Former Penn State coach, Joe Paterno has died after a short battle with lung cancer. Paterno?s son announced just two months ago that his father, who had been a fixture at Penn State since 1950, was coping with the difficult diagnosis. Paterno?s family released the following statement on Sunday morning:
"He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community."
Funeral arrangements for Paterno are expected to be announced on Monday by Koch Funeral Home.
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. ? A major war crimes trial resumed Friday with the prosecution showing outtakes of a 2007 "60 Minutes" interview in which a Marine squad leader charged with killing unarmed Iraqis says he was trained to "positively identify your target before you shoot to kill."
Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich went on to say that he also understood before going into the town of Haditha in 2005 that it was a dangerous place. Twenty-three Marines in the battalion before him were killed and 36 were wounded, the most casualties that any company had suffered in the war at that time.
Wuterich, 31, is the last defendant in the biggest criminal case to emerge from the Iraq war. He was charged with nine counts of voluntary manslaughter after his squad killed 24 unarmed Iraqis ? including women and children ? during a series of raids on homes after a roadside bomb killed a Marine and wounded two others.
Lt. Col. David Jones convened the court after he excused jurors early Wednesday and told lawyers to explore options, fueling speculation a plea deal was in the works.
On Friday, Jones advised the all-Marine jurors at Camp Pendleton not to speculate on the reasons for the delay in the proceedings. Lawyers did not respond to repeated inquiries asking if there was talk of a plea deal.
"There were some negotiations going on and some other legal issues," Jones told the court before jurors entered. He did not elaborate and told jurors simply there were "some legal issues that needed to be taken care of."
Jurors have been tasked with trying to decipher whether Wuterich acted appropriately as a squad leader that fateful Nov. 19, 2005, day: Did he protect his Marines after a bomb exploded, or did he go on an angry rampage, disregarding combat rules and leading his men to indiscriminately kill Iraqis?
The jury was to spend much of the day watching three hours of Wuterich's "60 Minutes" interview. It has been a contentious issue in the case. Legal wrangling between the defense and prosecution over the video, including unaired outtakes, delayed the case from going to trial for years. Prosecutors later won their right to use it and told jurors Friday it is a key part of their case.
In the interview, Wuterich talked about joining the Marine Corps at the age of 17 and how he chose to go to Iraq after he re-enlisted because he said he "wouldn't have felt complete as a Marine" if he didn't have combat experience.
Before leading his squad into Haditha, Wuterich said he had been taught the rules of combat and even had instructed young Marines heading to Iraq and Afghanistan. "The biggest thing," he said, was positive identification.
"We had several briefs on that before we went," he said.
At the same time, he said he understood when Marines come under attack to do whatever is needed to eliminate the threat and protect his men.
"You don't want to be an easy target," he said.
Prosecutors have argued Wuterich lost control of himself after seeing his friend blown apart by the bomb.
Wuterich, of Meriden, Conn., is one of eight Marines initially charged. None has been convicted. Wuterich has said he regretted the loss of civilian lives but believed he was following the rules of engagement. Defense attorneys have said he did the best he could in the fog of war.
Wuterich said in the interview that immediately after the explosion, his mind went into another place and his training kicked in.
"I didn't have any emotion at that point," he said. "I was essentially like a machine."
Wuterich described seeing parts of a Marine Corps Humvee rain down from the sky. He said he fired on five Iraqi men outside a car near the bombsite because the car was the "only thing there," the men started to run, and he feared it was a car bomb or they had triggered the roadside explosion. After that, he and the squad stormed nearby homes.
One of his squad mates took the stand Friday. Sgt. Humberto Mendoza told jurors that after he helped remove the bodies of women and children who were riddled with bullets in a back bedroom of one of the homes, he felt himself questioning "things" that 2005 night.
Mendoza acknowledged he lied to investigators at first about what happened and wanted to cover it up to protect his squad, but he told jurors he decided it's time to tell the truth. Defense attorneys have pointed out many squad members had their cases dropped in exchange for testifying for the prosecution.
"Up to this day, I really don't know what happened in the back bedroom," Mendoza said.
BEIJING ? China on Sunday reported its second bird flu fatality in a month following deaths last week in Vietnam and Cambodia.
The patient died Sunday in Guizhou province in the southwest after being hospitalized on Jan. 6, the health ministry said in a brief statement. It said the flu was highly pathogenic but gave no indication whether it was confirmed to be the H5N1 strain.
Mainland officials told Hong Kong authorities the patient was a 39-year-old man who reported having no contact with poultry, government-run Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK said. It gave no other details of his identity.
The health ministry statement said 71 people who had contact with the patient showed no unusual symptoms.
China suffered its first bird flu fatality in 18 months when a bus driver in Shenzhen, a city that borders Hong Kong, died Dec. 31.
Last week, Vietnam reported its first bird flu fatality in nearly two years ? an 18-year-old man who worked on a duck farm.
In Cambodia, a 2-year-old boy died last week after reportedly having contact with sick poultry in his village, according to the World Health Organization.
Indonesia also has reported one bird flu death this year.
WHO says that as of Friday, there have been 343 human deaths from 582 confirmed bird flu cases worldwide since 2003. Some 27 of those deaths were in China and 60 in Vietnam.
FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012 file photo, a man rides an electric bike crossing a street shrouded by haze in Beijing, China. Caving to public pressure, Beijing environmental authorities started releasing more detailed air quality data Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, that may better reflect how bad the Chinese capital's air pollution is. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012 file photo, a man rides an electric bike crossing a street shrouded by haze in Beijing, China. Caving to public pressure, Beijing environmental authorities started releasing more detailed air quality data Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, that may better reflect how bad the Chinese capital's air pollution is. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
BEIJING (AP) ? Caving to public pressure, Beijing environmental authorities started releasing more detailed air quality data Saturday that may better reflect how bad the Chinese capital's air pollution is.
