Editor's note: CNN Contributor Bob Greene is a bestselling author whose current book is "When We Get to Surf City: A Journey Through America in Pursuit of Rock and Roll, Friendship, and Dreams."

Peggy Sue Gerron, left, and Jerry Allison, right, at Buddy Holly's wedding to Maria Elena Holly.

(CNN) -- After days on end of grim and dreary news, the first weekend of spring is with us, and with its arrival comes, to many people, the yearly promise of new romance and a chance for lasting love.

But if figuring out the secrets of how to revive a battered economy is something that is complicated and elusive, that quandary is simple in comparison to matters of the heart. The legendary experts on romance, star-crossed and otherwise, are generally not available for comment. Romeo and Juliet have left the building.

However, there is one person I know who has a better feel for the vagaries of love than most, and I sought her out the other day.

"Spring is the time when you allow yourself to hope that love will come around again," said Peggy Sue Gerron.

You may not recognize her full name, but you sure do recognize the first part of it.

Yep -- she's that Peggy Sue. The Peggy Sue of Buddy Holly's unforgettable 1957 hit, a song of longing and heartbreak that is instantly familiar today even to people who weren't born until decades after it came out. "If you knew Peggy Sue, then you'd know why I feel blue ..."

Juliet, that other symbol of the glory of love, may have been a fictional creation of William Shakespeare's imagination, but Peggy Sue was, and is, real. She lives in West Texas, just as she did when Buddy Holly recorded the song. She was actually not even his girlfriend, although she sensed a certain yearning on his part. She was the girlfriend of Jerry Allison, the drummer for the Crickets, Holly's band.

"I think the reason people think about finding love in the spring is that the season represents new beginnings," she said. "The flowers are blooming. The air smells good. You feel that you have a chance."

In the song, Peggy Sue, implicitly, was the one who did the dumping, not the one who got dumped. But time has made her understand:

"I think, I really believe, that on a rare occasion, two people in life run across each other in a path like two comets. And when it happens, I think that feeling lasts forever."

Which is to say: With a love so rare and true.

And that, she said, is what makes people keep looking for love regardless of how many times they may have tried and failed. She has a theory of what being in love does to a person:

"Your eyes are a little bit shinier and your skin is a little bit clearer when you're in love. When you meet that person, you think: Whatever you're doing, I want to be right beside you when you're doing it. I want to be near you just because I like to see your smile."

Not that being Peggy Sue means she has all the answers. "I don't," she said. She is 68 now; she has been married twice, divorced twice. When she introduces herself to new people, they often say, "Oh -- like the Peggy Sue in the song!"

Sometimes she tells them she is in fact that Peggy Sue; sometimes she lets it go. It's an uphill battle to convince them she's not kidding.

And as the woman who eternally will be a symbol of true love's ways, she thinks she understands why people never give up on hoping to find the right person. "You have a tendency to put the walls up after you've been hurt," she said. "You think it's not worth trying again. But then you do it

Question: who lives in texas

Question: Who has a theory about what love does to a person?

Question: what does she have a theory on

Question: who has the theory of love

Question: Who lives in west Texas?

Answer: Peggy Sue

Answer: Peggy Sue Gerron.

Answer: to a person:

Answer: Peggy Sue.

Answer: Peggy Sue


Editor's note: CNN affiliates report on where job seekers are finding work across the country and how those looking for employment are coping with the situation. Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, shown in April, once worked in a city jobs program as a youth. (CNN) -- Some of the stimulus money from the U.S. government is going to programs that help young adults find jobs. In Baltimore, Maryland, the city wants to put more than 7,000 to work, mostly in local government jobs. It will use more than $6 million from the federal government and sponsorship money, according to WBAL-TV in Baltimore. Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon recalled her days as a young worker. "I worked at a camp, and then in high school, I was able to continue to work in the program," she said. Read the full report on WBAL In Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Kahtoya Wesley, 20, has had difficulty finding a job, but she has a better chance of finding work now because she has joined the Summer Youth Employment Program, according to WPBF-TV in West Palm Beach. So far 200 people have landed jobs through the program, an initiative of the Workforce Alliance of Palm Beach County, WPBF reported. The organization is using $3 million of stimulus money to fund the positions the young adults find, the station said. iReport.com: Share your job hunt story The group also prepares the job seekers for interviews and provides seminars in how to deal with work-life situations. "I got fired like five times. It was bad," John Hill told WPBF. He chose a seminar on working better with a supervisor. "Because I usually don't," he told the station. Read the full report on WPBF The state of Arkansas is using federal money to fund jobs for at-risk students in Springdale, according to KHBS-TV in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The town's youth center hired five teens to work in clerical and maintenance positions, KHBS reported. David Cook told the station he has had trouble motivating himself to go to school. The summer job was helping him with a shift on focus. "It gives me a sense of responsibility of showing up on time, working on a schedule and with other people," he told KHBS. Read the full report on KHBS West: FedEx center brings 650 jobs to Oregon Even before a new FedEx shipping center brings hundreds of jobs to Troutdale, Oregon, it is helping with employment through road construction jobs, according to KPTV-TV in Portland. The new hub, which is expected to be completed in July 2010, will bring more than 1,000 additional cars to the area, so the Oregon Department of Transportation called for two additional lanes at a nearby major intersection, KPTV reported. FedEx is expected to employ 650 workers at the facility once it opens, according to KPTV. "We're creating family wage jobs, because this project will take place this summer," Troutdale Mayor Jim Kight told the station. Oregon's unemployment rate was a record 12.4 percent in May. Read the full report on KPTV South: No job? Create your own He was once a senior loan officer who had been laid off and was looking every day for a job anywhere there might be an opportunity. When he couldn't find the right chance, he created his own. Kenneth Hodge is now a small business owner, the founder of SFG Records. "If you look at your failures, if you stare at your failures too long, you'll never go anywhere," Hodge told WPBF. "But if you look beyond your failures, you can move to and fulfill your dreams. You can do that. I think I can do that, and we are doing that." Six recording artists are featured on his Web site, and Hodge told the West Palm Beach station that he has already hired seven employees. Read the full report on WPBF Midwest: Iowa town sees trickle-down effect from stimulus Federal stimulus

Question:
What did a man lose his position as?
Where is teh FedEx centre?
what is the fedex center bringing
what is maryland doing
What will bring more jobs in Oregon?
How many teens will be hired?
How many teens will Baltimore hire?
What business did a man start?

Answer: senior loan officer

Answer: Troutdale, Oregon,

Answer: 650 jobs to Oregon

Answer: the city wants to put more than 7,000 to work, mostly in local government jobs.

Answer: a new FedEx shipping center

Answer: five

Answer: 7,000

Answer: SFG Records.

Summary:
Job fair aimed at people 50 and older draws big crowd .
Pittsburgh area business executives meeting with high school students .
Wal-Mart adding 3,000 jobs in North Carolina .
Air Force recruiter in Florida has seen increase in interest .


Editor's note: CNN affiliates report on where job seekers are finding work across the country and how those looking for employment are coping with the situation. Job fairs are becoming more popular and are seeing record attendance. (CNN) -- A record number of senior citizens attended a job fair this week in Loveland, Colorado. The fair, which targeted people 50 and older, drew the biggest crowd -- about 900 people -- for the annual event. Nan Cooper, a job seeker, said applicants have to do more these days than just walk into a prospective employer's office with a resume. "[Times] have changed radically," she told KMGH in Denver. "I've spent countless, countless hours on the Internet and filling out applications."  iReport.com: Share your job hunt story She said she had even applied for jobs through the online auction site eBay. Read the full report on KMGH Northeast: Job week seeks to solve 'disconnect' between employers, job hunters Employers in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area say they are having a difficult time filling 22,000 available positions. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said this week the city would increase its participation in a job placement program, both monetarily and through city organizations. The mayor made his remarks as part of a kickoff event for Imagine Career Week, which links high school students and employers. A spokesman for one of the groups sponsoring the week's events said there shouldn't be so many employers with open spots. "At the same time, we have young people walking around famously saying that they can't find a job. There's a big disconnect there someplace," Paul Leger of the Allegheny Conference told WTAE. During the career week, students will visit businesses and prospective employers will visit classrooms. Read the full report on WTAE Southeast: Wal-Mart to increase its N.C. workforce by nearly 6 percent Wal-Mart said Wednesday it plans to add 3,000 jobs in North Carolina. The retail chain currently employs 51,000 people at 155 locations in the state. "In a time when many are suffering, we want North Carolinians to know that we are here to stay," David Cameron, general manager for the Carolinas, told WRAL of Raleigh. He did not say where the jobs would be located. North Carolina is one of eight states with unemployment above 10 percent. Read the report on WRAL Southeast: Military recruiter sees more potential airmen Technical Sgt. Greg O'Conner is staying very busy these days. He is an Air Force recruiter in Bradenton, Florida. "With the way the economy is, recruitment is up," he told Bay News 9. "I get dozens of calls every day and walk-ins from young men and women interested in joining the Air Force." One of his recruits was 20-year-old Dakota Slentz, who cannot afford to go to law enforcement training school. He said the Air Force offers a chance for great experiences as well as a great salary. In statistics provided by the Department of Defense, the Air Force has reported meeting its recruiting goals each month of the fiscal year, which began in October. Read the full report on Bay News 9 West: Sacramento project to bring thousands of jobs A building developer in Sacramento, California, says plans to turn rail yards into a residential and commercial district will require thousands of workers over the next 20 years. Suheil Totah of Thomas Enterprises told KCRA that initial projects like building roads will mean jobs for 3,000 people. The company said more than 56,000 people will be needed for the project in the next two decades. The 244 acres will be converted into a mix of homes, businesses, entertainment venues and government offices. Read the report on KCRA Around the nation Tennessee will use federal stimulus money to hire 12,000 people ages 24 and younger, WSMV reports. A food company is converting a North Carolina textile plant and bringing 172 jobs, WXII reports.

