Happy Valley treat: Shoelace under the lights

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — To simulate Michigan's Denard Robinson in practice this week, Penn State walk-on Evan Lewis donned dreadlocks on the scout team.

The height was just about right — the 5-foot-10 Lewis is two inches shorter than the star quarterback. Even Lewis' wig gave the defense a sense for what they might be seeing in front of them Saturday night — that is, if Robinson doesn't rush by them in a maize-and-blue blur for another highlight-reel play.

The Shoelace Show is coming to Happy Valley when Michigan (5-2, 1-2 Big Ten) visits Penn State (4-3, 1-2) under the lights at Beaver Stadium.

These two storied programs are at a crossroads in their respective so-so …

A Multisite Canadian Study of Outcome of First-Episode Psychosis Treated in Publicly Funded Early Intervention Services

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine 1-year symptomatic outcome and its predictors in patients with FEP treated at 3 different publicly funded sites.

Method: We evaluated FEP patients (n = 172) treated in specialized programs in 2 medium-sized centres and 1 large urban centre with an identical protocol for demographic variables, diagnosis, and duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) at entry, and positive, negative, and general psychopathology symptoms at entry, 6 months, and 1 year. We used a mixed model analysis of variance, with time and centre and interaction between time and centre as fixed effects and sex and DUP as covariates, to analyze data.

Results: A …

Rockets Beat Warriors, Back on Track

Tracy McGrady scored 26 points, Bobby Jackson hit an improbable 3-pointer and the Houston Rockets got back to their winning ways with a 109-106 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday night.

Houston had lost two straight following a 22-game winning streak that was the second longest in NBA history. The power-packed Western Conference gave the Rockets little cushion and a third straight loss would have dropped them into a tie for sixth place with San Antonio in the conference.

Instead, they rode the all-around play from McGrady and clutch shooting from Jackson to move within percentage points of New Orleans for the …

Mailbox bombing suspect plans to use insanity defense

The man accused of planting pipe bombs in mailboxes in fivestates, including Illinois, will use an insanity defense when he goeson trial Nov. 18, court papers show. Jane Kelly, the lawyer for LukeHelder, filed a notice of such a defense with the court on Friday.Helder, 21, is accused of putting 18 pipe bombs and anti-governmentletters in mailboxes in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Colorado and Texasin early May. Six pipe bombs exploded in Iowa and Illinois, injuringfour letter carriers and two residents.

Mom charged for kids' severe sunburns

An Ohio woman was arrested on felony charges for allegedly lettingher three children get so severely sunburned they looked like …

BOOK MARKS

BOOK MARKS

The two images farthest removed from each other which can be comprehended under one term, are, I think, Isaiah - 'Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!' - and Levi of Holywell Street - 'Old Clothes!' - both of them Jews, you'll observe."

- Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1833)

JEWS WHO FLND A STEADY DLET of books about the antisemitism of England's learned (and also not so learned) classes more unpleasant than exploratory surgery will find a welcome antidote in The People of the Book: Philosemitism in England, from Cromwell to Churchill by Gertrude Himmelfarb (Encounter Books, 2011, 183 pp., $23.95), a learned, scintillating, and (mostly) optimistic …

Childress fined $35K for criticizing refs

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — After a narrow loss to bitter division rival Green Bay, Vikings coach Brad Childress seethed at what he called "the worst officiated game I've seen."

On Tuesday, he paid for it.

The NFL fined Childress $35,000 for criticizing officials and disclosing confidential conversations with the officiating department.

Childress sharply criticized the officiating crew after a 28-24 loss to the Packers on Sunday night. He was particularly upset with a replay reversal of a touchdown catch by Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. He also was upset by a facemask call against right tackle Phil Loadholt and not calling a hold on Jared Allen that allowed Packers …

Wal-Mart cuts about 11,200 Sam's Club staffers

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will cut about 11,200 jobs at Sam's Club warehouses as it turns over the task of in-store product demonstrations to an outside marketing company.

The move is an effort to improve sales at Sam's Club, which has underperformed the company's namesake stores in the U.S. and abroad.

The cuts represent about 10 percent of the warehouse club operator's 110,000 staffers across its 600 stores. That includes 10,000 workers, mostly part-timers, who offer food samples and showcase products to customers. The company also eliminated 1,200 workers who recruit new members.

Employees were told the news at mandatory meetings on Sunday morning.

…

Fewer black students use Internet

WASHINGTON White students in high school and college are far morelikely than blacks to have home computers and use the World Wide Web,even after accounting for differences in income, a study to bepublished today says.

"A significant segment of our society is in danger of beingdenied equal access to the Internet," says the study in Sciencemagazine.

The disparities in use by black and white students is "the mostdisturbing instance yet of when race matters in Internet access," thestudy said."We can't explain that by income," said Donna L. Hoffman, anassociate professor at Vanderbilt University, who helped write thestudy. "There must be some racial or cultural or …

Students seek answers after UC Davis leader speaks

DAVIS, Calif. (AP) — The University of California, Davis chancellor, in responding to student demands for more answers about what led to the pepper spraying of peaceful demonstrators, said she had instructed campus police not to use force in breaking up the protest.

Video footage of Lt. John Pike and another officer casually spraying an orange cloud at the protesters as they sat peacefully on the ground began circulating online Friday night. Students gathered on campus Tuesday for the second time in as many days to condemn the violence. They also urged university officials to require police to attend sensitivity training.

Chancellor Linda Katehi, who has faced criticism from …

UK to sell right to run London-Channel Tunnel link

The British government says it is selling the right to operate the high-speed rail line from London to the Channel Tunnel.

News reports suggest a winning bid would be around 1.5 billion pounds ($2.2 billion).

The Department for Transport said Monday that the winning bidder would …

TEESEE'S TOWN

Scoop de Jour - Dorothy Brown, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, is in New Orleans today, invited to speak at this afternoon's Inauguration Ceremony for the Honorable C. Ray Nagin, the newly-reelected mayor of New Orleans. The ceremony will be held at the Ernest C. Mortal Convention Center. Several weeks ago, you remember, Brown headed a Chicago area committee of politically-astute leaders who hosted Nagin and his wife, Seletha, at a lovely, well-attended fundraiser at The Plaza Club on the 40th floor of the Prudential Building.

At the close of the gathering nearly a half million dollars for Nagin's mayoral campaign coffers had been raised right here in Chicago. Among …

WORLD at 1600GMT

NEW THIS DIGEST:

PAKISTAN-BHUTTO KILLED. Benazir Bhutto's son to take over as chairman of her opposition party.

KENYA-ELECTIONS. President Mwai Kibaki wins re-election amid charges of vote-rigging on both sides.

IRAQ. Saddam Hussein supporters mark the anniversary of his execution.

IRAQ-CASUALTIES. The second half of 2007 saw violence drop dramatically.

ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS. Israel's PM vows no peace moves until Palestinians crack down on militant groups.

CUBA-DIVORCED UNDER ONE ROOF. Estranged Cuban couples sometimes remain under the same roof for years.

NEPAL-REBELS. The government appoints five former …

Top Democrat: Sotomayor would follow the law

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor sought Tuesday to hit back against GOP charges that she would let her background dictate her rulings, telling senators in both parties that she would follow the law as a justice.

In private meetings that marked her Capitol Hill debut, Sotomayor, who would be the high court's first Hispanic and its third woman, explained her views of a judge's role and the impact of her life experiences to leaders of the Judiciary Committee, which will have the first crack at weighing her confirmation.

"Ultimately and completely, a judge has to follow the law no matter what their upbringing has been," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the panel chairman, quoted President Barack Obama's nominee as saying in their closed-door session on Capitol Hill.

Leahy had asked Sotomayor, 54, what she meant when she said in 2001 that she hoped her decisions as a "wise Latina" would be better than those of a white male who hadn't had the same experiences. Prominent Republicans have cited the 2001 remark to call her a racist.

Leahy said the judge told him: "Of course one's life experience shapes who you are, but ... as a judge, you follow the law."

Sen. Jeff Sessions, of Alabama, the top Republican on the committee, said Sotomayor used those words with him as well, but he appeared to come away from the meetings unconvinced about Sotomayor's approach and whether she would be an "activist" who tried to set policy from the bench.

"She used those words, and of course the question is what is the law? How does a judge find the law, and what approach to statutory construction do they utilize?" Sessions said.

Sessions, who is to meet Wednesday with Leahy to discuss scheduling Sotomayor's confirmation process, said he thought hearings should wait until September.

"I don't think it's good to rush," he said.

Leahy called the criticism against Sotomayor "among the most vicious attacks that have been received by anybody" and said the rhetoric demands hearings, "sooner than later." Democrats hope to begin the sessions as early as the first full week of July.