The initial measurements were low on a day where you could see blue sky. After a week of smothering smog, the skies over the city were being cleared by a north wind.
The readings of PM2.5 ? particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in size or about 1/30th the average width of a human hair ? were being posted on Beijing's environmental monitoring center's website. Such small particulates can penetrate deep into the lungs, so measuring them is considered a more accurate reflection of air quality than other methods.
It is the first time Beijing has publicly revealed PM2.5 data and follows a clamor of calls by citizens on social networking sites tired of breathing in gray and yellow air. The U.S. Embassy measures PM2.5 from a device on its rooftop and releases the results, and some residents have even tested the air around their neighborhoods and posted the results online.
Beijing is releasing hourly readings of PM2.5 that are taken from one monitoring site about 4 miles (7 kilometers) west of Tiananmen Square, the monitoring center's website said Saturday. It said the data was for research purposes and the public should only use it as a reference.
The reading at noon Saturday was 0.015 mg/m3, which would be classed as "good" for a 24-hour exposure at that level, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. The U.S. Embassy reading taken from its site on the eastern edge of downtown Beijing said its noon reading was "moderate." Its readings are posted on Twitter.
Steven Andrews, an environmental consultant who has studied Beijing's pollution data since 2006, said he was "already a bit suspicious" of Beijing's PM2.5 data. Within the 24-hour period to noon Saturday, Beijing reported seven hourly figures "at the very low level" of 0.003 milligrams per cubic meter.
"In all of 2010 and 2011, the U.S. Embassy reported values at or below that level only 18 times out of over 15,000 hourly values or about 0.1 percent of the time," said Andrews. "PM2.5 concentrations vary by area so a direct comparison between sites isn't possible, but the numbers being reported during some hours seem surpisingly low."
The Beijing center had promised to release PM2.5 data by the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year on Monday. It has six sites that can test for PM2.5 and 27 that can test for the larger, coarser PM10 particles that are considered less hazardous. The center is expected to buy equipment and build more monitoring sites to enable PM2.5 testing.
Beijing wasn't expected to include PM2.5 in its daily roundups of the air quality anytime soon. Those disclosures, for example "light" or "serious," are based on the amount of PM10, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the air.
Beijing interprets air quality using less stringent standards than the U.S. Embassy, so often when the government says pollution is "light," the embassy terms it "hazardous."
"There has been tremendous amounts of attention in the Chinese media ? whichever newspaper you pick up, whichever radio station you listen to, channel you watch ? they are all talking about PM2.5 and how levels are so high," said Andrews.
"What has been so powerful is that people are skeptical, and I think rightly skeptical," about the government's descriptions of data, he said.
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Online:
Beijing center's readings (in Chinese): http://zx.bjmemc.com.cn/
The U.S. Embassy's Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/beijingair
Ryan Brunn, 20, of Canton, is shown in his Dec. 7 booking photo.
By msnbc.com staff and news services
JACKSON, Ga. -- An apartment complex maintenance man who molested and killed a 7-year-old girl committed suicide in prison on Thursday, two days after being sentenced to life in a notorious case that led to the resignation of a town police chief.
?I can confirm that Ryan Brunn did commit suicide," Kristen Stancil, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Brunn was fund unresponsive in his cell at the Jackson State Prison on Thursday afternoon and was pronounced dead at a hospital, the newspaper reported.
Corrections officials did not say how Brunn killed himself. A source told 11Alive News than Brunn hanged himself.
On Tuesday, Brunn pleaded guilty to molesting and killing 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera. The girl disappeared Dec. 3 from a playground at her Canton, Ga., apartment complex after going to get sodas from her friends. Her body was found a few days later in a trash bin.
Speaking softly and with little emotion, Brunn told the court he lured Jorelys into a vacant apartment, molested her, then beat and stabbed her.
He said that when she struggled,?he hit her about five times with?one of her roller?skates and then wrapped her body in a blanket, which he then dumped in a trash compactor.
"I didn't want her to go home and tell her mom or dad on me," Brunn said. "So I cut her."
Hundreds gather to mourn slain Ga. girl
Brunn insisted he never had sex with the girl, and prosecutors agreed to reduce charges against him from aggravated child molestation to child molestation. He also pleaded guilty to a range of other charges, including assault and abandonment of a dead body. He had no history of a criminal past and passed a background check to work at the complex.
Ricardo Arduengo / AP
Joselinne Rivera mourns in front of the coffin containing the body of her daughter, Jorelys Rivera, during her?funeral?in Penuelas, Puerto Rico, on Dec. 13.
Canton Police Chief Jeff Lance resigned after a review revealed his department violated several of its own policies and made many mistakes in the search for Jorelys.
A 17-page review by LaGrange Police Chief Louis Dekmar said Lance and his department made a host of mistakes, according to The Associated Press.
The inquiry said there was little doubt that Rivera was already dead by the time Canton police received the missing child report. But it said if another such report were handled in the same manner, police "may indeed miss an opportunity to save a victim's life."
The review found that the officer who responded to the initial call treated the case as a routine one that "would be solved in the same manner as dozens of other such cases that the agency had handled in 2011."
Back in November we joined Martin Scorsese and other Hollywood luminaries at Paramount Studios for the unveiling of Canon's latest cinema video camera, which is now available for pre-order. The EOS C300, that aims to compete directly against the Reds of the world, carries a Super 35mm CMOS sensor capable of up to 4K resolution 1080p capture, and should be helped in large part by the company's top-shelf lenses; like the 14.5 - 60mm and 30 - 300mm. When we first met the C300 we told you it'd be priced at a hefty $20,000, but that's no longer the case, instead it'll cost a less painful $16,000 for the body only. The camera will begin shipping "after January 30th," and if it seems like a little too much for you, at least you can still watch our precious hands-on time with it.
Update: We've updated to clarify that while the sensor is 4K the camera only captures in 1080p.
