Posted by TerranceV | Top Stories | Posted on January 31st, 2012
When I started my career as a business journalist in Tokyo, Japan seemed to be taking over the world and everyone got most of their news from the morning paper.
![[ericbellman]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-HW583_ericbe_D_20100317091435.jpg)
Eric Bellman
Twenty years later, India is the empire that is striking back and news is delivered directly to people’s pockets — all day, as soon as it breaks and often for free.
With all the email alerts, tweets, retweets, Facebook posts, RSS feeds and SMS updates dumped on us everyday, we are bombarded with information.
Of course, in India the majority of news junkies are still addicted to daily papers and start each morning with inky finger tips. But the amount of online information at hand at all times is rising. And The Wall Street Journal has become the latest news organization to deliver more mobile news, tailored for an increasingly-sophisticated Indian consumer.
Dow Jones & Co. launched the new Wall Street Journal India Mobile application Wednesday. The new mobile service, which will allow access to Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires stories about India and from across the world, is available for free download to Bharti Airtel Ltd. subscribers. While much of the information will be free, subscription-only, premium services are also available to anyone willing to pay 99 rupees per month.
Indians are increasingly getting news off their small screens, said Raghunath Mandava, chief marketing officer at Bharti Airtel. Still less than 10% of households in India have computers, he said, so online news can only be big on cell phones.
“Their first brush with the Internet will happen through their cellular devices,” he said in an interview.
Indian users are hungry for more ways to use their phones. They have graduated from downloading ringtones and sending text messages. Bharti Airtel’s online store for third-party applications was launched a month ago and already has 2.5 million subscribers, said Mr. Mandava.
“They are very ready,” for real-time, phone-delivered news, he said. “As customers start evolving, their expectations also start growing.”
When I was a rookie reporter back in 1989, important news took about 12 hours and multiple stopovers to arrive in the hands of the average consumer and that was fine.
“Today the average news consumer has 10 times the information that was available to even the most sophisticated trader back then.”
When the Bank of Japan announced a rate change, a dozen blue-suited Japanese reporters and I would dash out of the briefing room to get to the press club phones down the hall. We would yell the headlines and the first few paragraphs of our stories over land lines or briefcase-sized wireless phones.
Editors on the other end of the line would write a small story (hand written at my Japanese wire service.) It was then given to people that would type the story onto the wire — a crackling network of dot-matrix printers in newspapers offices across the country.
Newspapers would tear the stories off the machines and give them snappy headlines of the right sizes on the appropriate pages. The papers were typeset, printed and delivered to readers’ homes with their Meiji milk.
Of course, even back then there were financial traders who paid a lot of money to get information the minute it came off the wire. That’s why we ran. But most consumers were content to wait until breakfast.
Today the average news consumer has 10 times the information that was available to even the most sophisticated trader back then.
When the Reserve Bank of India announces policy changes, reporters just hit one button and their headlines and stories instantly pop up on computer and cell phone screens across the globe. No running, no yelling, no wait.
The value of some of this news is obvious. We want to know about RBI rate cuts, terrorist attacks and election results. Maybe even weather reports, traffic warnings and cricket scores are important enough to fill the limited space on our small screens.
But what about an “exclusive” interview where another minister says India’s economy is strong or a piece where a Bollywood star thanks her fans for her success? Do we need to be bothered by beeps in our pockets just because a store has announced a weekend sale or our friend ordered channa batura for lunch?
In some ways, the news junkies’ role has changed from consumption to categorization. When I go through the ever-expanding inbox on my phone, I am thinking: “This one I will read now. This one: read later. That one, I’ll ignore. This: forward. That: print out and file. This: need to block.”
How do you prioritize all the alerts, tweets and texts? Fishing the best bits out the sea of information can be a full-time job.
What you need is a cell phone application that takes all the information and uses a sophisticated algorithm to rate the importance of the stories, maybe using key words, names and dates. The program could also weed out rumors, old news and unreliable sources, maybe using some system where readers get to rate the value of each story.
You could also just outsource this process. To us. And count on us to go through the most relevant and freshest information out there, pick what is most important and deliver it to your pocket.
