Page 4 WIRE www.sunnewspapers.net The Sun /Sunday, February 16, 2014 FROM PAGE ONE


MILITARY

FROM PAGE 1

fight in Afghanistan.
 The Army grew to a
peak of about 570,000
soldiers during the
height of the wars, and
soldiers represented the
bulk of the troops on the
battlefields compared
with the other services.
 "I wouldn't say lack of
character was tolerated
in (war) theater, but
the fact of the last 10
or 12 years of repeated
deployments, of the
high op-tempo -we
might have lost focus
on this issue," Gen. Ray
Odierno, the Army's top
officer, told the AP last
week. "Sometimes in the
past we've overlooked
character issues because
of competence and
commitment."
 His comments mirror
concerns aired by Army
Gen. Martin Dempsey,
chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, several
times in recent months.
The ethical lapses,
Dempsey said, can be
attributed in some ways
to 10 years at war when
the military failed to
properly balance charac-
ter and competence.
 "It is not the war
that has caused this,"
Dempsey said. "It is the
pace, and our failure to
understand that at that


RESORT
FROM PAGE 1

 Mack had played
college golf and some
competitive golf as an
adult, so he called in three
of the world's preeminent
golf course designers to
evaluate the property (Bill
Coore, Ben Crenshaw and
Tom Doak, the people
behind some of the
courses at Bandan Dunes
in Oregon, for you golfing
aficionados).
 The golf course gurus
were initially skeptical
about even coming to
look at the property, said
Mack.
 "They expected central
Florida to be relatively
flat," he said.
 But once they arrived
and saw how nature had
overtaken the dunes with
natural grasses and scrub,
and saw how the Florida
sunlight shimmered off
the rugged landscape, the
trio signed on.
 The rest became



TALKS
FROM PAGE 1

round and fall in the
same trap that we have
been struggling with this
week and most of the first
round," he said. "So I think
it is better that every side
goes back and reflect and
take their responsibility: do
they want this process to
take place or not?"
 Brahimi said he
would consult with U.N.
Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry and



MARINE
FROM PAGE 1

difference between
success and failure in
their field.
 Now, they're being
left further behind as
researchers from other
states and from private
institutions in Florida
scramble to take ad-
vantage of new signs
that Cuba relations are
improving: an easing of
travel restrictions by the
White House, an agree-
ment to cooperate in
oil spills, even a tour by
the University of Tampa
baseball team.
 Scientists already have


pace, we were neglecting
the tools that manage
us as a profession over
time."
 Over the past year,
a series of high profile
scandals from sexual
assault and damaging
leadership to mistreat-
ment of the enemy and
unauthorized spend-
ing has dogged the
military, leading to broad
ethics reviews and new
personnel policies.
 Those scandals
included the demotion of
Army Gen. William "Kip"
Ward for lavish, unautho-
rized spending; sexual
misconduct charges
against Brig. Gen. Jeffrey
Sinclair; and episodes of
gambling and drinking
by other general officers.
 More recently, there
have been cheating alle-
gations against Air Force
nuclear missile launch
officers and a massive
bribery case in California
that has implicated six
Navy officers. Examples
of troop misconduct in-
clude Marines urinating
on the corpses of Taliban
fighters and soldiers
posing with body parts of
Afghan militants.
 As a result, Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel
and other leaders say
ethics is a priority about
which they now rou-
tinely lecture troops and
officers. They also have
undertaken initiatives
aimed at identifying and


golfing history. Coore and
Crenshaw's team built one
course (the "Red" course)
and Doak built another
(the "Blue" course). They
still have the "Red" and
"Blue" names, after the
pen colors the designers
used to make initial
drawings.
 Both courses are
considered "minimalist"
golf, where players
generally walk while
playing (although carts are
available). Rates are $180
for walkers and $210 for a
golf cart with a forecaddie
during the winter season.
Caddies are also available
and they work for tips;
$80-$100 plus gratuity per
group is suggested. Rental
carts and clubs are extra,
and the resort discounts
both golf and hotel rates
in the summer season.
 Tom Parke,
Streamsong's director
of marketing, said that
the courses are not your
"stereotypical" Florida golf
course, with paved paths
for carts. The Streamsong
courses are more similar


Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov about a way
forward.
 "I am very, very sorry,
and I apologize to the
Syrian people that their
hopes which were very
very high that something
will happen here," Brahimi
said.
 Syria's ambassador to the
U.N., BasharJaafari, said
the government accepted
Brahimi's proposed agenda
but a problem was raised
"by the other side when
they gave their own inter-
pretation of the agenda."
 He insisted that the gov-
ernment is committed to


begun collaborating
with their counterparts
in Cuba on research
that could reverse the
deterioration of coral
reefs, prevent overfish-
ing, and lead to better
understanding of the gulf
ecosystem.
 They're doing work
that could benefit
Florida. They're just not
from USF, the University
of Florida or Florida State
University.
 "We are connected,"
said Donald Behringer,
an assistant profes-
sor at UF's School
of Forest Resources
and Conservation &
Emerging Pathogens
Institute. "In order to
understand our own


dealing with problem
service members.
 "We're paying a lot
more attention to it now.
We are not tolerant at all
of those showing a lack
of character," Odierno
said. "We have to refocus
ourselves so we get to
where we think is the
right place."
 In 2010, 119 Army offi-
cers were forced to leave
the service because of
misconduct; that num-
ber was fairly consistent
with the annual totals
since 2000. Last year the
number was 387.
 For enlisted soldiers,
the numbers have
seesawed over the past
13 years, hovering near
9,000 at the start of the
decade and falling to
5,706 in 2007. Since then,
the number has climbed
again.
 When the country
needs a lot of troops on
the front lines, more
people with behavioral
problems are allowed to
come in and stay. When
the military begins to
shrink, commanders can
be much more selective
about who is kicked out
and who is allowed to
stay.
 As the Army began to
reduce its ranks in recent
years toward a goal of
490,000 in 2015, leaders
have been more willing
and able to get rid of
problem soldiers. That is
likely to escalate because


the latest plan would re-
duce the Army to 420,000
later in the decade if
deep, automatic budget
cuts continue.
 The Navy went through
a similar process.
 When the decision was
made to cut the size of
the 370,000-strong naval
force in 2004, the num-
ber of sailors who left
due to misconduct and
other behavior issues
grew. In 2006, more than
8,400 sailors left due to
conduct issues.
 As the size of the Navy
began to stabilize it's
now at about 323,000 -
the number of problem
sailors leaving also began
to decline steadily, drop-
ping each successive year
to a new low of about
3,700 in 2013.
 In nearly one-third of
the cases each year over
that time period, the
problems involved drug
and alcohol use. More
than 1,400 cases each
year involved a "serious
offense" or civil or
criminal court case.
 The Navy has become
known as the most
transparent service, often
quicker to publicly fire
commanders for miscon-
duct or poor leadership.
But the number of Navy
officers forced out has
remained relatively
constant, ranging from
84 to 107 annually for
the past eight years. The
bulk of those were for


This 2013 image provided byStreamsong shows the clubhouse
at the new Streamsong Resort in central Florida.


to European-style golf,
featuring many elevation
changes, wild grasses
and bunkers and
within months of opening
garnered several awards.
 Golfweek magazine
named it the best new
golf course in 2012 and in
2013, the magazine listed
both courses on the top 40
public courses in the world.
 There are 130 caddies
during the high season,
a clubhouse that serves
lunch and drinks near the
golf course, and 12 rooms


returning to negotiations.
 "We promised our own
people to get back to
Geneva to continue the
Geneva talks as long as
it takes, because we are
extremely careful about
stopping the bloodshed
in Syria and combatting
terrorism," Jaafari told
reporters. "This I promise
you: We will be committed
to doing so."
 Anas al-Abdeh, a
member of the opposition
negotiating team, said
his side accepted the
agenda but the govern-
ment's unwillingness
to go along with the


