Investigators found that many states do not keep any inspection records of compounding pharmacies. Twenty-two states, or 44 percent, said they do not keep histories of problems like contamination, cleanliness and drug potency. Other states said they use a combination of inspection reports, complaints and "staff recollections," to track problematic pharmacies.
On average, most pharmacy boards have five inspectors responsible for visiting all the pharmacies in the state. Budgets vary greatly from state to state, with Nevada providing $3,000 in funding for each pharmacy in the state and Indiana providing with less than $200 per pharmacy. Only 19 states train inspectors to recognize problems with sterile compounding, which is considered the riskiest type of compounding because it requires highly sanitary conditions and complicated production techniques.
"This report clearly indicates what we've known for quite some time ? that there is no clear, functioning, or uniform process for all 50 states to manage and oversee compounding pharmacies," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., in a statement. Dingell's office helped conduct the survey.
The findings will likely come into play on Tuesday, when a House investigative committee holds its second hearing on the meningitis outbreak. Republicans on that committee have argued that the FDA could have shut down the NECC using its existing powers. Lobbyists for the compounding industry generally share that view, and have fought proposals to give the federal government more authority over compounding for decades.
Last week House Democrats released dozens of documents from the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists, the industry's leading trade group. The documents include internal memos to members suggesting how they deal with FDA inspectors, in particular: "when a pharmacist should NOT provide certain information to the FDA," and "when pharmacists should draw the line and discontinue the visit and call their attorney."
Democrats on the House Energy & Commerce Committee suggested the CEO of the trade group should testify at Tuesday's hearing. However, Democratic staffers said late last week they had not received a response on that request from Republicans, who control the chamber.
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg is schedule to testify.
A Lion Air Boeing 737 crash landed short of the runway in Bali, Indonesia. All 101 passengers and seven crew members were rescued alive Saturday within minutes. But dozens were taken to the hospital. Why did a new Boeing 737-800 crash?
By David Clark Scott,?Staff writer / April 13, 2013
The wreckage of a crashed Lion Air 737-800 plane sits on the water near the airport in Bali, Indonesia on Saturday, April 13, 2013.
(AP Photo/Indonesian police
Enlarge
Everyone on board survived when a new Boeing 737-800 aircraft landed in the water just short of the runway in Bali, Indonesia.?
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All 101 passengers and seven crew members aboard a Lion Air flight were rescued Saturday within minutes of the crash. Some 45 people have been taken to local hospitals with injuries, but none seemed life threatening, according to one Indonesian airport official.
Initial reports said the aircraft had overshot the runway. But a Lion Air spokesman, Edward Sirait, told reporters that the plane did not reach the runway, it hit the water first.
Three of the passengers aboard were foreigners, two Singaporeans and a French national, according to The Associated Press. The rest of those on board were Indonesians on a domestic flight that originated in Bandung, West Java. The flight had stopped at two other cities prior to the crash on Bali.
After the crash, evacuation and rescue efforts proceeded quickly, according to eyewitness accounts. An Australian surfer told The Sydney Morning Herald that the aircraft came down in shallow water about 300 yards from where he was paddling. By the time he joined the rescue effort, about five minutes later, he said that most of the passengers were on the wing or climbing onto rocks. He helped one man to shore on his surfboard.?
The aircraft involved was a new Boeing 737-800, a popular design in use worldwide. A total of 4,293 of the 737 Next Generation aircraft (including the 737-600, -700-, -800, and -900ER models) have been delivered by the end of December 2012, according to Boeing.
Boeing boasts that the 737-800 is the best-selling aircraft in the Next Generation series (with more than 2,800 in operation and more than 4,000 ordered). Boeing says that the aircraft is "known for its reliability, fuel efficiency and economical performance, the 737-800 is selected by leading carriers throughout the world because it provides operators the flexibility to serve a wide range of markets. The single-aisle jet, which can seat between 162 to 189 passengers, can fly 260 nautical miles farther and consume 7 percent less fuel while carrying 12 more passengers than the competing model."
