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There is no single replacement for Oprah Winfrey.

That is not necessarily a statement about the dominance of her 23-year-old television institution, “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Rather, it is the reality of television syndication.

As Winfrey prepares to leave the broadcast airwaves in two years, a stable of talk shows are in competition to fill her time slot on more than 200 stations across the country. Individual stations are bound to place differing bets, drastically reshaping the daytime TV landscape.

As with NBC and Jay Leno earlier this year, the television chess board is being rearranged by a talk show host. Winfrey’s departure could even affect the ratings for the network evening newscasts. “All of a sudden, there are so many moving pieces,” Bill Carroll, who recommends syndicated shows to stations for the Katz Television Group, said on Friday.

Even before Winfrey announced on Friday that 2011 would be, as she put it, the “exact right time” to step off her broadcast stage, TV executives were jostling on behalf of Ellen DeGeneres, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Phil McGraw and other hosts who aim to benefit from the syndication shake-up.

Analysts say that DeGeneres and Dr Oz, in particular, stand to gain, because their deals with stations will come up for renewal at the same time that Winfrey intends to depart. Aspiring hosts could emerge as well. “I’m sure there are a number of people calling their agents today and saying, ‘I think I could be the next Oprah,’” Carroll said.

No matter what, it seems, Winfrey comes out a winner in syndication. Already, she has groomed another decade’s worth of new talk show hosts. She ordained McGraw in 2002, and his talk show, “Dr Phil,” now ranks second behind her own hour. She followed up with “Rachael Ray” in 2006 and “The Dr Oz Show” this fall. “Dr Oz” is already a hit. And now she is developing a program for Nate Berkus, her favourite interior designer, for fall 2010.

Already, executives at Winfrey’s distributor, CBS, and at its competitors are thinking about how to fill the Oprah void — and how to capture new market share when she exits.

Carroll said the industry would be carefully watching the scheduling decisions of the stations owned and operated by ABC that carry Winfrey in most of the country’s biggest TV markets, usually in the 4 pm hour. Winfrey, whose program has averaged 6.8 million viewers this season, guides many of those viewers to the station’s local newscasts.

Closely watching, as well, will be evening news anchors like Katie Couric. “World News” on ABC, to be anchored by Diane Sawyer beginning in January, has historically been given a lift by “Oprah,” analysts say, to the detriment of the third-place “CBS Evening News” with Couric.

“Look at what happens in sports when a dynasty gets broken up. It opens up the playing field for everyone else,” said a senior executive at a distributor who, like other television executives interviewed for this article, requested anonymity because programming negotiations normally take place in private.

The playing field is shrinking, however. Fewer viewers are watching daytime talk shows than a decade ago, mirroring the broader audience shift from broadcast television to cable and making it more difficult for stations to afford the expensive license fees that CBS charges for Winfrey’s show.

Analysts say the prospect of lower license fees in the future contributed to Winfrey’s decision to move to cable. (Her production company, Harpo, is a co-owner in OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, which is expected to make its debut in January 2011. After “The Oprah Winfrey Show” ends in September of that year, she will “participate in new programming” for OWN, Harpo said in a statement on Friday.)

In the syndication structure, stations try to recoup the licensing fee by selling advertising time, about 11 minutes worth during “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” But for many stations, “Oprah” is so expensive that it is a loss leader.

Winfrey’s daytime talk show will be missed, Emily Barr, the president and general manager at WLS-TV in Chicago, told The Associated Press, “but we will also move on and see what else is out there.”

ABC’s station group could fill the “Oprah” void with local newscasts or develop its own talk show. “Those are the only ways to control costs going forward,” Carroll said.

ABC executives have also talked in the past about moving “The View,” which the network owns, to the late afternoon.

What about Winfrey’s other stations? Syndication executives expect “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which is distributed by Warner Brothers and is licensed to NBC-owned stations until 2011, to increase its audience share. Currently, “Ellen is more for entertainment and Oprah is more for information,” said Joel Berman, a former president of worldwide TV distribution for CBS Paramount. Citing Winfrey’s star booking power, he said “Ellen will be a natural venue for these big celebrity guests to go.”

The two women have become closer over the years, promoting speculation that Winfrey was somehow anointing DeGeneres as a successor. The two women share the cover of O, The Oprah Magazine this month.

Winfrey “will always be the queen of daytime television,” DeGeneres told her audience after taping her talk show on Thursday — “and she also said she is leaving me all of her money,” she jokingly added.

