Upsets in Big Ten leave Michigan State on top

Iowa knocked off Michigan and Northwestern upset Nebraska, leaving Michigan State the big winner in the Big Ten's Legends Division on Saturday.

And the Spartans barely escaped a close call against Minnesota.

In Iowa City, the Hawkeyes made a late goal line stand to preserve a 24-16 lead and beat No. 13 Michigan.

That was a mild upset because just last week Iowa had lost to Minnesota. What happened in Lincoln, Neb., was far more surprising.

With backup quarterback Cain Colter playing for Dan Persa, Northwestern upset the ninth-ranked Cornhuskers 28-25.

The loss by Nebraska put No. 15 Michigan State (4-1) alone in first in the Legends Division, the only team with one loss. The Spartans rallied in the second half to beat Minnesota 31-24.

Michigan, Iowa and Nebraska are all 3-2.

No. 1 LSU 9, No. 2 Alabama 6

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - No. 1 LSU gained the inside track to the BCS title game, beating No. 2 Alabama 9-6 on Drew Alleman's 25-yard field goal in overtime after a fierce defensive struggle in which neither team reached the end zone.

The Crimson Tide missed four field goals, including Cade Foster's 52-yard attempt after Alabama got the ball first in the extra period. LSU appeared to win the game on Michael Ford's run around left end after taking a pitch, but he stepped out of bounds at the 7.

After two plays gained nothing, LSU (9-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) sent on Alleman to attempt his third field goal of the game on third down. Alabama (8-1, 5-1) tried to freeze him by calling timeout, but he calmly knocked it through to set off a wild celebration by the visiting team.

The crowd of more than 100,000 at Bryant-Denny Stadium - most of them dressed in crimson - sat in stunned silence as LSU celebrated its victory in only the 23rd regular-season matchup between the top two teams in The Associated Press rankings.

LSU still must win its last three regular-season games - No. 8 Arkansas is the toughest test - and then would have to get through the SEC championship game. But the Tigers are the clear favorite after winning another huge game away from home, emerging with the victory in a matchup between the two teams generally considered the best in the land.

No. 3 Oklahoma State 52, No. 17 Kansas State 45

Brandon Weeden threw for a school-record 502 yards and four touchdowns, and Joseph Randle scored the tiebreaking 23-yard touchdown with 2:16 remaining to lift Oklahoma State over Kansas State.

The Cowboys (9-0, 6-0 Big 12) matched the best start in school history and withstood quite a scare from K-State (7-2, 4-2), which had three shots at the end zone in the final 12 seconds.

Collin Klein missed on 5-yard passes intended for Tyler Lockett and Chris Harper and then overshot Tramaine Thompson as time expired.

All-America receiver Justin Blackmon caught 13 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns, atoning for his two-fumble game with a 54-yard touchdown catch with 4:47 remaining that pulled the Cowboys out of a 38-37 deficit. He also caught the 2-point conversion for a 45-38 lead.

No. 4 Stanford 38, Oregon State 13

Andrew Luck shook off the rain and the chill to throw for 206 yards and three touchdowns as Stanford extended the nation's longest winning streak to 17 games.

The victory was costly for the Cardinal, who lost senior receiver Chris Owusu to a concussion in the second quarter after a helmet-to-helmet collision with Beavers cornerback Jordan Poyer. Owusu was taken from the field by ambulance.

The Cardinal (9-0, 7-0 Pac-12) are off to their best start since 1952.

Redshirt freshman Sean Mannion threw for 252 yards and a touchdown for Oregon State (2-7, 2-4), which is guaranteed a losing season with the defeat. The Beavers' only wins have come against Arizona and Washington State.

No. 5 Boise State 48, UNLV 21

Kellen Moore threw five touchdown passes to become college football's winningest quarterback and Boise State brushed off a first-half scare from UNLV.

Moore threw two touchdowns each to Tyler Shoemaker and Matt Miller, racking up 224 yards through the air on 18-of-31 passing for Boise State (8-0, 3-0 Mountain West Conference) despite leaving the game early in the fourth quarter.

The victory gave Moore 46 career wins, one more than former Texas star Colt McCoy.

Moore, in his fourth year as Boise State's starting quarterback, is 46-2, tops all-time among FBS quarterbacks in winning percentage (95.8 percent). Stanford's Andrew Luck is second at 85.3 percent (29-5).

UNLV (2-6, 1-2) matched the Broncos' first two touchdowns, but a pass interference call close to halftime set up Boise State's go-ahead score.

No. 6 Oregon 34, Washington 17

Oregon's LaMichael James ran for 156 yards and a touchdown, and the sixth-ranked Ducks forced three key turnovers and extended the longest win streak in the rivalry with their foes to the north.

On a night filled with Washington nostalgia as the school honored the 1991 co-national championship team and said goodbye to Husky Stadium in its current incarnation before a $250 million renovation, the Ducks (8-1, 6-0) ruined the party.

Eddie Pleasant picked off Keith Price twice in the first half and Terrance Mitchell stripped tight end Michael Hartvigson late in the third quarter. The Ducks converted the three turnovers by Washington (6-3, 4-2 Pac-12) into 14 points.

No. 7 Oklahoma 41, Texas A&M 25

Landry Jones threw two touchdown passes during Oklahoma's 28-point third-quarter surge, but the Sooners lost All-America receiver Ryan Broyles for the year with a knee injury.

Broyles came out in the third quarter and the school announced after the game the senior had torn a ligament in his left knee. He had two catches for 87 yards and both helped set up touchdowns.

The Sooners (8-1, 5-1 Big 12) led just 13-10 at halftime, but Texas A&M (5-4, 3-3) had its second-half troubles continue - the Aggies gave up big second-half leads in its previous three losses.

The Aggies, headed for the Southeastern Conference, won't miss coming to Norman. They're now 0-7 on Owen Field during the Bob Stoops era; the previous six losses had come by an average of 41 points.

No. 8 Arkansas 44, No. 10 South Carolina 28

Tyler Wilson threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns as No. 8 Arkansas held on for a win.

Jarius Wright added four catches for 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Dennis Johnson had a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown for the Razorbacks, who won their fifth straight.

Arkansas (8-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) outgained the Gamecocks (7-2, 5-2) 435-207, but a pair of missed field goals and key dropped passes kept the Razorbacks from securing the win until late.

The Razorbacks led 24-14 at halftime, but South Carolina pulled within 30-28 early in the fourth quarter on a touchdown run by quarterback Connor Shaw.

Northwestern 28, No. 9 Nebraska 25

Second-string quarterback Kain Colter ran for two touchdowns and passed for another to lead Northwestern to an upset.

Filling in for injured starter Dan Persa in the second half, Colter scored from the 1 with 1:34 left to finish a 13-play, 66-yard drive that chewed more than 7 minutes off the clock after the Cornhuskers had pulled to 21-18.

Taylor Martinez, who passed for 289 yards and two scores, hurriedly moved Nebraska (7-2, 3-2 Big Ten) down the field. He hit Kenny Bell for a 14-yard touchdown with 18 seconds to play, but Charles Brown recovered the onside kick and Northwestern (4-5, 2-4) ran out the clock.

Persa injured his left shoulder in the second quarter when he was slammed to the ground by Eric Martin.

Colter ran for 58 yards and completed four of six passes for 115 yards.

Iowa 24, No. 13 Michigan 16

Marcus Coker ran for 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Iowa held off a late Michigan rally.

James Vandenberg added 171 yards passing and a TD for the Hawkeyes (6-3, 3-2 Big Ten), who have won three straight over Michigan for the first time in school history.

Michigan drove to Iowa's 3-yard line with 16 seconds left. But Denard Robinson missed on four straight throws, with Iowa's B.J. Lowery breaking up Robinson's final toss to seal the win.

Vincent Smith appeared to pull the Wolverines (7-2, 3-2) within 24-22 on an 82-yard TD run after bouncing off Iowa's James Morris and going untouched for the score. Replay officials overruled the call, but Michigan drove to the Hawkeyes doorstep before being stopped.

Robinson finished 17-of-37 passing for 194 yards and two TD passes.