Leahy said he asked the judge whether he could repeat publicly what she told him privately during their meeting about how her personal experiences as the New York-born daughter of Puerto Rican parents who was reared in a housing project and went on to Princeton and Yale before ascending to the highest legal echelons would shape her rulings.

Leahy quoted Sotomayor as saying, "There's not one law for one race or another. There's not one law for one color or another. There's not one law for rich, a different one for poor. There's only one law."

Radio host Rush Limbaugh and former House Speaker New Gingrich have both branded Sotomayor a racist, and Limbaugh went on to compare choosing her for the high court to nominating former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

Leahy defended Sotomayor on Tuesday, saying he was proud of his own Irish-Italian background and his wife's French-Canadian background. "Does that make us racist?" he said. "She is not a racist."

Earlier in the day, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called Sotomayor's life story "compelling," and said it appealed to the public.

"We have the whole package here," Reid said. "America identifies with the underdog, and you've been an underdog many times in your life, but always the top dog."

His comments came as a new Associated Press-GfK poll showed that Americans have a more favorable first impression of Sotomayor than they did for any of former President George W. Bush's nominees to the high court, and backs her confirmation in higher numbers.

Sotomayor was scheduled to meet with 10 senators during her first day on Capitol Hill, retreating to Vice President Joe Biden's office between sessions to huddle with White House handlers, a team heavy with confirmation battle veterans who are guiding her nomination.

Among those she was to see Tuesday were Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, members of the Judiciary Committee. She was having lunch with her home state Democratic senators, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, her unofficial chaperone during the confirmation process, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

Feinstein said she would ask Sotomayor about the "wise Latina" comment, which she said had been "made into something egregious." She said she also wants to discuss important constitutional topics including abortion, a hot-button issue on which Sotomayor's views are not known .

"I'll ask her how she views the constitutional right to privacy," Feinstein said, adding that she "might" inquire about Sotomayor's position on the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a woman's right to end her pregnancy.

___

Associated Press Writers Ann Sanner and Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.

McChrystal speaks up one too many times

Gen. Stanley McChrystal was put in charge of a drifting war in Afghanistan in part because he wasn't afraid to speak up. That quality may prove to be his downfall as President Barack Obama decides whether to fire him.

Calm and introspective in public, if a bit brusque, the lanky four-star general has never been one to suffer fools gladly. But challenging the president and his team is another matter, so he was summoned to the Oval Office on Wednesday to explain remarks he made in a magazine interview.

People who know the 55-year-old McChrystal say his comments in the Rolling Stone story, which is filled with scorching assessments of the commander's colleagues in the administration, were grave errors in judgment brought on by the stresses of a difficult war and complicated by the general's undisciplined staff.

But they also note that the ultimate cause of the furor is probably McChrystal's blunt and uncompromising instincts, the very traits that earned him the job.

"They brought somebody in to be a hard-nosed realist," said Anthony Cordesman, a national security analyst with close ties to the Defense Department. "You brought somebody in to get the job done after eight years of neglect and failure. You brought somebody in basically to fight his way through the bureaucratic and organizational barriers."

McChrystal wasn't trained to maneuver inside the Washington political machine. He spent most of his long military career in the dark world of special operations, including five years as head of Joint Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Unlike many successful military officers, McChrystal's resume includes only two years spent at the Pentagon _ once as a vice director of operations on the Joint Staff, from 2002 to 2003, and again in 2008 for a brief stint as director of the Joint Staff _ before being picked by Obama in May 2009 to run the war in Afghanistan.

Much of his career has been spent on the front lines in the war on terrorism, studying al-Qaida and orchestrating secret raids. In 2006, his operation was credited with nabbing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq and one of the most-wanted fugitives.

His special operations forces that year were also accused by human rights activists of abusing detainees at Camp Nama at Baghdad International Airport.

But it wasn't until Obama chose him as the top commander in Afghanistan that McChrystal was thrust into a public debate. His predecessor, Gen. David McKiernan, had been on the job for less than a year and wanted more troops. But Obama's political base, including most Democrats in Congress, didn't want an escalation of the war.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said his decision to fire McKiernan and hire McChrystal was not because he disagreed with McKiernan's repeated requests for more forces.

But Gates said he believed the war could not be won by military means alone. So he turned to McChrystal, who as a former Green Beret was intimately familiar with counterinsurgency tactics that, it was hoped, could swing the war around.

By the fall of 2009, McChrystal had decided that more troops were needed and sent the Pentagon a secret request for 40,000 reinforcements.

The request leaked, and White House aides were infuriated. They believed McChrystal had put Obama in a dilemma _ ignore a decorated war general, or send more troops at the expense of political support.

Later that year, Obama agreed to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan on the condition they begin leaving by July 2011.

In the magazine article, McChrystal complained that Obama had handed him "an unsellable position" on the war. "I found that time painful," he said.

Now, says Cordesman, Obama might have trouble properly filling McChrystal's shoes if he decides to fire him. "You don't have any replacements with the same experience," he says.

McChrystal previously drew criticism for the handling of the friendly fire shooting of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, a former National Football League star, in Afghanistan. Tillman left a lucrative pro football career to enlist in the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

An investigation at the time found that McChrystal was "accountable for the inaccurate and misleading assertions" contained in papers recommending that Tillman get a Silver Star award.

McChrystal acknowledged he had suspected several days before approving the Silver Star citation that Tillman might have died in friendly fire. He sent a memo to military leaders warning them of that, even as they were approving Tillman's Silver Star. The award's citation claimed Tillman had "put himself in the line of devastating enemy fire."

Still, McChrystal told investigators he believed Tillman deserved the award. In 2007, the Army overruled a Pentagon recommendation that McChrystal be held accountable for his "misleading" actions.

___

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Robert Reid in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

Tainted pastries sicken hundreds in Macedonia

Dozens more people have come down with suspected food poisoning after eating cream-filled pastries in Macedonia, health officials said Thursday, bringing the total number to 339.

Most of the people affected have been Muslims celebrating the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan fasting. All are believed to have eaten pastries from one shop in Skopje's Old Bazaar district, the capital's old Ottoman quarter.

Ivan Vidinic, a doctor at Skopje's Clinic for Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases, said Thursday that 82 people had sought help for suspected food poisoning at the clinic in the last 24 hours, and that 13 of them were hospitalized with severe symptoms. The clinic is now caring for a total of 64 people who have been admitted with suspected salmonella poisoning.

"The new arrived patients were displaying the same symptoms of intestinal disease, probably salmonella poisoning, including vomiting, diarrhea and high fever," Vidinic said.

He said health officials were awaiting the results of laboratory tests to determine exactly what had sickened the patients.

Health Minister Bujar Osmani said authorities had inspected 137 pastry shops across the country and shut down 40 of them for failing to maintain hygiene standards.

"Sanitary inspectors will continue with controls and we expect to have more pastry shops shut down because of poor hygiene," Osmani said.

Holder hails St. Louis marshal killed in shootout

ST. LOUIS (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday hailed the courage of a federal marshal killed during a shootout with a St. Louis felon, the second on-duty shooting death in a month for an agency that had gone years without one.

John Perry, a deputy U.S. marshal for nearly 10 years, was killed in the shootout that left a drug and assault suspect dead and two other law enforcement officers wounded. He died Tuesday night in the hospital, 12 hours after being shot in the head.

According to a national clearinghouse, it had been since at least 1993 that an on-duty marshal was shot to death prior to the Feb. 16 shooting of Derek Hotsinpiller in West Virginia.

Holder said the actions of Hotsinpiller, Perry and the two officers who were wounded alongside Perry "reflect the dedication and courage that defines America's law enforcement community."

Their injuries, Holder said, are a "solemn reminder" of the dangers regularly confronted in a job that involves searching for fugitives and assisting local police during arrests.

"Their service, their courage and their willingness to risk their own lives to protect the safety of others will not be forgotten," Holder said in a statement.

The fellow deputy marshal wounded with Perry — 31-year-old Theodore Abegg, a three-year veteran — remained hospitalized Wednesday in fair condition with a gunshot wound to an ankle. A St. Louis city policeman grazed by a bullet in the confrontation with Boles was released from a hospital hours later.

From 1960 through last year, 17 marshals have been killed by various causes, including such things as car wrecks, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Only 10 of the deaths over the past 50 years came by gunfire.

"Up until this year it was relatively rare, and suddenly two marshals have lost their lives (within weeks). That's a matter of concern," said Steve Groeninger, the fund's senior communications chief.

St. Louis police suspected Carlos Boles, a two-time prison inmate with a criminal history dating back nearly two decades, would be trouble when they went to arrest him on charges that he assaulted a law enforcer and possessed drugs, so they enlisted federal marshals for backup.

When the law enforcers converged shortly before 7 a.m. Tuesday on Boles' St. Louis home, authorities say, three children belonging to the suspect's sister were allowed to leave the two-story house before the officers went in. During a floor-by-floor search, police spotted Boles, 35, on the second floor, and he started blasting and was killed in the gunfire exchange, police said.

