brambly leola

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

NCAA Won't Ban Miami Hurricanes From Bowls Over Booster's Gifts

The University of Miami's athletic director, Blake James, walks to an NCAA Committee on Infractions hearing in Indianapolis in June. The school's failings "enabled a culture of noncompliance," the NCAA said Tuesday, in announcing penalties for the school and its football and men's basketball coaches.

Michael Conroy/AP

The University of Miami "lacked institutional control" and didn't notice multiple violations by a booster who for years gave cash and gifts to athletes, the NCAA said. But the organization says the school's football team can play in the postseason, stopping short of the harshest punishment available.

The Miami Hurricanes football program will be stripped of three scholarships a year for three years, the NCAA said Tuesday. The men's basketball team will also lose one scholarship a year during that probationary time. Describing the NCAA's decision Tuesday, The Miami Herald called it "a gift."

Other penalties include a five-game suspension for the school's former head basketball coach, Frank Haith, who is now at the University of Missouri. Several assistant coaches from the football and basketball teams are also being punished.

The forbidden activities involved members of several divisions of the school, from the football and basketball programs to the athletics department itself. The school's failings "enabled a culture of noncompliance," the NCAA said Tuesday.

"These staff members had a poor understanding of NCAA rules or felt comfortable breaking them," the NCAA said in a news release announcing the penalty. "Furthermore, some of the coaches provided false information during the enforcement staff and university's investigation."

The NCAA's Committee on Infractions held a hearing this past summer with the university, which had imposed its own punishments on the football program, including a two-year ban on postseason play.

"The case involved numerous, serious violations of NCAA rules, many of which were not disputed by the university," the NCAA says. "Overall, it involved 18 general allegations of misconduct with 79 issues within those allegations."

The case included revelations made by Nevin Shapiro, a disgraced financier who is currently serving a prison sentence for running a $930 million Ponzi scheme. Two summers ago, Shapiro told Yahoo Sports that he had entertained or helped school athletes and potential recruits for years.

"At a cost that Shapiro estimates in the millions of dollars, he said his benefits to athletes included but were not limited to cash, prostitutes, entertainment in his multimillion-dollar homes and yacht, paid trips to high-end restaurants and nightclubs, jewelry, bounties for on-field play (including bounties for injuring opposing players), travel and, on one occasion, an abortion," Yahoo Sports reported.

Shapiro has been called a "rogue" booster. But the committee, which refers to Shapiro not by name, but only as "the booster," says that he also had a public involvement with the school, from donating $500,000 to the athletic program over several years to hosting a fundraiser to benefit the men's basketball program. A student athletes' lounge was also named after Shapiro — a detail mentioned in the report that helps remove any lingering doubt about "the booster's" identity.

It seems that when Shapiro began to fall on hard times, he sought help from school officials — including the return of a $50,000 gift. And the NCAA found that matters seemed to escalate along with Shapiro's legal troubles.

"After the booster was incarcerated in 2010, he began to threaten the former head men's basketball coach and assistant coach and demand money," according to the NCAA report. "The committee determined the former head men's basketball coach and the former assistant men's basketball coach worked together to make sure the booster received $10,000 to end the booster's threats."

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/22/239690438/ncaa-wont-ban-miami-hurricanes-from-bowls-over-boosters-gifts?ft=1&f=1013
Similar Articles: national coffee day Steam Controller FIFA 14 zac efron Lauren Silverman

Nicolas Cage Criticizes Hollywood's Lack of Opportunities for Male Asian Actors (Video)

Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage just wrapped up shooting on location in China for British director Nick Powell’s upcoming period drama Outcast, co-starring Hayden Christensen. But before Cage left the country, he gave an interview to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, in which he reveals a few things about his role in the film, discusses his acting methods and speaks out against the dearth of lead roles offered to male Asian actors in Hollywood.

Answering a question about his experience working with the Chinese crew on Outcast, Cage took the opportunity to briefly turn the interview in a more serious direction.

PHOTOS: Inside Hollywood's Surprise Trip to 'China's Oscars'

After praising his female co-star Liu Yifei's performance and saying how much he enjoyed working with the Chinese industry, Cage added: “I hope that we will see more Chinese actors in American cinema too. We do see Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi and Chow Yun Fat, but it’s very rare to see the Chinese male actor in Hollywood movies, which is something I take great umbrage with. You know, my son is Asian. He may want to direct one day; he may want to be an actor like his father -- and I want that to be open to him. So I want to make some kind of effort to see more of that happen in Hollywood.”

Cage’s wife Alice Kim is Korean-American. He said their 8-year-old son, Kal-El (named after Superman's birth name on planet Krypton), came along with him to China.

“He was here with me for the first few weeks, but he had to go back to the States to go back to school," he said. "Selfishly, I wanted him to stay with me the whole time, but the teachers said he had to go back to school, so he went home."

Outcast is the first film Cage – whose filmography spans some 75 films – has shot in China. He described the experience as positive and noted that he has "no doubt" China will soon surpass North America to become the world's largest film market, as many analysts have forecasted.

The film is a co-production between China's Yunnan Film Group and U.S.-Australian outfit Arclight Films.

“I do want to come back, and I want to work with a Chinese director and Chinese actors,” Cage said. “If there’s something that makes sense for a white guy like me, I’d like to do that here in China.”

He said he views Tony Leung (In the Mood for Love, Lust, Caution) as one of the world’s great actors.

“I would like to make a movie with Tony, but I don’t know how to do it,” he said. “I want to do it.”

PHOTOS: Hollywood's Riches to Rags: 18 Stars Who Have Lost It All

Last month Cage attended China’s Huading Awards, an awards show that honors talent across all categories of the arts. At the time he told The Hollywood Reporter that he hopes to soon move to Hong Kong.

He reiterated that desire in the CCTV interview, saying, “One of my goals is to have a base near mainland China. I think Hong Kong would be a good match for me. I like being in Hong Kong.”

Cage also gave a few hints about his role in Outcast, describing his character as a "reformed crusader," adding that Powell, who is British, asked him to put on an English accent for the part.

“I'm working with a character who goes through a catharsis -- who transforms from a violent man, as a crusader, to someone who no longer wants that life -- and he leaves,” he said.

The hardworking actor also shared a few of his methods: “When I act, I hear it like music,” he said. “In my head, I hear the dialogue like music. And the movements, like dance…I do design my performances, and then when I get to the set, the part I can’t talk about -- the magic inside, the sacred part, the emotion -- I fill it with that. But I design it first like a performance.”

Near the end of the segment, CCTV’s anchor gently challenged Cage on his recent filmography, noting that some critics have questioned his choice of projects.

“You can’t make your choices based on what critics think. You have to make your choices based on what’s honest for you,” Cage replied.

He added: "I can’t let it bother me. I’m happy. I’m making movies I want to make. Something is working."

Watch the full interview below.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HollywoodReporterAsia/~3/yyVZfmuwkRU/story01.htm
Tags: Eminem Rap God Valerie Harper Ncaa Football Scores Whitey Bulger the bachelorette

Amazon's boosting the minimum order eligible for free shipping to $35, a $10 increase.

Amazon's boosting the minimum order eligible for free shipping to $35, a $10 increase. That's the first time in more than ten years the price has gone up. [Amazon via Lifehacker]

Worried about chemicals in cosmetics? Apps may help

By Natash Baker

TORONTO (Reuters) - Consumers worried about what might be lurking within their cosmetics and skin care products can turn to new apps that scan barcodes to review the items for safety.

Each day women are exposed to about 168 chemicals in beauty products, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a Washington-based health research and advocacy group that looks into toxic chemicals.

Think Dirty, a free iPhone app, gives a product a score after scanning the barcode for ingredients and chemicals.

"We all use so many products, and even when we look at the back of the label, we don't understand what's in them because we're not chemists," said Lily Tse, the founder of Think Dirty, which is based in Toronto.

"Cost is No. 1 for the companies who make the products, and making something synthetic that can be mass produced lowers the cost," she explained.

The score indicates whether a product has any harmful ingredients and allergens. The app also lists each ingredient and its potential effect on health using sources such as The National Library of Medicine's Hazardous Substances Data Bank, the EWG and the David Suzuki Foundation, a Canadian environmental group.

Warnings from regulatory agencies in other countries show up as well.

"If it's considered safe here but not considered safe in Japan then consumers might want to know this," Tse said.

In 2004 the EWG started a website called the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database so consumers could look up potentially hazardous ingredients in skin care products.

It contains information on more than 78,000 items available in the United States.

This month the group plans to release the EWG Skin Deep app for iPhone and Android, which also will let consumers gain access to product information by scanning barcodes.

"We've had hundreds of millions of searches on the site since its launch 2004 and it's one of our flagship projects. It has pretty much changed the way people think about cosmetics," said Nneka Leiba, deputy director of research for the EWG.

Leiba said more people are becoming aware of toxins in cosmetics, and companies are responding by phasing out harmful ingredients.

Think Dirty and Skin Deep both suggest products that contain safer ingredients.

(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Xavier Briand)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/worried-chemicals-cosmetics-apps-may-help-173343346.html
Tags: eric decker courtney stodden Emmys 2013 Seaside Heights lsu football

Personal finance in schools | Marketplace.org

A recent poll conducted by Harris Interactive and sponsored by Bank of America shows that 99 percent of adults feels that personal finance should be taught in high schools. But only four states mandate a stand-alone class that is solely dedicated personal finance.

Why?

TIME magazine contributor and author Dan Kadlec says that one reason that all high school students are not receiving courses in personal finance is that the idea financial education is a relatively new one. "Twenty years ago, this term financial literacy [or] financial education barely even existed. It's only in the last really five years since the recession that the policymakers and leaders have decided we need better personal finance education to safeguard against another meltdown," he says.

Kadlec states that the lack of access to financial education in high schools is not due to a lack of curriculum, but to an overabundance of educational resources with no central focus. "There's not a lot of continuity to the programs. A lot of it is regional or local. What we don't have is any real national leadership," Kadlec says.

According to Kadlec, other countries are implementing mandatory financial education in schools and the key to getting these courses in American schools hinges on the states creating a cohesive strategy with support from the federal government.

"It's a global thing and we are not getting there largely because education is dealt with at the state level," he says."The states are thinking about it [and] they want to do it, but it's really hard to get them all together with a common initiative."

Kadlec mentions two sites worth checking out---if you want to know what you should know about personal finance: My Money.gov and Money as You Learn.

Source: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/your-money/financial-health/personal-finance-schools
Similar Articles: Federal government shutdown dexter whitney houston

Alright, What's Up With That? (talking-points-memo)

Share With Friends:

| Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/335476663?client_source=feed&format=rss
Tags: Texas A&m Football What Does the Fox Say Ncaa Football Scores Edward Snowden

Cooler Temps, Rain Help Ease Australian Wildfires

SYDNEY (AP) — Firefighters battling dozens of wildfires in Australia's most populous state merged two of the most worrying blazes on Tuesday to try to reduce the threat of a more unpredictable inferno taking hold.

There had been fears that three of the fires near the Blue Mountains west of Sydney would join to create a massive, erratic wall of fire that would be difficult to control. So firefighters struck first, combining two of the fires into one that is easier to manage and contain.

Cooler temperatures, calmer winds and a light drizzle were giving thousands of firefighters a reprieve in fighting the blazes Tuesday.

The fires have killed one man, destroyed 208 homes and damaged another 122 in New South Wales state since last week, the Rural Fire Service said.

The number of fires burning dropped from more than 100 last week to 60 on Tuesday, with 15 still out of control, Fire Service spokesman Joel Kursawe said. Fires that had previously been ranked the highest danger were all downgraded by the fire service.

Still, officials said the threat had not completely evaporated, as the weather was expected to heat back up on Wednesday.

"We cannot afford for complacency or a lull, as welcome as any relief in weather conditions are," Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=239476309&ft=1&f=
Category: Miley Cyrus Pregnant once upon a time revenge mariano rivera Deanna Burditt