School adds PowerPoint to application By JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer

School adds PowerPoint to application By JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer
Mon Jul 30, 9:18 PM ET



At business meetings the world over, PowerPoint-style presentations are often met with yawns and glazed eyes.

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But at one of the world's top business schools, such slide shows are now an entrance requirement. In a first, the University of Chicago will begin requiring prospective students to submit four pages of PowerPoint-like slides with their applications this fall.

The new requirement is partly an acknowledgment that Microsoft Corp.'s PowerPoint, along with similar but lesser-known programs, have become a ubiquitous tool in the business world. But Chicago says so-called "slideware," if used correctly, also can let students show off a creative side that might not reveal itself in test scores, recommendations and even essays.

By adding PowerPoint to its application, Chicago thinks it might attract more students who have the kind of cleverness that can really pay off in business, and fewer of the technocrat types who sometimes give the program a bad name.

"We wanted to have a freeform space for students to be able to say what they think is important, not always having the school run that dialogue," said Rose Martinelli, associate dean for student recruitment and admissions. "To me this is just four pieces of blank paper. You do what you want. It can be a presentation. It can be poetry. It can be anything."

Online applications are already the norm, and it's not uncommon for colleges to let students submit extra materials such as artwork. Undergraduate and graduate applications also are beginning to ask more creative and open-ended essays.

Partly that's to better identify the students with a creative spark. Partly it's to fend off the boredom of reading thousands of grinding, repetitive responses to "Why is University X right for you?"

But asking for four electronic slides appears to be a new idea.

Chicago's new requirement may provoke groans from some quarters. It could be called corporate America's final surrender to a technology that, in the name of promoting the flow of information, often gums it up by encouraging bureaucratic jargon and making colorful but useless graphics just a little too easy to produce.

Nonetheless, PowerPoint has become the lingua franca of business meetings worldwide. Its 500 million copies are used (or misused) in 30 million presentations per day, Microsoft has estimated. PowerPoint is so common in the business world that "it's actually your word processor," said Michael Avidan, a second-year Chicago MBA student, who reads applications for the graduate program and helped it do a dry run. His slides were a play featuring a Greek chorus questioning him about his application.

"When you apply to business school, he said, using a buzz word for the best a student has to offer, "it's only natural that your 'deliverables' be in PowerPoint."

Martinelli acknowledges one reason for the requirement is that students will inevitably have to master the technology in their jobs. But she says students won't be judged on the quality of their slides. Rather the slides are an outlet for judging the kind of creativity the business world needs.

Chicago's does have a few ground rules: no hyperlinks, and no video. Beyond that, "I really don't know what we're going to get," Martinelli said.

It's not surprising the first PowerPoint application is coming from the world of business schools. In an undergraduate admissions office there would likely be worries about the applicant pool's familiarity with and access to technology. Applicants to Chicago's MBA program generally already know Facebook and YouTube and are accustomed to presenting themselves online. They can also afford the $200 application fee. (True technophobes can fill out four pages in another fashion and mail them in).

Technology isn't a hurdle for most University of Chicago applicants, but "other schools might have to think about that," said Nicole Chestang, chief client officer for the Graduate Management Admission Council, a worldwide group of management programs that oversees the GMAT entrance exam.

It's also business schools that traditionally have the most boring essays, focusing on workplace accomplishments rather than passions or unusual talents, but which are increasingly interested in creativity.

Avidan predicts some applicants will be turned off by the requirement, but says it's an opportunity for clever students whose test scores and other application materials might not stand out to shine.

"If there's one foundation of business, it's innovation, and this is your chance to elevate yourself and show you can do something innovative," he said.

The PowerPoint presentations will be the last part of the application the admissions office considers its decision.

"This can determine whether or not you get admitted," he said. "Here you are. Show us."

___

On the Net:

http://www.chicagogsb.edu/

Thousands line up for 'Idol' auditions By ALLISON HOFFMAN, Associated Press Writer

Thousands line up for 'Idol' auditions By ALLISON HOFFMAN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 26 minutes ago



SAN DIEGO - Thousands of people hoping to be the next Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson or even Sanjaya lined up outside Qualcomm Stadium on Monday as auditions for the seventh season of "American Idol" began.

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Some brought makeup kits, Starbucks cups filled with throat-clearing salt water and even karaoke machines. Others came before dawn, armed with sleeping bags and pillows.

"Why wouldn't I get here early? My No. 1 goal is to be on the program," said Lonnie Beatty, 20, who spent the night on a trolley platform just outside the stadium grounds in order to be one of the first in line.

A publicist for the show said 12,000 people showed up for their chance at stardom.

John Edward Carey, 27, was one of the lucky few rewarded with a ticket to the second round of tryouts.

The custom guitar builder and post-punk rocker from Van Nuys, near Los Angeles, made it to the final 25 last year on his first outing and said he decided to give it another shot after dropping 35 pounds and getting an encouraging e-mail from a producer.

"Last year I thought, 'I want to make it to the top 50,' and I did," Carey said after his tryout. "This year I want to make it to the top 10. This year I want to win it!"

His wife, Annie, said she pushed her husband to audition after listening to him criticize contestants on the show.

"He kept saying, 'I can sing better than that,'" she said. "So finally I just said, 'Fine, you go audition and stop interrupting my show!'"

Would-be contestants began lining up at 3 a.m. They had already spent hours in line over the weekend waiting to register for wristbands to get into the tryouts: neon yellow for singers, slate gray for supporters.

"I haven't slept in two days," said 16-year-old Jessica Schaffer of Temecula, explaining she drove around all night until she was allowed into the stadium grounds.

With the Comic-Con entertainment expo drawing a record crowd of more than 120,000 to San Diego over the weekend and thousands more in town for a sandcastle competition and an international youth soccer tournament, "Idol" hopefuls who wanted some shut-eye resorted to the classified Web site Craigslist.org or even military bases for beds.

Sgt. Jessica Robson, a 26-year-old Iraq and Afghanistan veteran stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., said she snagged a bunk at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot but got up at 4 a.m. anyway.

"I don't think it matters where you are in line," she said from somewhere in the middle of the crowd.

People in line waved signs proclaiming their love for Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, but the celebrity judges were absent. In their place were 23 show producers who handed over Willy Wonka-style golden tickets to the people they wanted to put in front of executive producers and, eventually, the real judges later on this fall.

Show executives said they hoped to winnow the contestants down to between 300 and 500 for the second round.

"We'll see everyone who wants to be heard," said Patrick Lynn, a senior producer. "It's all about trying to find out who's going to be the person who's going to make it past the judges, who's going to make it to Hollywood."

Six more auditions are set in the coming weeks in Dallas; Omaha, Neb.; Atlanta; Charleston, S.C.; Miami and Philadelphia. The show returns to the air in January.

___

On the Net:

http://www.americanidol.com

Film great Ingmar Bergman dies at 89 By LOUISE NORDSTROM, Associated Press Writer

Film great Ingmar Bergman dies at 89 By LOUISE NORDSTROM, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 16 minutes ago



STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, one of the greatest artists in cinema history, died Monday at his home on an island off the coast of Sweden. He was 89.

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Bergman's dozens of works combined deep seriousness, indelible imagery and unexpected flashes of humor in finely written, inventively shot explorations of difficult subjects such as plague and madness.

His vision encompassed the extremes of his beloved Sweden: the claustrophobic gloom of unending winter nights, its glowing summer evenings and the bleak magnificence of the Baltic islet of Faro, where the reclusive artist spent his last years.

Once described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist ... since the invention of the motion picture camera," Bergman first gained international attention with 1955's "Smiles of a Summer Night," a romantic comedy that inspired the Stephen Sondheim musical "A Little Night Music."

His last work, of about 60, was "Saraband," a made-for-television movie that aired on Swedish public television in December 2003, the year he retired.

Allen said he was "very sorry" to hear of Bergman's death.

"He was a friend and certainly the finest film director of my lifetime," the Web version of Swedish daily Aftonbladet quoted him as saying.

"Saraband" starred Liv Ullmann, the Norwegian actress and director who appeared in nine Bergman films and had a five-year affair, and a daughter, with the director.

The other actor most closely associated with Bergman was Max von Sydow, who appeared in 1957's "The Seventh Seal," an allegorical tale of the Black Plague years as a knight playing chess with the shrouded figure of Death, one of cinema's most famous scenes.

His 1982 film "Fanny and Alexander" won an Oscar for best foreign film. His 1973 "Cries and Whispers" was nominated for Best Picture.

"The world has lost one of its very greatest filmmakers. He taught us all so much throughout his life," said British actor and director Richard Attenborough.

Astrid Soderbergh Widding, president of The Ingmar Bergman Foundation, confirmed the death to The Associated Press, and Swedish journalist Marie Nyrerod said the director died peacefully during his sleep.

Bergman never fully recovered after a hip surgery in October last year, Nyrerod told Swedish broadcaster SVT.

"He was one of the world's biggest personalities. There were (Japanese film director Akira) Kurosawa, (Italy's Federico) Fellini and then Bergman. Now he is also gone," Danish director Bille August told The Associated Press.

"It is a great loss. I am in shock," August said.

Cannes Film Festival director Gilles Jacob called Bergman the "last of the greats, because he proved that cinema can be as profound as literature."

The son of a Lutheran clergyman and a housewife, Ernst Ingmar Bergman was born in Uppsala, Sweden on July 14, 1918, and grew up with a brother and sister in a household of severe discipline that he described in painful detail in the autobiography "The Magic Lantern."

The title comes from his childhood, when his brother got a "magic lantern" — a precursor of the slide-projector — for Christmas. Ingmar was consumed with jealousy, and he managed to acquire the object of his desire by trading it for a hundred tin soldiers.

The apparatus was a spot of joy in an often-cruel young life. Bergman recounted the horror of being locked in a closet and the humiliation of being made to wear a skirt as punishment for wetting his pants.

He broke with his parents at 19 and remained aloof from them, but later in life sought to understand them. The story of their lives was told in the television film "Sunday's Child," directed by his own son Daniel.

The director said he had coped with the authoritarian environment of his childhood by living in a world of fantasy. When he first saw a movie he was greatly moved.

But he said the escape into another world went so far that it took him years to tell reality from fantasy, and Bergman repeatedly described his life as a constant fight against demons, also reflected in his work.

