F R O M T H E Pa G E

F R O M T H E PA G E S O F

Thursday, November 5, 2009

from the pages of

Midnight in New York © 2009 The New York Times

Major Setback in Maine for Gay Rights energized g.o.p. looking to avoid intraparty feud

They had far more money, vol- will risk political capital on gay unteers and political support, rights. Tuesday’s defeat is also likely to and geography was on their side, given that New England has been further splinter a movement that has been debating the more accepting of samebest tactics for success. sex marriage than any News Some prominent gay other region of the counAnalysis politicians last month try. Yet gay rights supporters suffered a crushing loss skipped a gay rights march on when voters decided to repeal Washington, questioning its purMaine’s new law allowing gays pose, which only emboldened some of the younger advocates at and lesbians to wed. Maine had seemed to offer an the march to call for a new generexcellent chance of reversing the ation of leaders. Some advocates national trend of voters rejecting said they were unimpressed marriage equality at the ballot when Obama signed a law against box. Instead, it became the 31st gay hate crimes but offered relastate to block same-sex marriage tively restrained remarks. They questioned whether it was time through a referendum. At a time when gay rights activ- to take a more confrontational ists believe that President Obama posture toward Obama, who benis not treating their agenda as a efited during the 2008 campaign high priority, the Maine loss has from a surge of votes and donaleft them asking who their friends tions from gay men and lesbians. In Maine, advocates had stuck are. At stake, they say, is not only gay marriage, but the military’s to a familiar path: Using their ban on openly gay service mem- own personal stories, they tried bers and the federal law banning to persuade voters that gay people were no different from their same-sex marriage. State legislatures had been straight neighbors and deserved viewed as new allies in the fight equal treatment under the law. for gay marriage after the Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire Online: assessing the vote legislatures approved such bills earlier this year. But now, with Democrats perceive a new Maine voters dealing a rebuke urgency in their agenda. to their Legislature, it is far from nytimes.com/national clear whether elected officials

Now, many will argue that that approach is not enough. Some are already pressing for more aggressive tactics, like speeding up a ballot measure to reverse California’s ban on gay marriage next year, instead of taking more time to build support. Others want to focus on swaying federal lawmakers to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which Rep. Barney Frank, the nation’s highestranking openly gay politician, has called foolish at this point. Opponents said that given Maine’s “live-and-let live” mentality, the results were strong proof that same-sex marriage was not gaining acceptance. “It interrupts the story line that is being manufactured that suggests the culture has shifted on gay marriage and the fight is over,” said Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage, the Christian group that is leading the charge against same-sex marriage. “Maine is one of the most secular states in the nation. It’s socially liberal. They had a three-year head start to build their organization, and they outspent us two to one. If they can’t win there, it really does tell you the majority of Americans are not on board with this gay marriage thing.” ABBY GOODNOUGH

Dissidents Subvert an Anti-U.S. Rally in Tehran BEIRUT, Lebanon — Iran’s beleaguered opposition movement struggled to reassert itself on Wednesday, as tens of thousands of protesters braved police beatings and clouds of tear gas on the sidelines of a major, governmentsponsored anti-American rally. The protests — in Tehran and several other cities — were the opposition’s largest street showing in almost two months, and came on the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in 1979, an event that was a crucible for both Iran and the United States. Although a huge deployment of police beat back and scattered many of them, the protesters took heart at their ability to openly challenge the govern-

ment despite a stream of stark warnings from all levels of Iran’s conservative establishment. Even some government authorities seemed to grudgingly concede that the opposition had disrupted the annual anti-American rally. The official IRNA news agency reported in midafternoon that “rioters,” many wearing the opposition’s green symbols, had gathered in front of its offices on Valiasr Street chanting “Death to the Dictator” and other antigovernment slogans. At the same time, a new theme emerged, with many protesters declaring their impatience with President Obama’s policy of dialogue with the Iranian government. Many could be heard

chanting: “Obama, Obama — either you’re with them or you’re with us,” witnesses said. Protesters openly flouted the day’s official anti-American message. There were reports of several dozen arrests, including some outside Tehran, and many injuries. The reformist cleric Mehdi Karroubi, who has become the government’s most outspoken critic, narrowly avoided injury when pro-government forces fired a tear gas cylinder at him as he marched with protesters in Tehran, according to Radio Farda, an American-backed station. Two of his guards leapt to defend him and were hospitalized for their wounds, the station reported.  ROBERT F. WORTH

WASHINGTON — Republicans emerged from Tuesday’s elections energized by victories in Virginia and New Jersey, but their leaders immediately began maneuvering to avoid a prolonged battle with conservative activists over what the party stands for and how to regain power. The victories, in races for governor, were cast by the party’s national chairman, Michael Steele, as a sign of a “Republican renaissance.” In New Jersey, Gov. Jon S. Corzine was toppled by the Republican nominee, Christopher J. Christie. In Virginia, Robert F. McDonnell, the Republican, defeated his Democratic opponent, R. Creigh Deeds. Republicans said the victories showed that President Obama and his party were vulnerable Yet throughout the day, Republicans grappled with the disappointing outcome of a special election for what had been a reliably Republican House seat in upstate New York. That contest became a battleground between the party establishment and a conservative insurgency demanding more ideological purity. The race was won by a Democrat, Bill Owens, after the Republican candidate, a moderate, quit as conservative leaders rallied around Douglas L. Hoffman. Despite Hoffman’s loss, conservatives vowed to press on with opposition to centrist Republicans. That vow intensified concerns among party leaders that Tuesday’s results could be dimmed by intramural battles. “When our party is united, whether you run in a Northern state or a Southern state, our party can win,” said the House Republican whip, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia. The debate has been fueled by a populist anger among grass-roots conservatives, encouraged in part by leaders like Sarah Palin. The situation is complicated because the party has no dominant leaders or establishment to bridge the divides and help articulate a positive agenda. ADAM NAGOURNEY

International

Afghan Policeman Kills 5 British KABUL, Afghanistan — The deaths of five British soldiers at the hands of an Afghan policeman with whom they were working have unleashed an outcry in Britain and highlighted the vulnerability of Western troops as they carry out a key part of the counterinsurgency strategy to train more Afghan Army and the police. The attack occurred at midday on Tuesday in Helmand Province as the soldiers relaxed in the warm autumn sun on the roof of the joint checkpoint overlooking a shared British-Afghan compound. They were so much at ease that they had shed their body armor and helmets, never thinking that they would be attacked by one of the men they lived and worked with, said a provincial official. The attacker fled, setting off a manhunt. For Britain, it was one of the highest number of fatalities in a single attack in Afghanistan, bringing to 92 the number of British troops killed so far this year. It came one month after an Afghan policeman fired on U.S. soldiers during a joint patrol in Wardak Province, killing two, and intensified concerns about Taliban infiltration of the security forces, in particular the police, which are supposed to be preparing to take a broader role in combating the insurgency. An Afghan official in Helmand said local people believed the gunman was sympathetic to the Taliban insurgents who have been fighting an increasingly bold campaign. Six British soldiers were also wounded.  (NYT)