Question: How many jobs is Walmart adding in North Carolina?

Question: At what age is the fair aimed?

Question: The job fair is aimed for what type of people?

Question: How many jobs is Wal-Mart adding?

Answer: 3,000

Answer: 24 and younger,

Answer: senior citizens

Answer: in North Carolina.


Editor's note: CNN affiliates report on where job seekers are finding work across the country and how those looking for employment are coping with the situation. Tennessee's Williamson County Public Library in Franklin is trying to improve computer skills of older job seekers. (CNN) -- An Ohio company transforming its business model will build its headquarters in the town of Greenville. LAH Development will become a wind turbine manufacturer and installer after years of constructing commercial buildings. The company's new building is expected to cost $1 million, CNN affiliate WHIO-TV in Dayton reported. The state of Ohio has granted the company a tax credit of almost $400,000 to help create jobs. The company expects to hire 100 new employees. iReport.com: Share your job hunt story Under an agreement with the state, the company is required to operate at the new site for 12 years. Read the full report on WHIO Northeast: Grant money used to train veterans Pennsylvania is providing $311,000 to train 80 unemployed veterans in the field of welding. The state's Department of Labor and Industry grant will be used to train the former military members for 96 hours in beginner welding over an eight-week period. "As more troops return home after tours of duty, it's important that we provide tools and resources to help them reintegrate into civilian life," Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato told WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh. Read the full report on WPXI South: Library to teach computer skills to job seekers In Franklin, Tennessee, the county library is trying to help older job seekers by expanding its computer course offerings. Teachers will instruct students on how to use social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn to search for jobs as well as make sure they have basic skills. "If you don't know those skills and you can't use them readily, it makes everything else so much harder," said Janice Keck, director of the Williamson County Public Library, told WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee. Read the full report on WSMV Midwest: Indiana business to add 125 positions An Indianapolis, Indiana, life science firm is more than doubling the size of its staff. Biostorage provides biomaterials storage and distribution for companies around the world, according to WTHR-TV in Indianapolis. "Ninety percent of our clients are actually outside Indiana," John Mills of Biostorage Technologies told the station. "So we are earning Indiana dollars from companies outside Indiana." The current staff has 70 people; Biostorage plans to add 125 more employees. Read the full report on WTHR Around the nation Quintiles Transnational Corp. is moving its world headquarters to the Research Triangle Park near Raleigh, North Carolina, News 14 Carolina reports. A new Wal-Mart in Owasso, Oklahoma, is expected to hire 100 people, Tulsa's KOTV-TV reports.

Question: Who is looking to hire 125 people?

Question: Who is getting a $400,000 tax credit to hire workers?

Question: What will the Pennsylvania program train veterans to do?

Question: How much tax credit?

Question: How many people were hired?

Question: How much is the tax credit?

Question: The company will hire how many people?

Answer: Biostorage

Answer: LAH Development

Answer: welding.

Answer: $400,000

Answer: 100

Answer: almost $400,000

Answer: 100


Editor's note: CNN affiliates report on where job seekers are finding work across the country and how those looking for employment are coping with the situation. Workers at the Jayco plant in Elkhart County in Indiana put together a travel trailer in February. (CNN) -- Elkhart, Indiana, has suffered through a litany of economic bad news and layoffs. The United States Department of Labor said that in March, the Elkhart metropolitan area had the fifth highest unemployment in the country. Just last year the Monaco Coach Corp. closed down its motor home assembly plants in Elkhart, Nappanee and Wakarusa. But Electric Motors Corp., which builds engines, cars and trucks, is moving into Elkhart County and bringing hundreds of jobs. "Their production working skills will be a little bit different than RV workers, but not that much different. We'll easily be able to train the workers," County Commissioner Mike Yoder told WSJV. Neither the company nor government officials would comment on how many jobs could potentially be created. "It's good to get a small number just to build up and hopefully it'll keep coming," said college student Erika Miller, who is looking for summer work. Read the full report on WSJV South: Famed New Orleans hotel closed after Katrina hiring hundreds The Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, is almost ready to reopen after being shuttered after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. After undergoing a $145 million renovation, the hotel will be staffed by 400 employees. This past week, more than 5,000 job seekers came to a job fair at the downtown landmark. Some of the people hired will begin in a few weeks, while others will start later. "We are looking to make some additional hires in September and in October when business picks up," Roosevelt employee Melissa Kariker told WDSU. One applicant at the fair had worked previously at the hotel. "I started my career with the Fairmont-Roosevelt," Gregory Smith said. "I worked in the Blue Room for several years." Read the report on WDSU Midwest: Newspaper giving away space for 'Hire me' ads The New Herald newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, will publish "Hire me" ads in its Sunday editions and on its Web site. There is no cost for job seekers, but the offer applies only to this Sunday's paper. "It's actually something our publisher suggested that they did back in the '70s at the height of unemployment that he had worked at that time," executive editor Tricia Ambrose told WEWS. The Web site will also post video resumes. Read the report on WEWS West: Solar panel plant to hire 300 Schott Solar, which makes photovoltaic solar panels, opened a plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this week, bringing 350 jobs. Officials with the company told KRQE the number of employees could grow to more than 1,500. A plant manager said the company provides its own funding and has not been hurt much during the recession, KRQE reported. Officials from the California-based company said they chose New Mexico in part because of the amount of sunshine it receives. Watch the full report on KRQE Around the nation General Mills will hire 112 people when it builds a distribution center in Social Circle, Georgia, WGCL in Atlanta reports. ...  In Richland, Washington, federal stimulus money is being used to pay for environmental cleanup, KREM reports. ...  Target and Lowe's stores are scheduled to open in Greenland, New Hampshire, this summer, bringing 400 jobs to the town, WMUR reports.

Question: On what day is the newspaper providing free classified ads?

Question: WHat is moving into RV plant?

Question: What opens this week in New Mexico?

Question: Where is the hotel opening?

Answer: Sunday

Answer: Electric Motors Corp.,

Answer: Schott Solar,

Answer: New Orleans, Louisiana,


Editor's note: CNN agreed not to use the full names of the family in this article due to concern for their safety. Youssif is able to smile again, and his scars are healing well. Doctors are monitoring the swelling on his right ear. WOODLAND HILLS, California (CNN) -- Youssif happily pulls off his plastic face mask and pats his cheeks, which were once covered by horrific burns. "No hurt," the 5-year-old Iraqi boy says in English. "No hurt." He then shows off his right hand. It too had been marred by hardened scar tissue after he was attacked by masked men outside his central Baghdad home January 15, 2007. Now, his hand is smooth.   Youssif flashes a proud grin. A few moments later, he darts off and comes back toting his kindergarten portfolio. In less than a month of schooling, he's now writing the alphabet in upper- and lowercase.  See photos of a transformed Youssif » He reads a book, repeating each word after the narrator. When he gets to the word "you," he gets tickled. He points at the name "Youssif" and then covers the final four letters. "You," he says. Youssif began attending an American school just last month, one year to the day after he was so savagely attacked in Baghdad. In a recent letter to those who have helped his son, Youssif's father described the anniversary as a "very hard day" to endure but one that also brought joy. "But this year, it was the day for another miracle, Youssif's first day of kindergarten. It was a very happy day," Youssif's father said. Youssif begins each day with his father strapping him into a bike trailer. Dad then pedals him to school. On one recent outing, his dad's mobile phone blared Arabic music as Youssif quietly sat in the back, a helmet securely strapped to his head, the wind whirling past. As soon as they reached the school, Youssif's slow walk away from his father, his head held down, quickly changed into a sprint toward his classroom, and all you could see was the big red "S" on his Superman backpack flying away. "Harry," Youssif says in a small, muffled tone, reading the writing on the dry-erase board after receiving a little help from some classmates seated on the rug.  Watch Youssif-inspired music video » He then receives a congratulatory high-five from one of his kindergarten teachers. Youssif is adjusting well to school, able to write out the alphabet and count to 12 without hesitation. He always finishes with an accomplished sigh, wide eyes and a smile so big, it's as if he is making up for the 10 months he was not able to smile. He is quick to show the pencil box on his desk, pointing to his name written on it and then pointing to himself with the same tiny finger and nodding his head, letting you know that it is his. "The kids love Youssif. They get more excited than he does when he learns a new word in English, and they brag about it for hours," the mother of a classmate says. Youssif is attending the school thanks to help from the Children's Burn Foundation, the Grossman Burn Center and hundreds of thousands of dollars donated by you, the CNN.com user, to help bring him and his family to the United States for treatment. Youssif has undergone more than half a dozen surgeries. One removed the most massive scarring, which stretched about half a foot, from one of his ears to below his chin.  See how doctors removed Youssif's scars » He could undergo as many as 12 more procedures, his doctors say, mostly to tweak scars. His right ear has swelled, and doctors are monitoring it to figure out the best way to keep it in check. He wears a clear plastic face mask for much of the day to keep his skin tight and to allow it

Question:
when was boy burned?
What is the boy already doing?
Where did Youssif attend school?
Where was Youssif attending school?
What is the boy who was burned doing?
Who's lively spirit has returned?

Answer: January 15, 2007.

