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APNewsBreak: Veterans say rape cases mishandled

WASHINGTON – A group of U.S. veterans who say they were raped and abused by their comrades want to force the Pentagon to change how it handles such cases.

More than a dozen female and two male current or former service members say servicemen get away with rape and other sexual abuse and victims are too often ordered to continue to serve alongside those they say attacked them.

In a federal class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday that names Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, they want an objective third party to handle such complaints because individual commanders have too much say in how allegations are handled.

The alleged attackers in the lawsuit include an Army criminal investigator and an Army National Guard commander. The abuse alleged ranges from obscene verbal abuse to gang rape.

In one incident, an Army Reservist says two male colleagues raped her in Iraq and videotaped the attack. She complained to authorities after the men circulated the video to colleagues. Despite being bruised from her shoulders to elbows from being held down, she says charges weren't filed because the commander determined she "did not act like a rape victim" and "did not struggle enough" and authorities said they didn't want to delay the scheduled return of the alleged attackers to the United States.

"The problem of rape in the military is not only service members getting raped, but it's the entire way that the military as a whole is dealing with it," said Panayiota Bertzikis, who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit and claims she was raped in 2006. "From survivors having to be involuntarily discharged from service, the constant verbal abuse, once a survivor does come forward your entire unit is known to turn their back on you. The entire culture needs to be changed."

Although The Associated Press normally does not identify the victims of sexual assault, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit have publicly discussed the cases.

Bertzikis, 29, of Somerville, Mass., now is executive director of the Military Rape Crisis Center. She says she was raped by a Coast Guard shipmate while out on a social hike with him in Burlington, Vt. Bertzikis complained to her commanding officer, but she said authorities did not take substantial steps to investigate the matter. Instead, she said, they forced her to live on the same floor as the man she had accused and tolerated others calling her a "liar" and "whore."

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said in a statement that sexual assault is a wider societal problem and that Gates has been working to ensure the military is doing all it can to prevent and respond to it.

"That means providing more money, personnel, training and expertise, including reaching out to other large institutions such as universities to learn best practices," Morrell said. "This is now a command priority, but we clearly still have more work to do in order to ensure all of our service members are safe from abuse."

The military had already planned to roll out a new hotline victims can call in April, said Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith. It has another initiative that encourages service members to help those who are assaulted or raped. In 2005, the military created an office charged with preventing sexual assault. Victims can opt to file a "restricted" or confidential report that allows them to get medical attention without an investigation being triggered.

Sarah Albertson, a former Marine corporal who is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said one of the hurdles in getting improvements in the system is that military commanders do not want any marks on their record such as a rape in their unit. Albertson alleges she reported she was raped in 2006 by a fellow Marine, but instead of helping her, she was forced to live one floor below the alleged perpetrator for two years.

"People who did believe me and had my back and were supportive of me were still telling me, 'Don't tell anybody about this, don't go to the public, don't let this get out because it will make the military look bad,'" Albertson said.

In many of the described cases, no charges were filed. In other cases, the alleged attackers faced lesser charges and were allowed to remain in the military, according to the lawsuit.

Kori Cioca, 25, of Wilmington, Ohio, described being hit in the face by a superior in one incident in 2005 and being raped by the same man in a second incident soon after while serving in the Coast Guard in Bay City, Mich.

Even though the man confessed to having sex with her, Cioca said in the lawsuit she was told if she pressed forward with reporting the sex as a rape, she would be court-martialed for lying. She said the man pleaded guilty only to hitting her and his punishment was a minor loss of pay and being forced to stay on the base for 30 days. She said she was discharged from the military for a "history of inappropriate relationships."

"You think of a Coast Guardsman, you think of somebody in the military holding themselves at a certain level," Cioca said. "When somebody walks up to you and shakes your hand and says, `Thank you for your service,' little do they know they're shaking the hand of a man who rapes and beats women in the military. "

She said she continues to suffer from numbness in her jaw and has nightmares.

