Penn State upsets No. 4 Michigan 84-78

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Penn State coach Patrick Chambers kept saying all winter that his team was close to winning a Big Ten game even as the league losses piled up.

Momentum finally bounced the Nittany Lions' way on Wednesday night against one of their toughest foes of the season.

Jermaine Marshall scored 25 points and hit a key layup with 1:06 left to help Penn State roar back from a 15-point deficit and upset No. 4 Michigan 84-78 for its first Big Ten victory in more than a year.

No wonder fans rushed the court in delight after the final buzzer.

"I was looking around. I wanted to see our team," Chambers said about the frenzy inside the Jordan Center. "I wanted to embrace it and be in that moment, because those moments don't come very often."

Penn State (9-18, 1-14) had lost 18 straight regular-season Big Ten games dating to last season. The team's previous conference win came on Feb. 16, 2012, a 69-64 victory over Iowa.

It was Penn State's first win over a top 5 team since defeating No. 5 North Carolina 82-74 in the second round of the 2001 NCAA tournament, and the highest-ranked opponent that the Nittany Lions have beaten since moving to the Jordan Center in 1996.

Even Michigan coach John Beilein was impressed.

"I think what you saw tonight is why we all love college basketball," he said.

But this loss might hurt Michigan as it jockeys for seeding in the NCAA tournament. The Wolverines squandered a chance to pull into a second-place tie in the Big Ten with Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 19 points for the Wolverines (23-5, 10-5). Trey Burke had 18 points and six assists, but also committed six turnovers.

Michigan was uncharacteristically sloppy with 15 turnovers in the game, six more than its season average.

Penn State pounced on the mistakes.

D.J. Newbill added 17 points for the Nittany Lions, who hit a season-high 10 3-pointers. Marshall scored 19 in the second half, including four 3s that whipped the hometown fans into a frenzy. But it was his twisting drive to the bucket late left that really hurt Michigan.

The ball teetered on the rim for a couple of seconds before dropping in, causing the Penn State partisans to let out a collective sigh of relief with their team up 81-78.

"It was a chip play that we run. ... Coach put the ball in my hand and he had trust in me," Marshall said. "Fortuantely that layup rode around the rim and went down."

That was not the kind of luck that the Nittany Lions have been used to, ever since leading scorer and point guard Tim Frazier went down with a left Achilles injury four games into the season.

They had to adjust on the fly, with combo guard Newbill sliding over to the point, and Marshall needing to assume more ball-handling duties. Chambers, a never-say-die cheerleader, convinced his team to keep fighting through the adversity.

"Tonight, it's a relief. All the hard work, practices and shootarounds paid off for us," Newbill said.

Michigan's Glenn Robinson III misfired on a 3 with 17 seconds left. Sasa Borovnjak (nine points) had a memorable Senior Night, hitting two foul shots with 15 seconds left to seal the win.

Ross Travis provided the muscle up front with 15 points and 12 boards as Penn State made the clutch plays down the stretch.

"They beat us fair and square, and the last 10 minutes they really outplayed us," Beilein said.

Two foul shots by Marshall gave Penn State its first lead since the first half, 76-74, with 3:55 left. The Jordan Center rocked as if it were a Michigan-Penn State football game across the street at Beaver Stadium.

It was all Penn State from there.

Chambers watched as Michigan fumbled away opportunities, like when Burke had a steal from Newbill but lost control.

"The ball finally bounced our way," Chambers said. "Trey Burke strips D.J. at halfcourt and kicks it out of bounds ... that's usually what we do."

Midway through the second half, Michigan controlled the lane with dunks and cuts to the bucket. Long-range shooting gave the Wolverines breathing room after Nik Stauskus (12 points, eight rebounds) and Hardaway hit 3s on back-to-back possessions to help build the short-lived 15-point lead after Penn State had drawn within 49-45.

The first half was a sign of things to come. After struggling from long range much of the year, Penn State went 5 of 10 from behind the arc and forced 10 turnovers to stay within 39-36 at halftime.

All five of Michigan's losses have come on the road in the Big Ten — none worse than Wednesday night's defeat. Michigan finished February with a 3-4 record, heading into a showdown Sunday with No. 9 Michigan State.