Answer: write out the alphabet

Answer: American

Answer: American

Answer: attending an American school

Answer: Youssif

Summary:
Youssif began attending school in metro LA one year to the day of his attack .
Boy burned in Iraq is already writing the alphabet and counting .
Dad says, "I have begun to see my son's lively spirit return"


Editor's note: CNN agreed not to use the full names of the family members in this article due to concern for their safety. Youssif and his surgeon, Dr. Peter Grossman, shake hands at the end of their Wednesday visit. SHERMAN OAKS, California (CNN)  -- Youssif nervously scanned the doctor's examining room, his dark brown eyes darting around, from the floor to the wall to the ceiling. His mother stroked his hair and then his forehead to put him at ease before the doctor walked in to the room. A day earlier, the badly burned 5-year-old Iraqi boy had boarded a plane in Amman, Jordan, with his family, their first trip on an airplane. Now, more than 7,500 miles later, his mom, dad and 14-month-old sister were with him at the Grossman Burn Center in the heart of sunny Southern California. Dr. Peter Grossman strode into the room, a warm smile across his face. He held Youssif's hand. The boy turned shyly around and buried his face into his father's leg. "This is not unusual," said Grossman, a plastic surgeon with more than 12 years of experience, including helping one young girl whose face had melted to her shoulder after a horrific accident.  Watch Youssif show his scars to Grossman for the first time » A father of two children, Grossman spoke softly and reassured Youssif that they would soon be friends. "We're going to do everything we can to make him better," he told Youssif's parents. Perhaps haunted by the pain he suffered in Baghdad's hospitals, Youssif hiccupped back sobs as his father lifted him onto the examination table. But the boy put on a brave face after his father told him to let the doctor do his job. "Who's the brave one? Youssif," his father whispered reassuringly. "He's not going to hurt you, I promise." Grossman pulled out measuring tape and took measurements of scars under the boy's chin and around his nose. One swollen scar around his chin measured nearly 3 inches. He also examined burns on Youssif's hands, forehead and right ear. At one point, Youssif thrust his head back and opened his mouth as best he could for the doctor. But his lips barely separated, their movement hampered by the swollen, hardened flesh. "What we want to eventually do is be able to get him to open his mouth as wide as he can," Grossman said. Youssif faces eight to 10 operations, possibly more, over the next six to eight months. He also will undergo psychological therapy to help him better adapt to all that has happened to him.  See photos of the boy's arrival in the U.S. » On January 15, masked men grabbed Youssif outside his central Baghdad home, doused him in gas and set him on fire. Grossman won't be able to make all the scars go away, he said, but he's confident that "we can make him significantly better." "We're going to do everything we can to move forward and to do a good job," he said. The boy's mother nodded solemnly. "I just want my son's smile back," she told the doctor. Watch how masked men stole a boy's smile Youssif was introduced to his other doctors, a pediatrician and anesthesiologist. The boy cuddled into the warm confines of his father's chest. His dark eyes kept a keen watch on all those around him. His first operation could come as early as next week and involve multiple procedures. Grossman will cut away scar tissue around his nose and put temporary skin from a cadaver over it. "We're also going to stick a balloon underneath the good skin under his neck and on his face," the doctor said. "The purpose of that is over time we will stretch the good skin, so that in about three months he will be able to go back to surgery, remove the scar tissue and pull up the stretched out good tissues.

Question: Who shake hands?

Question: Who will undergo eight to 10 surgeries?

Question: Where does Youssif's medical treatment took place?

Question: How many surgeries will the burned Iraqi boy undergo?

Question: What age was the boy?

Question: What is the name of the burned Iraqi boy?

Question: What age is the boy?

Answer: Youssif and his surgeon, Dr. Peter Grossman,

Answer: Youssif

Answer: Grossman Burn Center in the heart of sunny Southern California.

Answer: eight to 10

Answer: 5-year-old

Answer: Youssif

Answer: 5-year-old

Summary:
Burned Iraqi boy will undergo eight to 10 surgeries in coming months .
Youssif's medical treatment in California follows CNN story about him .
Youssif remains cautious around doctor but eventually warms up .
By the end of first visit, the boy, 5, and doctor shake hands .


Editor's note: CNN contributor Bob Greene is a best-selling author whose current book is "When We Get to Surf City: A Journey Through America in Pursuit of Rock and Roll, Friendship, and Dreams." "Tumbling tumbleweeds" have been romanticized in song, but they're no fun in some parts of the U.S. (CNN) -- "Do we like them?" Patrick Victor, a game and fish commission employee in San Carlos, Arizona, repeated the question back to me as if I had proved my lunacy by asking it in the first place. "Do we like tumbleweeds?" he said. "No one likes them. They're not like in the cowboy movies. We consider them garbage -- worse than garbage. There is nothing to treasure or cherish about a tumbleweed." We were talking about tumbleweeds because of a theory I had been pondering: In this country, because of the immediacy of news, it seems as if everyone from one coast to the other is worrying obsessively about the same thing at the same time. You name it: the banking meltdown one day, the feared floods in Fargo, North Dakota, the next; the forced ouster of the head of General Motors one morning, followed soon after by the street demonstrations in London during the Group of 20 summit. We all tend to fret together about one crisis at a time; undoubtedly there will be something new for all of us to be nervous about together before sundown tonight. So the goal here was to come up with something utterly unlikely -- something that, in 2009, you wouldn't think would bother people -- and find out if it does. Tumbleweeds. That, just picked at random, was the test case. "They can be a pretty big problem out here," said Scott McGuire, a code enforcement inspector in Greeley, Colorado. "When the wind is right, they'll pile up right to the roofline of a house. Seriously -- people can't see out of their windows or even easily get out of their homes." There was something instructive, even (in an off-kilter way) comforting, about learning this: the affirmation that, in this increasingly monolithic country, there are still local vexations that override the breaking news bulletins on the national networks, that people in one pocket of America are routinely dealing with forces that people a few hundred miles away are blissfully unaware of. Just hearing about it makes life seem somehow more life-size. "I meant what I said literally," McGuire said, continuing on his pinned-in-the-house-by-tumbleweeds theme. "They are big and prickly -- they can blow for hundreds of miles, sometimes all the way from Wyoming. They go until the wind dies out or they run into something. That's when people can have piles of them pressing against their homes -- when the tumbleweeds stop there." Tumbleweeds, if you haven't thought about them in years, may seem like a gauzy memory from old Western movies, a nostalgic high-plains symbol of desolation and loneliness. There was that campfire song by Roy Rogers and his group, the Sons of the Pioneers; once you think of the lyrics and melody again, you can't get it out of your head: "See them tumbling down/Pledging their love to the ground/Lonely but free I'll be found/Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds." But in the 21st century? In our connected-by-broadband, addicted-to-cell phones, technologically tethered nation? Tumbleweeds? As something to be concerned about? "They're ugly and nasty," said Charlene Hardin, the county manager of Roosevelt County, New Mexico. "They can make our roads impassable. You can see 12-foot-high, chain-link fences with tumbleweeds piled all the way up to the top. They're very flammable -- toss a cigarette, and you have a big fire. "Tumbleweeds are more than a nuisance out here. We'll get

Question: What dominates news?

Question: What are some parts of the U.S. plagued by?

Answer: banking meltdown

Answer: "Tumbling tumbleweeds"

Summary:
Bob Greene: National issues such as economic crisis dominate news .
Greene says that we quickly move from one crisis to the next .
Greene: Still there are regional concerns that never get a big spotlight .
Some parts of the U.S. are plagued by "tumbling tumbleweeds"


Editor's note: CNN contributor Bob Greene is a best-selling author whose forthcoming book is "Late Edition: A Love Story." Bob Greene says kin of Columbine victims don't have the luxury of moving on after the 10th anniversary is marked. (CNN) -- The weddings that will never be held. The birthdays when there will be no one to embrace. The first jobs that will never be greeted with a parent's proud smile of congratulations. Those are the things -- the sacred things, perhaps the sole things -- that we should pause to think about Monday. Because while the rest of the world considers anew the meaning of what happened 10 years ago at the school in Littleton, Colorado, the people who matter -- the only people who truly can fathom the meaning -- are the people with the wounds in their hearts that will never quite heal: The mothers and fathers of the children who were murdered. The brothers and sisters who were left with the empty and soundless spaces in their homes and in their lives. For the rest of us, it's all guesswork, and the anniversary provides a circumscribed time to think about it somberly. But by tomorrow we will have moved on to other concerns, while the mothers and fathers, the sisters and brothers -- the grandfathers and the grandmothers -- will return to that which they can never wish away: The weddings that won't ever come. The birthdays when there is only silence. Is it possible to break that April day from 10 years ago into its incremental elements, as if by doing so we will be able to find a possible future remedy? If we think enough about the saturation of our society with violent images, from the movies we watch to the video games our children play to the stories on the evening news -- is that what can explain Columbine? If we dissect the live television coverage of that day when millions stared for hours on end -- was it those unblinking pictures that made the scenes still so hard to shake? Is there a resolution to be discovered in debates about the guns that were used, the need for security checkpoints? Those are all just details, not answers. Those are merely facts to be noted. What is worth paying attention to is that we, as a people, have developed, without really wanting to or knowing we were doing it, the thousand-yard stare that you see in the eyes of certain homicide detectives who have been doing their jobs for a very long time. It is a look of utter numbness -- a look that is the opposite of cynical, a look of sorrowful surrender. It is a look that says, of the bearer of those eyes: My eyes are dead because I know that what they have witnessed is only prologue. My eyes show nothing because they must be prepared for what they know they will be seeing again. To encounter those eyes -- to see the thousand-yard stare -- in a police officer is one thing. But to see it in a country. ... Yet that is what the many years of nonstop killings have done to us. Columbine -- that word, that label -- is the way we sum up this kind of thing, but labels like that are at core our way of conceding our inability to process the despair. There was murderous madness that came before Columbine, and murderous madness that came after. We tell ourselves on each new occasion that what has happened is shocking, but the word has become all but meaningless. The only genuinely shocking thing would be if the cruelty and the killings were to somehow suddenly cease. We can blame all of this on our modern times veering out of control, if we wish, but it really speaks of something more elemental and dark, of factors beyond our earthly understanding. The most deadly attack upon sons and daughters at a school did not occur at Columbine 10 years ago, or at Virginia Tech two years ago. On May 18, 1927, in Bath Township, Michigan, 44 people, most of them elementary school pupils in their

Question: What do the kin of the victims live with?