“The Dr Oz Show,” which had its premiere in September, largely on Fox stations, could also benefit. Out of the gate, it has averaged 3.5 million viewers in daytime, only 250,000 fewer than “Dr Phil.” Two weeks ago, CBS extended its station deals for “Dr Phil” through 2014 in 20 of the country’s top 25 markets.

The contracts for “Dr Oz” and “Dr Phil” forbid them from being shown at the same hour as Winfrey — but those restrictions end when her talk show ends.

The shake-up may also make more room for lower-rated talk shows by Martha Stewart, Tyra Banks and Bonnie Hunt, among others.

Looking farther afield, Couric, whose CBS News contract is up in 2011, has long been mentioned as a possible syndicated star.

For his wife and for millions of women around the country, Winfrey has become, over the years, much more than a regular television date. Talk to her fans, and you hear a familiar refrain: Oprah's like a favorite aunt, a sister, or a friend. Forget the sprawling media empire and the billions that separate her daily existence from that of ordinary folks. To these fans, she still feels like a BFF.

That connection, especially remarkable for how long it's lasted, is one reason why you can sense tangible disappointment but hardly anger among die-hard fans that she's ending her talk show — well, in a year and a half — and moving to unspecified ventures in cable.

Because, many of these women say, you support your friends, even when they're moving away and you're mad at them for leaving. You have to be happy for them.

"You know, we're selfish to miss her," says Tracy Arenibar, a 37-year-old fan in Homer Glen, Ill. "I'm proud of her because she's making a decision that she's earned. She deserves it."

Just how has Winfrey managed to maintain such a connection with viewers over nearly a quarter-century? Certainly, ratings have declined over the last decade — one reason, some speculate, that she decided to end her show and take a gamble with her new network, OWN (The Oprah Winfrey Network).

But still, Winfrey's bringing in an average of 7.2 million viewers this season, a number that dwarfs the audience of, for example, the highly likable Ellen DeGeneres, whom some see as a likely successor at the top of the talk-show ladder.

To Joy Behar, the comedian and fellow talk show host, Winfrey's gift is an ability to make everyone feel like she cares — not just about humanity, but about them.

"You're home, you're depressed, and you have the feeling that she really gives a damn," says Behar, who co-hosts "The View" and recently launched her own show on HLN. "She gives the impression that she knows you personally."

By contrast, the iconic Johnny Carson, who hosted "The Tonight Show" for 30 years, was cool as a cucumber — witty, amusing, comforting. "But you wouldn't necessarily want him to come for Thanksgiving dinner," Behar noted in a telephone interview.

With Winfrey, perfect as her life may seem with her wealth, her philanthropy and her ability to make anything from a pair of pajamas to a new novel a household name, it's actually her imperfections that appeal to many of her fans.

In interviews, almost all of them pointed to her struggles with her famously fluctuating weight — a problem she shares with so many women. Winfrey has called a 1988 show in which she wheeled a wagon loaded with 67 pounds of fat onstage to represent her weight loss — weight she soon regained — a big, fat mistake.

"But it makes her so relatable," said Martus, the Massachusetts fan. "She rides the same roller coasters everybody else does. I like that."

Melissa Betschart loves that she and Oprah share a favorite weakness: Cupcakes. "She and I both have a sugar addiction," says the 23-year-old from Sacramento, Calif. "I'm always on and off Weight Watchers. She gains and loses too. It just shows that she's only human — and so raw."

Betschart was born just as Winfrey's talk show was debuting. She grew up watching with her mother and grandmother.

And even though this young white woman has little overtly in common with an African-American woman of 55 who overcame a childhood of poverty to become one of the richest and most powerful people in the world, she still considers her "part of my family, like an aunt, who I take advice from all the time."

What's telling about the devotion of fans like Betschart is that many of them care less about the content of Winfrey's show — which is a little of everything — than simply who Oprah is. Betschart herself prefers the shows that are inspirational in nature, as in the recent karaoke challenge, where Winfrey awarded winner Abraham McDonald $250,000 and a chance at stardom. She's less interested in seeing Tom Cruise declare his love for Katie Holmes.

But mostly, "I watch her for who she is," Betschart says. "I like what she's about. I like what she represents. When I have a down day, she makes me feel better."

To Cathy Peters, what Winfrey represents is proof that a woman can start with nothing and achieve unimaginable success.

"It's very important for people to see that," says Peters, 51, a legal secretary in suburban Chicago. She thinks Winfrey is able to maintain her appeal to the average woman because "she's kinda been there and done that. She's been in most of our situations at some point in her life. So she can keep it real, and not let the billions get to her head."

