Ex-colleagues: Morsi was conservative, open-minded

EPA

Egyptian president-elect Mohamed Morsi spent seven years in the United States, from 1978 to 1985, as an engineering student and then assistant professor. Two professors remembered him fondly as a quiet man who was not particularly political or religious.

By Isolde Raftery, msnbc.com

In the days since Mohamed Morsi was named president-elect of Egypt, two narratives have emerged about the 60-year-old engineer.

The first paints Morsi as an anti-American, anti-woman, anti-Christian and anti-Israel enforcer for the Muslim Brotherhood who will, despite his claims, turn back the clock in Egypt.

The second narrative, supported by two engineering professors from Egypt who knew Morsi when he was an engineering student and professor in California for seven years from 1978 to 1985, depicts a quiet, hardworking young man more driven by studies than politics.

---

Professor Nagi El Naga, who knew Morsi as an assistant professor in engineering at California State University Northridge, described his former colleague as kind, open-minded and conservative. At the time, Morsi was 30, with a wife and two young, U.S.-born children. His wife covered her hair with a veil; El Naga?s wife, a professor, did not.

?He was somewhat more conservative than me as far as religion, but there?s a difference between being conservative and being extremist,? said El Naga, who still teaches at Northridge. ?He was open-minded. We had differences but these differences never prevented us from sharing dinner and things like that.

NBC's Andrea Mitchell examines the obstacles ahead for President-elect Mohammed Morsi of Egypt.

?He was not irrational,? El Naga continued. ?He was sincere in what he believed in.?

Morsi has been described as the accidental candidate; in April, he replaced Khairat El-Shater, the Muslim Brotherhood?s more charismatic and effusive choice who was deemed ineligible to run. Morsi became the chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party, a group with ties to the Brotherhood that emerged after the 2011 revolution. He was an independent member of parliament from 2000 to 2005.

Egypt's Morsi goes from prisoner to president

He won the election with 51 percent of the vote, edging out Ahmed Shafiq, who was viewed as an extension of former President Hosni Mubarak?s regime. Mubarak resigned in February of 2011 after 30 years in control. ?

Affable, hardworking
Professor Farghalli Mohamed of University of California said he was surprised to see his former graduate student join the Muslim Brotherhood. He said Morsi prayed five times a day and observed Ramadan, but did not discuss religion or politics, nor did he grow a light beard, as did the more devout Muslim students.

Rather, Mohamed remembers Morsi as an affable, hardworking and unmarried young man who joined his family at their home and on outings to the Magic Mountain amusement park.

Beaten candidate, under graft probe, leaves Egypt

?I saw students from the Middle East at the time whose views were very conservative, who didn?t like what they saw in America in terms of social values -- they didn?t like the dress code of women,? Mohamed said. ?When you visit them in their house, they are very conservative. Usually you don?t see their wives. But Mohamed Morsi, he met with my wife, and my wife doesn?t (wear a veil).?

In 1985, Morsi traveled to Egypt and never returned to California.

El Naga and Mohamed, who have lost touch with Morsi, have?differing theories on why Egypt's president-elect joined the Brotherhood.

Mohamed believes Morsi would not have joined the Brotherhood had he returned to Cairo to teach, rather than taking a position at a small university in the more conservative northern part of Egypt.

El Naga, however, believes that Morsi joined the Brotherhood because he shared one of their values: to fight corruption in the Mubarak regime. ??

Morsi quits Muslim Brotherhood after election

When El Naga heard Morsi speak on Sunday, he said he believed the new president?s claims that he would unify the country.

?When I saw him talking it brought me back to many years back,? El Naga said. ?I felt he was the same person I was with 30 years ago.?

Mohamed was less enthusiastic.

?I feel sad for Morsi,? he said. ?He was elected as president -- that is great -- but at the moment it is vague for him. He has no constitution on which to rely on to govern the country. There is no Congress, and then the military council is still in control.?

