Harvard

With his photogenic wife at his side and a willingness to make eye contact and engage in small talk, Xi Jinping looks more like an American politician than the gray suits who populate the upper ranks of Chinese politics. One of his first acts as head of the Chinese Communist Party last year was to ban long speeches, banquets and red carpets. But during his first months in power, Xi has proved himself more hard-line on a number of issues than his recent predecessors. He has tightened censorship in academia and the media, and spearheaded China's territorial assertions in the South China and East China seas.

After the 2007 high school baseball season, Matt LaCour made a surprising job change. He gave up one of the best coaching positions in the City Section at Woodland Hills El Camino Real to become coach at Studio City Harvard-Westlake, which was known more for its success in basketball, soccer, golf, water polo and tennis. It took six years, but LaCour put the Wolverines' baseball program on the map this season. Harvard-Westlake won the Southern Section Division 1 championship and earned a national championship plaque from Baseball America.

Khadijah Williams stepped into chemistry class and instantly tuned out the commotion. She walked past students laughing, gossiping, napping and combing one another's hair. Past a cellphone blaring rap songs. And past a substitute teacher sitting in a near-daze. Quietly, the 18-year-old settled into an empty table, flipped open her physics book and focused. Nothing mattered now except homework. "No wonder you're going to Harvard," a girl teased her. Around here, Khadijah is known as "Harvard girl," the "smart girl" and the girl with the contagious smile who landed at Jefferson High School only 18 months ago. What students don't know is that she is also a homeless girl.

Rank, School Record, playoff finish 1. HARVARD-WESTLAKE (28-4); SS Division 1 champion 2. OAKS CHRISTIAN (29-3-1); SS Division 4 champion 3. MATER DEI (24-3); SS Division 1 first round 4. CYPRESS (26-8); SS Division 2 champion 5. GARDENA SERRA (27-5); SS Division 3 champion 6. MARINA (22-9); SS Division 1 runner-up 7. EL TORO (23-7); SS Division 1 quarterfinalist 8. BONITA (25-4-1); SS Division 3 first round 9. FOUNTAIN VALLEY (24-5); SS Division 1 second round 10. TEMECULA VALLEY (23-6)

Vietnam veteran John Otte did his best to forget the war. He got married, raised two sons and made a career working at credit unions. But as Otte neared retirement, memories of combat flooded back. Starting in 2005, he filed a series of claims with Veterans Affairs for disability compensation, contending that many of his health problems stemmed from the war. The VA agreed, and now the 65-year-old with two Purple Hearts receives $1,900 a month for post-traumatic stress disorder and diabetes - and for having shrapnel scars on his arms.

Kyle Casey, a Harvard senior who helped the Crimson reach the NCAA basketball tournament for the first time in 65 years last season, plans to withdraw from the school after being implicated in a widespread academic cheating scandal, SI.com reported early Tuesday morning citing multiple sources. If the all-Ivy League forward withdraws before Harvard's fall registration deadline Tuesday, he would miss the entire 2012-13 season but might be able to return to the school and basketball team the following year once the case is settled.

This season's Cooking and Science lecture series at Harvard is coming to a close with just three lectures left. Don't miss Nathan Myhrvold, author of " Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking " -- the $625 six-volume set -- on Nov. 19; David Chang of Momofuku on Nov. 26; and El Bulli Foundation 's Ferran Adriá on Dec. 3. Watch the remaining lectures live streaming on Mondays at 7 p.m. EST. Lectures are also available on...

Matt Cornue, a swimmer for Villa Park High, will attend Harvard, according to David Salo, who coaches the Irvine Novaquatics, Cornue's club. Cornue won the 1993 Southern Section Division I title in the 100 freestyle. Harvard, which doesn't offer athletic scholarships, won the 1994 Ivy League men's swimming title.

Harvard's lightweight eight, which shattered the Thames Cup record in the Henley Royal Regatta Thursday, followed by losing to Williams (Mass.) College Friday. Williams, which took an early half-length lead, held on through the middle of the race, when Harvard closed within three feet, then eventually eased away to win the race by three-quarters of a length. Williams' time was 7:03, 37 seconds slower than Harvard's record time the day before.

The first real bracket buster of the tournament, 14th-seeded Harvard's 68-62 victory over third-seeded New Mexico, was not a good moment for the majority of those who had taken part in an office or online pool. It was a great moment for one person in particular though: Jeremy Lin. Not long after the victory, Lin sent out the following tweet: "YYYYYEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!! HARVARD winssss!!! hahahahhah i told you.... #bracketbusters. " QUIZ: Take the March Madness trivia test  Lin, who played for three seasons for Harvard, graduated from the Ivy League school in 2010 with a degree in economics.