No. 14 Houston 56, UAB 13

Case Keenum threw for 407 yards to become the most prolific passer in NCAA history and he added his first two rushing touchdowns of the season for Houston.

Keenum passed Timmy Chang's career record of 17,072 yards passing for Hawaii from 2000-04. Keenum finished the game with 17,212 yards passing.

Houston (9-0 overall, 5-0 Conference USA) has won its first nine games for the first time in school history. It also was 8-0 in 1979 and 1990.

Keenum completed 39 of 44 passes for 407 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. The senior completed a 16-yard pass to Justin Johnson in the third quarter to pass Chang's mark. Kennum tied Chang's record with a 26-yard pass to Johnson on the previous play.

Keenum, who threw nine TD passes against Rice last week, completed his first 11 passes against UAB (1-8, 1-5). He began the night 267 yards away from matching Chang's mark.

No. 15 Michigan State 31, Minnesota 24

Le'Veon Bell's 35-yard touchdown run with 10:58 remaining helped Michigan State hold off upset-minded Minnesota.

Bell ran for 96 yards and two touchdowns, and Kirk Cousins threw for 296 yards and a pair of TDs. The Spartans (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) trailed 24-21 after three quarters before rallying.

MarQueis Gray threw three touchdown passes to Da'Jon McKnight for the Golden Gophers (2-7, 1-4), who upset Iowa last weekend but were unable to shake up the conference title race again.

With the score tied at 24, Bell found running room to the right and went all the way to the end zone to put the Spartans ahead. Minnesota had the ball at the Michigan State 45 with 15 seconds left, but Gray threw an interception.

No. 18 Georgia 63, New Mexico State 16

Aaron Murray threw five second-quarter touchdown passes, former walk-on receiver Brandon Harton ran for 98 yards and Georgia won its seventh straight game.

The Bulldogs (7-2) turned to Harton this week after Isaiah Crowell and Carlton Thomas were suspended one game for failing a drug test. Georgia was also without top reserve tailback Richard Samuel, who will miss the next month after undergoing ankle surgery.

But with Murray running the offense, Georgia had little reason for concern against New Mexico State (3-6).

Murray completed 18 of 23 passes for 238 yards in one half of play.

No. 19 Wisconsin 62, Purdue 17

Montee Ball rushed for a career-high 223 yards with three touchdowns and Wisconsin rebounded from back-to-back losses.

Russell Wilson threw two touchdowns and scored on a scramble for the Badgers (7-2, 3-2 Big Ten). The lopsided victory was a boost to the Badgers after their late collapses at Michigan State and Ohio State the past two weeks.

Raheem Mostert had five kickoff returns for 206 yards for the Boilermakers (4-5, 2-3), helping them stay in the game early on. Caleb TerBush started at quarterback for Purdue, with Robert Marve also getting some time.

Wilson was 15 of 20 for 205 yards, and had 76 yards rushing for the Badgers.

UCLA 29, No. 20 Arizona State 28

Derrick Coleman scored the go-ahead touchdown for UCLA on a 1-yard run with 49 seconds to play, and Alex Garoutte missed a 46-yard field goal attempt as time expired.

Coleman's dive capped a perilous 79-yard drive featuring a fumble by Coleman, an offensive pass-interference penalty and a third-and-29 conversion by the Bruins (5-4, 4-2 Pac-12), who improbably moved into first place in the Pac-12 South for the first time since early last season.

Brock Osweiler passed for 264 yards and moved the Sun Devils 47 yards in 38 seconds to set up Garoutte's final attempt, but the freshman pushed it wide right - his second miss of the half.

Osweiler rallied Arizona State from a nine-point deficit in the second half, capping a 93-yard drive with a 1-yard TD dive with 7:48 left.

No. 23 Cincinnati 26, Pittsburgh 23

Zach Collaros threw for 214 yards and ran for two touchdowns as Cincinnati took firm control of the Big East race.

Isaiah Pead rushed for 118 yards and Tony Miliano kicked four field goals for the Bearcats (7-1, 3-0 Big East), who won their sixth straight and took a significant step toward winning the program's third conference title in four years.

Pitt (4-5, 2-2) led by 10 early in the third quarter but a pair of turnovers deep in its own territory allowed Cincinnati to get back in the game.

Tino Sunseri ran for a touchdown and passed for another but Kevin Harper's 50-yard field goal attempt with 14 seconds left was wide right.

Louisville 38, No. 24 West Virginia 35

Teddy Bridgewater threw for one touchdown, Andrew Johnson returned a blocked field goal for another score and Louisville upset West Virginia.

Not expected to be a factor in the Big East this season, the surprising Cardinals (5-4, 3-1) won their third straight in a tight race and dealt a severe blow to West Virginia's title chances.

Louisville also got a payback of sorts after being overlooked in the recent Big 12 expansion sweepstakes, a bid that went to the Mountaineers.

Geno Smith threw for 410 yards and three scores but couldn't bring the Mountaineers (6-3, 2-2) back from 10 points down in the fourth quarter.

Louisville broke a four-game losing streak in the series.

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Geoffrey Mutai, Firehiwot Dado win at NYC Marathon

Geoffrey Mutai shattered the course record in the New York City Marathon on Sunday, no surprise after he ran the fastest marathon ever earlier this year.

Firehiwot Dado wasn't a favorite coming into the women's race and victory seemed impossible with even a few miles left. But the Ethiopian made a stunning comeback for her first major marathon title

Mutai finished in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 6 seconds, crushing the previous mark of 2:07:43 set by Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia a decade earlier.

The 30-year-old has established himself as the favorite at next summer's Olympics after two landmark performances this year.

In April, he ran the fastest 26.2 miles in history: 2:03:02 in Boston. It didn't count as a world record because the course is considered too straight and too downhill.

The second- and third-place finishers Sunday also broke the old course record. Fellow Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai (no relation), the London Marathon champ, was 1:22 back. Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia was third.

Dado trailed London Marathon champ Mary Keitany by nearly 2 1/2 minutes at the 15-mile mark but passed her with about a mile left. The 27-year-old Dado won in 2:23:15 - almost a minute better than her previous personal best.

Fellow Ethiopian Buzunesh Deba, who lives in the Bronx, was second for her first podium finish at a major marathon, four seconds back. It was the second-closest women's finish in the race's history.

"I didn't really think we would catch her," Dado said through a translator in a post-race interview. "When we caught up to her, I was very surprised."

Keitany was third, 23 seconds back. The Kenyan was well under course-record pace for much of the race but faded badly over the final miles.

A record 47,107 runners started the race through the five boroughs.

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Missouri to SEC is done deal

After weeks of waiting, Missouri's move to the Southeastern Conference became official on Sunday.

The SEC released a statement saying the conference's presidents and chancellors acted unanimously, and Missouri will join the league effective July 1, 2012.

"The Presidents and Chancellors of the Southeastern Conference are pleased to welcome the University of Missouri to the SEC," Florida President Bernie Machen said in a statement. "The University of Missouri is a prestigious academic institution with a strong athletic tradition and a culture similar to our current institutions."

Missouri will be leaving the Big 12, a conference it has been a part of since 1907, including its days as the Big Eight.

"The Southeastern Conference is a highly successful, stable, premier athletic conference that offers exciting opportunities for the University of Missouri," Missouri Chancellor Brady J. Deaton said. "In joining the SEC, MU partners with universities distinguished for their academic programs and their emphasis on student success. The SEC will provide our student-athletes with top flight competition and unparalleled visibility. We came to this decision after careful consideration of the long term best interests of our university.

"We believe the Southeastern Conference is an outstanding home for the Mizzou Tigers, and we take great pride in our association with this distinguished league."

The addition of Missouri will increase SEC membership to 14 schools, including Texas A&M, which announced last month that it was also leaving the Big 12 for the SEC.

Asked what division Missouri would be in, Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long posted on his Twitter account that Missouri will be in the "East initially."

Interim Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas declined comment.

Sunday's announcement comes as no surprise. Last month the Missouri board of curators gave Deaton the permission to change leagues and from that point on it seemed only a matter of time before the Tigers said goodbye to the Big 12.

Apparently, legal issues and other details took time to work out. The Big 12 needed to have a replacement for Missouri lined up, because the conference needs 10 schools to fulfill its TV contracts.

