new poem by Adam Zagajewski in the 4/2/07 New Yorker

IN A LITTLE APARTMENT

"I ask my father, "What do you do all day?" "I remember."

So in that dusty little apartment in Gliwice,
in a low block in the Soviet style
that says all towns should look like barracks,
and cramped rooms will defeat conspiracies,
where an old-fashioned wall clock marches on, unwearied,

he relives daily the mild September of '39, its whistling bombs,
and the Jesuit garden in Lvov, gleaming
with the green glow of maples and ash trees and small birds,
kayaks on the Dniester, the scent of wicker and wet sand,
that hot day when you met a girl who studied law,

the trip by freight car to the west, the final border,
two hundred roses from the students
grateful for your help in '68,
and other episodes I'll never know,
the kiss of a girl who didn't become my mother,

the fear and sweet gooseberries of childhood, images drawn
from that calm abyss before I was.
Your memory works in the quiet apartment--in silence,
systematically, you struggle to retrieve for an instant
your painful century.

Who and UF? Los Medanos College faculty representation

We're disturbed to see the first newsletter, "U and UF" described as "anoccasional view by LMC UF VP Michael Zilber," not because we don't like the idea of the VP having direct communication with the folks he represents--not all leadership needs to come from the UF president--but because of what that first view let us see of the VP's vision of who it is he represents, and how he sees himself representing them.

Although the VP begins promisingly by hailing both full-time and part-time faculty for their dedication and professionalism, he immediate makes it clear that it's only those who have "tenure track jobs at a college" that he's concerned with: the part-time faculty aren't of concern. He emphasizes that idea by speaking of the "90% of us" who voted to affilate with a larger union last fall, neglecting the 71% to 29% part-timer vote AGAINST affiliation (which brought the overall LMC vote down from 90% to a still impressive 76%).

We're troubled as well by the VP's assertion that he has "no desire to play [the] part" of an adversary to management. It's no surprise that the current UF leadership believes that management has the same goals as faculty and can be approached on that basis; Jeff Michels said so at a UF meeting (AT LMC, coincidentally or not) last fall. It is right and proper that the UF VPs be able to support the president's position, AS part of that leadership. Whether that position is supportable, we'll leave it to the faculty to determine. Perhaps future "occasional views" will help us see more. It's pretty clear to us what we're seeing now.

CoCo Times reports on the DVC Faculty Senate's lawsuit against the District being argued in court

This article appeared in Wednesday's _Times_.

Of particular interest to us:

1) the lack of particular interest in the matter from State Faculty Senate President Ian Walton. We hear one more time a voice of lament that things went down as they did.

2) the district's tired claim, oft voiced by Chancellor Benjamin herself, that people (here, teachers) cannot serve as managers of their colleagues. MY, these folks have a particular notion of what management is all about. Time after time we hear these folks bring up the necessity for managers to effectively discipline faculty. Is that what college management is for? is that what management is for? Any of us who have EVER been in any kind of collective decision-making processes--food co-ops, cohousing communities, college committees--might dispute that model.

3) the assertion that the faculties at LMC and CCC have no objection to division deans. NO ONE would argue that the three colleges have similar cultures. If our colleagues at LMC and CCC like what they have, that's fantastic. That has not been the collective experience of faculty at DVC.

We celebrate difference! But the lip service paid to supporting diversity in our curriculum, in our hiring, and in our outreach and student services is not, apparently, to be paid to our workplace organization. There's no doubt an irony in educational institutions lacking a place for creative and positive models for doing our work.

Here's what Brother Krupnick wrote:

Court to hear appeal tied to Diablo Valley College
CONTRA COSTA: Faculty leaders say that administrators didn't consult them over altered management structure
By Matt Krupnick

A Diablo Valley College-related lawsuit that has attracted statewide attention will go before a state appeals court today in San Francisco.

The suit, first filed by faculty leaders in Contra Costa County in January 2003, contends that college administrators did not adequately consult the school's Faculty Senate when they changed the management structure. State law requires such consultation, the faculty argues.

Administrators say the decisions did not require faculty input because instructors were not substantially affected when then-President Mark Edelstein created a new corps of deans to replace faculty members who had been part-time managers.

Statewide faculty and administrative groups have weighed in on the issue, which could change the way college leaders consult with faculty members on important decisions. A Contra Costa County Superior Court judge ruled against the Faculty Senate in 2004.