Thursday, November 5, 2009

2

On a Remote Island, a Refugee Problem Grows CHRISTMAS ISLAND, Australia — Deep in the jungle on this small island lost in the Indian Ocean, Australia’s new $370 million refugee detention center reaches its full power after its lights come on at dusk. Bracketed by rain forest, steep cliffs and the sea, it rises from the darkness and becomes visible from the island’s only inhabited corner, some 10 miles away. The center — opened a few days before Christmas but now nearly full with refugees from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka — has come to symbolize what many call one of Australia’s defining fears: the arrival of boat people from Asia. All boat people seeking asylum in Australia are first brought here to Christmas Island, 220 miles south of Indonesia and nearly 1,000 miles from the Australian mainland, and most are now held at enormous cost within the center’s electrified, 13-foot-high razor-wire fences. But even as boats arrive every few days, advocates for refugees and even the government’s own human rights commission are urging the government to close the place down and sort the asylum-seekers on the mainland. They compare Christmas Island to Guantánamo Bay or describe it as a reincarnation of the many notorious prison islands in Australia’s convict history. “They put this center way out here on this remote island, and then they built it way, way, way out on the island in the jungle,” said Charlene Thompson, a social worker who counsels asylumseekers here. She equated the

kemal jufri/Imaji, FOR The New York Times

Asylum seekers being taken by barge from an Australian Navy ship to Christmas Island. new center to Port Arthur, a 19thcentury penal colony in Tasmania. “It’s a jail, a high-security jail, and it feels like the asylum-seekers are being treated as criminals.” The influx of boat people has rattled the government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd a year before another election. Recently, Rudd, accused by the opposition of being soft on illegal immigration, asked Indonesia’s president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to intercept a wooden cargo ship from Malaysia with 260 Sri Lankans bound for Australia. If the Sri Lankans, now held in Indonesia, had been brought here, their numbers would probably have pushed the center beyond its capacity of 1,200. That, in turn, could have forced the government to start processing the boat people on the mainland. “I make absolutely no apology whatsoever for taking a hard line on illegal immigration to Australia,” said Rudd, who had initially

won praise from refugee advocates for reversing some of the harshest anti-immigration measures of his predecessor, John Howard, including charging asylum seekers for their stay in government facilities. Rudd has continued to send boat people here for processing. He has also retained his predecessor’s “excision” policy, under which asylum seekers on islands like this one are barred from the mainland’s refugee review system. At first reluctant to use the new center, the symbol of his predecessor’s policies, Rudd housed the boat people in an older facility here. But a surge of asylum seekers late last year forced the authorities to start using the new center. Nearly 2,000 boat people have been sent to Christmas Island this year. Currently, their numbers are believed to match the island’s local population of 1,100. NORIMITSU ONISHI

In Brief C.I.A. Officers Convicted

Israelis Seize Cargo Ship

An Italian judge on Wednesday convicted a base chief for the C.I.A. and 22 other American C.I.A. operatives of kidnapping a Muslim cleric in Milan in 2003. The case was a symbolic victory for Italian prosecutors, but it seemed highly unlikely that anyone would spend any time in prison. Judge Oscar Magi handed an eight-year sentence to Robert Seldon Lady, the former base chief in Milan, and five-year sentences to the others. All were tried in absentia. Most of the top C.I.A. officers have left the agency, with the exception of Stephen R. Kappes, who is now the C.I.A.’s second ranking official.  (NYT)

Israeli Navy commandos seized a cargo ship early Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea that Israeli officials said was carrying rockets and ammunition bound for Hezbollah militants. The ship, the Franco St. Johns, sailing under an Antiguan flag, was intercepted near Cyprus and taken to Ashdod harbor in southern Israel.  (NYT)

U.S. Diplomat in Myanmar A senior U.S. diplomat who visited Myanmar said that Washington would improve relations with the nation if its military government embraced reconciliation with

Myanmar’s democratic opposition. The diplomat, Kurt M. Campbell, an assistant secretary of state, is the highest-ranking U.S. official to hold substantive talks in Myanmar in more than a decade.  (NYT)

Rebel Attack on Saudi Arabia A Saudi border guard was killed and 10 were injured when gunmen crossed the border from Yemen and opened fire, the staterun Saudi Press Agency reported. The attack, in Jebel Dukhan, appeared to be the first attack on Saudi Arabia by the Houthi rebels, who have fought an intermittent war against the Yemeni government for more than five years, analysts said. (NYT)

national

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Nation Faces Shortage of Seasonal Flu Vaccine Even though the regular flu season has yet to start, the nation is facing a severe shortage of seasonal flu vaccine as well as swine flu vaccine. Federal officials and independent flu experts have said the situation was unavoidable, given that the global swine flu pandemic had raised demand for all flu shots far beyond what manufacturers can make in a year. The shortage does not mean there will be an increase in seasonal flu deaths, which average about 36,000 a year. The same amount of vaccine was made this year as last, and there is no reason to believe any of the three strains of seasonal flu will be worse this winter. In parts of the Southern Hemisphere, swine flu seemed to “crowd out” seasonal flu this winter, experts said, but whether it will do so here is impossible to predict. Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a House sub-

committee on Wednesday that officials were “very frustrated” by the shortages but unable to prevent them. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it showed “the inexorable connection between preparedness for pandemic flu and preparedness for seasonal flu.” In New York, the shortage is so acute that the city health department on Wednesday asked doctors to stop giving seasonal vaccines to healthy adults under 65. “Some additional supplies of vaccine are expected during November,” said Dr. Thomas Farley, the city’s health commissioner. “But the demand may continue to exceed the supply.” Shortages are being reported across the country. Based on recent telephone surveys and health insurer billing data, the C.D.C. believes that up to 85 million Americans have already had seasonal flu shots, according to

David Daigle, a C.D.C. spokesman. Last year at this time, only about 61 million had. Last year was the previous record: 113 million doses of vaccine were made and about 103 million Americans took them. This year, between February and May, manufacturers had grown virtually the same amount — 114 million doses — before they were asked to switch to swine flu vaccine. They have shipped about 90 million does of season flu vaccine, Daigle said. Unless there is a sudden loss of interest, a shortage seems inevitable even after the remaining 24 million are shipped. Exactly when shipping will finish is unknown. One company that had problems growing one of the three seasonal flu strains has not even filled its vials yet, according to a flu expert. The current problems began years ago, experts said, when vaccine companies started abandoning the American market. DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

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In Brief Water Bills Approved California lawmakers approved a series of bills that would vastly overhaul the state’s troubled water system. The plan calls for a comprehensive restoration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.  (NYT)

Jobless Benefits The Senate voted to extend up to 20 weeks of unemployment benefits to those who have been out of work a long time. An added provision would continue an $8,000 credit for first-time homebuyers. (NYT)

Victim Identified The number of women found dead in a sex offender’s home rose to 11, and the Cleveland police announced the name of a victim: Tonia Carmichael, 52, missing for a year. (NYT)

business 

Thursday, November 5, 2009

the markets

Disney Will Give Mickey Mouse a Makeover LOS ANGELES — For decades, the Walt Disney Co. has largely kept Mickey Mouse frozen under glass, fearful that even the tiniest tinkering might tarnish the brand and upend his $5 billion or so in annual merchandise sales. One false move and Disney could have New Coke on its hands. Now, however, concerned that Mickey has become more of a corporate symbol than a beloved character for recent generations of young people, Disney is taking the risky step of re-imagining him for the future. The first glimmer of this will be the introduction next year of a new video game, Epic Mickey, in which the formerly squeaky clean character can be cantankerous and cunning, as well as heroic, as he traverses a forbidding wasteland.

And at the same time, in a parallel but separate effort, Disney has quietly embarked on an even larger project to rethink the character’s personality, from the way Mickey walks and talks to the way he appears on the Disney Channel and how children interact with him on the Web — even what his house looks like at Disney World. “Holy cow, the opportunity to mess with one of the most recognizable icons on Planet Earth,” said Warren Spector, the creative director of Junction Point, a Disney-owned game developer that spearheaded Epic Mickey. The effort to re-engineer Mickey is still in its early stages, but it involves the top creative and marketing minds in the company, all the way up to Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive.

