Man who blabbed about courthouse plot convicted

Darren Wesley Huff, of Dallas, Ga., waits in his truck for a verdict to be returned in his federal trial on two firearms charges, including a charge of causing a civil disturbance, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011 in Knoxville, Tenn. Huff has described himself as a member of the Georgia militia and Oath Keepers, a part of the so-called "birther" movement that disputes President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship. Before his arrest, he told the FBI and authorities in Tennessee that he was going to Madisonville to support Walter Fitzpatrick in trying to arrest local officials. (AP Photo/Knoxville News Sentinel, J. Miles Cary)

Darren Wesley Huff, of Dallas, Ga., waits in his truck for a verdict to be returned in his federal trial on two firearms charges, including a charge of causing a civil disturbance, Monday, Oct. 24, 2011 in Knoxville, Tenn. Huff has described himself as a member of the Georgia militia and Oath Keepers, a part of the so-called "birther" movement that disputes President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship. Before his arrest, he told the FBI and authorities in Tennessee that he was going to Madisonville to support Walter Fitzpatrick in trying to arrest local officials. (AP Photo/Knoxville News Sentinel, J. Miles Cary)

(AP) ? Prosecutors described a frightening standoff at a Tennessee courthouse between law enforcement and an armed man who vowed to take it over in his quest to oust President Barack Obama. The man's attorney said he was just a "loudmouth" expressing his political opinions.

The defense didn't work for Darren Wesley Huff, who was convicted Tuesday on a federal firearms charge that could send him to prison for up to five years.

Huff, 41, was armed with a Colt .45 and an assault rifle on April 20, 2010, when he and about 15 others, some also armed, arrived in Madisonville, a small town about halfway between Knoxville and Chattanooga.

About 100 law enforcement officers also were there because Huff had told an FBI agent who visited his home in Dallas, Ga., and police who stopped him for a traffic violation in Tennessee that he was prepared to help take over the Monroe County Courthouse if necessary.

"Huff said he was ready to die for his rights and what he believed in," Special Agent Mark Van Balen wrote in a pre-trial affidavit. Huff was convicted of carrying a firearm in interstate commerce with the intent to use it in a civil disorder and acquitted of another charge of using a firearm in relation to another felony.

The prosecution presented the courthouse plot as a serious and frightening.

"It was the tensest day we ever had," District Attorney Steve Bebb testified. Bebb coordinated the law officers that day as they prepared against the plot Huff had described.

"Every one of you all may think he (Huff) and his ilk are kooky as all get out," defense attorney Scott Green told jurors at the beginning of the trial last week. He said his client was a "loudmouth" but "not the scary guy they have been trying to paint."

Huff himself testified, fighting back tears as he told jurors how hurt he was that "my government has called me a potential domestic terrorist."

Jurors also heard at length from Huff thanks to a dashboard camera video taken after he was stopped and given a warning for driving too closely. In the tape, Huff chatted for an hour about religion and guns with officers, volunteering many details about what he was planning to do in Tennessee.

"I like y'all," Huff told the officers in the recording.

He said he was motivated to go to Madisonville by Walter Fitzpatrick, a Navy retiree who has had a beef against the federal government since he faced a court martial decades ago.

Fitzpatrick was facing charges in the eastern Tennessee town about halfway between Knoxville and Chattanooga because he tried to use a citizen's arrest warrant to take into custody local officials who wouldn't pursue a legal case to oust Obama. Fitzpatrick's warrant called the local officials "domestic enemies" and Obama an "illegal alien, infiltrator and impostor."

Huff said in the video that he and others were ready to help carry out the citizen's arrests Fitzpatrick wanted.

"I've got my .45 because ain't no government official gonna go peacefully," Huff told the police.

Green argued that Huff had a permit to carry the guns and right to express his opinion and didn't cause a disturbance.

"I have never made a statement about taking over the courthouse, the city, the state, nothing," Huff testified. "I never said anything about taking anything over."

That was disputed by two employees of his local bank who testified that he had threatened to take over the courthouse. They alerted the FBI, which then visited Huff at his home northwest of Atlanta the day before he left for Tennessee.

The 12-member jury in the case heard a week of testimony and arguments. It reported late Monday that members were hung, but U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan told them to try again Tuesday and the verdict came back with a conviction on one charge and acquittal on the other.

