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This week's show starts out with a track by the recently-deceased drummer Steve Reid, who Gilles Peterson started a foundation for on behalf of struggling musicians. The GPWW radio show moves quickly after that with some Roots, plus more great music by Morgan Zarate, Jack Soul, Riton and Hefner.
Then we get into the special mix from the latest Brainfeeder signing, a new LA-based pianist named Austin Peralta. He plays a nice variety of tunes alongside his own songs, including Bjork, John Coltrane, J Dilla, Archie Shepp and more. Gilles finishes off the show with more Coltrane (never enough 'Trane) Sun-Ra, Bobby Hutcherson, Tortoise, Moloko and Arthur Russell.
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Part 2


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For the most current version of this Note, see Background Notes A-Z.
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Area: 923,768 sq. km. (356,700 sq. mi.) about the size of California, Nevada, and Arizona.
Cities: Capital--Abuja (pop. est. 100,000). Other cities--Lagos (12 million), Ibadan (5 million), Kano (1 million), Enugu (500,000).
Terrain: Ranges from southern coastal swamps to tropical forests, open woodlands, grasslands, and semidesert in the far north. The highest regions are the Jos Plateau 1,200-2,000 meters above sea level and the mountains along the border with Cameroon.
Climate: Annual rainfall ranges from 381 cm. along the coast to 64 cm. or less in the far north.
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Nigerian(s).
Population (2005 est.): 137 million.
Total fertility rate (avg. number of children per woman): 6.0.
Ethnic groups (250): Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba are the largest.
Religions: Muslim, Christian, indigenous African.
Languages: English (official), Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, others.
Education: Attendance (secondary)--male 32%, female 27%. Literacy--39%-51%.
Health: Life expectancy--56 years.
Type: Federal republic.
Independence: October 1, 1960.
Constitution: The 1979 constitution was suspended after 1983, the May 3, 1989 constitution never implemented, and the 1999 constitution (based largely on the 1979 constitution) was promulgated by decree on May 5, 1999. The 1999 constitution came into force on May 29, 1999.
Subdivisions: 36 states plus Federal Capital Territory (Abuja); states divided into a total of 774 local government areas.
Total government expenditure: $7 billion.
Defense: 10% of 2003 budget.
GDP (2004 est.): $72 billion.
Estimated real growth rate (2004): 6.1%.
Per capita GDP (2002 est.): $290.
Inflation (2005): 25%.
Natural resources: Petroleum, natural gas, tin, columbite, iron ore, coal, limestone, lead, zinc.
Agriculture: Products--cocoa, palm oil, yams, cassava, sorghum, millet, corn, rice, livestock, groundnuts, cotton.
Industry: Types--textiles, cement, food products, footwear, metal products, lumber, beer, detergents, car assembly.
Trade (2000): Exports--$21.4 billion: petroleum (98.%), cocoa, rubber.
The most populous country in Africa, Nigeria accounts for approximately 20 percent of West Africa's people. Although less than 25% of Nigerians are urban dwellers, at least 24 cities have populations of more than 100,000. The variety of customs, languages, and traditions among Nigeria's 250 ethnic groups gives the country a rich diversity. The dominant ethnic group in the northern two-thirds of the country is the Hausa-Fulani, most of whom are Muslim. Other major ethnic groups of the north are the Nupe, Tiv, and Kanuri. The Yoruba people are predominant in the southwest.
About half of the Yorubas are Christian and half Muslim. The predominantly Catholic Igbo are the largest ethnic group in the southeast, with the Efik, Ibibio, and Ijaw (the country's fourth-largest ethnic group) comprising a substantial segment of the population in that area. Persons of different language backgrounds most commonly communicate in English, although knowledge of two or more Nigerian languages is widespread. Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo are the most widely used Nigerian languages.
Before the colonial period, the area which comprises modern Nigeria had an eventful history. More than 2,000 years ago, the Nok culture in the present Plateau state worked iron and produced sophisticated terra cotta sculpture. In the northern cities of Kano and Katsina, recorded history dates back to about 1000 AD. In the centuries that followed, these Hausa kingdoms and the Bornu empire near Lake Chad prospered as important terminals of north-south trade between North African Berbers and forest people who exchanged slaves, ivory, and kola nuts for salt, glass beads, coral, cloth, weapons, brass rods, and cowrie shells used as currency.
In the southwest, the Yoruba kingdom of Oyo was founded about 1400, and at its height from the 17th to 19th centuries attained a high level of political organization and extended as far as modern Togo. In the south central part of present-day Nigeria, as early as the 15th and 16th centuries, the kingdom of Benin had developed an efficient army; an elaborate ceremonial court; and artisans whose works in ivory, wood, bronze, and brass are prized throughout the world today. In the 17th through 19th centuries, European traders established coastal ports for the increasing traffic in slaves destined for the Americas. Commodity trade, especially in palm oil and timber, replaced slave trade in the 19th century, particularly under anti-slavery actions by the British Navy. In the early 19th century the Fulani leader, Usman dan Fodio, promulgated Islam and that brought most areas in the north under the loose control of an empire centered in Sokoto.
A British Sphere of Influence
Following the Napoleonic wars, the British expanded trade with the Nigerian interior. In 1885, British claims to a sphere of influence in that area received international recognition and, in the following year, the Royal Niger Company was chartered. In 1900, the company's territory came under the control of the British Government, which moved to consolidate its hold over the area of modern Nigeria. In 1914, the area was formally united as the "Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria." Administratively, Nigeria remained divided into the northern and southern provinces and Lagos colony. Western education and the development of a modern economy proceeded more rapidly in the south than in the north, with consequences felt in Nigeria's political life ever since. Following World War II, in response to the growth of Nigerian nationalism and demands for independence, successive constitutions legislated by the British Government moved Nigeria toward self-government on a representative, increasingly federal, basis.
Nigeria was granted full independence in October 1960, as a federation of three regions (northern, western, and eastern) under a constitution that provided for a parliamentary form of government. Under the constitution, each of the three regions retained a substantial measure of self-government. The federal government was given exclusive powers in defense and security, foreign relations, and commercial and fiscal policies. In October 1963, Nigeria altered its relationship with the United Kingdom by proclaiming itself a federal republic and promulgating a new constitution. A fourth region (the midwest) was established that year. From the outset, Nigeria's ethnic, regional, and religious tensions were magnified by the significant disparities in economic and educational development between the south and the north.
On January 15, 1966, a small group of army officers, mostly southeastern Igbos, overthrew the government and assassinated the federal prime minister and the premiers of the northern and western regions. The federal military government that assumed power was unable to quiet ethnic tensions or produce a constitution acceptable to all sections of the country. In fact, its efforts to abolish the federal structure greatly raised tensions and led to another coup in July. The coup related massacre of thousands of Igbo in the north prompted hundreds of thousands of them to return to the southeast, where increasingly strong Igbo secessionist sentiment emerged.
In a move that gave greater autonomy to minority ethnic groups, the military divided the four regions into 12 states. The Igbo rejected attempts at constitutional revisions and insisted on full autonomy for the east. Finally, in May 1967, Lt. Col. Emeka Ojukwu, the military governor of the eastern region, who emerged as the leader of increasing Igbo secessionist sentiment, declared the independence of the eastern region as the "Republic of Biafra." The ensuing civil war was bitter and bloody, ending in the defeat of Biafra in 1970.
Following the civil war, reconciliation was rapid and effective, and the country turned to the task of economic development. Foreign exchange earnings and government revenues increased spectacularly with the oil price rises of 1973-74. On July 29, 1975, Gen. Murtala Muhammed and a group of fellow officers staged a bloodless coup, accusing the military government of Gen. Yakubu Gowon delaying the promised return to civilian rule and becoming corrupt and ineffective. General Muhammed replaced thousands of civil servants and announced a timetable for the resumption of civilian rule by October 1, 1979. Muhammed also announced the government's intention to create new states and to construct a new federal capital in the center of the country.
General Muhammed was assassinated on February 13, 1976, in an abortive coup. His chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, became head of state. Obasanjo adhered meticulously to the schedule for return to civilian rule, moving to modernize and streamline the armed forces and seeking to use oil revenues to diversify and develop the country's economy. Seven new states were created in 1976, bringing the total to 19. The process of creating additional states continued until, in 1996, there were 36.
The Second Republic
A constituent assembly was elected in 1977 to draft a new constitution, which was published on September 21, 1978, when the ban on political activity, in effect since the advent of military rule, was lifted. Political parties were formed, and candidates were nominated for president and vice president, the two houses of the National Assembly, governorships, and state houses of assembly. In 1979, five political parties competed in a series of elections in which a northerner, Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), was elected president. All five parties won representation in the National Assembly.
In August 1983, Shagari and the NPN were returned to power in a landslide victory, with a majority of seats in the National Assembly and control of 12 state governments. But the elections were marred by violence and allegations of widespread vote rigging and electoral malfeasance led to legal battles over the results.
On December 31, 1983, the military overthrew the Second Republic. Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari emerged as the leader of the Supreme Military Council (SMC), the country's new ruling body. He charged the civilian government with economic mismanagement, widespread corruption, election fraud, and a general lack of concern for the problems of Nigerians. He also pledged to restore prosperity to Nigeria and to return the government to civilian rule but proved unable to deal with Nigeria's severe economic problems. The Buhari government was peacefully overthrown by the SMC's third-ranking member, Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, in August 1985.
Babangida cited the misuse of power, violations of human rights by key officers of the SMC, and the government's failure to deal with the country's deepening economic crisis as justifications for the takeover. During his first few days in office, President Babangida moved to restore freedom of the press and to release political detainees being held without charge. As part of a 15-month economic emergency, he announced stringent pay cuts for the military, police, and civil servants and proceeded to enact similar cuts for the private sector. Imports of rice, maize, and later wheat were banned. President Babangida demonstrated his intent to encourage public participation in government decisionmaking by opening a national debate on proposed economic reform and recovery measures. The public response convinced Babangida of intense opposition to an economic recovery package dependent on an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.
The Abortive Third Republic
President Babangida promised to return the country to civilian rule by 1990; this date was later extended until January 1993. In early 1989, a constituent assembly completed work on a constitution for the Third Republic. In the spring of 1989, political activity was again permitted. In October 1989 the government established two "grassroots" parties: the National Republican Convention (NRC), which was to be "a little to the right," and the Social Democratic (SDP), "a little to the left." Other parties were not allowed to register by the Babangida government.
In April 1990, mid-level officers attempted to overthrow the Babangida government. The coup failed, and 69 accused coup plotters were later executed after secret trials before military tribunals. The transition resumed after the failed coup. In December 1990 the first stage of partisan elections was held at the local government level. While turnout was low, there was no violence, and both parties demonstrated strength in all regions of the country, with the SDP winning control of a majority of local government councils.
In December 1991, gubernatorial and state legislative elections were held throughout the country. Babangida decreed in December 1991 that previously banned politicians would be allowed to contest in primaries scheduled for August 1992. These were canceled due to fraud and subsequent primaries scheduled for September also were canceled. All announced candidates were disqualified from again standing for president once a new election format was selected. The presidential election was finally held on June 12, 1993, with the inauguration of the new president scheduled to take place August 27, 1993, the eighth anniversary of President Babangida's coming to power.
In the historic June 12, 1993 presidential elections, which most observers deemed to be Nigeria's fairest, early returns indicated that wealthy Yoruba businessman M.K.O. Abiola had won a decisive victory. However, on June 23, Babangida, using several pending lawsuits as a pretense, annulled the election, throwing Nigeria into turmoil. More than 100 persons were killed in riots before Babangida agreed to hand power to an "interim government" on August 27, 1993. Babangida then attempted to renege on his decision. Without popular and military support, he was forced to hand over to Ernest Shonekan, a prominent nonpartisan businessman. Shonekan was to rule until new elections, scheduled for February 1994. Although he had led Babangida's Transitional Council since early 1993, Shonekan was unable to reverse Nigeria's ever-growing economic problems or to defuse lingering political tension.
With the country sliding into chaos, Defense Minister Sani Abacha quickly assumed power and forced Shonekan's "resignation" on November 17, 1993. Abacha dissolved all democratic political institutions and replaced elected governors with military officers. Abacha promised to return the government to civilian rule but refused to announce a timetable until his October 1, 1995 Independence Day address.
Following the annulment of the June 12 election, the United States and other nations imposed various sanctions on Nigeria, including restrictions on travel by government officials and their families and suspension of arms sales and military assistance. Additional sanctions were imposed as a result of Nigeria's failure to gain full certification for its counter-narcotics efforts. In addition, direct flights between Nigeria and the United States were suspended on August 11, 1993, when the Secretary of Transportation determined that Lagos' Murtala Muhammed International Airport did not meet the security standards established by the FAA. The FAA in December 1999 certified security at MMIA, opening the way for operation of direct flights between Lagos and U.S. airports.