Peters and other fans say they'll surely watch whatever type of new show Winfrey might appear in — if she decides to appear at all — on her new network, a joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc. that launches in 2011. Just tell them where to tune in, they say.

Heidi Klum has officially taken her husband Seal’s last name.

On Friday, a Los Angeles commissioner approved Klum’s legal name change to Heidi Samuel.

In her filing, the Project Runway host gave a one-word reason for the change: Marriage, according to People magazine.

Heidi and Seal, full name Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel, married May 10, 2005, on a beach in Mexico. Klum, 36, gave birth to their fourth child last month.





Catwalk model Heidi Klum might have given birth to her fourth child just five weeks ago, but over the weekend she proved to be the biggest crowd-pleaser as she strutted down the Victoria Secret runway in a purple corset covered with a half gown and tulle train at the lingerie fashion show in New York .

The 36-year-old German model was supposed to be hosting the show, but made a surprise runway appearance to the delight of the audience. Klum, who gave birth to daughter Lou Samuel with her singer husband Seal last month, kept her stomach covered after revealing she is still trying to get her figure back.

Musical guest The Black Eyed Peas — especially Fergie, its only female member, who wore a black, jeweled bodysuit — was another crowd-pleaser. Fergie came out later in a green corset gown.

“I could watch this online, but it’s a fun scene.This show is always fun and a great production,” said hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons from his front row seat.

“It’s always a spectacular, Victoria’s Secret does that extra thing I like,” said costume designer Patricia Field.

This comes after on Friday, Klum was finally granted permission by the Los Angeles court commissioner, to take her husband Seal’s last name Samuel, which she wanted to take on citing reasons as “marriege”.

On our recent visit to the set of 24, Katee Sackhoff recounted a very funny, albeit slightly inappropriate tale involving Edward James Olmos directing the direct-to-DVD BATTLESTAR GALACTICA video, ...

The following takes place between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.

The newly re-formed Counter Terrorist Unit: New York branch is hidden in a Chatsworth, Calif., soundstage. As we prepared to infiltrate the set (see images below), techie extraordinaire Chloe literally provided decoy cover. Actress Mary Lynn Rasjkub got a makeup touchup outside, so we slipped into the studio while crew were focused on the pretty actress.

The hand scanner in the lobby accepted our prints for entry. Our plan to hack into the system to authorize our DNA for access worked, or maybe the hand scanner was just a prop. Either way, we were in. Through the bullpen of monitors capturing video feeds from high-population areas around town, past the medical bay where a monitor showed a flat line (someone dies this season!), we cornered new cast member Katee Sackhoff in the underground car park.

Sackhoff joins the cast of Fox's sci-fi-ish spy series 24 this year and spoke with a group of reporters on the set. Her CTU training proved strong against interrogation tactics, but as 24 proves, repeated badgering and torture works. Here are seven pieces of intel she gave up. 24 returns this January on Fox.

Katee plays Chloe's boss. Chloe has never let authority stop her from getting the job done, but she's never dealt with anyone like Dana before. "Dana is permanently happy," Sackhoff said. "I think that also pisses Chloe off, because Dana's like, 'Oh, no, it's totally fine that you don't get it. Let me help you. It's great. I'll do that. It's fine. You don't need to figure it out, because I'm good enough to do both our jobs.' So that really pisses Chloe off."

Dana kicks ass. But intellectually. Starbuck fans might be disappointed they don't get to see Sackhoff beat up terrorists. The show's writers have a different idea for utilizing Sackhoff's talents. "I wanted to just blow s--t up, and they were like, 'I don't know if we can do that,'" she said. "I came in and sat down with the producers and writers, and we had a discussion as far as what they wanted from me and what I wanted to do, and hopefully we'll all [meet] in the middle, so we'll see."

You'll see Sackhoff in a whole new light. Dana may be locked inside the CTU offices all day, but the premise is that she's had an earthbound life. That allows Sackhoff to finally get some sun. "The first thing I thought was, I'm going to constantly have a tan, which is fantastic for me, because I spent the last five years on a show that you were in space, so you weren't supposed to have a tan," she said. "So this is, like, the orange [stage light] bounces off your skin, and everyone just has a nice little glow. You've either just been to Mexico, or you're pregnant, so it's perfect. It's really nice, and just new. Orange looks good on me, so it's exciting. I went from a show where color was bad to you're now in an orange set, which is awesome."

