Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Per-student pre-K spending lowest in decade

WASHINGTON (AP) ? State funding for pre-kindergarten programs had its largest drop ever last year and states are now spending less per child than they did a decade ago, according to a report released Monday.

The report also found that more than a half million of those preschool students are in programs that don't even meet standards suggested by industry experts that would qualify for federal dollars.

Those findings ? combined with Congress' reluctance to spend new dollars ? complicate President Barack Obama's effort to expand pre-K programs across the country. While Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius continue to promote the president's proposal, researchers say existing programs are inadequate, and until their shortcomings are fixed there is little desire by lawmakers to get behind Obama's call for more preschool.

"The state of preschool was a state of emergency," said Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, which produced the report.

During his State of the Union speech, Obama proposed a federal-state partnership that would dramatically expand options for families with young children. Obama's plan would fund public preschool for any 4-year-old whose family income was below twice the federal poverty rate.

If it were in place this year, the plan would allow a family of four with two children to enroll students in a pre-K program if the family earned less than $46,566.

Students from families who earn more could participate in the program, but their parents would have to pay tuition based on their income. Eventually, 3-year-old students would be part of the program, too.

As part of his budget request, Obama proposed spending $75 billion over 10 years to help states get these new programs up and running. During the first years, Washington would pick up the majority of the cost before shifting costs to states.

"It's the most significant opportunity to expand access to pre-K that this nation has ever seen," Barnett said of the president's proposal.

Obama proposed paying for this expansion by almost doubling the federal tax on cigarettes, to $1.95 per pack.

Obama's pre-K plan faces a tough uphill climb, though, with the tobacco industry opposing the tax that would pay for it and lawmakers from tobacco-producing states also skeptical. Conservative lawmakers have balked at starting another government program, as well. Obama's Democratic allies are clamoring to make it a priority.

To help it along, Duncan and Sebelius planned to join the report's researchers on Monday at a news conference to introduce the report, along with administration allies. They planned events later in the week to reiterate their support.

Yet those public events were unlikely to sway lawmakers who are already fighting among themselves over spending cuts that are forcing students to be dropped from existing preschool programs, the levying of higher fees for student loans and deep cuts for aid to military schools.

States spent about $5.1 billion on pre-K programs in 2011-12, the most recent school year, researchers wrote in the report.

Per-student funding for existing programs during that year dropped to an average of $3,841 for each student. It was the first time average spending per student dropped below $4,000 in today's dollars since researchers started tracking it during the 2001-02 academic year.

Adjusted for inflation, per-student funding has been cut by more than $1,000 during the last decade.

Yet nationwide, the amounts were widely varied. The District of Columbia spent almost $14,000 on every child in its program while the states of Colorado, South Carolina and Nebraska spent less than $2,000 per child.

"Whether you get a quality preschool program does depend on what ZIP code you are in," Barnett said.

Among the 40 states that offer state-funded pre-K programs, 27 cut per-student spending last year. In total, that meant $548 million in cuts.

Money, of course, is not a guarantee for students' success. But students from poor schools generally lag students from better-funded counterparts and those students from impoverished families arrive in kindergarten less prepared than others.

In all, only 15 states and the District of Columbia spent enough money to provide quality programs, the researchers concluded. Those programs serve about 20 percent of the 1.3 million enrolled in state-funded prekindergarten programs.

"In far too many states, funding levels have fallen so low as to bring into question the effectiveness of their programs by any reasonable standard," researchers wrote.

Part of the reason for the decreased spending are the lingering effects of the economic downturn in 2008, coupled with the end of federal stimulus dollars to plug state budgets.

"Although the recession is technically over, the recovery in state revenues has lagged the recovery of the general economy and has been slower and weaker than following prior recessions. This does not bode well for digging back out of the hole created by years of cuts," the researchers wrote in their report.

Nationally, 42 percent of students ? or more than a half million students ? were in programs that met fewer than half of the benchmarks researchers identified as important to gauging a program's effectiveness, such as classrooms with fewer than 20 students and teachers with bachelor's degrees.

That, too, suggests problems for Obama's plan to expand pre-K programs, especially if Washington insists its partners meet quality benchmarks to win federal dollars.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-29-Universal%20Preschool/id-f13281586fa0463995b4e02848848e6f

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Padres beat up Vogelsong, finish sweep of Giants

By BERNIE WILSON

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 8:07 p.m. ET April 28, 2013

SAN DIEGO (AP) - The San Diego Padres are having a mercurial season.