Question: Which victims live with the pain every day?

Question: what did greene say

Answer: the wounds in their hearts that will never quite heal:

Answer: kin of Columbine

Answer: kin of Columbine victims don't have the luxury of moving on after the 10th anniversary is marked.

Summary:
Bob Greene: Kin of Columbine victims live with the pain every day .
Greene: Most Americans see such violence with numb eyes and can look elsewhere .
The pain of these incidents predated the horror of Columbine, Greene says .
He says people eternally have sought to tame human savagery .


Editor's note: CNN contributor Bob Greene is a best-selling author whose new book is "Late Edition: A Love Story." Bob Greene says discussion of ballplayer Ted Williams' corpse is a shameful way to remember the superstar. (CNN) -- "I was scared," Ted Williams said. He was talking about his lifelong fear of not being good enough -- of coming up short. "I was always afraid I might fail," he said. "I was pictured as being so cocky -- I might have been cocky to some people, but not in my heart. All the time, I was just hoping to make whatever league I was in." I am thinking about a long conversation I had with Williams toward the end of his life. I'm thinking about it because of the unconscionable thing that is being done to him now that he is gone, now that he is without any defenses. You may have heard about a new book that makes some cruel and repugnant allegations about the mistreatment of his remains. What has been done to Williams' good name since his death at age 83 in 2002 is heartbreaking. First there was the very public battle within his family about what to do with his body; when it was entrusted to a facility that specializes in cryonics -- freezing -- there were tasteless gags all over television. Now there is the nauseating voyeurism surrounding these new allegations. They are unspeakable, and I will not repeat them here. He has been made a joke. It is as if there has been a conscious effort to rob him of his humanity. As if he is a punch line, as if he was never a person with thoughts and feelings. No one deserves this, and certainly not Ted Williams. A magnificent 19-year career with the Boston Red Sox; twice the winner of baseball's triple crown; the last ballplayer to hit .400 in a season; two tours of duty in the military in World War II and the Korean War ... This is the man whose right to rest in respectful peace is being stripped from him. It is a crime. And because he can no longer speak for himself, I will share with you his voice from a time when he could. "I can't believe how well people have treated me, how nicely," he told me. He had suffered a series of strokes; he knew there wasn't much time left. I was writing a monthly column for Life magazine, and he had agreed to talk with me. I told him that there was something striking about his voice: He sounded just like John Wayne. "John Wayne sounded like me," he said, not kidding. When he told me about his fear of failure, it was in the context of always being fixated on his own shortcomings. "The only time I could savor an evening is if I had done something well," he said. "My most disappointing things all my life were always related to baseball. I didn't feel good because I did something successfully; I felt bad if I failed to do something that I was expected to do." As a young ballplayer, he supposedly said, "All I want out of life is that when I walk down the street, people will say, 'There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived.' " It happened. That was what people said about him. Did it satisfy him? "I would slide down in my seat a little bit when I heard someone say that," he told me. "Because I wanted people to believe it, but I didn't believe it myself. I didn't believe it then, and I don't believe it now. Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron -- they were so good. When I would be at a dinner and someone would say I was the best, I would want to hide out of sight and sink into the floor." At the height of his talent, he stepped away from baseball to fly Panther fighter jets

Question: Who was a vereran of two wars?

Question: Who said that the discussion about Williams' remains is distasteful?

Question: What does Greene call distasteful?

Question: Who always strove to do his best?

Question: Williams was the last what in baseball?

Question: Who was a veteran of two wars?

Answer: Ted Williams

Answer: Bob Greene

Answer: discussion of ballplayer Ted Williams' corpse

Answer: Ted Williams

Answer: ballplayer to hit .400 in a season;

Answer: Ted Williams.

Summary:
Bob Greene: Discussion about Ted Williams' remains is distasteful .
He recalls superstar player as a man who always strove to do his best .
Williams was baseball's last .400 hitter and a veteran of two wars .


Editor's note: CNN executive producer Suzanne Simons is the author of "Master of War: Blackwater's Erik Prince and the Global Business of War." Private contractor Xe flies military personnel in Afghanistan and helps train Afghan border police. The company formerly known as Blackwater, now called Xe much to its chagrin, has been at the center of the contractor debate for years. From the time four of its men were ambushed and murdered in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004, to a shooting involving a team of its men in a Baghdad neighborhood in which at least 14 Iraqi civilians were killed in 2007, the company has drawn unwanted headlines. Blackwater owner Erik Prince downsized the company earlier this year when business failed to keep pace with investment. He changed the company's name after the Iraqi government banned it from doing business there. But those who thought contractors were going away under President Obama's administration couldn't be more wrong. According to the Department of Defense, there are some 68,000 contractors in Afghanistan today and more than 132,000 in Iraq. But those numbers aren't an accurate reflection of the total number of contractors because they don't include those working for other government agencies such as the Department of State. Many of those tens of thousands are third-country nationals, meaning they were hired from a third country to go to Iraq. Many earn between $400 and $700 a month; while Americans, particularly those performing dangerous security duties, can earn as much in a day. Despite being kicked out of Iraq, Xe still does a healthy business in Afghanistan, flying military personnel from one location to another and helping train Afghan border police charged with making the country's massive, porous borders more secure. It's one of the many jobs that the U.S. military just isn't staffed to tackle on its own. In fact, the U.S. military today is beefed up by a force of nearly a quarter million private contractors. There are even cases where contractors oversee the contractors. And that's the problem. The U.S. has come to rely on them so heavily, in such a short period of time, that the government has come under fire for not managing them adequately. Even among the eight-member team that makes up the Wartime Contracting Commission, a congressionally mandated effort to review the contracting process in Iraq and Afghanistan, the question of whether the United States needs the contractors isn't even an issue. The issue, rather, is how well the government is managing this massive support force called up in the immediate aftermath of the war in Iraq. In its interim report released this month, the Commission found that "neither the military nor the federal civilian acquisition workforces have expanded to keep pace with recent years' enormous growth in the number and value of contingency contracts." The report also said, "the government still lacks clear standards and policy on inherently governmental functions. The decision has immediate salience given the decisions to use contractors in armed-security and life-support tasks for military units." One of the biggest nightmares for legislators is that the force that has grown into such a critical modern-day military support structure was for a long time operating in a legal gray zone with no clear avenue of justice should something unsavory occur. That has led to some tough work for both prosecutors and the FBI, as they take on the task of investigating allegations of wrongdoing by contractors overseas. Doug Brooks, head of the IPOA, an industry-friendly voluntary organization made up of 62 companies, spends much of his time doing outreach and making sure member companies measure up to the internal standards. "We have the power to kick people out of the association," Brooks said, but that's about where it ends. They can't prosecute anyone.  But to say that there has been no progress on the legal front wouldn't be fair. Legislation has been passed that essentially holds contractors accountable for their actions under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, but with everything in this business, there was a hang-up with that, too.  The legislation was written to cover contractors

Question: What is the issue?

Question: who has garnered unwanted attention over the past few years?

Question: Where does Xe do business?

Question: Where does Xe do a great deal of business?

Question: What does the U.S. rely heavily on?

Answer: how well the government is managing this massive support force called up in the immediate aftermath of the war in Iraq.

Answer: Blackwater, now called Xe

Answer: in Afghanistan,

Answer: Afghanistan,

Answer: private contractors.

Summary:
Blackwater, now Xe, has garnered unwanted attention over the past few years .
Though kicked out of Iraq, Xe does a great deal of business in Afghanistan .
Bottom line: U.S. relies heavily on private military contractors .
The issue is how well U.S. government manages this support force .


Editor's note: CNN has asked its journalists across the country to offer their thoughts on how the economic crisis is affecting their cities. In this installment, All Platform Journalist Jim Spellman reports from Denver, Colorado.

Hari Dallakoti says business at his UPS store in Denver, Colorado, is down 25 percent.

DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- The conventional wisdom here in the Mile High City is that Denver entered the recession early and is pulling out of it ahead of the rest of the country.

Time and again I have heard politicians, journalists and business people tell me that it isn't so bad here, that Denver is poised to lead the nation in an economic recovery. Maybe, but the signs on the ground are a little harder to read.

Down on Broadway I stop by a UPS store a couple of times a week. The owner's name is Hari Dallakoti.

Dallakoti always has a smile on his face and seems to know all his customers by name -- he was calling out to me by the second time I entered the shop. People drop by to ship out packages, make copies and pick up deliveries.

There is always a crowd when I have been in, but Dallakoti tells me business is down 25 percent this month versus the same time last year.

"Finally it's hitting in this area, and I believe that people are afraid of spending money," he says. "It's like a ripple effect, and I think I am feeling it now."