Something happens at CTU. Gee, thanks for the big tip. Sackhoff's allowed to reveal that something's going on at CTU. "I was like, 'Seriously? I don't know if anyone thinks that's actually a big secret,'" Sackhoff joked about her gag order. "Could you imagine? So this is a 24 episode, and the whole season is just about nothing. No controversy, nobody dies, nobody gets beat up, Jack Bauer doesn't do anything. He might not even show up, and for 24 hours that would just be what it is. Could you imagine?" That might actually be funny for like the first six hours. "It would, and then people would go, like, 'Are you serious?' Just office lives. I'm handing my files to Chloe. They show us at lunch."

Continuity is easy. A lot may happen in a day on 24, and by episode 20 it can be hard to remember what you were playing in episode 2. At least her wardrobe doesn't have to change. "It almost makes it easier, because it all takes place in the same day," she said. "It's one of those things where the continuity as far as your wardrobe doesn't change, so it's like, 'Something's [off]... my watch isn't here." Because you're so used to wearing it that it becomes kind of like the gunbelt from Battlestar. It would seem very odd to not have it on. You have to remind yourself what room you were in last, not what happened last episode, because it all is taking you to the exact same place at the end of the day, kind of. So I found that easier."

She's still got a potty mouth. The word "frak" might not exist in the world of 24, and the Fox network has stricter language guidelines for broadcast than did Syfy, but behind the scenes, Sackhoff still talks dirty. She endeared herself to the 24 crew right away by sharing a dirty story about Battlestar. While Edward James Olmos was shooting The Plan, he reveled in the chance to include nudity on the DVD release. "There's a scene in the Head where everyone's just naked, and Eddie on the day is going, 'Zoom in on the c--k. Zoom in on the c--k,'" Sackhoff recalled. "The camera guy's like, 'I can't zoom in the c--k. He keeps covering up the c--k.' They're like, 'Zoom in the c--k. Get him to do something else with his hands. Make him shave.' So then he's shaving, and he's like, 'Now, zoom in on the c--k.' That's on the daily. That is so Eddie. It's one of the funniest things I've ever heard. 'Zoom in on the c--k' in Eddie's voice. I think I told that story my first day here, and the crew was like, 'We like you.'"

BTW, what really happened to Starbuck? Here's Sackhoff's theory about her ambiguous conclusion on Battlestar Galactica. "So when she at the end was saying goodbye to [Anders], I think that she was saying goodbye to their bodily forms," she said. "I think she knew, especially if he says, 'I'll see you on the other side,' I think she's with him. I think they're both dead, but I think she's with him. That was a decision that we made, because I selfishly wanted her at peace, and the only way to do that was to have her with someone at the end, or to be with the person she wanted to be with. I don't know. That's kind of where I think she is. She's with Michael Trucco playing pyramid in the sky somewhere."

A University of Virginia graduate who runs a program that trains athletes to be HIV/AIDS educators for youths in the District has been named a Rhodes scholar for 2010.

According to an announcement Sunday, Tyler S. Spencer, who grew up in Virginia and lives in the District, is one of three people from the District and Virginia to win one of the awards, among the most prestigious in the academic world.

The other two are Jordan D. Anderson of Roanoke, a senior at Auburn University in Alabama, and Kira C. Allmann of Williamsburg, a senior at the College of William and Mary.

Spencer, who grew up in Staunton and graduated from U-Va. last year, said he hopes to return to the District after Oxford and improve and expand the Grassroot Project, also known as Athletes United, which he founded and heads.

"There's a lot of work that needs to be done" on HIV/AIDS, said Spencer, 23. College athletes, he said, closer in age to the city's youths, have a special ability to reach them and can exert "tremendous power" in stopping the spread of the disease.

He said his organization works with the D.C. public schools and the Boys and Girls Clubs. He has also spent summers managing a grassroots AIDS prevention program in South Africa.

As with the 31 other American winners of the award, created in 1902, Spencer has a background of uncommon achievement. Among other things, he was a Morris Udall scholar and coach of the National Deaf Tennis Team.
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Anderson, 21, a biomedical sciences major, has participated in a research project at Auburn on the photochemistry of the eye.

He is captain of the swim team and an all-American whose events include the butterfly and the backstroke. His team has twice won the national championship. He has also been active with the Young Life Christian outreach program.

At Oxford, he said, he expects to study global health sciences, and he views the scholarship as "an opportunity to broaden my horizons on how I can best serve other people."

Allmann, 22, has studied Arabic at a university in Morocco and architecture and art history at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

She has been a substitute teacher in Williamsburg schools, taking assignments in "pretty much any" academic subject but enjoying most those in government, history and modern languages. Nonacademic interests include tennis, yoga and volleyball.