Swept by the Giants in San Francisco last weekend, the Padres returned the favor by taking three games from the defending World Series champions at Petco Park.

Chase Headley, Nick Hundley and Alexi Amarista homered off Ryan Vogelsong to lead the Padres to a 6-4 victory Sunday. It was San Diego's first three-game sweep of the Giants since May 2010.

It was the fifth sweep the Padres have been involved in this season. After losing three games at home to Colorado two weekends ago, the Padres turned around and beat the Dodgers in three straight at Los Angeles.

"Can't explain it. Wish I could," manager Bud Black said. "Baseball's a game a lot of times that's unpredictable. You never know how a month's going to play out, or let alone a week. It's good to see we were able to come out today and get Vogelsong and Jason (Marquis) did his thing. Wish I could explain it."

The Padres remain in last place in the NL West but feel they're playing better. They hit better in this series than they did in San Francisco and got some nice defense.

"We're definitely playing a lot better baseball right now," said right fielder Chris Denorfia, who saved two runs with an impressive diving catch of Andres Torres' fly ball with runners on second and third and two outs in the eighth. "Our pitching's been outstanding the last week, maybe more. Our hitting's coming around. We've got Chase and Carlos (Quentin) back in the lineup so we're starting to be the team we knew we could be coming out of spring training."

Headley had three hits and Amarista scored three runs for the Padres, who've won four straight.

"It's great to see some guys hit some home runs today," Headley said.

The difference between the two series with the Giants was "not all that much, to be honest," Headley said. "We executed the little things, we're making plays defensively and got a couple of big hits. Our pitching did a nice job for us. Not a huge difference but enough to swing the series."

Pablo Sandoval had an RBI single among his career high-tying four hits for the Giants, who lost their season-high fifth straight game. They've lost eight of 12 following a 9-4 start.

"We haven't been playing so well," manager Bruce Bochy said. "We've been making mistakes that have hurt us in this little streak we are in. Guys could use a little break, too. It's a tough series. You're going to have them, as much as you don't like them. We're going to deal with it."

Buster Posey extended his hitting streak to nine games with a two-run homer to pull the Giants to 6-4 in the eighth. Sandoval was aboard after his third single.

San Diego's Jason Marquis (2-2) bounced back from a 7-1 loss to Milwaukee on Monday night in which he allowed a season-high seven runs, including first-inning homers to Ryan Braun and Yuniesky Betancourt.

Marquis pitched out of trouble after loading the bases in both the second and third innings. He allowed two runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings, walked four and struck out three.

Headley and Hundley each hit their second homer of the year while Amarista had his first. The Padres are the only team in the majors that doesn't have a player with at least three homers.

Headley homered to straightaway center field with two outs in the first.

After Brandon Crawford hit a sacrifice fly to tie it in the second, Hundley hit a two-run shot into the balcony on the second level of the Western Metal Supply Co. brick warehouse in the left-field corner with two outs in the bottom of the inning to give San Diego a 3-1 lead. Amarista was aboard on a single.

With rookie Jedd Gyorko aboard on a leadoff double, Amarista hit a two-run homer in the fourth that landed on top of the new right field fence and bounced over the Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 Deck and into the seats. It was the first time the Padres benefited from the new fence, which was moved in 11 feet in an attempt to make the spacious downtown ballyard play fairer.

Opponents have hit four homers that wouldn't have gone out last year, including Posey's shot in the eighth that ticked off the glove of leaping right fielder Chris Denorfia. It was Posey's third.

Amarista walked leading off the sixth. Hundley singled to chase Vogelsong and the runners advanced on Marquis' sac bunt. Amarista scored on Posey's passed ball to make it 6-2.

The Giants loaded the bases with one out in the second before Brandon Crawford hit a sacrifice fly. Marquis struck out Vogelsong to get out of the jam.

San Francisco loaded the bases again with one out in the third before Marquis got Hunter Pence to hit into a double play.

Vogelsong (1-2) went five-plus, allowing six runs, five earned, and eight hits, struck out six and walked three.

"It's a battle from the start for Vogy," Bochy said. "He didn't have good stuff or command. It was just a case where he was battling without his good stuff. He made some mistakes. The ball was up quite a bit and they didn't miss `em. This usually is a ballpark that is a little bit forgiving. But the ball was carrying pretty good today. He got the ball up and they took advantage of it."