The demons sometimes drove him to great art — as in "Cries and Whispers," the deathbed drama that climaxes when a dying woman cries "I am dead, but I can't leave you." Sometimes they drove him over the top, as in "Hour of the Wolf," where a nightmare-plagued artist meets real-life demons on a lonely island.

It was in the Swedish capital that Bergman broke into the world of drama, starting with a menial job at the Royal Opera House after dropping out of college.

Bergman was hired by the script department of Swedish Film Industry, the country's main production company, as an assistant script writer in 1942.

In 1944, his first original screenplay was filmed by Alf Sjoeberg, the dominant Swedish film director of the time. "Torment" won several awards including the Grand Prize of the 1946 Cannes Film Festival, and soon Bergman was directing an average of two films a year as well as working with stage production.

After the acclaimed "The Seventh Seal," he quickly came up with another success in "Wild Strawberries," in which an elderly professor's car trip to pick up an award is interspersed with dreams.

Other noted films include "Persona," about an actress and her nurse whose identities seem to merge, and "The Autumn Sonata," about a concert pianist and her two daughters, one severely handicapped and the other burdened by her child's drowning.

Though best known internationally for his films, Bergman was also a prominent stage director. He worked at several playhouses in Sweden from the mid-1940s, including the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm which he headed from 1963 to 1966. He staged many plays by the Swedish author August Strindberg, whom he cited as an inspiration.

The influence of Strindberg's grueling and precise psychological dissections could be seen in "Scenes From a Marriage," an intense detailing of the disintegration of a marriage that was released as a feature film in 1974.

Bergman showed his lighter side in the following year's "The Magic Flute," again first produced for TV. It is a fairly straight production of the Mozart opera, enlivened by touches such as repeatedly showing the face of a young girl watching the opera and comically clumsy props and costumes.

Bergman remained active later in life with stage productions and occasional TV shows. He said he still felt a need to direct, although he had no plans to make another feature film.

Bergman, at age 84, started production on "Saraband" — based on the two main characters from "Scenes From a Marriage" — in the fall of 2002.

In a rare news conference, he said he wrote the story after realizing he was "pregnant with a play."

"At first I felt sick, very sick. It was strange. Like Abraham and Sarah, who suddenly realized she was pregnant," he said, referring to biblical characters. "It was lots of fun, suddenly to feel this urge returning."

Bergman waged a fight against real-life tormentors: Sweden's powerful tax authorities.

In 1976, during a rehearsal at the Royal Dramatic Theater, police came to take Bergman away for interrogation about tax evasion. The director, who had left all finances to be handled by a lawyer, was questioned for hours while his home was searched. When released, he was forbidden to leave the country.

The case caused an enormous uproar in the media and Bergman had a mental breakdown that sent him to hospital for over a month. He later was absolved of all accusations and in the end only had to pay some extra taxes.

In his autobiography he admitted to guilt in only one aspect: "I signed papers that I didn't read, even less understood."

The experience made him go into voluntary exile in Germany, to the embarrassment of the Swedish authorities. After nine years, he returned to Stockholm.

The date of Bergman's funeral has not been set, but will be attended by a close group of friends and family, the TT news agency reported.

McDonald's drops rapper from tour By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer

McDonald's drops rapper from tour By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer
2 hours, 17 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Rapper Twista, who was tapped by McDonald's to perform during its nationwide concert series, has been dropped from the lineup because of his "controversial lyrics," the fast food giant said Monday.

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The Chicago rapper is better known for his lightning-fast rap delivery than particularly raunchy content: His hits include "Slow Jamz," with Kanye West and Jamie Foxx, and "Overnight Celebrity." However, he does use explicit language and reference drugs in his some of his rhymes.

McDonald's, which initially signed the rapper to perform in Chicago for its 10-city concert series, said it could no longer support Twista for the Aug. 7 performance.

"Although we respect free speech and artistic expression, we do not condone or perpetuate derogatory language," said spokesman William Whitman in a statement. "We want to ensure these free concerts are fun as well as appropriate for all of our customers."

When asked why they booked the rapper, given his content, the company referred back to the statement.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Twista said that in some ways, he was surprised by the announcement, "especially after hearing from certain people that represented McDonald's that they were fans of the music and they were excited about the whole thing and that they backed me, and then to hear a few a days later that I was actually not on the show."

However, he blamed the increased criticism of hip-hop in the wake of the racial flap over former CBS radio and MSNBC broadcaster Don Imus for putting pressure on the corporate giant to drop him from the series.

"They started hearing things ... feeling like they were getting a little flak, and I felt like rather than stick by me and stick through it, they got scared," he said. "I've been rapping the same way for 15 years. It only became a problem when Don Imus said something negative about black women and they needed a scapegoat."

After Imus was fired for calling the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos," some critics decried what they considered a double standard for rappers who often use derogatory terms about women. Increased pressure was put on rappers and record labels to clean up offensive content.

Twista said that typically, when he performs at events that are more mainstream and that attract kids, he cleans up his lyrics, and had intended to do so for the Chicago performance.

"I was actually going to have a school with a choir come sing the song 'Hope' with me. So now ... McDonald's have to tell the kids that they can't perform."

___

On the Net:

McDonald's Live Tour: http://www.mcdlive.com

Twista: http://www.twistamusic.com

Broadcaster Tom Snyder dies at 71 By JASON DEAREN, Associated Press Writer

Broadcaster Tom Snyder dies at 71 By JASON DEAREN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 22 minutes ago



SAN FRANCISCO - Tom Snyder, who pioneered the late-late network TV talk show with a personal yet abrasive style, robust laugh and trademark cloud of cigarette smoke billowing around his head, has died from complications associated with leukemia. He was 71.

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Snyder died Sunday in San Francisco, his longtime producer and friend Mike Horowicz told The Associated Press on Monday.

"Tom was a fighter," Horowicz said. "I know he had tried many different treatments."

Prickly and ego-driven, Snyder conducted numerous memorable interviews as host of NBC's "Tomorrow," which followed Johnny Carson's "Tonight" show from 1973 to '82.

Snyder's style, his show's set and the show itself marked an abrupt change at 1 a.m. from Carson's program. Snyder might joke with the crew in the sparsely appointed studio, but he was more likely to joust with guests such as the irascible science fiction writer Harlan Ellison.

Snyder had John Lennon's final televised interview (April 1975) and U2's first U.S. television appearance in June 1981.

One of his most riveting interviews was with Charles Manson, who would go from a calm demeanor to acting like a wild-eyed, insanity-spouting mass murderer and back again.

Another wacky moment came when Plasmatics lead singer Wendy O. Williams blew up a TV in the studio; in another appearance she demolished a car. Yet another time, Johnny Rotten decided he really wasn't in the mood to be on a talk show, leading to an excruciating 12 minutes of airtime.

In 1982, the show was canceled after a messy attempt to reformat it into a talk-variety show called "Tomorrow Coast to Coast." It added a live audience and co-hostess Rona Barrett — all of which Snyder disdained.

The time slot was taken over by a hot young comedian named David Letterman.

"Tom was the very thing that all broadcasters long to be — compelling," Letterman said. "Whether he was interviewing politicians, authors, actors or musicians, Tom was always the real reason to watch. I'm honored to have known him as a colleague and a friend."

Born in Milwaukee, Snyder began his career as a radio reporter in his home town in the 1960s, then moved into local television news, anchoring newscasts in Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles before moving to late night.

"He loved the broadcast business," said Marciarose Shestack, who co-anchored a noontime newscast with Snyder at KYW-TV in Philadelphia in the 1960s. "He was very surprising and very irreverent and not at all a typical newscaster."

Al Primo, a former TV news director who gave Snyder one of his first TV jobs, said Snyder was the "ultimate communicator," able to look directly into a camera and tell viewers a story without looking at notes.

As an interviewer, Snyder "always used to tell me, I listen to what they're saying and I ask the questions that the average guy would want to ask, not a formulated question," Primo said.

He returned to local anchoring in New York after "Tomorrow" left the air. He eventually hosted an ABC radio talk show before easing back into television on CNBC.

His catch phrase: "Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."

Letterman, a longtime Snyder admirer, brought him back to network television, creating "The Late Late Show" on CBS to follow his own program. (Subsequently, the format and hosts have changed, with Craig Kilborn and now Craig Ferguson.)

Snyder gained fame in his heyday when Dan Aykroyd spoofed him in the early days of "Saturday Night Live." His chain-smoking, black beetle brows (contrasting with his mostly gray hair), mercurial manner and self-indulgent, digressive way of asking questions as well as his clipped speech pattern made for a distinctive sendup.

Briefly in the late 1970s, Snyder was considered a potential successor to John Chancellor as anchor of the "NBC Nightly News." Tom Brokaw got the job instead, as some in NBC management were worried that Snyder's quick and occasionally sharp tongue would get them in trouble, said Joe Angotti, who produced NBC's weekend news then.

"There was a friendly but intense competition between the two of them," Angotti said.

Snyder announced on his Web site in 2005 that he had chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

___

Associated Press Writer Brooke Donald in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Former 49ers coach Bill Walsh dead at 75 By JANIE MCCAULEY, AP Sports Writer

Former 49ers coach Bill Walsh dead at 75 By JANIE MCCAULEY, AP Sports Writer
2 hours, 13 minutes ago



SAN FRANCISCO - Bill Walsh took great chances on the football field and with the people who worked for him. Take Jerry Rice, the superstar receiver he plucked from tiny Mississippi Valley State in the first round back in 1985.

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And Tyrone Willingham, the man he mentored during Willingham's Stanford coaching days and one of the first participants in Walsh's minority fellowship program.

Nicknamed "The Genius" for his creative schemes that became known as the West Coast offense, Walsh died at his Woodside home Monday morning following a long battle with leukemia. He was 75.

"He gave me the opportunity to come to a winner, San Francisco out of Mississippi Valley State University," Rice said. "I was the 16th player taken in the first round. It was all because of Bill Walsh and what he stood for. I think that was very unique for him, because he could see talent."

Walsh changed the NFL with his innovative offense and a legion of coaching disciples, breaking new ground and winning three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers along the way.

"This is just a tremendous loss for all of us, especially to the Bay Area because of what he meant to the 49ers," said Joe Montana, San Francisco's Hall of Fame quarterback. "Outside of my dad he was probably the most influential person in my life. I am going to miss him."

