Hudson, Mirren, others to get Walk of Fame stars

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Helen Mirren, Jennifer Hudson, James Franco and the Backstreet Boys are among the famous folks getting stars on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 2013.

Actress Marg Helgenberger and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced the new 24 inductees Friday at a press conference on Hollywood Boulevard's star-lined sidewalk.

A committee selects celebrities eligible for a star and those who accept pay $30,000 in costs and fees.

Other entertainers slated for a star next year are Javier Bardem, Viola Davis, Simon Baker, Bryan Cranston, Jane Lynch, Katey Segal, Matthew Perry, Ellen DeGeneres and Olympia Dukakis; performers Penn & Teller; makeup artist Rick Baker; filmmaker Ron Howard; radio personalities Steve Harvey and "Shotgun" Tom Kelly; and musicians Jane's Addiction, New Kids on the Block, Janis Joplin, Usher, Thalia and Luther Vandross.

Associated Press

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For minority college students, STEM degrees pay big

Friday, June 22, 2012

Minority college students who major in the STEM fields ? science, technology, engineering and math ? earn at least 25 percent more than their peers who study humanities or education, according to the results of a new study.

And those who took jobs related to their STEM degrees earned at least 50 percent more than their classmates who majored in humanities or education fields.

Published in the June issue of Research in Higher Education, the study followed more than 1,000 Asian and Pacific Islander, Latino and black students over nine years. The students were scholarship applicants for the Gates Millennium Scholars Program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which awards grants to highly motivated, low-income minority students.

While minority groups continue to be underrepresented in the STEM fields, the study's researchers believe this will change if students understand how much more money can be earned in those fields.

"The premiums for majoring in STEM fields are huge," said lead author Tatiana Melguizo, associate professor of education with the USC Rossier School of Education. "We need to educate students that if they get a job in a STEM-related occupation, they have an even higher earning premium. Otherwise, students aren't reaping the economic benefit of all the hard work they went through as undergrads."

Overall, Latinos reported the highest average earnings after college - $42,180 annually - relative to the other minority groups. Black students reported earning $35,900 and Asian Pacific Islanders earned $40,261 (data in 2006 dollars).

Latinos majoring in STEM fields also reported the highest earnings among the groups studied: an average of $56,875 per year, higher than the reported average salaries of $39,365 for blacks and $47,530 for Asian Pacific Islanders.

The study's authors said more research must be done to determine whether these discrepancies are attributable to different career preferences among racial/ethnic groups or employers' hiring decisions, as well as the role colleges and universities play in the career and occupational development of minority students.

"Among the high achieving minority students we studied, Latinos not only reported the highest annual earnings overall, but also reported the highest annual earnings among STEM majors," said study co-author Gregory Wolniak, a senior research scientist at the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago. "Preliminary findings suggest this may partially be due to Latino students' ability to find jobs related to their major. These findings are encouraging signs that strengthening the pipeline of underrepresented students into STEM careers offers a viable solution to our nation's growing competitiveness problem in engineering and science fields."

###

University of Southern California: http://www.usc.edu

Thanks to University of Southern California for this article.

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Last rescued climber leaves Mount Rainier

This undated photo provided by the National Park Service shows climbing ranger Nick Hall on Mount Rainier in Washington state. Hall, 33, was killed Thursday, June 21, 2012 as he was helping evacuate climbers from a crevasse near the summit of the 14,441-foot mountain. (AP Photo/National Park Service)

This undated photo provided by the National Park Service shows climbing ranger Nick Hall on Mount Rainier in Washington state. Hall, 33, was killed Thursday, June 21, 2012 as he was helping evacuate climbers from a crevasse near the summit of the 14,441-foot mountain. (AP Photo/National Park Service)

A ground support team of climbing rangers heads up the Glacier Basin Trail toward Camp Schurman on the east side of Mount Rainier, Friday, June 22, 2012. They are participating in the operation begun the previous day which rescued a fallen party of climbers near the top of the mountain and resulted in the death by falling of climbing ranger Nick Hall. (AP Photo/The News Tribune, Peter Haley)

FILE - The west entrance to Mount Rainier National Park is shown in this Jan. 1, 2012 file photo taken in Washington State. A Mount Rainier ranger slid more than 3,000 feet to his death Thursday June 21, 2012 as he helped in efforts to rescue four injured climbers who fell on a glacier, a National Park Service spokesman said. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

SEATTLE (AP) ? The last of four Waco, Texas, climbers rescued on Mount Rainier in an effort that cost a ranger his life walked down off the Washington peak on Friday while blizzard conditions high on the mountain delayed efforts to retrieve the body.

