US soldier pleads guilty in Iraq killings

A U.S. soldier pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of accessory to murder and was sentenced to eight months in prison for his role in the killing of four Iraqi prisoners who were bound, blindfolded, shot and dumped in a canal.

Spc. Steven Ribordy, 25, of Salina, Kansas, also will receive a bad conduct discharge from the Army as part of a plea deal. In addition, he agreed to testify against other members of his unit.

"The execution of prisoners is arguably the greatest crime," prosecutor Capt. John Merriam told the court. "It betrays everything soldiers stand for."

Ribordy testified that he had helped stand guard as the …

The immunity bug bites ; India becomes a hot market for optional vaccines.

The paediatrician shrugged: "It's your choice, if you don't wantthe chicken pox vaccine for your daughter. But remember, one day shewill get married and if she has the pox when she is carrying, thechild could be born with brain damage." And what about the son, thefather voiced his and his wife's concern? "Well, you know whatcompetition is like today...what if he has pox before a major exam?"

Choices, choices. The parents knew a bout of chicken pox builtmore immunity in a child than any vaccine. But, a damaged brain?They plumped for the optional vaccine. Multiply that decision 26million times - that's the number of newborns in India every year -and it is easy to see why Big …

Jordin Sparks Crowned `American Idol'

LOS ANGELES - The big voice overwhelmed the beatbox Wednesday night as Jordin Sparks was crowned the newest and youngest "American Idol."

Sparks, 17, of Glendale, Ariz., prevailed over Blake Lewis, 25, of Bothell, Wash., after a triumphant performance Tuesday that wowed the show's judges and the viewers who gave her a majority of the record 74 million votes cast.

"Mom, Dad, I love you," Sparks, the daughter of retired NFL player Phillippi Sparks, said tearfully after a bearhug from Lewis.

In an interview backstage with The Associated Press, the overwhelmed winner recalled talking with her dad about how she used to watch him sign autographs.

Sparks said …

ECB cuts a quarter percent

The European Central Bank cut interest rates a quarter point and said it would buy euro-denominated bonds as well as offer longer-term credit to banks as it moves to get more money flowing through the 16-nation euro zone economy.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, in remarks to reporters after the bank lowered its benchmark interest rate to 1 percent on Thursday, unveiled the new measures to accompany already announced ones such as increased amounts of bank credits and broader collateral rules for banks that tap them.

Trichet said the central bank plans to purchase around euro60 billion ($80.2 billion) in euro-denominated covered bonds, which would grease …

Spring Break changed

Kanawha County Schools has moved the dates of 1999-2000 SpringBreak from April 17-21 to April 24-28, which falls after the …

Carter G. Woodson Regional Library is hosting a panel discussion on the Black Chicago Renaissance

As part of the Diamond Jubilee celebration of the Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History & Literature, the Chicago Public Library is presenting a panel discussion on the impact of Vivian G. Harsh's celebrated "Book Review and Lecture Forum" on the cultural flowering of the Chicago Black Renaissance Saturday, April 14 at 1:30 p.m. in the Woodson Regional Library Auditorium, 9525 South Halsted St.

The "Special Negro Collection" and the Chicago Renaissance will feature panelist Clarice Durham, educator, human rights activist and widow of Richard Durham, playwright, journalist and producer of the first African American television series that aired over WTTW-TV titled, …

France Cleared to Fund Search Project

France won EU approval Tuesday to give $152 million to several companies hoping to build a European rival to U.S. search giant Google Inc.

The potential benefits of allowing France to fund technology group Thomson SA and 22 other companies working on the QUAERO multimedia search project in Europe outweigh any gain Thomson would win over rivals, the European Commission said.

QUAERO _ Latin for "I search" _ would develop technology for working with all platforms, including desktops, mobile devices and televisions. Its products would be sold to TV companies, filmmakers, post-production facilities and anyone who creates or uses audiovisual …

Orders Pour In Despite Slowdown

Orders are flooding in at Bristol building firms despite fears ofa slowdown in the South West construction industry.

Both Bishopsworth firm Cowlin Construction and Stoke Gifford firmCH Pearce Construction have in recent weeks taken on orders worthmillions of pounds for projects across the region.

Orders are coming from developers of commercial buildings,housebuilders and from the public sector.

The news comes in the wake of recent research from the RoyalInstitution of Chartered Surveyors which found work on building forbusinesses had slackened off.