Dallakoti says customers who once sent birthday presents across the country are now only sending cards. Also, eBay-related shipping is down, and he has seen a falloff in people sending mortgage-related documents. He has five employees and says he hasn't had to let anyone go, but he has had to cut back their hours.

He agrees that business is better in Denver than in other parts of the country and is confident he will weather the economic storm, but it may be a while before things get better for him.

"In my opinion it's going to get worse for the next couple, three months, and I'm hoping it will turn around after June," he says.  Watch how the downturn is affecting Denver Â»

A block up Broadway is a little guitar store called Music Gear Guys. I play guitar, and this was one of the first businesses I stopped by when I moved to Denver in January. I have been in the shop four or five times and have been surprised that every time I drop by, the place is packed.

"The recession affected us a little last year but overall -- knock on wood -- it hasn't really affected me too much," says owner Gregory Decker, who thinks the recession may actually be helping his business.

"I have a feeling that people are looking for hobbies or different forms of entertainment that aren't too expensive," Decker explains. His store is crowded with new and used guitars, amplifiers and accessories.

He says guitars based on designs from the 1960s are the hot items in the store. Like Dallakoti, the UPS store owner, Decker seems to know all of his customers by name. He says that in this economy you have to focus on customer service to stand a chance. He doesn't advertise, instead relying on word of mouth, and keeps overhead low: He is the sole employee.

"Relationships are what make my business thrive. Without them I wouldn't be as successful," he says.

But even here in a relatively successful small business there are signs of the hard times other people have been experiencing. Beginning last year more customers started coming in to sell Decker their guitars in hopes of making ends meet.

"A lot of people are selling their gear due to job layoffs and needed the money," he says.

The recession started with free-falling housing values and, in this respect, the signs are harder to read.

Over the weekend I took my dog for a walk through my neighborhood near Sloans Lake

Question: How is the UPS store owner's business doing?

Question: What is one nickname for the city of Denver?

Question: What are people selling to obtain money?

Question: By how much is business down?

Question: What is the Mile High City?

Question: Who is the CNN journalist reporting in Denver?

Question: The owner of what store says business is down 25%?

Question: What were people in Denver selling to make money?

Question: The CNN journalist weighs in on how what affects the city?

Question: Who said that their business was down at least 25 percent?

Answer: is down 25 percent.

Answer: Mile High

Answer: their guitars

Answer: 25 percent.

Answer: Denver

Answer: Jim Spellman

Answer: UPS

Answer: their guitars

Answer: economic

Answer: Hari Dallakoti says

Summary:
Hardware store owner in Boston slams "negative story after negative story"
Worker laid off twice in two months says he's trying to stay positive .
Layoff also brings on feelings of rejection, worker says .
Gallery owner says business is down but not "devastating"


Editor's note: CNN has asked its journalists across the country to offer their thoughts on how the economic crisis is affecting their cities. In this installment, All Platform Journalist John Couwels reports from Orlando, Florida.

Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, has announced that it will lay off employees.

ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- Orlando: What first comes to mind? Walt Disney World or Universal resorts, perhaps? The two parks are the nation's biggest tourist draws.

As a new resident of Orlando, I find that the tourist areas are more removed from the city than I thought. Still, some people in the area where I currently live either work or have business dealings at tourist attractions.

As with every city in the United States, Orlando is dealing with the fallout of an economic slowdown. Tourism officials expect an 8 percent to 10 percent drop in tourism dollars for 2009.

Nonetheless, during a recent visit to Disney's Magic Kingdom with my family, I experienced a packed park. My first visit in 10 years: The park did not seem any different except for the $129 I paid for a six-month Florida resident pass.

Disney World recently announced a major loss in income and that layoffs are expected. Sources within Disney say the layoffs could begin this week. Disney will not say how many people will be eliminated while it restructures and consolidates operations.

I have not heard panic among businesses and city officials over the Disney announcement, despite the fact Disney World says it is the biggest single-site employer in the United States with 62,000. Disney spokesman Mike Griffin said: "We are bigger than the Pentagon."

Disney told me cuts would be significant, affecting back office workers. Griffin said guests visiting the parks would not see any difference.

Danielle Courtney, spokeswoman of the Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said she was sure that "Disney will provide a value experience for their guests." But she said Disney is doing what every other business is doing: cutting costs.

Orlando's economic and development director, Bill Billingsley, said the city has not lost a significant amount of jobs. Billingsley is concerned about the Disney layoffs but optimistic on the limited effect on the city's economic health.

From the big corporations to the funky little tea and sandwich shop east of downtown, businesses are feeling the pinch.

The owner of Pom Pom's Teahouse and Sandwicheria was telling my friend how she had to cut everyone's hours to part time to save on expenses. The store has been open since 2006.

Owner Pom Moongauklang, a trained pastry chef, told me she's doing whatever it takes to stay open. Pom cut her four employees' hours instead of their jobs, lowered prices and extended hours to 24 hours on the weekends.

Pom said of the 60- to 70-hour work week: "It's killing me, but it's working."

Along the epicenter of tourist hotels, restaurants and T-shirt shops, International Drive business owners say they are hurting.

Aby Aly, owner of a gift shop selling goods from T-shirts to plush dolls, said that "business is off by 35 percent, and people are not buying."

As I drive around town, I do not see a large number of closed-down stores. Like other cities, Orlando has seen big national chain closures like Linen-N-Things and Circuit City. Yet at two of the area's outlet malls, you would never know there is an economic crisis. I waited 10 minutes in line to enter the parking lot.

In the suburbs where foreclosures are their highest, more businesses have closed their doors. As I looked for a house to rent I was surprised how a one-bedroom condo in downtown was the same price as a four-bedroom house only five miles away.

Real estate agent Sue Bee Laginess said the city has a glut of homes and condominiums for sale or rent. She said her office has seen business double from four months ago because of the low prices.

The agent said owners

Question: What does resort mecca Orlando, Florida feel the pinch of?

Question: What is Disney World doing?

Question: Who will have to lay off employees?

Question: What does Disney have to do?

Answer: economic slowdown.

Answer: cutting costs.

Answer: Walt Disney World

Answer: cutting costs.


Editor's note: CNN has asked its journalists across the country to offer their thoughts on how the economic crisis is affecting their cities. In this installment, Bob Crowley reports from Boston, Massachusetts.

Hardware store owner Brendan Kenney says "people who have money should go out and spend it."

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Brendan Kenney has seen enough bad news about the economy.

"I'm also getting tired of being worried," he says.

His family has been running a small hardware store in Brookline, Massachusetts, just outside Boston, for about 56 years. He says business has slowed down a little, but mostly because winter is normally the slow time of year for them.

Though he hopes the stimulus plan will help his and other small businesses, he believes people shouldn't be afraid.

"I think the American consumer holds a lot of power," he continues. "I think people who have money should go out and spend it."

Like many in the Boston area, Kenney doesn't want to hear more discouraging stories and sees that as part of the problem.

"It's just negative story after negative story, kind of creating a crisis of confidence."  Watch Boston-area reaction to the economic slump Â»

South of Boston, Jose Nieto, from Plainville, has his own reasons to be discouraged. Between September and October of last year, he was laid off twice.

Nieto, a civil engineer who works on road construction projects, had felt fortunate. After losing his job of 14 years, he was able to find employment after only being out of work for two weeks.

After being on the new job for three weeks, however, he got called into the boss's office.

"I said, 'Oh, no. My God, not again.'" He was faced with looking for work in an industry that traditionally slows down in the winter months.

"It's more than losing your job. It gives you a feeling of rejection," he says. Yet, Nieto feels this is a time to learn valuable lessons, especially for those who need to dip into their savings when unemployment checks don't cover all of the bills.

"I think a lot of people will learn from this situation, and, going forward, they'll try to save more money."

He has been trying to stay healthy, busy and positive. Passing the time working on projects in his basement workshop and taking yoga classes has helped him get through the rough spots, and his luck is turning. He was offered a job that starts in March.

"It is a relief, because I'm employed," he says, "however, I'm taking a job for much less money."

Nieto believes that most employers cannot afford to hire at the salaries they could offer in the past.

Like Kenney's hardware store, Sue Stein's American craft gallery, also in Brookline, is not seeing any major shifts in her business, yet.

"Our business has been certainly down, but not devastating," she says.

Fire Opal, her gallery, sells everything from earrings to pottery to scarves, all made by artists from around the country.

To keep her business healthy, she says, she is trying to make adjustments like buying less merchandise. But she is changing her approach to her customers as well.

She says she tries to keep "understanding that people are having a hard time and trying to find things that are more in their price range."

Like Kenney and Nieto, Stein is also trying to stay optimistic.

"I think if we all are very careful," she says, "we'll sort of ride it out and then things will adjust."

Question: What did the hardware store owner say?

Question: What city is the store owner from?

Question: What did the gallery owner say?

Question: How many times was the worker laid off who is trying to remain positive?

Question: Who is trying to stay positive?

Question: Number of times that worker had been laid off in two months?

Question: What does layoff also bring?

Question: What does the Gallery owner say?

Question: How many times was the worker laid off?

Answer: "people who have money should go out and spend it."

Answer: Brookline,

Answer: "people who have money should go out and spend it."

Answer: twice.

Answer: Nieto

Answer: twice.

Answer: feeling of rejection,"

Answer: "people who have money should go out and spend it."

Answer: twice.


Editor's note: CNN writer Alan Duke has had two small voice-only roles in Tyler Perry's TV series, "House of Payne," which airs on CNN's sister network TBS. He has had no relationship with Perry beyond observing him on set.