The Big 12 took care of that and bid farewell to Missouri 10 days ago, when it invited West Virginia from the Big East to join the conference. The league did not even list Missouri among the schools it anticipated would be competing in the Big 12 next year.

But despite what the SEC and Big 12 plan, the Big East still will have a say in when Missouri and West Virginia will be allowed to start competing in their new conference homes.

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto has been adamant about enforcing the league's 27-month notification period and holding West Virginia in the conference for the next two years.

West Virginia filed a lawsuit challenging that rule and the Big East countered with a lawsuit asking the courts to make the school abide by its contract.

The Big East is in rebuilding mode now and is expected to start adding new members in the next few days. The league last week approved inviting Boise State, Navy and Air Force for football only and SMU, Houston and Central Florida for all sports.

Its goal is to form a 12-team football league, but even if all the schools its targeting accept invitations, there are various hurdles that would have to be cleared - including waiting periods and exit fees - to have them in the Big East by 2012.

It's possible Missouri could be stuck in the Big 12 until West Virginia can depart from the Big East.

The SEC had said it was working on schedules for a 13-team conference when Texas A&M joined.

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NBA players get new offer, and deadline to take it

Commissioner David Stern gave NBA players an offer and a deadline: Accept a chance to earn up to 51 percent of basketball-related income by Wednesday or get ready for a deal that's a whole lot worse.

He wouldn't call it an ultimatum, but it didn't sure sit well with the union.

"The players will not be intimidated," attorney Jeffrey Kessler said early Sunday after eight hours of negotiations stretched late into the night. "They want to play, they want a season, but they are not going to sacrifice the future of all NBA players under these types of threats of intimidation. It's not happening on Derek Fisher's watch; it's not happening on Billy Hunter's watch; it's not happening on the watch of this executive committee."

Kessler said the proposal was really 50.2 percent for the players and called the chance of them ever reaching 51 percent a "fraud" and an "illusion."

Whatever. If players don't agree to it by Wednesday, Stern said they would get a deal that would guarantee them just 47 percent of BRI and call for a flex salary cap.

"We hope that this juxtaposition will cause the union to assess its position and accept the deal," Stern said.

Thus ended another frustrating day, one that puts a lengthy 2011-12 season in doubt.

"Today was another sad day for our fans, for arena workers, our parking lot attendants, our vendors. Very frustrating, sad day," union president Fisher added. "We, for sure, unequivocally, made good faith efforts to try to get this deal done tonight. And we're at a loss for why we could not close it out."

And it remains difficult to see how they can. Stern certainly wouldn't speculate on the chances.

"I'm not going to make percentage guesses or anything like that. We want our players to play. We'd like to have a season," he said. "These are the terms upon which we're prepared to gear up and get in as many games as possible."

Players and owners met with federal mediator George Cohen for more than eight hours, and Stern said Cohen offered six "what if?" recommendations relating to the BRI split and the salary cap system.

Stern said owners accepted the first five and would put them in writing in a formal proposal to the players, hopefully Sunday. But it wasn't acceptable Saturday, with Stern saying Kessler rejected it.

"I think it's fair to say that speaking on behalf of the union, Mr. Kessler rejected the mediators' recommendations and our proposal," Stern said. "But hope springs eternal, and we would love to see the union accept the proposal that is now on the table."

Though insistent on no more than a 50-50 split, owners will offer the players a band that would allow them to receive between 49 percent and 51 percent of revenue. However, Stern's description of how it would work was confusing, and Kessler said under "the wildest, most unimaginable, favorable projections and we might squeeze out to 50.2."

Fisher said the players' proposal would have given them about 51 percent, with a portion taken out to use for retired players' benefits

Day 128 of the lockout came at the end of a tenuous week in which both sides seemed as much at odds with themselves as each other. Some players took part in conference calls to discuss the option of decertifying the union and filing an antitrust case against the league, while hardline owners were in favor of offering the players 47 percent now and not going beyond 50.

Although the lengthy meeting offered hope of compromise - despite the rare attendance of Hall of Famer and Charlotte owner Michael Jordan, and Portland billionaire owners Paul Allen, considered to be hard-liners - Kessler said owners never really made any.

"They came in here with a prearranged plan to try to strong arm the players," he said. "They knew today they were sticking to 50, essentially 50.2. They were going to make almost no movement on the system, and then they were going to say, 'My way, or the 47 percent highway.'"

He added there was no reason to talk again before Wednesday if the owners stick to their current position.

Other items in the new owners' proposal related to rules for teams paying the luxury tax and for the use of the midlevel exception. Players have said the system issues are just as important as the BRI split, because they fear owners' proposals essentially would prevent teams in the biggest markets from being free agent options.

A month of the season already has been lost, and more games could be in jeopardy soon. Nobody said the decertification threat made any real impact on the discussions, but Fisher also said there's not a deal yet that's worth a vote.

If they can't agree to one by Wednesday, it will be even harder to find common ground. Players already rejected a flex cap in June.

Fisher and Kessler again questioned the owners' willingness to negotiate, but Stern said they were ready to make a deal - by Wednesday.

"We want to allow the union enough time to consider our most recent proposal, and we are hopeful that they will accept," he said.

As for the Wednesday deadline, he added that it "doesn't aid the negotiating process to just leave it hanging out there."

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LSU locks up No. 1, Okla St jump to 2 in AP poll

LSU put a lock on the top spot, Oklahoma State moved up to No. 2 for the best ranking in school history, and Alabama slipped to No. 4 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll after losing a 1 vs. 2 showdown against the Tigers.

LSU received 59 out of 60 first-place votes after beating the Crimson Tide 9-6 in overtime in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday night.

Oklahoma State moved up one spot after a wild 52-45 victory against Kansas State and Stanford also moved up a spot to third.

Alabama slipped two spots Sunday. Boise State remained No. 5 with one first-place vote.

The rest of the top 10 was No. 6 Oregon, followed by Oklahoma, Arkansas, Clemson and Virginia Tech.

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Accusations of child sex, cover-up rock Penn St

An explosive sex abuse scandal and allegations of a cover-up rocked Happy Valley after former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, once considered Joe Paterno's heir apparent, was charged with sexually assaulting eight boys over 15 years. Among the allegations was that a graduate assistant saw Sandusky assault a boy in the shower at the team's practice center in 2002.

Sandusky retired in 1999 but continued to use the school's facilities for his work with The Second Mile, a foundation he established to help at-risk kids, where authorities say he encountered the boys. The case took on added dimension Saturday when perjury charges were announced against Tim Curley, Penn State's athletic director, and Gary Schultz, vice president for finance and business. They were also accused of failing to alert police - as required by state law - of their investigation of the allegations.

"This is a case about a sexual predator who used his position within the university and community to repeatedly prey on young boys," state Attorney General Linda Kelly said Saturday in a statement.

Paterno, who last week became the coach with the most wins in Division I football history, wasn't charged, and the grand jury report didn't appear to implicate him in wrongdoing.

Under Paterno's four-decades-and-counting stewardship, the Nittany Lions became a bedrock in the college game, and fans packed the stadium in State College, a campus town routinely ranked among America's best places to live and nicknamed Happy Valley. Paterno's teams were revered both for winning games - including two national championships - and largely steering clear of trouble. Sandusky, whose defenses were usually anchored by tough-guy linebackers - hence the moniker "Linebacker U" - spent three decades at the school. The charges against him cover the period from 1994 to 2009.

Sandusky, 67, was arrested Saturday and released on $100,000 bail after being arraigned on 40 criminal counts. Curley, 57, and Schultz, 62, were expected to turn themselves in on Monday in Harrisburg.

The school said Sunday that it would bar Sandusky from campus.

The allegations against Sandusky, who started The Second Mile in 1977, range from sexual advances to touching to oral and anal sex. The young men testified before a state grand jury that they were in their early teens when some of the abuse occurred; there is evidence even younger children may have been victimized. Sandusky's attorney Joe Amendola said his client has been aware of the accusations for about three years and has maintained his innocence.

