Health Executive to Lead N.A.A.C.P.

By IAN URBINA nytimes
Published: February 20, 2010
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on Saturday announced the selection of its first new board leader in more than a decade.
Roslyn M. Brock will succeed Julian Bond, right, as leader of the association's board. Center, Benjamin T. Jealous, president.
Roslyn M. Brock, 44, the board’s current vice chairwoman, will become chairwoman of the board, taking the reins from Julian Bond, who last year, on the eve of the organization’s centennial celebration, announced his decision to step down. The 64-member board is the policymaking arm of the organization.
In being named vice chairwoman of the N.A.A.C.P. board at 35, Ms. Brock was the first woman and the youngest person to hold the position.
She has more than 20 years of experience in health care administration and policy. In her current job as a vice president of Bon Secours Health Care, Ms. Brock serves as the chief spokeswoman on government relations, advocacy and public policy.
“This is the time for renewal,” said Mr. Bond, 70, who took over the chairmanship in 1998. “We have dynamic new leadership. Roslyn understands firsthand how important youth are to the success of the N.A.A.C.P. She was introduced to the N.A.A.C.P. 25 years ago when she served the N.A.A.C.P. as a youth board member and Youth and College Division State Conference president.”
The most recognized organization in the civil rights establishment, the association was founded in 1909. One of its main missions was to fight the lynchings of blacks.
The organization has played an important role in virtually every major civil rights issue of the last century, including the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education desegregation case, the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
It has struggled in recent years, however, with declining membership, financial and political problems and questions of how best to move forward. The group’s reputation was tarnished in the mid-1990s when it fired its president for using organization money to settle a sexual harassment claim against him. In 2007, it laid off more than a third of its staff because of a budget shortfall.
In 2008, the board selected Benjamin T. Jealous, an activist and former news executive, as its youngest president, breaking with a tradition of picking ministers and political leaders and rebuffing criticisms that it was out of touch with the concerns of younger African-Americans.
“We’re looking at a generational shift in our communities,” Ms. Brock said. “We have a 48-year-old president in the White House, an N.A.A.C.P. president who was 35 at the time of his election and a 44-year-old board chair. The wisdom of those who stood the test of time got us to this point, and the youth are who will ensure the future legacy of this organization.”

Tiger Woods to Break Silence and Apologize on Friday

After Months of Silence and Allegations of Affairs, Golfer to Speak this Week
By RUSSELL GOLDMANFeb. 17, 2010 ----ABC News
Tiger Woods intends to end three months of silence by apologizing on Friday, the first time he will be seen in public since a Thanksgiving car crash started a domino effect of sexual allegations against him.
Woods is expected to speak on Friday at 11 a.m. for a mere five minutes from the PGA's headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
"This is all about the next step," Mark Steinberg, his agent, told The Associated Press. "He's looking forward to it."
Steinberg said he would speak to a "small group of friends, colleagues and close associates" about his past and what he plans next, along with apologizing for his behavior.
Woods has not been seen in public since November, issuing just two terse statements through his Web site admitting to "transgressions" and is rumored to have spent time in a sex rehabilitation clinic in Mississippi.
In December Woods announced he would take an indefinite leave of absence from golf, bowing out of tournaments as sponsors scrambled to distance themselves from the once squeaky-clean athlete.
Rumors have swirled since early this month that Woods might play at the Tavistock Cup, an unofficial event played between pros from two rival country clubs at Woods' home course at Isleworth in Orlando on March 22 and 23.
Golf's premier event, the Master's Tournament, will be held April 5 – 11 in Augusta, Ga. If Woods plans to attend that event and wants some time on a pro course beforehand, there are just two PGA Tour events in March for which he can still register.
Woods has been virtually unseen this winter leading to speculation about where the golfer is hiding and when he might return to public life and professional sports.
"This kind of absurd, bizarre thing that Tiger Woods is reduced to a children's story -- Where's Waldo?" USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan told ABC News last month. "You're talking about one of the most recognizable people on the planet and no one can find him."

Paterson to Announce Campaign for Governor

By JACOB GERSHMAN
Amid churning doubts over his political future, New York Gov. David Paterson has told one of his closest advisers that he will officially announce his campaign for governor next week.
William Lynch, a Harlem lobbyist and political aide, said Mr. Paterson will give a "major statement on why he's running" and will travel around the state to make clear his intentions. "He's running," Mr. Lynch said.
Mr. Paterson, who was elected lieutenant governor and then succeeded Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned amid a sex scandal, has struggled with low poll numbers for months and battled with lawmakers over the deterioration of the state's finances. He is gearing up for an announcement as Democrats in Albany have circulated rumors about the Democratic governor's private life and questioned his viability as a candidate.
Some party activists are encouraging Mr. Paterson to step aside to avoid a primary against Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who is expected to run for governor. While Mr. Cuomo hasn't declared his candidacy, his aides have been quietly laying the groundwork for a campaign for months.
--From WSJ