The project was given new impetus this week with the announcement that, after 20 years of negotiations, the company has finally received the blessing of the Chinese government to open a theme park in Shanghai, potentially unlocking a new giant market for all things Mickey. Disney executives are treading carefully, and trying to keep a low profile, as they discuss how much they dare tweak one of the most durable characters in pop culture history to induce new generations of texting, tech-savvy children to embrace him. While Mickey remains a superstar in many homes, particularly overseas, his static nature has resulted in a generation of Americans that knows him, but may not love him.  BROOKS BARNES

New York Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Intel In 2005, Michael S. Dell’s namesake company was getting pounded. His competitors were selling personal computers and servers built on cheap, popular and powerful chips from Advanced Micro Devices, while Dell had stuck loyally with slower chips from Intel. In an e-mail note to Intel’s chief executive, Paul S. Otellini, Dell threatened to switch to A.M.D. “I am tired of losing business,” Dell wrote. “We are losing the hearts, minds and wallets of our best customers.” Otellini reminded Dell that Intel had paid Dell more than $1 billion in the last year. “This was judged by your team to be more than sufficient to compensate for

the competitive issues,” he wrote. Dell delayed buying A.M.D. chips, and Otellini said in a later e-mail message to a colleague that Dell was “the best friend money can buy.” Such payments to PC makers, along with other aggressive business tactics, are at the heart of the antirust lawsuit filed against Intel on Wednesday by New York’s attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo. Cuomo’s case — the first antitrust charges against the company in the United States in more than a decade — follows similar actions by regulators in Europe and Asia. According to Cuomo’s lawsuit, Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, has for years used large

rebates and co-marketing arrangements to talk Dell and other manufacturers into sticking with its products rather than increasing their business with A.M.D., a much smaller chip maker. As the supplier of about 80 percent of the central chips that power PCs and servers, Intel had monopoly power, which it abused, according to Cuomo. “Intel has used illegal threats, coercion, fines and bullying to preserve its stranglehold on the market,” he said at a news conference on Wednesday. “We intend to stop them.” An Intel spokesman, Chuck Mulloy, said the company had done nothing wrong.  ASHLEE VANCE

J.P. Morgan Forfeits Millions to Settle Bribery Case J.P. Morgan Securities will forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars in fees on derivatives contracts that it sold an Alabama county, under a settlement announced Wednesday that could offer hope to other governments staggering under similar deals. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged in a lawsuit on Wednesday that J.P. Morgan had made unlawful payments to friends of Jefferson County’s commissioners in a scheme to win lucrative business from the county to sell bonds and trade in derivatives..

The lawsuit also named two former J.P. Morgan employees. One of those men has already served a prison term for manipulating similar bond deals in Philadelphia. To settle the lawsuit, J.P. Morgan will drop its claims for $647 million in termination fees it had been trying to make Jefferson County pay on the derivatives. The settlement also calls for J.P. Morgan to pay a $25 million penalty to the commission and $50 million to the county. Over the last decade, thousands of governments around the country entered into deals

linking bonds with derivatives, forming complex structures that were supposed to hold down borrowing costs. Many of the deals did not work out the way officials expected them to, partly because financial markets froze last fall and partly because interest rates moved sharply in unexpected directions. But not every local government can count on relief just because a financial mistake was made. The Jefferson County case involved clear-cut bribes and a criminal conviction.  MARY WILLIAMS WALSH

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DJIA

NASDAQ

30.23

U

0.31%

9,802.14

1.80

D

0.09%

S&P 500 1.09

U

2,055.52

0.10%

1,046.50

EUROP E BRITAIN

GERMANY

FRANCE

FTSE 100

DAX

CAC 40

70.68 1.40%

U

5,107.89

90.88 1.70%

U

86.08 2.40%

U

5,444.23

3,670.33

ASIA/PAC I F I C JAPAN

HONG KONG

NIKKEI 225 41.36 0.42%

U

9,844.31

CHINA

HANG SENG SHANGHAI 374.71 1.76%

U

21,614.77

U

14.31 0.46%

3,128.54

AMER I C AS CANADA

BRAZIL

MEXICO

TSX

BOVESPA

BOLSA

45.30 .41%

U

1,269.04 U 2.03%

U

543.98 1.88%

11,071.20 63,912.27 29,430.51 COMMOD ITIES / BON D S

GOLD

U

10-YR. TREAS. CRUDE OIL YIELD

7.82

$1,092.20

U

0.05

U

3.52

0.80 $80.40

Foreign Exchange

Fgn. currency Dollars in in dollars fgn.currency Wed. Tue. Wed. Tue.

Australia .9136 .9007 Bahrain 2.6523 2.6521 Brazil .5811 .5741 Britain 1.6583 1.6402 Canada .9419 .9366 China .1465 .1464 Denmark .2000 .1975 Dominican .0277 .0277 Egypt .1827 .1826 Europe 1.4888 1.4702 Hong Kong .1290 .1290 Japan .01102 .01107 Mexico .07526 .07508 Norway .1764 .1731 Singapore .7169 .7143 So. Africa .1315 .1272 So. Korea .00084 .00084 Sweden .1424 .1405 Switzerlnd .9858 .9733

1.0946 1.1102 .3770 .3771 1.7210 1.7418 .6030 .6097 1.0617 1.0677 6.8280 6.8290 5.0000 5.0633 36.15 36.15 5.4745 5.4765 .6717 .6802 7.7500 7.7502 90.74 90.32 13.287 13.318 5.6700 5.7779 1.3948 1.4000 7.6050 7.8595 1182.5 1186.5 7.0225 7.1174 1.0144 1.0274

Online: MORE PRICES AND ANALYSIS

Information on all United States stocks, plus bonds, mutual funds, commodities and foreign stocks along with analysis of industry sectors and stock indexes: nytimes.com/markets

business 

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Cost of Medical Devices Is Kept Mysterious When makers of heart defibrillators wanted Medicare to vastly expand the types of patients eligible to receive the devices, which can cost upward of $25,000, agency officials were skeptical. It was not clear how many of those patients would actually need a defibrillator, a device that can deliver a lifesaving shock to restore a faltering heart to normal rhythm. So government and industry struck a deal back in 2004. Medicare agreed to expand the device’s use, nearly doubling the number of patients who qualified for one. The companies, in return, agreed to pay for a study to see which patients really benefited. Five years later, Medicare underwrites more than half of the $4 billion the nation now spends annually on defibrillators, but the agency is no closer to knowing how many lives that big investment is saving. That is because the device companies did not finance the study beyond their initial $4 million commitment, and Medi-

care did not pick up the slack. As a result, researchers still cannot gather data that would identify those types of patients who would most benefit from a defibrillator. There is still no way of tracking which types of defibrillator patients have received life-saving shocks and which ones have not needed their devices. And so, doctors keep implanting costly defibrillators in patients who may not benefit from them. And doctors and patients have no way of knowing whether one producer’s model performs better than a competitor’s. The picture is no clearer for the many other types of medical devices that taxpayers, through government-run programs like Medi-

State of the Art David Pogue reviews Motorola’s new Droid smartphone. nytimes.com/personaltech

care, underwrite. Every year, for instance, doctors give patients tens of thousands of artificial hips and knees, without having the data to indicate how long they will last or which ones work best, and Medicare picks up the bills. As Congress seeks to revamp the nation’s health care system, medical devices might seem an inviting target to better control Medicare spending. Outlays on implanted devices stand at about $76 billion annually in this country and are rising at a rate faster than the cost of drugs, according to a recent study by the McKinsey Global Institute, a consulting group. With an aging population in America, Medicare is picking up more of those costs. But legislation pending in the House and Senate may not help, some experts say, because the proposals do not require device makers to compete on the same ground as other manufacturers — product performance and price.  BARRY MEIER

Party’s Over as Chrysler Sets More Serious Tone AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — The old Chrysler was famous for its aggressive marketing and autoshow stunts, like running a cattle drive down the streets of Detroit to publicize a new pickup. But for its coming-out party on Wednesday, the new Chrysler stuck to a far more serious and subdued script. For more than six hours, Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler’s new chief executive, and his top lieutenants marched through details of the company’s five-year plan in front of an audience of about 300 industry analysts and reporters. Until now, Chrysler has been

relatively quiet since it emerged from bankruptcy this summer, with the help of $12.5 billion in aid from the U.S. government and a new partnership with Fiat, the Italian automaker. Fiat, which owns 20 percent of the company, is now firmly in control and is being guided by a new board partly selected by President Obama’s auto task force. A parade of executives laid out in methodical fashion how Chrysler planned to increase its U.S. market share from its current level of 8 percent, and achieve $3 billion in purchasing savings with Fiat by 2014.

