Defense

This is all you need to know about Owen Marecic: He has busted two helmets this season, both his own, from hard hits. "Yeah, I've cracked a couple, but it's no big thing," he says. "Luckily we have spares." An old-school attitude makes sense for this Stanford player caught in a time warp. When the Cardinal faces USC at the Coliseum on Saturday, Marecic will start at fullback and middle linebacker, two of the toughest positions on the field, going both ways as if it were the 1950s.

Defense has always ranked among Ben Howland's favorite topics, so it makes sense to hear the UCLA coach talk about double teams and help-side rotation leading up to the season opener. "We're still having a problem defending the dribble," he said Thursday after watching film of a recent victory over Humboldt State. "There were a number of times we were getting beat off dribble penetration." This is a young team that has yet to adopt Howland's trademark pressure defense. He expressed concern about an athletic Cal State Fullerton visiting Pauley Pavilion on Monday night.

Vice President Al Gore delivers the keynote address today to a gathering of defense ministers from the United States, Canada and 32 Latin American democracies in the Colonial Williamsburg resort in Virginia. Cuba was not invited. Defense Secretary William J. Perry invited his counterparts to the 18th-Century town for talks about defense cooperation and steps to strip secrecy from military maneuvers and deployments.

Poland's foreign minister said Friday that his country had agreed in principle to a controversial missile defense system proposed by the U.S. after receiving assurances that Washington would help with other defense needs.

The Air Force's top officer on Thursday presented a new strategic plan for the service that warns the U.S. cannot ignore "ascendant powers" seeking to challenge American military superiority as it fights low-intensity wars elsewhere. In his new plan, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, the Air Force chief of staff, did not name specific countries as potential challengers. But at a formal presentation, Moseley singled out military spending in Russia and China, noting both are rising at a rapid clip.

The successful U.S. missile strike against a failing spy satellite 133 miles above the Earth on Wednesday bolstered the credibility of America's long-troubled missile defense system, according to military experts. U.S. military officials have sought to play down the strategic value of the operation, saying that it was solely intended to take out a malfunctioning satellite hurtling toward Earth with a tank of toxic rocket fuel.

With American officials working to close a deal on a missile defense system in Europe, the head of the U.S. program warned Thursday that Iran was within two or three years of producing a missile that could reach most European capitals. "They're already flying missiles that exceed what they would need in a fight with Israel. Why? Why do they continue this progression in terms of range of missiles? It's something we need to think about," Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry Obering III, director of the U.S.

President Bush and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin failed Sunday to overcome their greatest conflicts on a missile defense system the United States plans to build in Central Europe but narrowed difference over one key element.

A man who allegedly had a bizarre and violent outburst in a La Mesa restaurant has been ordered to undergo a psychological examination. Judge Patricia Cookson granted a defense motion to suspend criminal proceedings against Wayne Bushore pending the evaluation. Police say Bushore threatened to shoot a manager in the head at a Denny's restaurant April 14 and threw furniture in the dining area. Police say Bushore then ran out of the San Diego County restaurant and grabbed a 16-year-old girl and threw her into traffic.