Write to Eric Bellman at eric.bellman@wsj.com
—Eric Bellman is a WSJ reporter based in Mumbai
Posted by TerranceV | Top Stories | Posted on January 31st, 2012
Oman Arab Bank (OAB) is renowned for its innovations and leading role in developing domestic e-banking services in Oman. Internet Commerce is now a reality in Oman and Oman Arab Bank was one of the first Banks to anticipate the growth of online transactions and have been continuously upgrading its online services to ensure consumer convenience and protection.
OAB has joined hands with Arab Financial Services (AFS), the leading electronic payment processor of the region, to launch 3D-Secure services for its credit card holders.
On the occasion of signing the agreement, Mr. Hisham Abdul Hadi, Head of Card Center of Oman Arab Bank said, “OAB’s vision is – To be pioneers in introducing the latest electronic banking systems and services in the Country. In line with our vision, we are constantly evaluating new technologies that would allow us to deliver world-class services to our customers in a friendly and safe manner. With the ever increasing number of internet transactions, it was logical to introduce the 3D-Secure services for our credit card holders. AFS has been a trusted partner of OAB for many years and it was only natural to extend our relationship with them with 3D-Secure service.”
With the launch of this service, OAB cardholders will have a decreased risk of other people being able to use their payment cards fraudulently on the Internet. In this implementation, OAB prompts the buyer for a password that is known only to the buyer. The merchant does not know this password and is not responsible for capturing it; this is intended to help decrease risk in two ways:
1. Copying card details, either by writing down the numbers on the card itself or by way of modified terminals or ATMs, does not result in the ability to purchase over the Internet because of the additional password, which is not stored on or written on the card.
2. Since the merchant does not capture the password, there is a reduced risk from security incidents at online merchants; while an incident may still result in hackers obtaining other card details, there is no way for them to get the associated password.
AFS CEO Mr. B. Chandrasekhar said, “AFS has maintained its leadership position in the payment card industry because of its ‘ear-to-the-ground’ approach. All our services have developed and evolved in partnership with our customers. The revenues from card transactions on internet, to a Bank, can be significant if the inherent risks of online transactions can managed well. 3D-Secure service from AFS is an effort to increase a Bank’s profitability and at the same time mitigating the risk associated with it. OAB is a valued customer of AFS for many years. We thank OAB for giving us another opportunity to partner them and wish them the very best in their endeavor.”
Posted by TerranceV | Business | Posted on January 31st, 2012
More than 50 mutual funds say they own shares of the closely held social-media giant Facebook, according to investment-research firm Morningstar. And some closed-end funds are investing the bulk of their portfolios in private firms, including Facebook. The catch: No one seems to agree how much the shares are worth.
Facebook is close to picking Morgan Stanley as the lead underwriter for its initial public offering, a significant step toward what is likely to be one of the biggest-ever U.S. public debuts. Don Clark has details on The News Hub. Photo: Reuters
Facebook could file papers for an initial public offering as early as this coming week, The Wall Street Journal reported, with a valuation of $75 billion to $100 billion. As of the end of 2011, funds had widely differing estimates of its value—and that could have significant implications for investor returns.
Fidelity Investments, which has two dozen mutual funds with Facebook shares, valued the company at $25 a share. T. Rowe Price Group, which has a dozen funds with Facebook shares, valued them at about $31.15. Other funds priced the shares somewhere in between.
Over the past couple of years, small investors have been keenly interested in getting exposure to pre-IPO companies but have had few vehicles for doing so, because the Securities and Exchange Commission restricts the sale of such shares to “accredited” investors with a net worth of more than $1 million, excluding their home, or an annual income of more than $200,000.
The restrictions leave mutual funds and closed-end funds as the easiest avenues for individuals to get a stake in such companies, though the stakes typically are small and diluted among many other fund holdings. But the pricing discrepancies mean that buyers of the funds are effectively paying different prices for their stakes in Facebook and other private firms, experts say.
Lawrence Friend, a former SEC chief accountant, says that in an open-end fund, either the buyers or the sellers will suffer: “You’re hurting the purchasers if your price is too high, or the redeemer if it’s too low.”
At the end of last year, for example, the Morgan Stanley Focus Growth fund had 3.68% of its portfolio in Facebook, valuing it at $27 a share, according to its portfolio disclosure form. At the time, investors could buy the fund at $33.63 a share.