They said it would start earning a profit in 2011 and would be earning $5 billion a year by 2014. The outstanding government loans will be repaid as well by then, Chrysler’s new chairman, C. Robert Kidder, said. The earnest message delivered by executive after executive was that Chrysler’s passion for products would be enhanced by Fiat’s expertise in engines, design and technology over all. The company plans to reinvigorate its core Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge brands with broad makeovers.  BILL VLASIC  and NICK BUNKLEY

Fed Signals Any Interest Rate Increase Is Far Away WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday it was not close to raising interest rates, saying that the economy remained weak even though the recession appeared to be over. The central bank said it would keep its benchmark interest rate at virtually zero, and it made no change to its longstanding mantra that economic conditions were likely to warrant “exceptionally low” rates for “an extended period.”

For practical purposes, analysts said, policy makers are still at least six months away from tightening monetary policy. “Economic activity has continued to pick up,” the central bank said in a statement after its twoday policy meeting. But policy makers quickly cautioned consumer spending would be sluggish, businesses were still cutting back and economic growth would be “weak for a time.” Despite speculation that the

Fed might hint about raising interest rates in order to head off future inflation, it was unclear on Wednesday whether policy makers even discussed a change in the wording of their guidance. Policy makers did elaborate on the economic indicators they will be watching most closely. Those will be the level of “resource utilization,” which primarily means the unemployment rate, the trend in inflation, and the stability of inflation expectations. (NYT)

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N.Y.S.E. Most Active Issues Vol. (100s) Last Chg. Citigrp 4504408 FordM 2231403 SPDR 2186173 BkofAm 1931586 SPDR Fncl 1251533 DirFBear rs 1156815 iShEMkts 930887 AmbacF 879769 GenElec 787212 iShR2K 780987 PrUShS&P 541053 Pfizer 512675

Nasdaq Actives Vol. (100s) PwShs QQQ 960032 Intel 843346 ETrade 643630 Microsoft 585636 Cisco 548697 Comcast 437874 Oracle 320739 STEC 293975 HuntBnk 257305 Nvidia 226081 Qualcom 222348 ApldMatl 212512

3.97 7.27 104.92 14.70 14.01 22.99 38.90 1.50 14.19 56.25 40.46 16.93

Bid 41.33 18.59 1.44 28.06 23.29 14.06 20.90 14.14 3.69 11.98 41.60 11.94

Amex Actives Vol. (100s) Last GoldStr g TrianAcq Taseko LibertyAcq NovaGld g NthgtM g Hemisphrx CelSci Oilsands g GrtBasG g NwGold g CFCda g Rentech

66111 59037 52997 48051 45455 41039 40927 33092 32891 30851 29251 24701 21263

– – + – – + + + – – – +

0.07 0.17 0.27 0.10 0.20 0.83 0.71 0.39 0.13 0.82 0.17 0.20

Chg. + + – + + – + – – – – +

0.07 0.23 0.01 0.53 0.38 0.45 0.01 9.01 0.13 0.03 0.62 0.05

Chg.

3.69 + 0.02 9.74 – 0.04 3.09 – 0.16 9.46 – 0.03 5.09 + 0.12 2.80 – 0.01 1.22 + 0.09 1.05 – 0.06 1.18 – 0.05 1.58 – 0.03 4.03 – 0.06 14.01 – 0.01 1.35 unch

Stocks on the Move Shares of the following companies may have unusual moves in U.S. trading on Thursday. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and prices are as of 5:30 p.m. in New York. Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO:US) rose 3.7 percent to $24.16. The largest maker of networking equipment reported profit that topped analysts’ estimates after the company curtailed hiring, shuttered offices and cut travel costs. Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM:US) added 1 percent to $42.01. The world’s biggest maker of mobile-phone chips forecast first-quarter profit that may top analysts’ estimates, a sign that demand for handsets is returning to levels before the economic slump. Smith Micro Software Inc. (SMSI:US) slumped 18 percent to $7.46. The communications-software provider for wireless carriers and phone makers reduced its 2009 sales forecast, projecting revenue of $110 million at most. Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFMI:US) slipped 8.8 percent to $29.23. The largest natural-food grocer forecast fullyear earnings of $1.10 a share at most, trailing the average estimate of $1.11 from analysts in a Bloomberg survey.  (Bloomberg)

style

Thursday, November 5, 2009

In Manhattan, Where the Boys Aren’t Man on the premises! Martha Morales, the evening supervisor at the Webster Apartments, a large, brick home to 370 women of varying ages and occupations, strode down a long corridor lined with identical doors. She zeroed in on one of them and knocked. “Can I come in your room?” she called out politely — and then got straight to the point. “We think you have a man in there.” A young woman opened the door. There was no man to be seen in the small, modest chamber, just a narrow single bed, desk and a chest of drawers. But there was also a closet. Under orders, the young woman opened it. Sure enough, crouching inside amid the hanging garments was a terrified-looking male — who proceeded to run for his life. He tore out of the room and disappeared down the hall. Morales let him go, staying behind to speak sternly to his female host and order her to report to the building’s manager, Maryann Lienhard, the next morning. This is not a tale from the 1950s. It is straight out of 21st century New York City. With an amused smile but an earnest tone, Lienhard (who warned the embarrassed tenant that she would get “no second chances”) recalled the incident the other day — just

Beatrice de Gea/The New York Times

The Webster Apartments, for women only, on 34th Street. one small drama from a slice of life that many people assume vanished from the city decades ago. The Webster, on West 34th Street, is one of the few remaining all-female residences in a city that used to have many. Hotels and apartment houses that provided temporary refuge for young ladies hoping to find fame, or start a career (or snare a husband) in the big city occupy a distinct sliver of New York lore. The most famous, the Barbizon Hotel for Women on East 63rd Street, was memorably depicted in Sylvia Plath’s 1963 novel “The Bell Jar” as populated by well-to-do “girls” whose parents “wanted to make sure their daughters were living in a place where men couldn’t get at them

and deceive them.” Though the Barbizon and others, such as the Parkside Evangeline on Gramercy Park, have succumbed to developers’ offers over the years, sold and remade into condos or hotels, the smattering of all-female residences that remain are thriving, most with waiting lists of prospective tenants. It costs about $1,000 per month to live at the Webster. For that you get a small single room and shared bath but also a hot breakfast and dinner, maid service, use of a large walled garden and a roof deck with a spectacular view of the Empire State building. Bygone conventions like curfews disappeared years ago. But other rules are very much alive. “Please note: Male visitors may not use the elevators without a staff escort,” reads a sign near the dining room at the Webster. Two residents, Alice Powell and Nicola Tiahlo, are both 23-yearold interns at a nongovernmental organization that works with the United Nations. Powell, who grew up in Paris, and Tiahlo, from London, met at work. Last year, as a graduate student in Dublin, Powell said, “I lived with three guys. It’s quite nice living with girls.” Tiahlo agreed. “I think it’s a lot less competitive” she said. Besides, she added with a smile, “We still manage to go out and meet men.” HILARY STOUT