Walsh didn't become an NFL head coach until 47, and he spent just 10 seasons on the San Francisco sideline. But he left an indelible mark on the nation's most popular sport, building the once-woebegone 49ers into the most successful team of the 1980s.

The soft-spoken Californian also produced an army of proteges. Many of his former assistants went on to lead their own teams, handing down Walsh's methods to dozens more coaches in a tree with innumerable branches.

"The essence of Bill Walsh was that he was an extraordinary teacher," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. "If you gave him a blackboard and a piece of chalk, he would become a whirlwind of wisdom."

Walsh went 102-63-1 with the 49ers, winning 10 of his 14 postseason games along with six division titles. He was the NFL's coach of the year in 1981 and 1984.

Few men did more to shape the look of football into the 21st century. His cerebral nature and often-brilliant stratagems earned him his nickname well before his election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

He visited with friends until the end, and attended basketball games at Stanford all winter. Willingham, now at Washington, and Stanford donor and alumnus John Arrillaga went to see Walsh on Sunday, presenting him with the Stagg Award for his outstanding service to football.

Walsh created the Minority Coaching Fellowship program in 1987, helping minority coaches get a foothold in a previously white-dominated profession. Willingham and Marvin Lewis were among those who went through the program, later adopted as a league-wide initiative.

"The world lost a great man in Bill Walsh. He had a tremendous impact on me, both personally and professionally," said Willingham, who replaced Walsh as Stanford's head coach in 1994. "Bill's development of the minority coaching program at the collegiate and professional levels literally changed the face of football."

Raiders owner Al Davis and Hall of Famer John Madden stopped by to see Walsh on Saturday, and Montana on Friday and also last Wednesday along with Ronnie Lott. Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young was headed to see Walsh on Monday when he received the sad news instead.

"He knew me well before I knew myself and knew what I could accomplish well before I knew that I could accomplish it," Young said. "That's a coach. That's the ultimate talent anyone could have. I said in my Hall of Fame speech that he was the most important person in football in the last 25 years, and I don't think there's any debate about that."

Walsh twice served as the 49ers' general manager, and coach George Seifert led San Francisco to two more Super Bowl titles after Walsh left the sideline. Walsh also coached Stanford during two terms over five seasons.

Even a short list of Walsh's adherents is stunning. Seifert, Mike Holmgren, Dennis Green, Sam Wyche, Ray Rhodes and Bruce Coslet all became NFL head coaches after serving on Walsh's San Francisco staffs, and Tony Dungy played for him. Most of his former assistants passed on Walsh's structures and strategies to a new generation of coaches, including Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden, Brian Billick, Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, Gary Kubiak, Steve Mariucci and Jeff Fisher.

In 2004, Walsh was diagnosed with leukemia — the disease that also killed his son, former ABC News reporter Steve Walsh, in 2002 at age 46. He underwent months of treatment and blood transfusions, and publicly disclosed his illness in November 2006.

Born William Ernest Walsh on Nov. 30, 1931 in Los Angeles, Walsh's family moved to the Bay Area when he was a teenager.

He was a self-described "average" end at San Jose State in 1952-53. He married his college sweetheart, Geri Nardini, in 1954 and started his coaching career at Washington High School in Fremont, leading the football and swim teams.

Walsh was coaching in Fremont when Marv Levy, then the coach at the University of California, hired him as an assistant.

Walsh did a stint at Stanford before beginning his pro coaching career as an assistant with the AFL's Oakland Raiders in 1966, forging a friendship with Al Davis that endured through decades of rivalry. Walsh joined the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968 to work for legendary coach Paul Brown, who gradually gave complete control of the Bengals' offense to his assistant.

Walsh built a playbook that included short dropbacks and novel receiving routes, as well as constant repetition of every play in practice. Though it originated in Cincinnati, it became known many years later as the West Coast offense — a name Walsh never liked or repeated, but which eventually grew to encompass his offensive philosophy and the many tweaks added by Holmgren, Shanahan and others.

"He was a perfectionist," said Keena Turner, a linebacker with the Niners for 11 years before going on to coach. "When writing his script, he didn't believe that running the football was the way to get there. It had to be prettier than that — beautiful in some way."

By the 1990s, much of the NFL was running some version of the West Coast offense, with its fundamental belief that the passing game can set up an effective running attack, rather than the opposite conventional wisdom.

Walsh also is widely credited with inventing or popularizing many of the modern basics of coaching, from the laminated sheets of plays held by coaches on almost every sideline, to the practice of scripting the first 15 offensive plays of a game.

After a bitter falling-out with Brown in 1976, Walsh left for stints with the San Diego Chargers and Stanford before the 49ers chose him to rebuild the franchise in 1979.

The long-suffering team had gone 2-14 before Walsh's arrival. They repeated the record in his first season. Walsh doubted his abilities to turn around such a miserable situation — but earlier in 1979, the 49ers drafted Montana from Notre Dame.

Walsh turned over the starting job to Montana in 1980, when the 49ers improved to 6-10 — and improbably, San Francisco won its first championship in 1981, just two years after winning two games.

Championships followed in the postseasons of 1984 and 1988 as Walsh built a consistent winner. He also showed considerable acumen in personnel, adding Lott, Charles Haley, Roger Craig and Rice to his rosters after he was named the 49ers' general manager in 1982 and then president in 1985.

"I came to San Francisco, and I found another father, Bill Walsh," Rice said. "

Walsh left the 49ers with a profound case of burnout after his third Super Bowl victory in January 1989, though he later regretted not coaching longer.

He spent three years as a broadcaster with NBC before returning to Stanford for three seasons. He then took charge of the 49ers' front office in 1999, helping to rebuild the roster over three seasons. But Walsh gradually cut ties with the 49ers after his hand-picked successor as GM, Terry Donahue, took over in 2001.

He is survived by his wife, Geri, and two children, Craig and Elizabeth.

___

AP Sports Writers Greg Beacham and Gregg Bell contributed to this story.

___

On the Net:

http://www.coachwalsh.com

Phillies top Cubs to inch closer to Mets 1 hour, 44 minutes ago

Phillies top Cubs to inch closer to Mets 1 hour, 44 minutes ago



CHICAGO - Cole Hamels pitched eight impressive innings, Tadahito Iguchi hit his first homer with Philadelphia and the Phillies beat Ted Lilly and the Chicago Cubs 4-1 Monday night for their fourth straight win.

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Aaron Rowand also hit a three-run drive for the Phillies, who have won nine of 10 and trail the NL East-leading Mets by three games. Philadelphia was 8 1/2 games back of New York on June 2.

The Phillies also made a move before the game to strengthen their pitching staff, acquiring Kyle Lohse from the Cincinnati Reds for a minor leaguer.

Hamels (12-5) allowed one run and three hits, struck out eight and walked two. The 23-year-old left-hander retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, and also set down his last nine batters.

Brett Myers pitched a perfect ninth to complete the three-hitter and earn his seventh save.

Ryan Theriot homered in the sixth inning for the Cubs, who remain a one behind the idle Brewers in the NL Central.

Already battling injuries, the Phillies lost right fielder Shane Victorino in the fourth inning. He strained his right calf trying to beat out a double play and will have a precautionary MRI exam on Tuesday.

Lilly (11-5) had won six straight games and seven of his last eight, but was tagged for four runs and seven hits in five innings against the Phillies. It was his first loss since June 5.

Iguchi walked and Ryan Howard doubled ahead of Rowand's two-out homer in the third. It was his 15th of the season.

Iguchi, who was acquired from the White Sox on Friday, led off the fifth inning with a homer on an 0-1 pitch from Lilly. Iguchi is 4-for-10 with two RBIs with the Phillies.

Both Iguchi and Rowand played for the Chicago White Sox when they won the world championship in 2005.

Notes:@ The Phillies sent left-hander Matt Maloney to the Reds for Lohse. ... Cubs reliever Kerry Wood is scheduled to pitch in relief on Tuesday with Double-A Tennessee. If Wood, who has missed the first four months of the season with tendinitis in his surgically repaired right shoulder, suffers no setbacks, he will likely be activated either Thursday or Friday, according to general manager Jim Hendry. ... The Phillies had a scare in the fifth inning. Victorino's replacement, Michael Bourn, injured himself chasing Alfonso Soriano's foul ball. Bourn stumbled over the bullpen mound. After laying on the ground for several minutes with the team trainer checking on him, he got up and stayed in the game, but was taken out in the seventh inning with a left ankle sprain. Bourn will undergo an X-ray on Tuesday.

Crawford walk-off lifts D-Rays past Jays 51 minutes ago

Crawford walk-off lifts D-Rays past Jays 51 minutes ago



ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Carl Crawford, who scored the tying run as a pinch runner in the ninth inning, led off the bottom of the 11th with a homer to give the Tampa Bay Devil Rays a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night.

Crawford, who was out of the starting lineup for three games with a sprained right wrist, hit a 3-2 pitch from Brian Wolfe (2-1) over the fence in center field for Tampa Bay, which had lost eight of nine.

The All-Star outfielder tied the game at 4 on pinch-hitter Josh Wilson's two-out RBI single off Jeremy Accardo, who was charged with his fourth blown save of the season.

Scott Dohmannn (1-0) worked out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in the 11th for the win.

Both teams threatened in the 10th. The Blue Jays failed to score after getting a man on third with one out. Tampa Bay's Brendan Harris was thrown out at the plate by shortstop John McDonald in the bottom half when he tried to score from second on Delmon Young's infield single.

Toronto's Dustin McGowan, looking to win his third consecutive start, allowed two runs and four hits in six innings.

Jonny Gomes and B.J. Upton homered for the Devil Rays. Tampa Bay rookie Andy Sonnanstine gave up four runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings. He is winless in his last nine starts, including seven losses.

Alex Rios had a run-scoring triple and Troy Glaus stopped an 0-for-13 skid with an RBI single to put the Blue Jays up 2-0 in the first inning. Tampa Bay has been outscored 80-35 in the first inning this season.

The Devil Rays pulled within 2-1 in the third when Ben Zobrist scored from third on McGowan's wild pitch. The right-hander had not allowed a run in his previous 15 innings.

Toronto went ahead 3-1 on Vernon Wells' fourth-inning sacrifice fly.