If Morgan Stanley Investment Management had instead used T. Rowe Price’s valuation of $31.15 per Facebook share, investors would have had to pay about $33.82 a share of the fund, a 0.57% increase. On the other hand, investors redeeming shares of Morgan Stanley funds made less money than they otherwise would have using T. Rowe Price’s higher valuation. By comparison, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index’s return for 2011 was 2.11%, including dividends.
Since the end of the year, Morgan Stanley or T. Rowe Price and other fund companies may have changed their valuations.
A Morgan Stanley spokesman declined to comment. A T. Rowe Price spokesman said the company’s fair-valuation process includes a variety of factors, including a company’s financial performance and prospects, and subsequent transactions between other parties.
The law allows fund companies some discretion in deciding how to price private companies, says Doug Scheidt, the SEC’s associate director of investment management. Some firms use price quotes from third-party brokers, such as SharesPost or Second Market, while others use internal valuation models with multiple inputs.
![[28facebook]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BF-AC178_28face_DV_20120127163837.jpg)
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
The Tocqueville Opportunity fund, which had about 1.87% of its portfolio in Facebook at the end of last year and priced the company at $27.90 a share, takes quotes from secondary markets and applies a discount based on illiquidity and share restrictions, says fund manager Thomas Vandeventer.
He says one of the issues he has brought up with the valuation committee is that if Facebook goes public at a premium, “we have a hidden discount.”
The lure of private companies has grown stronger since the tech bubble, as high-profile technology firms wait longer to go public, says Kevin Landis, portfolio manager of Firsthand Technology Value, a closed-end fund with almost its entire portfolio in private investments like Facebook and social-media company Yelp. Closed-end funds have a fixed number of shares and trade throughout the day like stocks. Their share prices can deviate significantly from the value of their underlying assets.
Facebook could file IPO paperwork as early as Wednesday of next week, and Morgan Stanley is close to winning the “lead left” position in the IPO. Facebook has been valued between $75 and $100 Billion dollars.
The Firsthand fund sells at about $17.25 a share, which the company says is a 30% discount to the value of its underlying assets. But because nearly all of its investments are in private companies, investors won’t really know how much those assets are worth until the companies go public, says Geoffrey Bobroff, a mutual-fund consultant based in East Greenwich, R.I.
Mr. Landis says Firsthand uses an outside firm to value its holdings: “We want to have the most accurate values that we can.”
The pricing issues mean that investors hoping to catch the IPO wave in a mutual fund have to be wary, Mr. Friend says.
“It’s similar to figuring out what your home’s worth when you apply for a mortgage,” says Tocqueville’s Mr. Vandeventer. “We try our best but all have different methodologies.”
Posted by TerranceV | Business | Posted on January 31st, 2012
Story By: by Charlie Herman
The biggest hits in the broader financial services sector came in the period from 2007 to 2009 as the mortgage crisis unfolded. Here, a chart shows total employment over the past decade:
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Credit: Stephanie d’Otreppe/NPR
“And that’s why you’re seeing the banks respond to the present environment with layoffs, branch closures, etc.,” she says. “We just don’t need them anymore; it’s that simple.”
A Climate Of Caution
There have been fewer big corporate deals, and doing those deals brings in a lot of money for banks. There’s also been a drop in company stock and bond offerings that generate big fees.
“If you’ve got a business which is built around trading and investing banking, you’ve got a problem, because you are not generating the types of earnings that you would like,” says bank analyst Dick Bove with Rochdale Securities.
There are also new rules limiting, for example, the fees banks can charge retailers for debit card transactions. Those have been cut in half.
Banks used to make big profits trading with their own money, and that’s now being curtailed by regulators who say it’s too risky. Regulators are also requiring banks to put more money aside in case of future financial downturns. That might make them safer, but it means Wall Street firms have less money to invest or lend.
Then there’s the general climate of caution.
“People don’t want to take risks because they are uncertain about the future,” says Paul Miller, a bank analyst at FBR Capital Markets. He cites fears about Europe’s debt crisis as a top reason for Wall Street’s falling profits.
“Until people get more bullish on the future, it’s going to be very difficult for Wall Street to make money and they will continue to shed employees. They will continue to cut people’s pay,” Miller says.