Allmann said she plans to work for an Oxford degree in modern Middle Eastern studies and might someday pursue a doctorate.

But after Oxford, she said, she "would like to join the Foreign Service" or serve the U.S. government in some other capacity.

Florida State University’s almost magical streak with Rhodes Scholar finalists was interrupted Saturday when graduate student Erin Simmons learned she was not selected for the illustrious scholarship. Simmons and 11 other finalists in the three-state Southeast Region (Florida, Alabama and Tennessee) were interviewed Saturday by a six-person committee in Birmingham, Ala.

The two students selected for the scholarship — and a two-year study at Oxford University in England — were from Auburn University and West Point. Thirty-two students nationwide are named Rhodes Scholars each year. Simmons was attempting to become FSU’s fourth Rhodes Scholar in the past five years, following in the impressive footsteps of Garrett Johnson (2006), Joe O’Shea (2008) and Myron Rolle (2009).

“I feel bad that I can’t have brought that home, but I feel like I did my best,” Simmons said. “I thought I did well, but apparently not good enough.” A native of Argyle, Texas, Simmons earned a bachelor of science degree in just over two years and has been working toward a master’s in the biology department’s marine certificate program. She’s also been on FSU’s track team the past three years.

Simmons is still in the running for a Fulbright Scholarship. Fulbright winners aren’t announced until late winter. “The entire Florida State community joins me in congratulating Erin Simmons for reaching the finals of the Rhodes competition, and for her outstanding record of academic achievement, service to children, inspiration to young scientists, and commitment to help sustain our planet’s fragile natural resources,” FSU President T.K. Wetherell said. “We’re honored that this promising student, sure to make her mark on the world, chose FSU as her undergraduate and graduate home.”

Craig Filar, director of FSU’s Office of National Fellowships, traveled to Alabama with Simmons and waited with her following the interview. The Rhodes panel deliberated for about three hours before announcing its two choices, he said.

“Erin’s disappointed, I’m sure, but she feels she could not have done any better herself,” Filar said. “I personally could not be prouder of her making it this far. I think it’s an outstanding accomplishment. “She has a really bright future. We’re very excited to see what she’s going to be able to accomplish.”

Henry Barmeier ’10, a Wilson School major earning certificates in environmental studies and Spanish, is the University’s sole Rhodes Scholarship recipient for 2010. The Rhodes Trust announced this year’s winners late Saturday evening.

Of the nation’s 32 recipients, 10 hail from Ivy League schools: five from Harvard, two from Yale and one each from Brown, Columbia and Princeton. MIT had three winners, while Stanford had one. Including this year’s results, Harvard has the highest total of Rhodes recipients with 328, followed by 219 from Yale and Princeton University had 193.Barmeier, of Saratoga, Calif., plans to receive a master’s degree in nature, society and environmental policy at Oxford.

Having started the application process last May, Barmeier stepped into his final interview on Saturday with a panel of “eight or so” committee members “just really hoping that I would have something sharp to say in response to all of their questions,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it,” Barmeier said Sunday about winning the scholarship. “It’s incredible to have this opportunity to study at Oxford. I feel fortunate to have been chosen from a pool of such amazing candidates.”

Barmeier, a Phi Beta Kappa member, a Udall Scholar, a head fellow at the Princeton Writing Center and an Outdoor Action leader, is an advocate of sustainable food initiatives around the country and the world. He worked at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome last summer, assessing the role of fisheries in developing countries’ food security strategies. He said that, though he still has to be accepted into the specific program in which he wishes to study, he hopes to “gain the intellectual tools necessary to begin to fix our food system” during his time at Oxford.

“I think the biggest problem with the U.S. food policy is that we don’t think about it,” Barmeier said. “We don’t have a single food policy strategy. We don’t think about how the food system from the farm to the table is all related and how it affects our health, environment and economy, and that could lead to detrimental decisions.”

Burton Singer, a Wilson School professor and a co-director of the Program in Global Health and Health Policy, said Barmeier was a “penetrating and insightful scholar on every level.” Barmeier was in Singer’s class last year, WWS 316: Health and the Environment. “The way I ran this course, everybody had to do a term project,” Singer said. “I asked him, ‘Why don’t you write a piece of legislation if there’s a place where you feel you can really have an impact?’ He actually wrote up a farm-to-school program involving the sale of produce from New Jersey farms to local schools, and frankly, it was a totally professional job. It was the sort of thing I would have expected from somebody who was doing this work for 25 years.”

Barmeier said he is writing his senior thesis on “municipal-level food policy in New Jersey.”