"My body hurts every day. My face hurts. I get the most horrible headaches. My body has been trespassed. The honor that I had was stripped from me. I'm no longer proud of myself. People tell me thank you for your service, but my service wasn't what it was supposed to be," Cioca said.

Anuradha Bhagwati, 35, executive director of the Service Women's Action Network, said the Defense Department's own statistics show that fewer than one in five of these cases are even referred for court martial. She said unit commanders are the judge and the jury in these types of cases. Too often, she said, perpetrators are given non-judicial punishments.

"A lawsuit like this is needed because change cannot happen on the inside. DoD has had literally decades, perhaps more, to change the culture within the military. They've proven that they can't, and even the minor changes they've made the last few years are so superficial," Bhagwati said.

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Online:

Service Women's Action Network: /

Defense Department's site on sexual assault prevention: /

US engineer jailed 32 years for tech sale to China

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A former B-2 stealth bomber engineer guilty of selling classified military technology to China that could help cloak missiles has been sentenced to 32 years in prison, the US Justice Department said Tuesday.

Noshir Gowadia, 66, of Hawaii, was convicted of five offenses in August following a trial in federal court on the US island state. He had been accused of passing on design information that would allow cruise missiles to avoid infra-red detection.

"Mr. Gowadia provided some of our country's most sensitive weapons-related designs to the Chinese government for money. He is now being held accountable for his actions," Assistant Attorney General for National Security David Kris said in a statement.

From about 1968 to 1986, Gowadia served as an engineer with defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corporation, where he helped develop the "unique propulsion system and low observable capabilities of the B-2" bomber, the Justice Department said.

He maintained a security clearance for an additional 11 years, working on classified matters as a US government contractor until 1997 when his clearance was revoked.

Prosecutors alleged that from 2003 to 2005 Gowadia traveled six times to mainland China where he helped with testing and data analysis that helped authorities in developing a stealthy cruise missile exhaust system.

He was found guilty of illegally communicating classified information and illegally retaining defense information following a 40-day trial.

"Mr. Gowadia went beyond disclosing information to China, he performed defense work in that nation with the purpose of assisting them in their stealth weapons design programs," said Florence Nakakuni, the US Attorney for Hawaii.

At the time of his arrest in 2005 he had been paid at least $110,000 by China, the Justice Department said.

Gowadia was also convicted of exporting classified information about the B-2 bomber, money laundering, and filing false tax returns.

Upon first learning of the sentence in Hawaii, Gowadia's son said the family would appeal.

"We believe very strongly that he's innocent, and we very much look forward to the appeals process in the 9th circuit, son Ashton said Monday on Hawaii broadcaster KHON2.

Gowadia is the second American in four days to be sentenced on charges related to disclosing classified information to authorities in Communist-ruled China.

Michigan man Glenn Shriver, 28, was jailed for 48 months for conspiracy to reveal national defense information to Beijing intelligence agents.

That sentencing came on the final day of a much-scrutinized state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Hazell has 28, Hall beats No. 9 Syracuse 90-68

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Jeremy Hazell led a long-range Seton Hall barrage with 28 points and the suddenly hot-shooting Pirates stunned No. 9 Syracuse 90-68 on Tuesday night, the Orange's third straight loss.

Syracuse (18-3, 5-3 Big East) had lost two straight to top 10 conference foes, on the road at Pittsburgh a week ago and on Saturday at home to Villanova before a crowd of 33,736. In both games the Orange fell behind early — Pittsburgh scored the first 19 points of the game and Villanova hit eight 3-pointers in the first half.

That trend continued against Seton Hall (9-12, 3-6), which had lost three straight. The Pirates torched Syracuse's zone defense for seven 3s in the first half, four by Hazell, and built a 13-point halftime lead.

Seton Hall, the worst shooting team in the Big East, finished 10 of 17 from beyond the arc and shot 54.1 percent for the game while holding Syracuse to 5 of 21 from long range and a season-low 36.1 percent from the field.

Jordan Theodore had 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting for the Pirates while Fuquan Edwin had 13 points, Jeff Robinson 12 and Herb Pope 10.

