THE UNIVERSITY JANARY KANSAN
FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2009
NEWS
3A
ENTERTAINMENT
Sasha and Malia now in doll form
ASSOCIATED PRESS
OAK BROOK, ill. — The company that makes the popular Beanie Babies is hoping for two more big winners with dolls named "Sweet Sasha" and "Marvelous Malia"
But, no, the names do not refer to President Barack Obama's
daughters, a Ty
inc. spokeswoman
says. Honest!
Ty released the 12-inch dolls as part of the company's "TjGirlz Collection." The Sasha doll has pigtails and wears a white and pink dress with hearts. The
"It would not be fair to say they are exact replications of these girls. They are not."
TANIA LUNDEEN
Ty Inc. Spokeswoman
Malia doll has a side ponytail and a long sleeve shirt with capri pants.
The Oak Brook-based company chose the names because "they are beautiful names," not because of any resemblance to Malia and Sasha Obama, said spokeswoman Taria Lunede.
"There's nothing on the dolls that refers to the Obama girls." Lunden said. "It would not be fair to say they are exact replications of these girls. They are not."
The dolls have bronze skin and "real doll hair," Lundeen said. They were introduced in early January and a limited supply has been shipped to retailers.
In the real world, 7-year-old Sasha and 10-year-old Malia have been the focus of intense interest. A throng of reporters followed their first day at school, and news reports detailed what they wore on inauguration Day.
That fascination will make the dolls a success, said Denise Gary Robinson, president of DollLikeMe.com, an online specialty doll boutique that specializes in ethnic dolls, toys and gifts.
"Girls all over the world, of all colors,
will be looking for these dolls. They want to identify with these two girls," Robinson said.
Among the 30 other TyGirlz pictured on Ty's Web site are ones named Lindsay, Britney, Paris, Hillary and Jenna (but no Barbara.) The collection was introduced in 2007.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Public figures have a legal right to control their how their images are used, but Lundeen would not comment on legal issues or if the company's lawyers have become involved with the dolls.
Pictured are the Sweet Sasha, left, and Marvelous Malia dolls made by Ty Inc., the creator of Beanie Babies, at Lamont's gift shop inside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Chicago. The daughters of President Barack Obama, who share their names with the dolls, are officially not the inspiration for the latest in the TyGirl Collection.
NATIONAL Neo-Nazi group defends right to adopt highway
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A neo-Nazi group has joined the state's 'Adopt-A-Highway' volunteer litter pickup program, taking advantage of a free speech count fight won four years ago by the Ku Klux Klan.
The Springfield unit of the National Socialist Movement has committed to cleaning up trash along a half-mile section of Highway 160 near the Springfield city limits.
Two signs noting the group's membership in the Adopt-A-Highway program went up in October but drew attention only recently when the group picked up litter as part of a gathering in Springfield.
The state says it had no way to reject the group's application. "It's a First Amendment thing, and we can't discriminate as long as they pick up the trash," said Bob Edwards, a spokesman for the transportation department's office in Springfield.
The state can deny an organization's application only if it has members who have been convicted of violent criminal activity within the past 10 years.
Ariana Glass, a 16-year-old member of the youth division of the group.
"We wanted to prove that we're not out here just to have fun, we want to make the community look good," Glass said.
CRIME
Associated Press
Man who crashed plane to fake own death accused of being a crook
BY RICK CALLAHAN Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana financial adviser accused of trying to take his death in a plane crash improperly moved money from accounts, forged signatures on investment documents and
charged exorbitant fees for years, investors testified at a hearing Thursday.
in Florida.
An administrative law judge in Indiana heard from investors and their relatives who claim Marcus Schrenker bliked them out of hundreds of thousands of dollars for years before last week's plane crash
While that hearing was going on, Schrenker was in federal court in Pensacola, Fla., where he pleaded not guilty to charges of deliberately crashing his airplane and making a false distress call.
Judge Roger Vinson ordered the 38-year-old amateur pilot sent
for a psychiatric evaluation after Schrenker's attorney claimed he is not mentally competent for trial.
Schrenker was arrested Jan. 13 at a campground near Tallahassee, Fla., where federal agents say he tried to kill himself after parachuting from his
plane in Alabama and driving off on a motorcycle he had stashed nearby.
His plane continued on autopilot for 200 miles before crashing in the Florida Panhandle.
Authorities say he faced mounting legal problems and his wife had filed for divorce.
Officials said Schrenker misrepresented the annuities his clients purchased and misappropriated their money, part of what one called a pattern of "brash, arrogant and reckless" behavior that ended with the unmanned plane crashing near homes.
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