"He's shaky, as you can expect," Amendola told WJAC-TV after Sandusky was arraigned. "Being 67 years old, never having faced criminal charges in his life and having the distinguished career that he's had, these are very serious allegations."

A preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday would likely be delayed, Amendola said. Sandusky is charged with multiple counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of a child, indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor, as well as single counts of aggravated indecent assault and attempted indecent assault.

No one answered a knock at the door Saturday at Sandusky's modest, two-story brick home at the end of a dead-end road in State College. A man who answered the door at The Second Mile office in State College declined to give his name and said the organization had no comment.

The grand jury said eight boys were targets of sexual advances or assaults by Sandusky. None was named, and in at least one case, the jury said the child's identity remains unknown to authorities.

One accuser, now 27, testified that Sandusky initiated contact with a "soap battle" in the shower that led to multiple instances of involuntary sexual intercourse and indecent assault at Sandusky's hands, the grand jury report said.

He said he traveled to charity functions and Penn State games with Sandusky, even being listed as a member of the Sandusky family party for the 1998 Outback Bowl and 1999 Alamo Bowl. But when the boy resisted his advances, Sandusky threatened to send him home from the Alamo Bowl, the report said.

Sandusky also gave him clothes, shoes, a snowboard, golf clubs, hockey gear and football jerseys, and even guaranteed that he could walk on to the football team, the grand jury said, and the boy also appeared with Sandusky in a photo in Sports Illustrated. He testified that Sandusky once gave him $50 to buy marijuana, drove him to purchase it and then drove him home as the boy smoked the drug.

The first case to come to light was a boy who met Sandusky when he was 11 or 12, the grand jury said. The boy received expensive gifts and trips to sports events from Sandusky, and physical contact began during his overnight stays at Sandusky's home, jurors said. Eventually, the boy's mother reported the allegations of sexual assault to his high school, and Sandusky was banned from the child's school district in Clinton County in 2009. That triggered the state investigation that culminated in charges Saturday.

But the report also alleges much earlier instances of abuse and details failed efforts to stop it by some who became aware of what was happening.

Another child, known only as a boy about 11 to 13, was seen by a janitor pinned against a wall while Sandusky performed oral sex on him in fall 2000, the grand jury said.

And in 2002, Kelly said, a graduate assistant saw Sandusky sexually assault a naked boy, estimated to be about 10 years old, in a team locker room shower. The grad student and his father reported what he saw to Paterno, who immediately told Curley, prosecutors said.

Curley and Schultz met with the graduate assistant about a week and a half later, Kelly said.

"Despite a powerful eyewitness statement about the sexual assault of a child, this incident was not reported to any law enforcement or child protective agency, as required by Pennsylvania law," Kelly said.

There's no indication that anyone at school attempted to find the boy or follow up with the witness, she said.

Curley denied that the assistant had reported anything of a sexual nature, calling it "merely `horsing around,'" the 23-page grand jury report said. But he also testified that he barred Sandusky from bringing children onto campus and that he advised Penn State President Graham Spanier of the matter.

The grand jury said Curley was lying, Kelly said, adding that it also deemed portions of Schultz's testimony not to be credible.

Schultz told the jurors he also knew of a 1998 investigation involving sexually inappropriate behavior by Sandusky with a boy in the showers the football team used.

But despite his job overseeing campus police, he never reported the 2002 allegations to any authorities, "never sought or received a police report on the 1998 incident and never attempted to learn the identity of the child in the shower in 2002," the jurors wrote. "No one from the university did so."

Lawyers for both Curley and Schultz issued statements saying they are innocent of all charges.

In response to a request for comment from Paterno, a spokesman for the athletic department said all such questions would be referred to university representatives, who released a statement from Spanier calling the allegations against Sandusky "troubling" and adding that Curley and Schultz had his unconditional support.

He predicted they will be exonerated.

"I have known and worked daily with Tim and Gary for more than 16 years," Spanier said. "I have complete confidence in how they handled the allegations about a former university employee."

The university is also paying legal costs for Curley and Schultz because the allegations against them concern how they fulfilled their responsibilities as employees, spokeswoman Lisa Powers said.

Sandusky, once considered a potential successor to Paterno, drew up the defenses for the Nittany Lions' national-title teams in 1982 and 1986. The team is enjoying another successful run this season; at 8-1, Penn State is ranked No. 16 in the AP Top 25 and is the last undefeated squad in Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions were off Saturday.

As the head football coach, Paterno has spent years cultivating a reputation for putting integrity ahead of modern college-sports economics. It's a notion that has benefited Penn State's marketing and recruiting efforts over the decades and one that the Big Ten school's alumni proudly tout years after they leave.

"We're supposed to be one of the universities to follow after, someone to look up to," said sophomore Brian Prewitt of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. "Now that people on the top are involved, it's going to be bad."

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Kudankulam plant is 100% safe: Kalam

Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who is on a mission to allay fears about the safety of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, on Sunday said it was ‘completely safe’ as it is located in a low frequency seismic zone, a view rejected by the locals.

Mr. Kalam, who held discussions with scientists and engineers of the Indo-Russian Joint Venture, including Nuclear Power Corporation Chairman S.K. Jain, said, “The plant is safe in all aspects.”

“There is no need to worry about the safety aspect of the plant, as it is in a low frequent seismic zone. There is also no threat of a Tsunami as the plant is 1,300 km away from the seismic centre point. Besides, the plant is 13.5 metres above sea level,” Mr. Kalam, a votary of nuclear energy, said.

Mr. Kalam’s visit comes amid the continuing standoff on the Rs 13,600 crore Indo-Russian project, whose first unit was scheduled to be commissioned in December.

Officials said the agitation by locals against the project has upset the scheduled commissioning.

Mr. Kalam said all safety aspects, including automatic cooling of the plant in the event of generator failure after power goes off, ‘double wall’ protection for KNPP workers inside and outside, structural safety and container to store the 25 per cent residual fuel from the plant have been provided.

He said he was also sure that there would be no damage to the surrounding environment with the setting up of the plant.

Mr. Kalam said ‘Bath Tub’ facility has been provided to flush core melt waste. “There is a solution in the tub which will take care of all radiation problems. There will be no radiation at all. The workers inside and outside the plant are 100 per cent safe.”

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The top iPhone and iPad apps on App Store

App Store Official Charts for the week ending Oct. 31, 2011:

Top Paid iPhone Apps:

1. Angry Birds (Clickgamer.com)

2. Zombieville USA 2 (Mika Mobile, Inc.)

3. Angry Birds Seasons (Rovio Mobile Ltd.)

4. Fruit Ninja (Halfbrick Studios)

5. Camera+ (tap tap tap)

6. TETRIS (Electronic Arts)

7. Flashlight (i4software)

8. Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots (Halfbrick Studios)

9. Plants vs. Zombies (PopCap)

10. WhatsApp Messenger (WhatsApp Inc.)

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Top Free iPhone Apps:

1. Facebook Messenger (Facebook, Inc.)

2. Rope'n'Fly - From Dusk Till Dawn (Robert Szeleney)

3. Flick Home Run ! (infinity pocket)

4. Reckless Getaway (Polarbit)

5. Family Feud & Friends (Ludia)

6. Facebook (Facebook, Inc.)

7. Flashlight.? (Latter-Day Apps)

8. Brothers In Arms 2: Global Front Free+ (Gameloft)

9. Pandora Radio (Pandora Media, Inc.)

10. Drag Racing Free (Creative Mobile Games)

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Top Paid iPad Apps:

1. Bike Baron (Mountain Sheep)

2. Zombieville USA 2 (Mika Mobile, Inc.)

3. Pages (Apple)

4. Where's My Water? (Disney)

5. Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation (Gameloft)

6. Living Earth HD - World Clock and Weather (Moshen Chan)

7. Keynote (Apple)

8. Numbers (Apple)

9. Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesels (Callaway Digital Arts, Inc.)