"Our people and our partners are well-trained and prepared, but it is impossible to predict when a wanted individual will make a fateful choice that results in the loss of life or injury," Stacia Hylton, director of the U.S. Marshals Service, said in a statement Tuesday night announcing Perry's death. "When that happens, and the life lost is a law enforcement officer or other public servant, it is an immeasurable tragedy felt by all.

"Today, unfortunately, we again feel that pain."

Sox aren't America's team

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Turning on ESPN on Sunday night, one had towait a while to find out how baseball's best team fared.

Picking up a copy of USA Today on Monday -- at least on the WestCoast, where the White Sox are playing this week -- forced a readerto wade through four other games in the American League roundupbefore the Sox-Royals game earned a mention.

Getting off to the best start in baseball for a franchise withmore than a century of history hasn't exactly set the news wiresablaze. If the Sox are yearning for national attention -- and thereare no indications they are -- they still have to overcome a fewproblems.

First, the Sox are not national media darlings, mostly becausethey haven't had much postseason success over the last 25 years. Theyhave a combined three playoff victories over that time and none since1993.

Then there are the 2005 baseball predictions, a point that stilloffends general manager Ken Williams. The Twins and, in many cases,the Indians were touted in preseason prognostications as better teamsin the AL Central.

I think when some of the initial predictions came out, many of uswere somewhat bothered by it," Williams admitted Monday. "Anybodythat tells you [different] is not necessarily holding up to theirtrue feelings.

"But at the same time, we are too busy to pay much attention toit. It's a long season, and we have grinder guys that will give theirbest every day, and that's all you can care about."

So will the Sox ever get as much attention this year as theYankees or Red Sox or even the injured Barry Bonds?

I don't really care," Williams said. "All I care about istonight."

Some 21-year-olds should be carded

HOW YOU CAN PICK TERRY'S BRAIN

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of my Chicago Sun-Times column, I'll be responding to your most frequently asked questions on a regular basis. Of course, you always can submit individual questions on my Sun-Times blog reached on the home page at www.TerrySavage.com.

Q. Since credit cards will no longer be offered to students under 21 years old starting in February, should I get my daughter a credit card now? She won't be going to college until next fall.

A. As noted in my column on Monday, the new Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act will require anyone under age 21 to have a parent or guardian as co-signer, or else be able to document their ability to repay their debt.

Now, the parent will share the financial responsibility for any debts incurred, and so will have a greater incentive to watch the student's spending. But your daughter can still have a card in her own name.

This section of the law was designed to protect college freshmen from the temptations of on-campus credit card marketing. But it does have some drawbacks. Without a credit card, the student might not have access to a last-minute plane ticket or cash for an emergency. That's the downside of making credit cards harder to get for those under 21.

Credit card availability for young adults is an interesting proposition. Some are mature enough to understand the limits and costs of credit. For others, it's a trap that can severely impact their future.

According to a Sallie Mae study, college seniors graduated in 2008 with an average credit card debt of more than $4,100, up from $2,900 in 2004. And nearly 20 percent of them carried balances of more than $7,000. That's a deep hole to be digging before you even have a job to make payments on the debt. And for most, it's a burden on top of their student loans.

A successful experience with credit cards depends on the education you give your child about financial responsibility. Since it can take more than 18 years to pay down that debt making only minimum monthly payments, and four times the balance must be paid in interest, these small purchases of convenience add up to a huge commitment.

If you are planning to give your student a credit card, may I suggest going to www.

VisaBuxx.com, where several card issuers participated in a program designed especially for students. They offer a re-loadable debit card, that looks and works just like a traditional Visa card, even allowing cash withdrawals.

The credit limit on this card is the amount of money that the parent has loaded onto the card. That's a process that can be done automatically on a weekly or monthly basis from a link to the parent's bank account. Or additional amounts can be loaded at any time in case of emergency. If the parent doesn't have an account with a participating bank, the card can be loaded directly from the parent's debit or credit card.

But the best part of this card is the online tracking feature that allows both student and parent to see, in real time, just where the money was spent or withdrawn. No more midnight calls needing cash for books, when Mom knows that she just charged a new pair of shoes or dinner out with friends.

As another alternative, Paypal.com now offers a student account, as a sub-account of a parent's account. And if Mom and Dad don't already have a PayPal account, they can sign up online. It too offers visibility of transactions and ease of reloading.

There's no reason young people can't learn to use credit wisely. And they're a lot more likely to learn if someone takes the time to explain the dangers of credit -- and if someone is watching over their first uses of credit cards on a daily basis. We have driver's ed for young drivers. Consider these suggestions to be a sort of "Credit Ed" for young spenders. And that's The Savage Truth.

Color Photo: (See microfilm for photo description). ;

Carragher denounces `ruthless' Liverpool owners

Liverpool stalwart Jamie Carragher has denounced the club's "ruthless" owners over broken promises and profiteering in the most scathing verdict on Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. from within Anfield.

In his autobiography to be published Thursday, Carragher does express sympathy with the Americans in saying manager Rafa Benitez publicly undermined them over transfers, but gives a largely critical assessment of a year of turmoil.

The 30-year-old defender hesitantly embraced the Americans when their March 2007 takeover came with a pledge to invest in the team and replace the crumbling Anfield stadium without burdening the Reds with debt.

But Carragher said he was quickly riled by the owners apparently reneging on that pledge, becoming further disgruntled over infighting that triggered "the demise of those values which come under the definition 'The Liverpool Way.'"

"For richer or poorer, we'd sold Liverpool to two ruthless businessmen who saw us as a moneymaking opportunity," Carragher writes in "Carra: My Autobiography," published by Bantam Press. "They didn't buy Liverpool as an act of charity; they weren't intent on throwing away all the millions they'd earned over 50 years ... They wanted to buy us because the planned stadium offered a chance to generate tons of cash and increase the value of the club."

Carragher, who made his Liverpool debut in 1997, said the owners' worst mistake was claiming no debt would be put on the club's balance sheet when in fact the loans used to buy the five-time European champion created annual interest payments of around 30 million pounds (US$55 million; euro37 million).

"Breaking this vow set the first alarm bells ringing, the embarrassing continual changing of the stadium plans was irritating too," he wrote.

Millions of pounds were written off when existing plans to replace the 115-year-old Anfield were ditched after the buyout so architects from Hicks' native Texas could design a more spectacular stadium in the adjacent Stanley Park.

The subsequent global economic turmoil forced the new vision to be scaled down and the club announced last month that the 73,000-seat stadium, which Liverpool hopes will open in 2011, will be delayed "in the short term."

Carragher said the internal strife swelled in the aftermath of the May 2007 Champions League final defeat to AC Milan when Benitez demanded that Hicks and Gillett quickly invest more money in the squad.

"These words sparked a chain reaction that brought problems into the open, almost cost (Benitez) his job a couple of months later, riled Liverpool's owners into an ill-fated meeting with Juergen Klinsmann, and ended Hicks' and Gillett's honeymoon relationship with The Kop (fan base)," Carragher wrote.

Hicks acknowledged talking to former Klinsmann about replacing Benitez last November during their public spat over player transfers. Klinsmann, the former Germany coach, is now with Bayern Munich.

Carragher said he was surprised that Benitez defied standard workplace practice by going public to "slag off your boss."

"I understood why the owners were unhappy with him too," he wrote. "They'd been undermined by Rafa and now they were undermining him. "It was a political rather than football battle, and although the fans wanted to see it in black and white terms, with the owners the bad guys and Rafa their hero, I saw far more shades of gray."

Fans hoped a resolution to the Anfield infighting would be reached in February when an oil-rich Dubai consortium tried to buy the club, but Hicks refused to sanction a sale. Gillett Jr. wanted to accept Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's offer.

While the UAE buyout offered stability, Carragher was "disgusted" by the fact the Americans could have each profited nearly 100 million pounds (US$176 million; euro125 million) from their year in charge.

"Think how many world-class players that 200 million pounds could have brought to the club," Carragher wrote. "Instead, if Gillett and Hicks did sell, they or their banks would make a huge profit. I felt ill thinking about it."

Carragher has urged the hierarchy to put aside their differences and personal agendas to restore dignity to the club as it strives to win its first English title since 1990.

The Reds hosts defending champion Manchester United on Saturday.

"We can't have arguments played out in public every week, and we can't ever hope to catch Manchester United and Chelsea if we're too busy scrapping with one another to take the fight to them," Carragher wrote.

It's U.S. against improved world American NBA stars poised to regain title, but it won't be easy

Regain the glory."

Those words, used by U.S. coach George Karl in an interview lastweek, are a fitting battle cry for the NBA players who will representthe United States in the World Basketball Championship that beginsThursday in Indianapolis.