This was a new aircraft, only in operation since March, which should mean that aircraft mechanical reliability or age, shouldn't be an issue. But Lion Air spokesman Edward Sirait, hinted that the aircraft was the problem? ?When it tried to land at the airport, the aircraft was not able to reach the runway due to the incident," he said according to The Jakarta Post.? The spokesman did not describe the nature of the incident. The pilot, said Sirait, had more than 10,000 hours of flying experience, but he didn't say in which types of aircraft.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tighter border security must be one goal of immigration reform if the measure is to pass Congress, lawmakers who support the plan said on Sunday as they tried to build support for a proposal that should be outlined in coming days.
The plan expected later this week envisions toughening border security to discourage new immigrants, while detailing clear steps that aspiring citizens can take if they are already in the country.
Senator Marco Rubio, a leader on immigration reform, said the reform plan will confront the sensitive question of how to treat those who have already entered the country illegally.
"This is not a theory. They are actually here," the Republican said on CBS' Face the Nation, of an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Proposals to round up and deport undocumented residents are impractical, Rubio said, and existing immigration rules are being abused.
"What we have in place today is not good for anyone except human traffickers and people who are hiring illegal aliens and paying them less than American workers," he said on Fox News Sunday. "This is an issue that needs to be solved."
Rubio, a Cuban-American, is a leader of the so-called Gang of Eight, which has four Democrat and four Republican senators trying to address concerns of domestic industry, labor and other interests who want a voice in the immigration debate.
The first-term senator from Florida was a guest on several Sunday morning political talk shows pushing the immigration reform message.
"Part of my job is to explain to people what it is we've worked on, try to justify it and hopefully gain their support," Rubio said on CNN's State of the Union.
The immigration proposal could come as soon as Tuesday with details still being finalized, Rubio said, but the plan would put citizenship on hold while officials tighten borders and prepare undocumented workers for the tax rolls.
Lawmakers have different views on how much more border security would be required before undocumented residents could seek citizenship but discouraging future illegal immigration was seen as a key to building broad support for the measure.
"Every Republican at the table said we've got to start with border security," Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat and another member of the Gang of Eight said on Fox News Sunday.
The questions of immigration reform and gun control will likely consume the senate in coming weeks and help shape the debate in the U.S. House of Representatives, which would have to pass its own version of reform before any measure could become law.
And while labor and industry groups have blessed a key proposal dealing with itinerant workers, many lawmakers are expected to loudly oppose a plan they say does too little to guarantee public safety.
Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, wants the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to have a direct voice in setting benchmarks for who gets to stay in the country.
"When the Gang of Eight first got together, they said enforcement would come first, before legalization," Sessions said on Sunday. "This proposal will not stand up to scrutiny."
(Reporting By Patrick Rucker; Editing by Todd Eastham)
Over the past few years, a new wave seems to be washing over the world: a wave of bellyaching fathers complaining about how hard it is to be a parent. There is nothing particularly original about these complaints. In fact, as in most things, women were here first. But when it comes to whining, we men are better at it, or at least much, much louder.
Hidden Truth of Parenting No. 1: Sick kids are no fun.
For me, the whole thing started about a year and a half ago. Both of my kids got a little ill. A mild flu, nothing to call 911 about, but still the sort of condition that makes you stay home with them. This is when I discovered the first hidden truth ? sick kids are no fun.
Don?t get me wrong. I love my kids. But as with any dad, my life was transformed as soon as they emerged into the world. Sleepless nights were no longer soaked in alcohol, but rather dripping with spit-up. My natural lazy morning routines were replaced by a cruel kick out of bed at 6 a.m., and I generally became a disgruntled, sleep-deprived, frustrated mess. You get used to it.
Hidden Truth of Parenting No. 9: Small children running a fever make great leg warmers.
All told, the kids were home off and on for about two months ? my boy for two days here, then my girl for three days there, and then both together for a couple of days, and on and on. I didn?t get much done over these months, but I did have a lot of time to complain. My kids spent hours on my lap alternately screaming or sleeping. If you?re juggling a 3-year-old brimming with snot, Facebook is about all you can do, because suddenly, your attention span is reduced to the amount of time between nose wipes. And you have to write really short status updates too, or the kids will try to help555sdkf.
