Blue-chip MNCs: Holding Their Own ; The booming infrastructure and manufacturing sectors have helped these multinationals maintain their impressive standing.

Tll not very long ago, multinationals were considered the eliteamong companies in India: They paid the best salaries, posted thebiggest profits and their scrips were the darlings of the stockmarkets. But with the unfurling of the India growth story over thepast decade or so, most of them have been overtaken by their home-grown counterparts that have wowed the world by their scorchinggrowth and expansion and creation of phenomenal wealth for theirpromoters and shareholders in just a few years. It would appear theMNCs have missed the bus altogether. But that's not quite true. Someof them like ABB and Siemens that are engaged across theinfrastructure space have managed to hold …

Meg Cranston

MEG CRANSTON

LEO KOENIG

"Magical Death," Meg Cranston's most recent show, presented five portraits of the artist as a pinata. Papier-mache mockups of the artist herself, "dressed" in colored-tissue outfits-striped pants, red shorts, shod in boots or adorned with an elaborate headdress-hung from the ceiling in a variety of poses. Fabricated by Cranston with the help of her art students, the pieces represented a semi-sincere attempt to portray her physically, as well as a direct send-up of the cult of the artist.

With Kippenbergeresque energy and wit, Cranston has been investigating aspects of body and soul for several years. Recent shows have featured drawings and …

Freed Lebanese prisoners welcomed in Beirut

Five Lebanese prisoners freed by Israel have flown into Beirut airport for an official welcome by the president and his government.

Lebanon's president, prime minister and members of major political factions including Hezbollah's rivals were on hand in a show of unity and opposition to Israel.

The five militants stood in battle fatigues on a stand as the president addressed them as "the freed heroes."

They were released in a swap earlier Wednesday for the bodies of two slain Israeli soldiers.

Among the prisoners released was Samir Kantar, who was convicted of one of the grisliest attacks in Israeli history.

THIS IS A …

Hurricane boys reach region final

DAILY MAIL SPORTS

After leading by only six at halftime, Hurricane came out of thelocker room and took charge with a 22-11 third quarter on the way toa 56-42 win over Point Pleasant in the Class AAA Region 8, Section 1final Friday at Point Pleasant. Wes Spradlin led the way with 15points and Mike Brown added 13 for the Redskins (15-8), who now moveon to face Cabell Midland for the regional title on Tuesday.

Joey Loomis had 11 points to pace the Big Blacks.

In other boys Class AAA sectional matchups:

Ripley 58, Roane County 46 - The Vikings were able to pull awayfrom the pesky Raiders down the stretch to capture Region 6, Section1 championship.

"We …

A technology of hope

To toss a baseball, write a letter or pick a flower are simplemovements the able-bodied take for granted.

Yet for quadriplegics, being able to accomplish these acts wouldradically change their day-to-day lives. Miraculously, NeuroControlCorp., a company formed by researchers at Case Western ReserveUniversity, has developed an electronic hand that can make what wasonce an unthinkable task a possibility. The Freehand, the world'sfirst surgical …

Japan eases ban on weapons exports

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Tuesday announced a decision to ease its decades-long weapons export ban in a bid to lower purchase and production costs and take part in arms-development projects with other countries.

For a nation with a war-renouncing constitution written after World War II, lifting the ban is a sensitive issue, especially in Asia, where neighboring countries suffered under Japan's wartime aggression.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Japan maintains its pacifist principles prohibiting export of Japanese-made weapons for use in global conflicts.

He said that the new rules, approved by the government's security council, will allow Japan to participate in …

Ala. congressman in battle after switch to GOP

You would think U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith's decision to switch to the Republican Party would endear him with the GOP. Instead, he finds himself in a three-way primary, being branded a "flip-flopper," and continues to battle lingering hard feelings over his win two years ago that left the coveted seat in Democratic control.

Next Tuesday's primary will be the first real test as to whether the party switch bothers voters as much as it has seemed to rankle north Alabama GOP leaders who doubt his motives for switching parties.

"Asking voters to send me back as a Republican is not a hard ask for me," Griffith …

A railroad bridge, too far gone , Charleston need not wrestle with this trestle

OBVIOUSLY, CSX wouldn't permit public use of railroad propertythat, given its state of disrepair, probably couldn't be put safelyto its own use. Therefore, if the CSX trestle at Florida Street isput to Charleston's use, Charleston will have to acquire it outrightor lease it with conditions that relieve CSX of liability.

So when I read about the proposal, I asked, "Are you crazy?" ThenI forced myself to remain calm. Maybe someone can explain it to me.

The proposal is that the trestle become an urban "trail."

A three-minute walk from one side of a river to the other.

On a narrow railroad facility with no walking surface.

A facility badly in need of …

Official: China's investment agency to avoid oil, airline, telecom stocks

China has announced the first strategic plans for its new multibillion-dollar investment fund, saying one-third of its funds will be injected into Chinese state banks and it will avoid investing in foreign airline, oil or telephone companies.

The comments by a Finance Ministry official, reported Thursday by state media, appeared to be aimed at easing potential foreign opposition to the fund. Critics have questioned whether such state-run funds will be used to promote government policy and whether they should be barred from investing in sensitive industries.

The US$200 billion China Investment Corp. will invest "gradually and in a cautious way," …

Artzt, Alice (Josephine)

Artzt, Alice (Josephine), American guitarist; b. Philadelphia, March 16, 1943. She studied piano and flute before taking up the classical guitar when she was 13. She pursued training with Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya in France and with Julian Bream in England, and also was a student of Otto Luening (composition) and Paul Henry Lang (musicology) at Columbia Univ. (B.A., 1967), and of Darius Milhaud (composition). From 1966 to 1969 she taught at the Mannes Coll. of Music in N.Y., and then at Trenton (N.J.) State Coll. from 1977 to 1980. In 1969 she made her formal debut in a recital at Wigmore …

THE WAY TO ANY HEART IS THROUGH THE STOMACH

Here's a not-so-romantic way to spend a Valentine's Day meal with your sweetie: lunch with state legislators. The National Association of Social Workers is hosting lunch at the Capitol on Sunday, Feb. 14, at 11:30 a.m. in an effort to educate both legislators and the public about what exactly social workers do. Romantic? No, but informative? Yes. If your special someone swoons at the idea of dining under the rotunda, you'll have to reserve space before Friday, Feb. 5. Lunch is $50 for two, and if you're flying solo this V-Day, a single ticket is $30. E-mail lunchatthecapitol@gmall.com with questions and reservations.

If you're not into lunch or legislators on Valentine's Day, Food …

Australia lifts Tiger Airways 5-week suspension

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Aviation authorities have lifted a five-week suspension of Tiger Airways domestic flights in Australia but are imposing new safety conditions.