ecosystem we also have
to understand Cuba's.
 "Unfortunately, it is
more difficult for us in
Florida than any other
state in the United States
to work with Cuba."
 Senate Bill 2434, titled
"Travel To Terrorist
State," forbids money
that flows through a state
university including
grants from private foun-
dations to be used for
travel to a nation on the
U.S. list of state sponsors
of terrorism. Cuba is on
the list.
 Sponsored by former
Senate President Mike
Haridopolos, the bill
was passed in 2006
without a single no vote
in either the Florida


for those that want to
wake up each morning on
the course.
 "Those are for pure
golfers who literally want
to be at the course's
edge," said Parke.
 Players don't have to
stay at the resort to use
the course; Parke said
that some visitors come
from the Tampa and
Sarasota areas just for the
day.
 And while Streamsong
is a golf-heavy resort and
conference center (think


order of discussions put
the prospects of a third
session of talks within the
"Geneva 2" negotiating
round in doubt. The first
two sessions lasted from
Jan. 22-31 and Feb. 10-15.
The first round, known as
"Geneva 1," resulted in a
roadmap for peace in June
2012 that was not followed.
 Al-Abdeh called the
continuing stalemate in
negotiations a result of the
government's "continuous
effort to not talk and not
to discuss the issue of the
transitional governing
body."
 The Britain-based Syrian


House or Senate then
signed into law by Gov.
Jeb Bush.
 Florida is the only
state in the country with
such a prohibition.
 Professors can use
their own money to
travel to Cuba for
research, but only on
personal time. And it's
an expensive trip.
 "I've been able to
cobble together money
for a plane ticket and
go to Cuba a few times,"
said Behringer, "but it's
hard. Faculty members
from other states can
use research money to
pay their way. This puts
Florida schools at a
disadvantage."
 An American who


what the service calls
"unacceptable conduct"
or unfitness for duty.
 The Air Force, which
is smaller than the Navy
and Army, reported far
fewer cases of airmen
leaving for misconduct,
both for officers and
enlisted service mem-
bers. The number of
officers separated from
service since 2000 due to
a court-martial ranged
from a low of 20 in 2001
to a high of 68 in 2007.
For enlisted airmen, the
number ranged from a
high of nearly 4,500 in
2002 to a low of almost
2,900 in 2013.
 Data for the Marine
Corp, the military's
smallest service, was not
broken out by officers
and enlisted personnel.
Overall, it showed that
Marines leaving the
service due to miscon-
duct was about 4,400 in
2007, but has declined
to a bit more than 3,000
last year.
 Those forced to leave
for commission "of a se-
rious offense" has nearly
doubled from about 260
to more than 500 over
the past seven years. The
number of Marines who
left after court-martial
has dropped from more
than 1,300 in 2007 to
about 250 last year. The
Marine Corps also grew
in size during the peak
war years, and is now
reducing its ranks.


high-level executives
meeting in conference
rooms, then hitting the
links in the afternoon)
there is more to the
resort.
 The hotel is something
out of South Beach, with
its concrete-and-wood
exterior except that
it overlooks a beautiful
and unusual Florida
landscape. There are
four restaurants on the
property (three in the
main hotel and one in the
golf clubhouse).
 Visitors can go fishing
in one of the many lakes,
shoot sporting clays or
lounge by the pool. There
are fire pits for the slightly
chilly winter evenings
and a rooftop bar.
 Eventually, some may
go to the resort just
for the spa, which has
a grotto-like feel with
marble, concrete and
diffused natural light. It
offers six thermal pools, a
steam room, a sauna and
treatment rooms, along
with a more traditional
beauty salon.


Observatory for Human
Rights, citing on infor-
mants on the ground, said
Saturday that the death toll
has reached 140,000 from
three years of violence.
 More than 3,400 report-
edly have been killed this
month even while the
peace talks were being
held in Geneva. The U.N.'s
human rights office said
in January it has stopped
updating the death toll
from Syria's civil war,
confirming that it can no
longer verify the sources
of information that led to
its last count of at least
100,000 in late July.


worked on a new oil
spill cleanup protocol
involving five gulf
nations, including the
U.S. and Cuba, said he
is confident this agree-
ment will pave the way
for future collaboration
on environmental issues
between the U.S. and
Cuba.
 When that day comes,
said Dan Whittle of the
Environmental Defense
Fund, protocols will be
based on research proj-
ects already underway.
 The oil spill agree-
ment, brokered and
advanced through meet-
ings in Tampa, awaits
publication by the Coast
Guard before it becomes
official.