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Huge study: 5 mental disorders share genetic links

WASHINGTON (AP) — The largest genetic study of mental illnesses to date finds five major disorders may not look much alike but they share some gene-based risks. The surprising discovery comes in the quest to unravel what causes psychiatric disorders and how to better diagnose and treat them.

The disorders — autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia — are considered distinct problems. But findings published online Wednesday suggest they're related in some way.

"These disorders that we thought of as quite different may not have such sharp boundaries," said Dr. Jordan Smoller of Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the lead researchers for the international study appearing in The Lancet.

That has implications for learning how to diagnose mental illnesses with the same precision that physical illnesses are diagnosed, said Dr. Bruce Cuthbert of the National Institute on Mental Health, which funded the research.

Consider: Just because someone has chest pain doesn't mean it's a heart attack; doctors have a variety of tests to find out. But there's no blood test for schizophrenia or other mental illnesses. Instead, doctors rely on symptoms agreed upon by experts. Learning the genetic underpinnings of mental illnesses is part of one day knowing if someone's symptoms really are schizophrenia and not something a bit different.

"If we really want to diagnose and treat people effectively, we have to get to these more fine-grained understandings of what's actually going wrong biologically," Cuthbert explained.

Added Mass General's Smoller: "We are still in the early stages of understanding what are the causes of mental illnesses, so these are clues."

The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, a collaboration of researchers in 19 countries, analyzed the genomes of more than 61,000 people, some with one of the five disorders and some without. They found four regions of the genetic code where variation was linked to all five disorders.

Of particular interest are disruptions in two specific genes that regulate the flow of calcium in brain cells, key to how neurons signal each other. That suggests that this change in a basic brain function could be one early pathway that leaves someone vulnerable to developing these disorders, depending on what else goes wrong.

For patients and their families, the research offers no immediate benefit. These disorders are thought to be caused by a complex mix of numerous genes and other risk factors that range from exposures in the womb to the experiences of daily life.

"There may be many paths to each of these illnesses," Smoller cautioned.

But the study offers a lead in the hunt for psychiatric treatments, said NIMH's Cuthbert. Drugs that affect calcium channels in other parts of the body are used for such conditions as high blood pressure, and scientists could explore whether they'd be useful for psychiatric disorders as well.

The findings make sense, as there is some overlap in the symptoms of the different disorders, he said. People with schizophrenia can have some of the same social withdrawal that's so characteristic of autism, for example. Nor is it uncommon for people to be affected by more than one psychiatric disorder.

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Online:

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)60223-8/abstract

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Lawyer says Lohan committed to turning life around

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lindsay Lohan is committed to turning her life around and wants to record public service announcements on the dangers of domestic violence, alcohol abuse and drunken driving, her attorney said Wednesday.

Mark Heller told The Associated Press that the actress' plans are independent of a criminal case that could return her to jail on charges that she lied to police about being a passenger in her car when it slammed into a dump truck in June.

The "Liz & Dick" star has been repeatedly sentenced to jail, rehab, and community service since her first pair of arrests for driving under the influence in 2007. She spent several months in court-ordered psychotherapy until a judge released her from supervised probation in March 2012.

As part of the intense psychotherapy sessions, Lohan is in the beginning stages of trying to become an inspirational speaker to young people, he said.

"I think she suddenly woke up one morning and had an epiphany and she suddenly realized and appreciated the seriousness of the events that led to her being in court," Heller said.

"She's going to try to inspire hope in people," he said. "I think it will be good for her. It certainly won't hurt others."

Heller mentioned Lohan's intent to become an inspirational speaker in a letter to prosecutors and a judge that was obtained Tuesday. He said he will meet with prosecutors on Friday to try to reach a resolution in Lohan's newest case, which includes misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and obstructing officers from performing their duties.

She has pleaded not guilty. Lohan, 26, was on probation at the time of the crash and faces up to 245 days in jail if a judge determines her conduct violated her probation in a 2011 necklace theft case.

Officers suspected alcohol might have been involved in the June accident on Pacific Coast Highway, but the actress passed sobriety tests at a hospital and she was never charged with driving under the influence.

Santa Monica police Sgt. Richard Lewis said officers did not give Lohan a field sobriety test at the accident scene because she and her assistant were injured in the crash and were taken to a nearby hospital. While officers could not rule out that Lohan might have been drinking, he noted that she did not show signs of impairment.