A Blurring Line Between Spa and Medical Office There is little to suggest that the TriBeCa MedSpa in Manhattan is a medical facility, at least in the traditional sense. In the waiting area, called the Tranquillity Room, a waterfall cascades down one wall. A client may have a pedicure or facial before entering a softly lighted space where a plastic surgeon performs laser Fraxel treatment or some other minimally invasive procedure that would cost twice as much in a harried doctor’s office. TriBeCa MedSpa is one of 1,800 medical spas in the United States, hybrid facilities that offer treatments like laser hair removal and liposuction alongside massages and other traditional spa fare. In recent years, the business has become a growth industry: from July 2007 to December 2008, the number of medical spas increased 85 percent, according to the International Spa Association, far out-

pacing the growth of day, destination and resort spas. The kinds of procedures performed in medical spas has also increased. At the Park Avenue Medical Spa in Armonk, N.Y., for instance, clients who have undergone chemosurgery for skin cancer, which may leave the skin pitted, can receive reconstructive surgery, a treatment that falls outside the strictly aesthetic category and may point in the direction the industry is evolving. “It certainly seems like the wave of the future,” said Dr. Gerald Ginsberg, a cosmetic surgeon and medical director of the TriBeCa MedSpa. Even so, the rapidly growing industry is coming under increased scrutiny. Proposed legislation to tighten controls over the credentials of those who can own a medical spa; what procedures can be

performed in such places; and how much training someone must have to perform particular procedures is making its way through several state medical boards, including those in Massachusetts, New York, Utah and Florida. Despite the safety and regulatory controversies concerning medical spas, there are thousands of satisfied medical spa customers. Among them is Gail Fox of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., who went to the Anushka Cosmedical Center Spa and Salon in West Palm Beach, for facial fillers that were administered by a nurse practitioner and found the experience “a pleasure.” “The service was on sale so the price was right. That’s what drew me in. The pace was slower than at my dermatologist’s office. All my questions were answered, and I didn’t feel pressured,” Fox said.  CAMILLE SWEENEY

6

Starring on Stage, And in the Peloton Even on a bike, Mark-Paul Gosselaar can’t always ride away from his résumé. Not long ago, Gosselaar, a 35-year-old actor, was at a bike shop near the George Washington Bridge when he noticed another rider giving him a strange look. Gosselaar hopped on his bike and pedaled off, but the other rider followed. “He’s like, ‘Hey, sorry dude, weird question,’ ” Gosselaar recalled, “ ‘But are you that guy from ‘Saved by the Bell?’ ” It has been a decade and a half since Gosselaar last roamed the halls as Zack Morris, the blond troublemaker of Bayside High School, on the Saturday morning comedy “Saved by the Bell.” These days, he plays a defense lawyer in the TNT drama “Raising the Bar.” He is in New York City making his stage debut in an Off Broadway play, “The Understudy,” opening Nov. 5 at the Laura Pels Theater. Lately, however, Gosselaar has developed another distinction: as perhaps the best celebrity-slashbicyclist in America. Granted, it’s a niche category with no official rankings and a smattering of big names, like Jake Gyllenhaal and Matthew McConaughey. Yet Gosselaar is the real spandexed deal. In and around Santa Clarita, Calif., where he lives, he competes at the Category 2 level, racing in fields that often include professionals. Gosselaar started racing bikes seriously in 2005. An avid motocross racer, he was convinced by friends to join a relay team for a triathlon, and was underwhelmed by his time in the biking leg. Inspired to get better, he began riding and soon found success in amateur events. Gosselaar won his second race, but was disqualified for a minor infraction at the finish line. “I took my hands off the bars,” he said. He had raised his hands, unsure if the race was over. Since then,Gosselaar has moved up the ladder in the Southern California racing scene. He now races for the Amgen-Giant Elite Masters team, a highly regarded squad that includes a number of former national champions. “He’s a really good rider,” said Chris DeMarchi, a teammate on Amgen-Giant. “It amazes me, with all the hours he puts in with TV time.” JASON GAY

journal

Thursday, November 5, 2009

7

A Conservative TV Hero Is a Champion of Fiction to Rival Oprah many of his views. “He’s our Oprah,” said Brad Thor, a writer of political thrillers who has appeared on Beck’s radio and television programs several times. “God love him, we’re very fortunate.” At a time when the book industry is struggling to maintain, much less increase, sales, publishers and authors say an appearance on Beck’s television or radio programs helps attract new readers. After James Rollins, the author of “The Doomsday Key,” a thriller about a group of Defense Department scientists trying to solve an ancient mystery, appeared this past summer first on Beck’s radio program and then on his television show

Virtually every novelist in America fantasizes about getting picked to appear on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show. But now an increasing number of writers have discovered a new champion: Glenn Beck, the outspoken media darling of populist conservatism. On his radio show and cable television programs, first on CNN Headline News and now on the Fox News Channel, Beck has enthusiastically plugged dozens of authors, a majority of them writing in the thriller genre. And while he often selects authors whose plots or characters reflect political stances that mirror Beck’s own, he is just as willing to promote the work of authors who may disagree with

crossword

Edited By Will Shortz

Note: When this puzzle is completed, one letter of the alphabet will appear 22 times. Shade in its square everywhere it appears. The result will be an image suggested by 36-Across. ACROSS 1 ___ de coeur 4 Worked on 11 Ryan of “Top Gun” 14 Computer system acronym 15 Way, way back 16 Canine care grp.? 17 Tolkien creature 18 Start of a lover’s quatrain 20 Big fans 22 Not straight, in a way 23 Rice-A-___ 24 1950s political inits. 26 Canadian Oscar 27 Holds 29 Eur. carrier 32 Small denomination 33 ___ ante 34 Port of ancient Rome 36 1897 novel subtitled “A Grotesque Romance” 42 Composer of “The Planets” 43 True inner self 44 One way to stand

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may be managed or extended 5 Ancient meeting places DOWN 6 19th-century James 1 Plain as day 7 Sugar ending 2 Air Force base near San Antonio 8 Filly 3 Speak with 9 New York cardinal gravity 10 Headwear banned by the N.F.L. in 2001 PREVIOUS PUZZLE 11 “Battle Cry” soldier M A C C S P A N A S H Z O R R O 12 Like paradise R I O C E R E A L 13 Thingumbob C A O C T 19 Just manages, with “out” E N O P H O B I C A S A P F O N Z 21 Hindu sage U

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For answers, call 1-900-289-CLUE (289-2583), $1.49 a minute; or, with a credit card, 1-800-814-5550. Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 5,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year). Mobile crosswords: nytimes.com/mxword. Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday crosswords from the last 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS. Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay.