Tyler Perry stars in "Madea Goes to Jail," which is due out Friday. Perry is trying to expand his reach to Europe.

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Tyler Perry wants to take his character Madea to Europe, but he's been told that audiences there won't relate to his stories about African-American lives.  The films have made nearly $300 million at U.S. box offices.

The challenge to conquer Europe has "sat in my spirit," Perry wrote in a newsletter to his fans.

Perry, who just a few years ago was homeless and broke, has made a fortune proving naysayers and critics wrong with a successful string of low-budget movies based on his Christian-themed stage plays.

"I was once told [by] someone that my movies only appeal to black people and no one else," Perry wrote. "Now, I know that's not true."

When his first movie -- "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" -- debuted in 2005, people who had seen his stage plays in person or on DVD flocked to theaters, making it the week's top movie with almost $22 million in ticket sales.

Critics, who consistently pan Perry's productions, were confounded.

"They think I don't know what I am doing," he said in a CNN interview. "They think that this is all haphazard, that I am some sort of idiot or something."  Watch Perry sound off on "Madea" and other topics »

Perry said he does not write to please the critics, but for a broad audience of all ages.

With six films already out and a seventh -- "Madea Goes To Jail" -- coming soon, Perry has never made a box office flop. His movies average nearly $22 million on opening weekends and almost $47 million in total domestic sales.

"Tyler Perry has a definite and growing fan base in this country and it's simply a matter of, can he create and grow a fan base in other countries," said independent producer Alex Franklin.

Franklin -- a former development executive at Lionsgate, the film company that distributes Perry's films in the United States -- was the first person at that studio to read his script for "Diary of a Mad Black Woman."

He agrees that Perry's movies should sell in Europe, but he said there is a tendency by distributors there to avoid films about African-Americans and films without major American stars who are well-known in Europe.

While Perry's casts have included Angela Bassett, Janet Jackson and Kathy Bates, many of his characters, including Madea, come from his stage plays, which are known only to a mostly black American audience.

But David Mann -- who is "Mr. Brown" in Perry's productions -- said he has seen the audience broaden since the early years of the stage plays.

"I can recall when we first started, I would say 90 to 95 percent of the audience would be African-American," Mann said. "But now, you look out there and it's like, 'Wow! It's just a rainbow.' "

Perry, in his message to fans, said he sees his stories as universal.

"I know that even though I write from an African-American experience and most of the time I have an all-African-American cast, that doesn't mean that other people from other walks of life can't relate," he said. "I think that any human being who goes through what we all go through can relate to my films.

"I know and remember that when I'm writing," he continued. "But when this person said that to me, they also said Europeans would never relate, and

Question: Where is Tyler Perry hoping to market his films?

Question: When is Perry's next film out?

Question: When will his latest film be released?

Question: Where are Perry's films seen?

Answer: Europe.

Answer: Friday.

Answer: Friday.

Answer: CNN's sister network TBS.

Summary:
Tyler Perry hoping to find market for his films in Europe .
Perry has already overcome obstacles to get his films seen in America .
Latest Perry film, "Madea Goes to Jail," is out Friday .


Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com. (CareerBuilder.com)  -- If you love the nightlife, and, perhaps more importantly, you like to boogie, why wait until the weekend? If you thrive on meeting new people and being in-the-know about the latest events and products, with the right training and experience, you could get paid to play. Check out five jobs that let you do just that: Media Specialists What they do: Media specialists serve as advocates for professional organizations or individuals by developing plans to establish or build a client's public reputation. They send out press releases and maintain relationships with members of the media to keep the public informed about their clients' activities. Why they party: They are often called to arrange and make appearances at public events to maintain contact between their clients and the public, so depending on the client, these events could be everything from political rallies to swanky product launch parties. How to break in: Media specialists often hold degrees in public relations and start their careers as interns. Jobs often come through networking and making industry contacts through public relations and media organizations. What they get paid: $86,292 (average annual salary) Radio/TV Announcers What they do: Radio or television announcers' jobs can range from interviewing guests to moderating panels to providing commentary for occasions such as parades and sporting events. Why they party: Well-known among radio and television audiences, announcers are often called on to make promotional appearances at public events. They could be at a neighborhood music festival one day and the launch of a trendy new bar the next. How to break in: Because competition for network employment is intense and employers look for college graduates with extensive experience, many announcers start at stations in small cities before advancing to a job that reaches a larger market. What they get paid: $35, 755 (average annual salary) Event Photographers What they do: Photographers produce and preserve images that paint a picture, tell a story, or record an event. Why they party: Shooting on location can mean exclusive invitations to wedding receptions, parties, galas, fundraisers, and all sorts of celebrations where music, food, and the occasional, responsibly-handled drink are plentiful. How to break in: Building a good portfolio is essential to landing jobs in this field. If you don't have a degree in photography, take some classes and try to land a job as a photographer's assistant. Many photographers develop contacts in the field by subscribing to photographic newsletters and joining camera clubs. What it pays: $27,850 (average annual salary) Social Columnists What they do: Social columnists gather information to write about local, state, national and international social happenings and report on the actions of noteworthy public figures at these events. Why they party: Like photographers, these members of the media also get exclusive access to fabulous parties and social celebrations. How to break in: Like many of these jobs, columnists often start small as general assignment reporters or copy editors at smaller newspapers before working their way up. What it pays: $44,419 (average annual salary) Promotion Models What they do: Promotional models help create public interest in buying products such as clothing, cosmetics, food items and housewares. They answer questions and provide product information to potential consumers. Why they party: Demonstrations and product promotions are conducted in places that the products are most likely to sell, which can mean appearances at clubs, premiere parties and festivals if the product is right. How to break in: Oftentimes, good communications skills, an outgoing personality and pleasant appearance trump education and experience when it comes to getting hired. What it pays: $23,104 (average annual salary) E-mail to a friend

Question: Where are media specialists often found?

Question: For what reason are media specialists at public events?

Question: What do social columnists get?

Question: Who gets exclusive access to parties and celebrations?

Answer: networking and making industry contacts through public relations and

Answer: serve as advocates

Answer: $44,419 (average annual salary)

Answer: Social Columnists

Summary:
One high-profile film producer has fired hundreds of personal assistants .
Naomi Campbell's treatment of her employees has landed her in court .
And would you really want to answer to Simon Cowell or Al Capone?


Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com. Although this is a challenging market for new grads, remember: Attitude can be the key to your success. Nate Torvik has mixed feelings about his upcoming graduation from Purdue University. While there's relief that classes are over, exams have been taken and term papers turned in, what lies ahead is an extremely challenging and competitive job market. "I feel like the wind has been taken out of my sails," says Torvik, who received a bachelor's degree in mass communication. "There is so much pride and happiness that comes with graduation, but as soon as I step off that stage at graduation, I become another statistic of the current miserable economy." Torvik is one of thousands of soon-to-be college graduates thinking about relocating for work this spring. While choosing the best place to settle down can be a daunting decision, the current economic climate has raised the stakes. "I have been looking just about everywhere throughout the Midwest for a job because I do not want to be too far away from my family, but things are looking more bleak everywhere I turn," Torvik says. For now, he's working in retail and hopes it might open other doors to a job as an account executive at a marketing or advertising firm. Allison Lackey is one of the lucky ones ... for now. She is graduating with a communications degree from Millikin University and starts a ten-month stint as a traveling field consultant for Delta Delta Delta women's fraternity. After that, she hopes to find a position as a marketing or PR specialist for a nonprofit organization. "In a way, I am grateful to be searching for a job in this tough economy," Lackey says. "It has forced me to become comfortable with being able to articulate why I am the best candidate for the job and it has also forced me to learn how to network well with people in my field." Top cities for new grads While many new grads tend to look for jobs near their college or hometowns, scores of them are considering locations they might not have when they entered school four or five years ago. "Given the current economy, new grads looking to relocate are becoming increasingly concerned with the cost of living as they are faced with more competition for jobs than seen in previous years," said Tammy Kotula, public relations and promotions manager at Apartments.com. "With these very real concerns weighing on the minds of many, two leading online resources for apartments and jobs have come together to paint a realistic landscape of both the job market and cost of living in the most popular cities for young adults after college." For new grads who plan to expand their job searches beyond their college or hometowns, Apartments.com and CBcampus.com just released the "Top 10 Best Cities for Recent College Graduates." The list is based on the ranking of the top U.S. cities with the highest concentration of young adults (age 20 -- 24) from the U.S. Census Bureau (2006), inventory of jobs requiring less than one year of experience from CBcampus.com (2009) and the average cost of rent for a one bedroom apartment from Apartments.com (2009). According to Apartments.com and CBcampus.com, the top 10 cities for new grads are: 1. Indianapolis Average rent:* $625 Popular entry-level categories:** sales, customer service, health care 2. Philadelphia Average rent: $1,034 Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, management 3. Baltimore Average rent: $1,130 Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, health care 4. Cincinnati Average rent: $691 Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, health care 5. Cleveland Average rent: $686 Popular entry-level categories: sales, marketing, customer service 6. New York Average rent: $1,548 Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, admin-clerical

Question: Which websites release list of best cities for recent college grads?

Question: What has raised the stakes in choosing a place to settle down?

Question: What has the current economic climate done?

Question: Which cities top the list for best cities?

Question: What has raised the stakes in choosing were to settle down?

Question: Which cities top the best cities for college grads list?

Question: Where are there lists for the best ciites for recent college grads?

Question: Who released the top cities for college grads?

Answer: CBcampus.com

Answer: the current economic climate

Answer: raised the stakes.