But it found that work was now being done for the public sectorinstead, as a result of increased spending …

LGBT Youth Summit aims to strengthen bonds between GSA leaders Oct. 29

BEVERLY HILLS- The GSA Alliance of Southeastern Michigan and GLSEN of Southeastern Michigan are jointly presenting an LGBT Summit on Saturday, Oct. 29, aimed at uniting student leaders across the state and helping them strengthen their local gay straight alliances. The summit is the second such gathering this year.

"Two years ago we did a pilot conference that was very short, and we then abandoned that model," said Chase Stein, GSA-SM's youth coordinator. "This spring we did the first LGBT Summit as it's presented today."

The all-day event features two icebreakers and three workshops, and closes with a poetry slam/talent show. Attendees can choose workshops from one of …

Rice says US, Britain to ask UN Security Council for tough action against Zimbabwe

The United States plans to introduce a U.N. resolution next week calling for tough action against Zimbabwe's government, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday, to prevent the country's leaders from further abusing its population.

Speaking with reporters on her way to Seoul, South Korea, Rice said the U.S. and Britain could present the resolution to the U.N. Security Council as early as Monday.

The action is in response to the widely denounced runoff election in which Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is accused of using violence to coerce people to vote for him.

"It is time for the international community to act," Rice …

Music fills the air in springtime: ; Light Opera Guild presents 'A Little Night Music'

DAILY MAIL STAFF

JOANN Cordell's biggest challenge this weekend will be toremember which performance she's attending. Cordell will appear inthe opening performance of the Charleston Light Opera Guildproduction of Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music," Fridayevening. But that afternoon, she'll direct the choral group,Womansong, in a concert.

On Saturday, Cordell will lead the St. Anthony Catholic Schoolhonor choir in a performance at a First Communion mass, after whichshe'll rush back to the Civic Center Little Theater to perform herrole as a liebesleider for "Night Music."

On Sunday morning, she'll step up to the plate as director of theAppalachian …

Affirming the ethic of service

The turnout for the workshop, "Affirm ing the ethic of service," was small, comprising mainly Mennonite Voluntary Service Adventure (MVSA) supporters. But their enthusiasm led to a resolution, passed later by delegates, that affirmed church-based service.

At first, the mood in the workshop was muted as participants reviewed MC Canada's termination of its service program last year. It has been difficult to carry on without the support structures.

The recently opened Montreal unit closed its doors. Hamilton and Riverton are on hold. Lethbridge won't be operating next year due to lack of volunteers even though a church-owned house and leaders are in place. Toronto and …

Lebanon wish list granted

In January, the York County Economic Development Corp. pulled together representatives from six cities in Central Pennsylvania to discuss how they could tap more federal grants for development projects.

The idea was to create a regional economic development district that would include Harrisburg, Lancaster, York, Carlisle, Lebanon and Reading. The goal was to identify a wish list of what the cities wanted so the corporation could help them apply for at least $2.5 million in federal grants to make their wishes come true.

About two weeks ago, one of the cities heard back.

Lebanon will receive $50,000 to study building a technology park in the city, said Russ Montgomery, director of regional economic development initiatives for York County Economic Development Corp. The U.S. Department of Commerce awarded the money to determine where the structure should be built, how much it would cost, and who would be interested in occupying it, he said.

"Once Lebanon identifies its site, we can look for brick-and-mortar public works funds," Montgomery said. He declined to estimate how much money would be needed to complete the tech park project. However, in January, Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corp. President Bob McNary said the project would cost about $1.5 million.

The federal grant money, along with private investor funds and state and local government dollars. could be used for similar development projects in the other cities. The federal government's grants provide up to 50 percent of a project's total cost.

In anticipation of the district's approval, Lancaster, Reading and Carlisle, as well as Lebanon, have selected their priority projects and applied for federal grants, Montgomery said. York and Harrisburg have yet to identify their priority projects, he said.

Lancaster has applied for $800,000 of the federal grant money to redevelop a 20-acre brownfield site into a light industrial park. The park is in a Keystone Opportunity Zone in southwest Lancaster city, said Charles H. Maneval, the city's director of economic and community development. While the city awaits word on the grant, one company has already invested in the site. In July, Rhoads Energy, a heating oil distributor that serves Lancaster and Chester counties, built a new headquarters there. The project is expected to create more than 200 jobs.