10. Weather+ (International Travel Weather Calculator)

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Top Free iPad Apps:

Brothers In Arms 2: Global Front Free+ (Gameloft)

2. Adobe Reader (Adobe Systems Incorporated)

3. Reckless Getaway (Polarbit)

4. iBooks (Apple)

5. Facebook (Facebook, Inc.)

6. Family Feud & Friends (Ludia)

7. Rope'n'Fly - From Dusk Till Dawn (Robert Szeleney)

8. Netflix (Netflix, Inc.)

9.Drag Racing Free (Creative Mobile Games)

10. Adobe Carousel (Adobe Systems Incorporated)

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Emerson Network Power Monitoring Software Provides Holistic View of Critical Infrastructure

Liebert Nform combines real-time monitoring with cost-effective deployment through the use of the existing network infrastructure and monitors any simple network management protocol (SNMP) device that supports a network interface. The newest version of the software introduces a new management dashboard, enhanced trending capabilities and improved reporting, and also supports the recently launched Liebert MPX and Liebert MPH rack power distribution units.

The new Liebert Nform dashboard enables IT and data center managers to create a complete system view of all critical infrastructure equipment within the data center, allowing immediate response to changes in the critical system. It features graphs and charts that provide “at-a-glance” system views, including real-time status on each piece of equipment.

The dashboard also features detachable windows that take advantage of systems with multiple desktop monitors to allow access to more information. Navigating through the system allows IT and data center managers to quickly troubleshoot and understand the impact of events and issues. A detached alarms window ensures alarms and events have the appropriate visibility.

“A small problem in a data center can quickly escalate into a disaster. Knowing what is happening with power and cooling equipment can keep critical infrastructure systems at peak operating efficiency, which is vital to system reliability,” said Anand Ekbote, vice president, Liebert monitoring, Emerson Network Power. “By utilizing a comprehensive approach to monitoring, Liebert Nform delivers the real-time data essential to maximizing critical system uptime given IT budget constraints and growing user demand.”

Liebert Nform now also offers trending of device performance information and the ability to easily export current and historical data to external sources to create reports that help IT and data center managers understand the efficiency and capacity of the data center. Trend reports can dynamically update at operator-defined intervals or on specific alarm-events, which prevents the system from creating unnecessary traffic on the IT network. This trend analysis and reporting capability helps companies detect changes in equipment performance by graphically illustrating its operation history. Thus, bringing attention to potentially system-affecting conditions before they threaten critical systems.

Liebert Nform can increase the runtime of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems by sending shutdown commands to non-critical equipment. It is also both scalable and adaptable to grow as systems expand and business needs change.

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Andy Rooney, wry '60 Minutes' commentator, dies

Andy Rooney so dreaded the day he had to end his signature "60 Minutes" commentaries about life's large and small absurdities that he kept going until he was 92 years old.

Even then, he said he wasn't retiring. Writers never retire. But his life after the end of "A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney" was short: He died Friday night, according to CBS, only a month after delivering his 1,097th and final televised commentary.

Rooney had gone to the hospital for an undisclosed surgery, but major complications developed and he never recovered.

"Andy always said he wanted to work until the day he died, and he managed to do it, save the last few weeks in the hospital," said his "60 Minutes" colleague, correspondent Steve Kroft.

Rooney talked on "60 Minutes" about what was in the news, and his opinions occasionally got him in trouble. But he was just as likely to discuss the old clothes in his closet, why air travel had become unpleasant and why banks needed to have important-sounding names.

Rooney won one of his four Emmy Awards for a piece on whether there was a real Mrs. Smith who made Mrs. Smith's Pies. As it turned out, there was no Mrs. Smith.

"I obviously have a knack for getting on paper what a lot of people have thought and didn't realize they thought," Rooney once said. "And they say, `Hey, yeah!' And they like that."

Looking for something new to punctuate its weekly broadcast, "60 Minutes" aired its first Rooney commentary on July 2, 1978. He complained about people who keep track of how many people die in car accidents on holiday weekends. In fact, he said, the Fourth of July is "one of the safest weekends of the year to be going someplace."

More than three decades later, he was railing about how unpleasant air travel had become. "Let's make a statement to the airlines just to get their attention," he said. "We'll pick a week next year and we'll all agree not to go anywhere for seven days."

In early 2009, as he was about to turn 90, Rooney looked ahead to President Barack Obama's upcoming inauguration with a look at past inaugurations. He told viewers that Calvin Coolidge's 1925 swearing-in was the first to be broadcast on radio, adding, "That may have been the most interesting thing Coolidge ever did."

"Words cannot adequately express Andy's contribution to the world of journalism and the impact he made - as a colleague and a friend - upon everybody at CBS," said Leslie Moonves, CBS Corp. president and CEO.

Jeff Fager, CBS News chairman and "60 Minutes" executive producer, said "it's hard to imagine not having Andy around. He loved his life and he lived it on his own terms. We will miss him very much."

"60 Minutes" will end its broadcast Sunday with a tribute to Rooney by veteran correspondent Morley Safer.

For his final essay, Rooney said that he'd live a life luckier than most.

"I wish I could do this forever. I can't, though," he said.

He said he probably hadn't said anything on "60 Minutes" that most of his viewers didn't already know or hadn't thought. "That's what a writer does," he said. "A writer's job is to tell the truth."

True to his occasional crotchety nature, though, he complained about being famous or bothered by fans. His last wish from fans: If you see him in a restaurant, just let him eat his dinner.

Rooney was a freelance writer in 1949 when he encountered CBS radio star Arthur Godfrey in an elevator and - with the bluntness millions of people learned about later - told him his show could use better writing. Godfrey hired him and by 1953, when he moved to TV, Rooney was his only writer.

He wrote for CBS' Garry Moore during the early 1960s before settling into a partnership with Harry Reasoner at CBS News. Given a challenge to write on any topic, he wrote "An Essay on Doors" in 1964, and continued with contemplations on bridges, chairs and women.

"The best work I ever did," Rooney said. "But nobody knows I can do it or ever did it. Nobody knows that I'm a writer and producer. They think I'm this guy on television."

He became such a part of the culture that comic Joe Piscopo satirized Rooney's squeaky voice with the refrain, "Did you ever ..." Rooney never started any of his essays that way. For many years, "60 Minutes" improbably was the most popular program on television and a dose of Rooney was what people came to expect for a knowing smile on the night before they had to go back to work.

Rooney left CBS in 1970 when it refused to air his angry essay about the Vietnam War. He went on TV for the first time, reading the essay on PBS and winning a Writers Guild of America award for it.

He returned to CBS three years later as a writer and producer of specials. Notable among them was the 1975 "Mr. Rooney Goes to Washington," whose lighthearted but serious look at government won him a Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting.

His words sometimes landed Rooney in hot water. CBS suspended him for three months in 1990 for making racist remarks in an interview, which he denied. Rooney, who was arrested in Florida while in the Army in the 1940s for refusing to leave a seat among blacks on a bus, was hurt deeply by the charge of racism.

Gay rights groups were mad, during the AIDS epidemic, when Rooney mentioned homosexual unions in saying "many of the ills which kill us are self-induced." Indians protested when Rooney suggested Native Americans who made money from casinos weren't doing enough to help their own people.

The Associated Press learned the danger of getting on Rooney's cranky side. In 1996, AP Television Writer Frazier Moore wrote a column suggesting it was time for Rooney to leave the broadcast. On Rooney's next "60 Minutes" appearance, he invited those who disagreed to make their opinions known. The AP switchboard was flooded by some 7,000 phone calls and countless postcards were sent to the AP mail room.

"Your piece made me mad," Rooney told Moore two years later. "One of my major shortcomings - I'm vindictive. I don't know why that is. Even in petty things in my life I tend to strike back. It's a lot more pleasurable a sensation than feeling threatened.

"He was one of television's few voices to strongly oppose the war in Iraq after the George W. Bush administration launched it in 2002. After the fall of Baghdad in April 2003, he said he was chastened by its quick fall but didn't regret his "60 Minutes" commentaries.

"I'm in a position of feeling secure enough so that I can say what I think is right and if so many people think it's wrong that I get fired, well, I've got enough to eat," Rooney said at the time.

Andrew Aitken Rooney was born on Jan. 14, 1919, in Albany, N.Y., and worked as a copy boy on the Albany Knickerbocker News while in high school. College at Colgate University was cut short by World War II, when Rooney worked for Stars and Stripes.