Huston Street pitched the ninth for his fifth save in five chances.

NOTES: San Diego swept the Giants for the first time since May 11-13, 2010, at San Francisco. Their last home sweep of the Giants was April 19-21, 2010. The Padres led the NL West for much of that season before staggering down the stretch and being eliminated from playoff contention on the last day by the Giants, who went on to win the World Series. ... Posey has nine RBIs and six extra-base hits during his hitting streak. ... The Padres travel to Chicago to open a four-game series against the Cubs on Monday. LHP Clayton Richard (0-2, 7.94) is scheduled to start against Jeff Samardzija (1-4, 3.03). ... The Giants open a series at Arizona on Monday night, with RHP Matt Cain (0-2, 6.59) scheduled to start against Ian Kennedy (1-2, 4.70).

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Friday, April 26, 2013

Toll in Bangladesh building collapse climbs to 290

SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) ? Crews bored deeper Friday into the wreckage of a garment-factory building that collapsed two days earlier, hoping for miracle rescues that would prevent the staggering death toll from rising much higher, as angry relatives of the missing clashed with police.

Some of those trapped under fallen concrete in the Rana Plaza building were still alive, rescue workers said, but they were so badly hurt and weakened that they will need to be extricated within a few hours if they are to survive.

Rescue workers had to cut off Mussamat Anna's mangled right hand to pull the 18-year-old garment worker free from the debris Thursday night.

"First a machine fell over my hand and I was crushed under the debris. ... Then the roof collapsed over me," she told an Associated Press cameraman from a hospital bed Friday.

Brig. Gen. Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, who is overseeing rescue operations, said the death toll at the building had reached 290, and that 2,200 people have been rescued. The garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside it when it collapsed Wednesday in Savar, a suburb of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka.

Hundreds of rescuers, some crawling through the maze of rubble, spent a third day working amid the cries of the trapped and the wails of workers' relatives gathered outside the building, which housed numerous garment factories and a handful of other companies.

Police cordoned off the building site, pushing back thousands of bystanders and relatives, after rescue workers said the crowds were hampering their work.

Clashes erupted between relatives of those still trapped and police officers, who used batons to disperse the mobs. Police said 50 people were injured in the clashes.

"We want to go inside the building and find our people now. They will die if we don't find them soon," said Shahinur Rahman, whose mother is missing.

An army rescue worker, Maj. Abdul Latif, said he found one survivor still trapped under concrete slabs, surrounded by several bodies. At another place in the building, four survivors were found pinned under the debris, a fire official said.

The rescue workers said they were proceeding very cautiously inside the crumbling building, using their hands, hammers and shovels, to avoid more injuries to trapped survivors and avoid further collapses.

Police say cracks in the building had led them to order an evacuation of the building the day before it fell, but the factories ignored the order.

A military official, Maj. Gen. Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy, told reporters that search and rescue operations would continue until at least Saturday.

"We know a human being can survive for up to 72 hours in this situation. So our efforts will continue non-stop," he said.

Some people have been pulled out of the wreckage alive, though severely weakened, more than a day after the collapse.

Forty people had been trapped on the fourth floor of the building until rescuers reached them Thursday evening. Twelve were soon freed, and crews worked to get the others out safely, said Brig. Gen. Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, who is overseeing rescue operations. Crowds at the scene burst into applause as survivors were brought out.

The odor of decaying bodies at the site is a constant reminder that many garment workers were not so lucky.

Thousands of workers from the hundreds of garment factories across the Savar industrial zone and other nearby industrial areas have taken to the streets to protest the collapse and poor safety standards.

Local news reports said protesters had smashed dozens of vehicles at one strike Friday. Most of the other protests were largely peaceful.

The disaster is the worst ever for Bangladesh's booming and powerful garment industry, surpassing a fire five months ago that killed 112 people and brought widespread pledges to improve the country's worker-safety standards.

Instead, very little has changed in Bangladesh, where wages, among the lowest in the world, have made it a magnet for numerous global brands.

Bangladesh's garment industry was the third-largest in the world in 2011, after China and Italy. It has grown rapidly in the past decade, a boom fueled by Bangladesh's exceptionally low labor costs. The country's minimum wage is now the equivalent of about $38 a month.