Carlisle has applied for $350,000 to expand its Murata business center. Reading has applied for $1.3 million to redevelop a 40-acre site in the northwest part of the city, said Debra Millman, director of business development for the Greater Berks Development Fund. St. Joseph Medical Center, a hospital in Reading, hopes to relocate to the site if it is redeveloped, she said.

Lebanon also might be getting a parking garage from an unrelated program. The state Department of Community and Economic Development awarded Lebanon a $30,000 grant to hire a consultant to study the city's current and future parking needs. If the consultant concludes a parking garage would benefit the city, a site and construction costs will be determined.

In January, McNary estimated it would cost $1.5 million to $2 million to build a parking garage.

Turkey Says Its Planes Hit Iraq Targets

Turkey's military hit Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq with artillery and air strikes in a two-day operation that killed at least 15 rebels, the military said Saturday.

Turkish military shelled areas in northern Iraq on Thursday after it detected a group of Kurdish rebels preparing to attack Turkish targets from their bases in Iraq, the military said in a written statement. It said 15 rebels were killed in the shelling.

Turkish warplanes hit rebel targets in a cross-border campaign the following day, but casualty figures in that assault were unclear, the statement said.

"Some targets in the same area were hit by the air force's warplanes," it said. "The number of terrorists killed in this air attack could not be determined."

A spokesman for the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, denied any rebels had been killed, saying it was a "baseless claim."

"Turkish jet fighters launched airstrikes against sites at the al-Zab border area (for three hours) with no casualties reported," Haval Danas said. "The fighter jets have bombed old sites that witnessed fierce clashes before with the Turkish army and nobody was there."

Turkey, like the European Union and the United States, considers the PKK a terrorist organization.

The Turkish statement confirmed the first cross-border action by the military since it waged an eight-day ground incursion in late February. It said it only hit confirmed rebel targets and that it did not harm civilians.

The U.S. has been sharing intelligence on the rebels with Turkey, a NATO-ally, since November.

Turkey has carried out several cross-border operations against the PKK since the parliament authorized the government last October to send troops into Iraq to fight the rebels.

Last month's operation was the only confirmed ground incursion during this period. It was also the first of its kind since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in 2003.

The PKK took up arms against the government in 1984, and tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting.

___

Associated Press reporter Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, contributed to this report.

MP's farm cash call

AN MP has called for more transparency in the dairy industryafter hearing profits are not being passed on to farmers.

Meeting with the Farmers' Union of Wales, Carmarthen West andSouth Pembrokeshire MP Simon Hart heard producers in Carmarthenshireand Pembrokeshire had received slight increases in what they werepaid for their milk in recent months, but that did not compare tothe increase in profits seen by the processors and stores.

He said: "Most farmers have had a price increase of about a pennyper litre but the prices in the shops have gone up by far more andthe cost of cream has never been so high."

Mr Hart feared the processors were stockpiling cash in thecurrent economic climate, while the increase received by farmers waseaten up by them having to pay much more for feed because a Russiandrought had driven prices up.

He added: "The Government is making progress with a supermarketOmbudsman but I would also like to see more transparency throughoutthe industry as to the true nature of their costs and profitmargins".

He also discussed controlling Bovine TB, bank lending problemsand stricter food labelling with the farmers.

The art of scheduling: A starting point

With proper and structured repair scheduling, collision repair facility staff will be able to plan the work through the production process.

There are many factors necessary to managing a successful collision facility, but some aspects are more important than others in determining just how successful a shop can be. Is repair scheduling an important component of being successful?

When talking about being a "successful" collision repair facility, it doesn't mean just being busy, having high customer satisfaction index (CSI) ratings, or turning a profit. A successful facility is all of these things and more. This includes steady work for continuous productivity, quality repairs completed in a timely manner, high customer and employee CSI, and profitability. Now let's ask the question again: Is repair scheduling important to being successful? I hope you answered yes.Without scheduling your repairs, you cannot be successful to your potential.You must be able to plan the work through the production process; this cannot be done if you are not scheduling repairs properly.

This is not to say that you aren't able to run a collision repair facility without proper repair scheduling. However, you may not be truly successful or reach the potential of which the facility is capable. I have seen many shops that do not have a consistent process of scheduling repairs that are doing well. But they haven't reached their full potential. How well can you run your business if you tell customers to bring in their vehicles on Monday or Tuesday and pick them up on Friday? This type of "scheduling" results in increased cycle time, low CSI scores, poor use of capital, equipment and employees, bottlenecks, reduced productivity, quality issues, and reduced profitability.