Answer: Cleveland

Answer: the current economic climate

Answer: Cleveland

Answer: Apartments.com and CBcampus.com

Answer: Apartments.com and CBcampus.com,


Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com. If you've rewritten that résumé several times and sent out dozens of applications but your job search still shows no promise, you might not be the problem. One frequently overlooked but critical factor in finding a new job is your state's unemployment rate. You can have the experience and skills of an employer's dream, but they won't do you any good if there just aren't enough jobs available. The unemployment rate is the percentage of job seekers in the work force who are still looking for work. The higher the percentage, the more difficult it is to find a job. The national unemployment rate is 5 percent, based on the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). If you're looking for a job, you should see how your state compares to the rest of the country. Here are the 10 worst states to find work ranked by their unemployment rates. 1. Michigan Unemployment rate: 7.6 percent Population: 10,071,822 Mean annual wage: $41,230 Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (18.4 percent)*** 2. Mississippi Unemployment rate: 6.8 percent Population: 2,918,785 Mean annual wage: $30,460 Top industry: Government (21.2 percent) 3. South Carolina Unemployment rate: 6.6 percent Population: 4,407,709 Mean annual wage: $33,400 Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (19.4 percent) 4. Alaska Unemployment rate: 6.5 percent Population: 683,478 Mean annual wage: $43,920 Top industry: Government (25.9 percent) 5. California Unemployment rate: 6.1 percent Population: 36,553,215 Mean annual wage: $44,180 Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (18.9 percent) 6. District of Columbia Unemployment rate: 6.1 percent Population: 588,292 Mean annual wage: $61,500 Top industry: Government (33.3 percent) 7. Ohio Unemployment rate: 6 percent Population: 11,466,917 Mean annual wage: $37,360 Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (19.3 percent) 8. Arkansas Unemployment rate: 5.9 percent Population: 2,834,797 Mean annual wage: $30,870 Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (20.6 percent) 9. Nevada Unemployment rate: 5.8 percent Population: 2,565,382 Mean annual wage: $36,000 Top industry: Leisure and hospitality (26.5 percent) 10. Kentucky Unemployment rate: 5.7 percent Population: 4,241,474 Mean annual wage: $33,490 Top industry: Trade, transportation and utilities (20.4 percent) *Unemployment rates, mean annual wages and industry percentages obtained from BLS in January 2008. Percentages based on nonfarm payrolls, seasonally adjusted. **Population figures based on U.S. Census Bureau data. ***Top industries are those that employ the largest percentage of a state's labor force. E-mail to a friend

Question: What is Alaska's top industry?

Question: who have highest rates?

Question: Which states have the highest unemployment rates?

Question: which is Alaska's top industry?

Question: What can high unemployment rats do?

Answer: Government

Answer: Michigan

Answer: Mississippi

Answer: Government

Answer: more difficult it is to find a job.


Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com. If you've rolled up your sleeves and gotten experience, tell potential employers when applying for a job. Talk to a dozen students on any college campus and you're likely to hear a dozen different perspectives on what they hope to get out of college. Some want high GPAs; some want to get into the work force and earn a lot of money. Ask their parents and you'll get just as many different answers. Some parents hope that their children earn their degree and have an easy time finding a job. Others want them to be at the top of the class so they can get into the best graduate school possible. And some just want their children to stop partying long enough to attend class once in a while. Ask employers what they want from graduates and the answers are equally diverse. Depending on the job, you might need a degree and an internship, a degree and work experience, or the right connections to even land an interview. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 39 million Americans over the age of 18 have a bachelor's degree. Considering that 281 million people live in the country, college graduates are still a small percentage of the population. Still, with a number in the millions, you are competing with a lot of job seekers who also have the same educational background as you. Relying only on your bachelor's to land a job is not the safest route to employment. As with most things, it's all in the presentation. Degree or not, presentation matters Sue Chehrenegar studied biology as an undergraduate and biomedical research as a graduate student. During her job search, she found herself losing out on job opportunities because she lacked the proper experience, despite her education. Or so she thought. "At the end of the 1980s, I spent more than one year looking for a job," she remembers. "I kept getting this question: 'Have you done anything in the area of molecular biology?'" She would tell employers that she didn't have the proper experience because she wasn't specifically trained for that. "I did not mention the fact that I once assisted a graduate student who was putting DNA and RNA into cultured cells." What does that mean in layman's terms? Because her specialization and the bulk of her experience was not in this particular field, she didn't consider the limited work with the graduate student worth mentioning. She later realized employers weren't looking for someone to be the ultimate authority on the subject; they wanted someone who had a broad range of knowledge. "I realized my mistake more than two years after I got a job," Chehrenegar remembers. "My first year I worked in an infectious disease lab. Later, they put me in a molecular biology lab. When I helped with one of the projects in that lab, I realized that my old, unmentioned experience related to what I was doing at that time." A degree isn't useless Sure, if you're applying for a job with bio- as a prefix, you know a degree is a requirement. But for less research-intensive jobs, you might think a degree can always be supplanted by enough experience. Depending on your occupation, that could be true but isn't a hard and fast rule for all positions. For example, you might be able to find work at a museum, but you the odds of you transitioning into a curator can be extremely difficult without extensive education in art history and related courses. You could find that you hit a ceiling in an organization. Although this bodes well for graduates who come armed with one or more degrees, it also means that workers in this industry have the opportunity to earn an education while they ascend the corporate ladder. In some cases, the combination of their experience and a recently awarded degree could be more impressive if you've relied on your degree and haven't diversified your experience.

Question: What's just as important as your degree?

Question: how many Americans have a Bachelor's Degree?

Question: What can be just as important as your degree?

Question: How many Americans have bachelor's degrees?

Answer: presentation matters

Answer: nearly 39 million

Answer: presentation

Answer: 39 million


Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com. When Twitter asks "What are you doing," maybe you should be following tweets on job advice. When microblogging and social networking site Twitter debuted three years ago, plenty of people wrote it off as yet another pointless addition in the overcrowded networking world. Considering the site only allows people to post, or Tweet, messages of 140 characters or less, you can't blame early skeptics. But little by little, users proved the site's worth to nonbelievers. Last year, student James Karl Buck was traveling in Egypt and wound up in jail. He Tweeted "arrested" to notify his friends of what was going on and ultimately get out of jail. During the 2008 presidential election, candidates reached out to voters using the service. When a plane crashed into the Hudson River in January, a Twitter user posted the first photograph from the scene. Although we're in the nascent stage of Twitter's existence and therefore have no idea how long it will be around, we do know it has more growing to do. If you're not yet certain you want to start posting your own daily activities for everyone to read, you can still use the service as a resource for tips on finding a job and keeping up with industry news. Job seekers can follow people who will make your job search process easier, from the interviewing stage to the salary negotiations. I follow many people whom I think give great advice, post informative articles and know what they're talking about. Seeing as the Twitter feed refreshes constantly so that I see new posts instantly, it's like having a scrolling news ticker about only the subjects I want to read. I suggest you do the same to improve your job search. Here are the 10 job Tweeters you should be following. @adriennewaldo About the author: Adrienne Waldo, a New York-based writer, consultant and blogger, made a name for herself when she began blogging about Generation Y. Why you should follow her: Waldo, a Generation Y-er herself, offers advice as someone who's in the same shoes as many of her equally young Twitter followers, but she also uses her experience to let followers know what employers are thinking. @AlisonDoyle About the author: Alison Doyle regularly writes articles on job-seeking issues, ranging from interview advice to using social media appropriately. Why you should follow her: She's prolific, so you always have something to read, and she knows her stuff. @AnitaBruzzese About the author: Anita Bruzzese is the author of "45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy" and also writes a workplace blog full of tips and advice for employees. Why you should follow her: She lets you know when she's updated her blog, which is full of helpful advice. She also shares quirky, sometimes off-topic links that lighten the day's mood. @CAREEREALISM About the authors: Careerealism.com founder J.T. O'Donnell and a group of job experts let you know when they've posted new advice for job seekers. They also respond to job seekers with career questions -- in 140 characters or less, of course. Why you should follow them: As a follower, you get to read advice from several experts who know what they're talking about and give their own perspectives. @careerdiva About the author: Eve Tahmincioglu blogs, publishes articles and Tweets on career issues. Why you should follow her: Her advice is excellent and she often brings up issues you might not have otherwise considered. @CBforJobSeekers About the authors: CareerBuilder's team of experts writes for the job seeking blog TheWorkBuzz.com and workplace articles, such as the one you're reading right now. Why you should follow them: The team's Tweets are a mix of tips, news stories, helpful articles and blog posts to keep you informed of what's going on in the world of job seekers. @heatherhuhman About the author: Heather Huhman is an expert

Question: What is becoming a good career tool?

Question: What is becoming a good tool to use for your career?

Question: What is also posted?