“[New Jersey] a very unique place for food policy right now because of a new program of incentives that should encourage municipalities to change their food policies,” he added. “It made sense to do my work here where I knew the players and knew the particular opportunities and challenges.”

Harold Feiveson GS ’72, a Wilson School lecturer and a senior research policy analyst who taught Barmeier in a task force on wind energy policies last spring, said he was particularly impressed with Barmeier’s “passion for trying to make the world better through food and agriculture initiatives.” “What came across clearly throughout our interactions was his tremendous commitment to changing agriculture and food policies across the U.S. and the world,” Feiveson added. “He combines this unusual confluence of interest in farm policy, or agricultural policy more generally, and food issues with a very strong analytic capacity.”

Barmeier has also made a significant positive impact on the Writing Center since he became a fellow in his sophomore year, said Amanda Irwin Wilkins GS ’05, the Princeton Writing Program’s interim director.

“He was so highly recommended from his writing seminar teacher that I thought she must have been exaggerating, but I came really quickly to agree with her,” Irwin Wilkins said. Barmeier was selected as a head fellow for his junior and senior years.

She added that Barmeier is also “someone who is able to look around him and see where things need to be improved.” He approached her this year about providing more opportunities for Princeton students to improve their oral presentation skills through the Writing Center, and she encouraged him to spearhead an initiative.

“He has already indeed made it happen by convening a group to figure out what these appointments would be like and starting to offer them to some task forces within the Wilson School,” she said. “He has this ability to create a community that is about service. He knows that one of the greatest ways to pull people together and to make them work together is to make them feel like they’re doing something in the benefit of others.”

Barmeier has led a total of three Outdoor Action trips, including one of two new trips last fall focusing on sustainable farming. “What he is interested in studying at Oxford is really something that he’s been committed [to] for many years,” said Outdoor Action Director Rick Curtis ’79, who has known Barmeier for three years. “Through his work with Dining Services and Greening Dining at Princeton, he’s had a real commitment to looking at the question of global food production and sustainability. The sustainable farming trip was a continuation of that. I can’t think of too many other students who have had such follow-through, who have worked so hard on and been committed to a particular topic, throughout his or her time at Princeton.”

In each of the last two years, three Princetonians won Rhodes Scholarships. Stephen Hammer ’09, Scott Moore ’08 and Timothy Nunan ’08 were last year’s winners. Sherif Girgis ’08, Brett Masters ’08 and Landis Stankievech ’08 were the recipients from the year before. More than 1,500 students each year seek their institution’s endorsement for the Rhodes Scholarship. This year, scholars were selected from 805 applicants endorsed by 326 different colleges and universities. Including the 32 winners announced Saturday, a total of 3,196 Americans, representing 310 colleges and universities, have won scholarships since the Rhodes Trust was established in 1902.

Daniel D. Shih of Aurora has won a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University in England, widely considered to be among the most prestigious honors in academia.

Shih majors in political science at Stanford University in California. He worked on the Obama campaign last year as field director in Albuquerque and a field organizer in five states. He also founded a campaign to improve working conditions in factories that manufacture Stanford clothing.

He plans to study international relations at Oxford with the goal of organizing people at the grass-roots level.

"I was a little overwhelmed," he said of hearing he had won. "I had trouble believing it."

A total of 32 Americans were selected from among 805 applicants from 326 colleges and universities.

Rhodes Scholars' expenses are fully covered for up to three years of study at Oxford, valued at approximately $50,000 per year. Qualifications, in addition to academic achievement, include personal integrity, physical vigor and leadership potential.

The Easy Virtue actress enjoyed a slap-up lunch with friends at M’s Cafe in Hollywood after dropping her car off with the valet — and leaving him a HUGE tip.

Also? Biel has the words “Big f*****’ wallet” embroidered on her purse, according to a report in Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper.

Jessica, 27, recently revealed that she hates having to spend hours fretting over her appearance.

“When you think ‘I don’t want to do my hair and make-up, I want to just go to work’ it is such a chore. So working on a movie like that was bliss because no one cared what you looked like,” she said.

“For a girl, you have to go through so much hair and make-up and so many costume fittings. I usually sit in the make-up chair for two hours in the morning, and it was so nice not to do that.”

She has also admitted she was a troublesome teen.

“When I was 16, I was pushing it on every angle with my parents, with the world,” Jessica revealed. “I thought I had it going on. I thought I knew everything. I had a little bit more of a bad attitude as a 16-year-old.”

Lou Dobbs has admitted that he is considering running for election.