If we could come together and play special basketball in six orseven of the nine games, we could regain the glory of Americanbasketball," Karl said. It seems like America is on the back page alittle bit and has been bumped around a little bit. But the best wayto showcase our country ... [and] showcase our game is to play greatand win."

For 11 days, the United States will be one of 16 teams playing 62games to determine which country is the best in the world. The otherteams are defending champion Yugoslavia, Germany, Canada, Spain,Puerto Rico, Russia, Turkey, China, Algeria, Angola, Argentina,Brazil, Lebanon, New Zealand and Venezuela.

The United States, the birthplace of basketball, has traditionallybeen the king of the sport.

But over the years, the other teams of the world closed the gap onus," said NBA commissioner David Stern, who envisions NBA franchiseseventually in Europe and Asia. Improved foreign competition forced usto start sending our very best to beat their very best."

That was proved as recently as 1998, when the last worldchampionship was held in Greece. The owners had locked out NBAplayers, so they withdrew from the U.S. national team.

USA Basketball sent a team of college players and minor-leaguepros to Greece.

The result was predictable. The Americans had to settle for thebronze medal. Yugoslavia won the gold and Russia the silver. Thistime, the United States again is being represented by NBA players,who are 54-0 in international competition, including the Olympics,the McDonald's Championship and exhibition games.

Although this team doesn't include top-echelon stars such asShaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson or Tim Duncan, Karlthinks he has enough talent to strike gold again with a team led byCeltics forward Paul Pierce, Hornets guard Baron Davis, Pacersteammates Reggie Miller and Jermaine O'Neal and Clippers teammatesElton Brand and Andre Miller. Bulls rookie guard Jay Williams was alate addition to the team.

Winning gold won't be an easy task, however.

They will be playing the toughest field of foreign talent ever,"Bucks general manager Ernie Grunfeld said. The skill and talent levelof foreign players is now at an all-time high as evidenced by theincreased number of foreign players performing in the NBA."

These include Mavericks All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki of Germany,Kings teammates Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac of Yugoslavia, 2001-02 rookie of the year Pau Gasol of Spain and China's Yao Ming, whowas the No. 1 pick in the 2002 draft.

Foreign players are also being drafted in record numbers eachyear," Stern said. This year, a record 17 players who were bornabroad were drafted."

You can't take anyone for granted," Reggie Miller said. A lot ofour stars are international players who have taken what they havelearned in the NBA and have brought it back to their own countriesand their club and national teams."

But the Americans are talking with smash-mouth confidence.

The way people are talking about our team, we're going to playharder than we normally would," Jermaine O'Neal said. Everybodythinks they have an opportunity to beat us. For some reason, peoplethink we're not that good because we have a couple of guys who aren'tplaying, like Shaq and those guys. If you look at the league leadersin rebounds, blocks, assists, scoring, we have 'em right here. Itkind of upsets the team a little bit when everyone talks about us asa JV team. We feel like we can play against anybody, let alone otherNBA players. We just have to show the people what we're talkingabout. We have to go out and play well to shut up the critics."

Assistant coach Kelvin Sampson said the keys to a U.S. victory areversatility, athleticism and defense.

Pacers coach Isiah Thomas said the key is teamwork.

I think it's very smart what the selection committee has done,"Thomas said. They have put together a team. In the past, the primaryfocus has been on assembling as many stars as possible. But justbecause you can put a lot of stars together does not mean that'sgoing to be your best team. In this case, however, they are puttingtogether players who complement each other well and are willing to goout and work hard."

And win.

We consider ourselves to be the best players in the world," saidPistons forward Ben Wallace, who brings toughness and rebounding tothe team. What better way to show it than to go out and goundefeated? By us doing that, that'll stop a lot of people [from]looking at us and saying we're not as strong as some teams of thepast."

THE FACTS

WHAT: FIBA 2002 World Basketball Championship. Teams from 16nations will play 62 games in 11 days.

WHEN: Aug. 29-Sept. 8.

WHERE: Conseco Fieldhouse and RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

TEAMS: Pool A: Yugoslavia, Spain, Canada, Angola. Pool B: Brazil,Turkey, Puerto Rico, Lebanon. Pool C: United States, Germany, China,Algeria. Pool D: Argentina, Russia, New Zealand, Venezuela.

U.S. PRELIMINARY ROUND: Algeria, 8 p.m. Thursday (TNT). Germany, 7p.m. Friday (ESPN2). China, 8 p.m. Saturday (TNT).

SECOND ROUND: Sept. 2-4.

QUARTERFINALS: Sept. 5.

SEMIFINALS: Sept. 7.

FINAL: Sept. 8 (Ch. 5).

TICKETS: Priced from $10 to $190, more than 150,000 tickets havebeen sold and many remain. Call Ticketmaster (1-866-849-4922), orWorld Basketball Championship office (1-317-237-2002) or visitwww.worldbasketball.com or www.usabasketball.com.

THE u.s. ROSTER

NAME POS HT TEAM

Elton Brand F 6-8 Clippers

Antonio Davis C 6-9 Raptors

Baron Davis G 6-3 Hornets

Michael Finley G 6-7 Mavericks

Raef LaFrentz F/C 6-11 Mavericks

Shawn Marion F 6-7 Suns

Andre Miller G 6-2 Clippers

Reggie Miller G 6-7 Pacers

Jermaine O'Neal C/F 6-11 Pacers

Paul Pierce F 6-6 Celtics

Ben Wallace F/C 6-9 Pistons

Jay Williams G 6-2 BULLS

ALTERNATE

Nick Collison F 6-9 Kansas

Head Coach: George Karl, Milwaukee Bucks

Assistant Coach: Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs

Assistant Coach: Mike Montgomery, Stanford University

Assistant Coach: Kelvin Sampson, University of Oklahoma

the history

1950--At Buenos Aires, Argentina

Gold: Argentina. Silver: United States. Bronze: Chile.

1954--At Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Gold: United States. Silver: Brazil. Bronze: Philippines.

1959--At Santiago, Chile

Gold: Brazil. Silver: United States. Bronze: Chile.

1963--At Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Gold: Brazil. Silver: Yugoslavia. Bronze: Soviet Union.

1967--At Montevideo, Uruguay

Gold: Soviet Union. Silver: Yugoslavia. Bronze: Brazil.

1970--At Ljubljana, Yugoslavia

Gold: Yugoslavia. Silver: Brazil. Bronze: Soviet Union.

1974--At San Juan, Puerto Rico

Gold: Soviet Union. Silver: Yugoslavia. Bronze: United States.

1978--At Manila, Philippines

Gold: Yugoslavia. Silver: Soviet Union. Bronze: Brazil.

1982--At Cali, Colombia

Gold: Soviet Union. Silver: United States. Bronze: Yugoslavia.

1986--At Madrid, Spain

Gold: United States. Silver: Soviet Union. Bronze: Yugoslavia.

1990--At Buenos Aires, Argentina

Gold: Yugoslavia. Silver: Soviet Union. Bronze: United States.

1994--At Toronto, Canada

Gold: United States. Silver: Russia. Bronze: Croatia.

1998--At Athens, Greece

Gold: Yugoslavia. Silver: Russia. Bronze: United States.

Stars Beat Ducks to Stay Hot at Home

DALLAS - Mike Ribeiro and Jere Lehtinen each had a goal and an assist to help the Dallas Stars beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 on Saturday night. Brenden Morrow added a goal, and Marty Turco made 20 saves as Dallas improved to 3-0-1 at home.

Chris Pronger scored a power-play goal for the defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks, winless on the road (0-4-1).

The Stars had been getting off to slow starts, but they reversed that trend with Morrow's power-play goal at 2:04 of the opening period. Morrow notched his fourth of the season from the slot off a centering pass by Ribeiro.

Ribeiro made it 2-0 at 7:48 of the second period, jamming a loose puck past goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere while the Stars had an extra attacker because of a delayed penalty on the Ducks.

Lehtinen extended the lead to 3-0 at 10:01 of the second period with his first goal of the season, and at that point, Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle replaced Giguere with Ilya Bryzgalov. Dallas' Philippe Boucher dumped the puck into the Anaheim zone and it bounced hard off the end boards and onto the stick of Lehtinen, who fired a shot past Giguere from the inner part of the right circle.

Pronger got Anaheim on the board with his first goal of the season at 18:24 of the second period while the Ducks held a two-man advantage.

Notes:@ Stars C Mike Modano remains four points short of matching Phil Housley's points record of 1,232 for U.S.-born players. Modano has only two points in eight games this season. ...The Ducks were without injured RW Todd Bertuzzi (concussion) and D Mathieu Schneider (ankle). C Todd Marchant was back in the Anaheim lineup after missing two games due to an ankle injury. ...Dallas began a stretch of 10 of its next 11 games against Pacific Division competition. ...The Ducks assigned C Petteri Wirtanen to Portland of the AHL. Wirtanen made his NHL debut on Oct. 17, scoring his first career goal against Nashville. ... Turco played in his 325th game for the Stars, tying Jon Casey for third among goaltenders in franchise history. Cesare Maniago is the leader with 420 games.