Notable Layoffs Announced In 2011
Bank of America: 36,000
Citigroup: 4,500
Wells Fargo: 1,900
Morgan Stanley: 1,600
Synovus Financial Corp.: 1,150
Goldman Sachs: 1,000
Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
Smaller Bonuses, Relatively Speaking
For those still employed, year-end bonuses being handed out now are expected to be as much as 30 percent lower compared with a year ago.
“Last year there was this generalized groaning about payouts being down, about their bonuses being down,” Bush says. “This year? Not a peep … People left on Wall Street are very much thinking, ‘You know what? It’s good that I have a job.’ “
Smaller bonuses may please critics of Wall Street, but to put things into perspective, average salaries for these workers last year (not including bonuses) was more than $360,000. And top executives and the biggest deal makers will continue to earn millions.
“Wall Street tends to go through these paroxysms of, you know, growth and contraction,” she says. “This is different. This is the financial services industry looking at its prospects, I think, over a long period of years.”
The outlook in the years ahead is for a smaller, more stable and less profitable industry.
Posted by TerranceV | Uncategorized | Posted on January 31st, 2012
STATS: A home of about 6,500 square feet, with six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and two half-bathrooms, asking $5.8 million, or $884.62 a square foot. Property taxes in 2012 are $28,848, according to the owners.
Photos: Waterfront Estate in Rhode Island
Lila Delman Real Estate
Originally a summer estate, the house dates back to 1885.
DETAILS: On Conanicut Island, the second-largest island in Narragansett Bay that connects by bridge to Newport, this home dates back to 1885. While it started as a summer estate, it later became a hotel and then underwent “a bad condo conversion in the 1980s,” say the current owners, who turned it back into a single-family, year-round residence. The house sits on 3 acres and has 218 feet of waterfront, a boathouse, a dock and two moorings. The carriage house has 12-car parking, an office and space for an apartment. The owners say you can easily host 150 people or dig for clams on the beach, check the lobster traps (the owners say it’s $40 for a permit for five traps) or putter in the potting shed.
Open House
1076 E. Shore Rd., Jamestown, R.I.
NEIGHBORHOOD: It’s about 15 minutes to the Newport Yacht Club.
OWNERS: Paul and Jennifer Boghossian. Mr. Boghossian redevelops old factories into loft and office space, mostly in Maine.
WHY WE’RE SELLING: “We’re almost empty nesters,” says Mr. Boghossian. Also, they would like to move to Boston to be closer to his work.
WHAT WE’LL MISS: There’s no better view in Rhode Island,” says Mr. Boghossian. “My daughter would really like to be married on the lawn, but we don’t want to keep it just for that,” he adds. He says the original owners added the ballroom in 1896 for their daughter’s wedding.
WHAT WE WON’T: “January and February,” says Mr. Boghossian. “It’s gray and the wind blows off the water at 80 miles per hour and sometimes it’s so nasty you don’t want to go from the garage to the house.”
WHAT WE PAID: The couple bought the house in 1997 after it had been converted to four separate units. They say they paid just over one $1 million for the property in a deal involving three different sellers. They estimate that they put another $2 million into a 10-year remodeling that involved ripping out two of the kitchens and restoring the ballroom (now the living room).
COMPS: Nearby, a 6,365-square-foot home with five bedrooms and 6½ bathrooms sold in September for $6.4 million.
OTHERS SAY:
Bob Bailey of Lila Delman Real Estate has shown the house and says that while the market is “unpredictable,” the house is well priced considering the location on the northeast tip of Jamestown, the views and the details. John Hodnett, also of Lila Delman Real Estate, has the listing.
Write to Sarah Tilton at sarah.tilton@wsj.com
Posted by TerranceV | Business | Posted on January 31st, 2012
Published January 29th, 2012 – 09:58 GMTPress Release
Inspired by the recent dedication of the sixth accession anniversary to honour mothers by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, du, undertook an initiative to celebrate all the mothers within its workforce.
All mothers within du â more than 190 to date, were presented with a copy of the certificate of appreciation issued by HH Sheikh Mohammed, as a reminder of the vital roles that they play not only within du, but in raising the next generation.