Gomes' solo shot, that went an estimated 465 feet, made it 3-2 in the fifth.

Reed Johnson extended the Toronto lead to 4-2 on an RBI single in the seventh. Upton's shot off Casey Jannsen in the eighth made it 4-3.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was ejected in the eighth by third base umpire Tim Welke for arguing on a check-swing call.

Notes:@ Tampa Bay minor league RHP Jeff Niemann, taken fourth overall in the 2004 amateur draft, left his start at Triple-A Durham with right shoulder fatigue. The Devil Rays said Niemann will be undergo further examination, but the problem is not thought to be serious. ... There was a large group of scouts at the game, including the Yankees, Mets, White Sox, Seattle, Texas, Cleveland, St. Louis, Arizona and Houston. Among the players who have drawn interest include Devil Rays closer Al Reyes and Blue Jays reliever Jason Frasor.

NAACP leaders urge fairness for Vick By ERRIN HAINES, Associated Press Writer

NAACP leaders urge fairness for Vick By ERRIN HAINES, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 57 minutes ago



ATLANTA - NAACP leaders urged public restraint Monday in judging Michael Vick before he has his day in court.

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R.L. White, president of the Atlanta chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the Atlanta Falcons quarterback has been vilified by animal rights groups, talk radio and the news media and prematurely punished by his team and corporate sponsors.

"If Mr. Vick is guilty, he should pay for his crime, but to treat him as he is being treated now is also a crime," White said at a news conference. "Be restrained in your premature judgment until the legal process is completed."

Vick has pleaded not guilty to charges of sponsoring a dogfighting operation.

On Monday, Tony Taylor, a co-defendant in the case, pleaded guilty in Virginia to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges in a plea agreement with prosecutors. Purnell Peace of Virginia Beach and Quanis Phillips of Atlanta face similar charges and are scheduled for trial Nov. They remain free without bond.

Businesses have been quick to recoil. Nike suspended its lucrative contract with Vick and Reebok stopped sales of his No. 7 jersey. In addition, two trading card companies withdrew Vick items.

In an interview aired Monday, Vick told Porsche Foxx on Atlanta radio station WVEE-FM, "I know I've put the city through a lot. My owner, Arthur Blank, who I love sincerely, I've put him through a lot. And you know it's hurt me to put him through these situations to have to deal with that because he shouldn't have to."

Vick thanked those who have continued supporting him and added, "It's a crisis situation for me, but I'm gonna get through it."

White plans to contact Vick to see what assistance the Atlanta NAACP chapter can offer. White predicted that public opinion may worsen in the wake of Taylor's plea deal.

Until then, he said he would keep an open mind and encouraged others to do the same.

Georgia NAACP President Edward Dubose thanked Vick for his community service and the money and excitement he has brought to Georgia as a Falcon. Dubose said Vick is being prosecuted in the court of public opinion before he has had a chance to defend himself.

"We're not condoning bad behavior, but Michael Vick is innocent until proven guilty," Dubose said.

Atlanta chapter member Bernadette Allen attended the news conference and also a rally Sunday to support Vick.

"The man is entitled to due process under the law, as is any citizen," Allen said.

Bonds, A-Rod and Glavine aim for history By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer

Bonds, A-Rod and Glavine aim for history By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer
1 minute ago



Barry Bonds tries again to tie Hank Aaron's 755. A-Rod chases his 500th home run. Tom Glavine goes for career victory No. 300. Tuesday could be one of baseball's biggest milestone nights — and there's the craziness of the trading deadline, too.

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It would be quite a memorable night if Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Glavine all make history within a matter of hours. From Chavez Ravine to the Bronx and Brew City, it's going to be a fun night.

"I'd like to see everyone do it," said the Giants' Mark Sweeney, who moved into second place on the career pinch-hit list last week. "The history of the game is special, and it glorifies the others who have done stuff. It glorifies what the game is all about."

Yet there's no guarantee Bonds will be in the starting lineup for the series opener at the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

"We'll see," was all Giants manager Bruce Bochy would say Sunday.

Bonds hit his 754th home run Friday night against Florida, then went 1-for-7 with five walks the rest of the weekend. That left him trying to match Aaron's mark on the road, and it won't be friendly.

The hostile Dodger crowd likely will try to make Bonds uncomfortable in left field and at the plate this week. The Giants then head farther south to San Diego for the weekend.

"It's easy to just go and be against him," said San Francisco center fielder Dave Roberts, who has played for both the Dodgers and Padres. "I hope people go above that. In my perfect world, that's the way it is."

When Bonds isn't in the batter's box, he has been in front of the personal flat-screen TV at his corner clubhouse locker — hoping to see Rodriguez reach 500.

Since hitting No. 499 on Wednesday in Kansas City, Rodriguez is 0-for-12 with five strikeouts. New York opens a homestand against visiting Chicago White Sox on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

A-Rod, who turned 32 on Friday, is bidding to break Jimmie Foxx's record (32, 338 days) as the youngest to reach 500.

"Nobody will ever beat that," Bonds said.

Even Ryan Howard?

"Not a chance," the slugger said.

Glavine and the New York Mets will be at Milwaukee. He looks to become baseball's 23rd 300-game winner, at age 41 and in his 20th major league season. The left-hander gave up Bonds' 745th home run back on May 8, but also got his 294th victory in that game.

"I anticipate a sigh of relief," Glavine said of having it all over.

Still, much of the focus out West will be on Bonds.

The 43-year-old slugger couldn't tie Aaron at home and is booed and derided on the road, partly because of steroid suspicions surrounding his quest. In St. Louis, fans hollered every time the ball headed his way in left field but they also yelled at their own pitcher whenever Bonds was walked.

Roberts played 2 1/2 seasons for Los Angeles before the Dodgers dealt him to the Red Sox midway through Boston's 2004 championship season.

"I played in Los Angeles, and I'd like to think they get it as well," he said. "They're different kind of fans. This is beyond the rivalry. This is history. Then they can go back to the rivalry stuff."

Bonds would first see All-Star righty Brad Penny on Tuesday, followed by 6-foot-9 left-hander Mark Hendrickson and then former teammate and righty Brett Tomko in Thursday night's series finale.

Bonds doesn't seem to care. John Smoltz and Tim Hudson of Atlanta went right after him last week, and so did Marlins lefty Dontrelle Willis on Friday night.

Bonds started only three of the Giants' seven games during the team's previous trip to Chicago and Milwaukee, resting his sore legs for three days before connecting twice July 19 at Wrigley Field.

Bochy insists he's not planning to try to manipulate history — meaning sit Bonds during the trip to better the chance Bonds hits No. 756 at home.

"We're not changing anything," Bochy said. "I don't think Barry's going to change anything. We're hitting a big road trip here against two teams at the top of our division. We're not going to change our approach and I don't see Barry changing his approach."

Bonds wouldn't address how he thought he would be treated come Tuesday, saying the focus needs to stay on the team.

"Probably what it normally is," Bochy said of the atmosphere. "They like having a good time with Barry. It's not going to affect him. He's used to it. I don't think the reception will be any different. I don't know if they can take it up another notch. They're probably the loudest of the road teams we play."

If Aaron's record falls elsewhere, the Giants hope Bonds would be cheered — in spite of the steroid allegations that have surrounded his pursuit and the notion that he's just plain not a nice guy.

"I certainly would hope so," Bochy said, "because of the history that's being created that it would be acknowledged."

Notes: ESPN2 has added broadcasts of the Giants' games Tuesday and Wednesday night at Los Angeles as Bonds chases the record. Both games start at 10 p.m. EDT.

Co-defendant: Vick financed dogfighting By LARRY O'DELL, Associated Press Writer

Co-defendant: Vick financed dogfighting By LARRY O'DELL, Associated Press Writer
27 minutes ago



RICHMOND, Va. - One of Michael Vick's co-defendants pleaded guilty Monday to his role in a dogfighting conspiracy he says was financed almost entirely by the Atlanta Falcons quarterback.

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As part of a plea agreement, Tony Taylor pledged to fully cooperate with the government in its prosecution of Vick and two other men accused of running an interstate dogfighting enterprise known as "Bad Newz Kennels" on Vick's property in rural Surry County.

"The 'Bad Newz Kennels' operation and gambling monies were almost exclusively funded by Vick," a summary of facts supporting the plea agreement and signed by Taylor states.

The plea deal requires Taylor to testify against Vick and his two remaining co-defendants if called upon to do so. Taylor cannot get a stiffer sentence or face any new charges based on any new information he provides, according to terms of the agreement.

Additional charges are possible, however, against Vick and the other two. Federal prosecutors have said a superseding indictment will be issued in August.

Vick's lead attorney, Billy Martin, did not immediately return a phone message.

Taylor, 34, of Hampton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities, and conspiring to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture.

Vick pleaded not guilty to the same charges last week and said in a written statement that he looked forward to "clearing my good name." He also pleaded with the public to resist a rush to judgment.

The gruesome details outlined in the July 17 indictment have fueled public protests against Vick and prompted the suspension of some of his lucrative endorsement deals. Also, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has barred Vick from the Falcons' training camp.

The summary of facts signed by Taylor supports the indictment's claims that the dogfighting ring executed underperforming dogs by drowning, hanging and other brutal means. Taylor admitted shooting one dog and electrocuting another when they did not perform well in test fights in the summer of 2002.

Vick, 27, attended several dogfights in Virginia and other states with his partners, according to the statement. Prosecutors claim the fights offered purses as high as $26,000.

Taylor, who will be sentenced Dec. 14, said he was not promised any specific sentence in return for his cooperation with the government.

He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, although federal sentencing guidelines likely will call for less. The range will be determined by the court's probation office, but the judge can depart from that range if he finds aggravating or mitigating circumstances.

Taylor and his attorney, Stephen A. Hudgins of Newport News, declined to answer reporters' questions as they left the federal courthouse. Prosecutors also would not comment.

During the hearing, Taylor spoke only in response to routine yes-or-no questions from U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson. He answered "Yes" when the judge asked if he had agreed to cooperate with the government.

Taylor acknowledged in the summary of facts that he found the property that Vick purchased in 2001 for $30,000 for development into a dogfighting compound. Taylor says he maintained and trained the dogs for about three years, using his share of winnings — which were split among the partners — for living expenses.

He left the operation after a falling out with co-defendant Quanis L. Phillips and others in September 2004, according to the statement of facts.