Kris Joseph led Syracuse with 17 points, all but one coming long after the game was decided, and Rick Jackson had 12 points and 11 rebounds, his 14th double-double of the season. Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche each had 11 points.

After their first meeting 17 days ago, a sloppy 61-56 Syracuse victory, Orange coach Jim Boeheim winced at the stat sheet. The Pirates missed all 17 3-point attempts in the first half.

It was a much different story on Tuesday, and Boeheim was wincing again. Seton Hall hit its first three from beyond the arc, two by Hazell, and led 26-15 on Theodore's 3 from the right wing with 12:07 left.

And they weren't through. In the final 6 minutes of the half, Seton Hall slowed the pace to a crawl and the strategy paid big dividends. Hazell drained two 3s from the wing, the second at the shot clock buzzer, and Theodore followed with another — all three in a span of less than 2 minutes — to put the Pirates up 37-23 with 3:49 left.

The Orange missed their first six 3s, three by James Southerland, before Mookie Jones, playing for the first time since last month, hit from the wing with 2:02 left.

The Pirates extended the lead to 50-30 on Hazell's steal and layup early in the second half as Syracuse missed its first six shots before Jardine finally hit a 3 from the wing at 15:31, the Orange's second in 11 tries from beyond the arc.

Joseph, the Orange's leading scorer, missed all four shots in the first half and didn't get his first basket of the game until he hit a 3 from the left corner with 8:32 left. By then Syracuse trailed 63-46.

In its first two losses, Syracuse rallied both times, scoring 17 straight points against Pitt and pulling within four points of Villanova in the closing minutes after trailing by as many as 14. There was no rally against Seton Hall, which never allowed the Orange to get closer than 17 in the second half as the Orange faithful began leaving early, a rarity in the Carrier Dome.

Southerland made his second career start for Syracuse as Boeheim elected not to insert 7-foot freshman Fab Melo into the starting lineup for the first time this season. Southerland, who started at Pitt last week and had eight points, four assists, and two blocks in 38 minutes, finished with four points.

Macy's gains market share, sees better sales

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Macy's Inc (M.N) quarterly results showed the department store operator boosted sales and gained market share without relying as much on discounts as its rivals to get shoppers into stores.

Shares of Macy's rose 5.9 percent after the company posted better-than-expected earnings and raised its full-year sales and profit forecasts, helped by inventory management that protected its margins.

Chief Executive Terry Lundgren said the retailer had gained market share, citing the "My Macy's" program which gives stores more leeway to choose merchandise by region, as well as its focus on exclusive brand lines.

"They've done less discounting. Their gross margins are telling you that either there are fewer promotions, or the promotions that they're running are planned," said Sterne Agee & Leach analyst Ken Stumphauzer.

Macy's was able to woo shoppers despite the threat of a new dip in consumer spending that has weighed on rivals like J.C. Penney Co (JCP.N) and Dillards Inc (DDS.N).

Cincinnati-based Macy's said second-quarter net income rose to $147 million, or 35 cents a share, from $7 million, or 2 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average expected a profit of 29 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Sales rose 7.2 percent to $5.54 billion, beating Wall Street forecasts of $5.5 billion.

Macy's raised its forecast for full-year same-store sales growth to a range of 4 percent to 4.2 percent. It earlier expected 3.0 percent to 3.5 percent.

The company also raised its full-year profit outlook by 10 cents a share to a range of $1.85 to $1.90 a share, compared with Wall Street's average forecast of $1.87 a share.

Macy's shares closed up $1.14 to $20.52 on the New York Stock Exchange, in a sharply lower stock market. The shares of retailers J.C. Penney and Kohl's Corp (KSS.N) fell 0.9 percent and 1.3 percent respectively. Dillard's fell 4.23 percent.

Kohl's and Penney report their earnings later this week.