Although Abacha's takeover was initially welcomed by many Nigerians, disenchantment grew rapidly. A number of opposition figures united to form a new organization, the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which campaigned for an immediate return to civilian rule. The government arrested NADECO members who attempted to reconvene the Senate and other disbanded democratic institutions. Most Nigerians boycotted the elections held from May 23-28, 1994, for delegates to the government-sponsored Constitutional Conference.
On June 11, 1994, using the groundwork laid by NADECO, Abiola declared himself president and went into hiding. He reemerged and was promptly arrested on June 23. With Abiola in prison and tempers rising, Abacha convened the Constitutional Conference June 27, but it almost immediately went into recess and did not reconvene until July 11, 1994.
On July 4, a petroleum workers union called a strike demanding that Abacha release Abiola and hand over power to him. Other unions then joined the strike, which brought economic life in around Lagos area and in much of the southwest to a standstill. After calling off a threatened general strike in July, the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) reconsidered a general strike in August, after the government imposed "conditions" on Abiola's release. On August 17, 1994, the government dismissed the leadership of the NLC and the petroleum unions, placed the unions under appointed administrators, and arrested Frank Kokori and other labor leaders. Although striking unions returned to work, the government arrested opponents, closed media houses, and moved strongly to curb dissent.
The government alleged in early 1995 that some 40 military officers and civilians were engaged in a coup plot. Security officers quickly rounded up the accused, including former Head of State Obasanjo and his erstwhile deputy, retired Gen. Shehu Musa Yar'Adua. After a secret tribunal, most of the accused were convicted, and several death sentences were handed down. The tribunal also charged, convicted, and sentenced prominent human rights activists, journalists, and others--including relatives of the coup suspects--for their alleged "anti-regime" activities. In October, the government announced that the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC--see below: Abubakar's Transition to Civilian Rule) and Abacha had approved final sentences for those convicted of participation in the coup plot.
In late 1994 the government set up the Ogoni Civil Disturbances Special Tribunal to try prominent author and Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and others for their alleged roles in the killings of four prominent Ogoni politicians in May 1994. Saro-Wiwa and 14 others pleaded not guilty to charges that they procured and counseled others to murder the politicians. On October 31, 1995, the tribunal sentenced Saro-Wiwa and eight others to death by hanging. In early November Abacha and the PRC confirmed the death sentence. Saro-Wiwa and his eight co-defendants were executed on November 10.
In an October 1, 1995 address to the nation, Gen. Sani Abacha announced the timetable for a 3-year transition to civilian rule. Only five of the political parties which applied for registration were approved by the regime. In local elections held in December 1997, turnout was under 10%. By the April 1998 state assembly and gubernatorial elections, all five of the approved parties had nominated Abacha as their presidential candidate in controversial party conventions. Public reaction to this development in the transition program was apathy and a near-complete boycott of the elections.
On December 21, 1997, the government announced the arrest of the country's second highest-ranking military officer, Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya, 10 other officers, and eight civilians on charges of coup plotting. Subsequently, the government arrested a number of additional persons for roles in the purported coup plot and tried the accused before a closed-door military tribunal in April in which Diya and eight others were sentenced to death.
Abacha, widely expected to succeed himself as a civilian president on October 1, 1998, remained head of state until his death on June 8 of that year. He was replaced by Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, who had been third in command until the arrest of Diya. The PRC, under new head of state Abubakar, commuted the sentences of those accused in the alleged 1997 coup in July 1998. In March 1999, Diya and 54 others accused or convicted of participation in coups in 1990, 1995, and 1997 were released. Following the death of former head of state Abacha in June, Nigeria released almost all known civilian political detainees, including the Ogoni 19.
During the Abacha regime, the government continued to enforce its arbitrary authority through the federal security system--the military, the state security service, and the courts. Under Abacha, all branches of the security forces committed serious human rights abuses. After Abubakar's assumption of power and consolidation of support within the PRC, human rights abuses decreased. Other human rights problems included infringements on freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, and travel; violence and discrimination against women; and female genital mutilation.
Worker rights suffered as the government continued to interfere with organized labor by restricting the fundamental rights of association and the independence of the labor movement. After it came to power in June 1998, the Abubakar government took several important steps toward restoring worker rights and freedom of association for trade unions, which had deteriorated seriously between 1993 and June 1998 under the Abacha regime. The Abubakar government released two imprisoned leaders of the petroleum sector unions, Frank Kokori and Milton Dabibi; abolished two decrees that had removed elected leadership from the Nigeria Labour Congress and the oil workers unions; and allowed leadership elections in these bodies.
Abubakar's Transition to Civilian Rule
During both the Abacha and Abubakar eras, Nigeria's main decisionmaking organ was the exclusively military Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) which governed by decree. The PRC oversaw the 32-member federal executive council composed of civilians and military officers. Pending the promulgation of the constitution written by the constitutional conference in 1995, the government observed some provisions of the 1979 and 1989 constitutions. Neither Abacha nor Abubakar lifted the decree suspending the 1979 constitution, and the 1989 constitution was not implemented. The judiciary's authority and independence was significantly impaired during the Abacha era by the military regime's arrogation of judicial power and prohibition of court review of its action. The court system continued to be hampered by corruption and lack of resources after Abacha's death. In an attempt to alleviate such problems, Abubakar's government implemented a civil service pay raise and other reforms.
In August 1998, the Abubakar government appointed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct elections for local government councils, state legislatures and governors, the national assembly, and president. NEC successfully held these elections on December 5, 1998, January 9, 1999, February 20, and February 27, 1999, respectively. For the local elections, a total of nine parties were granted provisional registration, with three fulfilling the requirements to contest the following elections. These parties were the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the All Peoples Party (APP), and the predominantly Yoruba Alliance for Democracy (AD). Former military head of state Olusegun Obasanjo, freed from prison by Abubakar, ran as a civilian candidate and won the presidential election. Irregularities marred the vote, and the defeated candidate, Chief Olu Falae, challenged the electoral results and Obasanjo's victory in court.
The PRC promulgated a new constitution based largely on the suspended 1979 constitution, before the May 29, 1999 inauguration of the new civilian president. The constitution includes provisions for a bicameral legislature, the National Assembly, consisting of a 360-member House of Representatives and a 109-member Senate. The executive branch and the office of president will retain strong federal powers. The legislature and judiciary, having suffered years of neglect, must be rebuilt as institutions.
The Obasanjo Administration
The emergence of a democratic Nigeria in May 1999 ended 16 years of consecutive military rule. Olusegun Obasanjo became the steward of a country suffering economic stagnation and the deterioration of most of its democratic institutions. Obasanjo, a former general, was admired for his stand against the Abacha dictatorship, his record of returning the federal government to civilian rule in 1979, and his claim to represent all Nigerians regardless of religion.
The new President took over a country that faced many problems, including a dysfunctional bureaucracy, collapsed infrastructure, and a military that wanted a reward for returning quietly to the barracks. The President moved quickly and retired hundreds of military officers who held political positions, established a blue-ribbon panel to investigate human rights violations, ordered the release of scores of persons held without charge, and rescinded a number of questionable licenses and contracts let by the previous military regimes. The government also moved to recover millions of dollars in funds secreted in overseas accounts.
Most civil society leaders and most Nigerians see a marked improvement in human rights and democratic practice under Obasanjo. The press enjoys greater freedom than under previous governments. As Nigeria works out representational democracy, there have been conflicts between the Executive and Legislative branches over major appropriations and other proposed legislation. A sign of federalism has been the growing visibility of state governors and the inherent friction between Abuja and the various state capitols over resource allocation.
Problems of communal violence have confronted the Obasanjo government since its inception. In May 1999 violence erupted in Kaduna State over the succession of an Emir resulting in more than 100 deaths. In November 1999, the army destroyed the town of Odi, Bayelsa State and killed scores of civilians in retaliation for the murder of 12 policemen by a local gang. In Kaduna in February-May 2000 over 1,000 people died in rioting over the introduction of criminal Shar'ia in the State. Hundreds of ethnic Hausa were killed in reprisal attacks in southeastern Nigeria. In September 2001, over 2,000 people were killed in inter-religious rioting in Jos. In October 2001, hundreds were killed and thousands displaced in communal violence that spread across the Middle-Belt states of Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa. On October 1, 2001, President Obasanjo announced the formation of a National Security Commission to address the issue of communal violence. Currently, Nigeria has three major political parties. National elections and state gubernatorial elections occurred in 2003. Nigeria re-elected Obasanjo as President.
Principal Government Officials
President--Olesegun Obasanjo
Vice President--Atiku Abubakar
Foreign Affairs--Oluyemi Adeniji
Finance--Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Defense--Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
Agriculture--Adumu Bello
Commerce--Idris Waziri
Nigeria maintains an embassy in the United States at 3519 International Place, NW, Washington, DC 20008, (tel. 202-986-8400, fax-202-775-1385) and a consulate general in New York at 575 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10022, (tel. 212-715-7200).
Dominated by Oil
The oil boom of the 1970s led Nigeria to neglect its strong agricultural and light manufacturing bases in favor of an unhealthy dependence on crude oil. In 2002 oil and gas exports accounted for more than 98% of export earnings and about 83% of federal government revenue. New oil wealth, the concurrent decline of other economic sectors, and a lurch toward a statist economic model fueled massive migration to the cities and led to increasingly widespread poverty, especially in rural areas. A collapse of basic infrastructure and social services since the early 1980s accompanied this trend. By 2002 Nigeria's per capita income had plunged to about one-quarter of its mid-1970s high, below the level at independence. Along with the endemic malaise of Nigeria's non-oil sectors, the economy continues to witness massive growth of "informal sector" economic activities, estimated by some to be as high as 75% of the total economy.
Nigeria's proven oil reserves are estimated to be 25 billion barrels; natural gas reserves are well over 100 trillion cubic feet. Nigeria is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and in 2003 its crude oil production was averaging around 2.2 million barrels per day. Poor corporate relations with indigenous communities, vandalism of oil infrastructure, severe ecological damage, and personal security problems throughout the Niger Delta oil-producing region continue to plague Nigeria's oil sector. Efforts are underway to reverse these troubles. In the absence of government programs, the major multinational oil companies have launched their own community development programs. A new entity, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has been created to help catalyze economic and social development in the region. Although it has yet to launch its programs, hopes are high that the NDDC can reverse the impoverishment of local communities. The U.S. remains Nigeria's largest customer for crude oil, accounting for 40% of the country's total oil exports; Nigeria provides about 7-9% of overall U.S. oil imports and ranks as the fifth-largest source for U.S. imported oil.
The United States is Nigeria's largest trading partner after the United Kingdom. Although the trade balance overwhelmingly favors Nigeria, thanks to oil exports, a large portion of U.S. exports to Nigeria is believed to enter the country outside of the Nigerian Government's official statistics, due to importers seeking to avoid Nigeria's excessive tariffs. To counter smuggling and under-invoicing by importers, in May 2001 the Nigerian Government instituted a 100% inspection regime for all imports, and enforcement has been sustained. On the whole, Nigerian high tariffs and non-tariff barriers are gradually being reduced, but much progress remains to be made. The government also has been encouraging the expansion of foreign investment, although the country's investment climate remains daunting to all but the most determined. The stock of U.S. investment is nearly $7 billion, mostly in the energy sector. Exxon-Mobil and Chevron are the two largest U.S. corporate players in offshore oil and gas production. Significant exports of liquefied natural gas started in late 1999 and are slated to expand as Nigeria seeks to eliminate gas flaring by 2008.
Agriculture has suffered from years of mismanagement, inconsistent and poorly conceived government policies, and the lack of basic infrastructure. Still, the sector accounts for over 41% of GDP and two-thirds of employment. Nigeria is no longer a major exporter of cocoa, groundnuts (peanuts), rubber, and palm oil. Cocoa production, mostly from obsolete varieties and overage trees, is stagnant at around 180,000 tons annually; 25 years ago it was 300,000 tons. An even more dramatic decline in groundnut and palm oil production also has taken place. Once the biggest poultry producer in Africa, corporate poultry output has been slashed from 40 million birds annually to about 18 million. Import constraints limit the availability of many agricultural and food processing inputs for poultry and other sectors. Fisheries are poorly managed. Most critical for the country's future, Nigeria's land tenure system does not encourage long-term investment in technology or modern production methods and does not inspire the availability of rural credit.
Oil dependency, and the allure it generated of great wealth through government contracts, spawned other economic distortions. The country's high propensity to import means roughly 80% of government expenditures is recycled into foreign exchange. Cheap consumer imports, resulting from a chronically overvalued Naira, coupled with excessively high domestic production costs due in part to erratic electricity and fuel supply, have pushed down industrial capacity utilization to less than 30%. Many more Nigerian factories would have closed except for relatively low labor costs (10%-15%). Domestic manufacturers, especially pharmaceuticals and textiles, have lost their ability to compete in traditional regional markets; however, there are signs that some manufacturers have begun to address their competitiveness.