Observers on both sides said Tuesday that they do not want the Diablo Valley suit to harm working relationships elsewhere in the 109-campus community college system. Better communication from both sides could have averted the Contra Costa battle, said Ian Walton, president of the statewide community college Academic Senate.

"I'd been hoping they would find a way to gracefully exit" the lawsuit, he said. "You've got to just shake your head and say the money could have been better spent."

Both Edelstein and his boss at the time, Chancellor Charles Spence, have left the three-college Contra Costa district. Faculty at the other two colleges, Los Medanos and Contra Costa, did not dispute the management changes on their own campuses.

The new system is more efficient, and it eliminated the need for some faculty members -- who had been doubling as administrators -- to make awkward decisions, said John Shupe, an attorney for the college district.

"The part-time (administrators) had divided loyalties ...," he said. "It's hard for a faculty member to do when you have to take disciplinary action against a colleague across the hall."

But changes to that system required faculty cooperation, said Robert Bezemek, an attorney for the Faculty Senate.

"The college was intent on going forward without engaging in collegial consultation," he said.

A ruling is expected within three months, attorneys said.

_Soccer America_ reports US WNT cruises to Algarve Cup

ALGARVE CUP: USA completes dominant performance
3/15/2007




The USA will be installed as the heavy favorite to win the 2007 Women's World Cup thanks to a dominating performance at the 2007 Algarve Cup in Portugal combined with shockingly bad showings by reigning world champion Germany and 2007 Women's World Cup host China.

The USA beat Denmark, 2-0, Wednesday on goals by Kristine Lilly and Carli Lloyd (pictured above, second to left, with teammates Wambach and Kai to the left and right) to win the 2007 Algarve Cup, while Germany and China finished last among the teams entered in the two top-flight groups following the completion of Wednesday's six placement games.

Lloyd, who entered the Algarve Cup with just one goal in her previous 24 international appearances. scored in her four straight game and took tournament honors as the top scorer and MVP. She is the third U.S. player to score in all four Algarve Cup games, joining Shannon MacMillan (2002) and Christie Welsh (2005) and third to win MVP honors along with Shannon Boxx (twice) and Tiffeny Milbrett.

Both U.S. goals came on shots from 24 yards. Lilly beat Danish keeper Heidi Johansen after being fed by Abby Wambach in the 12th minute. Lloyd struck struck with a spectacular left-footed blast that left Johansen on the ground shaking her head in disbelief.

''We're very happy to win this tournament again and build confidence for our young team,'' said Ryan. ''These were also the first games [of 2007] for some of our top players so this was a good beginning for us. In terms of the game, I think we dominated the play. We had most of the chances and could have scored more goals than we did, and I think maybe one of those goals they called offside was a good goal. I was very happy with our team's performance.''

The win increased the U.S. women's unbeaten streak to 39 matches, 38 of them under head coach Greg Ryan, who has yet to lose a match in regulation time in two years at the helm. The USA has won the Algarve Cup five times -- four times in the last five years. It lost to Germany on penalty kicks last year.

Germany finished eighth after falling to Italy, 1-0, in the seventh-place game for its third loss in four games. More shocking China's 10th-place finish. The Steel Roses fell to Iceland, 4-1, in the ninth-place game.

USA-DENMARK GAME SUMMARY:
March 14 in Vila Real de San Antonio
USA 2 Denmark 0. Goals: Lilly 12, Lloyd 51.
USA -- Solo, Mitts, Whitehill, Rampone, Lopez, Osborne (Boxx, 46), Chalupny (Hucles, 85), Lloyd (Wagner, 83), Kai (Tarpley, 46), Wambach, Lilly.
Denmark -- H.Johansen, Olsen, Andersen, B.Hansen (M.Jensen, 81), Orntoft, Eggers Nielsen, Larsen (M.Pedersen, 61), Madsen, Bukh, Pape, Rasmussen (Dimun, 71).
Referee: Pannipar Kamnueng (Thailand).
Att.: 1,000

PLACEMENT GAMES:
11th place: Ireland 0, Portugal 0
*Ireland wins 5-4 on penalty kicks
9th place: Iceland 4 China 1
7th place: Italy 1 Germany 0
5th place: Norway 2 Finland 0
3rd place: Sweden 3 France 1
Final: USA 2 Denmark 0

[photograph by Paulo Cordeiro, International Sports Images]

"...faculty labor unrest nearing the boiling point..."