For a graphic on the three chains' same-stores sales see: http://link.reuters.com/bem54n

GOING LOCAL PAYS OFF

Macy's introduced its "My Macy's" program in 2008, aiming to reduce the risk of getting stuck with merchandise that shoppers in a given region don't want. It also aims to ensure that its stores don't lose revenue by not stocking the items shoppers are seeking.

"They recognized they had a problem with their merchandise mix," said Wendy Liebmann, CEO of consulting firm WSL Strategic Retail. "You cannot have a one-size-fits-all mix."

Every month this year, Macy's has reported superior same-store sales results to Penney and analysts said "My Macy's" had a lot to do with that.

"They have a lot of district managers who are closer to the stores," said Stumphauzer. "As a consequence, the smaller stores are receiving a lot of attention, and those are the stores in my opinion that historically performed poorly versus Kohl's and versus J.C. Penney."

Macy's operates about 800 namesake stores in the United States and 40 Bloomingdale's stores.

Macy's sales at stores open at least a year rose 4.9 percent, surpassing Wall Street expectations in each of the three months of the quarter.

Last week, Macy's reported a 7.3 percent rise in July same-store sales, while Penney and Dillards (DDS.N) posted unexpected declines as they slashed prices to move inventory. Kohl's posted an increase of 4.1 percent.

Merchandise inventories were virtually unchanged from a year ago, helping Macy's gross margins rise 0.4 percentage points to 41.9 percent.

Macy's has redoubled efforts to sell exclusive products, which make up more than 40 percent of sales and offer better margins. Last week, the company launched its Material Girl collection, designed in part by pop star Madonna.

Macy's online sales rose 28 percent and contributed 0.5 percentage points to the same-store sales increase. Its upscale Bloomingdale's chain, which accounts for about 10 percent of sales, got a boost from higher-end spending.

(Reporting by Phil Wahba; Editing by Michele Gershberg, Derek Caney, Lisa Von Ahn, Robert MacMillan, and Carol Bishopric)

Macy's raises forecast as profit beats Street

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Macy's Inc (M.N) reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings on strength in its exclusive lines and at its upscale Bloomingdale's chain, and the retailer raised its full-year sales and profit forecasts.

The company, whose shares rose more than 2 percent, said its exclusive merchandise had helped it win market share. In addition, Bloomingdale's benefited from a pickup in luxury spending.

Chief Executive Officer Terry Lundgren attributed the results to better margins, disciplined inventory management and Macy's program to allow stores greater leeway in catering to local tastes. These factors also prepared the company to woo shoppers despite the threat of a new dip in consumer spending.

"While the economic environment remains uncertain, Macy's and Bloomingdale's have a terrific opportunity to continue to take market share," Lundgren said in a statement.

Macy's sales at stores open at least a year increased 4.9 percent, surpassing Wall Street expectations in each of the three months of the quarter.

Last week, Macy's reported a 7.3 percent rise in July same-store sales, outperforming rivals such as J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP.N) and Dillard's Inc (DDS.N), which reported unexpected declines.

Tighter inventories continued to help Macy's gross margins, which rose 0.4 percentage points to 41.9 percent, and reduced the need for discounting.

Macy's has redoubled its efforts to sell exclusive products, which make up more than 40 percent of overall sales and offer better margins. Last week, for example, the company launched its Material Girl collection, designed in part by pop star Madonna.

Cincinnati-based Macy's reported net income of $147 million, or 35 cents per share, for the second quarter ended July 31, compared with $7 million, or 2 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 29 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Overall sales rose 7.2 percent to $5.54 billion during the quarter, exceeding Wall Street forecasts of $5.50 billion.

Citing better-than-expected sales trends, Macy's raised its forecast for full-year same-store sales growth to a range of 4.0 percent to 4.2 percent. It previously had expected 3.0 percent to 3.5 percent.

The company also raised its full-year profit outlook by 10 cents a share to a range of $1.85 to $1.90, compared with Wall Street's average forecast of $1.87.

Macy's shares were up 2.2 percent at $19.81 in early New York Stock Exchange trading.

(Reporting by Phil Wahba; Editing by Derek Caney and Lisa Von Ahn)