Celebrity web site TMZ, citing anonymous sources, reported Wednesday that a bottle of alcohol was found next to Lohan's sports car after the crash. Lewis said he could not discuss evidence in the case, but noted that the actress was not charged with drunken driving.

Heller wrote in a motion filed last week that officers found a bottle that they initially thought was urine, but might have contained wine. His filing, which seeks a delay or dismissal of charges against the actress, states that "upon information and belief" the bottle's contents were never tested.

Lohan's case returns to court on Friday, although the actress is not required to attend.

Heller is asking a judge to dismiss the case against Lohan because officers ignored the actress' request to talk to her attorney before being interviewed, court records show. He said he is prepared to defend Lohan at trial if necessary, but is hoping a deal can be worked out. He is seeking a delay in the case to have time to prepare and allow Lohan to demonstrate she is improving her life.

Threats from judges and jail sentences that are invariably cut short because of overcrowding haven't helped Lohan, Heller said. "None of it really brought closure to this predicament that led to this most recent event."

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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

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Author tells businesses to be like Mike

CAPTIONS

MJ in 1982
Michael Jordan in his college days with teammates Matt Doherty (44) and Sam Perkins and coach Dean Smith. (AP photo by Robert Willett /October 14, 1982)

By Samantha Bomkamp




Tribune reporter

10:11 a.m. CST, February 27, 2013

An author of a new book has some sage advice for business leaders: Be more like Michael Jordan.

Bruce Piasecki, who penned "Doing More with Teams: The New Way to Winning," says Michael Jordan's long and storied career "is a shining example of how the best teams operate."

Jordan shouldn't be emulated just because of the Bulls star's individual success, the author says, but by the way he showed leadership and helped create a seemingly unstoppable team, meshing with different personalities such as the quiet Scottie Pippen and outrageous Dennis Rodman to create a basketball dynasty.

Those team dynamics are similar in the business world, the author says. And businesses are most successful when they are led by the right leaders and are composed of a mix of people with varying talents, he argues.

Jordan also is held up as an example in other tenets of good business teamwork the author describes.

-- Ego and individual goals have no place on teams.

"When we pin all our hopes on a single individual and ignore the context in which he or she operates, we will be disappointed," he says.

--  Failure is part of winning.

"Leaders must instill in teams a tolerance of losing," he said. "We must convey that failure is a part of life and thus a part of business."

Jordan, who helped the Chicago Bulls win six NBA championships, famously said "I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed."

The book is set to be released next month but is available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

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House Democrats approve gun bans in votes GOP calls 'stunt'

SPRINGFIELD — The Democratic-led majority in the Illinois House voted Tuesday in favor of banning guns in schools, casinos and on public transit during an unusual debate allowing lawmakers to vote piece by piece on where people should be allowed to carry concealed weapons.

Democrats said the hourslong action on the House floor was a way to test support for the various elements of a bill that lawmakers are expected to pass this spring to comply with a federal appeals court ruling against Illinois — the only state that hasn't legalized some form of concealed carry for citizens.

Republicans accused the Chicago-led majority of forcing GOP lawmakers to take controversial positions that could be used against them in their next campaign.

"This is a political stunt," said Rep. Dennis Reboletti, R-Elmhurst, a former prosecutor. "It demeans this process."

The perpetual fight over gun control in Springfield took on new meaning following a December federal appeals court order that calls for Illinois to legalize concealed carry by early June. At the same time, Democrats who run City Hall and the Statehouse are pushing for new gun penalties amid an unrelenting stream of Chicago shootings punctuated in January by the death of a South Side teen who had traveled to Washington with her school to participate in President Barack Obama's inauguration festivities.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, set aside a special order of business to allow debate and votes on more than a dozen concealed carry proposals. Madigan's action forced up-or-down votes on the long lineup of amendments to a Democratic bill rather than the typical approach of weeding them out in committee or behind closed doors, then tacking on a few changes in the full House.

The legislation that carries all the amendments was not called for a vote, leaving potential conflicts between the proposals that lawmakers may seek to reconcile before any House vote to send the bill to the Senate.