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

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Landslides, floods kill 106 in southern Bangladesh

A Bangladeshi woman, left, whose relative died in a landslide is consoled by another on the outskirts of Chittagong, Bangladesh, Wednesday, June 27, 2012. Rescuers said landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 30 people in southern Bangladesh. (AP Photo/Anrup Titu)

A Bangladeshi woman, left, whose relative died in a landslide is consoled by another on the outskirts of Chittagong, Bangladesh, Wednesday, June 27, 2012. Rescuers said landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 30 people in southern Bangladesh. (AP Photo/Anrup Titu)

Bangladeshi rescuers search for survivors and bodies following landslides on the outskirts of Chittagong, Bangladesh, Wednesday, June 27, 2012. Rescuers said the slides caused by heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 30 people in southern Bangladesh. (AP Photo/Anrup Titu)

Bangladeshi rescuers search for survivors and bodies following landslides on the outskirts of Chittagong, Bangladesh, Wednesday, June 27, 2012. Rescuers said the slides caused by heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 30 people in southern Bangladesh. (AP Photo/Anrup Titu)

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) ? Searchers pulled out 15 bodies buried under mud, rocks and debris on Thursday, raising this week's death toll to 106 from landslides and floods caused by heavy monsoon rains in southern Bangladesh.

Officials said the landslides occurred mainly in remote villages with poor roads, making rescue work more difficult.

At least 41 died in Cox's Bazar, 41 in neighboring Bandarban and another 24 in Chittagong, mostly in a series of landslides, the Disaster Management Ministry said. It said soldiers joined the search for the missing in all three areas and found 15 more bodies buried in debris Thursday.

About 500 houses were washed away. Officials said more people may be missing, but they didn't know how many.

Three days of torrential rain in the region of small hills and forests dislodged huge chunks of earth, which buried flimsy huts where families were sleeping late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Many of the dead were women and children, officials said.

In Bandarban, 11-year-old Rafiqul Islam was the only member of his family to survive because he was away when mud buried his hut. His parents and three siblings died.

"I could survive because I was visiting a relative," the boy told The Associated Press. "The rain had kept me from returning home."

Monsoon floods are common in Bangladesh, a delta nation of 160 million people. Many homeless people live at the foot of the hills or close to them, despite warnings from authorities.

Volunteers using loudspeakers warned people about the danger of landslides during the rains, said Jaynul Bari, a government administrator in Cox's Bazar. The floods inundated dozens of villages and were disrupting communications in the region.

Flood waters covered many roads and washed away a railway bridge, snapping road and rail links between Dhaka and the three districts. An airport in Chittagong was closed after floodwaters swamped its runway, but reopened Wednesday after the rains stopped, officials said.

The government said relief workers were distributing rice and water to hundreds of displaced people.

Associated Press

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International Entertainment News: Serbia Broadband (SBB ...

Serbia Broadband (SBB) Expands Collaboration With Eutelsat to Launch Satellite Triple-Play Services

SBB Selects the Tooway(TM)-Broadband Service on KA-SAT to Bundle Total TV Platform With Internet access and VOIP

PRAGUE, June 27, 2012/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

?

Serbia Broadband (SBB) and Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) today
announced they are expanding their collaboration with the signature of an agreement
between Serbia's most progressive media company and Eutelsat's Skylogic affiliate to
distribute the Tooway(TM) satellite broadband service in six Balkan countries. The new
agreement will notably enable SBB to bundle its Total TV platform on the EUTELSAT 16A
satellite with Tooway(TM) broadband services via the KA-SAT High Throughput Satellite,
raising the bar of their service in the markets they address. SBB is already the leading
broadband service provider in Serbia and has built a subscriber base of over one million
pay-TV homes with Total TV.

SBB plans to offer the highest-quality of satellite broadband solutions to users in
Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia, FYRO Macedonia, Croatia and Montenegro located in
areas with limited or no access to terrestrial broadband. Services will be available in
single-play, double-play and triple-play options (TV, Internet and VOIP).