What if you could touch 1.5 billion people in over 200 countries with your content?? Discovery Communications is the world?s number one non-fiction media company that does just that!? Did I mention it?s growing at a breakneck pace? ?Since you probably watch their productions, you might want to watch the stock.
They are the original ?reality? TV network.?
Company Description & Developments Not only does Discovery Communications own traditional media brands like the Oprah Winfrey Network, TLC, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, they also own the website howstuffworks.com and many more valuable, popular brands.
If you?ve had enough of the Jersey Shore and Real Housewives programs like most of us, the Discovery brands offer cool, unique and informative programming in a world that otherwise lacks interesting, non-fictional TV. Discovery?s programs are eye opening, funny and relatable on many levels according to their reviews (and mine).? Its content spans cultures and creeds around the world.
Discovery also does a great job on web integration and content for other forms of media so they can keep up with an evolving space.
Aside from the solid financial growth which we will touch on shortly, I just love their programming!? Anecdotally, I hear so much positive chatter about their content coming from men and women in a wide age and social range that it?s hard to argue their reach.
If consumers are indeed getting healthier, they will be more likely to buy cable and satellite. ?Of course advertisers will be paying more, which is why expectations are for about 20% earnings growth over the next year.
Financial Profile Discovery Communications is a larger mid-cap company (11.8 billion) that is trading at about 18 times trailing earnings (P/E).? Looking forward, Zacks Consensus Estimates sees Discovery Communication?s P/E dropping to 15.62, with no change in price from these levels. ??That puts it into a slightly elevated category, but certainly not overvalued in my opinion.
Discovery Communications jumped to a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy just yesterday.
One analyst revised their FY2012 earnings estimate up within the past month, which was most likely the push that got DISCA its current rating. ??
Last quarter DISCA reported sales growth of 18.25% year over year and 3% over the previous quarter with total sales of 3.8 billion in FY2010.? Discovery is expected to earn $2.39 in FY2011 according to the Zacks Consensus Estimate.?
Earnings Estimates Expectations are for Discovery to make 69 cents this quarter when they report on February 10th.? Of the 16 analysts who cover the media company, the consensus is for the company to grow earnings by 34% in FY2011 and 18% in FY2012.
In terms of the magnitude of analyst estimate trends, we have seen most of the consensus estimates higher than they were 90 days ago.? This is not extremely bullish, but certainly positive.?
Discovery surprised analysts to the upside by 7.27% last quarter, with the average earnings surprise being a positive 4.20%. ??Positive surprises have been the norm over the past year.?
Market Performance & Technicals Discovery?s stock has really picked up steam over the past month, rising almost 13.5%.? This extreme movement may be detraction to analysts upping their targets and estimates.
Momentum for Discovery has really been building since August, but it?s been a rocky road.? Given the past behavior of DISCA, it might be best to wait for the pullback before buying, as the stock has been up for nearly 10 days straight. Like many of the stocks I have targeted in our momentum picks, DISCA is knocking on the door of its 52 week high of $45.81.?
Even with the elevated volatility, it remains in a bullish channel (since August) and firmly above its 50 and 200 day moving averages of $41.49 and $41.01 respectively.
As I stated earlier, Discovery is a bit volatile, but yet its beta only reads .73.? ?That could also mean that Discovery just has a low correlation to its index, because there is no doubt this stock moves.?
Discovery has outpaced the S&P 500 by 9% over the past year and almost 4% over the past month.? Given the recent volume decline as DISCA has been rallying, I would be looking for a pullback before entering, perhaps to the $42.00 level.? ??
Jared A Levy is the Momentum Stock Strategist for Zacks.com. He is also the Editor in charge of the market-beating Zacks Whisper Trader Service.
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This Week?s Momentum Zacks Rank Buy Stocks:
Brightpoint, Inc. (CELL) The future of global communicaton and culture is without cords and boundaries.? Wireless technologies are changing the way we live, work and play.? Companies like Apple, Motorola, Samsung, Sandisk, Lenovo, Plantronics and many more are creating products that influence everything we do as a society. ?Brightpoint is a necessary catalyst for their continued success and in turn reaps serious rewards from growth in the entire space. ?READ FULL ARTICLE
Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. (DTG)? This car company showed strong Q3 results and beat estimates across the board.? Now with a new CEO, great rates and increasing demand, they may be poised for another strong year after rising 53% over the past twelve months. ? READ FULL ARTICLE
American Water Works Co., Inc (AWK) Contrary to what you might believe, the most important commodity is not crude oil, natural gas, silver or even gold ? humans can survive without any or all of them.? The one essential commodity that humans cannot live without is potable water. What is most interesting is that there currently is no way to ?trade it? or to take advantage of this integral part of our lives or its scarcity. American Water Works is one of the ways you can invest in water, without having to build a tower in your neighborhood to store it.? READ FULL ARTICLE
Genetics Society of America announces 2012 award recipientsPublic release date: 18-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Phyllis Edelman pedelman@genetics-gsa.org 301-634-7302 Genetics Society of America
5 genetics researchers and educators are honored by GSA for their research contributions, support of colleagues within the genetics community and to public understanding of genetics research and its applications to human activities
The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to announce the 2012 recipients of its five awards for distinguished service in the field of genetics. The recipients of these awards were nominated and selected by their colleagues.
GSA President Philip Hieter, PhD, said, "the individuals honored this year exemplify the seminal contributions that genetics makes to our fundamental understanding of living systems, helping point the way toward such applications as developing new treatments for human disease and increasing the yields of agricultural crops. We are delighted to honor these geneticists who have added so much not only to our field, but to society as a whole."
The recipients are:
Kathryn V. Anderson, PhD (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center) has received the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal for lifetime contributions to the field of genetics.
Joanne Chory, PhD (Salk Institute for Biological Studies) has received the Genetics Society of America Medal for outstanding contributions in genetics for the last 15 years.
Therese Markow, PhD (University of California, San Diego) has received the George W. Beadle Award for outstanding contributions to the community of genetics researchers.
