SEATTLE -- University of Washington athletic director Scott Woodward had no comment on Thursday night on a report that the Huskies had offered Southern California assistant head coach Steve Sarkisian the job of head football coach.

AP - Oil prices were steady near four-year lows below $44 a barrel Friday in Asia as more bad U.S. economic news soured the outlook for global growth and demand for crude.

Between 2004 and 2007, Rep. Charles Rangel steered nearly $80,000 in campaign cash to an Internet company run by his son – paying lavishly for a pair of political Web sites so poorly designed an expert estimated one should have cost no more than $100 to create.

A late October phishing campaign may have given online criminals the information they needed to seize control of payment processor CheckFree's Internet domain this week.

Most of the many books about Rupert Murdoch have been written by people who knew him well, such as Harry Evans or Andrew Neil, but fell out with him and were granted no further access. Michael Wolff, the award-winning magazine writer, comes from the opposite direction: although he had met him, he didn't know Murdoch at all yet was granted almost unlimited time. Even more importantly, Murdoch insisted his four elder children also talk to Wolff, and it is these interviews, and his meetings with Wendi Deng, Murdoch's new Chinese wife, which make this a compelling – if flawed – book.

One day soon most Americans won't be able to afford college educations.

According to a new report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education:
"published college tuition and fees increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007, adjusted for inflation, while median family income rose 147 percent. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade, and students from lower-income families, on average, get smaller grants from the colleges they attend than students from more affluent families."

Yahoo! News: "Historically during downturns, "states make disproportionate cuts in higher education and, in return for the colleges taking them gracefully, allow them to raise tuition," Callan said. "If we handle this recession like we've handled others, we will see that this gets worse."

Loans have financed this runup in tuition, but for how much longer? They are unsecured debt. As one commentator asked recently, "How do you repossess a student loan - attach a tow hook to some delinquent student's brain as he exits the college library?"

And no shock, the burden falls disproportionately on the poor. If one year at a public university costs more than half of the income of the poorest fifth of the population, that's no meritocracy.

Kevin Carey of the think tank Education Sector pointed out in an important Washington Monthly) piece last month that "colleges could use technology to lower costs and thus student prices, but they won't until the terms of competition change. "

It's up to families, schools, and young people to change the terms of competition by earnestly seeking alternatives. And it's up to educators and lawmakers to provide those alternatives. As Carey predicts in the coming years ever-more families will turn to public colleges, improved online education, shorter degree programs, overseas education, or even pass up college altogether.

Unpleasant, but maybe necessary. Already the dropout rate is 44 percent at best.

Facebook Connect and Google Friend Connect open to the public within moments of each other; Firefox plug-in turns Amazon.com into piracy heaven; and former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers asks for commuted sentence.

Most people don't realize it, but the Secretary of Commerce has enormous influence over America's ocean resources. That's why I welcome the news that President-elect Obama is tapping Governor Bill Richardson for this position.

He is well known for his roles as energy secretary and UN ambassador under Clinton. But Richardson, a former NRDC trustee, has also proven himself as an environmental leader in the American West. He has opposed building dirty coal-fired power plants and drilling in pristine landscapes, and he has advanced clean energy solutions and energy efficiency and blazed a trail for regional caps on global warming emissions.

What does all this have to do with oceans or the Commerce Department? Richardson may come from a landlocked state, but his experience as a steward will serve him well in his new job. The Secretary of Commerce oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA is responsible for our nation's ocean fisheries, marine sanctuaries, and coastal zone management programs. It also plays a major role in ocean science, including understanding the impacts of global warming on oceans.

In his role as Secretary of Commerce, Richardson can be a strong leader in reviving the health of our nation's oceans, which are in a state of serious decline. Here's just one alarming statistic: the population of the world's large fish, including tuna, marlin, and swordfish, is down 90 percent from original stocks.

Richardson can also position the US as a leader on international ocean issues. He is a big-picture person, someone who understands the global stage. There are seven seas out there, and Richardson's experience with bringing nations together will be immensely valuable.

But his expertise on energy and climate will be especially critical. Pollution from offshore oil drilling has an enormous impact on marine life, while global warming is turning our oceans more acidic and seriously endangering oysters, clams, crabs, starfish, and all other marine species that need conditions low in acid to make shells.

