SPORTS SMALL BANKS PAYING BIG RETURNS
BOOK WORLD THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
TRAVEL IN NOVA SCOTIA, SPIRIT IS EVERGREEN
ARTS THE SOUNDS AND SIGHTS OF THE SEASON
ABCDE Rain 52/38 • Tomorrow: Partly sunny 38/23 • details, c12
In higher education, lessons in equality
At Towson, graduation rates virtually even among blacks, whites and Hispanics
BY DANIEL DE VISE Towson University, a Maryland insti-
tution that has yet to produce a Nobel prize or a Rhodes Scholar, is gaining a national reputation for something else it doesn’t have: a gap in graduation rates between whites and underrepresented minorities. The suburban Baltimore school joins Virginia’s GeorgeMason University on a list of 11 higher education institutions nationwide where graduation rates for minority students meet or exceed those of whites, according to an analysis by the Education Trust, a Washington-based think tank that focuses on racial and ethnic achievement gaps. It put Towson’s graduation rate at 67
percent for white and black students and 70 percent forHispanics. The report says the school has an overall graduation rate of 65 percent, higher than George Ma- son’s 58 percent and the national rate of about 55 percent. (The overall rates include students who decline to identify themselves in a racial or ethnic group.) “The goal has been, if you takethemin,
you should graduate them,” said Robert Caret, Towson president since 2003. Several recent reports have highlight-
ed Towson’s success at a time when closing graduation gaps has become a priority for the Obama administration. The president’s American Graduation Initiative calls for the nation to regain the world lead in college completion by 2020. Several mid-Atlantic institutions, in-
gap continued onA21
WikiLeaks’ advocates are wreaking ‘hacktivism’
Global online community has launched attacks in support of anti-privacy group
BY IAN SHAPIRA AND JOBYWARRICK In England, a 26-year-old advertising
agency employee caters tomultinational clientsbutonthesidehasbeencommuni- cating with a secretive band of strangers devoted to supportingWikiLeaks. Halfway around the world, a 24-year-
old inMontana has used a publicly avail- able—and, according to security experts, suddenly popular software program called Low Orbit Ion Cannon with the goal of shutting down Web sites of WikiLeaks’ perceived enemies. Since releasing a vast cache of diplo-
matic cables thismonth, the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks has been the focus of intense criticism: for divulging classified materials, embarrassing the U.S. govern- ment and potentially endangering lives. But it has also engendered the frenzied support of an expanding and loosely de- fined global collective that seems intent on speaking out — and in some cases wagingwar onWikiLeaks’ behalf. Themost prominent of those groups is
known as Anonymous, which this past week sought to disable the Web sites of
wikileaks continued onA14
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COMICS......................INSERT EDITORIALS/LETTERS.....A25 LOTTERIES.........................C3
INSIDE SPORTS1 Navy 31, Army 17
The Midshipmen cruise to their ninth straight win over the Black Knights in the rivalry’s 111th edition. D1
METRO
Unsafe at any level The latest study of lead in D.C. tap water brings the threat into focus. C1
POLITICS&THENATION
Edwards laid to rest Hundreds turn out to mourn a woman recalled for her strength and grace. A3
Madoff’s son found hanged
Death comes two years after his father’s arrest for fraud. A3
OUTLOOK...........................B1 OBITUARIES..................C7-11 STOCKS..........................G6-8
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Printed using recycled fiber
Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs celebrates the victory.
In theU.S., Christmas remains a great divide
Affluent go shopping, while those with less fret over bills BY YLAN Q. MUI
those still caught in its grip. This holiday season, those twoworlds
A
have been thrown into stark relief: At Tiffany’s, executives report that sales of their most expensive merchandise have grown by double digits. At Wal-Mart, executives point to shoppers flooding the stores at midnight every two weeks to buy baby formula the minute their unemployment checks hit their ac- counts. Neiman Marcus brought back $1.5 million fantasy gifts in its annual
DAILY CODE Details, C2
5 3 4 0 new division is emerging in
America between those who have moved on from the recession and
Christmas Wish Book. Family Dollar is making more room on its shelves for staples like groceries, the one category its customers reliably shop. “When you start to line up all the
pieces, you see a story that starts to emerge,” said James Russo, vice presi- dent of global consumer insights for The Nielsen Co. “You kind of see this polar- ized Christmas.” Though economists declared the re-
cession officially over last summer, the pace of recovery has been uneven across income levels. The rebound in the stock market and record low mortgage inter- est rates have mostly benefited affluent
christmas continued onA10
The Washington Post Year 134, No. 7
CONTENT © 2010 ANDREA BRUCE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST In the south,Nawa has experienced a resurgence in everyday activity—including livestock drives to market—because of a strong military presence.
AFGHAN STRATEGY’S PROVING GROUND
BY RAJIV CHANDRASEKARAN IN NAWA, AFGHANISTAN
fields: June 2009: In the throes of the Taliban. A few
W
dozen British soldiers holed up inside a small base in the center of Nawa. Nightly gun and grenade fights. Schools and markets closed. Residents ter- rorized. The following 17 months: A 1,000-strong surge
battalionofU.S.Marines arrives July
2009.Focuses on protecting the civilian population. American andBritishadvisersbuildlocalgovernment.Tensof millions of dollars are pumped in to fund recon- structionprojects. Today: One of the safest districts in southern
Afghanistan. Marines who live at former British base have not fired a single bullet while on foot patrol in the past fivemonths. Classrooms packed. Bazaar thriving.
Spring 2011: Afghan forces assume principal
responsibility for security. Marines provide emer- gency backup. To Petraeus, the topU.S. andNATO commander
in Afghanistan, what has occurred here validates his contention that a comprehensive counterinsur- gency strategy can reverseTalibanmomentumand
hen Gen. David H. Petraeus makes his case that the military’s strategy in Afghanistan is succeeding, he cites the evolutionof this communi- ty ofmud-walled homes and wheat
l Special envoy Richard Holbrooke has surgery for tear in the aorta. A7
stabilizeAfghanistanafteryearsofdownwarddrift. In presentations to senior members of President Obama’snational security teamwhoareparticipat- ing in an evaluation of the war, he has displayed a PowerPoint slide titled, “Nawa: Proof of COIN [counterinsurgency]Concept.” “We started achieving progress with security,
then governance, and then citizen confidence — that’s literally how it plays out,” Petraeus said in a recent interviewat his headquarters in Kabul. “It’s the kind of progression we’re trying to achieve in other areas.” It is undeniable that Nawa has undergone a
remarkable transformation since the Marines swept in, and it represents what is possible in Afghanistan when everything comes together cor- rectly.But fivevisitsbythis reporter since July2009 suggest that the changes in this district are fragile and that much of what has transpired here is unique rather thanuniversal.
nawa continued onA8 THELONGESTWAR SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2010
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