DC man pleads to impersonating FBI agent in Mont.

A 19-year-old Washington, D.C., man who was arrested at a Montana airport has pleaded guilty to impersonating an FBI agent and saying he had a gun in his carry-on bag to see how personnel would respond.

Malik Hannabal Shabazz was arrested March 5 at Great Falls International Airport. He was headed home for spring break from the University of Great Falls, where he was studying criminal justice.

An investigation determined that Shabazz did not have a gun.

He pleaded guilty to false impersonation of an officer of the United States at a hearing Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon.

Shabazz remains in custody. Sentencing is set for Aug. 26.

Dementieva reaches final by making Ivanovic latest upset victim at German Open

Elena Dementieva beat second-ranked Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 7-5 on Saturday to reach the final of the upset-filled German Open.

Dementieva took advantage of Ivanovic's forehand errors and fought off a set point at 4-5 in the second set before closing out the match when the Serb missed with a crosscourt backhand.

In Sunday's final, she will face fellow Russian and 17th-ranked Dinara Safina, who beat 18-year-old Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-4, 6-1.

"I'm really happy to be in the final," Dementieva said. "Especially this year when all the big players were here."

The ninth-ranked Dementieva, who also ousted fifth-ranked Jelena Jankovic earlier this week, ran her record to 4-0 against Ivanovic, the defending champion.

Ivanovic took the court for the second time Saturday after completing a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 quarterfinals win against Hungary's Agnes Szavay.

The match was halted Friday night by darkness after split sets and Ivanovic rolled to a 3-0 lead in winning the set played Saturday. The 20-year-old Serb said her play made her bold against Dementieva.

"I really felt good about the way I played," Ivanovic said. "I went for too much too soon in the rallies against Dementieva. I felt good about myself and my shots. But when I tried them, I didn't make them."

The clay-court tournament began with six of the world's top seven in the field _ and 17 of the top 20 _ before a string of upsets.

"It is the first tournament on clay and everybody is trying to find their rhythm," Ivanovic said. "There is still time to get experience and match practice before Roland Garros."

The French Open starts May 25.

Safina erased a 3-1 first-set deficit against Azarenka to follow up on her wins against top-ranked Justine Henin and Serena Williams.

"This is one of my best weeks ever," Safina said. "If someone had told me before the week I would be in the final, I would have given them half my prize money."

A frustrated Azarenka banged her racket on the court and burst into tears courtside as the second set slipped away against the more experienced Safina, who caught her several times with drop shots.

The teenager's performance will be enough to break into the top 20 in the rankings, continuing an ascent from 92nd at the start of 2007.

Ivanovic's win against Szavay ensured that the German Open would not become the first WTA Tour event in 28 years in which none of the top six seeds reached the semifinals.

Safina was surprised by her back-to-back wins against Henin and Williams.

"When I looked at the draw, I said I will do everything to play Henin," Safina said. "I played well against Henin, then I said 'one more.' Now everything is going my way."

Ameritech assailed // Unions hit layoffs at annual meeting

Angry union members jeered and booed Ameritech Corp. executivesduring the annual meeting Wednesday, one day after the companyannounced it will cut 5,000 jobs.

"We could have timed it better," Chairman Richard Notebaert saidof the layoff news.

The company has no money problems: Notebaert said Ameritech willgain $1 billion after taxes from the sale of its stake in NewZealand's Telecom Corp. Ameritech has also signed a potentiallylucrative deal to handle some telephone traffic with France Telecom.Dozens of Ameritech workers represented by the InternationalBrotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers ofAmerica joined other shareholders at the annual meeting, held at theArt Institute.The unions will begin contract talks with Ameritech thissummer. They resent what they say are efforts by the company toprevent them from organizing workers at businesses recently acquiredby Ameritech.Notebaert attempted a conciliatory tone through the meeting."In a world of technology, people do make the difference," hesaid, quoting Ameritech's advertising theme.But Jeff Rechenback, a CWA union official, said, "Our people arein fact a disposable commodity."On Tuesday afternoon, Ameritech said it would eliminate 5,000jobs, most of them in the company's home-security and cellular phonebusinesses. Ameritech has bought home-security companies around thecountry in recent months.After the meeting, Notebaert said stitching together many smallbusinesses meant some jobs were made redundant. "We don't need fivesales offices in one town," he said. "The average (home-security)monitoring center has 4,500 customers. We are going to take it up to100,000 customers."Notebaert said that in many cases, employees whose jobs are cutwill be offered work elsewhere at Ameritech. The company will helpwith moving costs and has already talked with other companiesinterested in hiring laid-off workers, he said.The telecommunications industry suffers from a general laborshortage, with jobs available for relatively low-skilled cableinstallers up to highly trained computer network engineers.One shareholder said Ameritech should cut back on luxuriesbefore it lays off workers. "We do not need a skybox at the UnitedCenter," said Virginia Markewych. "We have paid for tennistournaments. That's fine and good, but I'd rather have the peopleworking."

American Express sets up tourism fund

American Express Company is setting up a fund to help develop thetourism industry in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland. Thecompany's American Express Foundation has pledged at least $500,000between 1991 and 1993 to support programs that prepare students forcareers in tourism, provide customer-service training, and helppreserve and manage historic and cultural sites.

Survey of infection control procedures at manicure and pedicure establishments in north York

ABSTRACT

Objective: To describe infection control practices used by technicians doing manicures and pedicures in an urban setting in Ontario.

Methods: A random sample of 120 establishments was selected from a sampling frame. A survey was designed and administered to technicians through face-to-face interviews.

Results: Technicians in 72 establishments were interviewed, representing a 60% response rate. Twenty-nine (40%) of these technicians indicated that they had been immunized against hepatitis B. Technicians re-used almost all instruments even if this was not the intent of the manufacturer. Isopropyl alcohol was the most commonly used disinfectant. Many technicians did not wear gloves while performing procedures. Most did not follow universal precautions when asked how they would react to incidental cuts on either the client or themselves.

Conclusion: There is a need for the development of infection control protocols for manicure and pedicure establishments since the potential for transmission of infectious diseases does exist.

ABRGE

Objectif: Decrire les pratiques de prevention des infections employees par les manucures et les pedicures d'une ville ontarienne.

Methode : Nous avons selectionne un echantillon aleatoire de 120 etablissements a partir d'une base de sondage, puffs concu un questionnaire d'enquete que nous avons administre aux manucures/pedicures lots d'entrevues en personne.

Resultats : Nous avons interviewe les manucures/pedicures de 72 establissements, ce qui represente un taux de reponse de 60 %. Vingt-neuf repondants (40 %) ont declare avoir ete vaccines contre l'hepatite B. Les manucures/pedicures reutilisaient presque tous leurs instruments, meme ceux a usage unique. Le desinfectant le plus commun etait I'alcool isopropylique. De nombreux manucures/pdicures ne portaient pas de gants au travail. La plupart ne prenaient pas de precautions elementaires en cas de coupures accidentelles sur soi ou sur les clients.

Conclusion: II faut elaborer des protocoles de prevention des infections dans les etablissements de soin des mains et des pieds, ou les possibilites de transmission de maladies infectieuses sont reelles.

Although hepatitis B is mainly transmitted through sexual transmission and use of contaminated needles, no risk factors are identified for approximately 43% of reported cases.1 A large outbreak of hepatitis B among patients who attended EEG clinics2 raised awareness of other possible sources of infection in the community.

The literature indicates that outbreaks of viral hepatitis B have occurred with the use of acupuncture, body-piercing, and other contaminated needles.3-8 An Italian study9 reported that, compared to persons who had contracted hepatitis A, persons who had hepatitis B were more likely to report having had manicures or pedicures. Potential spread from ear piercing has been investigated10 and two letters to the editor11,12 also cite the beauty industry as possible sources of infection.

This paper describes a survey of manicure and pedicure establishments in the North York area of Toronto. The purpose of the survey was to assess the infection control practices and potential for spread of hepatitis B and other bloodborne pathogens.

METHODS

Since nail care establishments are unregulated in Ontario and there are no professional associations to which technicians belong, no existing inclusive list of manicure and pedicure establishments in North York was available. A sampling frame was created using two methods. First, local phone books were searched under the headings of hair and beauty salons, manicure and pedicure. A second method accessed the public health department's internal inspection information system. Two research assistants called each establishment to determine if it was in business and which services were offered. This process identifled 229 establishments that offered both manicure and pedicure services and 23 businesses that only offered manicures.