Dragica Pilipovic Chaffey, CEO of SBB commented: "We are delighted to broaden our
relationship with Eutelsat, our longstanding partner for satellite broadcasting, by
venturing into satellite broadband. This new agreement enables us to deliver homes and
businesses in the Balkan region with immediate access to the highest quality broadband
service. Eutelsat's broadband solutions are fully in line with SBB's commitment to
leveraging the most innovative technologies that meet the needs of users irrespective of
their location."

Speaking from Prague at the Digital TV CEE conference, Apostolos Triantafyllou,
Regional sales Director CEE at Eutelsat said: "SBB's selection of the Tooway(TM) service
underscores our confidence in the intrinsic benefit of satellites for bridging the digital
divide. As a reference in the region for broadcast and broadband services, SBB is astutely
selecting qualified technologies that enable it to ensure it has a complete digital
service offer for consumers, with no exception."

About Serbia Broadband

SBB is the leading regional Pay TV platform in Serbia, offering cable television and
Internet. SBB is also a leading DTH operator in the region with its Total TV platform,
present in six countries of former Yugoslavia. With unmatched reach via cable and DTH, SBB
has established the reputation for the most attractive content available across all
devices and formats. Good deals and bundles are supported with an innovative and reliable
technology. SBB also offers data and voice services for small, medium and large companies.

About Eutelsat http://www.eutelsat.com http://www.tooway.com

With capacity commercialised on 28 satellites that provide coverage across Europe, as
well as the Middle East, Africa and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat
is one of the world's three leading satellite operators. As of 31 March 2012 Eutelsat's
satellites were broadcasting more than 4,250 television channels to over 200 million cable
and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The Group's satellites also
serve a wide range of fixed and mobile telecommunications services, TV contribution
markets, corporate networks, and broadband markets for Internet Service Providers and for
transport, maritime and in-flight markets. Eutelsat's broadband subsidiary, Skylogic,
markets and operates high speed Internet services through teleports in France and Italy
that serve consumers, enterprises, local communities, government agencies and aid
organisations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat
and its subsidiaries employ just over 750 commercial, technical and operational
professionals. This culturally diverse staff comprises employees from 30 countries.

Source: Eutelsat Communications

Press: Vanessa O'Connor, Tel: +33-1-53-98-37-91, voconnor@eutelsat.fr; Fr?d?rique Gautier, Tel: +33-1-53-98-37-91, fgautier@eutelsat.fr; Marie-Sophie Ecuer, Tel: +33-1-53-98-37-91, mecuer@eutelsat.fr; Investors and analysts: Lisa Finas, Tel: +33-1-53-98-35-30, investors@eutelsat-communications.com; Leonard Wapler, Tel: +33-1-53-98-31-07, investors@eutelsat-communications.com

-------
Profile: intent

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Spain to seek bank aid as borrowing costs soar

LUXEMBOURG/MADRID (Reuters) - Independent auditors said Spanish banks may need up to 62 billion euros in extra capital, to be filled mostly by a euro zone bailout, after Spain's medium-term borrowing costs spiraled to a euro-era record on Thursday.

Euro zone finance ministers met in Luxembourg to discuss how to channel up to 100 billion euros ($126 billion) in aid to Spanish lenders weighed down by bad debts from a burst property bubble. Madrid's economy minister said a formal request would be made in days for the bailout, which was agreed two weeks ago.

Many in the markets see the package as a mere prelude to a full program for the Spanish state, which Madrid vehemently denies it will need.

Spain's financial plight took centre stage a week before a European Union summit tackles long-term plans for closer fiscal and banking union in a bid to strengthen the euro's foundations, after bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal failed to end a 2-1/2-year old debt crisis.

To pave the way, the leaders of Germany, Italy, France and Spain will meet in Rome on Friday.

"We are clearly seeing additional tension and acute stress applying to both banks and sovereigns in the euro area," International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, who attended the Luxembourg meeting, told reporters.

"With that in mind, the IMF believes that a determined and forceful move towards complete European monetary union should be reaffirmed."

Two independent audits by consultants Roland Berger and Oliver Wyman found that Spanish banks would need between 51 and 62 billion euros in extra capital to weather a serious downturn in the economy and new losses on their books.