Front page article in the Chron today details, among many other things, the outrageous blame-the-victims speech of SFSU Pres Corrigan, as well as smart responses from SFSU and CFA faculty leadership. It's charming to read Corrigan's accusations of faculty "bullying" CSU Chancellor Reed by appearing at several of Reed's public appearances with creative and forceful statements of protest, including mock wanted posters and a mock warrant for his arrest when he appeared at a conference on criminal justice.

That Corrigan could write to "his faculty" to characterize the tactics used by the faculty union seems at the very least like a dubious if not unfair labor practice.

Still, there are few things more energizing--inspiring--than joining with one's colleagues to affirm one's place in the world--and at the bargaining table. Even those of us who have suffered through great collective battles that ended in defeat know the joys in the battle--in the good fight.

______
CSU to consider 10% higher fees, presidential perk
Jim Doyle, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 13, 2007

With faculty labor unrest nearing the boiling point, the California State University system's governing board is expected to push two financial hot buttons this week: increases in student fees and a six-figure going-away payment to a campus president.

The two issues go to the heart of faculty members' anger at CSU's top executives, whom they criticize as being quick to reward themselves with perks and higher pay but slow to recognize the concerns of the state university's professors and lecturers, who last saw a salary increase -- 3.5 percent -- in 2003.

As the union representing 23,000 faculty members threatens to go on strike, students have voiced their own angst over a proposed 10 percent tuition hike that the university's Board of Trustees plans to consider today in Long Beach, raising the possibility that the trustees' meeting could melt down like the one in November, when student and faculty protests forced an early adjournment....
_____
To read the entire article, copy and paste this address into your browser:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/13/MNGRHOK7S61.DTL

What's a Union Newsletter?

An interesting concern of the (thankfully) increasingly long-ago UF Presidential election was the nature of our Table Talk--what it should be, how it might be changed.

Some of us saw this article in the Foothill De Anza FA newsletter earlier this quarter; now it's available online and recommended.

http://fa.fhda.edu/fanews/FANewsJan07.pdf

PARAMILITARIES INCREASE PRESENCE IN ZAPATISTA TERRITORY

reported today by the Mexico Solidarity Network

Paramilitary groups affiliated with the Organization for Defense of
Indigenous and Campesino Rights (Opddic) are increasingly threatening
peace and stability in Zapatista territories, particularly in the Selva
regions around Ocosingo. On March 7, a group of 200 paramilitaries,
including Pedro Chulin and Carlos Moreno, leaders of Opddic, gathered in the
central square of Ocosingo. Carlos Vazquez, a journalist with
Promedios, and Luna Giron, a human rights defender, were beaten by the
paramilitaries as they tried to videotape the demonstration. The following
day, the Junta de Buen Gobierno in Morelia denounced the attack, the
latest in a series of increasingly violent actions by Opddic:

"The strategy of Opddic is to invade lands that we recovered since the 1994
Zapatista uprising. Mr. Pedro Chulin, leader of this organization, is
promoting this problem so that indigenous will confront indigenous. Chulin
has contacts with the state government and is supported by the army.
Opddic is a paramilitary group supported by the government. They are
the same.

"Recently they have been attacking the autonomous municipality Olga
Isabel, where they claim the Zapatista organization is not functioning,
it doesn't have any power, that it's like a fly they can step on.
We are trying to resolve these agrarian problems, but it's clear that
we're not going to give up our lands, because these lands were
recovered, and to recover them we shed our blood. We are not going to give
them up, even in the face of threats. If they try to take the lands, we
are prepared to defend them in any part of our municipalities.

"Before 1994, these lands were did not belong to them. They were the
lands of ranchers who abandoned them during the Zapatista uprising of
1994, and we, the Zapatistas, recovered them. Now they are assisted by
the Office of Agrarian Reform and they want the titles for the lands
formalized, so they will remain in their hands. They want to convert the
lands into ejidos. Without conducting any sort of investigation, the
Office of Agrarian Reform prepared the paperwork, payment and even the
necessary plans.

"We know and are certain of what we are saying. We can assure they
are armed. We know they have cut down corn fields and stolen corn. We
have a videotape of them stealing bags of corn and fleeing into the
mountains. They have armed guards in high places. They are itching for a
confrontation.