"The verdict on count one reflects exactly what the law is supposed to do, which is prevent harm before shots get fired, people hurt, or property damaged," Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Mackie told reporters after the verdict.

Defense attorney Green didn't comment after the verdict but when he spoke The Associated Press on Monday he quoted former New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay: "Those who suppress freedom always do so in the name of law and order."

Huff was taken immediately into custody and couldn't be reached for comment. His sentencing is scheduled for February.

Daily News

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-10-25-Courthouse%20Takeover/id-50df4daf94d14fdc9979e561e86f369e

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US pulls envoy out of Syria, citing safety concern

FILE - In this June 20, 2011 photo taken during a government-organized tour for foreign diplomats and the media, US ambassador in Syria Robert Ford, covers his nose during his visit with other foreign diplomats to a mass grave, in Jisr el-Shughour, north of Syria. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday, Oct. 24, 2011, that Ambassador Robert Ford returned to Washington this weekend after "credible threats against his personal safety." (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, File)

FILE - In this June 20, 2011 photo taken during a government-organized tour for foreign diplomats and the media, US ambassador in Syria Robert Ford, covers his nose during his visit with other foreign diplomats to a mass grave, in Jisr el-Shughour, north of Syria. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday, Oct. 24, 2011, that Ambassador Robert Ford returned to Washington this weekend after "credible threats against his personal safety." (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, File)

FILE - In this Friday, July 8, 2011 file photo, pro-Syrian President Bashar Assad protesters attach Assad portraits at one of the US embassy entrances, as they protest against the visit of the US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford to the Syrian city of Hama, in front the US embassy in Damascus, Syria. The U.S. has pulled its ambassador out of Syria over security concerns, blaming President Bashar Assad's government for the threats. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday Oct. 24, 2011 that Ambassador Robert Ford returned to Washington this weekend after "credible threats against his personal safety."(AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2011 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, meets with Robert Ford, the new U.S. ambassador to Syria, in Damascus, Syria. The American Embassy in Syria says U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford has been "temporarily" called back to Washington. (AP Photo/SANA, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

FILE - This Oct. 21, 2005 file photo shows Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha responding to a U.N. report at the Syrian Embassy in Washington. In an immediate response to the Obama administration pulling its ambassador out of Syria over security concerns, Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha promptly left the U.S. on Monday, Oct. 24, 2011, said Roua Shurbaji, a Syrian Embassy spokeswoman. She said no other steps were being taken by the embassy and declined to comment on U.S. allegations. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, file)

(AP) ? The Obama administration has pulled its ambassador home from Syria, arguing that his support for anti-Assad activists put him in grave danger ? the most dramatic action so far by the United States as it struggles to counter a Mideast autocrat who is withstanding pressure that has toppled neighboring dictators.

Syria responded quickly Monday, ordering home its envoy from Washington.

American Ambassador Robert Ford was temporarily recalled on Saturday after the U.S. received "credible threats against his personal safety in Syria," the State Department said, pointing directly at President Bashar Assad's government.

Ford, who already had been the subject of several incidents of intimidation, has enraged Syrian authorities with his forceful defense of anti-Assad demonstrations and his harsh critique of a government crackdown that has now claimed more than 3,000 lives.

Calling Ford back to the U.S. is short of a complete diplomatic break but represents the collapse of the administration's hopes that it could draw Assad toward government changes and a productive role fostering Mideast peace. Washington held off on a full condemnation of Assad as his crackdown worsened this spring, and waited months to demand that he step aside.

Ford's presence in Damascus had been an important symbolic part of President Barack Obama's effort to engage Syria, which was without a U.S. ambassador for years after the Bush administration broke ties over Syria's alleged role in the 2005 assassination of a political candidate in neighboring Lebanon.

With Moammar Gadhafi's death last week in Libya, and the revolutions that toppled long-time leaders Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, Assad is among the Arab Spring autocrats left standing. Along with Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen, he is facing the most pressure from his citizens to leave power. Yet with his vast security network and close links with Russia and China, Assad is perhaps the one best placed to withstand pressures for change ? peaceful or violent.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, "We are concerned about a campaign of regime-led incitement targeted personally at Ambassador Ford by the state-run media of the government of Syria." She called on the Assad government to "end its smear campaign of malicious and deceitful propaganda."