In October 2005, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved its first ever Policy Support Instrument for Nigeria. On December 17, the United States and seven other Paris Club nations signed debt reduction agreements with Nigeria for $18 billion in debt reduction, with the proviso that Nigeria pays back its remaining $12 billion in debt by March 2006. The United States was one of the smaller creditors, and will receive about $356 million from Nigeria in return for over $600 million of debt reduction.
In the light of highly expansionary public sector fiscal policies during 2001, the government has sought ways to head off higher inflation, leading to the implementation of stronger monetary policies by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and underspending of budgeted amounts. As a result of the CBN's efforts, the official exchange rate for the Naira has stabilized at about 112 Naira to the dollar. The combination of CBN's efforts to prop up the value of the Naira and excess liquidity resulting from government spending led the currency to be discounted by around 20% on the parallel (nonofficial) market. A key condition of the Stand-by Arrangement has been closure of the gap between the official and parallel market exchange rates. The Inter Bank Foreign Exchange Market (IFEM) is closely tied to the official rate. Under IFEM, banks, oil companies, and the CBN can buy or sell their foreign exchange at government influenced rates. Much of the informal economy, however, can only access foreign exchange through the parallel market. Companies can hold domiciliary accounts in private banks, and account holders have unfettered use of the funds.
Expanded government spending also has led to upward pressure on consumer prices. Inflation which had fallen to 0% in April 2000 reached 14% by the end of 2003. In 2000 high world oil prices resulted in government revenue of over $16 billion, about double the 1999 level. State and local governmental bodies demand access to this "windfall" revenue, creating a tug-of-war between the federal government, which seeks to control spending, and state governments desirous of augmented budgets preventing the government from making provision for periods of lower oil prices.
Since undergoing severe distress in the mid-1990s, Nigeria's banking sector has witnessed significant growth over the last few years as new banks enter the financial market. Harsh monetary policies implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria to absorb excess Naira liquidity in the economy has made life more difficult for banks, some of whom engage in currency arbitrage (round-tripping) activities that generally fall outside legal banking mechanisms. Private sector-led economic growth remains stymied by the high cost of doing business in Nigeria, including the need to duplicate essential infrastructure, the threat of crime and associated need for security counter measures, the lack of effective due process, and nontransparent economic decisionmaking, especially in government contracting. While corrupt practices are endemic, they are generally less flagrant than during military rule, and there are signs of improvement. Meanwhile, since 1999 the Nigerian Stock Exchange has enjoyed strong performance, although equity as a means to foster corporate growth remains underutilized by Nigeria's private sector.
Nigeria's publicly owned transportation infrastructure is a major constraint to economic development. Principal ports are at Lagos (Apapa and Tin Can Island), Port Harcourt, and Calabar. Docking fees for freighters are among the highest in the world. Of the 80,500 kilometers (50,000 mi.) of roads, more than 15,000 kilometers (10,000 mi.) are officially paved, but many remain in poor shape. Extensive road repairs and new construction activities are gradually being implemented as state governments, in particular, spend their portions of enhanced government revenue allocations. The government implementation of 100% destination inspection of all goods entering Nigeria has resulted in long delays in clearing goods for importers and created new sources of corruption, since the ports lack adequate facilities to carry out the inspection. Four of Nigeria's airports--Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Abuja--currently receive international flights. Government-owned Nigerian Airways is virtually moribund due to mismanagement, high debt, and a vastly shrunken fleet. There are several domestic private Nigerian carriers, and air service among Nigeria's cities is generally dependable. The maintenance culture of Nigeria's domestic airlines is not up to U.S. standards.
Gradual Reform
Nigeria's economic team, led by Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala enjoys an excellent reputation in the international community. The team produced an encouraging body of work during the last nine months, notably a FY04 budget described as "prudent and responsible" by the IMF and a detailed economic reform blueprint, the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS). Other positive developments during the past year included: (1) Government efforts to deregulate fuel prices; (2) Nigeria's participation in the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) and commitment to the G8 Anticorruption/Transparency Initiative; (3) Creation of an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); and (4) Development of several governmental offices to better monitor official revenues and expenditures. During 2000 the government's privatization program showed signs of life and real promise with successful turnover to the private sector of state-owned banks, fuel distribution companies, and cement plants. However, the privatization process has slowed somewhat as the government confronts key parastatals such as the state telephone company NITEL and Nigerian Airways. The successful auction of GSM telecommunications licenses in January 2001 has encouraged investment in this vital sector.
Although Nigeria must grapple with its decaying infrastructure and a poor regulatory environment, the country possesses many positive attributes for carefully targeted investment and will expand as both a regional and international market player. Profitable niche markets outside the energy sector, like specialized telecommunication providers, have developed under the government's reform program. There is a growing Nigerian consensus that foreign investment is essential to realizing Nigeria's vast but squandered potential. Companies interested in long-term investment and joint ventures, especially those that use locally available raw materials, will find opportunities in the large national market. However, to improve prospects for success, potential investors must educate themselves extensively on local conditions and business practices, establish a local presence, and choose their partners carefully. The Nigerian Government is keenly aware that sustaining democratic principles, enhancing security for life and property, and rebuilding and maintaining infrastructure are necessary for the country to attract foreign investment.
Economic Assistance
The United States assisted with Nigeria's economic development from 1954 through June 1974, when concessional assistance was phased out because of a substantial increase in Nigeria's per capita income resulting from rising oil revenue. By 1974, the United States had provided Nigeria with approximately $360 million in assistance, which included grants for technical assistance, development assistance, relief and rehabilitation, and food aid. Disbursements continued into the late 1970s, bringing total bilateral economic assistance to roughly $445 million.
The sharp decline in oil prices, economic mismanagement, and continued military rule characterized Nigeria in the 1980s. In 1983, USAID began providing assistance to the Nigerian Federal and State Ministries of Health to develop and implement programs in family planning and child survival. In 1992, an HIV/AIDS prevention and control program was added to existing health activities. USAID committed $135 million to bilateral assistance programs for the period of 1986 to 1996 as Nigeria undertook an initially successful Structural Adjustment Program, but later abandoned it. Plans to commit $150 million in assistance from 1993 to 2000 were interrupted by strains in U.S.-Nigerian relations over human rights abuses, the failed transition to democracy, and a lack of cooperation from the Nigerian Government on anti-narcotics trafficking issues. By the mid-1990s, these problems resulted in the curtailment of USAID activities that might benefit the military Government. Existing health programs were re-designed to focus on working through grassroots Nigerian non-governmental organizations and community groups. As a response to the Nigerian military government's plans for delayed transition to civilian rule, the Peace Corps closed its program in Nigeria in 1994.
In response to the increasingly repressive political situation, USAID established a Democracy and Governance (DG) program in 1996. This program integrates themes focusing on basic participatory democracy, human and civil rights, women's empowerment, accountability, and transparency with other health activities to reach Nigerians at the grassroots level in 14 of Nigeria's 36 states.
The sudden death of Gen. Sani Abacha and the assumption of power by Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar in June 1998 marked a turning point in U.S.-Nigerian relations. USAID provided significant support to the electoral process by providing some $4 million in funding for international election observation, the training of Nigerian election observers and political party polling agents, as well as voter education activities. A Vital National Interest Certification was submitted to Congress in February 1999 by President Clinton to lift restrictions on U.S. Government interaction with and support to the Government of Nigeria.
Since that time, USAID has supported Nigeria to sustain democracy and to improve governance by providing training on the roles and responsibilities of elected officials in a representative democracy for newly elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels prior to their installation in May 1999 and assisting with conflict prevention and resolution in the Niger Delta, civil military relations, civil society, and political party development. In the economic area USAID supports programs in strengthening economic management and coordination, encouraging private sector development and economic reform, helping Nigeria reap the benefits of AGOA, improved agricultural technology and marketing and smallscale and microenterprise development. In addition, health assistance, focusing on HIV/AIDS, nutrition, and immunization, education, transportation and energy infrastructure, are priorities for bilateral assistance.
Active duty personnel in the three Nigerian armed services total approximately 76,000. The Nigerian Army, the largest of the services, has about 60,000 personnel deployed in two mechanized infantry divisions, one composite division (airborne and amphibious), the Lagos Garrison Command (a division size unit), and the Abuja-based Brigade of Guards. It has demonstrated its capability to mobilize, deploy, and sustain battalions in support of peacekeeping operations in Liberia, Yugoslavia, Angola, Rwanda, Somalia, and Sierra Leone. The Nigerian Navy (7,000) is equipped with frigates, fast attack Pratt, convenes, and coastal patrol boats. The Nigerian Air Force (9,000) flies transport, trainer, helicopter, and fighter aircraft, but most are currently not operational. Nigeria also has pursued a policy of developing domestic training and military production capabilities. After the imposition of sanctions by many Western nations, Nigeria turned to China, Russia, North Korea, and India for the purchase of military equipment and training.
Since independence, Nigerian foreign policy has been characterized by a focus on Africa and by attachment to several fundamental principles: African unity and independence; peaceful settlement of disputes; nonalignment and nonintentional interference in the internal affairs of other nations; and regional economic cooperation and development. In carrying out these principles, Nigeria participates in the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Nonaligned Movement, the Commonwealth, and the United Nations.
In pursuing the goal of regional economic cooperation and development, Nigeria helped create ECOWAS, which seeks to harmonize trade and investment practices for its 16 West African member countries and ultimately to achieve a full customs union. Nigeria also has taken the lead in articulating the views of developing nations on the need for modification of the existing international economic order.
Over the past decade, Nigeria has played a pivotal role in the support of peace in Africa. It provided the bulk of troops for the UN peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), for the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), and for the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS).
Nigeria has enjoyed generally good relations with its immediate neighbors. A longstanding border dispute with Cameroon over the potentially oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula was addressed by International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in 2002. The ICJ awarded most of the disputed Bakassi Peninsula and maritime rights to Cameroon, and the UN established a Mixed Commission on implementing the ICJ ruling and a work plan stipulating that Nigeria should pull its troops out of Bakassi by September 2004. The United States endorses the UN commission's continued existence as the best mechanism to engage both countries in resolving this issue peaceably.
Nigeria is a member of the following international organizations: UN and several of its special and related agencies, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union (AU), Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU), Commonwealth, Nonaligned Movement, several other West African bodies, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
After the June 12, 1993, presidential election was annulled, and in light of human rights abuses and the failure to embark on a meaningful democratic transition, the United States imposed numerous sanctions on Nigeria. These sanctions included the imposition of Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to refuse entry into the United States of senior government officials and others who formulated, implemented, or benefited from policies impeding Nigeria's transition to democracy; suspension of all military assistance; and a ban on the sale and repair of military goods and refinery services to Nigeria. The U.S. Ambassador was recalled for consultations for four months after the execution of the Ogoni Nine on November 10, 1995.
After a period of increasingly strained relations, the death of General Abacha in June 1998 and his replacement by General Abubakar opened a new phase of improved bilateral relations. As the transition to democracy progressed, the removal of visa restrictions, increased high-level visits of U.S. officials, discussions of future assistance, and the granting of a Vital National Interest Certification on counter-narcotics, effective in March, 1999, paved the way for re-establishment of closer ties between the United States and Nigeria, as a key partner in the region and the continent. Since the inauguration of the democratically elected Obasanjo government, the bilateral relationship has continued to improve, and cooperation on many important foreign policy goals, such as regional peacekeeping, has been very good.
The government has lent strong diplomatic support to the U.S. Government counter-terrorism efforts in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The Government of Nigeria, in its official statements, has both condemned the terrorist attacks as well as supported military action against the Taliban and Al Qaida. Nigeria also has played a leading role in forging an anti-terrorism consensus among states in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Principal U.S. Officials
Ambassador--John Campbell
Deputy Chief of Mission--Thomas Furey
Political Affairs--Russell Hanks
Economic Affairs--Necia Quast
Commercial Affairs--JoAnna McInerney (Lagos)
Agricultural Affairs--Ali Abdi (Lagos)
Consul General--Brian Browne (Lagos)
Defense Attach�--Col. Sue Ann Sandusky
Public Affairs--Claudia Anyaso
U.S. Embassy website: http://abuja.usembassy.gov/
Short URL: http://m.state.gov/md61887.htm