A random sample of 120 of the 252 original establishments was selected for inclusion in the survey. Letters of introduction, stating both the purpose and the voluntary nature of the survey, were sent to owners of the selected establishments. A research assistant then phoned to arrange a site visit for consenting establishments and interviewed the nail care technician in attendance. Educational information was given and infection control practices were discussed at the end of the visit. All surveys were conducted during a two-month period, beginning in August 1996.

The questionnaire was specifically developed for this investigation. Two manicure/pedicure establishments were visited in order to obtain background information to facilitate development of the survey. Existing surveys were obtained13,14 and used in designing the one for this investigation. The final survey consisted of closed- and open-ended questions.

Analysis of responses to the closed-ended questions was done using the SPSS/PC statistical package, whereas the open-ended responses were transcribed into a word processor, categorized, and analyzed descriptively.

RESULTS

Of the 120 establishments in the random sample, 72 (60%) agreed to participate. Since no data were available on those establishments that refused to participate, no comparisons between respondents and non-respondents can be made.

The characteristics of the respondents are presented in Table I. Seventy-nine percent of the technicians worked on a fulltime basis and 76% obtained their education from private schools. One third of the technicians had 5 years or less of work experience.

The technicians reported that, on average, they did 5 manicures per day and that each took approximately 30 minutes to complete. The number of manicures per day ranged from I to 16 and the length of time for each manicure ranged from 20 to 60 minutes. The time spent on a manicure was not related to the experience or training of the technician.

The technicians did an average of 2 pedicures per day and each pedicure took almost an hour to complete. Again, there was considerable variation in the number of pedicures per day (range = 1-10) and time taken to complete a pedicure (range 30-60 minutes).

Forty percent of the technicians indicated that they had been immunized against hepatitis B. Eighteen of the 43 unimmunized technicians indicated they were unaware of hepatitis B vaccine. As shown in Table II, immunized technicians were more likely to have graduated recently (p<0.05) and were 1.5 times more likely to use gloves when performing a pedicure (p<0.05).

The technicians reported inconsistent use of gloves in performing a manicure and pedicure. Twenty-five of the 72 (35%) respondents reported ever wearing gloves while performing a manicure, but 22 of these 25 technicians reported not using them consistently. Similarly, 42 of the 67 responding technicians (63%) reported ever using gloves during a pedicure but 29 of these reported using them inconsistently.

In terms of instruments, between 95 and 100% of tools were re-used even if this was not the intent of the manufacturer (see Figure 1). As depicted in Table III, nearly 40% of technicians had only one set of tools for manicures and one set for pedicures. In situations with minimal time between clients, the technicians may not have had sufficient time to disinfect their instruments between procedures.

Technicians were asked which solutions they used to disinfect their instruments. The most commonly used solutions were those containing isopropyl alcohol. Fifty-seven (79%) respondents indicated that they used either 70% or 99% isopropyl alcohol and an additional 8 respondents (11%) used a solution containing 14% isopropyl alcohol. One person used 2% glutaraldehyde alone and two technicians reported using this solution as well as isopropyl alcohol. For the remaining technicians, combinations of chemicals were used, including many which could not be identified. Most appeared to have quaternary ammonium compounds as their active ingredient.

Only one technician (1%) reported using an autoclave to sterilize the instruments. Other methods of "sterilization" included UV light (38%), Glass Beads (18%) and Ultrasonic solution (1%). Forty-nine percent of technicians reported not using any method of sterilization. Some technicians reported using multiple methods of sterilization.

Three scenarios dealing with injuries were presented to each technician. The technicians' responses to these open-ended questions were recorded and categorized into four main types of responses. Table IV shows the lack of knowledge of appropriate procedures in that very few reported disinfecting their instruments and many reported stopping the bleeding without using gloves.

A final set of questions dealt with the disposal of sharp instruments such as razor blades. Approximately one third of technicians indicated that they re-used razor blades on instruments like the callus remover. When disposal of sharp instruments was required, most indicated they disposed of the razors in garbage cans without any special precautions. A few indicated that they wrapped the blades in tissues or placed them back in the original wrappers. Only two technicians indicated they considered such razors as biomedical waste or used a proper puncture-resistant, sharps container.

DISCUSSION

The completeness of the sampling frame in capturing all nail care establishments in North York cannot be assessed. Certainly operations, such as those located in a person's home, were unlikely to be included in this survey. The representativeness of the sample cannot be assessed since no data exist on those who refused to participate. While a 60% response rate is fairly good, it is possible that those with poor infection control procedures were less inclined to participate. Therefore the survey results may suggest better infection control practices than actually exist.

The results raise important issues in terms of infection control. The potential for the spread of pathogens was in three areas: (a) re-use of disposable instruments such as razors; (b) inadequate disinfection of equipment; and (c) inadequate management of cuts and abrasions. More stringent precautions are required to prevent possible exposures to blood and bloodborne pathogens.

The re-use of disposable equipment is a potential source of infection. The primary concern is that a cut caused by a re-used tool may lead to transmission of bloodborne infections. Procedures such as tattooing "," have been shown to be associated with the transmission of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, syphilis and warts. It is likely that transmission of infections could also result from re-using razors and scissors without adequate sterilization.

The disinfection process used in such establishments is inadequate for the job. Isopropyl alcohol and quaternary ammonium materials are classified as "low level" disinfectants and should not be used on instruments that pierce the skin. Although isopropyl alcohol is effective against hepatitis B, it is not usually recommended since contact time is limited by its volatility.17 Only one establishment reported using an autoclave. UV light and ultrasonic solutions are not approved methods of sterilization and should be discouraged. Glass bead sterilizers, initially designed for endodontics procedures, have not been approved for sterilization.18,19 The effectiveness of this method depends on the instrument size, preparation time for the sterilizer and infective load.20,21

From discussions with technicians, methods for manicures do vary. Some technicians insist that they do not cause cuts (i.e., they push back cuticles and do not cut them) and thus they feel they will not cut their clients. Others do cut cuticles so the risk of bleeding is higher. While a manicure and pedicure is not intended to cause bleeding, informal discussions with experienced technologists revealed that inadvertent cuts do occur. However, these technologists indicated that such occurrences became less frequent once they gained experience. The use of styptic pencils is discouraged since they may act as a vehicle for transmitting infections. When injuries do occur, technicians should follow the standard universal precautions22 to prevent transmission of infection to themselves and other clients.

All of the above findings speak to the lack of information and training on infection control available to technicians working in these establishments. Informal conversations indicated that most technicians received little training in infection control. Moreover, they receive information on disinfectants directly from salespersons and at trade shows. The lack of familiarity of the technicians with hepatitis B suggests the need for improved infection control education.

In conclusion, there is a need for the development of infection control protocols for manicure and pedicure establishments since the potential for transmission of infectious diseases does exist.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors thank Sharon Power and Kimberley Smith for their work on this study, as well as Fred Ruf, Joann Braithwaite and Evelyn Wallace for constructive comments during the preparation of this manuscript.

[Reference]

REFERENCES

[Reference]

1. Hadler SC, Margolis HS. Viral hepatitis. In: Evans AS (Ed.), Viral Infections of Humans. New York: Plenum Publishing Corporation, 1991.

2. Anonymous. An outbreak of hepatitis B associated with reusable subdermal electroencephalogram electrodes. Hepatitis B Outbreak Investigation Team. CI&IJ2000;162(8):1127-31.

3. Kent GP, Brondum J, Keenlyside RA, et al. A large outbreak of acupuncture-associated hepatitis B. Am JEpidemiol 1988;127:591-98.

4. Slater PE, Ben-Ishai P, Leventhal A, et al. An acupuncture-associated outbreak of hepatitis B in Jerusalem. Eurj Epidemiol 1988;4(3):322-25.

5. Stryker WS, Gunn RA, Francis DP. Outbreak of hepatitis B associated with acupuncture. J Fam Pract 1986;22(2):155-58.

6. Long GE, Rickman LS. Infectious complications of tattoos. Clin Infect Dis 1994;18(4):610-19.

7. Sebastian VJ, Ray S, Bhattacharya S, et al. Tattooing and hepatitis B infection. J Gastroenterol Hepatol 1992;7(4):385-87.

[Reference]

8. Polish LB, Shapiro CN, Bauer F, et al. Nosocomial transmission of hepatitis B virus associated with the use of a spring-loaded fingerstick device. NEngl JMed 1992;326(11):721-25.

9. Mele A, Corona R, Tosti ME, et al. Beauty treatments and risk of parenterally transmitted hepatitis: Results from the hepatitis surveillance system in Italy. Stand J Infect Dis 1995;27(5):441-44.

10. Johnson CJ, Anderson H, Spearman J, Madson J. Ear piercing and hepatitis. Nonsterile instruments for ear piercing and the subsequent onset of viral hepatitis. JAMA 1974;227(10):1165.