Nuland could not say when Ford might go back to Syria. Earlier, department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. Embassy would remain open in Damascus as the threats were specifically directed toward Ford, and that the ambassador's return depended on a U.S. "assessment of Syrian regime-led incitement and the security situation on the ground."

The State Department said there were no plans to expel Syria's top diplomat in Washington in retaliation. But Roua Shurbaji, a Syrian Embassy spokeswoman, said Ambassador Imad Moustapha left the U.S. on Monday for consultations in Damascus. She said no other measure was being taken by the embassy, and declined to comment on the U.S. allegations.

Ford's departure comes at a worrisome stage in the seven-month movement against Assad. U.S. officials are increasingly concerned about reports of weapons smuggling into Syria and the threat of peaceful protests being replaced by an armed uprising.

Amid that pressure, the world's attention is turning to Syria, even if the demonstrations have delivered only a stalemate. The protesters are too weak to force Assad and his government from power, and for all its brutality the government cannot stamp out all opposition. At the same time, Assad's pledges of reforms have long been ignored as meaningless and there is little indication his government is prepared to initiate a real dialogue with opponents.

If the level of violence resembles Libya's before the NATO intervention, Syria is different because anti-government groups are insisting that they want no outside assistance. The opposition is also hindered in that it remains a largely Sunni movement, with Assad maintaining significant loyalty from his dominant Alawite sect and Syria's minority Druze, Christians and business elite.

Ford arrived in January as the first American ambassador to Syria since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on a Beirut street. Syria at the time had thousands of troops in Lebanon and pulled many political strings there, but it has always denied any involvement in the bombing attack.

The Obama administration had hoped to persuade Syria to change its often anti-American policies regarding Israel, Lebanon and Iraq, and to drop its support for extremist groups. Syria is designated a "state sponsor of terrorism" by the State Department.

Assad largely shrugged off U.S. attempts to pull his nation away from its alliances with Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. And as protests escalated in Syria, Ford essentially dropped his engagement efforts and took on an increasingly high-profile role defending the rights of Syrian protesters.

That shift was cemented when Obama called on Assad to leave power in August.

"We believe Assad needs to step aside, so engagement with him is certainly over," Nuland said on Monday. "But we are prepared to engage with Syrians of all stripes" and see "if they are able to take the next steps to pursue a democratic future."

Ford has been leading that effort, at great personal danger. He was greeted by demonstrators with roses and cheers when he traveled to the restive city of Hama in July, prompting immediate travel restrictions from Syria. The government stopped short of declaring him persona non grata, but U.S. officials say it has tried to make life for him in the country intolerable.

Just days after the trip to Hama, hundreds of government supporters attacked the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, smashing windows and spray-painting obscenities on the walls. Ford has been hit with eggs and tomatoes while going to meet dissidents or visit mosques. His postings on Facebook have prompted thousands of Syrian and other responses, including death threats from pro-Assad hardliners.

The U.S. last month decried Ford's treatment as "unwarranted and unjustifiable," after Assad supporters tried to force their way into a meeting he was having with a prominent opposition figure. Syrian police were slow in responding, and Ford was trapped inside the building for about three hours. But White House press secretary James Carney insisted at the time that the U.S. had no plans to remove Ford for his safety.

Nuland pointed to two articles in Syrian state-run media that she said highlighted the government's increased incitement of violence against Ford. The first, in the al-Baath newspaper in early October, warned Ford that he could receive more "rotten eggs" if he didn't end his alleged support for armed anti-government groups in Syria. The second appeared in al-Tharwa last week, she said.

The article claimed Ford operated death squads while he was posted diplomatically in Iraq, and that he was trying to apply his experience now in Syria. U.S. officials feared such an allegation might lead to an attack of greater violence against him.

___

Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-10-24-US-Syria/id-d7b76403d23a4734878c1564453e66fe

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Road Service Automotive Collection Agencies | Collection Agency ...

by Collection Agency Information

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industrycollectionagenciesDebt collection is one of the most exhausting tasks since it involves persistent and consistent contact, done in an authoritative tone and usually responded with tense exchanges. This makes certain businesses shay away from proper debt collection practices. However, this can lead to major financial losses and can risk their business suffering from financial instability. This makes it necessary for them to seek the help of professional Road Service Automotive collection agencies as third-party debt collectors.

There are many advantages to using a Road Service Automotive collection agency and business are willing to invest in such a service. They do this not only to recover any outstanding payments but at the same time, protect their relationship with their customers and limit legal liabilities.