The Bank of Spain said the 100 billion euros offered to Madrid two weeks ago would give a wide margin of error. Spain's three biggest banks would not need extra capital even in a stressed scenario, it said. The government said it did not expect to shut any banks and would restructure those in trouble.

In Luxembourg, the finance ministers decided Spain should initially apply to the euro zone's temporary rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, with the loan taken over by the permanent bailout fund the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) once it is up and running after July 9.

"The financial assistance will be provided by the EFSF until the ESM becomes available, and then it will be transferred to the ESM," Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the Eurogroup of finance ministers, told a news conference.

"We would expect the Spanish authorities to put forward a formal request for financial assistance by next Monday," he said.

Such a solution should avert a problem which had scared investors: debt issued by the ESM must be paid back first in case of a Spanish default, relegating private creditors lower in the pecking order. Because the new bailout debt will originate from the EFSF it will be issued without that requirement.

THREATENING YIELDS

Earlier on Thursday, Madrid sold 2.2 billion euros in medium-term bonds, drawing strong demand almost entirely from domestic banks. Yields on 5-year paper rose to a 15-year high of 6.07 percent, a level regarded by analysts as unaffordable for any prolonged period.

"They raised 2.2 billion versus a 2 billion target, so they can raise the money," said Achilleas Georgolopoulos, a strategist at Lloyds in London.

"Then the (question is), are the yields threatening for the medium term? And yes, clearly they are much higher than the previous auction ... But still they can continue for a few months to fund at these levels."

The finance ministers also signaled there may be some leeway for Greece, following the formation of a coalition of mainstream parties committed to the country's 130 billion euro EU/IMF bailout but determined to renegotiate some of its terms.

Athens will ask lenders for two more years to hit fiscal targets and an extension to unemployment benefits as it seeks to soften the punishing terms of the bailout that saved the country from bankruptcy.

Greece's euro zone partners, in particular paymaster Germany, have offered modifications but no radical re-write of the conditions attached to the lifeline agreed in March.

Juncker said nothing would be decided until the troika of EU, IMF and European Central Bankers had returned to Athens for a look at the books, starting on Monday.

"We will have a look into the findings of the troika and then we will discuss in detail the different means and instruments which can be used," he said. "It doesn't make sense for the time being to give more precise indications on the content of the program."

RESCUE FUND TO THE RESCUE?

The German government and opposition reached a deal that will allow parliament to approve the ESM next week, but Germany's top court may delay the rescue fund's start date, saying it needed time to study the treaty.

The ESM cannot come into effect without approval by Europe's biggest economy. Ratification also requires the signature of the president and a nod from the constitutional court in Karlsruhe.

The parliamentary floor leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives appeared to dash French and southern European hopes of nudging Berlin towards common euro area debt issuance, saying there would be no mutualisation of debt in Europe.

Italy disclosed that it was missing its target to lower the budget deficit to 1.7 percent of gross domestic product and will have to cut spending by a further four billion euros to meet the goal.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti suggested, on the sidelines of this week's G20 summit, using the euro zone's rescue funds to buy the bonds of Spain and Italy in the secondary market to bring down their borrowing costs.

Monti hosts Spanish premier Mariano Rajoy, Germany's Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in Rome on Friday and is also expected to raise the idea there. Merkel has played down the proposal, which investors said might be counter-productive unless the ECB stepped in decisively in support.

Any European bond-buying would come with strings attached, equivalent to the sort of bailout programs that Rome and Madrid are trying to avoid because of the stigma attached.

Given the limited capacity of the temporary EFSF and planned permanent ESM rescue funds, with at most 500 billion euros available, a senior EU source said such intervention would make sense only if the ESM had a banking license enabling it to borrow from the ECB. Germany has so far opposed that idea.

(Additional reporting by Leigh Thomas in Paris, Nigel Davies and Paul Day, John O'Donnell in Brussels, Annika Breidthardt, Robin Emmott, Charlie Dunmore and Axel Threlfall in Luxembourg. Writing by Paul Taylor and Mike Peacock Editing by Peter Graff)

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Browse Jobs in HR - Human Resources Manager

South East Melbourne,?Victoria,?Australia Posted: 2012-06-22

Advertiser: HR Partners Melbourne

?