11. Nayagam M. Hairdressing a health hazard. Austr Fam Phys 1995;24(l):88.

12. Bouwman R, Cannata S, Fett MJ. Hepatitis B vaccination in the skin penetration industry. Med J Australia 1994;160(3):165.

13. Soforek E. An Exploratory Survey of Micro Pigmentation Establishments and their Control Practices in the City of Toronto: Does the Possibility of Blood borne Disease Transmission Exist with this Technique? Metropolitan Toronto Teaching Health Units, North York Public Health Department, North York, Ontario, 1994.

14. Tang CM. Exploratory Study: Infection Control for Barbers and Hairdressers. Metropolitan Toronto Teaching Health Units, North York Public Health Department, 1994.

15. Ko YC, Ho MS, Chiang TA, et al. Tattooing as a risk of hepatitis C virus infection. J Med Virol 1992;38:288-91.

16. Chen TZ, Wu JC, Yen FS, et al. Injection with nondisposable needles as an important route for transmission of acute community-acquired hepatitis C virus infection in Taiwan. J Med Virol 1995;46(3):247-51.

17. Thraenhart 0. Measures for disinfection and control of viral hepatitis. In: Block SS (Ed.), Disinfection, Sterilization and Preservation, 4th edition. London: Lea & Febiger, 1991;445-71.

18. Dowler J. Glass Bead Sterilizers. Internal Report for Health Canada, March 20, 1989.

19. Standards/Guidelines Committee CHICA-- Canada. Glass bead sterilizers: Information review. Can J lnfection Control 1994;9(4):123.

20. Corner GA. An assessment of the performance of a glass bead sterilizer. J Hospital Infection Control 1987;10;308-11.

21. Englehart JP. Factors affecting sterilization in glass bead sterilizers. J Endodontics 1984;10(10):465-70.

22. Centers for Disease Control. Update: Universal precautions for the prevention of transmission of human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B, and other bloodborne pathogens in health care settings. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports 1988;37:377-82.

Received: July 25, 1997

Revisions requested: October 7, 1997

Revised article received: September 5, 2000

Accepted: September 14, 2000

[Author Affiliation]

Ian L. Johnson, MD, MSc, FRCPC,1John J.M. Dwyer, PhD,2

I. D. Rusen, MD, MSc, FRCPC,3 Rita Shahin, MD, MHSc, FRCPC,2

Barbara Yaffe, MD, MHSC, FRCPC2

[Author Affiliation]

1. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

2. Toronto Public Health Division, Toronto, ON

3. Community Medicine Residency Program, University of Toronto (at the time of study)

Correspondence: Dr. Ian Johnson, Rm. 4017, McMurrich Building, 12 Queen's Park Cres. W, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Fax: 416-978-8299, E-mail: ian.johnson@utoronto.ca

This work was done prior to amalgamation. The area is now part of Toronto.

Iowa--Aftermarket parts

The following bills died in committee: House Bill (HB) 114, which would have restricted the use of aftermarket crash parts to repair vehicles; Senate Study Bill (SSB) 1038, which would have added to the definition of insurance fraud making a false statement or representation in the course of reporting, investigating or adjusting a claim; and HB 632, which would have prohibited insurers from using gender in underwriting.

Explaining India, one problem at a time ; Nilekani's book is wonderfully anecdotal but falls a trifle short on analysis, says Srivatsa Krishna.

Nandan Nilekani's Imagining India is a remarkable book ofstories, soulful conversations and anecdotes, all trying to explainIndia, its people and its institutions. Nandan has the right idea,but ultimately the book does not go beyond these conversations andinsights, and this is where it fails. However, India unarguablyneeds educated, honest, middle class professionals without famousfamily surnames to play major roles in public life and politics. IfNandan is preparing ground to enter the political realm, and hisbook is a de facto manifesto, then this is a welcome move whichshould be supported by one and all. Nandan could well be one amongsta few vying to become India's Obama in 2018.

Imagining India Nandan Nilekani Penguin Books India Pages:380Price: Rs 699The book itself is both exhilarating anddisappointing. Exhilarating because it is packed with conversationsand anecdotes, which, taken together, give a fascinating ringsideview of contemporary India. However, it also disappoints because itdoesn't go very much further than this. Nandan has interviewed aslew of eminent experts across the spectrum and has, surprisingly,left the narrative jarringly conversational over large tracts of thebook by repeatingX or Y tells methis or that. Instead, what oneexpected from a problem solver of Nandan's repute was the extractionof the essence of these conversations in such a way so as to open upnew vistas for debate and new ways to solve old, lingering problems.The single biggest attraction of the book is that it repeats a lotof facts about India, some of which you probably already knowbutthey are melded to wonderful new stories and anecdotes.Here are somequestions that Nandan's book fails to address: For example, why isprivate investment not flowing into infrastructure despite the factthat most policy barriers to the sector have been removed? Is statefunding of elections or other kinds of reforms to the electoralsystem, which lower the financial barriers to entry, possible? Canpolitical parties introduce a salaried class of professionals tojoin their ranks so as to infuse ideas and new thinking into publiclife? If so, how can one make these people 'electable'? How can anational smart ID card be designed and implemented when thechallenge is of collecting and validating a one billion-strongdatabase, which is constantly in flux? How do we ensure thatcriminals don't contest elections or come to power? What aboutindustries other than IT, which have flourished post-1991 India, andwhat lessons do these hold for us? Tackling some of these key issuesthat face India today would have given the book more teeth. However,the book has some poignant stories to tell. It talks about how agroup of fishermen in Tamil Nadu accessed loans to buy fibre glassboats to increase their incomes; a poignant account of India'sunique relationship with the English language, an incisiveexplanation of India's democracy and the school system and anexpansive analysis of the Nehruvian era and its challenges.Bookmark

ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFS

Will Polanski return?

The company handling Roman Polanski's new movie is trying to dowhat no one has accomplished in the last 22 years: bring the directorback to the United States. Sources say that Artisan Entertainment isattempting to line up negotiations between the Los Angeles districtattorney's office and Polanski, who fled the United States in 1977after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl. Artisanwants the director to promote his Johnny Depp thriller "The NinthGate," slated for a March 31 release. According to the D.A.'s office,there have been no recent talks regarding his return, and he remainsa fugitive with a warrant out for his arrest. Turner's Super Bowl gig

Tina Turner plans to kick off her world tour with a rendition of"Proud Mary" during the Super Bowl pregame festivities. She'll alsodo a new cut, "When the Heartache Is Over," at the Jan. 30 footballchampionship in Atlanta. The NFL has yet to announce the halftimelineup. `Safe Harbor' canceled

The WB has canceled the family drama "Safe Harbor" and willreplace it with "7th Heaven: Beginnings" in its original 6 p.m.Sunday time slot on WGN-Channel 9.

Cubs know the drill -- score nil: Brewers 6, Cubs 0: Eighth straight loss at home direct result of 4 Brewers homers

Dusty Baker led off Monday night with a plea.

"Please, no more `when are you getting fired' questions or any ofthose things," the Cubs manager said. "That's really in control ofhow we play, and we play every day. You can't answer those questionsevery day."

The neon handwriting on the walls of ivy doesn't appear to be ininvisible ink. After absorbing his eighth straight loss at WrigleyField, his fourth in a row overall and dropping to 19 games below.500, a rocket scientist isn't required to figure out where Baker'ssituation is headed in the final year of his four-year contract.

After a 6-0 loss to Milwaukee, the only wind that matters nowisn't the one blowing off Lake Michigan. Even when it was blowing inMonday night, it didn't deter the Brewers from hitting four home runs-- three off loser Greg Maddux (7-8).

"You can hit them through the wind here, and they proved it,"Maddux said.

The winds of change are in the air and look to be unstoppable.Comcast cameras caught one fan behind home plate holding up a FIREDUSTY sign during every at-bat in the ninth.

Baker and his team are in trouble with no major shift towardsunnier days anywhere in the stormy forecast after a 2-11 stretch oflosing. How did this happen? What's responsible?

"Everything -- pitching, hitting, defense, you name it," Madduxsaid. "It starts with pitching. I haven't pitched well the last month-and-a-half and need to start pitching better."

Would he approve a trade if he is asked if he wants to go to acontender before the July 31 deadline?

"I don't have a no-trade clause," he said. "I have no decision inanything. I worry about playing the game, not the business side."

The Cubs tried a two-out rally in the third. Juan Pierre buntedfor a single, and Neifi Perez singled him to third. But Derrek Leelooked at strike three to crush that chance.

Lee, who grounded into a double play in the first, singled Perezto second in the sixth with none out. This appeared to be the Cubs'best chance to break through against left-hander Chris Capuano (9-4).

But after Aramis Ramirez grounded into a double play, Phil Nevinleft Perez stranded at third by grounding out. Nevin started in leftfor the first time since 2003 without incident.

"Staying away from the double-play ball has been the story allyear," Baker said.