The final climber, Stacy Wren, descended the mountain with Mount Rainier National Park rangers and was whisked away by car Friday evening. Three other climbers were plucked off the mountain by helicopter Thursday after the group fell and two of them ended up in a crevasse.

Eight other rangers trying to retrieve the body of climbing ranger Nick Hall, 33, from the 10,000-foot level of the 14-411-foot mountain were pinned down in a ground blizzard. They planned to spend the night at Camp Schurman at the 9,500-foot level and hope for a weather window on Saturday, park spokeswoman Fawn Bauer said.

Hall slid more than 3,000 feet to his death as he was helping evacuate the Texas climbers.

His family both grieved and celebrated his life Friday.

Hall, a four-year veteran of the park's climbing program, came from a family of EMTs who aided soldiers in Iraq and car crash victims in his small hometown of Patten, Maine. He was not married and had no children.

His father, Carter Hall, recalled his son as a loner when he was a child, but flourished in high school through a shared love of the wilderness.

"For good and bad, it was my influence of the outdoors," Hall told The Associated Press in a call from his Maine home, his voice breaking.

A Chinook helicopter from Joint Base Lewis-McChord removed three of the four climbers and rangers stayed on the mountain Thursday night with Wren.

The Texas climbers had reached the summit and were on their way down, roped together, when two women fell into a crevasse on Emmons Glacier. Two men were able to stop the group, and one called for help by cellphone.

Rangers and the helicopter responded to the site at the 13,700-foot level. A helicopter airlifted the three to Madigan Army Medical Center at the military base near Tacoma, where they were hospitalized in fair condition Friday, said spokesman Jay Ebbeson.

The climbers were bruised with possible broken bones, park spokesman Kevin Bacher said earlier.

Park spokeswoman Patti Wold identified the climbers as Stuart Smith, Noelle Smith, Ross Vandyke and Wren.

Hall had helped put three climbers into the helicopter when he fell. The park is investigating exactly how he fell, Bacher said.

"We don't want what happened to Nick to happen again," he said. "There's no urgency today; nobody's life is at risk today. Let's take it slow and make sure nobody else is hurt."

"We're a very small team and particularly the climbing team ? basically 15 people under the climbing foreman," said Bacher, who also is a ranger. "And they work very close together and train close together and depend on each other for their lives and become very close."

The last time a climbing ranger was killed was 1995, when two rangers died after falling 1,200 feet during a glacier rescue.

Hall's family said they were proud of his involvement in mountain rescues, and hoped that his death will draw attention to the profession's dangers.

Hall's father is a volunteer firefighter and EMT in Patten, and his older brother, Aaron, served in the National Guard as an EMT in Iraq. Aaron Hall celebrated his birthday on the day his brother died on the mountain.

Nick Hall had worked as an avalanche forecaster at Yellowstone National Park and as an emergency medical responder for the ski patrol at Washington's Stevens Pass Ski Area, his father said.

When he spoke to him about risks, Carter Hall said, his son responded that dying by heart attack "was also a risk in life."

Hall was the second Mount Rainier National Park ranger to die this year. Margaret Anderson was fatally shot on New Year's Day as she tried to stop a suspect in a Seattle shooting who drove through a tire-chain checkpoint. Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, was found dead the next day in the snow.

Rescuers are still looking for four other people ? two climbers and two campers ? who disappeared on the mountain in January. "We're keeping our eyes out for them as the snow melts out," Bacher said.

About 10,000 climbers attempt to reach the summit of the volcano about 85 miles southeast of Seattle each year and about half make it, he said.

___

Dininny contributed to this story from Yakima, Wash.

Associated Press

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Astronomers Catch Asteroid In Near-Miss Video

ananyo writes in with a story about an asteroid near miss and a neat video taken by researchers. "It may look like a blurry blob, but researchers using the InfraRed Telescope Facility (IRTF) in Hawaii have posted a video of 2012 KT42 ? a small asteroid that zipped past Earth at a distance of just three Earth radii on 29 May ? the sixth closest encounter of any known asteroid. The bright asteroid appears fixed, while background stars zip past but in fact the asteroid is zipping along at 17 kilometres per second. 'You get the view of riding along with it,' says planetary scientist Richard Binzel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, who led the observations. At its closest, the asteroid was at a distance between the orbit of the space station (about 1 Earth radii) and geosynchronous satellites (about 6 Earth radii)."