David A. Micklos (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) has received The Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education which recognizes significant and sustained impact in genetics education.
Dana Carroll, PhD (University of Utah) has received The Edward Novitski Prize, which recognizes an extraordinary level of creativity and intellectual ingenuity in solving a significant problem(s) in genetics research.
These five researchers and educators have a broad range of research and professional interests, many of which involve the use of model organismssuch as mice, plants, and Drosophila (fruit flies)which enable scientists to enhance our understanding of the natural world in experimentally tractable systems. More information about the recipients and their awards are listed below:
Recipient: Kathryn V. Anderson, PhD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Anderson is a developmental biologist who has spent decades discovering the genes and proteins that interact during embryonic development to control embryonic patterning in both Drosophila and mice. Her work with genetic screening has led to seminal discoveries including genes controlling developmental patterns of the Drosophila nervous system, the immune system response in fruit flies, and the early development of mammalian embryos.
Dr. Anderson holds the Enid A. Haupt Chair in Developmental Biology and is the founding chair of the Developmental Biology Program at the Sloan-Kettering Institute. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.
Award: The Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal is named in honor of the classical geneticist who was among those researchers who laid the foundation for modern genetics. Morgan received the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his studies of Drosophila chromosomes and the role chromosomes play in heredity.
Recipient: Therese Markow, PhD, University of California, San Diego
Dr. Markow is a professor of evolutionary biology and ecology, studying speciation, the evolution of mating systems, and adaptation to novel environments. Her research on cactus-breeding Drosophila in the Sonoran Desert has broad implications for the field of population genetics, particularly the genetic and ecological factors driving reproductive isolation, which eventually leads to the development of distinct species.
In addition to research in her own lab, Dr. Markow is director of the Drosophila Species Stock Center, a living collection of more than 1,600 strains and 250 species of Drosophila supported by the National Science Foundation. This center is an invaluable resource for genetics researchers worldwide who use Drosophila to answer fundamental questions in evolution, ecology, developmental biology, physiology, neurobiology, comparative genomics, and genomics.
Dr. Markow holds the Amylin Chair in Life Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. She was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2008 and received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring in 2001.
Award: The George W. Beadle Award was established by GSA in 1999 and named for its past president (1946), who received the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the role of genes in regulating biochemical events within cells. In addition to his pioneering genetics research, Beadle was a leader in the educational and scientific communities, serving as president of the University of Chicago (1961?) and as a member of numerous influential national committees.
Recipient: Joanne Chory, PhD, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
A long-time member of GSA, Dr. Chory is a leading molecular and cellular plant biologist, using genetic approaches in Arabidopsis thaliana to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying plant development. Dr. Chory's research helps understand how plants detect and respond to changes in their environment, particularly light, which has implications for the growth and development of agricultural crops in challenging environments.
Dr. Chory holds the Howard H. and Maryam R. Newman Chair in Plant Biology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, where she is professor and director of the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a foreign member of The Royal Society, German National Academy of Sciences, and French Acadmie des Sciences.
Award: The Genetics Society of America Medal was established by GSA in 1981 to recognize mid-career researchers for outstanding contributions to the field of genetics during the previous 15 years of their careers.
Recipient: David A. Micklos, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Mr. Micklos, a science educator and writer, founded the DNA Learning Center (DNALC) at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in 1987 as the nation's first science center solely devoted to public education in genetics. Through this center, Mr. Micklos has brought the excitement of DNA science into the educational curriculum for thousands of students, high school teachers, and undergraduate faculty. With his books and the DNALC website, he has brought genetics and genomics resources to students and teachers nationwide and is helping to develop an educated citizenry in genetics.
Mr. Micklos is executive director of the DNALC, arriving at CSHL in 1982 to start the laboratory's public affairs and development efforts. He is lead author of DNA Science: A First Course, a highly successful textbook for the secondary and post-secondary market now in its second edition. Mr. Micklos received the 1990 Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in Education.
Award: The Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education was established in 2006 as the GSA Excellence in Education Award, but was renamed for its first recipient after her death in 2008. The award honors Jones, who during her decades-long tenure at Carnegie Mellon was director of the HHMI Undergraduate Biological Science Program and a mentor to many in the field of genetics.
Recipient: Dana Carroll, PhD, University of Utah
Dr. Carroll was the first to adapt an enzyme (specifically, zinc finger nucleases) to generate targeted chromosomal breaks at specific locations in a DNA sequence, utilizing the natural cellular DNA repair mechanisms to introduce new genetic material in that region. This technology allows researchers to introduce engineered changes in genes of interest into living experimental organisms for the first time. This method of targeted mutagenesis and gene replacement is currently being used in a wide array of eukaryotes, and applications of this technology range from elucidating gene function to correcting genetic diseases in humans.
Dr. Carroll is professor of biochemistry at the University of Utah, where he has spent his entire faculty career.
Award: The Edward Novitski Prize was established in 2007 by the family of Drosophila geneticist Edward Novitski (19182006). The prize honors geneticists who tackle difficult problems using innovative experimental approaches, just as Novitski did in his research on chromosome mechanics.
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For more information about each award and for a list of past recipients, please visit the GSA Awards page at http://www.genetics-gsa.org/pages/awards.shtml.
ABOUT THE GENETICS SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Founded in 1931, the Genetics Society of America (GSA) is the professional scientific society for genetics researchers and educators. Its nearly 5,000 members work to advance knowledge in the basic mechanisms of inheritance, from the molecular to the population level. GSA promotes research and fosters communication among geneticists worldwide through a number of GSA-sponsored conferences including the biennial conference on Model Organisms to Human Biology, an interdisciplinary meeting on current and cutting edge topics in genetics research, and annual and biennial meetings that focus on the genetics of particular model organisms. GSA publishes GENETICS, the leading journal for seminal research in the field and a new, online publication, G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics, which publishes high quality foundational research, particularly research that generates useful genetic and genomic information. For more information about GSA, please visit www.genetics-gsa.org. Also follow GSA on Facebook at facebook.com/GeneticsGSA and on Twitter @GeneticsGSA.