âThere is no better way to express our gratitude and appreciation to all working mothers within the du family, than through HHâs signed certificates. Mothers are the centre of families and communities; they play a vital role in nurturing societies at large, therefore empowering and supporting working mothers is priority for us. Women represent 23% of total employees at du, a third of which occupy senior posts,â said Hala Badri, Executive Vice President, Brand and Communications, du.
Certificates were presented to working mothers by Bina Mathews, Head of Internal Communications, du.
It is worth mentioning that du supports women empowerment programs such as the Emirates Women Awards, and organises health related awareness activities relevant to mothers, in addition to many more relevant initiatives.
Posted by TerranceV | Business | Posted on January 31st, 2012
LONDON |
Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:52am EST
LONDON (Reuters) – Hedge funds Och-Ziff Capital Management (OZM.N) and York Capital Management said they do not have a material investment in Greek sovereign debt, and have not been involved in negotiations to restructure the country’s debt.
“York’s holdings in Greek Government bonds have never been of any material size, and York has never been involved in negotiations surrounding the exchange offer and has no intent to do so,” York, a New York-based fund, said in a statement.
Och-Ziff, a $28.4 billion (18.4 billion pounds) fund also based in New York, said in an emailed statement: “The Company and its funds do not have a material investment in Greek sovereign debt. The company and its funds have not been involved in any way in negotiations concerning the restructuring of this debt.”
Greece and its private sector creditors are trying to agree a deal to slash the country’s debt pile to avoid a disorderly default.
Och Ziff and York are among a group of hedge funds which hold positions in Greek debt that collectively may have built up sufficiently large positions to scupper the bailout deal, several sources close to the debt restructuring told Reuters last week.
(Reporting by Tommy Wilkes. Editing by Jane Merriman)
Posted by TerranceV | Top Stories | Posted on January 31st, 2012
DUBAI: Expatriates and Emiratis who are jailed for issuing dud cheques may continue to languish in jail even after completing the prison term – that is, until the debt is cleared, lawyers told XPRESS.
There is this mistaken notion held by many that a debtor is freed from his financial liabilities after doing time in jail. The reality is far from it.
Ahmad Abdullah, a 48-year-old Emirati, was jailed last year after his general trading business went under and cheques worth several hundred thousands of dirhams he signed bounced. He does not know when he will walk a free man.
"The problem is after my first cheque bounced, I was jailed for it and I’ve been unable to do anything about my situation," said the father of six from Al Aweer Central Jail. "So, the other cheques I issued also bounced. It became a domino."
Article continues below
Rushdie, a Filipino jailed since 2008 for his inability to pay Dh74,000 in personal loans, said he also does not know when freedom day will come.
A dud cheque entails a minimum of one month in jail to a maximum of three years. But Ali, a 50-plus Arab, has been in jail for nine years after being convicted in 2003 in a financial case.
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"UAE law deems it a crime when a cheque is returned due to insufficient funds," said Jafar Al Touq, a lawyer practising in the UAE for 26 years. "Those who think that sitting in jail without paying a loan is a temporary, short-term way out of debt are absolutely wrong. Otherwise, I will also do the same thing – borrow, then stay in jail for a while and keep the money."
The process in a bounced cheque goes roughly like this: a customer defaults on a loan or credit card payment, the bank recovery team hounds him and submits his security deposit cheque (which will bounce). The lender then files a criminal case for the bounced cheque and the defaulter gets jail time.
Though a subsequent civil case may not necessarily mean the defaulter stays in jail forever, Al Touq said: "He [the borrower] will stay in jail longer [than the original jail term]. It’s the system’s way of putting pressure on the defaulter. If there’s reason to believe fraud has been committed then the judge will put him behind bars longer."
Ignorance
But some end up serving long jail terms due to ignorance.
The case of Yousuf, a 28-year-old European sentenced to nine years in Dubai, is a classic example of how Article 401 of the UAE Penal Code is applied.
Yousuf earned Dh30,000 a month as an accountant for a real estate firm and signed cheques as part of his job.
Several parties sued his company after it went bust; one complainant alone demanded Dh5 million back. In February 2011, the Court of Cassation affirmed the lower courts’ decision giving him three years for each of three bounced cheques worth millions. Yousuf’s day in court involved the judge asking whether he had signed the cheques that bounced – Yousuf admitted they were his signatures.