Richardson can help ensure that when the Obama administration and Congress address energy and climate issues there will be a strong voice for ocean conservation in these discussions.

If Richardson ever waivers in his focus on oceans, he just has to walk downstairs from his office. There in the basement of the Commerce Department sits Washington's aquarium--because that's where NOAA is. Hopefully, he will make frequent visits and appreciate all the ocean richness that is at stake in decisions he makes.

Richardson can set the tone for his new role by calling on NOAA to do the following:

1. Manage oceans holistically in the face of threats like climate change. This "whole ocean" approach should be coordinated across all NOAA programs and other related federal and state agencies.
2. Protect imperiled species. NOAA should use the full scope of its legal authority under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act to ensure the survival and recovery of marine wildlife in the face of climate change and overfishing.
3. Establish healthy national and global fisheries. NOAA should fulfill requirements to prevent overfishing and rebuild depleted species, as well as crack down on illegal fishing and overexploitation of ocean life around the globe.

This post originally appeared on NRDC's Switchboard blog.

LOS ANGELES -- Several correspondents and other staff were laid off at NBC News this week as part of $500 million in planned cuts at General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, according to a person familiar with the situation.

NewsFactor - Apple's products are poised to be among the holiday winners. But could the shortages that plagued the Amazon Kindle and Nintendo Wii in their early days of production put a damper on Apple's sales?

NewsFactor - Microsoft has tapped RSA, the security division of Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC, to help protect its enterprise customers from sensitive information leaks.

NewsFactor - IBM has joined with Virtual Bridges and Canonical to release a Linux desktop solution that aims to drive significant savings for corporations that rely on collaboration tools.

NewsFactor - Android-based devices can now be discussed in the plural. Kogan Technologies has announced its Agora and Agora Pro mobile phones with the open-source mobile operating system will be available in Australia next month.

Dusted off an old feature today just for the hell of it. Think of it like a delicious pizza with all your favorite toppings - provided you enjoy the taste of Amy Winehouse slathered in Aniston sauce. Bon appetit: - Britney Spears' cousin Alli Sims says Britney isn't fit to tour. But still fit to buy her a car; how 'bout it? [NY Daily News] - Blake Fielder-Civil makes love to Amy Winehouse in her hospital bed before being carted back to jail. Wins coveted "Most Effective Way to Make a Passionate Prison Shower More Enjoyable Award." [The Sun] - Sean Avery apologizes for calling Elisha Cuthbert "sloppy seconds." Says she's more like a "beautifully recycled flower - that you can have sex with." [People] - Jennifer Aniston admits to wanting a baby and "longs" for motherhood. Somewhere, John Mayer is performing the world's first guitar string vasectomy. [EW]

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — U.S. trade strategy probably will change dramatically when the Obama administration and new Congress take power in January, with U.S. negotiators forgoing the kinds of bilateral free-trade agreements popular with the Bush administration, according to Democratic officials and experts.

laying with Legos can’t help save lives — can it? Patrick Bonine hopes so. The 14-year-old Sage Valley Junior High student is busy constructing a Lego robot, programming it to complete set tasks and navigate a course. But he’s in it for more than the glory of competition.

Siddharth Varadarajan talks with TRN Senior Editor, Paul Jay about the recent violence in Mumbai

With the violence in Mumbai at an end, and the city beginning to return to normal, the question of response is moving to the front of the conversation. Siddharth Varadarajan believes that there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the attackers were from an Islamic fundamentalist group based in Pakistan known as Lashkar-e-Toiba, which means Army of the Righteous.

Siddharth, drawing on a previous interview he conducted with the leader of that group, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, believes that the group is after more than Kashmir, but would like to see numerous other Indian states with significant Muslim populations ruled according to the group's interpretation of Sharia law.

Siddharth Varadarajan is the Deputy Editor of the Hindu, one of India's leading English-language newspapers. He is an accomplished journalist and academic. He is a former professor at New York University and editorial page writer for the Times of India.

For part 2 of this story tomorrow, visit our website.

NewsFactor - A plan by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin to provide a free national Internet network, up for a vote by the agency later this month, has turned into two versions, according to news reports.

NEW YORK -- Baseball salaries started to slow this year even before the economy cooled.