A big day for Cleveland sports, drunk Russians meet disaster and the U. of Texas finally axes ties to its Klan past

- Big day for you, Cleveland. After the debacle of LeBron James’ “The Decision” televised homicide of C-Town sports, your city needed something positive to happen and I think today qualifies. For today, not one but two of your city’s most prominent athletes were able to avoid jail time on serious weapons charges. Up first, Cleveland Browns nose tackle Shaun Rogers. Rogers entered a diversion program Thursday to avoid trial on an airport weapons charge, meaning he won't do any time behind bars and even though he still faces a possible NFL suspension, the worst of the matter seems to be behind him. Considering that dude attempted to take a loaded semiautomatic handgun through security in a carry-on bag at Cleveland's Hopkins International Airport in April, getting off with a program that includes 40 hours of volunteer service, 10 hours in a gun class and forfeiture of said gun, I’d say that’s a light sentence. Better still, the felony gun charge will be dismissed if Rogers completes the gun course. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Eileen Gallagher approved the deal that Rogers’ attorney Pat D'Angelo finagled for his client. As part of the program - which could last up to one year - Rogers will assist in a program aimed at reducing truancy in Cleveland public schools (no, not by threatening the kids with a gun, Shaun). Should Rogers stupidly not abide by the terms of his agreement, he would be subject to a possible felony indictment. Now, he must wait and see what kind of justice Sheriff Roger Goodell will mete out for this violation of the NFL’s player conduct policy. "We are reviewing it under our policies," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an e-mail after Rogers' court appearance. The second Cleveland athlete to avoid jail time on gun charges today was Cavaliers guard Delonte West, who pleaded guilty Thursday to weapons charges in Prince George's County Circuit Court and in exchange, received eight months of electronic monitoring, two years of unsupervised probation, 40 hours of community service and psychological counseling. West, who was carrying two loaded handguns, a loaded shotgun and an 8½-inch Bowie knife while speeding on a three-wheel motorcycle on the Capital Beltway last September, was joined in court by his mother, girlfriend and uncle in court and told Judge Graydon McKee that he has been "put on a pedestal" because he can "dribble a basketball," and worries about being a bad role model for kids who look up to him. In arguing his client’s case, West's attorney said the player had the weapons because he was transporting them from one home to another that he owns in the county. Keep in mind that this is also a guy who has battled bipolar disorder for years and did not speak to reporters at all this past outside of season a brief question-and-answer session at the beginning of the year. The question for West is whether the Cavs will keep him and continue to put up with his shenanigans or if they will release him. But for today, let’s just focus on (and celebrate) some positive sports news for Cleveland………

- Oddly enough, fall-down drunk Russians, sweltering summer heat and bodies of water are a bad mix. It’s crazy, I know. But as a heat wave sweeps across the Communist (and yes, I’m calling you Communist, Russia) nation, Russians are looking to two sources for relief: vodka and the nearest body of water. This is proving to be a disastrous mix, as more than 1,000 Russians have drowned this summer as they sought relief from the heat wave by jumping into lakes and rivers. Stunningly enough, authorities have determined thst many of the drownees have been intoxicated at the time of their death. According to Vadim Seryogin, a department head at Russia's Emergencies Ministry, 49 people, including two children, had drowned in the last day alone. All told, more than 1,200 total have drowned, 223 of them between July 5 and July 12. "The majority of those drowned were drunk," Seryogin said. "The children died because adults simply did not look after them." I realize that the words “heat wave” and “Russia” look oxymoronic in the same sentence, but even in Russia, the summer can bring sweltering temperatures. Since mid-June, the region has experienced record-breaking heat, with temperatures of up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, leading to an emergency situation in Russia. To combat the heat, officials have urged citizens to take a nap or rest break in the afternoon to avoid the hottest part of the day. That hasn’t totally alleviated the problem, as cases of heat stroke and sunburn have increased in children, and adults with heart problems and diabetes have been severely affected. The heat has softened up the asphalt on roads and other paved areas and the heat is so extreme that a state of emergency has been declared in 14 regions. Many of those regions are seeing water shortages as wells dry up. On top of all that, the heat has also exacerbated a smog problem and crops are withering under the heat. All of that is enough to drive Russians to down vodka in even larger doses than normal (hey, there’s not enough water to drink, so don’t be too hard on them). It’s also driving them to their local lakes, rivers and ponds to cool off and drunk people near bodies of water deeper than six inches is a dangerous combination. Perhaps that afternoon nap after downing a fifth of Smirnoff or Absolut doesn’t seem like such a bad idea when contrasted with drowning, eh Russians…………