With Madigan, the state Democratic Party chairman, already picking up suburban seats in the last election, Republicans feared he was setting his sights on gaining even more ground rather than actually trying to address the concealed carry issue. Republicans questioned why Democrats were focusing on the gun issue now, in this fashion, rather than on Illinois' budget problems and $96.8 billion pension debt.

Republican Minority Leader Tom Cross asked state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, whether her gun amendment does anything to address the state's pension crisis. Feigenholtz said the proposal was an "attempt to save lives."

"This bill can't pass out of the House like it is, nor can it go to the Senate, so how does that save a life?" Cross said.

Democratic lawmakers voted in favor of prohibiting concealed weapons in places like casinos, libraries, hospitals, mental health centers, child care facilities, stadiums and amusement parks.

"When they get done with this, you won't be able to carry anywhere," said Rep. David Reis, R-Willow Hill, expressing a frustration among many gun rights advocates as they watched restrictions get piled on.

At the end of the long string of amendment votes, lawmakers late Tuesday also approved an amendment sponsored by Rep. Brandon Phelps, the Harrisburg Democrat who has long sought to legalize concealed weapons. Phelps' proposal was drawn as a full bill that includes bans for stadiums, bars, churches, gymnasiums, sporting events and some businesses.

The gun debate in Illinois has always been more regional than partisan, with Downstate and suburban lawmakers of both parties more interested in gun rights for hunters and sportsmen. Chicagoans and lawmakers from nearby suburbs have been more interested in gun control.

raguerrero2@tribune.com

rlong@tribune.com

Twitter @RayLong

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Pentagon unveils plan to tap potential of mobile devices

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon unveiled a plan on Tuesday to ultimately enable the Defense Department's 600,000 users of smartphones, computer tablets and other mobile devices to rapidly share classified and protected data using the latest commercial technologies.

The system aims to quickly enable the latest technologies to be securely used by the military while remaining "device agnostic," said Major General Robert Wheeler, a Defense Department deputy chief information officer.

That sets the stage for an intensified struggle for Pentagon customers among BlackBerry devices, Apple's iPhones or iPads, and units using Google's Android platform.

The Defense Department currently has more than 600,000 mobile device users, including 470,000 with BlackBerries, 41,000 who have Apple operating systems, and 8,700 who use Android devices.

The new plan will result in the use of a much wider variety of mobile devices across the military. Currently most devices using Apple and Google platforms are in pilot or test programs, officials said.

Few commercial devices are used for classified communications, whereas the new system aims to bolster security of commercially available devices so they can be used for classified information, they said.

Wheeler said the implementation plan aimed to ensure that mobile devices, wireless infrastructure and mobile applications remain "reliable, secure and flexible enough to keep up with the fast-changing technologies of today."

He said the department has a broad range of mobile device users, from the chairman and planners on the Joint Chiefs of Staff to policymakers and soldiers on the battlefield, all of whom would be affected by the implementation plan.

The military services would decide which devices to buy and provide to users based on need. The system would not initially enable an individual service member to purchase their own mobile devices and use them on the Pentagon's networks, but that is a longer-range goal if security can be assured, officials said.

The plan is a step toward implementing the "mobility strategy" the Pentagon released last June. The strategy aims to use smartphone, tablet and other mobile technologies to improve information sharing and collaboration across the department.

The plan aims to "align the various mobile devices, pilots and initiatives across the department under common objectives to ensure the war fighter benefits from these activities," Teri Takai, the Pentagon's chief information officer, said in a statement.

"This is not simply about embracing the newest technology - it is about keeping the department's workforce relevant in an era when information accessibility and cybersecurity play a critical role in missions," she said.

As part of the implementation plan, the department has asked companies to submit proposals for creating a mobile device management platform and an applications store where users can get the programs they need for their devices.

The mobile device management platform would need a number of security features, such detecting malware and enabling officials to remotely delete data from the device, according to documents outlining the plan.

(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Advanced breast cancer edges up in younger women

CHICAGO (AP) — Advanced breast cancer has increased slightly among young women, a 34-year analysis suggests. The disease is still uncommon among women younger than 40, and the small change has experts scratching their heads about possible reasons.

The results are potentially worrisome because young women's tumors tend to be more aggressive than older women's, and they're much less likely to get routine screening for the disease.

Still, that doesn't explain why there'd be an increase in advanced cases and the researchers and other experts say more work is needed to find answers.