What it doesn't lead to is continuous production flow-which is the goal of all collision repair facilities.

Proper repair scheduling takes planning and understanding of your current business structure. Scheduling repairs doesn't mean just giving a customer a date to bring in his or her vehicle. It also means planning the completion date. Repair scheduling should be done for all vehicles: both drivable and non-drivable. Many shops schedule their repairs based on what they think a vehicle owner wants to hear or under pressure from an insurance company. But this only results in not meeting a customer's expectations or poor quality when you try and meet the promised delivery date. What happens when you sell a job and explain to the customer that it is a three-day repair?You offer Tuesday or Wednesday as possible appointment days, but they want to drop it off on Monday and you agree. Monday is already fully scheduled, but you do not want to tell the customer no.You receive the vehicle on Monday morning, but it doesn't get into production until Tuesday morning and the vehicle is completed Thursday afternoon. Have you met the customer's expectations by operating this way?You completed the repairs in three days.You must be honest with your customers when scheduling repairs, if you cannot start the repairs on the day the customer wants to bring in the vehicle. Advise him or her that the repairs will not be started that day. Remember, you manage your shop-not the customer or insurance company. Think of your shop as a doctor's or dentist's office, which requires appointments to be scheduled.

One thing that must be done consistently at the collision repair facility is determining the number of repair days. There are many different formulas shops use. However, to effectively schedule vehicles, you must make sure that everyone uses the same method of calculating days to repair. Determine the way you calculate repair days and then implement that as a standard procedure to your staff.

Communicate the days to repair with the customer, determine the target delivery date, and advise the customer of what may affect meeting this date.

The art of scheduling may be as complex as managing your business-or not. When scheduling repair appointments, there are many things to consider other than just attended and flagged hours. Technician productivity, utilization, overall efficiency, facility capacity, equipment, skill level, production process and staffing are all things to account for when scheduling repairs. Repair scheduling may be as basic or detailed as you would like. Of course, the more detailed your scheduling process, the more tracking you need to do. But you will be able to plan where the vehicle will be in the production process more accurately, which will help control cycle time. If the facility has a management system in place, or takes advantage of spreadsheets, the repair scheduling can be much more exact. The ultimate goal when scheduling repairs is to be able to plan the repair through each production stage.

I recommend using a very basic process for repair scheduling as a starting point.This method is easy to implement and will help all employees begin to see the benefits of scheduling.

Before you are able to assess the available hours, you must have some data from tracked Key Performance Indicators (KPI). At a minimum, you should have at least four weeks of attended hours and flagged hours for each productive technician. With these data you will be able to determine the average of what the facility has been producing. Remember, a collision facility sells hours. This average does not limit you to the number of hours you should sell and produce, but gives you a starting point to determine the minimum you will need to schedule. From the attended and flagged hours you will be able to determine the overall efficiency of each technician. Once you know each technician s efficiency, you may begin to look at how to increase efficiency, which will then allow you to increase the number of hours you schedule each day into the facility.

The first step, as shown in Table 1, is an easy method of tracking a technician's time.This information will give you a starting point to schedule repairs properly. Table 2 is an example of how you can determine the average sold or flagged hours. Based on the sample data, this facility must schedule at least 401.6 hours a week. The next step is to break out the percentage of work you schedule each day of the week. Table 3 shows the number of hours needed to schedule if you were to distribute the work evenly throughout each workday.You may plan your work by bringing in 30 percent on Monday and Tuesday, 15 percent on Wednesday and Thursday, and 10 percent on Friday. Base your scheduling profile to ensure continuous productivity and use of equipment and employees. No matter how you plan the work, you must schedule work for Friday, as this is necessary to your overall productivity, and starts your Monday without any downtime. Do not forget that all repairs must be scheduled, including vehicles that are towed in. Based on parts availability, the towed-in vehicles are great candidates to be scheduled for Thursdays and Fridays, as are those drivable vehicles that have repair days exceeding five working days.