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ZF-2292: Zend_Auth_Adapter_DbTable authenticate() could be split into subroutines to facilitate subclassing
I've written a DbTable adapter that subclasses from Zend_Auth_Adapter_DbTable, overloading only the authenticate() method. This is standard fare, of course, but I had to duplicate a lot of code within that overload in order to sub it. It would be wonderful to have the authenticate() method split into finer-grained protected methods such as:
protected function _validate # Zend_Auth_Adapter_Exception
protected function _buildAuthResult() # array, or an instance of a new data transfer class?
protected function _sanitizeCredentialTreatment($treatment = "?") # string
protected function _buildCredentialExpression() # Zend_Db_Expr
protected function _buildSelect() # Zend_Db_Select
protected function _doSelect($dbSelect) # array or rowset OR throw Zend_Auth_Adapter_Exception
protected function _validateIdentities($resultIdentities = array()) # Zend_Auth_Result
I will submit a patch as soon as my CLA is faxed and approved, but I thought I'd open dialogue now.
This would make subclassing a lot cleaner and less brittle as Zend_Auth_Adapter_DbTable grows.
I like this idea... Ralph, what do you think?
I like this idea too actually, I think overall we can reduce the authenticate to perhaps 4 sub protected methods, (a lower number would also reduce the number of class properties we'd need to add to maintain state from protected method to protected method)
Resolved in r7598