Civil Aviation Safety Authority director John McCormick said Wednesday that Australia's fourth-largest domestic airline …

Real time electronic simulations

Engineers can now perform realtime, complete vehicle electronic simulations, using a high performance validation tool suite that helps developers of complex systems such as vehicles, airplanes, ships, and satellites to model entire platforms and execute actual software at real time speeds.

According to the developers, California-based CPU Tech, the SystemLab PS program also offers visibility into every wire, memory, processor and line of software, resulting in dramatically reduced time to market.

CPU Tech develops and supplies high performance system-on-a-chip or SoCbased computing solutions. Its Acalis family of SoCs was developed with IBM and offers a unique combination of performance, configurability and scalability. The architecture and performance of Acalis, along with the mature simulation technology of SystemLab design and validation software have been combined to create the SystemLab PS.

The SystemLab PS opens the door to complete vehicle electronics simulation at real time speeds. The visibility and control comes from CPU Tech's patented Real-Time Non-intrusive Interface (RTNI) which lets engineers see inside the cores of the SoCs. The SystemLab PS product line includes hardware, enterprise software, model development, custom library elements, training and support.

"The SystemLab PS alters the world of electronic system design and integration in the same way that X-Ray imaging radically changed the practice of medicine. For the first time, engineers can see inside the electronics of an entire platform during actual real-time software execution," says Ed King, CEO of CPU Tech.

SystemLab PS is a result of 15 years of work and dedication to solve, in part, CPU Tech's own design challenges. The company has been the architect and designer of complex systems for many years and has experienced the same challenges as its customers. The SystemLab software development began early and quickly proved itself as a multiphase design environment. CPU Tech's own engineers used it to perform high performance gate-level, schematic-level and system-level design entry and simulation. In 1993 they simulated a PC at the gate level, booting Windows.

Earlier this year, CPU Tech took part in the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Winter Symposium held between the 27th and 29th of February where it showcased the simulation of large scale, combat vehicle electronics with SystemLab PS. CPU Tech demonstrated 15 of the Bradley Combat System ECUs running actual software in real-time with extraordinary visibility inside every system and processor.

"SystemLab PS can significantly accelerate the time to field for vehicle electronic systems. It allows our customers to simulate and validate all of the electronics of a large scale platform in realtime, including hardware and software, prior to any hardware integration. Because the high fidelity models run at real time speeds, we have been able to successfully inter-operate the SystemLab PS with our customer's System Integration Lab," says Alan Smith, Chief Technical Officer at CPU Tech.

CPU Tech was founded in 1989 with its headquarters in California and business development offices in Reston, Virginia. The company, which is privately held, sells its products to the defense, automotive, aerospace, industrial controls, finance and high-end computing sectors.

Automotive Industries (Al) asked Ed King, CEO of CPU Tech, how the SystemLab PS real-time simulation platform has been received.

King: We are excited about the reaction of BAE Systems, our first adopter of the SystemLab PS technology. They are using it to model the electronics of the Bradley Combat System. In doing so, they see tremendous value in the visibility it brings to their integration of new technology for the platform. They also see a way to ensure that any changes to one part of the Bradley electronics will not adversely affect the rest of it.

Other large-scale platform companies are also interested in applying the high fidelity, real-time performance of the simulation to their challenges. For some companies, SystemLab PS addresses software validation, hardware development or even life cycle management challenges. For other companies, it provides a working specification of what needs to be delivered by their suppliers, even to the point that SystemLab PS can validate the hardware functionality before it is delivered or integrated.

Al: What makes SystemLab PS different from the other simulation solutions?

King: The primary difference is performance and fidelity. Existing simulation solutions can simulate electronic systems, but they do it very slowly and only on small systems such as chips or boards. Other companies say they do it more quickly at high levels of abstraction, but rarely come close to real time speeds.

Automotive engineers have been simulating many aspects of the vehicle, from the suspension, to steering, to visual appearance and aerodynamics, just to name a few. However, the simulation of electronics has been lagging with these older solutions. SystemLab PS not only allows you to simulate the electronics of the entire vehicle at real-time speeds, but its high fidelity lets you run the actual system code - operating systems, applications, diagnostics and test code - with visibility into every wire, every memory, every register and every line of code.

Because SystemLab PS runs at realtime speeds, it can inter-operate with actual hardware, other simulation environments or test equipment. This opens the door to the virtual electronics working with the rest of the virtual automotive world. We know this because we have had the virtual Bradley inter-operate with the BAE system integration lab (SIL).

SystemLab PS allows engineers to finally complete the concept of a real-time virtual vehicle.

Al: Have there been any takers in the automotive sector and if so, how have they implemented the solution?

King: We announced the SystemLab PS in May of last year and we introduced ourselves to the automotive sector at the recent SAE World Congress. We saw tremendous interest from many manufacturers and suppliers. Prior to the SAE show, we had some initial discussions with one of the leading automotive manufacturers with follow-on discussion at the show. We believe that the interest and discussions we have had show great promise for our success in the automotive industry.

Al: How would you like to see CPU Tech's automotive personality develop and what is your future vision for the auto sector?

King: We believe that the automotive sector is in a mode of rapid change. More and more technology in the vehides is putting more and more stress on the schedule of delivering this technology. The traditional way of specifying the design, waiting for it to be built, and then integrating these various systems with hopes of making it work over the next several months or years is no longer viable. By providing a way to accurately model and specify the electronics of an entire vehicle and allowing the software to be developed and validated prior to any hardware development, we believe this is a very big step in the right direction.

Al: How big is CPU Tech and are you profitable?

King: CPU Tech is a profitable small sized company. It was founded in 1989 with an average of 20% annual growth since then. We provide technology, tools and services to customers who design and integrate complex systems while partnering with IBM for the secure and trusted fabrication of our custom System-On-Chip (SoC) devices. Our customers include IBM, AMD, Tl, NCR, BAE Systems, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, U.S. Navy and many others, and we hope to announce several automotive industry clients later this year. The company was entirely self-financed until the Carlyle Group made its 25% investment. With several of our systems in production, several modeling contracts for our SystemLab PS, and the second generation of our Acalis family of Field Programmable Multi-Core (FPMC) chips this year, the future looks good.

[Sidebar]

"The SystemLab PS alters the world of electronic system design and integration in the same way that X-Ray imaging radically changed the practice of medicine."

Ed King, CEO of CPU Tech

[Sidebar]

"Automotive engineers have been simulating many aspects of the vehicle, from the suspension, to steering, to visual appearance and aerodynamics, just to name a few. However, the simulation of electronics has been lagging with these older solutions." Ed King, CEO of CPU Tech

Scotland wins World Cup of Golf, beats US on third hole of playoff

Scotland's Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren defeated Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum of the United States on the third playoff hole Sunday to win the World Cup of Golf in southern China.