With another former Stars and Stripes staffer, Oram C. Hutton, Rooney wrote four books about the war. They included the 1947 book, "Their Conqueror's Peace: A Report to the American Stockholders," documenting offenses against the Germans by occupying forces.

Rooney and his wife, Marguerite, were married for 62 years before she died of heart failure in 2004. They had four children and lived in New York, with homes in Norwalk, Conn., and upstate New York. Daughter Emily Rooney is a former executive producer of ABC's "World News Tonight." Brian was a longtime ABC News correspondent, Ellen a photographer and Martha Fishel is chief of the public service division of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Services will be private, and it's anticipated CBS News will hold a public memorial later, Brian Rooney said Saturday.

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Singer Andy Williams says he has bladder cancer

Singer Andy Williams told the crowd at his Christmas show Saturday night that he has bladder cancer.

The Tri-Lakes News reports the 83-year-old Williams appeared early in the show at the Moon River Theatre and vowed to return next year to celebrate his 75th year in show business.

"I do have cancer of the bladder," Williams said. "But that is no longer a death sentence. People with cancer are getting through this thing. They're kicking it, and they're winning more and more every year. And I'm going to be one of them."

The silver-haired "Moon River" singer missed planned performances this fall with an undisclosed medical condition and the theater announced recently that he would likely miss his holiday schedule as well because of the condition. The newspaper reported he has not started treatment, though it did not identify the person who provided that information.

Williams' appearance Saturday was a surprise and brought a standing ovation from a nearly full house. The golden-voiced singer had a string of hits in the 1950s and `60s, including "Can't Get Used to Losing You" and "Butterfly, but he is best known for his version of "Moon River." He earned 18 gold and three platinum albums in his career.

Williams hosted annual Christmas specials on television and performed Christmas shows on the road for many years. His 1963 recording, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," is a Christmas standard.

The Iowa native also hosted an Emmy-winning variety television program "The Andy Williams Show," from 1962-71. He published an autobiography, "Moon River and Me: A Memoir," in 2009.

Williams sang "The Christmas Song" (known as "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") at the theater he started in 1992 and said he would be back next September and October to celebrate.

"I'm going to do the shows I've planned to do," he said.

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Greece talks under way in bid to avoid bankruptcy

A Greek official says talks are under way on the formation of a temporary coalition government to ensure the country doesn't go bankrupt in the next few weeks. But the main opposition party says it's not part of the discussions.

Government spokesman Elias Mossialos told state television that talks have begun and that the name of the new prime minister should be known by Monday, in which case Prime Minister George Papandreou would resign.

Mossialos later told The Associated Press that his remarks regarding a new premier expressed "a personal wish" and are not an official announcement.

Conservative opposition leader Antonis Samaras is meeting with Greek president Karolos Papoulias, but his party denies any talks are under way with the Socialists.

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Quarter-mile-wide asteroid coming close to Earth

An asteroid bigger than an aircraft carrier will dart between the Earth and moon on Tuesday - the closest encounter by such a huge rock in 35 years.

But scientists say not to worry. It won't hit.

"We're extremely confident, 100 percent confident, that this is not a threat," said the manager of NASA's Near Earth Object Program, Don Yeomans. "But it is an opportunity."

The asteroid named 2005 YU55 is being watched by ground antennas as it approaches from the direction of the sun. The last time it came within so-called shouting distance was 200 years ago.

Closest approach will occur at 6:28 p.m. EST Tuesday when the asteroid passes within 202,000 miles of Earth. That's closer than the roughly 240,000 miles between the Earth and the moon.

The moon will be just under 150,000 miles from the asteroid at the time of closest approach.

Both the Earth and moon are safe - "this time," said Jay Melosh, professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at Purdue University.

If 2005 YU55 were to plow into the home planet, it would blast out a crater four miles across and 1,700 feet deep, according to Melosh's calculations. Think a magnitude-7 earthquake and 70-foot-high tsunami waves.

Scientists have been tracking the slowly spinning, spherical, dark-colored object since its discovery in 2005, and are positive it won't do any damage.

"We know the orbit of this object very well," Yeomans said.

The asteroid stretches a quarter-mile across. Smaller objects come close all the time, Yeomans noted, but nothing this big will have ventured so close since 1976. And nothing this large will again until 2028.

Radar observations from California and Puerto Rico will help scientists ascertain whether the asteroid is pockmarked with craters and holds any water-bearing minerals or even frozen water.

Amateur astronomers would need a 6-inch-or-bigger telescope and know exactly where to look to spot it.

Astronomers consider 2005 YU55 a C-type asteroid - one containing carbon-based materials. "It's not just a whirling rock like most of them," Yeomans said.

Such objects are believed to have brought carbon-based materials and water to the early Earth, planting the seeds for life. The discovery of water-bearing minerals or ice would support that theory, Yeomans said.

This is the type of asteroid that NASA would want to aim for, with astronauts, Yeomans said, especially if frozen water is found. Such asteroids could serve as watering holes and fueling stations for future explorers, he said.

An asteroid is actually on NASA's short list for destinations.

President Barack Obama wants astronauts headed to an asteroid and then Mars in the coming decades. That's why the 30-year space shuttle program ceased this summer - so NASA could have enough money to get cracking on these new destinations.

As for an actual strike by an asteroid this size, that's estimated to occur once every 100,000 years or so.

An asteroid named Apophis - estimated to be 885 feet across - will venture extremely close on April 13, 2029 - but will not strike. It has a remote chance of hitting Earth when it comes around again on April 13, 2036.

Scientists said information gleaned from 2005 YU55, as well as other asteroids, will prove useful if and when it becomes necessary to deflect an incoming Armageddon-style rock.

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Isolated crew completes 520-day mock Mars mission

It seemed more like a bizarre reality TV show than high-tech international space travel experiment: Six men lived in cramped, windowless compartments for more than 17 months to simulate a mission to Mars.

When they emerged from their claustrophobic capsules Friday in western Moscow, the researchers in blue jumpsuits looked haggard but were all smiles - dreaming of lying in the sun at the beach, taking long strolls and driving fast cars.

Organizers said the 520-day experiment was the longest mock space mission ever, measuring human responses to the confinement, stress and fatigue of a round trip to Mars - minus the weightlessness, of course. They describe it as a vital part of preparations for a future mission to the Red Planet, even though it may be decades away because of huge costs and daunting technological challenges.

The facility at Moscow's Institute for Medical and Biological Problems, Russia's premier space medicine center, included living compartments the size of a bus, connected with several other similarly sized modules for experiments and exercise.

There have been other confinement experiments, including Biosphere 2, a giant glass-and-steel facility in Arizona in the 1990s that housed four men and four women in self-sustaining two-year isolation. That project was dogged by controversy and technical problems.

Scientists who organized the mock Mars mission said it differed from the other experiments by relying on the latest achievements in space medicine and human biology.

Emerging from their isolation, the crew of three Russians, one Frenchman, an Italian-Colombian and a Chinese carefully descended a metal ladder to a greeting from crowd of officials and journalists Friday.

"The international crew has completed the 520-day experiment," team leader Alexey Sitev told Russian space officials. "The mission is accomplished. The crew is in good health and is ready for new missions."

Organizers said each crew member will be paid about $100,000, except for the Chinese researcher, whose compensation hasn't been revealed by officials from his country.

The crew will spend three days in quarantine before holding a news conference. They spoke to relatives and friends from behind a glass panel to minimize the risk of infection.

Sitev, who led the team into the quarters in June 2010 - just a few weeks after getting married - said he dreams of going to the beach.

"I want to go somewhere to the warm sea as we have missed two summers here," he said in remarks carried by RIA Novosti news agency shortly before wrapping up the mission. "My thoughts are drifting toward swimming at sea and basking on warm sand."

His Italian-Colombian crewmate Diego Urbina told RIA Novosti that he would also like to have a vacation in the Caribbean and would spend his earnings on a sports car and a pilot training course.

Sukhrob Kamolov, the Russian mission doctor, said he thought the $100,000 was a lot of money when they went in, but after a year and a half in the confined space, it didn't sound so big.