"We argued that he signed cheques as part of his job," said his lawyer, Emirati Amer Syed Al Marzouqi. "The problem is that you have this law [that criminalises bounced cheques]."
Article 401 states that bouncing cheques is punishable by confinement of one month to three years or a fine of a minimum of Dh1,000 to any individual who, in bad faith, writes a cheque with insufficient funds.
Some legal professionals argue that it’s harsh and archaic.
However, the UAE has now drafted a new insolvency law which aims to address some of these issues.
Mazen Boustani, finance and banking law expert for Habib Al Mulla and Co, said: "The UAE has a comprehensive insolvency law. The main challenge concerns security asked by creditors, and post-dated cheques, if not honoured, constitute a crime with a jail sentence. This results in creditors – instead of having recourse to normal insolvency procedures – resorting to a speedier process, that of filing a criminal complaint for a dishonoured cheque."
In Yousuf’s case, it is unclear whether the complainants will file a subsequent civil case that would keep him in jail longer.
But this happened to Angelito, a 49-year-old Filipino logistics executive, who served two prison terms – one in 2001 and the other in 2010 – over the same bounced cheque. When Angelito’s Dh75,000 cheque bounced in 2001, he was sent to jail for six months. He thought his liabilities had disappeared and he went back home to Manila. Nine years later, when he flew back to Dubai to try his luck once more, he was arrested upon arrival due to a civil case filed by the creditor. He spent more time in jail. "I did not know I could be jailed again for the same thing," said Angelito.
Col Adel Al Suwaidi, Director of Education and Training at Al Aweer Central Jail, said there’s not much recourse for someone jailed over a bounced cheque except for the amount owed to be paid.
Other offenders – with the exception of murderers – may get their sentence commuted if they memorise parts or the whole of the Quran. But this, he said, does not apply to someone jailed for a bounced cheque. "The commutation of a jail sentence only applies if the offence is committed against the state, except murder. In a bounced-cheque case, a person is free the minute the amount owed is paid."
Jailed debtors can only hope for a debt write-off, a government bail-out or a Good Samaritan.
Al Marzouqi said a write-off is rare. "It never happens, especially after the defaulter has been arrested. Most banks demand the full amount from the jailed borrower."
Latifa Khadem, head of the Humanitarian Services Section at Al Aweer Central Jail, said: "There’s not a day without one of our inmates asking for financial help. We welcome any financial aid from generous people to help the inmates who are unable to pay their loans."
Last year, the UAE government announced a Dh10 billion fund to help Emiratis who cannot repay their debts — to settle their personal loans through a process overseen by the UAE Central Bank.
CIVIL CASE
XPRESS posed specific questions – about the criteria for filing a post-jail civil case against a defaulter – to numerous banks. Most declined to comment.
A bank official told XPRESS: "It’s a police matter."
An out-of-court settlement system implemented by Dubai Police last year has been fairly successful. It gives debtors a one-month grace period to clear bounced cheques. It led to a huge drop in bounced cheque cases. Among Emiratis, the numbers dropped to 3,760 in 2011 (January-September) from 5,623 in 2010. No data is available for expatriates.
A local bank official explained it’s their legal department’s call on whether or not to lodge a civil case against the jailed borrower. "It depends on the amount owed," said the official, who asked not to be named. "If it’s a huge amount, a civil case will be filed," he said without elaborating.
Al Touq said, however: "If the person [defaulter] has no money, jail is not useful… it’s damaging to all parties."
THE LAW
Article 401 of the UAE Penal Code:
Any individual who writes a cheque with insufficient funds – causing the same to bounce – can face imprisonment of one month to three years, or a fine of a minimum of Dh1,000.
Ways to avoid longer jail term over bounced cheques
Sell property or borrow from family/friends
Wait for a Good Samaritan to bail you out
Talk to creditor to reschedule loan payments
Look for gainful employment offer to pay the creditor in instalments
Posted by TerranceV | Sports | Posted on January 30th, 2012
By Eli Bernstein, Special to SI.com
As the nation fixates on the ever-growing media maelstrom that accompanies the months leading up to the presidential election, another campaign comes drawing to a close. It’s also characterized by powerful men traveling the country, attempting to woo their audiences with long term goals and promises of a brighter future. That’s right, National Signing Day is just days away, and time remains for many coaches to significantly bolster their programs.