The newsreader announced that he is leaving his CNN show last week. However, he is now reportedly thinking about running for either the New Jersey Senate or as a presidential candidate in 2012. "I am ruling nothing out," he said. "I have come to no conclusions and no decisions. Do I seek to have some influence on public policy? Absolutely. Do I seek to represent and champion the middle class in this country and those who aspire to it? Absolutely. And I will."

Dobbs also explained that he left his show because it was becoming too "middle-of-the-road".

He said: "[CNN] wanted to reverse direction on my show from what had been a news debate and my opinion to a middle-of-the-road, as Jon Klein styled it, non-opinion show. "It was just not gratifying to me to sit there and read a news show - and I much prefer to be more engaged." It was recently announced that John King will take over Dobbs's timeslot when he leaves.

Lou Dobbs covered politics for CNN for years but now Dobbs may be heading to the other end of the political spectrum, as a possible Senate or presidential candidate.

"I am ruling nothing out. ... I have come to no conclusions and no decisions," Dobbs told reuters about rumors that he may run for the New Jersey Senate or for the White House in 2012 as a third-party candidate. "Do I seek to have some influence on public policy? Absolutely. Do I seek to represent and champion the middle class in this country and those who aspire to it? Absolutely. And I will."

Dobbs left his longtime post on the cable news network last Wednesday after months of controversy stemming partially from his views on immigration, among other hot-button issues. Dobbs acknowledged his on-air views played a part in his exit.

"[CNN] wanted to reverse direction on my show from what had been a news debate and my opinion to a middle-of-the road, as [CNN President] Jon Klein styled it, non-opinion show," Dobbs told Reuters.. "It was just not gratifying to me to sit there and read a news show -- and I much prefer to be more engaged."

November 22 marks the 46th anniversary of one of the most tragic events in our nation's history: The assassination of President John F. Kennedy during a motorcade through downtown Dalla...

It will be the 46th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. As a child i was interested in John F Kennedy's life from the story of

Brad Skinner, a Connecticut Yankee here on business, thought he would spend his Sunday at the most famous tourist attraction in Dallas – the Sixth Floor Museum. Hundreds of tourists, residents, conspiracy theorists, history buffs and others were on hand to mark the 46th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination.

The multicultural crowd and the way people interacted with one another is what moved Skinner the most. It seemed a far cry from the 1960s, when Dallas was known more for its intolerance than unity. "I like to remember history, and it was good to remember the day," Skinner said from a pavilion in front of Elm Street. "It's a great tribute to his memory. It's also a reflection of how the city has changed since then."

There were no official events for the anniversary and officials said attendance at the museum was normal. A group called JFK Lancer held a vigil in the Plaza, just a few feet from the famed grassy knoll. At 12:30 p.m. organizers asked for a moment of silence. A few people wept.

One woman, perhaps overcome with grief or poor judgment, placed an infant in the middle of Elm Street on an "X" taped to the road at the spot where Kennedy was shot for the second time. Dawn and Stephen Kenny traveled to Texas from England. After a stop in San Antonio, they journeyed to Dallas.

"I am very moved that I'm here on this special day," Stephen Kenny said. "I'm going to take this experience with me for the rest of my life." Dawn Kenny said she was struck that the area is nearly unchanged from what it was the day Kennedy died. "Let's hope it never changes," she said. The Plaza was filled with people who say they believe there's more involved than the official account of the assassination.

Several men claiming to have witnessed it held impromptu lectures about what occurred, stopping at times to sign the mementos being hawked by bootleg vendors. One man held up a picture of a mob henchman who he said was Kennedy's actual killer. Nother man claimed to have talked to Texas Gov. John Connally shortly after he was shot along with Kennedy. Others, like Princess Holt, a nurse at Parkland Memorial Hospital, were there to watch or learn something. "We've been following this for years, and there's always some new evidence and information and nothing is done about it," she said as she walked the plaza with her dog, Otis. Cliff Lightfoot, a history teacher from Longview, brought his daughters with him to recognize the anniversary.

He noted the trees outside the book depository, now the Sixth Floor Museum, had grown taller. Otherwise, things were as he remembered during his trip to the site nearly 20 years ago. "It's like going back in time," he said. "This is history. It's where it all took place." Many people were in Dallas for other reasons and were surprised by the anniversary.

"I had no idea it would be like this," said Talita Caldas, a Brazilian woman in town to visit her friend, Micki Nguyen. "It's all so fascinating." Doug Hulbert, an administrator at Waltrip High School in Houston, brought some of the school's students to the museum and plaza. "It's important to educate kids about our history," he said. "Today is a great day to do it." Tina Blevins traveled to Dallas from just outside of Atlanta to show her 17-year-old daughter, Kelly, where Kennedy was mortally wounded."It's very sad," Blevins said. "It's a part of our history. It's important to never forget it."