It's likely that the increase has more than one cause, said Dr. Rebecca Johnson, the study's lead author and medical director of a teen and young adult cancer program at Seattle Children's Hospital.

"The change might be due to some sort of modifiable risk factor, like a lifestyle change" or exposure to some sort of cancer-linked substance, she said.

Johnson said the results translate to about 250 advanced cases diagnosed in women younger than 40 in the mid-1970s versus more than 800 in 2009. During those years, the number of women nationwide in that age range went from about 22 million to closer to 30 million — an increase that explains part of the study trend "but definitely not all of it," Johnson said.

Other experts said women delaying pregnancy might be a factor, partly because getting pregnant at an older age might cause an already growing tumor to spread more quickly in response to pregnancy hormones.

Obesity and having at least a drink or two daily have both been linked with breast cancer but research is inconclusive on other possible risk factors, including tobacco and chemicals in the environment. Whether any of these explains the slight increase in advanced disease in young women is unknown.

There was no increase in cancer at other stages in young women. There also was no increase in advanced disease among women older than 40.

Overall U.S. breast cancer rates have mostly fallen in more recent years, although there are signs they may have plateaued.

Some 17 years ago, Johnson was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer at age 27, and that influenced her career choice to focus on the disease in younger women.

"Young women and their doctors need to understand that it can happen in young women," and get checked if symptoms appear, said Johnson, now 44. "People shouldn't just watch and wait."

The authors reviewed a U.S. government database of cancer cases from 1976 to 2009. They found that among women aged 25 to 39, breast cancer that has spread to distant parts of the body — advanced disease — increased from between 1 and 2 cases per 100,000 women to about 3 cases per 100,000 during that time span.

The study was published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

About one in 8 women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, but only 1 in 173 will develop it by age 40. Risks increase with age and certain gene variations can raise the odds.

Routine screening with mammograms is recommended for older women but not those younger than 40.

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the American Cancer Society's deputy chief medical officer, said the results support anecdotal reports but that there's no reason to start screening all younger women since breast cancer is still so uncommon for them.

He said the study "is solid and interesting and certainly does raise questions as to why this is being observed." One of the most likely reasons is probably related to changes in childbearing practices, he said, adding that the trend "is clearly something to be followed."

Dr. Ann Partridge, chair of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's advisory committee on breast cancer in young women, agreed but said it's also possible that doctors look harder for advanced disease in younger women than in older patients. More research is needed to make sure the phenomenon is real, said Partridge, director of a program for young women with breast cancer at the Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The study shouldn't cause alarm, she said. Still, Partridge said young women should be familiar with their breasts and see the doctor if they notice any lumps or other changes.

Software engineer Stephanie Carson discovered a large breast tumor that had already spread to her lungs; that diagnosis in 2003 was a huge shock.

"I was so clueless," she said. "I was just 29 and that was the last thing on my mind."

Carson, who lives near St. Louis, had a mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation and other treatments and she frequently has to try new drugs to keep the cancer at bay.

Because most breast cancer is diagnosed in early stages, there's a misconception that women are treated, and then get on with their lives, Carson said. She and her husband had to abandon hopes of having children, and she's on medical leave from her job.

"It changed the complete course of my life," she said. "But it's still a good life."

____

Online:

JAMA: http://jama.ama-assn.org

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/index.htm

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Bobby Brown sentenced to 55 days in jail for DUI

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bobby Brown has been sentenced to 55 days in a Los Angeles jail and four years of probation for a drunken driving case.

City attorney's spokesman Frank Mateljan (mah-tell-JIN') says Brown was sentenced Tuesday after pleading no contest to charges he was under the influence and driving on a suspended license when he was arrested in October.

Brown was on probation for another DUI case at the time.

The 44-year-old "New Edition" singer was ordered to report to jail March 20. He also was placed on four years of informal probation and will be required to complete an 18-month alcohol treatment program.

Brown's attorney Tiffany Feder had no immediate comment on the sentence.

The sentence was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.

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What's next for revitalized Chicago Loop?

Michael Edwards has only been in town for a few months, but the new executive director of the Chicago Loop Alliance says the warm reception he's getting makes him feel part of something distinctly Chicago.