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Genetics Society of America announces 2012 award recipientsPublic release date: 18-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Phyllis Edelman pedelman@genetics-gsa.org 301-634-7302 Genetics Society of America
5 genetics researchers and educators are honored by GSA for their research contributions, support of colleagues within the genetics community and to public understanding of genetics research and its applications to human activities
The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is pleased to announce the 2012 recipients of its five awards for distinguished service in the field of genetics. The recipients of these awards were nominated and selected by their colleagues.
GSA President Philip Hieter, PhD, said, "the individuals honored this year exemplify the seminal contributions that genetics makes to our fundamental understanding of living systems, helping point the way toward such applications as developing new treatments for human disease and increasing the yields of agricultural crops. We are delighted to honor these geneticists who have added so much not only to our field, but to society as a whole."
The recipients are:
Kathryn V. Anderson, PhD (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center) has received the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal for lifetime contributions to the field of genetics.
Joanne Chory, PhD (Salk Institute for Biological Studies) has received the Genetics Society of America Medal for outstanding contributions in genetics for the last 15 years.
Therese Markow, PhD (University of California, San Diego) has received the George W. Beadle Award for outstanding contributions to the community of genetics researchers.
David A. Micklos (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) has received The Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education which recognizes significant and sustained impact in genetics education.
Dana Carroll, PhD (University of Utah) has received The Edward Novitski Prize, which recognizes an extraordinary level of creativity and intellectual ingenuity in solving a significant problem(s) in genetics research.
These five researchers and educators have a broad range of research and professional interests, many of which involve the use of model organismssuch as mice, plants, and Drosophila (fruit flies)which enable scientists to enhance our understanding of the natural world in experimentally tractable systems. More information about the recipients and their awards are listed below:
Recipient: Kathryn V. Anderson, PhD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Anderson is a developmental biologist who has spent decades discovering the genes and proteins that interact during embryonic development to control embryonic patterning in both Drosophila and mice. Her work with genetic screening has led to seminal discoveries including genes controlling developmental patterns of the Drosophila nervous system, the immune system response in fruit flies, and the early development of mammalian embryos.
Dr. Anderson holds the Enid A. Haupt Chair in Developmental Biology and is the founding chair of the Developmental Biology Program at the Sloan-Kettering Institute. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.
Award: The Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal is named in honor of the classical geneticist who was among those researchers who laid the foundation for modern genetics. Morgan received the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his studies of Drosophila chromosomes and the role chromosomes play in heredity.
Recipient: Therese Markow, PhD, University of California, San Diego
Dr. Markow is a professor of evolutionary biology and ecology, studying speciation, the evolution of mating systems, and adaptation to novel environments. Her research on cactus-breeding Drosophila in the Sonoran Desert has broad implications for the field of population genetics, particularly the genetic and ecological factors driving reproductive isolation, which eventually leads to the development of distinct species.
In addition to research in her own lab, Dr. Markow is director of the Drosophila Species Stock Center, a living collection of more than 1,600 strains and 250 species of Drosophila supported by the National Science Foundation. This center is an invaluable resource for genetics researchers worldwide who use Drosophila to answer fundamental questions in evolution, ecology, developmental biology, physiology, neurobiology, comparative genomics, and genomics.
Dr. Markow holds the Amylin Chair in Life Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. She was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2008 and received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring in 2001.
Award: The George W. Beadle Award was established by GSA in 1999 and named for its past president (1946), who received the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the role of genes in regulating biochemical events within cells. In addition to his pioneering genetics research, Beadle was a leader in the educational and scientific communities, serving as president of the University of Chicago (1961?) and as a member of numerous influential national committees.
Recipient: Joanne Chory, PhD, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
A long-time member of GSA, Dr. Chory is a leading molecular and cellular plant biologist, using genetic approaches in Arabidopsis thaliana to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying plant development. Dr. Chory's research helps understand how plants detect and respond to changes in their environment, particularly light, which has implications for the growth and development of agricultural crops in challenging environments.
Dr. Chory holds the Howard H. and Maryam R. Newman Chair in Plant Biology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, where she is professor and director of the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a foreign member of The Royal Society, German National Academy of Sciences, and French Acadmie des Sciences.
Award: The Genetics Society of America Medal was established by GSA in 1981 to recognize mid-career researchers for outstanding contributions to the field of genetics during the previous 15 years of their careers.
Recipient: David A. Micklos, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Mr. Micklos, a science educator and writer, founded the DNA Learning Center (DNALC) at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in 1987 as the nation's first science center solely devoted to public education in genetics. Through this center, Mr. Micklos has brought the excitement of DNA science into the educational curriculum for thousands of students, high school teachers, and undergraduate faculty. With his books and the DNALC website, he has brought genetics and genomics resources to students and teachers nationwide and is helping to develop an educated citizenry in genetics.
Mr. Micklos is executive director of the DNALC, arriving at CSHL in 1982 to start the laboratory's public affairs and development efforts. He is lead author of DNA Science: A First Course, a highly successful textbook for the secondary and post-secondary market now in its second edition. Mr. Micklos received the 1990 Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in Education.
Award: The Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education was established in 2006 as the GSA Excellence in Education Award, but was renamed for its first recipient after her death in 2008. The award honors Jones, who during her decades-long tenure at Carnegie Mellon was director of the HHMI Undergraduate Biological Science Program and a mentor to many in the field of genetics.
Recipient: Dana Carroll, PhD, University of Utah
Dr. Carroll was the first to adapt an enzyme (specifically, zinc finger nucleases) to generate targeted chromosomal breaks at specific locations in a DNA sequence, utilizing the natural cellular DNA repair mechanisms to introduce new genetic material in that region. This technology allows researchers to introduce engineered changes in genes of interest into living experimental organisms for the first time. This method of targeted mutagenesis and gene replacement is currently being used in a wide array of eukaryotes, and applications of this technology range from elucidating gene function to correcting genetic diseases in humans.