Officials said soon after the collapse that numerous construction regulations had been violated.

Abdul Halim, an official with Savar's engineering department, said the owner of Rana Plaza was originally allowed to construct a five-story building but added another three stories illegally.

Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir has said the building violated construction codes and that "the culprits would be punished." Local police chief Mohammed Asaduzzaman said police and the government's Capital Development Authority have filed separate cases of negligence against the building's owner.

Habibur Rahman, police superintendent of the Dhaka district, identified the owner of the collapsed building as Mohammed Sohel Rana, a local leader of ruling Awami League's youth front. Rahman said police were also looking for the owners of the garment factories.

Among the garment makers in the building were Phantom Apparels, Phantom Tac, Ether Tex, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms. Altogether, they produced several million shirts, pants and other garments a year.

The New Wave companies, according to their website, make clothing for several major North American and European retailers.

Britain's Primark acknowledged it was using a factory in Rana Plaza, but many other retailers distanced themselves from the disaster, saying they were not involved with the factories at the time of the collapse or had not recently ordered garments from them.

Wal-Mart said none of its clothing had been authorized to be made in the facility, but it is investigating whether there was any unauthorized production.

U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the collapse underscored the "urgent need" for the Bangladesh government, as well as the factory owners, buyers and labor groups, to improve working conditions in the country.

Human Rights Watch says Bangladesh's Ministry of Labor has only 18 inspectors to monitor thousands of garment factories in the sprawling Dhaka district, where much of the nation's garment industry is located.

John Sifton, the group's Asia advocacy director, also noted none of the factories in the Rana Plaza were unionized, and had they had been, workers would have been in a better position to refuse to enter the building on Wednesday.

___

AP Writers Muneeza Naqvi and Tim Sullivan in New Delhi, Stephen Wright in Bangkok, Kay Johnson in Mumbai, Matthew Pennington in Washington and AP Retail Writer Anne D'Innocenzio in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/toll-bangladesh-building-collapse-climbs-290-064026153.html

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Burger King 1Q earnings soar, revenue shrinks

Burger King's first-quarter earnings more than doubled even though revenue fell, as the fast-food chain trimmed several restaurant-related expenses.

The Miami-based company had warned earlier this month that sales at established restaurants were expected to fall during the quarter, and they wound up declining 1.4 percent. That includes a 3 percent drop in the United States and Canada.

Burger King said competition and a strong first quarter last year hurt U.S. and Canadian sales comparisons to this year's quarter. But it said sales from those countries rallied in March due in part to promotions like the $1.29 Whopper Jr.

The company has been adjusting its strategy to focus on more menu deals like that. McDonald's has been particularly aggressive in touting its Dollar Menu to boost traffic at a time when the restaurant industry is barely growing. Wendy's also revamped its value menu recently.

Overall, Burger King Worldwide Inc. said Friday its net income rose to $35.8 million, or 10 cents per share, in the quarter that ended March 31. That's up from $14.3 million, or 4 cents per share, in the previous year's quarter when it was still private.

The company previously said adjusted earnings, which don't count certain one-time expenses, totaled 17 cents per share in the most recent quarter.

Revenue fell about 42 percent to $327.7 million. Analysts expected $305.8 million, according to FactSet.

Total restaurant expenses, which include things like food costs and payroll expenses, fell nearly 70 percent in the quarter to $108.1 million.

Burger King has been undergoing a revamp since it was purchased and taken private in 2010 by 3G Capital, a private investment firm run by Brazilian billionaires. The company has been selling more restaurants to franchisees, a move that lowers overhead costs. Instead of booking sales from those restaurants, that means Burger King would collect franchise fees instead.

In the first quarter, the company's restaurant revenues tumbled 69 percent to $121.1 million, but its franchise and property revenues rose 19 percent to $206.6 million. The company sold 33 company-owned restaurants in the U.S. and Canada to franchisees during the quarter for $9.3 million.

Burger King said about 97 percent of its restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees.

The company's selling, general and administrative expenses also fell about 30 percent to $66.7 million in the quarter.

3G Capital also has slashed costs, signed international expansion deals and changed the U.S. menu to appeal to a wider audience. The moves came ahead of the company's return to public trading on the New York Stock Exchange last June.