 ALMANAC
 Today is Sunday, Feb. 16, the
47th day of 2014. There are 318
days left in the year.
 Today in history
 On Feb. 16,1804, Lt. Stephen
Decatur led a successful raid into
Tripoli Harbor to bum the U.S.
Navy frigate Philadelphia, which
had fallen into the hands of
pirates during the First Barbary
War.
 On this date
 In 1862, the GvOl War Battle of
Fort Donelson in Tennessee ended
as some 12,000 Confederate
soldiers surrendered; Union Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant's victory earned
him the nickname"Unconditional
Surrender Grant"
 In 1868, the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks was
organized in NewYork City.
 In 1923, the burial chamber
of King Tutankhamen's recently
unearthed tomb was unsealed
in Egypt by English archaeologist
Howard Carter.
 In 1937, Dr. Wallace H.
Carothers, a research chemist for
Du Pont who'd invented nylon,
received a patent for the synthetic
fiber.
 In 1945, American troops
landed on the island of Corregidor
in the Philippines during World
Warll.
 In 1959, Fidel Castro became
premier of Cuba a month and
a half after the overthrow of
Fulgendo Batista.
 In 1961, the United States
launched the Explorer 9 satellite.
 In 1968, the nation's first 911
emergency telephone system was
inaugurated in Haleyville, Ala.
 In 1988, seven people were
shot to death during an office
rampage in Sunnyvale, Calif., by
a man obsessed with a co-worker
who was wounded in the attack.
(The gunman, Richard Fadrey, is on
death row.)
 In 1994, more than 200 people
were killed when a powerful
earthquake shook Indonesia's
Sumatra island.
 In 1998, a China Airlines Airbus
A300-600R trying to land in fog
near Taipei, Taiwan, crashed,
killing all 196 people on board,
plus six on the ground.

 Today's birthdays
 Actor Jeremy Bulloch is
69. Actor William Katt is 63.
Rhythm-and-blues singer James
Ingram is 62. Actor LeVar
Burton is 57. Actor-rapper
lce-T is 56. Actress ULisa Loring
is 56. International Tennis Hall
of FamerJohn McEnroe is 55.
Rock musician Andy Taylor is 53.
Rock musician Dave Lombardo
(Slayer) is 49. Actress Sarah
Clarke is 43. Rock musician
Taylor Hawlkins (Foofighters) is
42. Olympic gold medal runner
Cathy Freeman is 41. Singer
Sam Salter is 39. Electronic
dance music artist Bassnectar
is 36. Rapper Lupe Fiasco is 32.
Pop-rock singer Ryan Follese is
27. Actress Elizabeth Olsen is 25.
Actor Mike Weinberg is 21.




 College offers
 course in zombies,
 apocalypse
 MOUNT PLEASANT,
 Mich. (AP) Some
 Central Michigan
 University students are
 getting schooled in the
 undead this semester,
 thanks to a religion
 course that's exploring
 apocalyptic themes in
 biblical texts, literature
 and pop culture.
 Philosophy and reli-
 gion faculty member
 Kelly Murphy says she
 always wanted to teach
 a course on apocalyptic
 literature, and she is a
 fan ofAMC's TV show
 "The Walking Dead."
 The result is Murphy's
 class, which is called
 "From Revelation to
 'The Walking Dead.'"
 Murphy's class
 will discuss biblical


texts, review popular
novels and watch clips
from movies such as
"Shaun of the Dead"
and "28 Days Later."
Students also will
discuss hypothetical
ethical and theological
problems that people
could encounter in a
post-apocalyptic world.


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The Sun/Sunday, February 16, 2014


FROM PAGE ONE