• Full Generalist Role - with IR/ER focus
• Up to $180,000 package - including car and bonus
• South East Melbourne Location

?

Our client, a global manufacturing and distribution company located in the south eastern suburbs, is currently seeking an experienced and dynamic HR professional to manage their team and partner with the business to provide exceptional generalist HR support to a client group of 220 located across Australia and New Zealand.

As HR Manager for this global manufacturing and distribution business you will work closely with the managing director and your client group to deliver a range of HR activities across the business. You will be responsible for the end to end implementation of strategic initiatives as well management of the day to day HR Operations.? You will also take the lead with union matters, be key to facilitating positive employee relations and have a solid background in union and EBA's negotiation.

Key areas of responsibility include

• Stakeholder Managment to managment team

• Management of the HR Function (strategic and operational)

• People Managment - a small team of direct report/s

• Employment Relations and Legislation

• Recruitment

• Learning & Development / Organisational Development

• Program / Project Implementation

• HR Policy & systems

• Remuneration reviews

• Payroll

The successful candidate will have considerable experience within a similar role / environment, outstanding relationship building, coaching and influencing skills.? You will also have a solutions-focused approach and deal with issues and change in a proactive, positive and dynamic way.? A proven track record in employee relation and learning and development will also be key to your success.
?
Please apply now using the 'Apply Now' button. Alternatively, please call Carien Goudsmits or Andrew Paatsch for a confidential discussion on (03) 8629 5700 quoting Reference Number 14-47298, or if you have any queries e-mail melb@hrpartners.com.au.

HR Partners
Level 2, 607 Bourke St
Melbourne, VIC, 3000
P: 03 8621 5700
F: 03 9670 6072
www.hrpartners.com.au

Apply for this job

Email this advertiser

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Unending Questions: Obama's Ambassador Nomination Withdrawal

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'That's My Boy': The Reviews Are In!

Adam Sandler's return to hard-R-rated territory is gloriously grotesque, according to reviews.
By Josh Wigler

Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler in "That's My Boy"
Photo:

If reviews of "That's My Boy" make one thing clear, it's this: Adam Sandler's return to hard-R-rated territory is gloriously grotesque. Whether or not that's your cup of tea (or flaming bag of feces, for you "Billy Madison" fans) is another matter entirely.

Sandler shares leading-man duties with recent "Saturday Night Live" expat Andy Samberg in "That's My Boy," a comedy that puts the two in a father/son relationship despite the mere 12-year age gap between the comedians. The goofiness of the film's premise pales in comparison to the gross-out gags and countless cameos found within the movie itself — a fact that has reviewers split down the middle. But the vast majority of "That's My Boy" reviews agree that this is Sandler at his filthiest; a side of the comedian that fans haven't seen in years, which should come as welcome news to those pining for the glory days of Happy Madison and Sandler's early comedy albums.

Keep reading for a sampling of "That's My Boy" reviews:

The Story
"The movie begins at full regression, with the younger version of Sandler's character, Donny Berger, seduced by his Mary Kay Letourneau-like math teacher (Eva Amurri Martino, looking like Amy Fisher). After their tryst is exposed at an assembly with the message 'some have greatness thrust upon them,' Donny montage-morphs into a celebutard with his own book (Head in the Class) and TV movie. Decades later, to pay off the IRS, he's enjoined to engineer a TV reunion featuring the estranged, Xanax-popping, spare-underwear-carrying product of this outrageously inappropriate union, a hedge-fund manager (Andy Samberg) who's changed his name to Todd Peterson (birth name: Han Solo Berger) and is about to marry a possible gold-digger (Leighton Meester) on a tony New England estate." — Ben Kenigsberg, Time Out Chicago