Burger King says its efforts to revamp the brand remain on track. But CEO Bernardo Hees, a 3G partner, is moving on later this year to head Heinz, another 3G investment. Chief Financial Officer Daniel Schwartz, also a 3G partner, will succeed Lees as CEO at Burger King.

Burger King shares rose 24 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $18.30 in midday trading. They have traded between $12.91 and $20.20 since relisting.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/burger-king-1q-earnings-soar-revenue-shrinks-122545739.html

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Thursday, April 25, 2013

LG starts to find its niche, ships a record 10.3 million smartphones in Q1

MADRID, April 25 (Reuters) - Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina said the 10-match ban given to his team mate Luis Suarez for biting an opponent was 'absurd' and 'excessive'. Uruguay international Suarez was punished on Wednesday by the English Football Association (FA) after he bit the arm of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic at the weekend. "He knows he is in the wrong, and that it was a mistake, but the 10-game punishment seems absurd to me, excessive and unfair," Spanish international Reina was quoted as telling radio station Cadena Cope by sports daily AS on Thursday. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lg-starts-niche-ships-record-10-3-million-000030774.html

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Precision agriculture improves farming efficiency, has important implications on food security

Precision agriculture improves farming efficiency, has important implications on food security [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 24-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Amy Molnar
sciencenewsroom@wiley.com
Wiley

Precision agriculture promises to make farming more efficient and should have an important impact on the serious issue of food security, according to a new study published in Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society and the American Statistical Association. In an article about the study in the magazine's May issue, University of Reading Professor Margaret A. Oliver, BSc, PhD, assesses how there is potential to manage land more effectively to improve the farming economy and crop quality, and to ensure food security.

Spatial variation is at the core of precision agriculture and geostatistics. All aspects of the environment soil, rocks, weather, vegetation, water, etc. vary from place to place over the Earth. The soil, landform, drainage, and so on all affect crop growth, and these factors generally vary within agricultural fields. Farmers have always been aware of this situation, but have not been able to measure and map it in a quantitative way.

Measurement is now possible with the tools provided by geostatistics, which describes how properties vary within fields. This information is then used to predict values at places where there is no information for eventual mapping.

Geostatistics can also be used to design sampling of the soil and crops to determine what the soil needs to improve crop growth, in terms of crop nutrients, lime and irrigation, for example. This sample information is used for geostatistical prediction and mapping. Such maps can then be used by farmers for decision-making. Examples include where to apply lime in a field, where more water or drainage is needed, and what amounts of nutrients are required in different parts of a field. Precision agriculture will reduce the amount of fertilizers and pesticides used by applying inputs only where they are needed and in appropriate quantities.

"Precision agriculture will aid efforts to improve food security and also crop quality," Professor Oliver notes in the article. "It will also have a major effect on reducing adverse effects on the environment from agriculture."

###

URL Upon publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1740-9713.2013.00646.x


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Precision agriculture improves farming efficiency, has important implications on food security [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 24-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Amy Molnar
sciencenewsroom@wiley.com
Wiley

Precision agriculture promises to make farming more efficient and should have an important impact on the serious issue of food security, according to a new study published in Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society and the American Statistical Association. In an article about the study in the magazine's May issue, University of Reading Professor Margaret A. Oliver, BSc, PhD, assesses how there is potential to manage land more effectively to improve the farming economy and crop quality, and to ensure food security.

Spatial variation is at the core of precision agriculture and geostatistics. All aspects of the environment soil, rocks, weather, vegetation, water, etc. vary from place to place over the Earth. The soil, landform, drainage, and so on all affect crop growth, and these factors generally vary within agricultural fields. Farmers have always been aware of this situation, but have not been able to measure and map it in a quantitative way.

Measurement is now possible with the tools provided by geostatistics, which describes how properties vary within fields. This information is then used to predict values at places where there is no information for eventual mapping.

Geostatistics can also be used to design sampling of the soil and crops to determine what the soil needs to improve crop growth, in terms of crop nutrients, lime and irrigation, for example. This sample information is used for geostatistical prediction and mapping. Such maps can then be used by farmers for decision-making. Examples include where to apply lime in a field, where more water or drainage is needed, and what amounts of nutrients are required in different parts of a field. Precision agriculture will reduce the amount of fertilizers and pesticides used by applying inputs only where they are needed and in appropriate quantities.