— where Beck promised viewers “it will keep you on the edge of your seat — Rollins said he met several people at a book signing who told him they bought the book based on Beck’s recommendation. According to Seale Ballenger, a publicist for William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins that released “The Doomsday Key,” the book remained in the Top 10 of the New York Times hardcover fiction best-seller list longer than is typical for this type of novel. “It was totally driven by Glenn Beck,” Ballenger said. In the past five years, Beck, who was a bestselling novelist with “A Christmas Sweater” last year, has interviewed about 50 thriller writers, including David Baldacci, Nelson DeMille and James Patterson, on his radio program, his cable TV shows or both. While his focus is thrillers, Beck stands out among talk show hosts in that he regularly interviews authors who write fiction at all. “I think it’s an aspect of the show that maybe has flown under the radar because of some of the more controversial things that have taken place on the air,” said Daniel Silva, an author of political thrillers. Beck, Silva said, “has provided a really unique venue for novelists to come and talk about their work on television.” Morning shows like “Today” and “Good Morning America” used to have regular book clubs devoted in part to promoting up-andcoming authors, but now there are fewer slots for novelists, most reserved for heavy-hitters like John Irving or Patricia Cornwell. Aside from Craig Ferguson’s “Late Late Show” and CBS “Sunday Morning” — programs that regularly invite authors — Beck may be the most passionate national media advocate for fiction, albeit in a particular genre. “I don’t think there’s anybody else on TV that is either that eager or open to booking novelists,” said David Brown, deputy director for publicity at Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster that publishes Thor and Vince Flynn, another thriller writer who has appeared on Beck’s programs. MOTOKO RICH

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OPINION

Thursday, November 5, 2009

editorials of the timeS

nicholas d. kristof

The Off-Off Year Elections

Unhealthy America

Tuesday’s vote, particularly the election of Republican governors in New Jersey and Virginia, has produced heated predictions about the revived power of Republican social conservatism and the declining fortunes of Barack Obama and his 2008 coalition. If there were broad messages in the grab bag of contests, they were for both parties: Voters remain fearful about the economy. Independent voters are a force to be reckoned with. And everyone wants results. In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg narrowly won a third term. It is impossible to link that to President Obama. Bloomberg won on competence, but the closeness of the race contained another message for Bloomberg: Tone down the arrogance. Voters who said they most valued a leader who understood them went overwhelmingly for Thompson. If the mayor wants to create a legacy of leadership, he needs to be less imperious and listen more closely to his constituents. Competence was also the issue in New Jersey. Gov. Jon Corzine failed to deliver on the promise of his financial expertise and could not get even party loyalists to vote for him in sufficient numbers. Independents voted for the Republican, Christopher Christie, who won with just under 49 percent of the vote. That election was not about Obama, although he is probably regretting the three visits he made there. It certainly was not a referendum on Republican orthodoxy, since Christie did not run as a social conservative. And while Christie did run a traditional anti-

tax campaign, most voters polled on the eve of the election said they did not know much about his views. In Virginia, Republican Robert McDonnell also avoided trademark social conservative issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. His two main pledges were to create jobs and fix the public transportation system. He handily beat R. Creigh Deeds, even in the state’s more Democratic and liberal precincts. One race, a special election for the House of Representatives in upstate New York, did turn on an ideological divide — but it was within the Republican Party. The party’s leadership drove its candidate, Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, out of the race because she crossed the line on issues like abortion. The anointed conservative, Douglas Hoffman, then lost to the Democrat, Bill Owens. So what does this all mean for next year’s election? Above all, it means that voters want their leaders to focus on sound policy making, not party orthodoxy. And the No. 1 issue is the economy. That means that Obama and Democrats in Congress should not draw the wrong conclusion and get timid about vital tasks like health care reform or more stimulus spending to create jobs. At some point, they are going to have to bite the bullet and raise taxes to pay for all of this. Christie and McDonnell, who promised to do more for their citizens, will also have to deliver. And we suspect that they are going to find it very hard do that and cut taxes. The voters are not in a forgiving mood.

A Powerful Idea on Youth Violence As a former beat cop, Ron Huberman, the new chief of public schools in Chicago, learned long ago that violence among young urban people could not be solved simply by hauling ever larger numbers of children off to jail. With the prompting and support of Mayor Richard M. Daley, Huberman is trying a new approach to the violence that has killed and maimed hundreds of young people. The plan will offer mentoring, counseling and jobs to high-risk students. Huberman analyzed the cases of more than 500 young people who were killed or wounded in gun violence over the last two years. The analysis suggests that nearly 10,000 of the city’s 113,000 high school students are at risk of becoming victims of gun violence and need help. Their lives follow a clear pattern. They are absent from school more than 40 percent of the time, on average. They have fallen behind and are more likely to be enrolled in special education. And they generally attend 38 of the city’s nearly 140 public high schools. None of the shooting incidents occurred inside the schools, and most happened well after school hours. But the chaotic schools attended by high-risk students tend to differ from better-run schools in measurable ways.

They have fewer counselors and social workers. They have higher rates of suspension and expulsion. They more often involve the police in minor skirmishes, like shoving matches, that then go unresolved. Huberman wants to remake high-risk schools by beefing up the social work and counseling staff, by better training security guards and overhauling a disciplinary process that seems designed to throw out as many children as possible as quickly as possible. Most crucial, he hopes to improve involvement by guardians and parents. Chicago has a gang turf problem. To deal with that, the city plans to do a better job of creating safe-passage lanes so that students will be able to come and go from school without being harmed. At-risk students will be offered paying jobs and paired with advocates who will engage the young person’s family and be available around the clock. The point is to provide these young people with a constructive adult relationship. The plan will cost $60 million for the first two years. But it will more than pay for itself if it reduces the number of shootings and deaths and puts more young people on the road to productive lives instead of the road to prison.

8

The moment of truth for health care is at hand, and the distortion that perhaps gets the most traction is this: We have the greatest health care system in the world. Sure, it has flaws, but it saves lives in ways that other countries can only dream of. Abroad, people sit on waiting lists for months, so why should we squander billions of dollars to mess with a system that is the envy of the world? That delusion may be the single greatest myth in the health care debate. The United States ranks 31st in life expectancy (tied with Kuwait and Chile), according to the World Health Organization. We rank 37th in infant mortality (partly because of many premature births) and 34th in maternal mortality. A child in the United States is two-and-a-half times as likely to die by age 5 as in Singapore or Sweden, and an American woman is 11 times as likely to die in childbirth as a woman in Ireland. Canadians live longer than Americans do after kidney transplants and after dialysis, and that may be typical of cross-border differences. Yet another study, cited in a recent report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute, looked at how well 19 developed countries succeeded in avoiding “preventable deaths,” such as those where a disease could be cured or forestalled. The United States ranked in last place. The figures are even worse for members of minority groups. An African-American in New Orleans has a shorter life expectancy than the average person in Vietnam or Honduras. I regularly receive heartbreaking messages from readers combating the predations of disease and insurers. One correspondent, Linda, told me how she had been diagnosed this year with abdominal and bladder cancer — leading to battles with her insurance company. “I will never forget standing outside the chemo treatment room knowing that the medication needed to save my life was only a few feet away, but that because I had private insurance it wasn’t available to me,” Linda wrote. “I read a comment from someone saying that they didn’t want a faceless government bureaucrat deciding if they would or would not get treatment. Well, a faceless bureaucrat from my private insurance made the decision that I wouldn’t get treatment and that I wasn’t worth saving.” There is one U.S. statistic that is above average: life expectancy for Americans who have already reached the age of 65. At that point, they can expect to live longer than the average in industrialized countries. That’s because Americans above age 65 actually have universal health care coverage: Medicare.