During the simulation, the crew members were under constant surveillance by scientists and communicated with their families and space officials via the Internet, which was delayed and occasionally disrupted intentionally to imitate the effects of space travel. They showered only several times per month - once every 10 days or so - pretending to conserve water. Their food was similar to what is on the International Space Station.

Midway through the mission, the crew even conducted a mock landing, venturing from their quarters in heavy space suits to trudge into a sand-covered room and plant the flags of Russia, China and the European Space Agency on a simulated Martian surface.

Scientists say that long confinement without daylight and fresh air put team members under stress as they grew increasingly tired of each other's company.

Psychological conditions can be even more challenging on a mock mission than a real one because there would be none of the euphoria or danger of space travel.

"If anything, the make-believe nature of this exercise's goal - a simulated Mars walk - would have made it even harder psychologically than a real mission," said James Oberg, a space consultant and NASA veteran. "So the team's success is even more impressive, not less so, because it was 'only a game.'"

In an email to The Associated Press, Oberg said he was particularly impressed with the crew's ability to overcome the language barrier, but added that the absence of women in the experiment was a major flaw.

"Aside from the absence of physiological factors such as weightlessness and cosmic radiation, the most glaring shortcoming of this exercise was the all-male composition of the crew," he said. "Psychological studies of frontier life and extended expeditions suggest that aside from specific skills they contribute, the presence of women in an isolated group is a positive, 'civilizing' effect, not a stress-inducing distracting influence."

The organizers said they had considered women for the experiment but left them out for various reasons. They denied deliberately forming an all-male crew because of the failure of a similar simulation in the past.

A 1999-2000 experiment ended in acrimony after a Canadian woman complained of being forcibly kissed by a Russian team captain following a fistfight between two Russian crew members. Russian officials attributed the incidents to cultural gaps and stress.

There was no sign of strain Friday as the crew flanked each other, smiling and waving to cameras.

"We hope that we can help in designing the future missions to Mars," Frenchman Romain Charles said.

Urbina said the crew was proud to complete the longest space flight simulation so that "humankind can one day greet a new dawn on the surface of distant but reachable planet."

A real flight to Mars is a distant prospect due to challenges such as creating a compact and relatively lightweight spacecraft that would shield the crew from deadly cosmic radiation.

Vitaly Davydov, a deputy head of the Russian space agency, said the simulation will help pave the way for a real Mars mission. He added that it's not expected until the mid-2030s and should be done in close international cooperation.

NASA is aiming for a landing on an asteroid around 2025 and Mars in the 2030s.

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Texas delays action on stem cell therapy rules

The Texas State Medical Board voted Friday to delay until next year final approval of new stem cell therapy rules that could restrict - or even block - procedures such as the one Gov. Rick Perry recently underwent on his aching back.

Its 19 members, including a dozen physicians, voiced support for greater oversight but opted to tweak the proposed rules and take them up again at their next meeting in February. If the reworked rules are satisfactory, formal approval could come as early as April.

The Food and Drug Administration hasn't approved using adult stem cells to help people heal from surgery, but experimentation is common. Some scientists tout the possible benefits, including treatment for heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. Others argue adult stem cell experimentation actually increases the risk of cancer and can cause blood clots.

Perry, 61, a Republican presidential candidate, had stem cells taken from fat in his own body that were then grown in a lab. They were injected into his back and his bloodstream during an operation in July to fuse part of his spine.

The proposed rules would require an independent panel to conduct a comprehensive safety review of any procedure involving stem cells before it is carried out. Without that review, procedures such as the one Perry underwent would not be allowed.

Some noted that new stem cell regulations could have unintended consequences, however, such as limiting the ability of tissue banks to collect genetic material for transplants. As a result, the board asked its staff to modify the rules.

"My sense is, this 80, 85 percent ready for primetime and they're just adding some material," said Leigh Hopper, a board spokeswoman.

Perry, who appoints the board, sent it a letter in July saying he appreciated the responsibility to protect patients. But he also urged members to "recognize the sound science and good work that is already being done, and will continue to be done in the future, in this field."

"We need to ensure that physicians in this state can continue to pursue new technologies and treatments that will benefit all Texans," Perry wrote. "Texas is a leader in innovation in many fields. It is critical that we continue to foster an environment that encourages technological advancement in the health care arena."

Following his surgery, Perry has worn a back brace but maintained his hectic campaign schedule - though he has begun wearing orthopedic shoes, foregoing his trademark cowboy boots. Adult stem cell therapy is different from using embryonic cells, a controversial technology that the governor opposes.

Lucy Nashed, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Friday that he "expects the Texas Medical Board to review all the facts and make the appropriate decision regarding the use of this promising technology in Texas."

At least 10 states - including California, Illinois and New York - have enacted rules governing stem cell research, according to the Interstate Alliance on Stem Cell Research.

The impetus for Texas' proposed rules did not grow out of Perry's procedure but did involve the physician who performed it, Dr. Stanley Jones. The Houston-based orthopedist, who is Perry's doctor and friend, touted the benefits of stem cell therapies at the medical board's June meeting. He said many Americans pay thousands of dollars to undergo treatment abroad and that it is a shame that Texans can't access the treatment in their home state.

Perry also helped push an amendment to a larger health care bill through the Texas Legislature in June creating a state bank to store and cultivate adult stem cells for treatment purposes.

NBC reported in September that the first bank approved by the state - Celltex Therapeutics Corp. of Houston - is co-owned by Jones and David G. Eller, the former chairman of the board of Texas A&M University, and a top Perry donor.

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Too posh to push? More C-sections on demand in UK

Pregnant women in Britain, where the government provides free health care, may soon be able to get a cesarean section on demand thanks to a rule change that critics describe as the health system caving into the "too posh to push" crowd.

Currently, British women who can't afford to pay private doctors for their baby's delivery have been allowed to have planned C-sections only if there are health concerns for mother or baby. Emergency C-sections are done when the situation demands it.

But new guidelines set to take effect later this month say pregnant women "with no identifiable reason" should be allowed a cesarean if they still want it following a discussion with mental health experts.

"It's about time women who have no desire to view labor as a rite of passage into motherhood be able to choose how they want to have their baby," said Pauline Hull, who has had two children by cesarean because of medical reasons. "The important thing to me was meeting my baby, not the experience of labor."

Hull runs the website, Elective Cesarean, from her home in Surrey, south of London. She said midwives tend to overexaggerate the risks of C-sections and underestimate those of vaginal births.

The new draft guidelines come from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, or NICE. The agency's guidelines are usually accepted by the government and determine what will be paid for by its health system.

"In general, a C-section is a safe operation, especially when performed as a planned procedure," the new guidance says.

The agency says it routinely updates guidance every few years and denies there was any pressure to change its more restrictive C-section advice. But in recent years, advocates and some doctors have slammed the U.K. health system for not giving women a greater say in childbirth.

The change comes at a price for Britain's cash-strapped health system. NICE estimates C-sections cost about 800 pounds ($1,280) more than a vaginal birth, although that doesn't include the price of treating possible long-term complications like urinary incontinence from vaginal births.

The report notes that for every percentage point the C-section rate falls, the health system could save 5.6 billion pounds ($8.9 billion).

In the U.K., about 25 percent of women have C-sections, versus about 30 percent in the U.S. In both countries, rates have doubled in recent years, though doctors say that's not just due to demand, but because pregnant women increasingly have other problems like obesity and diabetes.

About 10 percent of all U.K. births are planned C-sections while about 15 percent are emergency procedures, according to NHS figures.

The World Health Organization has previously said wealthy countries should aim for a C-section rate of about 15 percent, though it also says there isn't enough evidence to know what the ideal rate is.

The National Health Service estimates that about 15 percent of British births take place in private hospitals, which tend to have higher cesarean rates. At Portland Hospital in London, where many celebrities check in, the C-section rate ranges from 35 to 40 percent.

The issue of women having C-sections on demand has long been a hot button issue in the U.K., with celebrities like Madonna and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham having scheduled procedures at upscale hospitals. Criticism for the wealthy getting these elective surgeries led to the phrase "too posh to push."

But some experts say the new British guidance won't dramatically change how pregnant women are treated.

"It's only a small percentage of women who ask for a C-section," said Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives.