Vick and Purnell A. Peace, 35, of Virginia Beach, and Phillips, 28, of Atlanta, are scheduled for trial Nov. 26. They remain free without bond.

Source: T-Wolves to send K.G. to Celtics By HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer

Source: T-Wolves to send K.G. to Celtics By HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer
14 minutes ago



BOSTON - Kevin Garnett is leaving Minnesota after the Boston Celtics agreed to acquire the All-Star forward in a multiplayer trade with the Timberwolves, a Celtics official told The Associated Press on Monday.

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Among the players who could be headed to Minnesota are forward Al Jefferson, guard Sebastian Telfair, swingman Gerald Green and center Theo Ratliff, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been completed. The official also said the Timberwolves would get at least one draft choice.

The teams still had some things to clarify with the players' contracts, but the official said that would not keep the Celtics from acquiring Garnett, although there could be a change in the players ticketed for the Timberwolves.

Garnett, 31, has spent all of his 12 NBA seasons with Minnesota. He would get an extension of his contract, which has one year plus an option year remaining, the official said.

The Celtics had tried to get Garnett late last month, but his agent said he didn't want to go to Boston.

Since then, Boston acquired seven-time All-Star guard Ray Allen from Seattle in a draft day deal. Already with Paul Pierce, the Celtics would become instant contenders in the mediocre Atlantic Division with Garnett, even without promising forward Jefferson.

The Celtics obtained Allen and the 35th pick of the draft for guards Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak, and forward Jeff Green of Georgetown, whom they drafted with the fifth pick.

The Celtics have won just three playoff series during Pierce's nine years with them. They still have an NBA-record 16 championships, but none since 1986.

"They have no excuses, this team out there," Danny Ainge, the executive director of basketball operations, said after Allen was acquired.

Pierce, 29, led the Celtics in scoring last season but played only 47 games because of injury.

Allen, who turns 32 next month, averaged a career-high 26.4 points last season, his 11th, but underwent surgery to remove bone spurs on both ankles that required him to wear protective boots. He is expected to be ready for training camp.

A long, lean 6-foot-11 forward who's actually at least 2 inches taller than his listed height, Garnett's athleticism has allowed him to play all over the court — banging against bodies in the post, swatting away shots in the lane, running the fast break, shooting top-of-the-key jumpers and even playing point guard every once in a while.

A preps-to-the-pros pioneer, Garnett's immediate impact after being selected fifth overall in 1995 by the Timberwolves paved a path for dozens and dozens of other teenagers to skip college and declare for the draft — most of whom enjoyed far less success.

Then in October 1997, Garnett's contract changed the game — a six-year, $126 million extension that led to significant alterations to the league's collective bargaining agreement emerging from a 1999 lockout.

Garnett forever changed the franchise in Minnesota, too. The year before he was drafted, the Wolves set an NBA mark for futility with their fourth straight 60-loss season. In just his second season, he helped lead Minnesota to its first playoff appearance — the first of eight straight.

The last of those was the best, when the "Big Ticket" was at his peak. He won the league's MVP award and led the Wolves within two wins of the NBA finals in 2004. Garnett averaged 24.2 points and a league-high 13.9 rebounds that season, joining Larry Bird as the only players to average at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for five consecutive years.

But those idyllic days quickly ended for the Wolves, who have fired two coaches and not made the playoffs since then. Part of their problem has been Garnett's huge salary, but vice president Kevin McHale has also missed on several moves. Though he never requested a trade or said he was unhappy in Minnesota, Garnett expressed frustration with some of McHale's decisions and challenged McHale to upgrade the roster.

Teammate Mark Madsen was surprised by the news.

"I never thought it would happen this offseason. I never thought it would happen, ever," Madsen said, adding: "Even before I entered the NBA, when I thought of Kevin Garnett I always thought of Minnesota. But at the same time in this business, we all know that anything can happen."

___

AP Sports Writers Dave Campbell and Jon Krawczynski contributed to this report from Minneapolis.

Former 49ers coach Bill Walsh dead at 75 By JANIE MCCAULEY, AP Sports Writer

Former 49ers coach Bill Walsh dead at 75 By JANIE MCCAULEY, AP Sports Writer
52 minutes ago



SAN FRANCISCO - Bill Walsh, the groundbreaking football coach who won three Super Bowls and perfected the ingenious schemes that became known as the West Coast offense during a Hall of Fame career with the San Francisco 49ers, has died. He was 75.

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Walsh died at his Woodside home Monday morning following a long battle with leukemia.

"This is just a tremendous loss for all of us, especially to the Bay Area because of what he meant to the 49ers," said Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, the player most closely linked to Walsh's tenure with the team. "For me personally, outside of my dad he was probably the most influential person in my life. I am going to miss him."

Walsh didn't become an NFL head coach until 47, and he spent just 10 seasons on the San Francisco sideline. But he left an indelible mark on the United States' most popular sport, building the once-woebegone 49ers into the most successful team of the 1980s with his innovative offensive strategies and teaching techniques.

The soft-spoken native Californian also produced a legion of coaching disciples that's still growing today. Many of his former assistants went on to lead their own teams, handing down Walsh's methods and schemes to dozens more coaches in a tree with innumerable branches.

"The essence of Bill Walsh was that he was an extraordinary teacher," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "If you gave him a blackboard and a piece of chalk, he would become a whirlwind of wisdom. He taught all of us not only about football but also about life and how it takes teamwork for any of us to succeed as individuals."

Walsh went 102-63-1 with the 49ers, winning 10 of his 14 postseason games along with six division titles. He was named the NFL's coach of the year in 1981 and 1984.

Few men did more to shape the look of football into the 21st century. His cerebral nature and often-brilliant stratagems earned him the nickname "The Genius" well before his election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

Walsh twice served as the 49ers' general manager, and George Seifert led San Francisco to two more Super Bowl titles after Walsh left the sideline. Walsh also coached Stanford during two terms over five seasons.

Even a short list of Walsh's adherents is stunning. Seifert, Mike Holmgren, Dennis Green, Sam Wyche, Ray Rhodes and Bruce Coslet all became NFL head coaches after serving on Walsh's San Francisco staffs, and Tony Dungy played for him. Most of his former assistants passed on Walsh's structures and strategies to a new generation of coaches, including Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden, Brian Billick, Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, Gary Kubiak, Steve Mariucci and Jeff Fisher.

Walsh created the Minority Coaching Fellowship program in 1987, helping minority coaches to get a foothold in a previously lily-white profession. Marvin Lewis and Tyrone Willingham are among the coaches who went through the program, later adopted as a league-wide initiative.

Walsh was diagnosed with leukemia in 2004 and underwent months of treatment and blood transfusions. He publicly disclosed his illness in November 2006.

Fellow Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy, who hired Walsh to his first college coaching job, last spoke to him about six weeks ago on the telephone.

"I asked him how he was doing, and he said he had come off a certain type of a treatment and he felt much more energy," Levy said. "But he told me then, he said, 'Marv, I don't have long.' He said it honestly. He was vibrant. Understood it. And yet, I was sad to hear it."

Born William Ernest Walsh on Nov. 30, 1931 in Los Angeles, he was a self-described "average" end and a sometime boxer at San Jose State in 1952-53.

Walsh, whose family moved to the Bay Area when he was a teenager, married his college sweetheart, Geri Nardini, in 1954 and started his coaching career at Washington High School in Fremont, leading the football and swim teams.

Walsh was coaching in Fremont when he interviewed for an assistant coaching position with Levy, who had just been hired as the head coach at California.

"I was very impressed, individually, by his knowledge, by his intelligence, by his personality and hired him," Levy said.

After Cal, he did a stint at Stanford before beginning his pro coaching career as an assistant with the AFL's Oakland Raiders in 1966, forging a friendship with Al Davis that endured through decades of rivalry. Walsh joined the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968 to work for legendary coach Paul Brown, who gradually gave complete control of the Bengals' offense to his assistant.

Walsh built a scheme based on the teachings of Davis, Brown and Sid Gillman — and Walsh's own innovations, which included everything from short dropbacks and novel receiving routes to constant repetition of every play in practice.

Though it originated in Cincinnati, it became known many years later as the West Coast offense — a name Walsh never liked or repeated, but which eventually grew to encompass his offensive philosophy and the many tweaks added by Holmgren, Shanahan and other coaches.

Much of the NFL eventually ran a version of the West Coast in the 1990s, with its fundamental belief that the passing game can set up an effective running attack, rather than the opposite conventional wisdom.

Walsh also is widely credited with inventing or popularizing many of the modern basics of coaching, from the laminated sheets of plays held by coaches on almost every sideline, to the practice of scripting the first 15 offensive plays of a game.

After a bitter falling-out with Brown in 1976, Walsh left for stints with the San Diego Chargers and Stanford before the 49ers chose him to rebuild the franchise in 1979.

The long-suffering 49ers went 2-14 before Walsh's arrival. They repeated the record in his first season. Walsh doubted his abilities to turn around such a miserable situation — but earlier in 1979, the 49ers drafted quarterback Joe Montana from Notre Dame.

Walsh turned over the starting job to Montana in 1980, when the 49ers improved to 6-10 — and improbably, San Francisco won its first championship in 1981, just two years after winning two games.

Championships followed in the postseasons of 1984 and 1988 as Walsh built a consistent winner and became an icon with his inventive offense and thinking-man's approach to the game. He also showed considerable acumen in personnel, adding Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley, Roger Craig and Rice to his rosters after he was named the 49ers' general manager in 1982 and the president in 1985.

Walsh left the 49ers with a profound case of burnout after his third Super Bowl victory in January 1989, though he later regretted not coaching longer.

He spent three years as a broadcaster with NBC before returning to Stanford for three seasons. He then took charge of the 49ers' front office in 1999, helping to rebuild the roster over three seasons. But Walsh gradually cut ties with the 49ers after his hand-picked successor as GM, Terry Donahue, took over in 2001.

He is survived by his wife, Geri, and two children, Craig and Elizabeth.

Walsh's son, Steve, an ABC News reporter, died of leukemia at age 46 in 2002.

Rowling answers fans final questions By LINDSAY TOLER, Associated Press Writer

Rowling answers fans final questions By LINDSAY TOLER, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jul 30, 3:19 PM ET



LONDON - Just because J.K. Rowling has stopped writing about Harry Potter and his friends and foes doesn't mean she has stopped thinking about them.