"It’s probably the sport that’s most like politics," said JC Shurburtt, the national recruiting director for 247Sports.com, "because it depends on the opinions of young people and media and coaches. The voters get to vote for the championship and the young people decide if you’re going to win because that’s how you get personnel."
With the end in sight, a familiar candidate has emerged for the top class in the nation. Ohio State — coming off its first seven-loss season since 1897 — boasts the No. 3 haul according to Rivals’ team rankings. After beginning the season with a broken team, plagued by an ousted coach and a fleeting quarterback, the Buckeyes have entered the upper echelon.
The reason for the surge, of course, was the Nov. 28 hiring of Urban Meyer. In the mere months since he took over, he’s lured seven four- and five-star prospects to Columbus. More could follow on Feb. 1.
"He’s a relentless recruiter. I mean he is relentless," said Jeff Weachter, the coach of defensive end Noah Spence at Bishop McDevitt (Pa.). "When Urban puts his mind to it that he wants a kid, he doesn’t break the rules, but he’s going to pull out all the stops."
That approach certainly worked on Spence, a prized 6-foot-4, 245-pound pass-rusher who committed to Ohio State on Dec. 18. According to Weachter, Spence was still considering a number of other schools when Meyer inquired about him after his hiring. Meyer, former interim coach Luke Fickell and linebackers coach Mike Vrabel attended McDevitt’s state championship game, and, in the words of Weachter, "made Noah feel that, hey, we’re not just giving you lip service, we really want you to be here."
Spence soon trekked to Columbus for his official visit. Two days later, he was the newest member of the Buckeyes’ incoming class.
"If it wouldn’t have been for Urban and his efforts, he probably wouldn’t have even went out and visited," said Weachter, who has sent 62 players, including Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, to Division-I schools. "[Urban is] very impressive when he sits down with a family."
Another huge signing for Meyer was Tommy Schutt, a four-star defensive tackle from Glenbard West (Ill.). Originally interested in Ohio State, Schutt was deterred after the Jim Tressel scandal, giving his verbal commitment to Penn State in August. He questioned that pledge after the Jerry Sandusky allegations, and soon received a call from Meyer. On Dec. 12, he committed to spending the next four years in Columbus.
"I think, as a player and a recruit, that Urban Meyer going to a place like Ohio State is definitely a big deal," Schutt said. "Kids that are committed will definitely still be taking looks at Ohio State before Signing Day now."
Dave Schutt, Tommy’s father, was similarly impressed with Meyer’s approach — and not just the X’s and O’s of his pitch.
"I haven’t seen anything quite like the Urban Meyer brand," he said. "He’s enthusiastic, he puts family first, [and] he has an obviously tremendous winning record. He really tries to put emphasis on the fact that we’re going to be a football family that everybody can be proud of and be a part of."
"I think he’ll be a recruiting force across the nation," he added. "He is truly persuasive."
Meyer used all of that persuasive power to flip another four-star lineman, Se’Von Pittman out of Canton McKinley (Ohio). Pittman was bound for Michigan State, a program that plucked him from Ohio State’s backyard in June. As with Schutt, Tressel’s resignation also played a part in Pittman opting to originally spurn the Buckeyes.
"Once coach Tressel was let go, it made my decision hard," Pittman recalled. "I had to worry about, was I going to be happy at Ohio State? Because Tressel was a big part of the reason why I was going to commit there."
Pittman developed strong relationships with Spartans’ coach Mark Dantonio and defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi, committing to Michigan State in June. Once Meyer took over, however, the prospect of playing for a coach with a pedigree equal to — or perhaps even greater than — Tressel’s was simply too tantalizing to resist.
"Everyone says they want a national championship, but when a guy like Urban Meyer says he wants to go get it again you better believe him, because he’s been there," Pittman said. "And let’s not forget, he is at The Ohio State University, which is a great entity in itself."
It’s important to remember that the bulk of the program’s 2012 class has been on board since before Meyer was brought on. To these players, the chance to don the scarlet and gray was a privilege that turmoil and coaching changes couldn’t taint. Linebacker Joshua Perry out of Olentangy (Ohio) committed in June of 2010 — the first official pledge in this year’s class — and hasn’t wavered one bit.