Online: gail collins

Hark! The voters have spoken! nytimes.com/opinion

sports

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Yankees Win Their 27th World Series A sliver of time for other teams is an epoch for the Yankees, who define themselves by championships. For eight seasons, they led the majors in victories, payroll and drama. They built a ballpark, created a network and expanded their brand around the globe. But they did not win the World Series. Now they have done it. There is a 27th jewel in the Yankees’ crown and a peaceful, easy feeling across their empire. The Yankees captured their first title since 2000, humbling the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night, 7-3, in Game 6 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. Hideki Matsui, who was the m.v.p. of the Series, homered and drove in six runs to tie a World Series record, and Andy Pettitte ground through five and twothirds innings for his second vic-

tory in five days. Mariano Rivera collected the final five outs, retiring Shane Victorino on a groundout to end it. It was the eighth anniversary of Rivera’s lowest moment, when he blew Game 7 of the 2001 World Series in Arizona. The Yankees lost the World Series again two years later, to Florida, and they did not return until this season, fortifying their roster with free agents around the core of Rivera, Pettitte, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada. Pettitte became the second pitcher to win all three clinching games of a postseason. The other was Boston’s Derek Lowe in 2004, when the Yankees lost a three-games-to-none lead to the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series, fumbling away a pennant and plunging into a postseason funk. Pettitte was gone that autumn,

part of a three-year sojourn to his Houston hometown. Otherwise, Pettitte, Rivera, Jeter and Posada have been Yankees since 1995, through dynasty and drought and back to the top. They have each earned five championship rings, one more than Babe Ruth. Working on three days’ rest, Pettitte, 37, looked ragged at times with five walks and three strikeouts. But he held up better than the Phillies’ Pedro Martinez, 38, his old Boston adversary, who lasted just four innings. The two had faced each other six times in the regular season, splitting the decisions, and on Tuesday, Martinez billed the matchup as “two old goats out there doing the best they can and having fun with it.” Only once before had starters at least 37 met in the World Series.  TYLER KEPNER

Resignations Point to Problems for Hockey Union The N.H.L. Players Association is facing an uncertain future after another round of upheaval with the resignation of its interim director, outside counsel and sixmember advisory board. At the center of the resignations were accusations that the union was being “hijacked” by a fourmember panel of veteran players appointed in mid-October to investigate the August firing of Paul Kelly, the former union chief, and to review the union’s constitution and operations. The turmoil is the latest for a union with a tumultuous history, and it comes on the threshold of critical negotiations with the

league over a new collective bargaining agreement. The current agreement, which is set to expire at the end of next season, was forged in the aftermath of the lockout that canceled the 2004-5 season. A new agreement could prove crucial to the league’s improving but still-precarious financial health amid the current economic slump. Chris Chelios, the 47-year-old defenseman and longtime union activist who now plays for the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League, was the most criticized of the four panel members in several resignation letters

WEATHER

High/low temperatures for the 21 hours ended at 4 p.m. yesterday, Eastern time, and precipitation (in inches) for the 18 hours ended at 1 p.m. yesterday. Expected conditions for today and tomorrow. Weather conditions: C-clouds, F-fog, H-haze, I-ice, PCpartly cloudy,R-rain, S-sun, Sh-showers, Sn-snow, SSsnow showers, T-thunderstorms, Tr-trace, W-windy.

U.S. CITIES Yesterday Today Tomorrow Atlanta 69/ 44 0 68/ 44 S 69/ 42 S Albuquerque 67/ 42 0 69/ 44 PC 71/ 43 S Boise 57/ 39 0 63/ 41 S 58/ 45 Sh Boston 50/ 41 0 48/ 39 C 51/ 41 C Buffalo 43/ 33 0 44/ 35 Sh 41/ 31 PC Charlotte 64/ 39 0 67/ 42 S 63/ 36 S Chicago 51/ 37 0 52/ 35 S 56/ 37 PC Cleveland 42/ 30 0 48/ 38 C 49/ 33 S Dallas-Ft. Worth 77/ 52 0 77/ 52 S 81/ 56 S Denver 60/ 27 0 72/ 37 S 72/ 40 PC Detroit 46/ 32 0 47/ 36 PC 48/ 30 S

Houston Kansas City Los Angeles Miami Mpls.-St. Paul New York City Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Salt Lake City San Francisco Seattle St. Louis Washington

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that were made public. Chelios, a Kelly supporter, and Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, San Jose defenseman Rob Blake and Boston forward Mark Recchi were appointed to the panel by the player representatives. On Friday, Ian Penny, who took over as interim director Aug. 31 after union representatives overwhelmingly voted out Kelly, resigned but wrote in his resignation letter that he was “constructively dismissed.” Penny added that it had “simply become impossible to work for the players in the environment that has been created.”  JEFF Z. KLEIN 79/ 53 S 60/ 35 S 73/ 55 S 85/ 73 PC 50/ 30 S 52/ 42 C 80/ 62 S 55/ 41 PC 93/ 63 S 67/ 41 S 66/ 56 PC 58/ 46 Sh 58/ 38 S 57/ 41 PC

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FOREIGN CITIES Acapulco Athens Beijing Berlin Buenos Aires Cairo

Yesterday Today Tomorrow 90/ 75 0 91/ 75 S 90/ 75 S 65/ 55 0.51 75/ 52 PC 75/ 59 PC 57/ 28 0 59/ 41 S 61/ 43 S 43/ 32 0.08 50/ 41 C 50/ 41 PC 71/ 55 0 73/ 55 S 69/ 59 PC 76/ 61 0 81/ 59 S 82/ 64 S

Cape Town Dublin Geneva Hong Kong Kingston Lima London Madrid Mexico City Montreal Moscow Nassau Paris Prague Rio de Janeiro Rome Santiago Stockholm Sydney Tokyo Toronto Vancouver Warsaw

9

In Brief A New Cotton Bowl The replacement for the Cotton Bowl game, the Dallas Football Classic, has been lined up. The Cotton Bowl game will be played this season in the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tex., and the Dallas Football Classic will begin on Jan. 1, 2011. The plan needs N.C.A.A. approval. (AP)

Woman N.B.A. Coach Nancy Lieberman is set to become the first woman to coach an N.B.A. Development League team. A news conference is scheduled for Thursday to introduce Lieberman as the first coach of the team, which will begin play during the 2010-11 season in Frisco, a suburb about a half-hour north of Dallas.  (AP)

NHL scores TUESDAY’S LATE GAMES Pittsburgh 4, Anaheim 3 Vancouver 4, Rangers 1 WEDNESDAY San Jose 3, Columbus 2, SO Buffalo 3, Islanders 0 Devils 3, Washington 2 Florida 3, Carolina 0 Calgary 3, Dallas 2, OT Colorado 4, Phoenix 1

nBA scores TUESDAY’S LATE GAMES Atlanta 97, Portland 91 WEDNESDAY Orlando 122, Phoenix 100 Miami 93, Washington 89 Toronto 110, Detroit 99 Denver 122, Nets 94 Indiana 101, Knicks 89 Boston 92, Minnesota 90 L.A. Lakers at Houston, 8:30 74/ 61 0 50/ 43 0.01 52/ 46 0.51 77/ 63 0 90/ 75 0 71/ 63 Tr 54/ 43 0.16 64/ 48 0 59/ 48 0 41/ 30 0.02 31/ 27 0.01 87/ 72 0 55/ 46 0.20 50/ 36 0 93/ 75 0 66/ 41 0.87 67/ 43 0 39/ 36 – 82/ 64 0.04 64/ 43 0 43/ 30 Tr 47/ 39 0 36/ 30 0

66/ 52 Sh 54/ 45 C 50/ 41 C 79/ 68 PC 88/ 77 C 70/ 59 PC 55/ 48 Sh 52/ 48 C 64/ 48 C 43/ 30 Sh 28/ 21 PC 88/ 75 T 54/ 46 PC 50/ 43 PC 91/ 73 S 66/ 55 PC 70/ 51 S 43/ 32 R 70/ 64 R 66/ 54 PC 41/ 32 Sh 55/ 46 R 39/ 34 C