Hidden Truth of Parenting No. 22: Never ask your children what they want for dinner. They lie.
This is how The Hidden Truths of Parenting came about. At first I was just letting off steam to friends. Blogging was the natural next step, and by the time I had 100 Hidden Truths, I?d discovered the secret of millions of other blogging parents: the comfort of knowing you are not alone. There are others out there who are also suddenly not so sure that the marvel of creating life is everything they thought it might be.
Sharing my frustrations made me feel as if I was getting in touch with my feminine side. Revealing my innermost thoughts and desires. Joining the secret sisterhood. But then I discovered there are many more dads like me out there. It turns out I am just a typical man. A clich?. I?m a blogging father. I?m a trend.
Hidden Truth of Parenting No. 78: I sometimes hate my kids ? they keep playing with my toys.
True, fathers seem to have an easier time with kids. Our hips don?t change, and unlike most women, many of us sincerely enjoy playing with toy cars. And of course, we men whine in a very manly way, largely relying on our willingness to sell our kids? souls in exchange for a punch lines we will pay for later in years of therapy.
In a sense, we are now stuck where women were back in the ?90s. Men all over the world are feeling suckered into the same trap women have been facing for decades: trying to be superdads, raising kids, keeping the house together and having a career, while at the same time looking good, staying slim and keeping it hot in the sack.
It can?t be done. And my guess is that it will take us about a decade or two of blogging and complaining to figure that out.
Hidden Truth of Parenting No. 378: When your two kids argue about who has it worse ? you do.
Ohad Ouziel is a show runner and developer of television shows and content in the international market, and the author of ?100 Hidden Truths of Parenting.?
SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - Three teenage boys have been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl from northern California who hanged herself within days of the attack after an image of it circulated online, police and her family's lawyer said.
Audrie Pott felt devastatingly humiliated by Internet exposure of the September 2012 incident, which occurred while she was passed out from drinking at a friend's home, said Robert Allard, an attorney for Pott's parents.
The three 16-year-old boys, who attended Saratoga High School with Pott at the time of the alleged sexual assault, were arrested on Thursday in Santa Clara County, about 10 miles from San Jose, said Sheriff Laurie Smith.
The boys, whose identities were not revealed by authorities because they are minors, were booked on suspicion of sexual assault by digital penetration and distributing a photo of a minor in sexual positions, both of which are felonies. They also face a misdemeanor count of inappropriate touching, Smith said.
Reuters does not name victims of sexual assault, but Allard said Pott's parents consented to allowing their daughter to be named in media reports.
The arrests follow public outrage over the sexual assault last year of a 16-year-old girl by two high school football players in Steubenville, Ohio. That case and others like it have raised concerns about the shame young victims of rape can suffer when pictures of the attack are circulated among their peers via social media networks.
Pott committed suicide eight days after the alleged sexual assault. She had posted messages on Facebook that read, "my life is ruined" and "the whole school knows," Allard said.
"She felt that her reputation was spoiled forever," Allard told Reuters. "Imagine how you'd feel, through the push of a button, people know the most intimate details about you and they're taunting you and shaming you."
"It causes great damage, and in this case it led to her death," he said.
Allard said he planned to file a wrongful death lawsuit in the attack.
Marc Buller, spokesman for the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, said his office was in the process of filing formal charges against the three boys but that because they are minors he could not comment further.
The investigation remains open and more arrests are possible, said Santa Clara County Sheriff's spokesman Lieutenant Jose Cardoza.
Allard said the delay of seven months between the alleged assault and the arrests may have stemmed from the reluctance of some students to cooperate with investigators.
Smith said her department confronted a number of legal issues related to investigating the actions of juveniles. "I won't be apologetic for why this took so long," she said.
Allard said Pott went to a friend's house for a visit that turned to drinking when she and others consumed alcohol taken from a liquor cabinet in the home. He said the boys arrived at the house after Pott had gone upstairs and fallen asleep.