Benefits of Hiring Road Service Automotive Collection Agencies:

  • They Have The Experience and Expertise. Road Service Automotive collection agencies work with one motto in mind: to recover debt from your customers in a quick and efficient manner. Being a business owner, you work around a core business and you should always keep in mind that there is no use in wasting you and your employees? time accomplishing a task that you all do not specialize in. Hiring a Road Service Automotive collection agency on the other hand, can do all of these for you and help you handle complicated issues regarding debt collections.
  • Pay For Results. The payment for the services offered by Road Service Automotive collection agencies are contingency based - meaning, they will not get paid unless they have successfully collected outstanding balances from your customers. Because of such an agreement, you are assured that these agencies will do their best to pursue your uncollected debts.
  • Legal Compliance. Debt collections are not just about successfully collecting outstanding balances, since this process is governed by both Federal and complex state laws, which constantly change and vary from one state to another. This fact is enough for you to invest in Road Service Automotive collection agencies since you have no assurance that neither your staff nor you, are fully aware of all the laws involved in debt collection. A professional Road Service Automotive collection agency, on the other hand, is experienced and are fully capable of understanding all the laws that need to be followed in debt collection. They make sure that all guidelines are observed, while making sure that all your debts are collected successfully within the specified period of time.

Professional Road Service Automotive collection agencies are one of the best solutions available for companies when it comes to debt collection. So if you are a business owner and have tons of unpaid debts by costumers, you may want to consider their services.

Road Service Automotive Collection Agencies

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Related Collection Agency Articles

Source: http://collectionagency.info/industries/road-service-automotive/

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Oracle to buy RightNow for $1.5 billion

(AP) ? Software company Oracle Corp. said Monday that it is buying RightNow Technologies Inc. for about $1.5 billion so it can offer a broader range of software and services that help businesses manage customer service.

Oracle is offering $43 per share for the tech service company from Bozeman, Mont. That is a 19.6 percent premium over RightNow's closing price of $35.96 on Friday.

On Monday, RightNow's stock rose $6.98, or 19.4 percent, to close Monday at $42.94.

RightNow's board has agreed to the deal, which is subject to shareholder approval. The company says it will stay in Bozeman.

Oracle expects to complete the deal by late this year or early next.

RightNow's main product helps companies manage customers' questions and complaints. It is delivered over the Internet ? or "cloud" ? rather than by installing software directly on computers. The deal follows a smaller acquisition Oracle made when it bought InQuira to expand its selection of products that help companies keep their customers happy. Terms of that deal, announced in July, were not disclosed.

Shares of Oracle, which is based in Redwood Shores, Calif., gained 75 cents, or 2.3 percent, to end at $32.87.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2011-10-24-Oracle-RightNow/id-0bf1cd44499e4e1783642f58486c582f

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New Jersey Lawmakers Seeking To Control Insurance Costs By ...

New Jersey State Assembly

New Jersey State Assembly (Credit: NJ.com)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ? Health insurance carriers who serve individuals and small businesses in New Jersey may soon have to gain state approval before implementing any rate increases.

These firms currently can set and increase rates just by filing the information with the state.

But a measure planned by three state lawmakers would require that the firms gain approval for such actions from the state Department of Banking and Insurance.

It also would expand the jurisdiction of the state?s Division of Rate Counsel ? which now has no say over health insurance rates ? to create a state-level watchdog for residents and small businesses.

Ed Rogan, spokesman for the banking and insurance department, declined comment on the proposal. As a matter of policy, the department does not discuss proposed or pending legislation.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.? All Rights Reserved.)

Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/10/23/nj-lawmakers-seeking-to-control-insurance-costs/

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The Psychometer: Who Went Too Far Last Week?

Our Psychometer engineers worked overtime this week to come up with the 9 craziest figures in the news and rate them one by one. Now, here they are!