"Some of them live within the autonomous municipalities, and others
come from outside communities. Some are former Zapatistas who joined
them. We know that they are organizing. They meet every third day.
They are deciding how to carry out future actions. There have been
beatings, prisoners, detainees, threats of kidnapping against our local
authorities, and the government does nothing.

"We demand punishment for Pedro Chulin and that he stop bothering us.
And we ask that our brothers and sisters in Mexico and throughout the
world distribute this information."

The Mexico Solidarity Network calls on the federal and state
governments to:
- Immediately end support for Opddic.
- Prosecute Opddic leaders, including Pedro Chulin and Carlos Moreno,
for armed aggressions against Zapatista communities.
- Disband Opddic, which is threatening the peace and stability in
Zapatista regions of Chiapas.

Happy Hour Wednesday March 14 at the Pleasant Hill Left Bank.

As that's the afternoon following the Appeals Court hearing of DVC's Faculty Senate suit against the district re: division governance and collegial consultation, we expect a nice turnout and an energetic conversation.

Upside Down World

Good site for news from Central and South America

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/

The Times is on the comm coll beat!

Low fees don't ease cost of community college
By Matt Krupnick
CONTRA COSTA TIMES (3/7/07)
High living costs and financial aid shortfalls prevent many California students from attending the state's community colleges, where student fees are the lowest in the nation, according to a study released today.

Fees, which were lowered to $20 per unit this year, make up an average of less than 5 percent of the costs for community college students, according to the report from the San Jose-based National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Books, rent and health insurance all cost far more than fees, the study found.

Fees are waived for more than half of full-time students because they are in the lowest income brackets. Researchers urged policymakers to focus more on adding scholarships than lowering fees to best serve the more than 2.5 million students on 109 California campuses.

"The state has underinvested in student aid," said William Zumeta, one of the report's two authors. "The fee rollbacks don't do these students any good because they already get fee waivers."

With housing costs and book prices rising faster than inflation, financial aid continues to lag far behind the costs of attending college, researchers said. The maximum award of the Cal Grant B scholarship, used to pay costs other than school fees, is $1,551, or 15 percent higher than it was 20 years ago.

The report noted that California's community college students are far less likely to apply for and receive federal financial aid than students in other states. About 15 percent of California students receive Pell grants, the most common federal scholarship, compared with 25 percent of community college students in other states.

Researchers recommended that the state gradually raise community college fees at the pace of inflation and spend the extra money on academic improvements and improving transfer rates and financial aid counseling.

Education experts lauded the report and said lawmakers would do well to follow the recommendations.

"We've just been so fixated on fees," said Nancy Shulock, a Sacramento State professor who heads the school's Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy. "Our students are not well served by that."

Leaders need to do more to help students obtain financial aid, said Robert Shireman, executive director of the Berkeley-based Institute for College Access and Success.

"We have made it very easy to enroll in a community college, and that is a good thing," he said. "Compared to that, applying for financial aid is confusing, intimidating and difficult."

Several students at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill said Tuesday that they preferred finding jobs to navigating the student aid process.

Maria Pikusova, a first-year student from San Ramon, said she hasn't bothered with financial aid because she doesn't think she would get it as a dependent living at home. She chose a movie theater job instead.

Cory Ramos, a second-year student from Pittsburg who works at a Chinese restaurant, said he looked into financial aid as a way to defray the cost of $100 math books and rent but quickly gave up.

"It's so much of a process to do and there are so many steps," he said. "I didn't have the time. I just decided to get a job."

CC Times calls scandal a "blemish on DVC"

We appreciated, in this article, the assertion by one of the directors of a national college registrars' association that cash-for-grades scandals are rare. Thank goodness for that! It's been a matter of mostly good humored discussion among our students and staff for weeks.

We're wondering, though, how to reconcile that "rare" nature of such scandals with board member Grilli's contention that this could happen "at any school." When Grilli says "It just happened to us," we are led to believe it was inevitable. But Jamillah Moore's statement that the distict needs to revamp its system suggests some problem the district and college need to own up to.

Reconciliation is difficult! How to make sense, together, of these two statements from our correspondent Matt Krupnick?

1) Campus employees said Scott-Summers has told them repeatedly not to talk about the scandal, saying that she is the only one from the school who should speak publicly about the issue.

2) Diane Scott-Summers, Diablo Valley's interim president, did not return repeated phone calls this week.