"The boys accused of assaulting Pott were her friends," Allard said. "The trust that she had in her friends was just obliterated by what happened. Perhaps it was her view of life in such a positive way that made this so much harder for her."
(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Steve Gorman and Lisa Shumaker)
FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2010 file photo, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., enters the Speaker's office for a meeting about tax cuts on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Barack Obama's push for tougher gun measures and expanded background checks has placed several moderate Senate Democrats facing re-election next year in a bind, forcing them to take sides on a deeply personal issue for rural voters. Baucus, the only Democrat with the NRA's top rating, said he will vote against the bill as it currently stands, Friday, April 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2010 file photo, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., enters the Speaker's office for a meeting about tax cuts on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Barack Obama's push for tougher gun measures and expanded background checks has placed several moderate Senate Democrats facing re-election next year in a bind, forcing them to take sides on a deeply personal issue for rural voters. Baucus, the only Democrat with the NRA's top rating, said he will vote against the bill as it currently stands, Friday, April 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012 file photo, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Department of Homeland Security Chairman Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., speaks to witnesses, during a hearing, to examine Hurricane Sandy, in Washington. President Barack Obama's push for tougher gun measures and expanded background checks has placed several moderate Senate Democrats facing re-election next year in a bind, including Landrieu, forcing them to take sides on a deeply personal issue for rural voters. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama's push for tougher gun measures and expanded background checks has placed several moderate Senate Democrats facing re-election next year in a bind, forcing them to take sides on a deeply personal issue for rural voters.
The choice: Either they stick with Obama and gun control advocates ? and give an opening to campaign challengers and the National Rifle Association to assail them ? or they stand with conservative and moderate gun owners back home worried about a possible infringement on their rights.
Five Senate Democrats ? Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Max Baucus of Montana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina ? are seeking another term in states carried by Republican Mitt Romney last fall. For the next few weeks, at least, the spotlight will be on how they maneuver as the Senate debates gun-control legislation pushed by Democrats in response to the deadly Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting.
Two other GOP-leaning states with large numbers of gun owners ? West Virginia and South Dakota ? will have open seats following Democratic retirements. Republicans have placed many of these states at the top of their priority lists as they try to gain six seats to win back the Senate majority.
Debate begins next week on Senate legislation that would require nearly all gun buyers to submit to background checks, toughen federal laws banning illicit firearms sales and provide more money for school safety measures. The background checks are viewed by gun control advocates as the best step to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from accessing weapons. The NRA has opposed the expansion of background checks, saying it could lead to federal registries of gun owners. It has sought better enforcement of existing laws, which it contends is too easy for criminals to circumvent.
"There's a fear in these states that this is going to go further and farther than anyone has suggested," said Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist and former chief of staff to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. But he said efforts to curb gun violence were aided by the emotional toll of the Sandy Hook shootings, in which 20 children and six adult educators were killed. "Newtown changed everything," he said.
Thus, these Senate Democrats are weighing the possibility of angry voters next year against pressure from fellow Democrats. So far, they're divided.
Baucus, the only Democrat with the NRA's top rating, said he will vote against the bill as it currently stands. He pointed to the 18,000 phone calls his office has received about it ? he said only 2,000 of those callers favored it.
"I represent Montana ? that's my first loyalty," Baucus said. "They're my employers. That's why I'm here."
Baucus knows the perils of a debate over firearms. He supported a 1994 crime bill sought by President Bill Clinton that included an assault weapons ban and survived a vigorous challenge from Republicans two years later.
Two other Democrats have already raised their objections.
Begich and Pryor voted Thursday with Republicans in an unsuccessful bid to block debate on Democrats' gun control legislation.
Begich said the current bill has "serious problems with it" and he wanted Democrats to consider his proposal with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to improve how the federal background check system prevents weapons from getting to people with certain mental health problems.
"My first priority is Alaska. It's not complicated for me," Begich said. "It doesn't matter if it's election year or non-election year. I've done 4 1/2 years of pro-gun votes here." Asked whether Obama's push on gun violence was complicating matters for him at home, Begich said with a laugh: "The president makes my life difficult on many fronts."