Hover over each photo to find out why they made the meter this time (you'll definitely see some repeat offenders), and let us know who you think we missed in the comments.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/22/the-psychometer-who-went-_n_1026368.html

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Dave Barry - Dave Barrys Money Secrets and Dave Barry Does Japan


Dave Barry - Dave Barrys Money Secrets and Dave Barry Does Japan
English | Publisher: Dave Barry | ISBN: N/a | MP3 64Kbps | 476.96 MB

After tackling such varied topics as marriage, sex, home ownership and Japan, Barry invests his jocular style in lampooning the wealth of personal finance guides out there. Mocking these books in format and tone, Barry addresses such important fiscal matters as the workings of the U.S. economy ("the U.S. workforce is engaged in the service economy,
consisting of 83 million people in cubicles furtively sending and receiving personal e-mails"), how to get a job ("prove to a prospective employer that you possess the skill and knowledge necessary to string meaningless hyphenated buzzwords together into sentence fragments") and talking to your children about money ("explain to your child that if he buys lemonade from some other kid's stand, then happens to choke on a lemon seed, then you would be in a position to sue the other kid's parents for thousands of dollars"). Barry's satire will have readers laughing at themselves and at high-profile targets like Donald Trump, Alan Greenspan and Suze Orman. Some material, particularly his insights on dealing with spouses or his ideas for innovative pet products, will be familiar to fans, but it will hardly keep them from enjoying another humorous sendup that's right on the money.


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Women making slow, sure strides in science, math (AP)

For many of the women, the chemistry lab was a home away from home ? a sorority for nerds, of sorts, that hints at the slow but steady shift in technical fields that have been traditionally filled with men.

Rebecca Allred has fond memories of that lab at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. She and her peers spent hours there. They worked into the night for their professor, Elizabeth Harbron, because they wanted to, blowing off steam by dancing to the soundtrack of "Mamma Mia" or taking a break on Fridays to play Putt-Putt golf together.

Harbron was not only their mentor, but often a confidante. They shared their frustrations. They celebrated their successes. Several published their findings with Harbron's guidance, a rarity for undergraduates.

"That lab was a refuge between classes. I loved being there," says Allred, now a second-year doctoral student in the Yale University chemistry department and one of a new generation of young women who are helping change the face of the so-called STEM fields ? science, technology, engineering and math.

Though she was happy to help blaze the path for them, Harbron says she didn't set out to create an all-women's lab. It happened naturally. Students like Allred sought her out because they liked her informal, lively teaching style.

"I don't want to become a female ghetto of over-achieving white girls," Harbron jokes, referring to the general makeup of her lab these days. Then she asks more seriously: "But am I just perpetuating the model that's gotten us where we are?"

In other words, she wonders, has she inadvertently created the female version of the "old boys' network"?

Whatever the answer, it's hard to argue with her results: her lab has become a place where these young women gained confidence to match their abilities, she says.

Many, like Allred, have gone on to graduate programs.

That's a big deal in the STEM fields, which have been slower than other disciplines to integrate women at the highest levels.

With two-thirds of all undergraduate degrees and 60 percent of master's degrees now going to women, many believe it's only a matter of time before that trend influences the upper echelons of the STEM fields.

Already, statistics from the Council of Graduate Schools show that women, overall, earned slightly more than half of the doctorates handed out in all disciplines in the United States in 2009 and 2010. When it comes to the STEM fields, women have been most successful in medicine and biology ? and least successful in engineering, math and computer science.

But experts hope that, too, will change. A recent report from the American Association of University Women notes that, 30 years ago, the ratio of seventh- and eighth-grade boys who scored more than 700 on the SAT math exam, compared with girls, was 13 to 1. Now it's 3 to 1.

"You gotta fill up the pipeline and support these good people and, after a while, things get straightened out," says Thomas Pollard, dean of Yale's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, which includes Allred's program.

Some would argue that that pipeline is still too leaky in the STEM fields.

"In an ideal world you'd expect that it'd catch up, but it doesn't quite catch up because we're still losing women at every level," says Ted Greenwood, a former director with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which funds several STEM programs that target women and minorities.

That said, he and others note that women are still making more progress than minorities, particularly black men.

And even in fields like chemistry, engineering and math, the percentages of women who received doctorates still has steadily increased over the last decade, according to the Council of Graduate Schools report.

Rebecca Allred's path to a doctoral program provides a glimpse of how it's happening ? and how crucial access and support can be.

___

It began, she says, with her first role model ? her mother, Janet Mikulas.

Mikulas, who got her engineering degree in the 1970s from Virginia Tech, can hardly imagine what it would be like to have so many women peers, as her daughter did at William and Mary.

"You know," Mikulas remembers her mother whispering to her after she announced her major to her parents, "Dad always said you should be an engineer."