Wellllllll...she is the only one who SHOULD speak but she WON'T speak? who DOES speak for our college?

Here's what Matt Krupnick wrote in Wednesday's 3/7/07 _Times_:

Cash-for-grades scandal leaves blemish on DVC
By Matt Krupnick
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
With the investigation into an alleged cash-for-grades scheme at Diablo Valley College nearly complete, there are signs the scandal has tarnished the Pleasant Hill school's reputation.

College registrars nationwide have discussed what could be far-ranging implications of the grade changes, first revealed by the Times in January. Several registrars have said they would expel students or rescind any degrees given to Diablo Valley alumni who transferred to their schools.

"We might dismiss them completely, because they were admitted under false pretenses," said Bruce Purcell, the registrar at Cal State East Bay. The action would depend on the severity of each case, he said.

Contra Costa Community College District police said Monday that they planned to turn the case over to prosecutors within two or three weeks. The investigation began in February 2006.

Since January, the scandal has been a subject of discussion among California college administrators. The hallways of a national registrars' convention in Boston were abuzz with chatter about Diablo Valley College this past weekend, an attendee said.

Such scandals "happen so rarely that when it does happen, it sort of jumps out at you," said Barmak Nassirian, an associate director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers in Washington, D.C. "We're aware of it with great regret and a collective sense of embarrassment."

College-district leaders this week seemed not to share that embarrassment. Several said they did not believe Diablo Valley had suffered any lasting damage to its reputation because they acted quickly and fixed problems that had enabled student employees to accept money for the grade changes.

School administrators said they have limited access to academic records since the plot was uncovered, and none of the suspected employees works in the records office now. Police have declined to say how many students or grades were involved, although district Chief Charles Gibson said it was "a substantial number."

"We told the truth and made the changes," said district Chancellor Helen Benjamin. "That's all we can do -- be honest."

Diane Scott-Summers, Diablo Valley's interim president, did not return repeated phone calls this week. Campus employees said Scott-Summers has told them repeatedly not to talk about the scandal, saying that she is the only one from the school who should speak publicly about the issue.

When administrators were first tipped off to the scandal a year ago, the district was reeling from chronically declining enrollment, morale problems stemming from districtwide pay cuts and major financial uncertainty. In addition, college leaders were preparing to ask the public to vote on a $286.5 million bond measure in the June election.

District leaders have denied that election considerations led them to keep the grade changes quiet, saying they did not want to compromise the investigation.

The experience has been unfortunate, but not the end of the world, said board member Sheila Grilli.

"Any school is subject to this type of thing," she said. "It just happened to us, which is too bad."

But, she said, "I don't see it as much of a major problem as asking your employees to take a salary cut."

Some students have lamented the possible effects of the scandal as they try to transfer to four-year schools, and some former students have tried to distance themselves from the scheme. Alex Krasov, who transferred from Diablo Valley to San Francisco State University last year, said the grade changes were embarrassing, but not shocking.

"Things of this nature go on at almost every institution," she said. "It would be naive for anybody to think this stuff doesn't go on."

Education lobbyist Jamillah Moore said educators and leaders from several California colleges contacted her after she included news of the Diablo Valley investigation in her company's newsletter last month. Faculty members statewide are worried the scandal could lead to more time-consuming procedures to prevent unauthorized grade changes, she said.

The Contra Costa district must protect students by revamping its own procedures, said Moore, a former statewide community-college administrator.

"If a district shows, 'This is what we've done to fix it,' that helps students who come afterward," she said. "It's incumbent upon them to say, 'This is what we've done.'"

Bay Area presence in new league?

Soccer beat: Women's league seeks kick-start
By Debbie Arrington -Sacramento Bee Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Tonya Antonucci knows Northern California's love of soccer. She played at Stanford with Julie Foudy, the future captain of the women's national team. Antonucci later served as an assistant coach at Stanford and Santa Clara, another powerhouse, and played for the California Storm in Sacramento.

Now, Antonucci is trying to bring back women's pro soccer through the Women's Soccer Initiative Inc.

"I'm open to suggestions," she said of possible places new teams could play. "I would very much like to see a team in the Bay Area. Sacramento is also a very viable place for a team. That's a very, very strong market."

The WSII, a nonprofit organization, will try to succeed where the Women's United Soccer Association failed by relaunching a women's pro league in 2008. The WUSA, which included the 2001 champion Bay Area CyberRays in San Jose, folded in 2003 after three seasons and $100 million in investment. The new league might use the WUSA brand name or develop a different moniker.