Dr. Carroll is professor of biochemistry at the University of Utah, where he has spent his entire faculty career.
Award: The Edward Novitski Prize was established in 2007 by the family of Drosophila geneticist Edward Novitski (19182006). The prize honors geneticists who tackle difficult problems using innovative experimental approaches, just as Novitski did in his research on chromosome mechanics.
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For more information about each award and for a list of past recipients, please visit the GSA Awards page at http://www.genetics-gsa.org/pages/awards.shtml.
ABOUT THE GENETICS SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Founded in 1931, the Genetics Society of America (GSA) is the professional scientific society for genetics researchers and educators. Its nearly 5,000 members work to advance knowledge in the basic mechanisms of inheritance, from the molecular to the population level. GSA promotes research and fosters communication among geneticists worldwide through a number of GSA-sponsored conferences including the biennial conference on Model Organisms to Human Biology, an interdisciplinary meeting on current and cutting edge topics in genetics research, and annual and biennial meetings that focus on the genetics of particular model organisms. GSA publishes GENETICS, the leading journal for seminal research in the field and a new, online publication, G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics, which publishes high quality foundational research, particularly research that generates useful genetic and genomic information. For more information about GSA, please visit www.genetics-gsa.org. Also follow GSA on Facebook at facebook.com/GeneticsGSA and on Twitter @GeneticsGSA.
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RIJEKA, Croatia ? Vedran Sabljak, a shipyard worker in this northern Adriatic port, knows what he thinks about Croatia joining the European Union: A resolute "No."
To gauge just how much the once-elite European club of nations has lost its luster with its debt-burdened economies and bickering leaders, one has to look no further than Croatia, which is holding a EU membership referendum Sunday.
"I'm against Croatia entering the European Union," Sabljak said, as huge cranes in the 3rd of May shipyard helped to assemble a cargo ship on a dry dock.
He said he does not see any advantages to joining a bloc that faces the possible bankruptcy of some members and whose common euro currency is threatened by the European debt crisis.
Croatia signed an EU accession treaty last year and is on track to become a member in July 2013, if Croat voters say "Yes" in the referendum and all of the bloc's 27 states later ratify the deal.
The Balkan nation started negotiating its EU entry six years ago with the strong backing of Germany, but since then the popularity of the bloc has gradually faded, as Croats realized that EU membership would not automatically lead to prosperity.
Still, recent polls indicate that a majority ? some 56 percent of those who will take part in the referendum ? will vote in favor of joining.
They hope their country's troubled economy ? burdened by recession, a euro48-billion ($61-billion) foreign debt and a 13 percent unemployment rate ? will revive due to access to wider European markets and job opportunities that EU membership should bring.
"I would rather be with Germany and France than with Serbia and Bosnia," said Jadranka Blazic, a lawyer from Zagreb, referring to Croatia's former compatriots in the Yugoslav federation that broke up in a bloody civil war in the 1990s.
"Maybe the EU is no longer as attractive, and we may be late in joining, but better the European Union than back to some kind of a Balkan union," the 42-year-old said as she sipped coffee in an elegant cafe in the capital, Zagreb.
Many in Croatia ? and the rest of the EU ? also wonder what is the bloc going to gain from the country that is ripe with corruption and has economic woes that are among the deepest in the Balkans.
Even the Croatian leaders, who have launched a campaign for a "Yes" vote, show little enthusiasm when they speak about joining, since it will be just in time to pay for bailouts to for indebted EU countries such as Greece.
"The European Union is neither haven nor hell," Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said. "We expect to live better, but we can do that only if we use the mechanisms that the EU has to offer."
With its spectacular Adriatic coastline and over a 1,000 islands, the tourism-oriented Croatia has long seen itself as more Western-looking than the other former Yugoslav republics. It is likely to become only the second of the six ex-Yugoslav nations to join the EU, after Slovenia, which enlisted in 2004.
The anti-EU campaigners say their country of just 4.5 million people will lose its identity and have little to say in a union where Germany and France are calling the shots. And they feel that the war for secession from the former Serb-dominated federation will become meaningless.
"Twenty years after we split from Yugoslavia, why would we enter an organization that is breaking apart?" Dean Golubic, an anti-EU activist, asked several hundred right-wing protesters waving checkered red and white Croatian flags reading "I Love Croatia, No to EU" at a recent rally in the capital.
"We didn't wage the war for our national identity, have 15,000 innocent victims, only to give it away to the capitalists," war veteran Zeljko Sacic said.
Josipovic, the president, tried to alleviate those fears.
"Like the other 27 countries, Croatia will not give up its sovereignty by becoming an EU member," he said. "Croatia will smartly invest a part of its sovereignty in the most prosperous political and economic community in the world."
For the shipyard workers in Rijeka, not only their national identity is at stake. The EU has demanded that the Croatian government stop subsidizing and privatize all of its five loss-making ship builders ? putting some 12,000 jobs at risk ? before it becomes a member.
"I think we are rushing to join," said shipyard worker Niksa Moreti. "Croatia and its shipbuilding industry need time. I am in favor of the EU membership, but at some later point."
Although Croatian officials are likely to repeat the referendum until they get a "Yes" majority, they portrayed Sunday's vote as decisive, and say the country could lose hundreds of millions of euros (dollars) in accession funds if the Croats say "No."
Illustrating the deep divisions in Croatia, a young man interrupted officials at a pro-EU government rally Wednesday in Rijeka.
"You are destroying the future for the young, you should be ashamed," opposition activist Marin Skribola shouted. "The European Union is a dungeon for the Croats!"
Wikipedia, the sixth-most visited website on the internet, is planning a major shutdown to protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), two proposed laws aimed at halting online piracy that critics say could seriously harm the internet.