Answer: Twitter

Answer: CareerBuilder.com,

Answer: first photograph


Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com. With money a bit tight these days, many people searching for jobs would like a salary of $80,000 a year. (CareerBuilder.com) -- Let's be honest: Sometimes you don't care about the job -- you just care about the salary. But it's awfully hard to look for a job that fits both your salary requirements and your skill set. Not to mention that we always tell you that your work and career should be something you love. Ideally, money is just an added benefit. That being said, we're also realists. We know that times are tough and at this point, some people just need to get paid. We went to the Bureau of Labor Statistics to look at the latest (May 2008) salary information for the United States and found 30 occupations pay in the $80,000 range based on national averages. 1. Administrative law judges, adjudicators and hearing officers Do this: Conduct hearings to rule on government-related claims; determine penalties and liability; and help to craft settlements. Get paid: $80,870 2. Biomedical engineers Do this: Design and develop devices and procedures to help solve health-related problems. Projects might include information systems, artificial organs or artificial limbs. Get paid: $81,120 3. Chiropractors Do this: Diagnose and treat musculoskeletal conditions of the spinal column to prevent disease and alleviate imbalance, pain and pressure believed to be caused by interference with nervous system. Get paid: $81,340 4. Atmospheric, earth, marine and space sciences teachers, post-secondary Do this: Teach courses and research topics in the physical sciences, except chemistry and physics. Get paid: $81,470 5. Agents and business managers of artists, performers and athletes Do this: Represent and promote their client's business while handling business matters and contract negotiations. Get paid: $81,550 6. Materials scientists Do this: Study the chemical composition of various materials and figure out ways to develop new materials and improve existing ones; also determine ways to use materials in products. Get paid: $81,600 7. Physician assistants Do this: Perform health-care services and provide treatment plans under a physician's supervision. Get paid: $81,610 8. Medical scientists, except epidemiologists Do this: Research and investigate human diseases and how to improve human health. Get paid: $81,870 9. Physics teachers, post-secondary Do this: Teach courses and research topics pertaining to the laws of matter and energy. Get paid: $81,880 10. Atmospheric and space scientists Do this: Study the effects the atmosphere has on the environment, most commonly through weather forecasting. Get paid: $82,080 11. Management analysts Do this: Figure out best practices of management by conducting studies and procedures to help companies figure out how to operate more effectively. Get paid: $82,920 12. Producers and directors Do this: Produce or direct, and make all creative decisions for stage, television, radio, video or motion picture productions. Get paid: $83,030 13. Biological science teachers, post-secondary Do this: Teach courses and research topics in biological sciences. Get paid: $83,270 14. Materials engineers Do this: Develop new uses for recognized materials, and develop new machinery and processes to make materials for use in specialized products. Get paid: $84,200 15. Transportation, storage and distribution managers Do this: Oversee transportation, storage or distribution activities in accordance with governmental policies and regulations. Get paid: $84,520 16. Financial analysts Do this: Assess the financial situations of an individual or organization. Get paid: $84,780 17. Electrical engineers Do this: Design, develop and test the manufacturing and installation of electrical equipment. Get paid: $85,350 18. Education administrators, elementary and secondary school Do this: Oversee all activities of public or private elementary or secondary schools. Get paid: $86,060 19. Industrial-organizational psychologists

Question: The 2008 report lists dozens of jobs paying at least what?

Question: What year was the report created?

Question: Which orgranization created the report?

Question: How much can physics and post-secondary biology teachers earn?

Question: What year is the Bureau of Labor Statistics report?

Question: how much do physics teachers earn

Question: how much Physics and post-secondary biology teachers can earn?

Question: how many jobs are listed that pay at least 80,000

Answer: $80,000 a year.

Answer: (May 2008)

Answer: CareerBuilder.com,

Answer: $81,880

Answer: (May 2008)

Answer: $81,880

Answer: $81,880

Answer: 30 occupations


Editor's note: CNN.com has a business partnership with CareerBuilder.com, which serves as the exclusive provider of job listings and services to CNN.com. You may think you have the worst boss in the Western Hemisphere, but if you've never had to dodge a cell phone, been fired over a breakfast pastry or had your work referred to as "a complete and utter mess," you probably have it better than you realize. Consider the following celebrities, whose poor underlings withstood verbal and sometimes physical abuse and lived to tell about it: Scott Rudin The high-profile film producer, whose film credits include "The Queen," "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "The Firm," is infamous for his hot temper and verbal rants. The Wall Street Journal once claimed he has fired 250 personal assistants, sometimes for offenses as minor as bringing him the wrong breakfast muffin. (Rudin claimed the actual number is closer to 120; however, he wasn't counting those who didn't survive his grueling two-week trial period.) Despite Rudin's reputation, however, being his personal assistant remains one of the most coveted jobs among wannabe movie moguls. Naomi Campbell Campbell is to her employees what fireworks are to the average person: If not handled carefully, she may cause bodily harm. In early 2007, the British supermodel pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for hitting her housekeeper with a cell phone over a pair of missing jeans. Campbell insisted the incident was an accident, but a history of similar events -- including a 2000 guilty plea for assaulting a personal assistant on a movie set in 1998 -- indicates otherwise. Simon Cowell It's no secret that the mastermind behind "American Idol" has notoriously high standards, nor does he apologize for them. In fact, Cowell, who is known for finding new and creative ways to insult everyone from contestants to "Idol" host Ryan Seacrest, seems to relish his reputation as the judge everyone loves to hate. And why not? After all, it is his famously prickly personality that has helped make him a household name. Al Capone Alphonse "Al" Capone's name is synonymous with organized crime. He was as well-known for his involvement in illegal gambling, bootlegging and prostitution as for his brutality. His own men were behind 1929's infamous "St. Valentine's Day Massacre." In 1931, Capone finally went to prison for income tax evasion and was released -- ironically, for good behavior -- after serving eight years in federal prisons. Afterward, Capone retired to his estate in Florida, where he died in 1947 of heart failure. Leona Helmsley The recently-deceased Manhattan hotelier will go down in history as the "Queen of Mean," a nickname she earned as a result of her erratic behavior and hasty firing of employees. After serving time for tax evasion in 1989 ("Only the little people pay taxes," was her infamous defense), Helmsley again brushed with the law in 2004 when a court ordered her to pay a former landscaper for breach of contract (Helmsley had abruptly fired the man after finding out he was gay). Gordon Ramsay The hot-tempered (pun intended) host of "Hell's Kitchen" could give Simon Cowell a run for his money as the cruelest judge on TV. Neither holds back when it comes to doling out criticism, but Ramsay steps it up a notch with slightly more colorful language. In fact, his fondness for four-letter words is matched only by Cowell's fondness for tight black T-shirts. E-mail to a friend

Question: What super model is named in this article?

Question: Who might you not want to answer to?

Question: What is the reason Naomi was in court for?

Question: Who fired hundreds of personal assistants?

Question: Who had to go to court?

Answer: Naomi Campbell

Answer: Naomi Campbell

Answer: misdemeanor assault

Answer: Scott Rudin

Answer: Naomi Campbell


Editor's note: CNN.com's Wayne Drash writes about his maniacal love for University of Memphis basketball. Memphis, North Carolina, UCLA and Kansas play in the Final Four this weekend. Drash says the Memphis team can help heal the city's old wounds. CNN.com's Wayne Drash, left, says he's been hooked on University of Memphis basketball since he was a kid. ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- My love for University of Memphis basketball is completely irrational. I never went to school there and have no affiliation with the university. But I bleed Tiger blue. My dad used to take my brothers and me to Memphis games as a kid, and I've been hooked ever since. We once bought tickets from a scalper for six bucks apiece against arch-rival the University of Louisville in the 1980s. My dad complained we paid too much. But then we moved in seventh grade. I became an even bigger fan after we left the city. I'd huddle over my AM radio, hooked up with a coat hanger wrapped in aluminum foil as an antenna. More than 350 miles away, I managed to pick up the then-Memphis State games through the crackle and static of the radio. Memphis basketball was my only way to remain connected to my youth and the city that I loved. That was 1985, the last time Memphis made the Final Four. Is your team in the Final Four? Send your iReport celebratory photos Back then, Memphis was led by a phenom named Keith Lee. He was best known for a sweet baseline jumper as soft as the nylon nets he swished. He was also known for his giant Afro. He was listed as 6 feet 10 inches. The joke was if you included his wild hairdo, he was 7-4. When my parents were away at work, sometimes I'd sneak into my mom's cabinet, steal her mousse and then put it in my hair. Then this white kid would go out back and shoot hoops for hours, hair sticking straight out like I stuck my finger in a socket. It was the only way I could be like Lee, my hero and idol. Back then, Memphians would rank Lee right up there with Elvis Presley as the city's most popular icons. Many still do. And that's the thing about Tiger basketball. In a place where race has often divided so much of it, Memphis basketball has helped unite the city. As a boy, white and black kids would crowd the basketball court at Tiger games to try to snatch the players' sweatbands as they raced into the locker room. Up until I graduated from high school, the sweatbands of Phillip "Doom" Haynes and Baskerville "Batman" Holmes sat on my shelf in my room. Like a fan of any team, there have been good and bad times over the years. But sometimes the pain of being a Tiger fan is that much greater. Tragedy and heartbreak are part of it, such as  when Holmes killed his girlfriend and then himself in 1997. Other players, such as Aaron Price and A. Maceo Battle, have died far too young along the way, furthering the pain of being a fan. Larry Finch -- who as a black player brought together the city and took Memphis to its only national championship game in 1973, and later became one of its greatest coaches -- has lived much of the past few years in a rehabilitation center after suffering severe strokes. In some ways, that's what makes Memphis basketball so special. Memphis players embody the real life of so many Americans, many faced with extreme hard times. Some succeed; some don't. Others, such as Finch, keep on fighting. I don't find it an accident that Memphis is now seeking history the same week of the 40th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. "I think Dr. King would find this a source of joy," the Rev. Jesse Jackson told the team this week, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper. A city that has seen so much pain, so much

Question: what is the really special thing?

Answer: Memphis basketball

Summary:
University of Memphis basketball has brought together whites, blacks, fan says .
Memphis team has a chance to do something really special in Final Four, he says .
Memphis players embody struggle and aspirations of many Americans, fan says .