70/ 50 C 55/ 41 Sh 48/ 36 PC 82/ 72 S 84/ 77 C 70/ 61 C 57/ 41 PC 57/ 48 C 68/ 46 PC 41/ 28 PC 32/ 28 SS 86/ 73 Sh 55/ 45 C 48/ 39 C 91/ 72 S 61/ 54 R 64/ 43 PC 45/ 39 C 71/ 63 C 70/ 54 S 39/ 28 PC 50/ 43 R 43/ 34 C

sports

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Barred for Drugs, but Returning Easily to Track ARCADIA, Calif. — In 2007, Kentucky racing officials found cobra venom, a powerful painkiller, in the barn of Patrick Biancone, a horse trainer with prestigious victories from Hong Kong to France. He was barred from the sport for a year. Steve Asmussen, the nation’s leading trainer, served a six-month suspension in 2006 after one of his horses failed a drug test in Louisiana, and is appealing another six-month suspension handed down in Texas for another medication violation. Both, however, will saddle horses in the Breeders’ Cup, which begins Friday here at Santa Anita Park and will bring together horses from around the globe to compete in 14 races worth more than $25.5 million in purse money. Biancone and Asmussen are not alone: more than a half-dozen other trainers with multiple and serious drug violations will have contenders in the starting gate of one of thoroughbred racing’s greatest events. In fact, of the top 10 Americanbased trainers in purse winnings this year, only one, Christophe Clement, has never been cited for a medication violation, according to industry records. “Ten years ago, you were embarrassed to get a medication suspension,” said Clement, whose

Gio Ponti will compete in the $5 million Classic. “Now trainers get suspended and go away, and when they come back they get more horses and more owners than they had before they left.” It is part of an evolving culture in horse racing that ultimately rewards those who seek any means, legal and otherwise, to get an edge. When illegal drug use goes undetected, trainers walk away with the winnings and an enhanced reputation. But when they are caught, they are all too often handed punishments that are in name only. Their horses still run and their stables still operate, usually under the name of a trusted assistant. “It seems like we’re handing out speeding tickets instead of arresting people for dealing drugs,” said Tom Ludt, a member of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which regulates the sport in the commonwealth and handed down Biancone’s suspension. In 2006, for example, when Asmussen was suspended by Louisiana authorities when a filly he trained tested 750 times over the legal limit for the local anesthetic mepivacaine, which can deaden pain in a horse’s legs, he turned his horses over to Scott Blasi, his longtime assistant. Blasi won 198 races in 2006 as the Asmussen

stable finished the year with more than $14 million in earnings. Soon after his return, Asmussen was given Curlin, who went on to win the Preakness Stakes in 2007 and then became a two-time Horse of the Year for Jess Jackson, the founder of Kendall Jackson Wines. Asmussen and Jackson are very likely to win a Horse of the Year title for a third time this year with the filly Rachel Alexandra. She is skipping the Breeders’ Cup after going eight for eight this year, including victories against 3-yearold colts in the Preakness and the Haskell. In July, shortly after Texas announced its suspension of Asmussen, Ludt, who also is general manager of Vinery Stable, took 21 horses away from him. But his decision lasted only so long. He has returned six horses to Asmussen — including the multiple stakes winner Kodiak Kowboy, who was supposed to compete in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Saturday but was scratched this week because of illness. Ludt acknowledges that his words and actions are often in conflict over the subject of drugs in horse racing. He said he returned to Asmussen because “it’s a tough, brutal sport, and you want to win.”  JOE DRAPE

Toyota Is Pulling Out of Formula One to Cut Costs TOKYO — Toyota announced Wednesday that it would give up its prized Formula One racing team in an effort to slash costs, refocus the company on green cars and turn a profit amid continued weakness in the auto sector. Toyota, the world’s biggest automaker, joins a growing exodus of Japanese auto companies from racing, highlighting the woes facing the country’s once cash-rich manufacturers. Honda pulled out of Formula One racing in December, while the tire-maker Bridgestone said this week that it would not renew its exclusive deal to supply tires to the series when its contract expires in 2010. Subaru and Suzuki pulled out of the World Rally Championship before the season, citing concerns about the global crisis, while Kawasaki is quitting MotoGP, the top motorcycle competition. “I hope you will understand that based on the current business

environment we have no choice but to make this very painful decision,” Akio Toyoda, the Toyota president, said at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday. “To all fans, I apologize from the bottom of my heart.” Toyota was expected to find buyers for its team, though the fate of the team remained unclear. Toyota’s exit from Formula One racing could save the company 50 billion yen a year, about $550 million, according to Bloomberg News. Toyota had hoped that its Formula One racing team would help it win fans among younger drivers, as well as bolster its presence in Europe, where the sport is most popular. But in recent months, some executives have said that the expensive sport was a drain on Toyota’s resources at a time of crisis and was out of line with the company’s strength in eco-friendly cars. Toyota leaves Formula One rac-

ing with a less-than-stellar record, though Toyoda said the team’s performance had nothing to do with the decision to quit the sport. The automaker has been a Formula One competitor since 2002, but failed to win a single race. It finished fifth in this year’s championship, placing sixth and seventh in the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi last Sunday. Toyota’s best result in the series came in 2005, when it finished fourth in the constructor standings. Coincidentally, Brawn GP — which took over the old Honda team — won the Formula One championship this year, which the team had failed to achieve under Honda. With Toyota’s exit, there will be no Japanese constructor on the Formula One grid in 2010, throwing the popularity of the sport in the world’s second-largest economy into question.  HIROKO TABUCHI

10

n.h.l. standings EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Pittsburgh Rangers Devils Phila. Islanders

W L OT Pts GF GA

12 9 9 7 5

3 6 4 4 5

0 1 0 1 5

24 19 18 15 15

52 51 34 45 37

34 43 30 34 45

Northeast

W L OT Pts GF GA

Buffalo Ottawa Montreal Boston Toronto

9 6 7 6 1

Southeast

W L OT Pts GF GA

Wash. Tampa Atlanta Florida Carolina

8 5 6 5 2

2 4 8 7 7 3 4 4 7 9

1 2 0 1 5 4 4 1 1 3

19 14 14 13 7 20 14 13 11 7

36 37 42 33 31 54 34 39 35 28

24 37 50 37 52 47 43 33 44 53

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Central

W L OT Pts GF GA

Chicago Columbus Detroit Nashville St. Louis

8 7 6 6 5

Northwest Colorado Vancou. Calgary Edmonton Minnesota

Pacific San Jose L.A. Phoenix Dallas Anaheim

4 5 4 6 6

1 2 3 1 1

17 16 15 13 11

39 44 40 28 29

31 49 42 38 33

W L OT Pts GF GA

11 9 8 7 5

3 7 4 7 9

2 0 1 1 0

24 18 17 15 10

49 46 47 45 31

35 42 41 46 42

W L OT Pts GF GA

11 9 9 6 4

4 4 6 3 7

1 2 0 6 2

23 20 18 18 10

55 51 39 50 37

40 45 34 48 46

Knicks Stumble The Knicks’ top priority this season, other than hoarding salary-cap space for LeBron James, is to impress LeBron James. They need him to believe they can be respectable, competitive and worthy of his presence when free agency opens in July. Those qualities were nowhere to be found Wednesday night as the Knicks humiliated themselves with a 101-89 loss to the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks may consider adopting a more intense approach soon, as James and his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates are due to pay them a visit Friday night. Coming off their first victory of the season, a crisp defeat of the New Orleans Hornets on Monday, the Knicks quickly reverted to old, bad habits. They played with little fire, shrugged on defense and stumbled on offense. (NYT)