If you were to be scheduling based on the data in Table 3, you will plan to bring in 80.32 hours per day. Of course, you may not get the exact hours each day, so you may carry over or lower the hours for the next day. This is a very basic and manual starting point for repair scheduling. When scheduling, record the customer name and total repair hours as per the estimate (see Table 4).You may also want to record the vehicle and insurance company if applicable. This information will be a great value as you get more detailed in scheduling and tracking cycle times. As you place a new job on the schedule, begin to deduct the hours scheduled from those available. As you can see from Table 4, this facility should have scheduled more vehicles/hours in on Wednesday and less on Thursday. Overall, for the week the shop did well. The goal is to keep all technicians productive throughout the week.

This starting point will provide the structure and habit of what is required for proper repair scheduling. Once you begin with the basics of bringing in the hours needed to keep all technicians productive, you can then being to look more in depth to improve the whole production process. By this I mean you will plan the repair based on hours for each production department. Knowing the utilization and actual hours worked during attended hours of your technicians will ensure more accurate repair scheduling. The data needed to properly schedule repairs into a collision repair facility are available when you are tracking your KPIs. The only variable left unaccounted for after this process implementation is the "human factor" of your employees. When I figure this out, I will pass on the information to you.

[Sidebar]

SCHEDULING EFFECTIVELY

[Sidebar]

There are guiding principles necessary to effectively schedule work in a collision repair center. These will facilitate maximum productive efficiency while using existing facility layout and technician head count. It will also help ensure predictable repair cycle time and the managing and meeting of customers' expectations.

[Sidebar]

Repair scheduling guiding principles are as follows:

* WRITE A COMPLETE ESTIMATE, REFLECTING THE ACTUAL DAMAGE: Writing a complete estimate will allow for allocations of the correct number of hours relevant to each of the production departments. The estimate must reflect the actual damage a vehicle has sustained due to the loss.

* ASSESS THE AVAILABLE HOURS TO FACILITATE THE REPAIR: The available hours are based on the actual technician's hours that are worked (attended) during a given period and the sold (flagged) hours during the same period. The hours will change based on the technician's efficiency and skill set.

* DO NOT SCHEDULE A REPAIR WITHOUT THE AVAILABLE TIME: Scheduling without hours available will result in huge inefficiencies in the production area and significantly impact cycle time.

* DO NOT PROMISE WHAT CANNOT BE DELIVERED: If you cannot start on a drivable vehicle on the day a customer requests for an appointment date, be honest. If it is a four-day repair and you cannot start on it until Tuesday, explain this to the customer. Also, always explain to your customers what may affect the completion of a repair on the "promised" delivery date.

* OVER-DELIVER ON CUSTOMERS' EXPECTATIONS: If that four-day repair happens to be complete in three, you now have a very happy customer. Remember, you set customers' expectations.

[Author Affiliation]

Stacy Bartnik is an automotive industry consultant and trainer for Carter & Carter International. She is also a Gold Pin member of CIC and currently is co-chair of the Public Affairs/Marketing Committee. She also is on the Board of Directors for the National Auto Body Council (NABC) and serves as the chair for both the Collision Repair Industry PRIDE Awards committee and Collision Repair Industry PRIDE Month Committee.

Report: LA Deputies Held Arrest Contests

LOS ANGELES - Sheriff's deputies have been competing in organized contests to see who could make the most arrests, who could impound the most cars and who could question the most gang members.

The contests were meant to boost morale and motivate deputies, but some observers are crying foul, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

One of the competitions, outlined in an internal Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department e-mail, was "Operation Any Booking." The object of the contest was to see who could arrest the most people in a 24-hour period.

"It's just a friendly competition to have a little fun out here," said Lt. James Tatreau, who helped organize the events. "It's a morale booster."

Tatreau said that when he joined a station in Lakewood, he noticed some patrol deputies made 15 to 20 arrests a month, while others made seven arrests in an entire year.

The prize for winning was "bragging rights," Tatreau said.

Several police observers were not impressed.

Hubert Williams, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Police Foundation, said the competitions were "highly problematic and inappropriate."

"The arrest is one of the most potent tools in the possession of law enforcement and should be used with great thought," Williams said. "It's not a competition or a game."

Los Angeles County Public Defender Michael P. Judge, wondered if the games could prompt deputies to make illegitimate arrests to boost numbers.

"Certainly, it calls into question whether there was a legitimate reason to book any of the people who were booked during the time of the competition," Judge said.

According to a Times review of records, Operation Any Booking did not result in an increase in arrests on the day of the contest.

But the impound competition may have increased the number of vehicles seized, with records showing a spike in vehicle seizures the day of the contest.