She was stunned. Why didn't she know this? Why hadn't her father told her?

Her mother explained, as best she could, that he had felt it was wrong to encourage her to enter a male-dominated field, that he thought he was supposed to encourage her to be a mother and a secretary.

"He did it with the very best of intentions. He taught me a million things all his life. I was his best buddy," Mikulas said. "But he couldn't quite tell me what he really thought."

Mikulas and her husband, also an engineer, vowed that it would be different for their daughters. "We decided that we'd let them be what they wanted to be," she says.

Some would say there was no way Allred ? known as Rebecca Mikulas before she married her college sweetheart in 2009 ? could have failed. She had educational opportunities that many do not, including a private school in rural Virginia where classes were small and where she was given the chance to study at her own pace. She also had the smarts, skipping kindergarten and second grade and taking college classes by the time she was in middle school.

She finished her high school requirements by age 16 but then decided to take more math and science courses at a public high school, where she also excelled at volleyball, basketball and track.

Her parents always worked to integrate math and science into everyday life on their family farm and during dinnertime conversations.

But she also had teachers who encouraged and challenged her ? another key, experts say, in keeping girls engaged.

Her mother remembers how Rebecca's high school chemistry teacher put off retiring for a year so she could have Rebecca as a student in her advanced-placement class. The teacher was certain she'd be her first student to receive the top score of 5 on the AP chemistry test. And Rebecca did.

She was considering colleges, including Harvard, around the time when Harvard's then-president, Lawrence Summers, made controversial comments questioning women's aptitude for top-level science and math. He later stepped down.

Unfazed, 17-year-old Rebecca went to William and Mary on a track scholarship. There, she took a chemistry class with Harbron ? and applied for a spot in Harbron's lab.

She quickly realized she'd found her next mentor.

"She was so animated and funny ? and into what she was doing," Allred says of her professor. "I wanted to be a part of it."

When she first joined Harbron's lab, she was the only woman student.

"I had to learn my boy social dynamics," Allred says, laughing and noting that, at that point, many of her interactions at her Mormon church and in sports were with other women.

You wouldn't think that would matter much. But Harbron and other professors say there's an interesting dynamic they often see in coed labs. Women tend to hang back, they say, and let men take the lead role.

"They're so afraid of being wrong. I don't think guys have that fear," Harbron says. "If they're admitting they don't know something, then they are admitting a vulnerability.

"But what they don't realize is that other people don't know either."

Christina Davis, another student who was in Harbron's lab when Allred was there, remembers feeling stressed out by her need to be perfect, to have all the answers. She balked, at first, when Harbron refused to tell her what result she should expect in an experiment.

But Davis says she soon learned to love exploring the unknown in experiments, so much so that she, too, eventually decided to pursue a doctorate in chemistry instead of going to medical school.

"I stopped following the plan I had written when I was 7 and opened myself up to new possibilities," says Davis, who's now in the PhD program at the University of Texas and currently studying in South Korea.

Increasingly, some institutions are finding value in more formal all-women's programs in the STEM fields.

The all-women's Smith College in Massachusetts, for instance, bucked its liberal arts tradition and started an engineering program 10 years ago ? a decision other all-women's schools are following.

Some students come to Smith knowing they want to be engineers. Others are drawn into the program by an introductory class called "Engineering for Everyone."

Another interesting result: Most of the students in the Smith program have ended up choosing mechanical or electrical engineering ? specialties within that field that women have tended to avoid.

The program is also growing, averaging 20 students a year until this year, when that number doubled, says Donna Riley, an associate professor of engineering at Smith who helped found the program.

"Our teachers are stretched," Riley says of the uptick. "But it's a good problem to have."

Meanwhile, other institutions are targeting younger students, since research has shown that girls tend to lose interest in science and math in middle school. That research also has shown that income plays a greater role than gender when it comes to students who make it to the highest levels of the STEM fields.

That's why Pamela Clute, a math lecturer who is also assistant vice provost for academic partnerships at the University of California, Riverside, developed summer and after-school math programs for middle school girls ? many of them from low-income neighborhoods.

She calls her program and its participants GEMS ? Girls Excelling in Mathematics with Success.

The curriculum, she says, incorporates topics that the teen girls tell her they're interested in. They might be asked to solve math problems that incorporate questions about fashion and cell phones, for instance. They also are allowed to work in groups.