From 5am GMT tomorrow, the English language version of the online encyclopaedia will be replaced by a single black page asking visitors to contact US politicians and express their opposition to the proposed laws. The decision to shutdown the site was reached in typical Wikipedia fashion, with users discussing the pros and cons before eventually agreeing to go ahead with the protest.
The community rushed to reach a consensus so that the protest could coincide with other website blackouts, including social news site Reddit and news blog Boing Boing, set for 18 January, the same day as a planned SOPA hearing in the US Congress.
That hearing has now been postponed following criticism of the legislation from the White House, but Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says the protest will still go ahead. "Unclear that SOPA is really dead, but messaging will target the reality on the ground on Wednesday," he said on Twitter, later adding that PIPA, which is still due to be debated by the US Senate, remains "a live threat".
Not all Wikipedians support the protest, however. Some have complained about the speed at which the decision was reached, while others questioned the need for an international blackout to protest US legislation.
Other websites wanting to join the protest can now use an app created by CloudFlare, the web security service previously used by LulzSec to protect its website from attacks. CloudFlare users can activate the Stop Censorship app to automatically black out words longer than five characters and ask visitors to protest the new laws.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy gestures during a meeting with Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, not seen, at the Moncloa Palace, in Madrid, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy gestures during a meeting with Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, not seen, at the Moncloa Palace, in Madrid, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, right, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, talk before a join press conference after a meeting at the Moncloa Palace, in Madrid, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, right, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, attend a join press conference after a meeting at the Moncloa Palace, in Madrid, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, right, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, attend a join press conference after a meeting at the Moncloa Palace, in Madrid, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, right, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, shake hands after a join press conference after a meeting at the Moncloa Palace, in Madrid, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)
MADRID (AP) ? French President Nicolas Sarkozy bluntly declared Monday that a harsh downgrade by Standard & Poor's of France's formerly top-rung debt rating "changes nothing" for the eurozone's No. 2 economy.
Sarkozy, in a testy exchange with a journalist at a Madrid news conference, suggested that a solid investor demand for a French debt auction Monday and a reaffirmation from rival ratings agency Moody's of France's triple-A sovereign debt had offset S&P's much-publicized downgrade.
"We have to react to this with calm, by taking a step back," he told reporters during a visit with Spain's new prime minister, Mariano Rajoy. "At the core, my conviction is that it changes nothing."
The S&P downgrade Friday ? which Sarkozy's own finance minister called "bad news" ? came just 100 days before the president faces what is expected to be a tough re-election campaign.
The news conference began combatively when Sarkozy refused to answer a question about whether France's downgrade would affect its ability to lead Europe out of the crisis ? and if the move prompted the postponement of a crisis summit for him and the leaders of Germany and Italy next week.
Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have taken the lead in proposing solutions to the crisis and major decisions are often hashed out at their meetings ahead of European summits.
"You don't have the latest information," Sarkozy retorted to a reporter who asked about the downgrade and the summit. Sarkozy refused to answer even after the reporter rephrased his question twice.
The French leader later confirmed that the three-way summit would take place in February and downplayed the S&P downgrade, but never gave a clear answer as to why the summit was rescheduled.
Sarkozy did manage to win much-needed political support from Rajoy ? notably for his pet project for a financial transaction tax that could help ailing European state coffers get out of the red.
France, which has long enjoyed relatively low borrowing costs and had S&P's top-tier AAA rating uninterrupted since the mid-1970s, on Friday was the largest of nine eurozone members hit by S&P downgrades ? dropping one notch to AA+. The agency also kept a negative outlook on French state debt.
Analysts said Sarkozy's denial that the downgrade meant much was wishful thinking.
"The fact that there is a negative outlook, it means that there is a probability ? a quite high probability ? of further downgrade in 2012, 2013," said French economist Norbert Gaillard. "So it's bad news for France."
But in a vindication of sorts for Sarkozy, France sold euro8.6 billion ($10.9 billion) in short-term debt on Monday. The yields ? or the interest rates charged by investors on the debt ? fell, a sign investors still see the country as a good bet.
Spain was also hit by an S&P downgrade, from AA- to A+, but Rajoy said that blow and downgrades for other European nations shouldn't be seen as a sign they will have trouble emerging from the financial crisis.
Rajoy's Socialist predecessor also supported the financial transaction tax, but Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was ousted from office by Spaniards angry about the country's hurting economy and high unemployment.
The European Commission has estimated that the tax could raise as much as euro57 billion ($72.2 billion) a year, funds that could be used to help reduce the substantial budget deficits crippling European economies.
Moody's cited France's economic strength as a reason for affirming its top rating, but said bleak growth prospects in France and the region present "risks to the French government's fiscal consolidation plans."
Moody's said it would again review French debt later in the first quarter as part of a broader look at sovereign debt within the EU ? meaning a decision is likely close to France's two-round presidential vote in April and May.
Sarkozy's challengers for the presidency ? including Socialist nominee Francois Hollande ? have seized on the S&P downgrade as evidence that his policies are wrong-headed and ineffective.
It will be a bruising election battle for Sarkozy, a dynamic leader who has a strong international profile but is widely disliked at home. Leftists say he has coddled the rich, while many of those who supported him in his 2007 campaign say he hasn't fulfilled his promises.
And Hollande is currently leading in the polls.
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Angela Charlton and Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris, and Alan Clendenning in Madrid contributed to this report.
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The Los Angeles City Council is poised to give its final approval to a controversial ordinance that would require actors in adult films to use condoms.
The council tentatively adopted the ordinance last week on an 11-1 vote. If council members pass it again at Tuesday's meeting, it would be sent to the mayor for his signature.
Advocates of the ordinance say the measure is needed to prevent the spread of HIV in the multibillion-dollar adult film industry, much of which is centered in Los Angeles.
The porn industry's trade association, the Free Speech Coalition, says condoms are not needed.