Pryor said the bill in its current form was "too broad and unworkable."
Hagan is taking a different position. She said in a statement she planned to support what's become known as the Manchin-Toomey measure for its sponsors, noting it would "explicitly" ban the federal government from creating a registry.
"As a mother there is nothing more important to me than protecting our kids. I am looking at each proposal to ensure it is common sense, will be effective and will not infringe on Second Amendment rights," she said.
Landrieu has yet to indicate what she might support in a final bill. She said following Thursday's vote that the Second Amendment right to own firearms "is not to be taken away" but that the nation was "plagued by gun violence." Making no commitments, she said it was "worthy of a debate to see if we can find a common-sense solution."
Debate begins next week on a measure forged by Manchin and Republican Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania that would expand background checks less broadly than the overall legislation. The proposal would subject buyers in commercial settings like gun shows and the Internet to the checks but exempt transactions such as sales between friends and relatives.
The Senate also is likely to hold votes on proposals to ban military-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, two measures that were excluded from the bill and are expected to be defeated. With so many votes ahead, and the potential for a number of procedural votes, any Democrat runs the risk of having one of their votes misconstrued in future TV ads.
All are bracing for negative ads ? and pressure from those they anger.
Gun control advocates holding rallies across the country have the deep pockets of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has pumped $12 million in TV advertising pressuring support for the measures. Bloomberg's group announced plans Friday for more ads next week in seven states, including Landrieu's Louisiana and North Dakota, home to freshman Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.
An offshoot of Obama's campaign, Organizing for Action, planned to hold rallies in 14 states on Saturday to push for the measures.
On the flip side, the NRA is certain to spend a chunk of money assailing anyone who backs the measure. Republicans, meanwhile, say the issue could serve as a strong motivating factor in rural states next year.
"The discussion is devastating to Democrats ? that's why they stopped talking about it for a long time," said Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
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Associated Press writer Matt Gouras in Helena, Mont., and Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, La., contributed to this report.
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Follow Ken Thomas on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas
A group of people huddle together after an explosion and gunshots were heard near the scene where a man was holding four firefighters hostage Wednesday, April 10, 2013 in Suwanee, Ga. A police spokesman said the suspect was dead and none of the hostages suffered serious injuries. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
A group of people huddle together after an explosion and gunshots were heard near the scene where a man was holding four firefighters hostage Wednesday, April 10, 2013 in Suwanee, Ga. A police spokesman said the suspect was dead and none of the hostages suffered serious injuries. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
A police officer leaves the scene after an explosion and gunshots were heard near the scene where a man was holding four firefighters hostage Wednesday, April 10, 2013 in Suwanee, Ga. A police spokesman said the suspect was dead and none of the hostage suffered serious injuries. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
A police officer leaves the scene after an explosion and gunshots were heard near the scene where a man was holding four firefighters hostage Wednesday, April 10, 2013 in Suwanee, Ga. A police spokesman said the suspect was dead and none of the hostage suffered serious injuries. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
An EMT works in the back of an ambulance as it leaves an Suwanee, Ga., subdivision after an explosion and gunshots were heard near the scene where a man was holding four firefighters hostage Wednesday, April 10, 2013. A police spokesman said the suspect was dead and none of the hostages suffered serious injuries. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
A police officer runs after an explosion and gunshots were heard near the scene where a man was holding four firefighters hostage Wednesday, April 10, 2013 in Suwanee, Ga. A police spokesman said the suspect was dead and none of the hostages suffered serious injuries. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
SUWANEE, Ga. (AP) ? Police say a man who held firefighters hostage for hours in a suburban Atlanta home was heavily armed with a half-dozen guns, and told the firefighters that he targeted them so he wouldn't be shot.
Police on Thursday identified the man as 55-year-old Lauren Brown of Suwanee.
Police say Brown faked an illness to get firefighters and was lying in bed when they arrived. Gwinnett County Police Chief Charles M. Walters says when the five firefighters approached the bed, he pulled out a handgun.
Walters says Brown opened fire on a police officer who entered a bedroom when SWAT members stormed the house Wednesday evening.