Talk about “No Boundaries”: Adam Lambert made his first big post-Idol splash tonight, closing the American Music Awards with a performance of his debut single “For Your Entertainment” that — to my surprise and disappointment — emphasized shock-and-awe imagery over his standard-operating vocal excellence. To be fair, the entire telecast was racked with sound-mix issues that left even seasoned pros (except for maybe Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, and Jay-Z) sounding distant and tinny, but as someone who saw Adam’s Idols Live tour set twice this summer, the one thing I didn’t expect from the season 8 runner-up was intermittent pitch problems. Alas, we got those, and a lot more than I’d hoped/bargained for: Adam dragging a female backup dancer across the stage by her leg, as if she were a lace-covered sack of potatoes; Adam grasping the head of a submissive-styled male backup dancer and pulling him into an uncomfortable round of simulated oral sex (while ABC muted the audio to protect us from who only knows what); a tutu-clad woman cupping Adam’s nether-regions; Adam grasping and snapping the leather “bikini area” (for lack of a better term) of a female dancer’s costume; and Adam taking a break from his singing duties for an impromptu game of tongue twister with a keyboardist of indeterminate gender.

Look, as EW’s resident Idoloonie, I was rooting for Adam’s coming out party to the non-Idol set to be a smashing success, something that would propel his saucy, exciting debut disc to the top of the charts in what’s going to be one of the most competitive weeks in record stores all year. And in Adam’s defense, he took what appeared to be a rather nasty and unplanned tumble midway through his set that could’ve potentially thrown him off his game. Also, lest we forget (and it certainly is easy to do so), he is not a seasoned headliner, so nerves certainly could’ve played a factor, too. But the bottom line is that Adam’s AMA performance felt less like a genuine expression of his high-octane sexuality (so playfully erotic when he fondled the mic stand during “Whole Lotta Love” this summer), and more like a carefully planned stab at dominating the post-AMA blogosphere/water-cooler discussion. I’m certainly no prude…the idea of saucy boy-on-boy/boy-on-girl/boy-on-not-quite-sure action does not rattle my cage — certainly not at 10:55 p.m. on a school night. And yet, what’s sad is that unlike, say, a J.Lo or even a Rihanna, Adam could’ve had tongues wagging just from his vocals alone. Instead, that golden voice took a backseat tonight at the AMAs, and I’m not sure exactly who was occupying the driver’s seat.

Ryan Seacrest was there to introduce Adam Lambert on Sunday night, but his American Music Awards performance of "For Your Entertainment" was a long way removed from the family-friendly confines of "American Idol." There was groping, dragging and bondage outfits, bringing the ABC program to an end with theatrical images of sexual slavery. "It's about to get rough," Lambert sings in the song's opening moments, and for many of Pop & Hiss' readers, it went too far. Within minutes of the American Music Awards coming to an end, irate viewers had begun writing in. Reader Kathie Kunish declared that the telecast should have been rated "PG-14," and user "penny" noted that she had to cover the eyes of her 10-year-old daughter.

Reader Richard Bowen agreed, posting on Pop & Hiss, "I know he wants to break out and show the world his dangerous side, but why alienate an entire population of kids to do it?" Lambert wasn't the only former "American Idol" contestant to get risqué. Earlier in the night, Carrie Underwood strutted in a pants-less outfit, but the country star was still a long way removed from Lambert's sexually suggestive performance. With a crotch rub and a make-out session with a band member, Lambert sent tongues wagging and the Twittisphere erupting in controversy, bolting to the top of the site's trending topics.

"The energy felt good. Adrenaline is a crazy thing to feel," Lambert said to Pop & Hiss after the show. "That's what I love about performing. I'm hoping people were entertained. For those who weren't, maybe I'm not their cup of tea." When asked if he thought the most extreme moments would be edited out of the West Coast broadcast, Lambert wasn't shy about how he would react to such a move.

"If it’s gonna be edited, then in a way that's discrimination. I don't mean to get political, but Madonna, Britney and Christina weren't edited," Lambert said. "It’s a shame. Female entertainers have been risqué for years. Honestly, there's a huge double standard." Lambert said his goal wasn't to upset anyone with his performance: "I'm just trying to have a good time onstage. It’s a sexy song. It’s 2009, it’s time to take more risks. It’s about entertainment. People want to be surprised. It’s too bad that people are so scared."