Instead, the group calls for consistent testing of actors for sexually transmitted diseases. It says there have been no confirmed cases of HIV in the porn industry in five years.
Users of the ASUS Transformer Prime may already be enjoying their hot-off-the-press upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich, but when will its predecessor be so lucky? We've heard that it would be inbound sometime in February, but there's still a slight possibility that it'll get here even sooner. On its North American Facebook page, ASUS responded to a curious user, mentioning that it's in the process of getting Google's official stamp of approval. Once this is complete, ASUS will click the big red button and commence pushing Android 4.0 out to the tablet. So hang tight, folks, the wait's almost over.
Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, accompanied by his wife Mary Kaye Huntsman, announces he is ending his campaign, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, accompanied by his wife Mary Kaye Huntsman, announces he is ending his campaign, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, accompanied by his family, announces he is ending his campaign, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. From left are, daughters Elizabeth, Mary Anne, Huntsman, his wife Mary Kaye, and daughters, Abby, Gracie. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
GOP Presidential canidate Jon Huntsman waves goodbye to the media after announcing he is withdrawing from the race and backing Mitt Romeny, in a press conference, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012 at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (AP Photo/The Sun News, Charles Slate)
Jon Hunstman Sr. watches as his son, Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman announces his withdrawal from the race, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) ? Jon Huntsman abandoned his once-promising campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday and endorsed Mitt Romney as the man "best equipped to defeat Barack Obama."
The former Utah governor coupled his announcement with an appeal to the remaining contenders to stop attacking one another in television commercials. "At its core, the Republican Party is a party of ideas, but the current toxic form of our political discourse does not help our cause," he said.
He noted that he and Romney have had differences, and he did not respond when asked if he still believes ? as he said while campaigning for last week's New Hampshire primary ? that the former Massachusetts governor is out of touch and unelectable.
Huntsman said he was suspending his candidacy, but his endorsement made it clear that was a euphemism. He dropped out less than a week after finishing third in New Hampshire, where he had staked his candidacy. While he has campaigned in South Carolina for nearly a week, he lacked the money to pay for TV commercials or other essentials of a modern campaign.
Given Huntsman's decision to back Romney, his departure seemed unlikely to clarify the overriding question of the Republican campaign, whether conservative voters could or would unify behind Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry to create a strong conservative challenger to Romney.
Huntsman's resume had suggested he could be a major contender for the Republican presidential nomination: businessman, diplomat, governor, veteran of four presidential administrations, an expert on China and foreign trade. But the former ambassador to China in the Obama administration found a poor reception for his brand of moderate civility that he had hoped would draw support from independents, as well as party moderates.
Huntsman, 51, was almost invisible in a race often dominated by Romney, a fellow Mormon. One reason was timing. Romney and other declared or expected-to-declare candidates drew media attention and wooed voters, Huntsman was half a world away serving as ambassador to China until he resigned in late April.
Nearly two more months would pass before his kickoff speech in June in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. The former Utah governor had already acknowledged "very low" expectations for him in South Carolina's primary this week. Word of his withdrawal spread the same day that The State, South Carolina's largest newspaper, endorsed him for president.
Although Huntsman was viewed as having little chance of finishing strong in South Carolina, his endorsement of Romney could give the former Massachusetts governor, who leads in state polls, even more of the look of inevitability.
The move comes as pressure has been increasing on Texas Gov. Rick Perry to leave the race to allow South Carolina's influential social conservatives to unify behind either former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum or former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Santorum worked over the weekend at consolidating conservatives, trying to parlay into support in South Carolina the decision Saturday by an influential group of national Christian conservatives to back him.
"I think it's important that we eventually consolidate this race," Santorum told reporters Monday at a news conference in Columbia. He stopped short of urging Perry, who has shown little traction in South Carolina, to quit the race.
"That's up to the candidates themselves to decide," Santorum said.
To stand out in a crowded field, Huntsman positioned himself as a tax-cutting, budget-balancing chief executive and former business executive who was above partisan politics. That would prove to be a hard sell to the conservatives dominating the early contests, especially in an election cycle marked by bitter divisions between Republicans and Democrats and a boiling antipathy for Obama.
Huntsman also tried to offer a different tenor, promising a campaign marked by civility.
"I don't think you need to run down somebody's reputation in order to run for the office of president," he said.
While Huntsman was often critical of his former boss ? he joined those who said Obama had failed as a leader ? and occasionally jabbed at Romney, he spent more of his time in debates pushing his own views for improving the economy rather than thumping the president or his opponents.
Republicans seemed wary of Huntsman because of his work in the Obama administration. While he cast his appointment in August 2009 as U.S. ambassador to China as answering the call to serve his country, critics grumbled that he had in fact been working for the opposition.
Huntsman was conservative in matters of taxes and the scope of the federal government, but was out of step with most conservatives in his support of civil unions for gay couples.
In the end, Huntsman didn't seem to register, despite the continuing search for an alternative to Romney or a winner against Obama. He was routinely at the bottom of national polls, barely registering at 1 or 2 percent.
His campaign put all its emphasis on the New Hampshire primary, hoping that face-to-face politicking in the first-in-the-nation primary would pay off with a strong second-place finish or a surprise victory in Romney's backyard. While other GOP candidates spent December in Iowa, the Huntsman campaign ignored its leadoff caucuses, where social conservatives were all but certain to give him short shrift.
Central to Huntsman's New Hampshire strategy was its open Republican primary, which allowed independents to vote along with declared party members. He gambled that he could attract moderate voters, Republicans and independents alike, by presenting himself as a successful conservative leader who wasn't interested in engaging in a culture war.
He called his third-place showing a "ticket to ride" to South Carolina, but his distant finish behind Romney and runner-up Ron Paul was widely regarded as lackluster.
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Elliott reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Thomas Beaumont in Myrtle Beach, S.C., contributed to this report.
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Public release date: 18-Jan-2012
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