Antonucci, the WSII chief executive officer, said she thinks her group has developed a business model that will work by capitalizing on ties to Major League Soccer and new soccer-specific stadiums while maintaining its independence.

The WSII has commitments for teams from investors in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, St. Louis and Washington, with a sixth franchise seeking the "best possible market," preferably in the West.

According to Antonucci, the WSII has had "meaningful discussions" with A's co-owner Lew Wolff's soccer group, which also is trying to bring back an MLS club to Northern California. "We're very aggressively pursuing the Bay Area and Northern California," said Antonucci, who lives in San Francisco.

Ideally, the WSII would like eight teams for its first season. Other sites with strong interest are Cary, N.C.; Boston; metropolitan New York/New Jersey; Rochester, N.Y.; and Atlanta.

Antonucci hopes the new league will get a kick-start from two major international showcases: the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2008 Olympics. Both tournaments will be held in China. The new league would hold its first season between the two events, most likely with an April debut.

"This is just the first step," Antonucci said. "The groundswell of support for women's soccer has only grown since 2003. The time is right."

Fans can find out more through the group's new Web site, www.wsii.org.

How the pieces (might) fall into place

Earthquakes backers consider women's team, too

San Francisco Business Times - 2:20 PM PST Thursday, March 1, 2007
by Eric Young

A group trying to revive professional men's soccer in the Bay Area might try to score a women's team as well.

Earthquakes Soccer LLC, backed by Oakland A's managing partner Lew Wolff and Gap Inc. scion John Fisher, would consider operating a women's team. Earthquakes Soccer has had discussions with Women's Soccer Initiative Inc., a San Francisco nonprofit planning to revive the WUSA next year. The WUSA was the women's soccer league operating from 2001 to 2003 with players like Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy and Mia Hamm.

The Women's Soccer Initiative has lined up investors in five cities to operate teams and would like to base a team in the Bay Area as well.

"Do we have an interest? Yes," said David Alioto, who oversees business operations for Earthquakes Soccer. "Women's soccer is very interesting and could fit very well with what we're doing."

He said no deal is in place, however.

Earthquakes Soccer's first goal, he said, is to secure a stadium where a men's team can play as part of Major League Soccer. The 12-team MLS gave Earthquakes Soccer until 2009 to secure a soccer-only stadium and field a team.

Wolff agreed to the framework of a stadium deal with San Jose State University this week, according to the San Jose Mercury News. More details need to be worked out, but "everything that needed to be ironed out to move forward ... was agreed upon," an unnamed source told the newspaper.

The deal calls for construction of a multipurpose facility next to SJSU's Spartan Stadium. The approximately $80 million facility could be opened as soon as 2009.

San Jose had a MLS team between 1996 and 2005, when it moved to Houston after failing to secure a deal for a new stadium.

Soccer Mathematics

TAKE ARTICLE ONE...

Wed, Feb. 28, 2007

Deal near for SJSU stadium
A'S OWNER WOULD BRING SOCCER TEAM, BUILD NEW FACILITY
By Jon Wilner and Barry Witt
Mercury News

San Jose State University President Don Kassing and developer Lew Wolff met Tuesday and agreed to the framework of a deal to build a multipurpose facility next to Spartan Stadium.

Although several details remain to be worked out, ``everything that needed to be ironed out to move forward . . . was agreed upon today,'' a source familiar with the negotiations said.

``It's going as well as I could have hoped,'' said Wolff, who declined to provide specifics.

The approximately $80 million facility, which would house San Jose State's football team as well as the professional soccer team Wolff hopes to bring to San Jose, is tentatively scheduled to open in 2009.

Capacity would be about 23,000 for soccer and 30,000 for football.

San Jose State would provide the land at South 10th Street and East Alma Avenue. Wolff, who owns the Oakland A's and has deep ties to San Jose, would pay for construction....

If a stadium deal were made final, Wolff would exercise an option he negotiated in May to invest in Major League Soccer and operate an expansion franchise. San Jose State and the soccer team -- to be called the Earthquakes -- would operate the stadium as partners.

San Jose State would keep revenue from its events, the Earthquakes would keep revenue from their events and the two would split revenue from additional events such as concerts.