The victory at the Mission Hills Golf Club made up for Scotland's loss last year in a one-hole playoff against Germany's Bernhard Langer and Marcel Siem.

A par on the third playoff hole was good enough for the Scots after Weekley missed a 15-foot putt trying to save par.

"There was pressure to come back after a playoff loss like we did last year, which was disappointing," Montgomerie said. "Superb. We look forward to coming back and trying to defend."

It was Scotland's first victory in an event that dates for 1953, and another trophy for Montgomerie, the eight-time European No. 1.

The Americans forced the playoff on the last regulation hole when Slocum dropped a 5-foot birdie putt. On the first playoff hole, he missed a 7-foot birdie attempt that would have won it. Seconds before that, Warren dropped a clutch 12-footer to save par. A miss would have handed the event to the Americans.

On the second playoff hole, both teams narrowly missed birdie attempts _ Weekley from 20 feet and Warren from 12.

Weekley's approach shot on the final playoff hole was short of the green, and Slocum's chip left his teammate with a difficult putt to prolong the match.

Scotland finished regulation with a 6-under 66 on the 7,251-yard Olazabal Course to end on 25-under 263. The United States shot 67 after the long-time Florida friends led after each of the first three rounds.

Rounds Sunday were played using the more difficult foursomes (alternate-shot) format.

France's Gregory Havret and Raphael Jacquelin carded a 67 to finish one behind the two leaders. England's Ian Poulter and Justin Rose _ the pre-tournament favorites _ also shot 67 and were two off the pace. South Africa finished four back after a 69.

Four teams were five behind: Germany, Argentina, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Montgomerie and Warren seemed to have won the event outright with an eagle-3 on No. 15, which moved Scotland to 25-under and a two-shot lead over the United States.

Tied with the Americans at 23 under, Montgomerie drilled a long iron to 6 feet, and his partner dropped the eagle putt. That hole proved to be the difference.

But Slocum got the Americans within one shot with a 10-foot birdie putt on 15, setting the stage on 18. His putts on those holes made up for a 2-footer he missed for birdie on No. 9.

The Americans reached 23 under with four birdies in five holes on the front nine _ the last two on No. 6 and No. 7 with key putts by Slocum.

But they scrambled after that.

The Americans missed a chance to go 24 under when Slocum's 2-foot birdie lipped out at No. 9. On 12, Weekley made a key 10-foot putt to save par and, on 13, Slocum missed a 15-footer for birdie.

The World Cup, which has a long history with winners like Palmer, Nicklaus, Snead and Hogan, has struggled in recent year to gain traction. Weekley was invited to play only after 13 other higher-ranked American players declined. Weekley, No. 43 in the world rankings, then invited his high-school friend from the Florida Panhandle to join him.

La. man sues Oprah over arrest on extortion charge

A Louisiana man has filed a lawsuit against Oprah Winfrey, claiming she and an attorney made false statements that led the FBI to arrest him on charges that he tried to extort the talk-show host.

Keifer Bonvillain, who had the charges dismissed, seeks damages of $180 million from Winfrey, her attorney and the FBI in the federal lawsuit filed Tuesday.

Bonvillain, of Houma, La., was arrested in December 2006 after he allegedly recorded telephone conversations with an employee of Winfrey's production company and told a company associate he wanted to publish a book based on the recordings. The FBI said he claimed to have offers from publishers and tabloids ranging from $500,000 to $3 million.

The FBI arrested Bonvillain when another company associate agreed to pay him $1.5 million, wired him $3,000 and arranged to meet him. Bonvillain claims in the lawsuit that he did everything he could to avoid doing anything illegal.

"There was substantial damage done to my name and reputation on a world level," he wrote. "The extent of my damages is vast."

Federal officials agreed to dismiss the charges last year on the condition that Bonvillain perform 50 hours of community service, undergo drug testing and pay $3,000 in restitution.

Chip Babcock, a lawyer for Winfrey's Harpo Productions, denied the allegations in Bonvillain's suit.

"And we know that this whole episode started when the plaintiff wiretapped a Harpo employee in California," he said. "We advised (Bonvillain) that we believe that wiretapping was illegal, and this case will give us an opportunity to determine whether we were right about that."

Havlat Leads Blackhawks Past Jackets

CHICAGO - It took an unlikely scorer to end an unsightly streak for the Chicago Blackhawks. Martin Havlat, the Blackhawks' leading scorer, snapped a 13-game goal drought and added an assist as Chicago defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Friday night to stop a six-game losing skid.

Patrick Sharp and Martin Lapointe also scored for the Blackhawks, and defenseman Brent Seabrook assisted on all three of Chicago's goals.

Havlat, Chicago's leading scorer, had just five assists in 13 previous contests entering Friday.

"He cares a lot, but I told him he can only do so much," Chicago coach Denis Savard said. "I told him, `Obviously, you're a big piece of our puzzle and our best player, but you can't do it alone. You need help from everybody.'"

Havlat, Chicago's only true offensive star, was relieved to finally connect.

"It's been pretty tough not to think about," he said. "I've never had that many games before (without a goal). I'm just happy I got that one tonight."

Probably a bigger key to Chicago's win was tighter, more fundamentally sound play. On Thursday, Savard had reviewed video clips with his players to point out mistakes.

"We had a long talk yesterday about what we wanted to do well and what makes our team successful," Seabrook said. "Work hard, do the little things well. You can see what happens. This helps us realize we're a good team when we do these things."

Jason Chimera scored for Columbus, which lost for the second time in two nights.

"Their tenacity in their own zone to defend was greater than ours was to score and that was the bottom line," Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock said. "They didn't give us any odd-man rushes and it was our best players that didn't have the tenacity to score."

Chicago's Patrick Lalime stopped 31 shots. Columbus' Brian Boucher, who started the season with the Blackhawks, made 22 saves, including a blocker stop on penalty shot by Chicago's Duncan Keith midway through the third.

Sharp and Havlat scored 21 seconds apart late in the first period to give Chicago a 2-0 lead.

From the slot, Sharp batted in a rebound of Seabrook's shot from the right point with 5:05 left in the first to open the scoring.

With 4:44 left in the first, Havlat fooled Boucher with a low shot from the slot to make it 2-0.

"I might have been a little screened there, but it just went under my pads," Boucher said.

"I'm playing for a job, so there's no lack of motivation on my side," he added.

Lapointe's short-handed goal with 8:48 left in the second capped a 2-on-1 break with Denis Arkhipov and gave Chicago a 3-0 lead.

Chimera's power-play goal 44 seconds later cut it to 3-1. He scored from the right circle after taking Nikolai Zherdev's pass from behind the net.

Boucher made a blocker save on Keith's penalty shot at 9:39 of the third. The attempt was awarded to Keith after he was hooked from behind by Columbus' Fredrik Modin.