Sheriff Lee Baca said the competitions were a well-meaning but poorly conceived idea that promoted "the wrong values."

"We're not into numbers, we're into quality," Baca said. "I don't think it will occur again."

Bear blitz wows Brits

Writing from London They almost got it right.

They had a traffic jam worthy of the Super Bowl and a partybefore the game that had everything from whole roast pig to 31flavors.

They had a singing, chanting, cheering crowd that did the wave,rose to a frenzy during the coin flip and even had that relic ofyears gone by, a streaker, hidden in its festive midst.

The only thing they screwed up on was the weather. But youcould hardly avoid the dank and dreary London evening by packing thegame off to a dome or some sunny clime, now, could you? How elsecould they sing "God Save the Queen" before a football game?

So in the end, Jim McMahon wrapped his headband around the hoodof his poncho and the Bears had fun yesterday. Almost as much fun asthe 82,699 people who jammed Wembley Stadium to see them beat theDallas Cowboys 17-6 in their first exhibition game of the season.

Not quite, but almost.

As good as the Bears felt after knocking off the revenge-mindedCowboys and showing there is defense after Buddy Ryan, it was nothingcompared to the excited response of the fans.

Nobody could have enjoyed this game more than the people whocrowded into the seats or stood shoulder to shoulder in the end zoneand cheered a strange game they understand imperfectly but delightin nevertheless.

"It was almost like playing at home," said Bears linebacker MikeSingletary of the crowd's enthusiastic response every time somethingvaguely interesting happened. "They were really into it."

"They got excited even before the game," McMahon said. "Westarted clapping during warmups and they started clapping right alongwith us."

"It seemed like the whole country was out for a picnic and theydidn't care about the weather or anything else," Walter Payton said.

"They were really having fun out there," William Perry said."Especially when naked people started running out on the field."

Perry was speaking of the man who, with 3:08 to play, left thestands behind the end zone and dashed onto the field without so muchas a raincoat to hide behind. He was, as they say over here,starkers.

A couple of stadium officials tackled the interloper and sloshedaround on the turf with him in a better exhibition of mud wrestlingthan some that charge admission. Finally, their superior numbersprevailed and they hauled him off.

"Damn!" shouted Dennis McKinnon, the injured wide receiver whowatched the incident in the press box. "Where's my camera?"

"Michael McCaskey and Jerry Vainisi wouldn't give me theirbinoculars," complained Diana Ditka, the wife of the Bear coach, whowas watching the game from the royal box in the company of theAmerican ambassador to Great Britain.

"I had to look around to check all our guys on the bench," Ditkasaid.

"Nobody's got that much nerve," McMahon replied.

The only thing more remarkable than the enthusiasm the Englishcrowd brought to the game was its ignorance. People cheerfullyadmitted they knew almost nothing of the game's finer points, butwere captivated by the spectacle. This phenomenon may have been summed up when Perry scored atouchdown in the second quarter. Perry's importance is vastlyoverplayed here - just as it is in the United States - but thedifference is that he is the only American player many people herehave ever heard of.

So it was that for a mere $4 you could have washed down yourcornish pastie with a pint of American beer in a plastic William Perry mug at Wembley yesterday.

When Perry scored, I was down in the stands watching the gamewith a couple of young London women who said they had come to Wembleyfor a laugh.

"Did he?" Belinda Levine said. "Which one is he? Is he in theblack or the white? Will he do it again, do you think?"

What about the game itself?

"It's really weird," she said. "All this starting and stopping.You can't tell where the ball is. And everybody hitting each otherand all going in different ways."

Her friend, Candida Brent, was somewhat more in tune with thegame, but she had a good reason.

"I lived in Florida for a while," she said. "I hate the Bears.I cried when the Dolphins lost the Super Bowl two years ago."

Out in the corridor, waiting patiently for the hot dog line tomove, was Kate Bowen of London, who had been driven into a mildappreciation of football by her 15-year-old brother, Julian. He's mad about it," she said. "He's always reading magazines aboutit and talking about the Fridge. That's why I'm down here gettingthe food. He won't leave the game."

Down behind the end zone, where men held up small boys for a verybad view and women stood sedately holding their dates' hands in thecrush, the people were getting an education into the ways of thegame.

"You watch it on telly and you see the highlights," said EmmettHepburn of Newton. "When you watch it here, you know when the advertsare coming."