"Precision agriculture will aid efforts to improve food security and also crop quality," Professor Oliver notes in the article. "It will also have a major effect on reducing adverse effects on the environment from agriculture."

###

URL Upon publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1740-9713.2013.00646.x


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/w-pai042313.php

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Bush library exhibits: 9/11, war, Katrina, recount

DALLAS (AP) ? A tour of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum begins in a bright area representing his early domestic agenda, but with one turn, visitors find themselves in a darkened room surrounded by chilling reminders of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

This contrast, symbolizing Bush's abrupt shift in priorities less than eight months into his first term, is among the most poignant exhibits at a museum being dedicated this week that also chronicles the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, the Florida recount and various other historical events.

Bush told The Associated Press last week that he wanted to make sure the part of the museum devoted to 9/11 was powerful enough to remind visitors of how much the world changed that day.

"It's very emotional and very profound," Bush said. "One of the reasons it has to be is because memories are fading rapidly and the profound impact of that attack is becoming dim with time, and we want to make sure people remember not only the lives lost and the courage shown but the lesson that the human condition overseas matters to the national security of our country."

The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which includes the library and museum along with Bush's policy institute, will be dedicated Thursday on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. All the living presidents, including President Barack Obama and Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, plan to attend. It will open to the public on May 1.

The museum uses everything from news clips to interactive screens to artifacts to tell the story of Bush's eight years in office. A container of chads ? the remnants of the famous Florida punch cards ? is part of an exhibit about the 2000 election, which Bush won after the Supreme Court ordered Florida to stop its recount process more than a month after Election Day.

In the 9/11 display, called the "Day of Fire," video images from the attacks flash around a twisted metal beam recovered from the wreckage of the World Trade Center. The exhibit also includes the bullhorn Bush used days later to address a crowd of rescue workers at ground zero: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."

Longtime Bush adviser Karen Hughes was standing just a few feet away from the president when he began making the unplanned speech. Hughes said she remembers turning to Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Allbaugh and saying, "That's going to be in his library someday."

Brendan Miniter, who served as the liaison for the Bushes as the museum's exhibits were developed, said the idea was to present the facts and "let them speak for themselves." He said they also did not want to shy away from more controversial aspects of the administration.

"I suspect that people would have thought that we wouldn't have talked about say enhanced interrogation techniques or the decision to create the prison in Guantanamo," he said, adding that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is featured in a video about why the administration felt both were necessary.

Visitors also are taken through a timeline of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A display at the end makes the case against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, including that he ignored 17 United Nations Security Council resolutions demanding he disclose his weapons programs and fired at British and American pilots monitoring the U.N.-imposed no-fly zone.

The exhibit also acknowledges the biggest controversy about the justification for war: No weapons of mass destruction were found.

A "Decision Points Theater," lined with rows of interactive screens, seeks to put visitors in the shoes of a president. It provides facts for them to decide such questions as whether to invade Iraq or provide bailout money during the financial crisis.

"It's conflicting," Miniter said. "You go to the Capitol Hill and somebody will say you need to provide some resources to stabilize the financial industry, and then somebody else will say no, let it work itself out, don't do anything."

A "Freedom Wall" in the museum features pictures including a soldier greeting children, former first lady Laura Bush supporting women's rights and the Bushes meeting with freedom advocates.

The impact of AIDS around the world ? a focus of Bush's international outreach efforts ? is illustrated with a large map of the world. Small photographs of the faces of those suffering from the disease are placed into the shapes of the continents of the world, with those with more AIDS cases, including Africa, looming larger.

The museum also features a section on life at the White House, displaying a ball that obviously got some heavy use by the Bushes' late dog Barney. A full-scale replica of the Oval Office leads outside to an actual rose garden. The center also features a 15-acre park recreating a Texas prairie.

Bush said his focus will continue to be the George W. Bush Institute, which has featured programs focused on education, economic growth, global health and human freedom. Through the institute, his activities have included yearly bike rides with wounded military veterans and traveling to Africa as part of an effort among several groups to fight cervical and breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa.

He also recently took up oil painting, inspired by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Bush, who was the 43rd president, signs his works "43."

"I'm a beginner and I tell people that the signature on my paintings is worth more than the paintings," Bush said.

___

George W. Bush Presidential Center, http://www.bushcenter.org

George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, http://www.georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bush-library-exhibits-9-11-war-katrina-recount-171148505--politics.html

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