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She told fans Monday what she thinks happened to many of the book's characters after the final installment.

In a 90-minute live Web chat, she fielded some of the approximately 120,000 questions submitted by devotees. It was her first public comment since "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" — the last book in the series — debuted on July 21.

Rowling said she was elated to share with fans the secrets she'd been harboring since she conjured up the idea for the boy wizard during a train journey across England in 1990.

"It is great to be able to do this at last," she said. "I've looked forward to it for so long!"

"Deathly Hallows" sold over 10 million copies in its first weekend. All seven books in the blockbuster series have sold a combined 335 million copies worldwide.

In the novel — which centers on Harry's journey to kill Lord Voldemort, the most powerful dark wizard of all time — the young wizard learns of three powerful magical objects called the Deathly Hallows that, when combined, will make their owner the Master of Death, meaning he or she accepts mortality without fear.

Rowling said in the online chat the hallows were in part inspired by "The Pardoner's Tale," one of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" about greed and death.

Rowling shared with fans, many of whom said they'd read the final book several times in the last week, where she imagines their favorite characters went after the series' conclusion.

SPOILER ALERT: Those who do not wish to know what happens to the characters after the book ends should stop reading here.

Rowling said the world was a sunnier, happier place after the seventh book and the death of Voldemort.

Harry Potter, who always voiced a desire to become an Auror, or someone who fights dark wizards, was named head of the Auror Department under the new wizarding government headed by his friend and ally, Kingsley Shacklebolt.

His wife, Ginny Weasley, stuck with her athletic career, playing for the Holyhead Harpies, the all-female Quidditch team. Eventually, Ginny left the team to raise their three children — James, Albus and Lily — while writing as the senior Quidditch correspondent for the wizarding newspaper, the Daily Prophet.

Harry's best friend Ron Weasley joined his brother, George, as a partner at their successful joke shop, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Hermione Granger, Ron's wife and the third person of the series' dark wizard fighting trio, furthered the rights of subjugated creatures, such as house elves, in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures before joining the magical law enforcement squad. The couple had two children — Rose and Hugo.

Luna Lovegood, Harry's airily distracted friend with a love for imaginary animals who joins the fight against Voldemort in the Order of the Phoenix, becomes a famous wizarding naturalist who eventually marries the grandson of Newt Scamander, author of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

And what Muggle, or non-wizard, song would have been played at the funeral of Albus Dumbledore, the most brilliant and talented wizard the world had ever known?

"Surely 'I Did It My Way' by Frank Sinatra," Rowling told her fans, referring to the song "My Way," written by Paul Anka but popularized by Sinatra, among other singers.

As the chat wrapped up, Rowling thanked readers for their loyalty to the series.

"What can I say? Thank you so much for sticking with me, and with Harry, for so long. You have made this an incredible journey for Harry's author."

Thousands line up for `Idol' auditions By ALLISON HOFFMAN, Associated Press Writer

Thousands line up for `Idol' auditions By ALLISON HOFFMAN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 13 minutes ago



SAN DIEGO - Thousands of people hoping to be the next Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson or even Sanjaya lined up outside Qualcomm Stadium on Monday as auditions for the seventh season of "American Idol" began.

Some brought makeup kits, Starbucks cups filled with throat-clearing salt water and even karaoke machines. Others came before dawn, armed with sleeping bags and pillows.

"Why wouldn't I get here early? My No. 1 goal is to be on the program," said Lonnie Beatty, 20, who spent the night on a trolley platform just outside the stadium grounds in order to be one of the first in line.

Producers said they expected more than 10,000 people to show up for their chance at stardom.

Would-be contestants began lining up at 3 a.m. They had already spent hours in line over the weekend waiting to register for wristbands to get into the tryouts: neon yellow for singers, slate gray for supporters.

"I haven't slept in two days," said 16-year-old Jessica Schaffer of Temecula, explaining she drove around all night until she was allowed into the stadium grounds.

With the Comic-Con entertainment expo drawing a record crowd of more than 120,000 to San Diego over the weekend and thousands more in town for a sandcastle competition and an international youth soccer tournament, "Idol" hopefuls who wanted some shut-eye resorted to craigslist.org or even military bases for beds.

Sgt. Jessica Robson, a 26-year-old Iraq and Afghanistan veteran stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash., said she snagged a bunk at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot but got up at 4 a.m. anyway.

"I don't think it matters where you are in line," she said from somewhere in the middle of the crowd.

Show executives said they hoped to winnow the contestants down to between 300 and 500 for the second round.

"We'll see everyone who wants to be heard," said Patrick Lynn, a senior producer. "It's all about trying to find out who's going to be the person who's going to make it past the judges, who's going to make it to Hollywood."

Six more auditions are set in the coming weeks in Dallas; Omaha, Neb.; Atlanta; Charleston, S.C.; Miami and Philadelphia. The show returns to the air in January.

___

On the Net:

http://www.americanidol.com

(This version CORRECTS reference to craigslist.org.)

Broadcaster Tom Snyder dies at 71 By JASON DEAREN, Associated Press Writer

Broadcaster Tom Snyder dies at 71 By JASON DEAREN, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 42 minutes ago



SAN FRANCISCO - Tom Snyder, who pioneered the late-late network TV talk show with a personal yet abrasive style, robust laugh and trademark cloud of cigarette smoke billowing around his head, has died from complications associated with leukemia. He was 71.

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Snyder died Sunday in San Francisco, his longtime producer and friend Mike Horowicz told The Associated Press on Monday.

"Tom was a fighter," Horowicz said. "I know he had tried many different treatments."

Prickly and ego-driven, Snyder conducted numerous memorable interviews as host of NBC's "Tomorrow," which followed Johnny Carson's "Tonight" show from 1973 to '82.

Snyder's style, his show's set and the show itself marked an abrupt change at 1 a.m. from Carson's program. Snyder might joke with the crew in the sparsely appointed studio, but he was more likely to joust with guests such as the irascible science fiction writer Harlan Ellison.

Snyder had John Lennon's final televised interview (April 1975) and U2's first U.S. television appearance in June 1981.

One of his most riveting interviews was with Charles Manson, who would go from a calm demeanor to acting like a wild-eyed, insanity-spouting mass murderer and back again.

Another wacky moment came when Plasmatics lead singer Wendy O. Williams blew up a TV in the studio; in another appearance she demolished a car. Yet another time, Johnny Rotten decided he really wasn't in the mood to be on a talk show, leading to an excruciating 12 minutes of airtime.

In 1982, the show was canceled after a messy attempt to reformat it into a talk-variety show called "Tomorrow Coast to Coast." It added a live audience and co-hostess Rona Barrett — all of which Snyder disdained.

The time slot was taken over by a hot young comedian named David Letterman.

Born in Milwaukee, Snyder began his career as a radio reporter in his home town in the 1960s, then moved into local television news, anchoring newscasts in Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles before moving to late night.

"He loved the broadcast business," said Marciarose Shestack, who co-anchored a noontime newscast with Snyder at KYW-TV in Philadelphia in the 1960s. "He was very surprising and very irreverent and not at all a typical newscaster."

Al Primo, a former TV news director who gave Snyder one of his first TV jobs, said Snyder was the "ultimate communicator," able to look directly into a camera and tell viewers a story without looking at notes.

As an interviewer, Snyder "always used to tell me, I listen to what they're saying and I ask the questions that the average guy would want to ask, not a formulated question," Primo said.

He returned to local anchoring in New York after "Tomorrow" left the air. He eventually hosted an ABC radio talk show before easing back into television on CNBC.

His catch phrase: "Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."

Letterman, a longtime Snyder admirer, brought him back to network television, creating "The Late Late Show" on CBS to follow his own program. (Subsequently, the format and hosts have changed, with Craig Kilborn and now Craig Ferguson.)

Snyder gained fame in his heyday when Dan Aykroyd spoofed him in the early days of "Saturday Night Live." His chain-smoking, black beetle brows (contrasting with his mostly gray hair), mercurial manner and self-indulgent, digressive way of asking questions as well as his clipped speech pattern made for a distinctive sendup.

Briefly in the late 1970s, Snyder was considered a potential successor to John Chancellor as anchor of the "NBC Nightly News." Tom Brokaw got the job instead, as some in NBC management were worried that Snyder's quick and occasionally sharp tongue would get them in trouble, said Joe Angotti, who produced NBC's weekend news then.

"There was a friendly but intense competition between the two of them," Angotti said.

Snyder announced on his Web site in 2005 that he had chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

___

Associated Press Writer Brooke Donald in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Avandia should remain, FDA advisers say By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer

Avandia should remain, FDA advisers say By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer
53 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - The widely used diabetes drug Avandia should remain on the market, government health advisers recommended Monday, saying evidence of an increased risk of heart attack doesn't merit removal.

The nonbinding recommendation to the Food and Drug Administration came on a majority vote by the panel. The tally wasn't immediately available.

"We're being asked today to take a very draconian action based on studies that have very significant weaknesses and are inadequate for us to make that kind of decision," said Rebecca Killion, a Bowie, Md., diabetic and the panel's patient representative.

However, in an earlier 20-3 vote, the panelists said that available data show the drug does increase heart risks. Panelists said the drug's warning label should be updated and there should be additional study.

Earlier, FDA scientist Dr. David Graham told the joint panel of experts that the drug's heart risks, combined with its lack of unique short-term benefits in helping diabetics control blood sugar, meant continued sales were not justified.

The manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, argued that there is no increased risk, citing its own analyses of studies of Avandia, also called rosiglitazone.

"The number of myocardial infarctions is small, the data are inconsistent and there is no overall evidence rosiglitazone is different from any other oral antidiabetes agents," said Dr. Ronald Krall, the company's senior vice president and chief medical officer.

The FDA convened the experts to consider whether Avandia should be restricted to use in select patients and branded with prominent warnings or removed altogether from sale. Previously, the FDA had said information from dozens of studies pointed to an increased risk of heart attack.

The FDA isn't required to follow the advice of its advisory committees but usually does.

About 1 million Americans with Type 2 diabetes use Avandia to control blood sugar by increasing the body's sensitivity to insulin. That sort of treatment has long been presumed to lessen the heart risks already associated with the disease, which is linked to obesity. News that Avandia might actually increase those risks would represent a "serious limitation" of the drug's benefit, according to the FDA.