Warwick said doctors and midwives regularly talk to women who have concerns about childbirth and after addressing their fears, most women agree to skip a planned C-section.

"As long as it's safe for both mother and baby, a vaginal birth is absolutely the best way for anyone to deliver," said Dr. Daghni Rajasingham, an obstetrician and spokeswoman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. She said the physical stress put on a baby's lungs during labor helps them adapt to breathing after being born.

Rajasingham also said while C-sections are safe, the operation comes with risks including infections, bleeding, and the potential for problems with future pregnancies.

"As an obstetrician working with limited resources, I want to make sure we have safe and high-quality health care for all women and not be skewed by a few women who want something specifically," Rajasingham said.

For women like Hull, however, the policy shift is long overdue.

"Women shouldn't think a C-section is going to be a walk in the park, but they should have all the information they need to help them make an informed choice," she said.

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Canon offers new camera for Hollywood filmmakers

Four decades after winning Academy Awards for its cinema lenses, Canon Inc. was back in Hollywood on Thursday, unveiling a new high-end digital video camera before an audience of some of the world's most famous filmmakers.

Fujio Mitarai, chief executive of the Japanese camera and office equipment giant, took the wraps of the movie camera, called Cinema EOS, in a packed theater on the Paramount Pictures movie studio lot.

At $20,000 for the body alone, the Cinema EOS is not cheap by consumer standards but is on the low end of what professional digital film cameras cost, which can reach into the six figures. Two zoom lenses intended for movie making will go for $45,000 and $47,000.

Making such costly cameras for professional users is somewhat of a departure for Canon, which makes up more than a third of its revenue from consumer electronics, and more than half from office equipment like all-in-one printer-copier-fax machines.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Mitarai said Canon's move into expensive high-end products for professionals comes in response to the rising yen and the movement of manufacturing to cheaper-labor countries abroad.

"Anything without high added value is now being manufactured in southeast Asian countries and China. So we need to shift into an era where all our products have an added value," Mitarai said. "That is one major trend in meeting the difficulties posed by the strong yen."

The camera draws on the popularity of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, a single-lens reflex still camera that the company introduced in 2008 and which became widely embraced by independent filmmakers because of its ability to take full high-definition video at the 1920-by-1080 pixel resolution known as 1080p.

It didn't take long for its popularity to reach Hollywood.

The Mark II was used in the final episode of the last season of Fox's television show "House M.D.," as well as in the car racing scenes of "Iron Man 2" and certain scenes in "Captain America: The First Avenger," movies that Paramount distributed.

The Cinema EOS is similar in shape to a traditional still camera but works with a variety of mounts.

Mitarai said the camera's digital images had the warmth of film and brought out skin tones well. The company showed a number of short films that used the camera to show off how it functioned in action sequences, especially in tight areas that made use of its compact size.

The camera is compatible with an array of around 60 "EF," or electronic focus, lenses that work with Canon's still cameras. The company also introduced seven new lenses that are precise enough to work with super high-definition movie cameras made by other companies using a standard known as 4K.

"This is the camera that gave us the opportunity to work with you today," Mitarai told the crowd.

Filmmakers including Jon Favreau, Ron Howard and Martin Scorcese were in attendance.

"Mr. Mitarai, welcome to Hollywood," Scorcese said.

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US Cellular: We turned down iPhone

U.S. Cellular Corp., the country's sixth-largest cellphone company, on Friday said it had the opportunity to carry the iPhone but turned it down because the phone is too expensive.

It's the first U.S. carrier to acknowledge turning down the phone.

Consumers pay $200 for the base model of the iPhone 4S, but Apple charges carriers about $600 for it. Carriers count on making their money back in service fees over the life of the contract.

U.S. Cellular CEO Mary Dillon told analysts on an earnings conference call Friday that "the terms were unacceptable from a risk and profitability standpoint." She didn't provide any details, but said the added load the iPhone could have placed on its data network was not a big consideration.

Chicago-based U.S. Cellular has 5.9 million subscribers, a number that has been shrinking slowly over the past two and a half years. Only a quarter of its subscribers on contract-based plans have smartphones, compared with half at AT&T Inc.

Carriers see the ability to sell the iPhone as a crucial competitive advantage, though its high price means it's not an easy path to profits. Sprint started selling the phone last month and has said it will take two years for it to pay off.

AT&T was the exclusive U.S. carrier for Apple Inc.'s phone for three and a half years, until Verizon Wireless got it in February. Now, tiny Mississippi-based carrier C Spire Wireless is set to add it too.

T-Mobile USA, the fourth-largest carrier, has a data network that isn't compatible with the iPhone.

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FDA approves innovative, non-invasive heart valve

Federal health officials have approved a first-of-a-kind artificial heart valve that can be implanted without major surgery, offering a new treatment option for patients who are too old or frail for the chest-cracking procedure currently used.

The Food and Drug Administration said late Wednesday it approved Edwards Lifesciences' Sapien heart valve, which can be threaded into place through a major artery that runs from the leg up to the heart. Cardiologists say the highly anticipated new approach will help old, sickly patients who cannot undergo the more invasive open heart surgery, which has been used to replace valves for decades.

Other companies have won approval for less-invasive heart valves before, but Edwards' implant is the first replacement for the aortic valve, the heart's main doorway.

About 300,000 U.S. patients suffer from deterioration of the valve, which forces the heart to work harder to pump blood, often leading to heart failure, blood clots and sudden death. More than half of patients diagnosed with the condition, called aortic stenosis, die within two years, according to the FDA.

Every year about 50,000 people in the U.S. undergo open-heart surgery to replace the valve, which involves sawing the breastbone in half, stopping the heart, cutting out the old valve and sewing a new one into place. Thousands of other patients are turned away, deemed too old or ill to survive the operation.

The Mayo Clinic's Dr. David Holmes said the Sapien valve is a "game changer" for those inoperable patients, many of whom are in their 80s with medical conditions like diabetes, emphysema and liver disease.

"We don't have very good therapy for them at this time - some of them receive palliative care and some receive medication," said Holmes, who is president of the American College of Cardiology. "But this is really a mechanical problem, and for mechanical problems medications don't work very well."

Edwards' transcatheter valve is threaded through the femoral artery via a small incision in the leg, and then guided up to the heart via catheter. The valve is then wedged into the aortic opening by an inflatable balloon, replacing the natural heart valve. The device is made from cow tissue and polyester supported by a steel frame.

FDA based its approval on a 365-patient study that compared outcomes for patients with the valve and those who received basic comfort care and other non-surgical treatment. After one year, 70 percent of patients with the valve were still alive, compared with only 50 percent of those who received alternatives. However, the device was associated with serious complications, including stroke and internal bleeding. Under the conditions of FDA approval, Edwards will track the medical history of all patients who receive the valve.

The device is only approved for patients who cannot undergo open-heart surgery.

About 20,000 new U.S. patients will be eligible to receive a heart valve each year based on Wednesday's approval, according to Morgan Keegan analyst Jan Wald.

The larger opportunity for the new valve is in patients who are healthy enough to undergo surgery, but are considered high-risk and could benefit from a less invasive procedure. The FDA is expected to clear the device for those patients next year, and analysts estimate that group could eventually number between 50,000 and 80,000 annually as the U.S. population ages.

Edwards is expected to charge about $30,000 for the valve, though hospital fees could bring the total cost of surgery closer to $70,000. Standard heart valve replacement costs upward of $50,000, mostly from surgical and hospitalization fees.

The approval represents a dramatic business opportunity for Irvine, Calif.-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp., which had total sales of $1.5 billion last year. Analysts estimate that sales of the Sapien valve could help double the company's revenue to $3 billion within a decade. Company shares rose $3.11, or 4.2 percent, to $77.48 in after-hours trading.

The company expects to train surgeons at 150 to 250 sites across the U.S. to implant the Sapien in the coming year.

The valve has already been approved for four years in 40 countries around the world, including most of Europe. In most of those countries Edwards already sells a next-generation version of the device.

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Britney Spears "I am just a girl"

	Britney Spears - Im Just A Girl With A Crush On You
	Found at Im Just A Girl With A Crush On You on KOhit.net

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