There's the strong handshake upon meeting. Direct eye contact. A hearty "Welcome to Chicago," he notes. "It's really a dynamic thing," Edwards says with a laugh. "I get it all the time."

A Buffalo, N.Y., native who took the role in November, Edwards arrived at a crucial time for the alliance, which is charged with representing downtown businesses and promoting the area as a destination to live, work and play. On the rebound from the Great Recession, the Loop is aiming to solidify its place as a hub for businesses, retail and residents — from college students to urban professionals to empty nesters who seek easy access to transportation, Millennium Park and museums.

But the return hasn't been easy. During the economic downturn, vacancies shot up, but a rash of new apartments are under construction in downtown Chicago. Target Corp. filled the long-empty Carson Pirie Scott & Co. storefront with its new urban format on State Street in July, and a few blocks up The Gap will open a new store in the spring. State Street's crown jewel, Block 37, is still trying to land a big tenant to drive more foot traffic to the mall.

Now that vacancies are declining and rents are climbing, Edwards and other civic leaders are aiming to figure out what's next for the business district and State Street retail corridor.

At its annual meeting Tuesday, Edwards and the Chicago Loop Alliance announced development of a five-year strategic plan aimed at clarifying the organization's role in economic development, housing, transportation, tourism, culture and services in the Loop. It's the first ever in the organization's history.

The process will tap input from business owners, elected officials, civic leaders and alliance board members, said Edwards, who held similar positions in Pittsburgh and Spokane, Wash. He replaced executive director Ty Tabing, who left in the summer to head up an economic development organization in Singapore.

The strategic planning process is under way, and a draft is due in June. Oakland, Calif.- based MIG Inc. was hired to assist in developing the new strategy.

With the Loop moving in the right direction, it's time to shift gears and ask residents and business owners what they think of its opportunities and challenges, as well as the role of the alliance, Edwards says.

The need for a new plan is driven in part by Edwards' arrival, but also by the fact that the State Street special service area, one of 44 local tax districts that fund expanded services and programs with a property tax levy, is up for renewal in 2016. The State Street SSA collects about $2.5 million annually.

Part of the planning process will include determining whether the SSA, which is administered by the Chicago Loop Alliance and pays for such services as public way maintenance and district marketing, security and economic development, should be expanded to encompass all of the Loop's business and retail districts, including Dearborn Street and Wabash Avenue as well as North Michigan Avenue, he said.

No decisions have been yet, Edwards said. "We're pretty focused on State Street, but can we provide that level of service to other areas?" he said.

Edwards said the new strategy will also determine whether the alliance, which has an annual budget of about $3.4 million, should take on a larger role as an advocate for the Loop.

"We have a website that's all about our members that gets about 10,000 hits a year, and we need about 2 million hits a year. And we need to control the narrative about what's going on downtown," he said.

With other local organizations such as Choose Chicago and World Business Chicago tasked with touting the region, "Is there a role for us to amplify this notion that we're an authentic American city that's an economic engine for the region?" asked Edwards. "Is there a role for the CLA to help promote that or not?"

If the new focus of the alliance has yet to be determined, Edwards has few opinions. Any new partnerships with other local groups, he said, will have to be formed "organically."

And he predicts the alliance's focus will likely shift to "typical downtown management duties — keeping the area safe and clean," coupled with "a little more economic development sensibility as opposed to an arts sensibility," he said.

For years, the Chicago Loop Alliance has run the PopUp Art Loop program in which public art was showcased in vacant storefronts. But the number of empty retail spaces along State Street has been cut in half, to about six, Edwards said.

Now that State Street has evolved, it's time the alliance's role evolved too, according to officials.

"We're seeing a lot of tremendous opportunities for growth in the Loop, whether it's in retail, new companies coming downtown, new residents or tourism," said Martin Stern, executive vice president and managing director at US Equities Realty and board chairman of the Chicago Loop Alliance.

Added Edwards: "There's a sort of feeling that we need to be more focused, provide more value, provide more leadership."

crshropshire@tribune.com

Twitter @corilyns

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Cardinal George: New pope must 'govern ... as a pastor'

Cardinal Francis George tells the Tribune's Manya Brachear about the qualities that a new pope should have, one day before the cardinal heads to Rome to elect a new leader of the Catholic Church. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune)

As he prepared to rush to Rome ahead of a snowstorm at home, Chicago's Cardinal Francis George said Monday that the next pope should have insight about how the Vatican operates and the ability to lead a global church.