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Embry-Riddle men's basketball routs DeVry for 8th straight win
Published: Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:55 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, December 3, 2012 at 11:55 p.m.
MELBOURNE — Eighth-ranked Embry-Riddle won its eighth straight game, routing winless DeVry 89-32 in an afternoon game Monday on a neutral court.
The Eagles (10-1) went up 14-3 on seven consecutive layups en route to a 50-15 halftime lead over the Seahawks (0-10).
Senior Ben Redfield went 7-of-8 from the floor to lead ERAU with a career-high 18 points. Rico Saldana added 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting for the Eagles, who shot 65 percent for the game.
Brandon Serle scored 13, DeForest Carter, Billy Serle and Sam Ford each added 10 for ERAU, which had a season-high 31 assists on 37 field goals.
The Eagles also had 13 steals and blocked 12 shots. ERAU will return after the holiday break to take on Rio Grande at 7 p.m. Dec. 14 at the ICI Center.
All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


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The Little Gallery
The Little Gallery is sponsored by the Department of Art + Design and shows the work of faculty, students, and alumni artists. It is located in Rathbone Hall on the Albany campus of The Sage Colleges, 140 New Scotland Ave.
Fall 2013 SCHEDULE
UPCOMING: Upcycling Show
Open Call for Work
Upcycling is the act of re-purposing discarded materials to create a useful new product. This exhibition involves an open call for work. If you are interested in participating in this exhibition, please fill out the ENTRY FORM and follow the instructions for submission. All works must be submitted to the Little Gallery faculty advisor, Janice Medina, between Thursday, January 23rd and Monday, January 27th. A panel of judges will select one winning entry and award a cash prize at the opening reception on Friday, February 7th.
Your entry should be an assemblage of materials that would be otherwise destined for the trash or would not likely be reused. Upcycling is different than recycling in that the resulting work retains a functional purpose, has an aesthetic appeal, and is usually of higher quality than the original piece.
Instagram Show
Organized and presented by the Professional Practices class. The class held an open call for photographs created using the photo sharing website, Instagram. Hundreds of amazing images were submitted, and hundreds more will be on display!
Please join us for the First Friday opening: December 6th, 4–7 p.m.
The exhibition will be on view from December 2–13.
Selling the Brand
October 28–November 22
Interior design students present the art and process of designing spaces to be used for the sale of goods to the public
First Friday opening: November 1, 4-7 p.m.
Alma Mater 2013
Our fourth annual alumni show, featuring the work of Sage Albany and JCA graduates
September 9–October 11
Alumni Weekend reception: Friday, September 27
This year's participants include:
- Chet Boehlke Jr.
- Hollan Bonjukian
- M. Rose Carballeira
- Barbara Clark
- Michael DiCocco
- M. C. Furlong
- Malachi Jackson
- James Juron
- Stephanie J. Lambert
- Christopher Lennon
- Teresa J. Mitchell
- Lori Mollitor
- Kim Schaller
- Darren Skotnes
- Olya Szjika
- Grace Tatara
- Alex Waters


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Dr. Charles Abrams, O.D. passed away at the age of 92, on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. He is survived by his beloved wife of 63 years, Bernice (nee Osterneck), his daughter Celia, his son Dr. Jerome, his daughter-in-law Marianne and grandsons Jacob, Daniel and Nicholas. He is also survived by loving nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his sister, Gertrude and brother, Albert. After graduating from South Phila. High School for Boys, he attended the Phila. College of Optometry. Following graduation, he served as 1st Lieut. in the U.S. Army-Air Force during WWII. He began his practice in Lit Brothers Dept. Store where he stayed for 35 years. After Lit Brothers closed, he relocated his practice to Pearle Vision Center at the Gallery. He served as President of the Merchants Association. He was also Treasurer of the Phila. County Optometric Society. He was extrtemely devoted to his family and was respected and admired by his many friends and thousands of patients.
Charlie was a very special man who was dearly loved and will be missed.
Relatives and friends are invited to Funeral Service Tues. 1 P.M. precisely GOLDSTEINS' ROSENBERG'S RAPHAEL SACKS, 6410 N. Broad St. Int. Mt. Lebanon Cem. Shiva will be observed through Thursday at the residence of Celia Abrams Contributions to his memory may be made to Alzheimer's Disease Research, 22512 Gate-way Center Drive, PO Box 1950, Clarksburg, MD 20871-1950.
Location, ST | website.com


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Focus on our people
It is the capabilities of our employees and our leaders that enable us to deliver for our clients, and we're focused on developing, retaining and recruiting top talent.
Career development
Our relentless focus on developing, retaining and recruiting top talent is ingrained in our culture. We make learning and development a priority and provide employees with extensive resources and opportunities to develop professionally and build fulfilling long-term careers. We do this through multiple employee development programs, a comprehensive performance management process, and formal and informal coaching and feedback discussions. BlackRock also encourages internal mobility as a way for employees to advance their careers by moving to another geographic location or different function or business.
We use the 3Es model for employee development plans, which includes Experience through on-the-job learnings, stretch assignments, special projects, new roles and career mobility; Exposure through coaching and feedback, mentoring, sponsoring, client interaction, knowledge sharing and networking; and Education through online and classroom courses, e-learning, reading and webinars.
We offer Learning@BlackRock, an online tool that gives employees access to a wide range of learning and development resources, including business overviews, online and instructor-led training courses and other tools and resources.
BlackRock also offers tuition assistance to encourage employees to take advantage of ongoing education opportunities in their respective fields, in order to create opportunities for personal and professional growth while strengthening the capabilities of the firm.
Total Rewards for employees
BlackRock is committed to providing employees a comprehensive Total Rewards package, including a range of benefits, programs and resources to meet the varying needs of talent across the firm.
Compensation: Pay for performance
BlackRock's pay for performance philosophy rewards employees' contributions to BlackRock, provides opportunities for employees to share in BlackRock's growth and success and aligns the incentives and risk-awareness of employees with those of the firm by connecting individual, business and company results to employee compensation.
For most employees, total compensation includes base salary in addition to a discretionary annual bonus, which is based on the employee's performance against objectives and contributions to their department and the firm as well as BlackRock's operating income and business or functional level performance.
For our most senior leaders, BlackRock is committed to an executive compensation program that is consistent with responsible financial and risk management. Details on compensation policies and practices for our executives are outlined in BlackRock's Proxy Statement.
Financial & personal wellness
BlackRock's comprehensive financial wellness program provides employees with access to a wealth of resources, learning opportunities, guidance, and tools to help employees and their families achieve financial goals, including retirement savings, personal investments, college savings, and financial protection. Included in the financial wellness offering is BlackRock's Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), which allows employees to share in the ownership of BlackRock and its success at a discounted rate.
BlackRock's integrated approach to personal health care and wellness offers employees a range of health plans, access to programs that support a healthier lifestyle and health care accounts to help manage out-of-pocket health care costs.
Work / life support
BlackRock is focused on helping employees more easily manage their work and personal lives through time-off policies, life management programs and savings opportunities.