From the first day Jack Flaherty walked on the Harvard-Westlake High campus as a freshman two years ago, he was projected to be a baseball standout. He had the size, the work ethic and the cool, calm demeanor that signified star quality in his future. It all came together during his junior season. As a hitter, he batted .360 with two home runs and 13 stolen bases in 15 attempts. As a pitcher, he had a 13-0 record with an 0.63 earned-run average. He walked only 10 batters in 89 innings and struck out 112. In the Southern Section Division 1 championship game at Dodger Stadium, Flaherty drove in the game's only run and threw a shutout against Huntington Beach Marina.

Courtney Corrin soared last month to a national-best long-jump mark for high school girls. She also is a perennial choice for national age-group soccer teams. Her fleet and nimble feet might one day carry her to the Olympics. But greater insight into the Harvard-Westlake freshman's drive and personality might be found in her hands. Corrin's fingernails are bright and colorful, a personally painted tableau. For inspiration before jumps, she puts her thumbs together to read "This moment is yours.

As a freshman and sophomore, Jack Flaherty couldn't win a playoff game on the mound for Studio City Harvard-Westlake. Now he doesn't lose games period. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound right-hander has become a true ace in his junior year, and he was at his best Friday night in the Southern Section Division 1 championship game at Dodger Stadium. Flaherty (13-0, 0.63 earned-run average) struck out eight, walked one and finished with a six-hitter in Harvard-Westlake's 1-0 victory over Huntington Beach Marina.

Max Willingham was delirious with joy. The 17-year-old Huntington Beach Marina second baseman delivered a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning Tuesday to earn himself and his best friends on the Vikings' baseball team a trip to Dodger Stadium. It was a two-strike, two-out single against Loyola's Nathan Hadley to drive in the tying and winning runs in a 6-5 victory over the Cubs in a Southern Section Division 1 semifinal game at Blair Field in Long Beach. "It was kind of nerve racking, but I tried to stay calm and hit the ball up the middle, and I got it done," Willingham said.

Players in the Southern Section Division 1 baseball playoffs can dream about celebrating a championship at Dodger Stadium, but giving legitimacy to the dream only occurs after a team proves it can win with its No. 2 pitcher. That's why what transpired Tuesday afternoon in Placentia could be a defining moment for No. 3-seeded Studio City Harvard-Westlake. Coach Matt LaCour hadn't won a playoff game with his No. 2 pitcher since he took over the program six years ago. He decided it was time to put Conor Cuse in the spotlight.

There's nothing easy or predictable about the 40-team Southern Section Division 1 baseball playoffs that begin Tuesday with eight wild-card games. "The Division 1 games are a juggernaut," Coach Matt LaCour of No. 3-seeded Studio City Harvard-Westlake said. "Single-elimination playoffs are about a team getting hot at the right time and having a little luck. " Santa Ana Mater Dei (24-2) ended the regular season as the best team in Southern California and received the No. 1 seeding for the Division 1 playoffs.

The Harvard varsity eight men's crew figured that to win its first Copley Cup since 1979, it was going to have to go all out during the middle portion of Saturday's 2,000-meter Grand Final in the 14th San Diego Crew regatta on Mission Bay. Because of bad weather on the East Coast, Coach Harry Parker's rowers weren't able to prepare as much as they would have liked for the season's first major regatta. But one thing is certain: Parker and his crew proved that they have excellent foresight.

Gary Sonkur, Montclair Prep's All-Southern Section running back, has committed to Harvard. Sonkur rushed for a school-record 2,705 yards and scored 37 touchdowns last season, helping the Mounties finish 13-1 and reach the Division XII championship game. GIRLS' SOCCER * Westlake forward Sara Silver-Hill has committed to Washington State. BOXING * Heavyweight Lance Whitaker of Granada Hills has signed to fight Francois Botha on April 14 in Germany.

Well-known Harvard professor Niall Ferguson apologized Saturday for what he called “stupid and tactless remarks” suggesting sexual orientation influenced the polices of famed economist John Maynard Keynes. On Thursday, Ferguson suggested that the British economist lacked foresight about future generations because he was childless, and that he was childless because he was gay. Ferguson made the comments during a conference in Carlsbad, Calif., during a discussion on Keynes' famous line, “The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs.