| The most influential Britons in America: 30-21
American Idol, which Lythgoe produces, is the most popular show on American TV. A former dancer-choreographer from the Wirral, Lythgoe's British television career included directing the Muppets' dance routines and, as a BBC light entertainment executive, producing Bobby Davro.
Lythgo hit a rather bigger time when he moved to Los Angeles as the British invaded the US schedules with reality television. Lythgoe's current girlfriend is Priscilla Presley. 25. JOE WRIGHT
Film director .
Our picks for weekend ideas that can't miss
3:10 To Yuma" // Russell Crowe and Christian Bale bring the Western back to the big screen with class and style in this compelling remake of the 1957 Glenn Ford tale. Crowe stars as a flamboyant outlaw captured by the law, and Bale is a financially ailing farmer who hires on to help escort the bad guy through rough country.
"Sunshine" // The end of the world is at hand in Danny Boyle's sci-fi saga set 50 years from now, when the sun is dying and a band of astronauts sets out on a daring last-gasp mission to re-ignite the fading star. Cillian Murphy leads an ensemble cast as the scientist who developed the bomb that the crew aims to deliver into the sun. Michelle Yeoh, Cliff Curtis, Troy Garity and Rose Byrne co-star as fellow space travelers.
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Darts & Laurels
Speaking of the boss, we offer a glad-you're-back-because-this-spring-may-be-your-only-chance-to-graduate DART to Bernie Machen for suggesting that summer school may have to be taken away to make up for the $16 million deficit due to state budget cuts. Surely, there are other ways to make up for the shortage.However, despite our usual reluctance, we can't help but offer a they-want-us-to-return-to-a-safer-campus-with-a-system-that-actually-works LAUREL to University of Florida officials for their plans to test the emergency text-messaging system for the first time Tuesday.With LSU's recent glitch, UF made the right choice to avoid similar problems and make sure all students have up-to-date information in case of an emergency.In the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech in April, college officials can't leave much to chance these days.And since most of us are glued to our cell phones anyway (thanks a lot for that iPhone, Steve Jobs - that didn't help), why not send us a message that we'll actually get?Unfortunately, we have no choice but to give an absolutely-no-cutesy-way-to-say-it DART to the staff of the Hilochee Wildlife Management Area for their dense decision to start a controlled burn near I-4 in Winter Haven this week.Their attempt to clear land for a wildlife habitat in one of the state's driest areas turned into a predictably out-of-control wildfire.The resulting smoke-fog mixture over the interstate led to a 70-car pileup that killed four people and hospitalized 38.We shudder to think what could have happened if they had started the fire when we were making the trek back to Gainesville.Finally, we hand over a get-a-free-set-of-handcuffs-this-semester-if-you-don't-have-a-wristband LAUREL to the Gainesville Police Department for stepping up patrols to combat the common occurrence of underage drinking.While we don't wholeheartedly agree that this will stop the baby boozers, we have high hopes that more arrests will keep more of the amateurs at home.
Loan Scandal Escalates
When Andrew M. Cuomo started asking questions about the relationships between lenders and colleges, many in higher education scoffed (off the record) that this was a case of an ambitious politician looking for headlines and that there wasn’t much for his inquiry to find. There’s no doubt that Cuomo, New York State’s new attorney general, is an ambitious politician looking for headlines, but he’s finding more and more to investigate. And some experts on aid are increasingly worried that the scandal is going to scare some students and families away from borrowing or from getting advice from financial aid offices. .
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