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Mike Pouncey said Tim Tebow's start vs. Dolphins "is faith"
Mike Pouncey is an admitted Tim Tebow disciple.
That's how the Miami Dolphins' starting center knew Tim Tebow's day as an NFL starter in 2011 would eventually come.
Pouncey monitors the progress of his former Florida Gators teammates, so he saw Tebow play the second half of Denver's game last Sunday with excitement.
Pouncey firmly believes Tebow will eventually become a successful NFL starter. It appears like that journey will begin against the Dolphins on Oct. 23, the weekend after the Dolphins face the New York Jets during Monday Night Football.
"I knew it was going to happen. It's faith. I knew he was going to start against us (in Florida), especially with [the Dolphins] introducing us for our national championship back in '08," said Pouncey, who played with Tebow three of his four years at Florida.
"Look at his past. Every time he's played football he's been a winner, on every level. On this level he's going to get his opportunity to be a winner and prove everybody wrong," Pouncey said of Tebow, Denver's 2010 first-round pick. "He's a great guy. What he preaches he lives by. He doesn't do anything bad. He's a great guy and a great leader. A tough player, and a guy you want on your team.
"I'm sure Broncos are very happy to have him as their starting quarterback."
Pouncey's confident Tebow will help the Broncos turn their season around, but his goal is to make sure Tebow's second NFL victory doesn't happen against the Dolphins after Denver's bye week.
"We ain't going to take it easy on him," Pouncey said, referring to the Dolphins defense, which was quietly discussing Tebow's promotion inside the locker room on Tuesday. "But he's gotten smarter about his play and he knows he can't take the type of hits he use to take."


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Former EMU Education Prof Dies
Kathryn F. (Kass) Seitz, a former member of the Eastern Mennonite University teaching faculty, died Sunday, June 5, at Oak Lea Nursing Home in Harrisonburg. She was 73. Seitz was a member of EMU's education department faculty from 1979 to 1986. Her teaching specialty was elementary education. Her spouse, Kenneth L. Seitz, Jr., who survives, taught in the department of Bible ...More


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Relay Wins, Strand Title, Help Tigers To Slim Lead After Day 2 Of Ivies
CHAMPIONSHIPS: LIVE RESULTS l LIVE VIDEO l SCHEDULE
TWITTER: PRINCETON SWIMMING & DIVING l PRINCETON ATHLETICS
You'd think it would be impossible to match the drama of Princeton's 5.5-point victory in the 2011 Ivy League Championships, but that kind of magic might be in store for the final day of the 2013 Ivies. Three Princeton wins, including one in an 'A' cut time, have sent the Tigers roaring back and into a slight lead heading into the final day of the conference meet.
Princeton will head into the final day of the Ivy League Championships with 972 points, while Harvard holds second with 949 points. That is the total through event 14; after 11 events, Harvard led Princeton by 155 points.
Thus, no lead will be safe until the final 400 free relay touches the wall at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center at Brown.
Princeton, which trailed by 44 points entering Friday, got down to business immediately during the finals session. The 200 medley relay quartet of Kaspar Raigla, Jack Pohlmann, Michael Strand and Harrison Wagner won the event and earned an NCAA 'A' cut in 1:26.25. Harvard took second in 1:27.47, while Dartmouth finished third in 1:27.80.
While each of the first three legs were strong, the one that turned the most heads was the finale. Wagner, who won the 50 free in an 'A' cut time Thursday, went 18.68 in his split to clinch the victory for Princeton.
Junior Paul Nolle opened the individual finals by taking sixth in the 1000 in 9:06.32, while freshman Zach Ridout placed ninth in 9:09.09. While it was an event that gained points for Harvard, the Tiger duo made sure that Princeton stayed within shouting distance for its late-session surge.
Junior Daniel Hasler took third in the 400 IM in 3:49.71, while freshman teammate Marco Bove went 3:54.16 to take third in the 'B' final. Sophomore Oliver Bennett won the 'C' final in 3:55.33.
Raigla qualified for the 'A' final in the 100 fly and finished eighth in 48.32, while Strand won the 'B' final in 47.87. It wouldn't be Strand's last victory of the night.
Freshman Sandy Bole (1:37.33) and sophomore Michael Hauss (1:38.29) took fifth and seventh, respectively, in the 200 free, while freshman Jeremy Wong placed second in the 'B' final in 1:37.79. Harvard again gained in the event with three 'A' finalists and a third-place finish in the 'B' final, which seemingly put the Crimson in ideal position for the 800 free relay.
We'll get to that in a bit.
Princeton began its rally in the 100 breast by taking four of the top six positions. Harvard's Chuck Katis won the event in 53.90, but Princeton freshman Byron Sanborn took second in 53.94. Classmates Teo D'Alessandro (54.45) and Pohlmann (54.68) took fourth and fifth, while Hasler grabbed sixth in 54.88.
Then came the 100 back. Princeton had four finalists in the event, including Strand, who earned his first Ivy League individual title with a winning time of 47.43. Freshman En-Wei Hu-Van Wright took fifth in 48.43, while sophomore Connor Maher placed sixth in 48.49. Raigla added a seventh-place finish in 48.73, and for the first time all weekend, Princeton had a lead in the team standings.
A gutsy quartet of underclassmen built on that edge to the surprise of everybody. D'Alessandro, Maher, Wong and Bole — three freshmen and one sophomore — upset the field to win in 6:26.87. Columbia actually helped Princeton out, finishing just ahead of Harvard for second in the event.
Saturday's final day will open with prelims at 11 am, while the finals will begin at 6 pm. Live video of the finals will be available by clicking the link at the top of this story.