Verizon earnings up 4.5 pct By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer

Verizon earnings up 4.5 pct By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer
1 hour, 53 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Verizon Communications Inc. reported second-quarter earnings that satisfied analyst expectations Monday and said its wireless arm would buy a rural cell-phone carrier to expand its reach.

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Investors found reasons to dislike the news, and the stock of the country's second largest telecommunications company fell 49 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $41.51, even as the broader market rebounded from last week's losses.

Verizon Wireless said it had agreed to buy Rural Cellular Corp., which provides cell phone service in 15 states under the Unicel brand, for $757 million, or $45 per share.

That's a stiff premium over the $31.81 closing price for Rural Cellular shares on Friday, but the stock hit a high of $46.34 in early July, fueled by acquisition speculation.

On Monday, the stock soared to $42.76.

Rural Cellular, based in Alexandria, Minn., has 716,000 subscribers. Most of its network is incompatible with Verizon Wireless', but compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile phones.

Verizon Wireless said it plans to move Rural Cellular's subscribers over to phones compatible with its network, but will maintain the older network for roaming by subscribers of other carriers.

Verizon is taking on about $1.9 billion in debt along with the acquisition, but said it expected the deal to save it $1 billion in roaming fees and operations expenses. Verizon sees the acquisition closing in the first half of next year.

Telecom analyst Thomas Watts at Cowen & Co. attributed the weakness in Verizon's stock Monday to traders selling the acquirer and buying the acquired, a common strategy. But there were contributing factors in Verizon's earnings report: Verizon reported somewhat more phone line losses than expected, along with weak broadband sales.

Overall, Watts said, he came away with "a positive feeling in the quarter," and sees the company continuing to boost its earnings.

Verizon earned $1.68 billion, or 58 cents per share, from April through June, up 4.5 percent from $1.61 billion, or 55 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. The latest per-share figure matched the average forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Last year's figure included earnings from a number of business that have since been sold or spun off, including the high-margin directories publisher. Excluding those businesses, earnings in last year's second quarter were 43 cents per share.

Revenue rose 6.3 percent to $23.3 billion.

Verizon Wireless, the company's fastest-growing division, added 1.6 million customers in the second quarter, but lost 300,000 through the bankruptcy of Amp'd Mobile, which bought wholesale access to Verizon Wireless' network and resold it. Verizon Wireless ended the quarter with 62.1 million subscribers, just short of AT&T Inc.'s 63.7 million.

Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group PLC of Britain. All of its revenue is counted on Verizon Communications' books, but only 55 percent of its profits, with the rest going to Vodafone.

Addressing competition from Apple Inc.'s iPhone, a much hyped handset introduced a month ago exclusively on AT&T's network, Verizon Chief Operating Officer Denny Strigl acknowledged the company has "seen an impact" in the rate of subscribers porting numbers to and from Verizon Wireless.

However, Strigl said, the company last week returned to adding two cellular customers for every one that it loses.

On the wireline side, revenues declined 1.1 percent to $12.6 billion, as Verizon kept losing former MCI long-distance customers and traditional copper phone lines.

However, retail customers in Verizon's local-phone service area spent almost 11 percent more, or an average of $57.47 per month, as they signed up for broadband Internet service via fiber optics.

The fiber-optic broadband service, FiOS, added 203,000 subscribers in the quarter for a total of 1.1 million. Of those, 515,000 were also signed up to get TV through the fiber, a 10-fold increase from a year ago.

For the first time, Verizon signed up more subscribers to broadband Internet service through FiOS than through copper phone lines.

It added just 85,000 copper-based digital subscriber lines, down from 239,000 in the first quarter.

"Frankly, we weren't as focused as we used to be on DSL for the quarter," Strigl said. "We have taken a lot of the technicians and the service reps that used to work DSL and tried to quickly get them up to speed on FiOS."

Strigl said the company aims to get DSL customer recruitment numbers back up.

___

On the Net:

http://www.verizon.com

Rural Cellular: http://www.unicel.com

School adds PowerPoint to application By JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer

School adds PowerPoint to application By JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer
Mon Jul 30, 3:27 PM ET



At business meetings the world over, PowerPoint-style presentations are often met with yawns and glazed eyes.

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But at one of the world's top business schools, such slide shows are now an entrance requirement. In a first, the University of Chicago will begin requiring prospective students to submit four pages of PowerPoint-like slides with their applications this fall.

The new requirement is partly an acknowledgment that Microsoft Corp.'s PowerPoint, along with similar but lesser-known programs, have become a ubiquitous tool in the business world. But Chicago says so-called "slideware," if used correctly, also can let students show off a creative side that might not reveal itself in test scores, recommendations and even essays.

By adding PowerPoint to its application, Chicago thinks it might attract more students who have the kind of cleverness that can really pay off in business, and fewer of the technocrat types who sometimes give the program a bad name.

"We wanted to have a freeform space for students to be able to say what they think is important, not always having the school run that dialogue," said Rose Martinelli, associate dean for student recruitment and admissions. "To me this is just four pieces of blank paper. You do what you want. It can be a presentation. It can be poetry. It can be anything."

Online applications are already the norm, and it's not uncommon for colleges to let students submit extra materials such as artwork. Undergraduate and graduate applications also are beginning to ask more creative and open-ended essays.

Partly that's to better identify the students with a creative spark. Partly it's to fend off the boredom of reading thousands of grinding, repetitive responses to "Why is University X right for you?"

But asking for four electronic slides appears to be a new idea.

Chicago's new requirement may provoke groans from some quarters. It could be called corporate America's final surrender to a technology that, in the name of promoting the flow of information, often gums it up by encouraging bureaucratic jargon and making colorful but useless graphics just a little too easy to produce.

Nonetheless, PowerPoint has become the lingua franca of business meetings worldwide. Its 500 million copies are used (or misused) in 30 million presentations per day, Microsoft has estimated. PowerPoint is so common in the business world that "it's actually your word processor," said Michael Avidan, a second-year Chicago MBA student, who reads applications for the graduate program and helped it do a dry run. His slides were a play featuring a Greek chorus questioning him about his application.

"When you apply to business school, he said, using a buzz word for the best a student has to offer, "it's only natural that your 'deliverables' be in PowerPoint."

Martinelli acknowledges one reason for the requirement is that students will inevitably have to master the technology in their jobs. But she says students won't be judged on the quality of their slides. Rather the slides are an outlet for judging the kind of creativity the business world needs.

Chicago's does have a few ground rules: no hyperlinks, and no video. Beyond that, "I really don't know what we're going to get," Martinelli said.

It's not surprising the first PowerPoint application is coming from the world of business schools. In an undergraduate admissions office there would likely be worries about the applicant pool's familiarity with and access to technology. Applicants to Chicago's MBA program generally already know Facebook and YouTube and are accustomed to presenting themselves online. They can also afford the $200 application fee. (True technophobes can fill out four pages in another fashion and mail them in).

Technology isn't a hurdle for most University of Chicago applicants, but "other schools might have to think about that," said Nicole Chestang, chief client officer for the Graduate Management Admission Council, a worldwide group of management programs that oversees the GMAT entrance exam.

It's also business schools that traditionally have the most boring essays, focusing on workplace accomplishments rather than passions or unusual talents, but which are increasingly interested in creativity.

Avidan predicts some applicants will be turned off by the requirement, but says it's an opportunity for clever students whose test scores and other application materials might not stand out to shine.

"If there's one foundation of business, it's innovation, and this is your change to elevate yourself and show you can do something innovative," he said.

The PowerPoint presentations will be the last part of the application the admissions office considers its decision.

"This can determine whether or not you get admitted," he said. "Here you are. Show us."

___

On the Net:

http://www.chicagogsb.edu/

RadioShack reports 2Q profit By MATT SLAGLE, AP Technology Writer

RadioShack reports 2Q profit By MATT SLAGLE, AP Technology Writer
1 hour, 32 minutes ago



DALLAS - A yearlong turnaround effort at RadioShack Corp. appeared to falter Monday as the electronics retailer swung to a second-quarter profit but saw revenue decline 15 percent because of softening sales of cellular phones and other key products. Its shares sank 11 percent.

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RadioShack reported net income of $47 million, or 34 cents per share, for the three months ended June 30 versus a loss of $3.2 million, or 2 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue fell to $934.8 million from $1.10 billion in the previous year. Its same-store sales — sales at stores open at least a year — fell 8.9 percent during the quarter, hurt by its post-paid wireless business.

Shares plunged $3.25, or 11 percent, to $25.55 Monday after sinking as low as $24.63 earlier in the session.

RadioShack's stock price had more than doubled this year until early July, when it began slumping. Despite the recent drop, the shares were still up 72 percent for the year through Friday.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 25 cents per share on higher revenue of $982.5 million. The earnings estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Julian Day, a turnaround expert hired last year, has cut spending — mainly by shuttering 387 stores and 25 kiosks in the past year — but has been unable to reverse RadioShack's slide in sales of wireless phones, a key part of its business.

RadioShack still operates 4,443 standalone stores and 752 kiosks, which tend to be located in shopping malls and Sam's Club warehouses.

The Fort Worth-based retailer has struggled since breaking ties with Verizon Wireless and faces competition from big-box retailers such as Best Buy Co. and Circuit City Stores Inc.

Since Day took over, the company has stopped holding conference calls with reporters and analysts after posting results. The earnings release did not include any forecast for the upcoming quarter.

Some analysts had expected RadioShack to post better results due to store closings, layoffs and other cost-cutting moves.

The previous three quarters had been positive ones for the company, making these results look particularly disturbing, said RBC Capital Markets Corp. analyst Scot Ciccarelli.

"Julian Day has done a great job of cutting costs, but by the same token the central problem is you're just not relevant to consumers," Ciccarelli said. "The reasons to go to RadioShack just aren't as large as they used to be, and I don't know how they get over that."

The latest quarter's results included a $10 million gain from the reversal of an income tax contingency reserve.

Even the most optimistic analysts have said the company would struggle to meet financial targets after the second quarter unless it could boost sales. Monday's report seemed to cast doubt on the chain's ability to do that.