Even Perry's touchdown failed to thrill him.

"You didn't really see him go over, did you?" Hepburn said."It'd be nicer to see him hit daylight and go over, wouldn't it?

"But he's had his trip to London, hasn't he? Let's put it thatway."

Let's put it that way about the entire team. For all thehoopla, what it boils down to is they have had their trip to Londonand they have won a football game. I can remember less successfultrips than that to Green Bay.

Oil prices steady ahead of US data expected to show gasoline stocks fell

Oil prices were steady Wednesday as traders awaited the release of a U.S. government report expected to show gasoline inventories fell last week _ a bullish indicator offset by continuing concerns about the U.S. economy.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery was up by 11 cents at US$108.61 a barrel by afternoon in European electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 59 cents to settle at US$108.50 a barrel Tuesday.

Brent crude futures slipped by 17 cents Wednesday to US$106.17 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

Oil prices have been supported recently by a growing belief that U.S. gasoline supplies are falling as the summer driving season in the Northern Hemisphere approaches.

Last week, the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said gasoline inventories fell more than expected during the week ended March 28. It was expected to report later Wednesday that gasoline stockpiles fell another 2.3 million barrels last week, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey of analysts.

Analysts say refiners have cut back on gasoline production due to low profit margins. The rising price of crude means it costs refiners more to turn the raw product into motor fuel. The EIA was also expected to report that refinery use rose 0.7 percentage point to 83.1 percent of capacity, the survey showed.

Still, worries about the U.S. economy _ with the possibility of less demand for oil and oil products _ kept a low ceiling on prices.

"Demand, as gauged by first quarter economic indicators, is less than rosy as consumer confidence erodes thanks to falling housing values and a retrenchment in the jobs market," wrote Stephen Schork in his Schork Report of the medium-term outlook.

The EIA report was also expected to show crude oil stocks rose 2.4 million barrels. Stocks of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, were expected to fall 1.2 million barrels, the survey showed.

Crude stocks rose by an unexpected 7.3 million barrels in the week ended March 28. And although theoretically rising oil supplies could undermine prices, crude futures have been driven higher recently by weakness in the dollar and speculative buying by investors who believe rising demand overseas will keep sending commodity values skyward.

The U.S. Energy Department on Tuesday raised its forecast for the average price of crude in 2008, citing global demand and low surplus production capacity. The EIA, in its monthly report on petroleum supplies and demand, raised earlier price projections for crude oil, saying that the benchmark West Texas Intermediate contract would average US$101 per barrel in 2008.

The agency had earlier predicted prices would average US$94.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures were down by less then a cent at US$3.107 a gallon (3.8 liters,) while gasoline was up by over a penny, selling for US$2.7615 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose nearly 30 cents to US$9.995 per 1,000 cubic feet.

___

Associated Press Writer Gillian Wong contributed to this report from Singapore.

Knicks-Warriors, Box

NEW YORK (104)

Richardson 6-13 0-0 14, Randolph 4-11 1-2 9, Curry 5-5 7-9 17, Crawford 9-22 3-3 21, Collins 1-7 0-0 2, Lee 3-6 2-2 8, Jeffries 0-1 0-0 0, Robinson 8-19 5-6 22, Balkman 4-5 3-4 11. Totals 40-89 21-26 104.

GOLDEN STATE (106)

Jackson 7-18 7-8 25, Harrington 4-13 3-4 12, Biedrins 4-6 3-5 11, Davis 8-21 4-7 22, Ellis 9-15 6-9 24, Barnes 1-3 0-0 2, Watson 2-3 0-0 4, Azubuike 2-5 2-2 6, Pietrus 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 37-85 25-35 106.

New York 20 32 27 25_104

Golden State 29 18 29 30_106

3-Point Goals_New York 3-16 (Richardson 2-5, Robinson 1-4, Crawford 0-7), Golden State 7-27 (Jackson 4-9, Davis 2-8, Harrington 1-5, Pietrus 0-1, Barnes 0-1, Watson 0-1, Azubuike 0-2). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_New York 52 (Lee 13), Golden State 60 (Biedrins 26). Assists_New York 27 (Robinson 8), Golden State 21 (Davis 9). Total Fouls_New York 30, Golden State 21. Technicals_New York defensive three second, Golden State defensive three second. A_19,596 (19,596).