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Sale Price:
Size Chart
Please select a size
In the high, fertile valleys of Bolivia's Yunga region grows the tri-colored kantuta, the national flower and an ancient Inca symbol of unity. Decorated with a repeating stylized pattern of kantuta, this comfortable sweater is knit of soft superfine 100% alpaca yarn, an indispensably warm fiber on the Andean Altiplano. Twelve shades of blues and indigos flow on a black background. Pewter buttons. Front patch pockets.
Hand knit in Bolivia. Women's sizes S (4-6), M (8-10), L (12-14), XL (16-18).
Hand wash cold or dry clean.
Indigenous people in South America have raised alpaca for its fleece for thousands of years before Europeans learned about the animal and exported alpaca fiber to Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries. Today this domesticated animal is bred throughout the world, but its native habitat is the Andean altiplano: Ecuador, southern Peru, northern Bolivia, and northern Chile.
Descended from the wild vicuña, alpaca resemble a cross between a llama and a sheep. Its fleece is similar to sheep's wool, but is usually softer, less prickly, and has minimal lanolin content, making it virtually hypoallergenic. Its extreme warmth, relatively light weight, and natural resistance to water make alpaca wool an ideal fabric for the frigid winters of the Andean altiplano. These qualities have also led to a rise in the use of alpaca fiber in outdoor gear and active wear, although it is also easily spun into a fine enough yarn for use in suits and other dress wear.
Most alpaca products can be treated as you would an object made of sheep's woolhand wash using a mild soap and lukewarm water, or dry cleanbut check the tag or manufacturer's instructions for specific instructions.
(based on 9 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
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of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
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Feels too small
Feels true to size
63% (5 reviews)
(5 reviews)
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Reviewed by 9 customers
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Favorite Warm Elegant Alpaca Sweater
By Ellen
from Bloomington, IN
About Me Classic, Comfort-oriented, Practical, Stylish
Comments about Altiplano Alpaca Cardigan:
This sweater is one of my new favorites! This Alpaca sweater is warm, yet not heavy or itchy like many lamb's wool sweaters can be. The colors, pattern and styling make it easy to wear to work, special occasions or with jeans. I would highly recommend it.
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(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)
A rich study of design and color of Blue
By Ruth
from Lakewood
About Me Classic, Comfort-oriented, Dress for Impression, Practical, Stylish, Trendy
Various hues of Blue, my Favorite Color, makes this Sweater a Must Have.
Bottom Line Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
(2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)
This is a good buy on sale or not.
By Ginny
from Belmont, CA
About Me Classic, Comfort-oriented, High-end shopper, Practical, Stylish
I bought this because one review said it was great with blue jeans. I was afraid my Med to Large size would be too small, because of another reviewer said hers was way too small. I ordered XL. It is perfect. I have long arms, and sleeves are perfect. I wear it over an oxford-cloth, light blue, long sleeve starched shirt, and it looks great. The pewter buttons are wonderful. The sweater seems to be machine made, not hand made, but it says this is hand knit in Bolivia. I hope those who knit these sweaters are handsomely rewarded financially by National Geographic. Since I just got this sweater and have it on now, I do not know how long lasting it may be, but everything so far about it, I love. Buttons too.
A very beautiful sweater
By Senior citizen
from Burien, Washington
It is so very soft and light weight, yet very warm. Love the buttons. Before ordering I had read the comments from others which included the sizing of the garments which thought they were smaller than the size ordered. So i chose to order a size larger than I usually wear and that took care of the problem. Sweater fits the way I wanted.
my first overseas on-line purchase
By Barb
from Sydney Australia
About Me Practical
as soon as I saw it in your advert. I knew it was for me! very pleased with my decision to purchase cardigan.
(4 of 4 customers found this review helpful)
By Annie Dickey
from lexington, mass.
About Me Classic, High-end shopper
These purchases were returned for refund but nothing received. No credit on my card, please issue credit.
(3 of 3 customers found this review helpful)
Soft, vibrant colors, greatly undersized
By Sue R
from Bruceton Mills, WV
About Me Classic, Comfort-oriented, Practical
This item was vibrantly colored, soft, and lightweight. It will go well with blue jeans, slacks, skirts, and other casual wear but is dressy enough to use in place of a light jacket in many situations. I am a size 14 and wear a Large (14-16) easily - this was grossly undersized. I returned it for an Extra-Large but (not having received it yet) have strong doubts that even that size will fit. I dress casually, and plan on using this in situations that I might normally use a blazer or light jacket, for an extra layer of warmth. It is thinner and lighter than I anticipated from the photo/description, but would give just what's needed to provide a touch of warmth over a turtleneck or shirt.
Very lovely but sized smaller than usual
The sweater was beautiful and, since I wear a lot of jeans, a good choice for me in that it went well with blue denim. I normally wear a Large, being a size 14. I ordered a Large (size 14-16) and it was much too small around the chest and in all other dimensions. I sent that one back almost two weeks ago for a replacement with an Extra Large, which I have not received yet. I have doubts that even that size will fit me, though, and I may have to return it for a refund if it does not. I bought it on half-price sale but would not have paid full price for it. That would have been out of my budget range. I am recommending it only because it is nice but certainly not because of fit.
(19 of 19 customers found this review helpful)
By Mbp
from Dallas, TX
About Me Artistic, Classic, Like hand crafts, Practical, Stylish
This beautiful sweater is the first of two sweaters my husband purchased for me as a gift. It is a medium weight wool that works nicely for a jacket indoors or out in Texas. Layered over a light blue turtleneck shirt, this is a beautiful classic look, yet it is distinctive and of a much better quality than found in dept. stores. I receive many compliments when I wear it. Great buy.


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TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona women's soccer was honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) for posting an overall team grade point average of 3.21. The Wildcats were one of 59 women's NCAA teams to post a cumulative grade point average above 3.0.
Senior forward Jazmin Ponce was named NSCAA Women's All-Pacific Region Second-Team. Ponce was also named 2013 Pac-12 First-Team All-Conference as well as Pac-12 Second-Team by College Sports Madness.
Ponce recorded a total of 92 shot attempts, five assists, five game-winning goals and 10 goals. A native of Lawndale, Calif., she led the Pac-12 in shots and game-winning goals for three weeks in a row.
Junior Brie DeFelice, sophomore Sheaffer Skadsen, junior Julia Glanz, senior Shannon Heinzler, junior Emily Lai, sophomore Kaitlyn Lopez, junior Mykaylin Rosenquist and sophomore Hannah Wong earned Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention accolades. To be eligible for selection to the academic teams, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average and be a starter or significant contributor.
Arizona women's soccer finished the 2013 season with an overall record of 9-7-4, earning the first winning record the Wildcats have seen since 2005.
For continued coverage of Arizona Wildcat women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter @ArizonaWSoccer, at facebook.com/ArizonaWSoccer or visit ArizonaWildcats.com.


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Volleyball Drops Weekend Opener To Host Hofstra
Despite another impressive performance by freshman Cara Mattaliano, the Princeton women's volleyball team dropped the opening match of the Hofstra Invitational 3-1. After dropping the first set, the Pride rallied to win the final to take the match.
Mattaliano led Princeton in points (15), kills (12), and service aces (3), but those wouldn't be enough for the Tigers in a 21-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-20 road loss. Mattaliano was one of several Princeton freshmen who had solid showings; Lauren Miller shared the team high with 14 assists, while Ellie Shannon and Brittany Ptak both had four kills apiece. Mary Claire Bartlett had her best performance of the young season, recording 10 digs.
Junior co-captain Sarah Hanna had six kills without an error, while classmate Tiana Woolridge added six kills and four blocks. Ginny Willis also had 14 assists, while sophomore Sarah Daschbach had a team-best 15 digs.
Princeton returns to the court for two matches Saturday, starting with an 11 am showdown against Central Michigan. The Tigers also play South Carolina-Upstate at 5 pm.