"Because they have a small box format, ideally their product is physically small, of high value and high margin. The problem is there are not that many products that fit that description. Cell phones fit, so do jewelry, perfume and watches, but those kinds of things are so far away from what they sell," Ciccarelli added.

RadioShack ended the quarter with $132 million in cash flow but didn't say what it planned to do with the money.

In a statement, Day suggested that more service-based offerings could be coming but offered no specifics.

"We are increasing our focus on opportunities to offer our customers solutions to their needs, whether those needs can be met with a simple 'one product' solution, or whether a more complex solution requiring our expertise in connectivity is needed," Day said.

Tim Allen of Jefferies & Company Inc. said the company still has an edge in smaller, rural areas where big-box retailers like Best Buy Co. don't have much of a presence yet.

But increasingly, a myriad of retailers including drug stores and office supply centers are selling batteries and other electronic accessories that used to be RadioShack's bread and butter.

"Other retailers have moved in on RadioShack's space, and in terms of the wireless business, people are going elsewhere," Allen said. "They're going directly to the carrier or even a Best Buy or a Circuit City for that matter."

Avandia should remain, advisers say By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer

Avandia should remain, advisers say By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer
41 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - The widely used diabetes drug Avandia should remain on the market, government health advisers recommended Monday, saying evidence of an increased risk of heart attack doesn't merit removal.

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The nonbinding recommendation to the Food and Drug Administration came on a majority vote by the panel. The tally wasn't immediately available.

"We're being asked today to take a very draconian action based on studies that have very significant weaknesses and are inadequate for us to make that kind of decision," said Rebecca Killion, a Bowie, Md., diabetic and the panel's patient representative.

However, in an earlier 20-3 vote, the panelists said that available data show the drug does increase heart risks. Panelists said the drug's warning label should be updated and there should be additional study.

Earlier, FDA scientist Dr. David Graham told the joint panel of experts that the drug's heart risks, combined with its lack of unique short-term benefits in helping diabetics control blood sugar, meant continued sales were not justified.

The manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, argued that there is no increased risk, citing its own analyses of studies of Avandia, also called rosiglitazone.

"The number of myocardial infarctions is small, the data are inconsistent and there is no overall evidence rosiglitazone is different from any other oral antidiabetes agents," said Dr. Ronald Krall, the company's senior vice president and chief medical officer.

The FDA convened the experts to consider whether Avandia should be restricted to use in select patients and branded with prominent warnings or removed altogether from sale. Previously, the FDA had said information from dozens of studies pointed to an increased risk of heart attack.

The FDA isn't required to follow the advice of its advisory committees but usually does.

About 1 million Americans with Type 2 diabetes use Avandia to control blood sugar by increasing the body's sensitivity to insulin. That sort of treatment has long been presumed to lessen the heart risks already associated with the disease, which is linked to obesity. News that Avandia might actually increase those risks would represent a "serious limitation" of the drug's benefit, according to the FDA.

Arby's owner prepares Wendy's offer 20 minutes ago

Arby's owner prepares Wendy's offer 20 minutes ago



COLUMBUS, Ohio - A major shareholder who has pressured Wendy's International Inc. to increase stock value said Monday that he is ready to offer $37 to $41 per share to buy the nation's third-largest hamburger chain.

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Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz said his company, which owns fast-food chain Arby's, would be a "natural, strategic buyer" for Wendy's, according to a letter he sent to Wendy's chairman James Pickett that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Wendy's stock rose 16 cents to $33.69 in trading Monday. It rose 81 cents to $34.50 in after-hours trading.

Peltz, who runs the Trian Fund, revealed in a separate filing July 3 that he and his allies had increased their stake in Wendy's to 9.8 percent of the company's shares, from 8.4 percent.

Peltz' company Triarc Cos. controls Arby's, which has more than 3,000 restaurants.

News Corp. may balk at low Bancroft vote By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer

News Corp. may balk at low Bancroft vote By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer
2 hours, 28 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. media conglomerate is "highly unlikely" to proceed with its offer to buy Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. if support for the deal remains at its currently reported levels, a News Corp. spokesman said Monday.

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News Corp. has offered $60 a share, or $5 billion, to buy the company. Dow Jones' controlling shareholders, the Bancroft family, are expected to decide by the close of business on Monday how many of them support the deal.

Dow Jones' shares have been wobbly in recent weeks, trading below Murdoch's offering price of $60 reflecting the risk that the deal may not go through. They took another tumble on Monday after the Journal posted its story, and were down $2.09, or 3.8 percent, at $52.36 in afternoon trading, having dipped as low as $49.49, a drop of 9 percent, earlier in the day.

The Bancrofts collectively control 64 percent of the shareholder vote of Dow Jones through a special class of stock, but only about half of them need to support the deal for it to succeed. The Bancrofts are a diverse clan and their voting interest in the company is held through a complex series of privately held trusts, making the outcome difficult to predict.

Many of Dow Jones' public shareholders are expected to support the deal, which represents a rich premium of about 65 percent over Dow Jones' mid-$30s share price prior to the offer becoming public in early May.

As of late Sunday, some 28 percent of the Bancrofts supported the deal, the Journal reported on Monday, but a News Corp. spokesman told the paper that the company was "highly unlikely" to proceed with the deal at that level of support. A News Corp. spokesman confirmed the remarks.

The spokesman asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of the discussions. A Bancroft family spokesman declined to comment.

The Bancroft family, which has controlled Dow Jones for more than a century, has been deeply divided over whether to sell to Murdoch, largely over concerns that his hands-on management style could affect the papers' coverage.

In the interest of avoiding a messy showdown later, News Corp. has said it would proceed with the deal to buy Dow Jones only if it secures sufficient support from the Bancroft family, though it hasn't specified what that level would be.

Dow Jones' board has tentatively approved the deal, and the final decision now rests with the Bancrofts. Besides several Bancroft family members, including Dow Jones director Christopher Bancroft, Murdoch's bid is also being opposed by former board member Jim Ottaway Jr., whose family controls 7 percent of the shareholder vote.

Dow surges 93 points after pullback By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer

Dow surges 93 points after pullback By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer
14 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Wall Street found a foothold Monday as investors, still anxious that a credit crunch could crimp U.S. growth, took advantage of low prices after last week's steep losses. The Dow Jones industrial average surged more than 90 points.

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Some solid earnings and takeover activity boosted the stock market, which was coming off the Dow's and the Standard & Poor's 500 index's biggest weekly drops in nearly five years. The Dow is still down about 4.8 percent from its July 19 record close of 14,000.41, having caved under worries about a shakier lending climate.

In a sign that aversion to corporate debt hasn't stanched dealmaking, industrial equipment manufacturer Ingersoll-Rand said it's selling its Bobcat earth-moving division and two other units to Korea's Doosan Infracore for $4.9 billion.

And despite rising defaults and delinquencies in mortgage lending, HSBC Holdings PLC, Europe's largest bank by market value, posted a 25 percent rise in first-half earnings. Also, General Motors Corp.'s GMAC Financial Services said second-quarter profit declined but that it expects its residential lending business to improve in the second half of the year.

The market initially wavered between positive and negative territory Monday, but then pushed higher in afternoon trading as investors re-entered the market to scoop up bargains.

"At this point, I'd call it a relief rally," said Henry Herrmann, chief executive officer at investment management firm Waddell & Reed. He noted that stock investors will stay focused on the credit markets for a while, especially as they receive more word on hedge funds' recent performance.

The Dow rose 92.84, or 0.70 percent, to 13,358.31, after falling by as much as 46 points during the session. On Thursday and Friday, the Dow plunged a total of 585 points.

Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 14.96, or 1.03 percent, to 1,473.91, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 21.04, or 0.82 percent, to 2,583.28.

Bonds fell modestly as stocks gained, driving the 10-year Treasury note's yield up to 4.81 percent from 4.77 percent late Friday. A week ago, the 10-year note's yield was at 4.95 percent, but has since sunk as investors sought safe assets during the stock market's plunge.

Market watchers say the market's credit-related jitters are far from assuaged, and that investors should expect high volatility to continue.

"The mythical investor vacillates between fear and greed," said Kim Caughey, equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group. She said she regards last week's plunge as an opportunity to buy, albeit selectively.

Morgan Stanley rose 24 cents to $64.61 after Standard & Poor's Ratings Services raised its rating on the investment bank, citing well-executed growth in the investment bank's core businesses. S&P also said structural improvements within Morgan Stanley leave it better positioned than its competitors to weather volatile market conditions that could continue amid concerns about subprime loans, those made to borrowers with poor credit.

Other financial stocks rebounded after being punished last week amid credit concerns. Merrill Lynch & Co. rose $1.45 to $76.71, while Bear Stearns Cos. advanced $4.07, or 3.3 percent, to $127.25. American Express Co. rose $1.59, or 2.7 percent, to $60.14.

In an indication that there is still demand for cheap, risky assets, Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel Investment Group LLC's said it is buying the credit portfolio of Sowood Capital. Sowood is a Boston-based hedge fund that has reportedly suffered sizable bond-related losses.

Ingersoll Rand rose $3.63, or 7.5 percent, to $51.77 on its decision to sell three of its units.

HSBC rose 1.4 percent in London trading after releasing its earnings.

General Motors Corp. rose $1.51, or 4.9 percent, to $32.61, after GMAC reported its financial results.

In other corporate news, RadioShack Corp. said second-quarter sales fell 15 percent compared with a year ago. The electronics retailer dropped $3.25, or 11.3 percent, to $25.55, although it swung to a second-quarter profit from a loss a year ago.

Verizon Communications Inc. posted a rise in second-quarter profit that met expectations, and said Verizon Wireless, its joint venture with Vodafone Group PLC, will buy Rural Cellular Corp. in a deal worth about $757 million.

Verizon, one of the 30 Dow components, fell 49 cents to $41.51. Rural Cellular jumped $10.95, or 34 percent, to $42.76.

High energy prices, which contribute to inflation, remain a concern for investors. Oil futures fell 19 cents to $76.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, they finished a penny away from the record close of $77.03 reached July 14, 2006.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies. Gold prices rose.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 6.40, or 0.82 percent, to 784.23 — back in positive territory for the year after turning negative Friday.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 4.04 billion shares compared with a heavy 4.82 billion shares Friday.

In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.03 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.8 percent, and China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.2 percent to a new record.

In European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.15 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.06 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.04 percent.

___

On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com