That and being outhomered 101-61.

"If your pitching holds up, we're going to score sooner or later,"Maddux said.

Maybe not. The Cubs have come a whisker away from being shut outthree straight times. If not for a run in the ninth Sunday inMinnesota, they'd be on a shutout streak.

"It's frustrating, but it's still the greatest job in the world,even when things are going tough," Maddux said. "It's still aprivilege to come to the park every day. You just wish you wereplaying better and winning more. Keep doing what you think is right.Use your past experiences to help you."

The Cubs' past experiences are no encouragement at all.

mkiley@suntimes.com

CUBS RECAP:

Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Weeks 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .286

BHall ss 4 0 0 0 0 3 .273

Jenkins rf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .260

CaLee lf 4 1 2 2 0 2 .274

Fielder 1b 4 2 2 2 0 0 .290

Koskie 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .261

DMiller c 3 1 1 0 1 0 .263

Gross cf 4 1 2 2 0 2 .263

Capuano p 4 0 0 0 0 1 .111

Turnbow p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --

Totals 35 6 8 6 1 11

CUBS AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Pierre cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .248

NPerez 2b 4 0 3 0 0 0 .241

DeLee 1b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .327

ARamirez 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .249

Nevin lf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .269

Cedeno ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .277

JJones rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .290

HBlanco c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .226

Maddux p 1 0 0 0 1 1 .138

Aardsma p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

a-Murton ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .262

Ohman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000

Totals 32 0 7 0 2 6

Milwaukee 200 000 301--6 8 1

CUBS 000 000 000--0 7 0

a-flied out for Aardsma in the 8th.

E--Koskie (7). LOB--Milwaukee 3, CUBS 7. 2B--CaLee (13). HR--Gross (7), off Maddux; Fielder 2 (16), off Ohman, Maddux; CaLee (24),off Maddux. RBI--CaLee 2 (62), Fielder 2 (42), Gross 2 (19). GIDP--DeLee, ARamirez.

Runners left in scoring position--Milwaukee 1 (DMiller); CUBS 4(DeLee, Nevin, JJones 2).

Runners moved up--Fielder.

DP--Milwaukee 2 (BHall, Weeks and Fielder), (BHall, Weeks andFielder).

Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Capuano W, 9-4 8 7 0 0 2 4 125 3.10

Turnbow 1 0 0 0 0 2 12 3.51

CUBS IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Maddux L, 7-8 7 7 5 5 0 7 89 4.94

Aardsma 1 0 0 0 0 2 18 5.89

Ohman 1 1 1 1 1 2 19 4.46

Capuano pitched to 2 batters in the 9th.

Inherited runners-scored--Turnbow 2-0.

Umpires--Home, Jim Joyce; First, Dana DeMuth; Second, DougEddings; Third, Paul Schrieber.

T--2:26. A--39,698 (41,118).

HOW THEY SCORED

BREWERS FIRST Weeks struck out. Hall struck out. Jenkins singled.Lee homered to left on a 0-2 count, Jenkins scored. Two runs. Brewers2, Cubs 0.

Brewers seventh Fielder homered to center on a 1-0 count. Koskiegrounded out. Miller singled. Gross homered to center on a 1-0 count,Miller scored. Three runs. Brewers 5, Cubs 0.

Brewers ninth Ohman pitching. Fielder homered to right on a 0-1count. One run. Brewers 6, Cubs 0.

Cubs know the drill -- score nil: Brewers 6, Cubs 0: Eighth straight loss at home direct result of 4 Brewers homers

Dusty Baker led off Monday night with a plea.

"Please, no more `when are you getting fired' questions or any ofthose things," the Cubs manager said. "That's really in control ofhow we play, and we play every day. You can't answer those questionsevery day."

The neon handwriting on the walls of ivy doesn't appear to be ininvisible ink. After absorbing his eighth straight loss at WrigleyField, his fourth in a row overall and dropping to 19 games below.500, a rocket scientist isn't required to figure out where Baker'ssituation is headed in the final year of his four-year contract.

After a 6-0 loss to Milwaukee, the only wind that matters nowisn't the one blowing off Lake Michigan. Even when it was blowing inMonday night, it didn't deter the Brewers from hitting four home runs-- three off loser Greg Maddux (7-8).

"You can hit them through the wind here, and they proved it,"Maddux said.

The winds of change are in the air and look to be unstoppable.Comcast cameras caught one fan behind home plate holding up a FIREDUSTY sign during every at-bat in the ninth.

Baker and his team are in trouble with no major shift towardsunnier days anywhere in the stormy forecast after a 2-11 stretch oflosing. How did this happen? What's responsible?

"Everything -- pitching, hitting, defense, you name it," Madduxsaid. "It starts with pitching. I haven't pitched well the last month-and-a-half and need to start pitching better."

Would he approve a trade if he is asked if he wants to go to acontender before the July 31 deadline?

"I don't have a no-trade clause," he said. "I have no decision inanything. I worry about playing the game, not the business side."

The Cubs tried a two-out rally in the third. Juan Pierre buntedfor a single, and Neifi Perez singled him to third. But Derrek Leelooked at strike three to crush that chance.

Lee, who grounded into a double play in the first, singled Perezto second in the sixth with none out. This appeared to be the Cubs'best chance to break through against left-hander Chris Capuano (9-4).

But after Aramis Ramirez grounded into a double play, Phil Nevinleft Perez stranded at third by grounding out. Nevin started in leftfor the first time since 2003 without incident.

"Staying away from the double-play ball has been the story allyear," Baker said.

That and being outhomered 101-61.

"If your pitching holds up, we're going to score sooner or later,"Maddux said.

Maybe not. The Cubs have come a whisker away from being shut outthree straight times. If not for a run in the ninth Sunday inMinnesota, they'd be on a shutout streak.

"It's frustrating, but it's still the greatest job in the world,even when things are going tough," Maddux said. "It's still aprivilege to come to the park every day. You just wish you wereplaying better and winning more. Keep doing what you think is right.Use your past experiences to help you."

The Cubs' past experiences are no encouragement at all.

mkiley@suntimes.com

CUBS RECAP:

Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Weeks 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .286

BHall ss 4 0 0 0 0 3 .273

Jenkins rf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .260

CaLee lf 4 1 2 2 0 2 .274

Fielder 1b 4 2 2 2 0 0 .290

Koskie 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .261

DMiller c 3 1 1 0 1 0 .263

Gross cf 4 1 2 2 0 2 .263

Capuano p 4 0 0 0 0 1 .111

Turnbow p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --

Totals 35 6 8 6 1 11

CUBS AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Pierre cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .248

NPerez 2b 4 0 3 0 0 0 .241

DeLee 1b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .327

ARamirez 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .249

Nevin lf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .269

Cedeno ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .277

JJones rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .290

HBlanco c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .226

Maddux p 1 0 0 0 1 1 .138

Aardsma p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

a-Murton ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .262

Ohman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000

Totals 32 0 7 0 2 6

Milwaukee 200 000 301--6 8 1

CUBS 000 000 000--0 7 0

a-flied out for Aardsma in the 8th.

E--Koskie (7). LOB--Milwaukee 3, CUBS 7. 2B--CaLee (13). HR--Gross (7), off Maddux; Fielder 2 (16), off Ohman, Maddux; CaLee (24),off Maddux. RBI--CaLee 2 (62), Fielder 2 (42), Gross 2 (19). GIDP--DeLee, ARamirez.

Runners left in scoring position--Milwaukee 1 (DMiller); CUBS 4(DeLee, Nevin, JJones 2).

Runners moved up--Fielder.

DP--Milwaukee 2 (BHall, Weeks and Fielder), (BHall, Weeks andFielder).

Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Capuano W, 9-4 8 7 0 0 2 4 125 3.10

Turnbow 1 0 0 0 0 2 12 3.51

CUBS IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Maddux L, 7-8 7 7 5 5 0 7 89 4.94

Aardsma 1 0 0 0 0 2 18 5.89

Ohman 1 1 1 1 1 2 19 4.46

Capuano pitched to 2 batters in the 9th.

Inherited runners-scored--Turnbow 2-0.

Umpires--Home, Jim Joyce; First, Dana DeMuth; Second, DougEddings; Third, Paul Schrieber.

T--2:26. A--39,698 (41,118).

HOW THEY SCORED

BREWERS FIRST Weeks struck out. Hall struck out. Jenkins singled.Lee homered to left on a 0-2 count, Jenkins scored. Two runs. Brewers2, Cubs 0.

Brewers seventh Fielder homered to center on a 1-0 count. Koskiegrounded out. Miller singled. Gross homered to center on a 1-0 count,Miller scored. Three runs. Brewers 5, Cubs 0.

Brewers ninth Ohman pitching. Fielder homered to right on a 0-1count. One run. Brewers 6, Cubs 0.