"I never had a penalty shot in game," said Keith, a second-year defenseman. "It was a nice play by Havlat to steal the puck and get it to me."

Notes:@ With the win, the Blackhawks have 65 points, as many as they did last season. .... Boucher was claimed on waivers by Columbus from Chicago on Feb. 27. ... Columbus LW Jody Shelley missed the game with a cracked facial bone, suffered Thursday in 5-2 loss to Anaheim. ... Chicago RW Peter Bondra missed his second game, and sixth in his last seven with a sore shoulder. ... Blackhawks RW Nikita Alexeev was a healthy scratch.

Coyle leaves Burnley for Bolton

Burnley announced Tuesday that manager Owen Coyle has left the club to take over Bolton.

Bolton fired Gary Megson last Wednesday and Coyle, who guided Burnley to promotion to the Premier League last season, decided to move to its near neighbor where he had a two-year spell as a player.

"Owen Coyle has today reaffirmed his desire to leave Burnley Football Club and join Bolton Wanderers Football Club," Burnley said in a statement.

"Burnley will now enter discussions with Bolton due to the fact that compensation between the two parties has yet to be agreed."

The 43-year-old Scot, who played for Bolton between 1993-95 and was popular with the fans, has been Burnley manager since November 2007 and led the team back into the top flight for the first time since 1976.

Now he takes over a club which won the FA Cup four times but has not captured a major trophy since 1958. Bolton has been in the top flight since 2001 and finished in the top eight four seasons in a row between '04 and '07 under Sam Allardyce.

But the team is currently in the relegation zone in 18th place and Megson was fired after the team surrendered a 2-0 lead at home to next-to-last Hull, drawing the game 2-2. Burnley is four places higher.

Nokia's head of technology takes time out

HELSINKI, Finland (AP) — Troubled Finnish handset maker Nokia Corp. on Thursday said its head of technology has taken a leave of absence for an unspecified amount of time.

Nokia spokeswoman Paivyt Tallqvist said Chief Technology Officer Richard Green is taking time off "to attend to a personal matter," but wouldn't give more details.

Respected Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat quoted unnamed sources saying Green's leave was due to his disagreement with Nokia's decision to abandon its own next-generation smartphone software MeeGo in favor of Microsoft's Windows software.

Green, who joined Nokia in 2010 and was responsible for hardware, software and user experiences, will be temporarily replaced by Nokia's head of research centers, Henry Tirri.

His leave comes as Nokia is facing steep competition from competitors across several product segments. At the top end of the market it is struggling against smartphones such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone, Research in Motion's Blackberry as well as Android, and on the lower end against emerging market phone makers who are dropping their prices on devices.

Last month, the company warned both sales and margins in the second quarter would be substantially below previous forecasts because of the stiffened competition climate.

CEO Stephen Elop has acknowledged Nokia has been too slow to meet the challenge and has hinted that the company would drop its cellphone prices. The company announced the strategy shift to use the Microsoft software in February.

Tallqvist on Thursday said Green's leave won't impact the group's product strategy or its timeframes for new launches.

Firm to produce fuel from cooking oil

Heating oil costs an average of $4.50/gallon in Japan, and disposal of used cooking oil costs about 80 cents/ gallon. These incentives have motivated Yoshida and Company, a Japanese firm that owns 30 Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, to contract with Pacific Biodiesel to develop a 200,000gallon/year facility that will produce biodiesel fuel from used cooking oil. The fuel will be used to heat Yoshida's restaurants. The operation is the second production facility constructed by Pacific Biodiesel of Kahului, Hawaii. In 1996, the firm built a pilot plant at the Maui, Hawaii landfill. The product from that operation is used to fuel Maui County trucks, as well as boats of a local concession. Farmers and hotels on the island also use the fuel.

Both facilities use a "transesterification" process refined by the University of Idaho. The fuels from the used cooking oil are produced in 600-gallon batch quantities. (A by-product of the process, glycerol, is used as a fertilizer enhancer in a composting facility located next to the Maui facility.) In the process, a catalyst made from wood alcohol and lye is added to filtered, warmed cooking oil and agitated for about four hours. Transesterification removes three triglycerides and glycerol from the oil's ester base. After the esters are separated, they are cleaned by repeated washing.

Olympic champ Frieden ends career due to injury

Olympic champion Tanja Frieden has retired due to injury three weeks before she was set to defend her snowboardcross title at the Vancouver Games.

The 33-year-old Swiss says her competitive race career is over after tearing both Achilles tendons at a World Cup meeting last week in Stoneham, Canada.

Frieden spoke tearfully Tuesday at a news conference from a wheelchair after undergoing surgery on Saturday.

Frieden won gold ahead of Lindsey Jacobellis from the United States when snowboardcross debuted as an Olympic sport at the 2006 Turin Winter Games.

Jacobellis appeared set for victory but fell when grabbing her board at the next-to-last jump and had to settle for silver.

'The Rookie' premiere something of a bust

With all the exposure 'The Rookie" has been receiving on Disney-owned operations (did someone say ESPN?), it figures the movie typeswould go all out. One certainly did. Literally, it appears.

At last week's premiere in New York, the Daily News reports,Dennis Quaid--who has the lead role as pitcher Jim Morris--wasaccompanied by girlfriend Cynthia Garrett.

No big deal, right?

Depends on your point of view.

The paper said she showed remarkable cool when her breast poppedout of her red spaghetti-strap dress as the couple walked over to thepremiere party. ... Judging by the paparazzi shots, Quaid is a luckyman."

Note to Newsies: How shallow. How sexist. Such boobs.

Meanwhile, the New York Times caught up with Quaid at the premiereparty and spoke to the man who has portrayed a bicycle racer(Breaking Away"), boxer (Tough Enough") and football stars(Everybody's All-American" and Any Given Sunday").

I was too small for sports when I was in high school," he said.Now I'm too old to play sports movies. I'm in my late 40's and I'mthrowing footballs and baseballs around. I can't figure it out."

*In an unrelated item (other than Quaid's former wife Meg Ryan hada fling with the fellow), actor Russell Crowe has set his sights onan unusual conquest: a couple of Australian rugby players. Crowereportedly is lusting after Preston Campbell, the National RugbyLeague player of the year, for his beloved South Sydney squad. ChrisAnderson, coach of the Sydney Sharks, claims Crowe also is after St.George-Illawarra's Nathan Blacklock. Crowe has no official ties withSouth Sydney. Teams are prohibited from contacting players beforeJuly 1. I heard two weeks ago that Russell Crowe was ringing Prestonand Blacklock trying to get them to go to Souths," Anderson said. Ifthat is the case, it's absolutely wrong." Dennis Quaid feels yourpain.