Heartstrings, Hugs and Hurls
"It's my job to offer you that plot summary, and I apologize because it's an icky premise for a comedy. I must also report that 'Boy' gets way pervier — you can't unhear some of the stuff that's involved here. Weirdly, though, there's an undercurrent of sweetness in the film's father/son reconciliation theme. It contrasts surprisingly well with the escalating cascade of gross humor, which could be summed up as: fountain of urine, inappropriate masturbation, nakedness in public and 'What is Vanilla Ice doing in my room?' " — Chris Hewitt, Pioneer Press

Hard-R Territory
" 'That's My Boy' is Sandler's raunchiest movie — its approach to sex is enthusiastic and juvenile and the opposite of the squeamishness of 'Bucky Larson.' Three-ways are had with grandmothers, wedding dresses are defiled, sticky post-masturbatory tissues are flung everywhere and a late twist takes the film into what has to be new territory for a gross-out comedy." — Alison Willmore, Movieline.com

Samberg Unbound
"The truth is, even without pleasant surprises like Vanilla Ice and [Milo] Ventimiglia, I'm not sure I could ever truly hate a movie that features so much of the adorable Andy Samberg, who acts his little heart out as if this were Shakespeare in the Park. Having the past and present 'Saturday Night Live' cast members play father and son was a stroke of genius. I don't know if director Sean Anders (who co-wrote the deliriously stupid 'Hot Tub Time Machine') was directly responsible, but he certainly was lucky. Samberg plays Todd as a sort of manchild, as fresh as a daisy, as affable as a puppy. Compared to Sandler's Donny, who needs to be bathed, then fumigated, he's practically dewy. His chin dimple has never seemed so akin to a baby's bottom." — Mary Pols, Time

Final Verdict
"The gauge to any humor is whether or not it tickles your fragile funny bone, and in this regard, 'That's My Boy' succeeds. It's a gangly guilty pleasure experience that makes you feel foul for enjoying its obvious, out of control bravado. Sandler is terrific as the tacky center of attention and even with a bloated belly and bad mat of monkey fur hair-do, he's winning. Yes, some of the jokes fall very flat indeed and there's more F-bombs than in a Scorsese gangster flick, but the end result is genuine. Indeed, Sandler, more than anyone, has been guilty of turning the big screen comedy into a premise with no pay-off. 'That's My Boy' promises things you hope it won't deliver. When it does, you'll be ashamed of your reaction, but happy that Sandler has returned to his randy roots." — Bill Gibron, Pop Matters

Tell us what you think of "That's My Boy" in the comments section below!

Check out everything we've got on "That's My Boy."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Related Videos

• MTV Rough Cut: 'That's My Boy'

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Cloud Gaming Company OnLive Adds LG Smart TVs And In-Browser Gameplay For Publishers

Two years ago, OnLive launched with a dramatic plan to upend the gaming industry: By putting game processing in the cloud and streaming over the Internet, it could enable a whole new realm of devices to access games that were previously only playable on high-powered PCs and gaming consoles. Now it's expanding availability beyond its own desktop applications and streaming console to make games available on more devices and web destinations. At this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), OnLive is announcing a couple of new platforms that its cloud-based gaming system can run on. That includes the ability to play its games directly from next-generation LG Smart TVs with Google TV installed, as well as the ability to access them on nearly any browser on any device.

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Stay or go? Some towns are eyeing retreat from sea

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Years of ferocious storms have threatened to gnaw away the western tip of a popular beachfront park two hours drive north of Los Angeles. Instead of building a 500-foot-long wooden defense next to the pier to tame the tide, the latest thinking is to flee.

Work is under way to gauge the toll of ripping up parking lots on the highly eroded west end of Goleta Beach County Park and moving a scenic bike path and buried utility lines inland away from lapping waves.

Up and down the California coast, some communities are deciding it's not worth trying to wall off the encroaching ocean. Until recently, the thought of bowing to nature was almost unheard of.

But after futile attempts to curb coastal erosion ? a problem expected to grow worse with rising seas fueled by global warming ? there is growing acknowledgment that the sea is relentless and any line drawn in the sand is likely to eventually wash over.