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Defending champion Jacobson leads Travelers

An unidentified spectator reacts to the announcement of a weather delay during the second round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Friday, June 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

An unidentified spectator reacts to the announcement of a weather delay during the second round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Friday, June 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

Frederik Jacobsen, of Sweden, watches his approach shot on the ninth hole during the second round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Friday, June 22, 2012. Jacobsen finish with a two-day score of 9-under-par. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

Frederik Jacobsen, of Sweden, chips onto the seventh green during the second round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Friday, June 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

Patrick Cantlay watches his drive as a crowd looks on at the first hole hole during the second round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Friday, June 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

Angel Cabrera, of Argentina, hits out of the deep rough on the seventh hole during the second round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Friday, June 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) ? Defending champion Fredrik Jacobson shot a 4-under 66 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead in the suspended second round of the Travelers Championship.

The Swede had a 9-under 131 total. He's trying to join Phil Mickelson, the 2001 and 2002 winner, as the only players to successfully defend a title at River Highlands.

"I would imagine if I could stay in the thick of things coming down Sunday, the better the memories you have, the more you can feed off of it," Jacobson said.

Charley Hoffman opened with a par and birdied the next five holes to move within a stroke of the lead before rain suspended play for the day. Nathan Green also was 8 under when the horn blew at 3:19 p.m. He finished nine holes.

It was the second weather delay of the day. The first lasted 70 minutes.

Jacobson played before the rain hit the course. He started on the back nine and followed up two birdies with an eagle on the 13th hole. He hit his second shot 240 yards over the water and onto the green, and made a 40-foot putt on the par 5.

He also was 9 under after 36 holes last year en route to his first PGA Tour victory.

"It's going to be tough to drive it the way I did the last two rounds last year, where I didn't miss the fairway," Jacobson said. "So, I'm not going to chase that. But yeah, probably I have been playing about the same as I did the first couple days of last year."

Blake Adams had a 64, the best round of the day, to join Stuart Appleby and Roland Thatcher at 7 under. Appleby had a 65, and Thatcher shot a 67.

Adams had five birdies on the back nine.

"I think I finally woke up," said Adams, who bogeyed the final two in the first round for a 69. "I was just kind of making some silly bogeys all day yesterday and early this morning, and I finally got rid of those silly errors and made some birdies."

Appleby, who has played 13 tournaments and missed eight cuts this season, had seven birdies in shooting his best round of the year.

"I'm thinking better, I'm getting better," Appleby said. "I wasn't hitting it any good and I wasn't thinking any good and I was just really finding it hard."

First-round leader David Mathis fell back to 3 under with a 73 that included a double bogey at 16, where he need three putts on the par 3 hole, and a bogey on 17.

Vijay Singh had one of the tougher finishes Friday. He was looking at a 40-foot birdie putt on 18 to finish at 3 under. But he hit that past the hole and then missed a 2 1/2-foot putt for par. He was 1 under, just above the projected cut line.

The threesome of U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson, Masters champ Bubba Watson and reigning PGA champion Keegan Bradley were a combined 2-under par Friday, after shooting a combined 10 under in the first round. Simpson was 5 under overall after a 69, Bradley 4 under after his second straight 68, and Watson 3 under after a 71.

"Keegan played pretty good, but Bubba and I didn't play that well, so we weren't joking as much," Simpson said. "I'm glad those guys made the cut and hopefully we can all play well tomorrow."

The second round was set to resume at 7 a.m. Saturday, followed by the third round with players playing in threesomes off both the first and 10th tees.

"This place drains great, it's an old gravel pit," said Mark Russell, the PGA Tour's vice president in charge of rules. "We've got a good forecast for tomorrow, so we'll be in business.

It was the second consecutive year that rain delayed the finish of the second round to Saturday.

Telegram & Gazette

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Apple fined in Australia for misleading iPad advertising

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Asset Sale Wont Lead to Tax Hike

Recent tax changes implemented by the government will cover any loss of revenue arising from asset sales and will reduce the chance that the government will need to raise taxes in the near future.

On June 20th the New Zealand Minister of Revenue Peter Dunne addressed the Parliament?s finance and expenditure committee, saying that recent actions taken by the government will raise enough revenues to cover all the losses which are expected to arise from the currently proposed sale of state owned assets.

According to the Minister, in last month?s budget the government introduced new measures to tighten down on tax evasions, closed several tax loopholes, and increased excise taxes on tobacco and petrol. He claimed that the new measures will jointly raise tax revenues by NZD 1.73 billion over the next five years.

He suggested that the new funds will be adequate to cover the NZD 94 million shortfall that the government currently expects see from the partial sale of MightyRiverPower, Genesis Energy, Meridian Energy and Solid Energy.

The Minister said that since the potential revenue losses from the asset sales was already covered there is a lower ?? the likelihood of there needing to be tax increases?.

Photo by Tertiary Education Union (NZTEU)

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