"I realized that coaches might not be there for the duration of my career, so what I had to fall in love with was the school and the atmosphere and the idea of becoming a Buckeye," said Perry. "When you hear about a program like Ohio State, you know that no matter what they’re going to get back to the top. It might take a little time, but you know they’re going to win games."
Warren Ball, a running back from St. Francis DeSales High (Ohio), echoed those sentiments.
"I was a little shocked at first," he said of the Tressel fiasco, "but Ohio State is more than one person. It never once changed my viewpoint of Ohio State. I still remained 100 percent committed."
That mentality, coupled with the efforts of interim coach Fickell to recruit in a season fraught with instability, allowed the Buckeyes to land six four-star recruits before Meyer’s hiring. Thirteen of the 16 pre-Meyer commits hailed from Ohio, demonstrating the school’s reputation resonated with in-state players even as the team stumbled to a 6-7 finish.
But make no mistake: Meyer’s impact is tremendous. And given what’s shaping up to be a top three class — and possibly No. 1, if Meyer can land No. 8 prospect Stefon Diggs — Ohio State should be a recruiting behemoth for years to come.
"I think the stability question was answered in such a dramatic way with Urban Meyer coming and taking that job," said Shurburtt. "I think he’s one of the top recruiting head coaches in the country. I see them signing great classes year-in and year-out."
Despite being ineligible for a bowl in 2012, Ohio State will certainly be a candidate for next year’s top recruiting class — and could be gunning for a national championship run in the not so distant future. Don’t be surprised if several "Meyer for President" signs start appearing on lawns in Columbus before the election next fall.
"If you’re a Buckeyes fan you’re going to enjoy seeing your school in the thick of things for the nation’s top prospects," said Shurburtt.
Posted by TerranceV | Top Stories | Posted on January 30th, 2012
Release Date: 12/01/2011Contact Information: Judy Smith, EPA Public Affairs, smith.judy@epa.gov, 503-326-6994; Tracie Nadeau, EPA Aquatic Resources Program, nadeau.tracie@epa.gov, 541-754-4685
Methodology will help determine when permits are required for projects impacting streams
Portland, OR – The challenging task of determining if a particular stream is protected under federal and state fill and disposal regulations just became a little easier. The new Streamflow Duration Assessment Method for Oregon will help natural resource professionals, consultants and regulators identify whether a fill or removal project with potential stream impacts must obtain permits.
Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act and Oregon’s Removal-Fill Law require permits to protect water resources when someone plans to place soil, dredged or other material in regulated waters.
This new method provides a consistent, repeatable and quick way to identify whether an Oregon stream is intermittent, perennial or ephemeral. Intermittent streams, which flow seasonally, and perennial streams, which flow continuously, are typically subject to both state and federal regulations. Ephemeral streams only flow after rainfall or during snowmelt, and under current agency practice are protected under the Clean Water Act if they have a significant effect on the integrity of larger downstream waters.
The science-based tool was released in November after a two-year trial run. The method was tested and refined at over 170 sites in western and eastern Oregon during both the wet and dry seasons. During the field trial, the initial 21 indicators were reduced to just 7 reliable indicators.
The method proved accurate in many environments including natural, modifed and braided channels. It is a scientific tool that is useful anytime the duration of streamflow must be determined, and may help identify other stream-related issues. Because of the demonstrated benefit in Oregon, the method is already being adapted for use in Idaho and Washington.
“We think this tool will help people understand when to get a permit and help the permitting process move faster and more smoothly,” said EPA’s Dr. Tracie Nadeau, Environmental Scientist. “Many people collaborated to develop and refine this assessment method, which uses solid science to help protect the waters of Oregon and the United States.”
The Streamflow Duration Assessment Method for Oregon was developed by scientists and technical experts from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Oregon Department of State Lands. The method is recommended for use whenever there is uncertainty about streamflow duration.
For more information:
Environmental Protection Agency: www.epa.gov/region10/sdam.html
Oregon Department of State Lands: http://www.oregon.gov/DSL/PERMITS/streamflow.shtml
U.S. Army Crops of Engineers:http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/regulatory/docs/streamflow_assessment_book.pdf
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