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Who's the guy with the second-most wins among starting pitchers in the country, the Saturday shutdown artist on seventh-ranked UW? Tyler Davis is a generously listed six-foot redhead with glasses studying economics who had lost 18 starts in a row until last month. As his wowed opponents are saying, "Who's this guy?"
By Gregg Bell
UW Director of Writing
Click here to sign-up and receive Gregg Bell Unleashed via email each week.
SEATTLE – He has red hair, parted firmly on the side into a wave.
And those black-rimmed glasses, to which he pulls his game cap down low while on the mound? Those specs, without which he says he wouldn't be able to see his catcher's signs, fit more the economics major that he just declared than his other, dominant work at Washington.
Then there's his stature. Or lack of. He's um, generously listed as 6 feet tall.
Yet he's a pitcher. One of the nation's best right now, actually. It's just he looks more like the second coming of Conan O'Brien – or the co-host of Wayne's World -- than UW's next Tim Lincecum.
No way is this the guy who is 7-1 with a tiny, 1.38 ERA.
No way is this dude in the kid-sized, No. 19 jersey any good -- let alone second in the country in wins among starting pitchers, on a team at its highest national ranking ever.
No freakin' way!
"Yeah, I get that a lot," Tyler Davis says. "Not only from my teammates, but from the other team."
Yet it's this son of an aviation systems division chief at NASA and a senior manager of finance at Cisco Systems, a guy that hadn't won in 18 consecutive starts covering his first two Huskies seasons before last month, who is on the national midseason watch list for the hallowed Golden Spikes Award. Lincecum eight years ago is the only Husky to win college baseball's Heisman Trophy as its player of the year.
It's Davis – Tyler, not Erik, his bigger brother who starred for Stanford then made his major-league debut last year with the Washington Nationals –who is sparking this raucous revival of UW baseball from port-a-potties to the penthouse. The deceptive right-hander is why the nation's seventh-ranked team is 8-1 on Saturdays and 6-0 in weekend series entering this weekend's three games at California.
His out-of-nowhere surprise mirrors his team's spring. The Huskies (25-7-1, 12-3 Pac-12) have won 22 of 25 games. They have soared from a middling program having a field with gravel and splintered bleachers, to being ranked 10th (out of 11 league teams) this preseason, to leading the Pac-12 midway through conference play. And they are doing it while reveling in sparkling, new Husky Ballpark, a lakeside jewel many already consider one of the best stadiums on the West Coast.
Davis loves it that no one, maybe not even those on his own team, saw this coming.
"We are not throwing afraid of making mistakes. We know our guys will make the plays if they hit the ball."
Underestimate him at your own risk.
"Oh, I absolutely love the underdog persona," Davis said between striking out a career-high 10 Oregon Ducks with almost nothing but 80-mph fastballs and changeups and winning his sixth consecutive decision last weekend against Stanford.
"People, when I get out there on the mound, they are like 'Who's this guy? He can't throw hard.' They are right about that. But I will do everything to beat you. Yeah, I may not throw hard. But all I care about is at the end of the game that I am a better pitcher than your guy."
It fits that the overlooked Davis is tied with Oregon State's blue-chip, heralded ace Jace Fry for second in the Pac-12 in wins behind Oregon senior Jeff Gold (8-0). Fry was a ninth-round draft pick in 2009 out of high school. He told the Oakland Athletics, no thanks, I'll wait to be drafted higher and go to college.
Davis? When I asked the Pac-12's pitcher of the week about the possibility a major-league team might draft him this June, at the end of his junior season for the Huskies, he shrugged that off as a thought for a later time.
A few days later, the conference called and put him on its television network's weekly video feature called "Statisfaction." That was after Davis went 4-0 in March with a 0.91 ERA. He allowed three earned runs in 29 1-3 innings with 15 strikeouts and just two walks.
Again, that was after not winning any of his 18 starts before that dating to when he was a freshman in 2012.
Now that's "Statisfaction."
In that video (below), Davis does an impersonation of Sean Connery. He describes in a comically faux Scottish accent the famous actor and original James Bond calling a Huskies game.
"That would be phenomenal, Sir Sean Connery calling out my name," Davis told the Pac-12 Networks host. "All my brothers sure would get a kick out of that."
Those bros are Matt, 29 and married with two children while interested in finishing a master of business administration degree; plus Geoff and Erik.
He also has two younger sisters. Giuliana, 18, is at the University of New Mexico and wants to be an engineer. Caroline, 14, is a freshman at Mountain View High School in California. That's where Erik went, too, and it is up the road from where Tyler graduated with a 3.5 grade-point average and was an all-state pitcher at Archbishop Mitty in San Jose.
The Davis half dozen grew up inundated with baseball. Their dad Tom was raised in Cincinnati in the 1970s as a huge fan of the "Big Red Machine" of Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and George Foster. And Tyler calls his mom Gloria "obviously a big-time sports maniac."
Two weeks ago Erik's follow-up season after debuting with the Nationals ended when he learned he needed Tommy John ligament-replacement surgery in his elbow. Erik Davis worked out this past winter in their native Bay Area with Huskies closer Josh Fredendall, who himself is trying to come back from Tommy John surgery.
"The night of his surgery he sent me a picture sent me a picture with his thumbs up," Tyler said of Erik.
Erik might have been referring to his younger brother's turnaround season.
Conference pitcher of the week. National interviews. Being among the country's winningest starters on its seventh-ranked team. All pretty cool, overnight stuff for a small, literally overlooked No. 19 in purple and gold.
"I mean, it's really cool," he said. "But at the same time it's not as important as the team doing well."
He's halfway to getting the Huskies into their first NCAA tournament in 10 years. Those eyes behind the dark frames are focused on getting Washington to its first College World Series appearance.
So just how the heck did Davis get here?
Click to enlarge
By throwing strikes. Lots of them. Straight at opposing bats to let one of the nation's top defenses go to work behind him.
Washington is second in the Pac-12 only to defending national champion UCLA in walks allowed. Huskies' pitchers have walked 87 in 33 games. UW entered this week also second in the league in fielding percentage at .978, one tick behind No. 5 Oregon State (which the Huskies lead by one game atop the Pac-12). Washington is tied for 14th in the country in fielding.
"We are able as a pitching staff to do be doing so well because our defense is playing so well behind us," Davis said. "We are not throwing afraid of making mistakes. We know our guys will make the plays if they hit the ball.
"It's a new mindset of not trying to be perfect and strike everybody out. I'm just trying to get the pitch on the bat and have them put it in play."
Against No. 18 Oregon two weeks ago, Davis got his career-high 10 strikeouts with no walks while allowing just three hits over a career-high 7 2-3 innings – all while throwing exactly one slider and one curveball. The rest was straight and soft – and softer.
"I may not throw hard. But all I care about is at the end of the game that I am a better pitcher than your guy."
"I've thrown a lot of changeups because I've been able to throw it for strikes more often," he said. "That's something I wasn't able to do the last couple of years."
There are two other factors Davis sees to his – and his Huskies' – astounding turnaround.
"Last year I wasn't as confident in myself," he said. "I wasn't in the right mindset to pitch well. So I stayed here last summer and worked and worked to be more relaxed on the mound. It's became about trusting myself."
His main asset in rebuilding that trust: his brother Erik.
"I talked with him a lot about that," Tyler said. "He had to make his major-league debut last year (June 2 at Atlanta) and had to get through a lot of nerves and uncomfortable times."
That self-confidence has led to Davis' second key: every Husky trusting each other.
"The last couple of years we had talented teams," he said, "but we didn't have the chemistry that we have this year."
To think, the catalyst for that wondrous chemistry is this little redhead in glasses with a Sean Connery impersonation and a fastball that rarely gets out of the 80s.
What Davis does have: the unyielding will and newfound belief that he, like his revitalized team, can do anything.
"It's all right. I'm having fun," he said, again deflecting stardom as if it only gets in his way of what he and the Huskies are trying to accomplish here. "I'm happy that I'm having success. But it's more important and it's more exciting that our team is doing this well.
"A national championship for this school? That's something that's never been done here. If something like that were to happen, it'd be incredible. It'd be amazing."
It'd likely be Davis' doing.
Don't say I didn't give you a heads-up.
Gregg Bell is an award-winning sports writer who joined the University of Washington's staff in September 2010 as the Director of Writing. Previously, Bell served as the senior national sports writer in Seattle for the Associated Press. The native of Steubenville, Ohio, is a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He received a master's degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley in 2000.
Gregg Bell Unleashed can be found on GoHuskies.com each Wednesday.
Click here to visit Bell's Twitter page.


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Originally from the small West African nation of Benin, guitarist Lionel Loueke has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past several years. Praised by his mentor Herbie Hancock as "a musical painter," Loueke combines harmonic sophistication, soaring melody, a deep knowledge of African music, and conventional and extended guitar techniques to create a warm and evocative sound of his own.
Lionel Loueke's sophomore release for Blue Note, Mwaliko, follows up 2007′s acclaimed Karibu with a series of searching, innovative, intimate duets with Angelique Kidjo, Esperanza Spalding, Richard Bona and Marcus Gilmore. Mwaliko (pronounced mwah-LEE-koh) is Swahili for "invitation," and as Loueke explains, "you can see the title two ways. One is I'm inviting my friends and fellow musicians to make these duo recordings, and the other is an invitation to all listeners to enjoy the music."
Lionel Loueke with Esperanza Spalding – "Twins"
More Info, Tour Dates, & Streams


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Papillon Black Label
RoquefortThe French have named this assertive, spicy sheep their 'King of Blues' and showed their loyalty by crowning it with the first AOC designation in 1925. They have since embraced democracy, but 'President of Blue' doesn't have the same ring. Read More
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North Hendren Cheese Cooperative
Black River BlueA classic American blue from the North Hendren Cheese Cooperative which has been making cheese for 80 years. The recipe for this blue is well-guarded, and for good reason! The texture is slightly softer than butter- a nice creamy backdrop for the bright blue flavor. Read More
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Rogue Creamery
Smokey BlueIts true! This special version of Oregon Blue Vein is cold smoked for 16 hours over Northwest -grown hazelnut shells. The result is a balance of sweet caramel and hazelnut flavors that contrasts deliciously with the sharp bite of the blue veining. Read More


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Rated 5 out of 5 by 1 reviewer.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Teressa Absolutely delicious! I'm not a big gingerbread fan, but these cookies are more like crispy, ginger-flavored cookies rather than standard gingerbread. They are absolutely yummy! I'm going to have to limit myself or I'll eat the whole container... December 21, 2012
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Swiss Re highlights impact of insurance industry on clean energy investments
- Date
- 22 January 2013
LONDON: Swiss Re's report published this week, entitled Building a sustainable energy future: risks and opportunities, highlights the key role insurers can play in facilitating the uptake of low carbon energy technologies.
Six scenarios for the development of our global energy mix are analyzed in the report, based on drivers such as technology development, public perception, market forces and policy frameworks.
"The study clearly shows that renewable energy will play an important role in the global power mix of the future", says Andreas Spiegel, Head of Sustainability & Political Risk at Swiss Re and author of the report.
Role of insurers
Major investments will be required to meet expected new demand. Depending on scenario, the report predicts capital expenditures for biofuels, wind power and CCS alone to increase 3- to 10-fold by 2030.
Insurers can play a major role in mitigating the risks associated with investments in newer and less mature technologies.
"Insurers should support the further development of low carbon-intensive power production," says Agostino Galvagni, CEO Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. "They need to be innovative and provide solutions along the whole value chain. For example, insurers can enable project financing through construction insurance and reduce cash flow volatility of intermittent energy production through weather risk transfer solutions."
Greater collaboration
The report argues for stronger collaboration between energy providers and the insurance sectors -- such as the European Wind Turbine Committee, which is initiated by Swiss Re -- to work with turbine manufacturers, project developers, plants owners and operators, lenders and engineers, to support the development of innovative insurance products tailored to their needs.
Also highlighted in the report is the importance of ambitious policy frameworks to adequately address the immense societal risks associated with lagging climate action.
"To drive low carbon solutions to their full potential, innovative approaches are needed not only in the technologies themselves, but also in the enabling structures such as financing and insurance products as well as policy frameworks", says Mark Kenber, CEO of The Climate Group.
"The report outlines the challenges involved – with even the most positive scenario not enough yet to keep us within the 2°C threshold for global temperature rise – but it also points to the solutions that can help us more rapidly scale the solutions we already have."
Read the Swiss Re report
By Clare Saxon


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