COLORCUBE GOES DARK

When we first heard that all-ages music venue/art gallery/classroom space Colorcube had rescheduled a few of its upcoming shows, we crossed our fingers that it wouldn't go under. Sadly, the space is now officially closed for good.

According to co-proprietor Clint Vlckery, Colorcube received a notice that it was In violation of a zoning ordinance at the beginning of March.

"The city put a notice on our door saying that there was a zoning issue," said�Vickery. "They didn't say what it was. It took us about three weeks to figure out that our building was zoned to be a concert house and social hall ... but because we were within 300 feet of a residential area, they require a conditional use permit and they were unwilling to grant that CUP to us for some reason."

But according to Hal Simmons, planning director at Boise's Planning and Zoning Commission, there might have been a misunderstanding.

"Nobody can recall having spoken to them and most of them probably would've encouraged them to come in rather thanjm discourage them," said Simmons. "I really, don't think they got any advice to not file a CUP here. I don't know, my guess is maybe there's some problems with bringing the bullding up to code."

Colorcube is currently in the process of removing all of the sound equipment from the space and contacting artists to pick up their work. They will search for a new home in the ensuing months.

"We're going to keep looking and investigating, but we're going to touch a little lighter around town because we've lost money doing this already,! said Vickery. "We really want to continue to do it, but r, we're also young and it's not like we're built of money by any means."

Despite the setback, Vickery and his partners - wife Melissa and their friends James and Lindsey Lloyd - will not be disappearing from the city's cultural scene.

"We're going to be doing booking and promotions around town still promoting under-represented genres in all-ages settings, helping young Boise bands get their start," said Vickery. "That's still our focus. Unfortunately, we won't be able to do it in our previous location."

But they will be able to do it in venues like the Linen Building. Which brings us to...

"O Lay," a track by Boise's newish psych, garage-rock outfit Teens began streaming last week on MTV Hive.

Though we had no idea thece was such a thing as MTV Hive until a few days ago, the Teens track shared front webpage space with new songs by Panda Bear and O'Death, which is totally legit.

You can download a free copy of Teens' self-titled debut from Barn Owl Records. You can also catch them live at the Linen Building on Friday, April 15. See Listen Here on Page 24 for details.

- Tara Morgan

Motorized Obsessions: Life, Liberty, and the Small-Bore Engine

Motorized Obsessions: Life, Liberty, and the Small-Bore Engine. By Paul R. Josephson. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. xv + 258 pp. Notes, appendix, index. Cloth, $22.00. ISBN: 978-0-80188641-6.

Reviewed by Terence Kehoe

Readers of this journal who engage in outdoor recreation will no doubt have encountered, or perhaps operated, the noisy and-to many-exciting vehicles that are the primary focus of this book: snowmobiles, personal water craft (popularly known as jet skies), and all-terrain vehicles or ATVs. In the United States alone, millions of people, many under the age of eighteen, regularly engage in outdoor recreational activities centering on the use of these machines. In Motorized Obsessions, Paul Josephson, a professor of history at Colby College, examines the development and spread of recreational machines and gardening equipment powered by small-bore internal combustion engines and considers their impact on the natural environment and the health of those who use them. Josephson believes that the negative impacts of these machines on the varied environments in which they are used, as well as the serious injuries and loss of life associated with their operations, have not been fully appreciated by the general public. His detailed discussion of these issues, primarily as they pertain to North America, is meant to remedy that situation.

In the opening chapter, which provides an overview of the book's themes, Josephson describes how the mass production of relatively inexpensive small-engine vehicles has enabled any person with the inclination and income to engage in forms of outdoor recreation that are much more dangerous and disruptive to the environment than previous forms that did not depend on the use of powerful machines. The small and simple two-stroke internal combustion engines that initially drove most of these machines were noisy and dirty, but they provided plenty of horsepower to enthusiasts at an affordable price. The widespread use of snowmobiles and related machines has drawn cries of protest from hikers, cross-country skiers, and other recreationists who charge that these vehicles undermine their own enjoyment of nature. The clash between the two groups of users has been most intense in national and state parks and other public areas that are managed by government agencies and valued for their natural beauty and relative undeveloped character. In Josephson's view, the National Park Service and other government agencies made something of a deal with the devil early in the twentieth century when they decided to promote the public's use of these lands through the construction of automobile roads, visitor centers, and other infrastructure that would allow visitors to carry the comforts and convenience of modern life into "natural" areas. Allowing small-engine vehicles into such areas with little or no restrictions, he argues, was a logical extension of such attitudes.

The three chapters that form the heart of the book address snowmobiles, personal watercraft, and ATVs, respectively. Each chapter contains similar components. Josephson provides a brief history of the industry, stressing technological developments, and then examines both the ways in which the particular machine affects the environment and the safety record of the vehicle. Conflicts over government regulation of noise and pollution are also addressed, and the author describes various battles over attempts to restrict the operation of small-engine recreational machines in certain areas. Not surprisingly, manufacturers fought regulations aimed at lessening noise and limiting emissions, arguing for voluntary standards instead. For their part, the owners and operators of ATVs, snowmobiles, and personal watercraft downplayed the environmental damage caused by their machines, and portrayed the unrestricted operation of these machines as a matter of individual liberty. To his credit, although Josephson is an advocate of greater restrictions on the use of such vehicles, he does not caricature their owners, and he notes the positive sides of their use. The last chapter addresses lawnmowers, leaf blowers, and other motorized gardening equipment. This chapter is shorter than the previous three and functions as something of an add-on. Still, although not recreational machines in the same sense as the other machines profiled, this type of gardening equipment has its own set of environmental and safety issues, and I found myself wishing for more discussion of these products.

Josephson has synthesized a great deal of information in Motorized Obsessions, and the reader will walk away with a much better appreciation of how these machines developed, their widespread use, and the negative consequences associated with their operation. Josephson has apparently done no archival research for this study, but he does draw upon a variety of sources: federal and state government reports, specialized journals in medicine and natural-resources management, and materials produced by companies, trade associations, and user groups, as well as environmental organizations. Many of these sources were obtained via the Internet, which raises questions about their availability in a few years' time. Because of the absence of archival research, business historians will find the discussion of the companies involved in the manufacture and sale of these products interesting but somewhat thin. Motorized Obsessions may be most useful for scholars interested in issues concerning technology and social responsibility. The author is clearly concerned more with the present than the past; he could have done a better job of placing developments in historical context, particularly the changing nature of outdoor recreation in America in the twentieth century. Finally, this is one book that would have benefited immensely from illustrations. Some readers may not be familiar with the variety of vehicles being discussed. A judicious selection of pictures would have enlivened the text and illustrated examples of the marketing campaigns, environmental damage, technical innovations, and other subjects discussed throughout the book.