"I like to think of it as getting out of the way gracefully," said David Revell, a senior coastal scientist at ESA PWA, a San Francisco-based environmental consulting firm involved in Goleta and other planned retreat projects.

The issue of whether to stay or flee is being confronted around the globe. Places experimenting with retreat have adopted various strategies. In Britain, for example, several sites along the Essex coast have deliberately breached seawalls to create salt marshes, which act as a natural barrier to flooding.

In the U.S., the starkest example can be found in Alaska, where entire villages have been forced to move to higher ground or are thinking about it in the face of melting sea ice. Hawaii's famous beaches are slowly shrinking and some scientists think it's a matter of time before the state has to explore whether to move back development.

Several states along the Atlantic coast have adopted policies meant to keep a distance from the ocean. They include no-build zones, setbacks or rolling easements that allow development but with a caveat. As the sea advances, homeowners promise not to build seawalls and must either shift inland or let go.

Over the past half-century, the weapon of choice against a shrinking shoreline has been building a seawall or other defense. Roughly 10 percent of California's 1,100-mile coast is armored. In Southern California, where development is sometimes built steps from the ocean, a third of the shore is dotted with man-made barriers.

While such buffers may protect the base of cliffs, and the land and property behind them, they often exacerbate the problem by scouring beaches, making them narrower or even causing them to disappear.

This is one reason state coastal regulators in 2009 turned down a proposal by Santa Barbara County to fortify an eroding section of Goleta Beach park lashed by periodic storms. A rock wall was built as a temporary stopgap, but a long-term solution was needed. After the state rejected the construction of another hard structure, park officials, working with environmentalists, came up with a Plan B: Move gas, water and sewer lines out of the risk zone. Relocate a bike path to higher ground. Demolish 150 parking spaces and allow the acre of asphalt to be reclaimed by the beach.

Last month, the county Board of Supervisors gave the go-ahead for an environmental review. Work could begin next year if the $4 million plan passes other regulatory hurdles.

Around California, relocation of coastal infrastructure and development is being pushed by the Surfrider Foundation and other environmental groups. But the efforts also are being driven by increased awareness of climate change. Sea level has risen by 7 inches over the last century in California. By 2050, it's projected to rise between 12 to 18 inches.

San Francisco is mulling a significant retreat on its western flank where the scenic Great Highway is under assault from the Pacific. Erosion has inched closer to the roadway each year, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues girding segments with broken-up rock, a costly temporary fix that has had limited success.

The San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association favors mixing retreat with coastal armoring. City, state and federal agencies are considering the group's plan, which calls for moving segments of the Great Highway inland and allowing sand dunes to reclaim some of the paved-over space. The group also wants a temporary seawall to protect a sewer tunnel that's part of a multi-billion dollar sewage and storm water system expected to be affected by sea level rise while money is raised to relocate it in about 50 years.

South of San Francisco, the beach town of Pacifica has been an early adopter of planned retreat as it battles constant erosion. The city in 2002 purchased some homes that were at risk of falling into the sea and demolished them.

This summer, the city of Ventura is pressing ahead with its $4.5 million retreat. Last year, crews removed a disintegrating oceanfront bike path at Surfer's Point, a popular surfing spot, and built a new one farther inland. The beach was widened and cobblestone was put down.

Mark Gold, associate director at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, commended local efforts but thinks a large-scale approach is needed.

"It's definitely something that needs to be taken a lot more seriously," Gold said.

So far, most of the scaling back in California has occurred on public land. It's a harder sell for private property owners to take the same action unless beachfront homes are on the verge of being submerged. The state, however, has a built-in retreat: People who want to build new oceanside construction agree not to build a seawall if their homes become threatened in the future.

Charles Lester, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, said planned retreat is an attractive option in theory, but it's hard to execute in densely populated coastlines where there may not be room to move back. Still, he said it's a tool worth using where possible.

Just don't call it surrender.

"I don't think it's giving up. It's about making a smart, sustainable decision," said Gary Griggs, who studies coastal erosion at University of California, Santa Cruz.

___

Dearen reported from San Francisco. AP Science Writer Alicia Chang can be followed at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

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