"You're talking about governance here," George said. "People say sanctity. Well, sanctity is nice, but there have been popes who have governed fairly well who have not been holy. … What's important here is governance. Can the man govern the church as a pastor? He has to be a man who knows the Lord because he's governing in his name. But it doesn't mean he's going to be a great saint."

George's interview with the Tribune was cut short as his staff scrambled to move up his travel plans to avoid a snowstorm in Tuesday's forecast. He will land at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome on Tuesday morning, two days ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's departure to the Vatican holiday retreat of Castel Gandolfo on Thursday.

The cardinals will meet Friday to begin preparing for the conclave where they will select the next pontiff. George also voted in the 2005 papal election that chose Pope Benedict.

While George initially will stay at the Pontifical North American College on the Janiculum Hill overlooking Rome, he will join other cardinals at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, a secluded residence on the edge of Vatican City, when the conclave begins.

In many respects, the Eternal City has become George's second home. He spent 13 years there as the vicar general for his religious order, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. During his time as a cardinal, he has served on at least eight congregations, or Vatican committees, advising the pope on everything from financial management and evangelization to charity and liturgy.

Like cardinals from Germany, France and Italy, George also has served as president of his national bishops conference. For three years, the job took George back and forth as a liaison between the Vatican and the American Catholic Church. It's those kinds of responsibilities that leave an impression on other cardinals enough to earn their consideration, George said.

"Those are all relationships that enable you to have some insight into how they operate, a little bit about what they do and how they think," George said.

George considers the mileage accrued between a cardinal's diocese and Rome an important credential for the papacy.

Time spent in Rome enables a cardinal to learn how the church traditionally operates. It creates opportunities for cardinals who are not posted at the Vatican to learn the leadership styles of others outside their dioceses. It also exposes them to a different set of pressures and gives cardinals a chance to witness how they would respond.

A cardinal does not have to serve in the Roman Curia, he said. In fact, Pope John Paul II did not.

"But he knew what was going on," George said.

"Because the administration of the church is in the hands of the Roman Curia, at that level, does he have some curial experience?" George added. "Does he know a little bit about what's going on? Can he handle it? Can he appoint people who are in charge?"

The informal conversations leading up to the conclave, George said, provide opportunities to share observations and ask questions. Those questions often revolve around a man's style of public ministry, his administrative abilities and "his freedom from his own cultural background if he's got to be universal."

"You assume the man is prayerful and that he understands and lives out of the apostolic faith," George said. "However, you might create a question about that depending on what he might have said (publicly)."

Kurt Martens, an associate professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America and an expert on the Roman Curia, wholeheartedly agreed.

"Comparable to government agencies, the Roman Curia will help the Roman pontiff when he's planning out his ministries as shepherd of the flock," Martens said. "That means the Roman Curia is at his service. If you don't know the administration and how it works, it's not going to be at your service. You might be at the service of it.

"I might even go a little further than his eminence. It's key for the new supreme pontiff to not only be familiar with the Roman Curia, but also to be willing to control the Roman Curia to make sure they do what he wants, not the other way around."

Last year, confidential memos leaked to the news media — a scandal dubbed Vatileaks — revealed allegations of corruption within the Roman Curia.

Indeed, in his new book "Evangelical Catholicism," papal biographer and conservative Catholic scholar George Weigel said reforming the Roman Curia will be one of many priorities for the next pope.

"The Curia not infrequently caused acute embarrassment to Benedict XVI, putting obstacles in the way of his evangelical, catechetical, and pastoral efforts, and ill-serving the Pope's attempts to reframe the global agenda of debate on the crucial issues facing humanity," Weigel wrote.

Martens agreed with the cardinal's point that experience in Rome outside a cardinal's local diocese also helps demonstrate how well he can shake off cultural habits or constraints.

"You have to almost distance yourself from where you come from and think for the whole church," he said.

Everyone is speculating whether the cardinals will choose a pope from the developing world, he said.

"Perhaps we are ready for an African or Latin American pope," Martens added. But when he's elected pope, "he becomes a Roman."

mbrachear@tribune.com

Twitter @tribseeker

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