Police say that officer was wounded in the left arm by one of the shots, but managed to return fire, striking and killing Brown.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) ? A judge in Paris is holding a hearing Thursday on the auction of dozens of items central to an Arizona tribe's religious practices.
Neret-Minet Tessier & Sarrou plans to sell the collection Friday that it describes as 70 kachina masks of the Hopi Indians, although some of the items are labeled as coming from New Mexico pueblos.
The Hopi Tribe contends the items were stolen and has asked the auction house to prove otherwise through certificates of ownership or some chain of title. The items are considered communal property of the Hopi Tribe, and its chairman said no one other than a Hopi has the right to possess them.
The non-profit organization, Survival International, took up the Hopi's cause this week with a lawyer filing a motion in a Paris court to suspend the auction so that the origin of the items could be determined. The Hopi consider the kachinas living beings that emerge from the earth and sky to connect people to the spiritual world and their ancestors.
"Given the importance of these ceremonial objects to Hopi religion, you can understand why Hopis regard this or any sale as sacrilege, and why they regard an auction not as homage but as a desecration to our religion," Hopi Chairman Le Roy Shingoitewa said.
The auction house didn't respond to a request for comment this week from The Associated Press.
The Hopi Tribe said it believes the items that date back to the late 19th century and early 20th century were taken from the northern Arizona reservation in the 1930s and 1940s, possibly by a French citizen who was visiting. Curiosity about one of the oldest indigenous tribes in the United States led collectors and researchers to the reservation in search of religious and ceremonial items and details about the culture and traditions, Hopi archaeologists say.
"In the United States, people went to lengths to come to Hopi to get any type of religious items because maybe they saw a benefit down the road for them financially," said Lloyd Masayumptewa, a Hopi from the village of Oraibi who studies archaeology. "Even our ancestral homes throughout the Southwest, people are still looting ancient sites and making a living out of it. The black market is huge for anything prehistoric."
Some items were stolen after visitors gained knowledge about where they were kept, Hopi families facing starvation sometimes exchanged the items for food and caretakers might have voluntarily given up items. Hopi archaeologist Lyle Balenquah said the repercussions of that time period are that many Hopis became withdrawn in discussions about religion and spirituality to protect what's left of it, even as information floats around on the Internet. Tourists today are limited in what they can see in the villages and what can be photographed.
"There was this idea that this was the last chance to see a Native American culture in its true form," he said.
Without any paper records, determining exactly where the items up for sale in Paris originated could be tricky. Men from the Hopi Tribe likely were the only ones to come into contact with the items because there are few, if any, women caretakers, and it was more common for people to talk about things that went on in the communities rather than write it down, Balenquah said.
Hopi villages and societies have a way of distinguishing items. If certain elders viewed the collection, they might have some identifying knowledge, Masayumptewa said.
The sale of such items isn't extraordinary, but the size of the collection to be auctioned in Paris and the age of the items is, Hopis say. The tribe has said it will not bid on the items if the auction is allowed to move forward.
Pakistan said Wednesday that it had successfully fired a nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
By John Newland and Fakhar Rehman, NBC News
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan ? Pakistan raised its nuclear ante Wednesday by saying it had conducted a successful test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead almost 600 miles, far enough to strike deep within India, its nuclear-armed neighbor.
The Shaheen-1 missile struck its intended target at sea, according to a statement from the Pakistani military.
The missile incorporates a series of technical improvements and has a longer range than its predecessors, the statement said.
Pakistan has an arsenal of at least 90 nuclear warheads and has been quickly increasing the range of its missiles, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service.?
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists says Pakistan has the world's fastest-growing nuclear stockpile.
Meanwhile, India has an estimated 100 nuclear weapons, according to the Arms Control Association, and tensions between the next-door neighbors, which have historically been high, have risen lately with a conflict over the disputed Kashmir territory.
In August 2012, Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna hinted at Pakistan when he mentioned ?rampant proliferation in our extended neighborhood? during a speech in New Delhi.
Str / AFP - Getty Images
Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.
?Nuclear weapons today are an integral part of our national security and will remain so,? Krishna said.
