European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 16, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday april 16 2007 stars and stripes Page is airports cashing in on u concessions by Stephanie Reitz the associated press we door locks Conn gone Are the Days when weak cof fee and hot dogs in soggy buns represented Standard Airport con cession fare in new England major air ports and others nationwide de Mand for better variety and Quality has pushed a Boom in new restaurants snack kiosks retail stores and other concessions in the past several years connect cuts Bradley International Airport whose offerings were once panned by a state re View Agency As sorely lacking in Appeal products and services has More than doubled the num Ber of vendors in its main Termi Nal in the past four years in Providence of Green International Airport plans a major expansion of concessions As part of a remodelling project and at Bostons Logan International air port travellers dont have to look far to buy a lobster Roll not to mention Beantown themed apparel souvenirs books lottery tick minute e manicures cell phone chargers and a bigger Bookstore Are among the concessions now at Bradley International Airport in Windsor locks Conn ets and even Diamond engage ment rings because of restrictions enacted since sept 112001 Many Passen Gers arrive earlier at airports than Ever before wait longer in terminals and cannot carry much of their own food and beverages through Security checkpoints while it translates into a larger captive audience for Concession plans for by arabic school draws protests by Nahal Toosi the associated press new York this City has dozens of Small Public schools that focus on themes such As sports careers the arts and social Justice few generate any Contro Versy then someone decided to Start an arabic themed school jihad Public Madrassa and segregationist Are just a few of the labels tossed at the plan conservative web Sites have seethed against the idea As have some members of the pub Lic concerns about finding space for the school have been coupled with questions about Security ail this before the school has enrolled a single student if s hard not to believe that this is in some Way a political statement said one opponent resident Lorna Salzman 72 1 think it can very easily deteriorate into something that people could see As confrontational Debbie Almontaser expected the reaction the longtime new York City educator a Muslim of yemeni background will be Lead ing the soon open Khalil Gib ran International Academy she has done extensive interfaith and cultural work to fight stereotypes about arabs and muslims in the pos sept 11 world if anything she says the school is More needed than Ever it is a school that is going to be working quite hard in building Bridges of understanding Toler Ance and acceptance valuing diversity and truly just developing students into global citizens she said the school is named after the famed lebanese american Chris Tian poet who promoted peace it Debbie Almontaser would be one of a few nationwide that incorporate the arabic Lan Guage and culture Almontaser and City department of Educa Tion officials say the curriculum will be in line with basics required from Public schools while integrating elements of its theme for instance the crucial role of arabs in developing algebra would be explored in math in his tory students May study Egypt extraordinary past and of course arabic will be offered As a second language at a time when arabic speakers Are in great de Mand in a number of Fields the goal is to eventually teach half of the classes in arabic plans Are to open this septem Ber with a 6th Grade and gradually expand into a Middle school and High school about half the students Are expected to be of Arab heritage although the school will have open admission Almontaser expects to easily fill the 81 slots she has this year and Hopes Many of the schools graduates will use their language skills in a variety of Fields whether if s engineering or work ing for the Cia operators the changes also mean passengers have higher expectations for the variety and Quality of offerings a lot of people coming through Are sophisticated and Dine at the Best restaurants and just because there at the Airport Why should that change said Sal Amico manager of logans Airport con Cessions program photos by Jessica Hiu Yap passengers there spent an aver age of s532 each for food and beverages in 2006 plus another at news stands and retail stores Airport spokesman Richard Walsh said nationwide travellers spent an average of each at the 50 North american airports with the highest per passenger Concession sales in 2006 according to air port Revenue news which tracks the trend the highest was s1227 at Pitts Burgh International Airport whose sales Are boosted by its Sta Tus As a secondary Hub Airport for us airways and the presence of Many stores found in traditional shopping malls although Bradley International Airport lags behind those High performers it hit a new Milestone in february when travellers spent an average of each on con Cessions a 40cent increase from just one month earlier terminal a had 12 concessions when its new Wing opened in 2003 it now has 27 including a Nail Salon new snack shops Fea Turing bagels and smoothies and an expansion at Brooks Brothers to add women clothing our approach has been to give people what they ask for if if s in any Way possible said Stephen e Korta u aviation administrator for the state department of transportation still on Many travellers wish lists but not yet at the Airport Dunn donuts crispy Creme cinnamon and a second Starbucks Concession automakers working to build a better Dummy the associated press Detroit an International consortium of nine automakers and two parts suppliers is asking re searchers for proposals to develop virtual humans computer programs that will help them design safer cars and trucks the global human body models consortium Lac says the computer models will provide better simulations of crash injuries than current crash dummies in an announcement scheduled for sunday at the society of automotive engineers world Congress in Detroit the companies say they have requested proposals from 40 research and University groups worldwide and plan to create five centers of exper Tise for different parts of the body and two centers for full body models the companies which formed the consortium a year ago Are Daimler Chrysler a Ford motor co general motors corp Honda motor co Hyundai motor co Nissan motor corp spa Peugeot Citro in Renault a Takata corp Toyota motor corp and try inc the consortium Hopes to have the first six computer models of Small medium and Large males and females developed by March 2011 the companies will share in the estimated Cost of up to million additional funding is being sought from other sources including the Federal govern ment and Michigan economic development corp the statement said Ford already has a computer Model of a midsize adult male that it uses to develop car interiors and restraint systems but the consortium would Speed development of models for More body types said Ford spokesman said deep the project will yield sophisticated data that would be backed up by physical tests said pm spokesman Alan Adlen killer wants trial in new robbery Case the associated press Miami just like when he killed a Little girl eight years ago Lionel Tate wants a trial even though his lawyers have told him that s a bad idea tates trial on charges that he robbed a pizza delivery Man is scheduled to Start monday a conviction would add significant time to the 30year sentence he is serving for violating the Proba Tion he eventually received for murdering 6yearold Tiffany Eunick when he was 12 he Vio lated the probation by possess ing a gun when charged with Tiffany slaying he rejected a plea Deal that would have gotten him a three year sentence and mental health treatment and became the youngest person in modern us history to get a life prison term before an appeals court intervened this time he backed out of a plea Deal that would have Given him no More than 30 years total for robbery and gun Possession theres certainly quite a risk involved Lionel could get life in prison or a consecutive sen tence even though i dont think that would be fair said his attorney Jim Lewis he has filed a motion to have tates current sentence vacated on the grounds that one of his former attorneys was incompetent that attorney Ellis Rubin was one of South Florida bes known lawyers before his death in december after a Long Battle with cancer tates first degree murder conviction was overturned by an appeals court in 2004 after the panel found it want Clear whether Tate had understood the charges against him he was then freed from prison under a Deal in which he pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to time served and 10 years probation he has since had numerous encounters with police been through a string of attorneys including Rubin and taken bad advice from Jailhouse lawyers