[Author Affiliation]

Terence Kehoe is senior associate with Morgan, Angel & Associates in Washington, D.C. He is the author, with Charles Jacobson, of "Environmental Decision Making and DDT Production at Montrose Chemical Corporation of California," published in Enterprise & Society (December 2003).

Shares of CBOE rise in debut after raising $339.3M

Shares of options exchange CBOE Holdings are rising in their trading debut.

CBOE Holdings Inc.'s initial public offering of 11.7 million shares priced at $29 per share, the top of the expected range. Some analysts had worried that the price might be too high in a tepid IPO market, but others said the company's history of rapid growth, exclusive products and acquisition potential justified a premium price.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange, based in Chicago, is the country's largest options exchange. It is famous for creating products such as the VIX, a popular gauge of risk known as the market's "fear index."

The shares, trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol "CBOE," are rising 4.15, or 14 percent, to $33.15 in morning trading.

Blue Jays 3, White Sox 2

Toronto			Chicago
ab r h bi		ab r h bi
McCoy ss	4 1 0 0		Pierre lf	5 0 0 0
EThms lf	5 0 1 1		De Aza cf	3 1 2 0
Bautist dh	3 0 0 0		AlRmrz ss	3 0 2 1
KJhnsn 2b	3 1 1 0		Przyns dh	4 0 1 0
Cooper 1b	4 1 1 0		EEscor pr-dh	0 0 0 0
Rasms cf	3 0 0 0		Flowrs 1b	2 0 0 0
Arencii c	2 0 0 0		Viciedo rf	4 0 0 0
Teahen 3b	2 0 1 1		Morel 3b	4 0 0 0
Wise rf	2 0 0 0		Lucy c	3 0 0 0
JMolin ph	1 0 0 0		Bckhm 2b	4 1 2 1
Loewen rf	0 0 0 1
Totals	29 3 4 3		Totals	32 2 7 2

Toronto	100	000	002—3
Chicago	000	110	000—2

DP_Toronto 1, Chicago 2. LOB_Toronto 8, Chicago 8. 2B_E.Thames (24), K.Johnson (4), Al.Ramirez (31). HR_Beckham (10). S_Rasmus.

	IP	H	R ER BB SO
Toronto
Morrow	6	5	2	2	5	7
Janssen	1	0	0	0	0	2
Camp W,6-3	1	1	0	0	0	0
F.Francisco S,17-21	1	1	0	0	0	1
Chicago
Humber	6 2-3	2	1	1	4	9
Thornton H,20	1 1-3	0	0	0	0	1
Sale L,2-2 BS,2-10	1-3	2	2	2	3	0
S.Santos	1-3	0	0	0	0	0
Ohman	1-3	0	0	0	0	0

HBP_by Humber (K.Johnson). WP_Morrow, F.Francisco, Humber.

Umpires_Home, Mark Lollo; First, Lance Barksdale; Second, Adrian Johnson; Third, Fieldin Culbreth.

T_2:48. A_20,524 (40,615).

Armed Patient Dies in Ill. Standoff

AURORA, Ill. - An armed patient was fatally shot when he exchanged gunfire with police at a suburban Chicago hospital, ending an hours-long standoff, authorities said.

The gunman had briefly held a 71-year-old patient hostage in the hospital room, but released him unharmed after police intervened. No one else was injured.

The 58-year-old man died of a gunshot wound to the head. He appeared to have shot himself, but police were still investigating, Aurora Police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said.

After refusing to surrender for 4 1/2 hours, the gunman opened the door to his room at Provena Mercy Medical Center and fired one shot at police.

Police returned fire and, after hearing no further sounds, entered the room and found the man with a head wound, Ferrelli said.

The standoff began when hospital security officers reported a combative patient, who then waved a small handgun at a patrol officer.

Authorities had relocated 26 patients the floor and locked down the hospital about 30 miles west of Chicago.

Padilla's latest incident not lost on Sox

The White Sox are no longer alone in labeling Texas Rangerspitcher Vicente Padilla a "headhunter."

That was on display again Tuesday, when Padilla threw at LosAngeles Angels hitters Vladimir Guerrero and Juan Rivera. That led tomore target practice by pitchers and a bench-clearing brawl betweenthe teams Wednesday.

It was Padilla who hit Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski twice during agame June 14 in Arlington, Texas, after taking exception to commentscoming from the Sox' dugout during a game June 3 at U.S. CellularField.

Manager Ozzie Guillen said he sees Padilla as a pitcher who istaking advantage of no longer having to bat, like he did in theNational League with the Philadelphia Phillies.

"I guarantee you if it was in the National League and people hitpeople like that, you know you're going to get hurt," Guillen said."But in that situation, believe me, you hit one guy in the rightspot, he can be gone for the rest of the season or his career. That'swhat I worry about."

While Guillen is not a huge fan of Rangers manager Buck Showalter,he said he doesn't think Showalter will put up with Padilla's actmuch longer.

"The way Showalter is, the kind of man he is, I don't think Bucklikes those kinds of players," Guillen said. "I think it's somethingthat we know what [Padilla] is doing."

GOOD TIMING: Since being paired with catcher Sandy Alomar Jr.,left-hander Mark Buehrle is 1-1 with a 4.74 ERA in four starts. Inhis five starts before Alomar was reacquired in a deadline deal,Buehrle was 0-5 with a 12.93 ERA.

Alomar said the numbers had more to do with luck than with hispresence.

"He's been using both sides of the plate, going up and down,"Alomar said. "He just seems to have gained some confidence back. Ithink I just happened to come here at the right time. These guys areWorld Series champions, so he did it last year without me."

THE NATURAL: Sox prospect Josh Fields continued his torrid pace atClass AAA Charlotte, going 2-for-3 with a double and his 18th homerun Wednesday.

Fields, a third baseman who has been seeing some time in theoutfield, is hitting .312 with 66 RBI. Guillen, however, said helikely won't call him up until the Knights finish their playoff run.

jcowley@suntimes.com

California Supreme Court hears Prop. 8 case

Verdict on controversial case expected to be reached within 90 days

Thousands of people gathered outside the state supreme court building in San Francisco last Thursday, while inside, the court heard three hours of arguments on whether it should overturn Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment passed last November to ban gay marriage.

It's expected to be a tough call, especially for the pro-gay marriage side.

The key legal dispute before the court is whether Proposition 8 simply amended the state constitution or whether it significantly revised it. If the initiative amended the constitution, then it stands. But if the initiative revised the constitution, then it was …

Dems' health care plan stumbles but keeps moving

Democrats got a sobering glimpse of what it would look like if their ambitious health care overhaul ran into a wall _ and they quickly pulled back to regroup and get moving again.

Trying to regain the initiative, House Democrats on Friday unveiled draft legislation they said would cover virtually all of the nation's nearly 50 million uninsured as President Barack Obama has promised. However, they offered few details on how to pay for it.