"If you say, algebra, people tend to vomit," Clute quips. But if you can show them how it applies to real life, she says, that attitude changes.

An interest in science and math was never an issue for Allred. When she was in middle school, she was asking questions at the dinner table that always seemed to spark an answer related to either topic.

Once, noticing that ice cubes get smaller in the freezer over time, she asked, "Where do ice cubes go?" her mother recalled. "And we would have a conversation around the dinner table about sublimation."

Then she'd go to school and tell her teacher about how a solid like an ice cube can turn to gas ? "but never in a braggart way."

"She absorbed everything and liked to share it," her mom says. "And that feeling of success would motivate her to study more."

___

That motivation carried her to Yale, where she is now balancing parenthood with her studies. She and her husband Jacob Allred had a daughter, Anna, this past spring.

Allred hinted at their plan when she interviewed with various doctoral programs.

"Why would you have kids when you're going to school?" was the response she got from an official at one of the schools she considered. Only two schools she visited mentioned policies for parental leave, for any student.

Yale was one of them.

"I think it's being driven by doing the right thing as opposed to being used as a recruiting tool," says Pollard, the dean who oversees Allred's program and others at Yale. "But we all know that if you have good practices, you attract good students."

Pollard also concedes that he is particularly sensitive to parental issues because his own daughter, a junior professor at another institution, just had twins.

Among other things, he hopes the university will improve its day care options.

And he says the university just completed a report that examines how various departments can make sure their students ? female or male ? finish their programs.

Once again, Allred says she feels that crucial support, from her advisor and also her fellow students. Her husband also has agreed to stay home with Anna until Allred gets her doctorate, maybe by the time Anna is in kindergarten.

She jokes that she'll then take on the title of "Dr. Mom," certain that she will be able to add her name to the list of women with PhDs in the STEM fields that is growing ? slowly but surely.

"I'm not sure where this is going to take me," Allred says. "I'm just so grateful that I'm here at a time when I can do this."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111022/ap_on_re_us/us_women_scientists

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McDonald's profit, September sales beat expectations (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as new menu items and renovations helped lift sales at established restaurants around the world in September, and its shares rose nearly 3 percent.

The world's biggest restaurant company has been benefiting from improving food quality and selection, and taking market share from rivals.

By adding Dollar Menu items and introducing high-margin beverages such as coffee and fruit smoothies, McDonald's has broadened its appeal beyond the young men who account for the biggest share of sales at most other fast-food chains.

The company also is modernizing restaurants in Europe and the United States, which is boosting sales and making operations more efficient.

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For a graphic on McDonald's results, click http://link.reuters.com/xad64s

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Sales at established restaurants rose 6.6 percent in September, while analysts on average expected a 3.6 percent increase.

U.S. same-restaurant sales rose 5 percent, while Europe was up 6.9 percent and Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa had a 6.8 percent increase.

The company forecast a 4 percent to 5 percent increase in sales at established restaurants in October.

Strong September results from Europe, especially Germany, helped allay fears that austerity measures would pummel demand in the region, said Lazard Capital Markets analyst Matthew DiFrisco.

McDonald's "continues to evolve into more of a staple than a discretionary brand," said DiFrisco, adding that the company also turned in solid results from the United States.

"They seem to be listening to their customers," said Michael Yoshikami, founder and chief executive of YCMNET Advisors.

McDonald's customers wanted things like healthier kids' meals, coffee that was cheaper than at Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) and premium hamburgers. The company delivered on those demands and now is reaping the benefits, Yoshikami said.

Third-quarter net income rose to $1.51 billion, or $1.45 per share, from $1.39 billion, or $1.29 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average forecast $1.43 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Earnings per share rose more than 12 percent but were up only about 6 percent excluding foreign currency benefits.

Revenue rose 13.8 percent to $7.17 billion. Sales at established restaurants were up 5 percent globally in the quarter, with increases of 4.4 percent in the United States, 4.9 percent in Europe and 3.4 percent in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region.

DiFrisco said the company nudged up its forecast for food and other costs, but he said this was no cause for concern.

"They are managing their costs and margins in an environment where commodity costs are still heady," he said.

McDonald's shares were up 2.8 percent at $91.50 in morning trading on the New York Stock exchange.

(Additional reporting by Brad Dorfman in Chicago; editing by Lisa Von Ahn and John Wallace)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111021/bs_nm/us_mcdonalds

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