Pakistan, whose foreign ministry has said?the country "is mindful of the need to avoid an arms race with India,? said Wednesday that the Shaheen-1 can accurately hit a target up to 560 miles away, compared with 430 miles for the previous version.
Senior military officers, along with scientists and engineers from the National Engineering and Scientific Commission, watched the launch, the government said.
Among those on hand was retired Lt. Gen. Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, director general of the country?s Strategic Plans Division, who was quoted by the government as saying the new version of the missile had ?consolidated and strengthened Pakistan?s deterrence abilities manifold.?
Related:
Giving voice to Pakistan's 'voiceless': Housewife becomes first female candidate in tribal region
Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani teen shot by Taliban, back at school -- in UK
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) ? The newspaper industry's revenue declined at its slowest pace in six years, as publishers turned to new businesses and raised more money from online subscriptions.
The industry's total revenue in 2012 fell 2 percent to $38.6 billion from $39.5 billion in 2011, according to the Newspaper Association of America.
Online subscriptions helped circulation revenue rise by 5 percent to $10.4 billion. It was the first gain since 2003.
The association's figures are projections based on a survey of 17 companies that represent about half of the industry's revenue. Publishers provided a detailed breakdown of their revenue on condition of anonymity.
For the first time, the NAA data incorporated new sources of revenue that virtually didn't exist for the industry a decade ago, including e-commerce, event hosting and providing advertising agency-like services to local companies. These categories accounted for $3 billion in revenue in 2012. The NAA also began counting for the first time ad revenue from niche publications and such things as flyers sent to non-subscribers. Those segments generated $2.9 billion.
If the new categories were not included, revenue would have fallen 3 percent in 2012, to $32.7 billion, still the most modest decline since 2006. In 2011, revenue not counting the new categories fell 5 percent to $33.9 billion. Revenue peaked at $60.2 billion in 2005.
"This does not look like an industry that's just rolling over," said Caroline Little, president of the NAA.
Little said the association's new way of compiling data tells a more optimistic story of an industry coping with an advertising shift away from print by generating new sources of revenue and selling news online and through mobile devices.
Among the industry's most positive developments is the growth in circulation revenue. Some 400 U.S. newspapers now charge readers for online access. In some cases, online subscriptions are bundled with print subscriptions. As a result, the industry's 2012 circulation revenue returned to slightly above the 2007 level of $10.3 billion. It was still below 2003's peak of $11.2 billion.
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The year is 2154, and Earth belongs to the poor. The wealthiest citizens live on "Elysium," an idyllic, disease-free utopia they built in space.
On Monday, a few hundred film fans in Los Angeles, Berlin and Sao Paolo got an early look at the future home of the 1 percent as imagined by "District 9" writer-director Neill Blomkamp.
Blomkamp showed about 10 minutes of footage from the anticipated film during a special screening. Matt Damon, who stars alongside Jodie Foster, introduced the footage in Berlin and appeared at Hollywood's Arclight Theater via satellite.
In the film, Earth is a trash-filled landscape policed unforgivingly by robotic droids. Flying military tanks patrol the sky.
Damon plays a diseased Earthling trying to infiltrate Elysium to save himself, and perhaps all of humanity. A group of Earth-bound rebels outfit him for the journey with a tentacled "strength suit." They use a drill to affix a digital box to his head that allows him to transfer brain contents as effortlessly as computer files.
Foster plays an Elysium administrator determined to keep Damon out. The star of "District 9," Sharlto Copley, plays a bearded villain who works on Earth to protect the wealthy space enclave.
Speaking to reporters after the screening, Blomkamp hinted that there could be a sequel to his breakthrough debut.
"I think the world of 'District 9' has a lot of very interesting race and impression-based ideas that I would still like to explore in that world," he said.
Facebook has given its main "f" logo icon a makeover, flattening the design by removing the pale blue bar along the bottom, which gave the icon a reflective sheen/slight 3D effect, as well as moving the position of the f so it now bleeds right off the bottom. The overall effect is a simplified, unfussy and clean looking design with the f more clearly leaping out.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 17-Apr-2013
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