THEN, add this story:

February 27, 2007 (SAN FRANCISCO, CA) -- Ownership groups representing franchises in six major U.S. cities have signed letters of intent to become charter members of the Women’s Soccer Initiative, Inc.’s effort to launch a new professional women’s soccer league.

WSII CEO Tonya Antonucci announced the signings today and said the league anticipates a Spring 2008 launch, timed to capitalize on interest built during the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China in September....

The league is three-quarters of the way to reaching its goal of 8 charter teams and has plans for expansion in 2009....

The new league is built on a traditional franchise model and will play its games in stadiums designed specifically for soccer. This will give the teams opportunities to generate and retain more revenue and better showcase the sport, Antonucci explained.

In creating the league, WSII will also build partnerships with established soccer and sports marketing organizations. The league is currently in negotiations with Major League Soccer’s marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing, to represent its national sponsorship and marketing assets.

“The new business model significantly reduces overhead while taking advantage of efficiencies and synergies with existing MLS club owners and other professional sports teams,” Antonucci said.

AEG Sports President Shawn Hunter said, “Having initial franchises owned and operated by organizations with not only strong ties to professional soccer but with established internal marketing, sales, promotional and operational infrastructures is a critical and significant component to launching a league that can have immediate credibility and success.”...

“In addition to the cities we are announcing today, we are also in talks with investor groups about additional markets,” Antonucci said. “We are also building our list of expansion cities, and we encourage interested investors to contact us.”

WSII’s URL is http://wsii.typepad.com

AND I BELIEVE we are looking at an expansion team in San Jose in 2009.

OR maybe I'm just a fool, a fool for love.

The story some of us have been waiting for since '03--MAJOR celebrating ahead

New pro women's soccer league to launch in '08


Wednesday, February 28, 2007

By BETH HARRIS
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES -- A new women's professional soccer league, with help from Major League Soccer, will be launched in 2008 with teams in Los Angeles, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago and Washington.

It would replace the Women's United Soccer Association, which folded in 2003 after three years and attendance that averaged 4,500. Tonya Antonucci, chief executive officer of the Women's Soccer Initiative Inc., made the announcement Tuesday from her San Francisco office.


"We knew we would get one chance at this relaunch," she said. "We spent a lot of time studying and researching. We knew we had to cut costs to get those in line with actual revenues."

A sixth team, which already has financial backing, will be announced once it has chosen a city to play in, Antonucci said. She hopes to add two more teams in 2009.

Backers of all six teams have signed letters of intent to launch the league and have made financial commitments to do so. The projected cost of operating each franchise is $1.5 million to $2.5 million a year, Antonucci said.

The new league is negotiating with MLS' marketing division to handle its sponsorship and marketing.

Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy, retired national team stars and WUSA founding members, enthusiastically endorsed the new league Tuesday.

"The cities they talked about are great soccer communities who I think will really embrace these teams," Hamm said.

The new league will begin play in April 2008, hoping to capitalize on interest generated in the 2007 Women's World Cup, to be held in China in September.

Teams will play a 20-game schedule from April to August, including an All-Star game. Postseason play would extend the season into early fall.

The Los Angeles team will be owned by AEG, which operates the Los Angeles Galaxy men's MLS team, and will play at Home Depot Center in Carson.

AEG Sports president Shawn Hunter said having the new league's teams owned and operated by organizations with ties to MLS, along with established marketing, sales, promotional and operational departments "is a critical and significant component to launching a league that can have immediate credibility and success."

The other teams will play in soccer-specific stadiums. The Chicago franchise has worked out a deal with the MLS' Chicago Fire to play in its suburban Bridgeview stadium, Antonucci said.

The Chicago franchise is a partnership between former Fire president and general manager Peter Wilt, FC Indiana and the Illinois Women's Soccer League. The group is seeking a majority partner.

"The Chicago area is a strong soccer market," Wilt said.

The Dallas and Washington franchises are in discussions with their cities' respective MLS teams, FC Dallas and D.C. United, about sharing a stadium, she said.

Foudy, who along with Hamm was elected to the national soccer hall of fame Tuesday, played for the WUSA's San Diego Spirit from 2001-03 and has been involved in efforts to revive a women's pro league.

"We knew we didn't have nine lives. If we were going to do it again, we needed to do it right," she said. "(Tonya) really believes, and I feel the same, that we've got a great group together in these six owners and investors. There is a great fan base and product out there."