The president welcomed their action as "a major step toward our goal of fixing what is broken about health care while building on what works."

But in the Senate, two committees were getting bogged down, …

Griffin's Emmy Remarks to Be Censored

LOS ANGELES - Before Kathy Griffin won a creative arts Emmy last weekend for her reality show, "My Life on the D-List," she joked that an award would move her to the C-list.

She was right: "C" as in censored. The TV academy said her raucous acceptance speech will be edited when the event, which was taped, is shown Saturday on the E! channel. The main prime-time Emmy Awards air the next night on Fox.

"Kathy Griffin's offensive remarks will not be part of the E! telecast on Saturday night," the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said in a statement Monday.

In her speech, Griffin said that "a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want …

BASIC EDUCATION REFORM PROJECT.

The Government of Grenada has received a loan from the World Bank (No. 3970-GRD) and a credit from the International Development Association (No. 2804-GRD) totaling US$7.6, toward the cost of the Basic Education Reform Project, and it intends to apply the proceeds of this loan and credit to payments for goods, works and services to be procured under this project, which will include the following …

News Makers.

INTELLIGENCE DESIGNS, B.O. GOING ON SALE?

Every since Oracle acquired Hyperion for $3.3 billion, business intelligence market analysts have been wondering when Paris-based Business Objects would land a suitor. Now, a French news report states the firm has retained Goldman Sachs as a matchmaker. Stocks rose on the rumors, as well as from the same-day product launch of the company's on-demand online BI software. "On-demand" - is that an IBM mating call?

E-COM INCENTIVES - PENNIES FROM NACHA

Trying to win banks over to the ACH model for e-commerce transactions, NACHA plans to launch a pilot Secure Payments Vault service next year that upturns the …

BUTTERNUT A SPECIAL SPECIMEN.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: CHRIS STURGIS - Staff writer

Horticulture buff Leslie Hipenbecker will tell you butternut trees are not his favorite.

They don't grow straight, and they usually die before they get very tall, he said. He wouldn't recommend one as a shade tree.

Yet, the one in his yard is exceptional, Hipenbecker said, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation wants to grow its seeds in the state nursery.

In fact, the tree towering 62 feet over in his yard at 944 Main St. is the second-largest one of its kind, right behind a 65-foot butternut in Oneida County that tops the New York State Big Tree Register.

"I've never seen …

Venezuela plans military bases for Colombia border

Venezuela plans to build five military bases along its border with Colombia.

Justice Minister Tarek El Aissami says the bases will help President Hugo Chavez's government fight drug smuggling, extortion and kidnapping.

The bases will run along the Sierra de Perija, a mountain range in western Venezuela that follows …

Louisville receiver Jackson ready to make bit of history

LOUISVILLE, Ky. Louisville receiver Arnold Jackson is workingtoward a degree in sociology.

History, though, might be a more appropriate field of study forthe senior speedster, who is on the verge of becoming the mostprolific receiver in college football history.

"I didn't know anything about the record until a teammate told meabout it late last season," said Jackson, who needs 66 catches tobreak former Mississippi Valley State receiver Jerry Rice's NCAAcareer mark of 301 receptions. "I really try not to think about itvery much. It's something to shoot for, but it definitely isn't themain focus of my season."

Rewriting the record books is nothing new for …

Censure, don't censor, says ACLU.(Brief Article)

The job of pressuring media to reduce the amount of on-screen violence belongs to private citizens, not the government, Laura Murphy, legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union, said last week. "I think it's important for us as a society to differentiate between 'censoring' and 'censuring,'" she said during a National Press Club forum on violence in the media. Even though the ACLU frequently fights in court against legal restrictions on the media, the group also endorses the right of private organizations to boycott or demonstrate against outlets that produce violent …

Seaside strollers.

A WALK by the seaside has earned Bridlington Girls' Choir around [pounds sterling]500 towards its annual running costs.

The choir's annual sponsored walk, headed by adult leaders, ended with a party with food and games.

The long-established choir is always happy to have new members from the age of nine. It meets every Monday at 6pm in the main …

ABORTION RIGHTS SUPPORTERS RALLY.(Local)

Byline: Tim Beidel Staff writer

About a thousand people crowded into an auditorium and spilled onto the marble-floored hallway in the Legislative Office Building Sunday, rallying in support of abortion rights. In the cold and snow outside, between 60 and 70 anti-abortion demonstrators gathered on the east steps of the Capitol, asking elected officials to end what they believe is the killing of unborn children.

Seventeen years ago today,

the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision declared that a woman has a constitutional right to abortion. While that right still exists, the high court's Webster decision last summer allowed state governments more …

Kennedy won't run for re-election in US state

Rep. Patrick Kennedy has decided not to seek re-election after eight terms in Congress, saying his life is "taking a new direction" just months after the death of his father and mentor, Sen. Edward Kennedy.

The Rhode Island Democrat taped a message with his decision to be aired on Rhode Island's television stations Sunday night. The Associated Press viewed the message Thursday, ahead of the announcement.

"Now having spent two decades in politics, my life is taking a new direction, and I will not be a candidate for re-election this year," Kennedy says.

The decision comes less than a month after a stunning upset by Republican …

Protests Shadow Nepal King's Birthday

KATMANDU, Nepal - Nepal's king celebrated his 60th birthday Saturday with a lavish ceremony at his palace that set off protests in the streets of Katmandu.

Calling the king a criminal, some 10,000 demonstrators demanded the abolition of the monarchy at a demonstration organized by youth and student groups affiliated with major political parties.

King Gyanendra angered many Nepalese when he seized absolute power in February 2005 and fired an interim government. He was forced to give up his authoritarian rule in April 2006 following months of pro-democracy protests and remains deeply unpopular.

He also has been stripped of his powers and command over the army. His …

Starz Encore Group.

Jeremy Harris to SVP-consumer marketing from …

Turning the corner: Government of Canada's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.(REGULATORY NEWS)

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The Government of Canada has published details of the Turning the Corner regulatory framework originally announced on April 26, 2007. The documents, posted to Environment Canada's Web site, provide details about how the Government of Canada will move forward with its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The plan includes mandatory reductions for industry, along with additional new measures to address two of Canada's key emitting sectors--oil sands and electricity.

Tough federal regulation of industry's greenhouse gas emissions will help achieve the government's commitment to a 20 percent reduction in Canada's overall emissions by …

DALAI LAMA WEIGHS TALKS WITH CHINA.(MAIN)

Byline: Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The Dalai Lama, who arrives next week for a visit that will include a stop at the White House, plans to take a key step toward restarting direct talks with the Chinese government on autonomy for Tibet, his supporters said Thursday.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin, at his Beijing summit with President Clinton in June, said ``the door to dialogue and negotiations is open,'' but only if the Dalai Lama acknowledges that Tibet is an inseparable part of China …

Obama's message to voters: Things could be worse

President Barack Obama, who rocketed to the White House promising "change you can believe in," is now telling voters they shouldn't change a thing.