- Glad you finally got around to changing the name of a campus residence hall named after a prominent figure in the Ku Klux Klan in the 1800s, Texas Board of Regents. Simkins Residence Hall, a University of Texas at Austin dormitory, bears the name of a man who had strong ties to the famed society of bigots and racists in the years after the Civil War. William Stewart Simkins, who taught at the University of Texas at Austin's law school from 1899 until his death in 1929, and his brother, Eldred J. Simkins, a former member of the system Board of Regents, were both KKK members. "Both Simkins brothers had ties to the Ku Klux Klan after the Civil War," a statement from the board said. "Creekside Residence Hall and Creekside Park will replace the current names of Simkins Hall and Simkins Park, respectively." Wait a second. People have a problem with living in a building named after an avowed racist who was part of a group that persecuted, tortured and killed people of other races, specifically blacks? Just because many UT students are either black or a member of another minority group that the KKK persecuted, why would they have an issue with this? Who doesn’t love a daily reminder of one of the darkest times in America’s history plastered all over their place of residence? Instead of being named after a racist, the building will now take its moniker from a creek that runs nearby. The board voted unanimously Thursday to change the name after University President William Powers Jr. asked the board to rename the dorm following a recommendation from a 21-member advisory group. "The new names are effective immediately and the campus will install new signage as soon as possible," the statement said. What’s truly terrible about the building’s former name is that, in a research article published earlier this year, former University of Texas law professor Tom Russell claimed that university officials named the dorm after the Klan member to intimidate African-Americans after the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision that integrated schools, Brown v. Board of Education. "Professor Simkins helped to organize the Ku Klux Klan in Florida at the conclusion of the American Civil War, and he advocated his Klan past to Texas students," Russell said. "During the 1950s, the memory and history of Professor Simkins supported the university's resistance to integration. As the university faced pressure to admit African-American students, the university's faculty council voted to name a dormitory after the Klansman and law professor. During this time period, alumni also presented the law school with a portrait of Professor Simkins. Portraits and a bust of Professor Simkins occupied prominent positions within the law school through the 1990s.” Gee, what a lovely place UT must have been back before the Civil Rights movement took root………

- Indie rockers Vampire Weekend scored a huge hit with their sophomore release, Contra, which was releases earlier this year. The album bum-rushed the top of the charts and along the way, the simple cover art featuring a faintly smiling young woman wearing a yellow Ralph Lauren shirt became iconic in its own right. In fact, the cover attracted enough attention that the woman who appeared in the photograph has now come forward to sure the band and its record label for using her likeness without permission or compensation. Ann Kirsten Kennis, who claims that the photo is of her and was taken around 1983, when she was working as “a high-fashion model under contract with prestigious agencies in New York City.” She filed her lawsuit in an Los Angeles court Wednesday, claiming that the signature on the release form for the photo was forged. That’s a serious allegation to make, worse than claiming that no consent form existed and the band and label used an image without even worrying about the rights issue. Saying that the form was deliberately falsified is a big charge, which is why Kennis is asking the band, label XL Recordings, and photographer Tod Brody for at least $2 million for their alleged misappropriation of identity. In her filing, Kennis’ attorneys claim that “the album design, in which the Photograph is featured prominently, was a substantial factor in generating recognition and buzz for the Contra album, thus increasing sales and profits.” Neither the band nor the label has commented on the suit yet, but this would appear to be headed for a settlement of some sort unless the label is 105 percent certain that the consent form is legitimately signed by Kennis and they have handwriting experts ready to testify to that effect in open court………

- Nothing like fessing up to having used a "totally wrong" software formula for three years to display your smartphone’s signal strength, eh Apple? As a huge Mac guy, this pains me to say, but Apple vowing that it would soon issue a fix for the “totally wrong” formula it has been using for three years to display the iPhone's signal strength is more than a small matter. The iOS 4.0.1 update with a fix for the bug was released today and illustrates just how dramatically Apple has changed the signal strength to signal bar mapping. The new software increases the breadth of the dynamic range not only much broader and makes the range values for each bar much wider. With the update, the range of signals that correspond to bars three and four are the same width, and bar two is only slightly less. The update does not change the cutoff value for dropping from two bars to one bar, but every other value has increased. Tech dorks have been extremely angry of late about this problem, lamenting a worst-case signal drop of around 24 decibels when the iPhone 4 is held tightly in the left hand. That’s worse than the phone’s predecessor, the iPhone 3, or pretty much any other smartphone on the market. The iPhone 4’s method of displaying signal strength was blamed for the bulk of the problem and the 24 dB drop from the so-called "death grip" could make all the bars go away. However, the iOS 4.0.1. update makes it so that if you have five bars on your screen, the worst-case drop of 24 dBm drops the display down to two bars. What this means for users is that Apple's signal strength reporting is now much more honest. The subpar design of the antenna itself is still an issue, as is holding the phone in your hand, but at least most iPhone users will see fewer bars disappear when they hold the iPhone 4 in a bare hand. Of course, the iPhone now displays fewer bars in most places and those same users will take a mental hit as they learn the actual signal strength of their beloved phone in various locations. Basically, Apple has been covering for an inadequate AT&T network and that lying has stopped. I wouldn’t expect this fix to silence most critics or users, but at least Apple is taking steps to operate more honestly and that is (almost) always a step in the right direction………