His message for November congressional elections, which are looking ominous for his Democrats, is that Republicans caused the country's economic troubles, but he and the Democrats are starting to fix them. So stick with the Democrats and don't go back to the Republicans, who held the White House for eight years before Obama took office in 2009.

"This is a choice between the policies that led us into the mess or the policies that are leading out of the mess," Obama said recently in Las …

Gay PDA at the holiday office party

Q: Even though I'm completely out at my office, I always turn heads when I dance with a gent company bash. Sometimes there's even some giggling from my coworkers. What tips do you have when it comes to attending a workplace holiday party with a partner or date?

A: First, I'd make sure that your date is cool about being pari of your continuing coining out journey. There's a public dimension to attending a work function as a couple and not everyone is comfortable with the kind of attention a same-sex couple may attract. Assuming tire answer's yes, also keep in mind that it's one thing for your straight coworkers to blow that you're gay; it's another to see you slow dance, tete a …

(6/2010) Get Rid Of Your Distorted Thinking.(Mind and Body)

Amy Sherman--

It's human nature to be defensive, and as you age, you could find yourself even more on the attack. After all, you have to protect yourself against comments that are undermining your fragile ego or questioning your integrity. The problem is that sometimes you can't identify the difference between a true attack, a subtle complaint or genuine constructive criticism.

Because you have preconceived ideas about how life "should be" or how you "should behave," you get angry when things don't go your way. This causes you to think irrationally and behave defensively, often inappropriately, unless you are able to catch yourself by using some good personal …

LITTLE, ROSE MARIE.(CAPITAL REGION)

ALBANY -- Rose Marie Little, 64, of Elm St., Albany was called to the Lord and her late husband, Richard on June 17, 2000 at St. Peter's Hospice. She retired from the NYS Department of Taxation, Albany, after 37 years of service. She was a communicant of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and very active in the department of aging within the church. Survivors include a daughter, Mrs. Charles (Heather M.) Bookroom of Albany; a son and daughter-in-law, Michael and …

Man accused of keeping arsenal due in NJ court

A man who authorities say had a cache of weapons and a map of an Army base in a New Jersey motel room is due in court on Friday.

Lloyd Woodson was arrested Monday after a convenience store clerk in Branchburg called police to report he was acting strangely.

Police say Woodson was wearing a bulletproof vest and …

The People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China has granted an EC$10 loan and an EC$500,000 grant to government here, following the visit of an eight-member Chinese delegation headed by Lou Gan, Secretary-General of the State Council of the People's Republic. A joint …

The effect of word and character frequency on the eye movements of Chinese readers.

Despite the fact that a large percentage of the world's population are readers of Chinese, much less is known about eye movements during reading of this logographic script in comparison to alphabetic writing systems (particularly English). Chinese text is formed by strings of equally spaced box-like symbols (called characters). Text used to be printed from top-to-bottom (with the columns printed from right-to-left) but it is now typically printed horizontally from left-to-right. However, Chinese is written without spaces between successive characters and words. Furthermore, individual Chinese characters differ considerably in complexity because they vary in (1) the number of strokes per character, (2) the number of radicals (or certain combinations of strokes that denote semantic or phonological information) and (3) the manner of construction (since radicals can be combined in different ways to form compound words). Thus, many visual details are packed into a constant, box-shaped area for each character.

Chinese characters differ in frequency of occurrence as well as in complexity. While the concept of a word is not as well defined in Chinese as it is in English (and Chinese readers often disagree concerning where word boundaries are located), as in English, some words occur more frequently than others. Most words are made up of two characters, although some words consist of only one character and some consist of three or more characters. Although it is sometimes assumed that Chinese characters are like individual words, in actuality a more accurate description is that most Chinese characters are more like morphemes.

To what extent do the eye movements of Chinese readers and readers of English differ? Obviously, there are differences that are due to the fact that the information is more densely packed in Chinese (Chen, Song, Lau, Wong, & Tang, 2003) than in English and due to the fact that there are no spaces between words. Thus, not surprisingly, the perceptual span (or region of effective vision) for Chinese readers is much smaller than that of readers of English (Chen & Tang, 1998). For Chinese readers, the span extends 1 character to the left of fixation to 2-3 characters to the right when reading from left-to-right (Inhoff & Liu, 1997, 1998); in contrast, the span extends 3-4 letters to the left of fixation to about 14-15 letters to the right of fixation for readers of English (Rayner, 1998). Given the smaller perceptual span, the average saccade size in reading Chinese is about 2.6 characters (Inhoff & Liu, 1997, 1998) compared with roughly 7-8 letters for English (Rayner, 1998).

Despite these differences in the informational density and spatial characteristics of the text, there are a number of similarities in eye movements between readers of Chinese and English. First, average fixation durations are very similar (about 225-250 ms) for readers of Chinese and English (Chen et al., 2003; Feng, Miller, Shu, & Zhang, 2001; Sun & Feng, 1999; Rayner, 2004). Second, regression rate is only slightly higher for Chinese readers, with skilled readers of Chinese regressing about 15% of the time compared with about 10% of the time for skilled readers of English (Chen et al., 2003). Third, word predictability influences eye fixation time for Chinese readers in a manner similar for readers of English (Rayner, Li, Juhasz, & Yan, 2005). Although Rayner et al. found that the pattern of skipping probabilities differed slightly between Chinese and English readers, the overall skipping rate did not differ much.

In this article, we address the question of how word and character frequency influence the eye movements of Chinese readers. In English, it is well-known that word frequency has a strong influence on fixation time on a word (Rayner, 1998). In Chinese, Yang and McConkie (1999) reported that both character complexity and word frequency influence fixation time on a word. Chen et al. (2003) used regression analysis techniques with Chinese adults' eye movement data and claimed that character complexity and frequency were more important than word frequency. They also reported regression analyses with children (2nd, 4th and 6th graders) that showed basically the same thing. While regression analyses are informative, such analyses can sometimes obscure certain aspects of data. For example, because frequency effects are attenuated with more exposures to target words (Rayner, Raney, & Pollatsek, 1995), such effects might not be as apparent in regression analyses across entire passages as they are in experiments. Issues of multicollinearity may also obscure the effects of predictor variables in regression analyses when those variables are themselves correlated (as is the case with character and word frequency in Chinese). Clearly, more work is needed to examine more precisely the extent to which word frequency influences the eye movements of Chinese readers. Furthermore, while prior studies have demonstrated that character complexity influences how long Chinese readers look at words, more information is …