Protocol

The pope may be viewed by his church as infallible, but for his U.N. visit, it was Alice Hecht's job to make sure everyone else would be as close to perfect as possible. Hecht, United Nations chief of protocol, said that prepping for Friday's visit by Pope Benedict XVI was much more difficult than getting ready for a state visit by President Bush, who didn't move around the building as much or require the same kind of security. Hecht, a U.N.

For Patrick Hicks, it was a teachable moment that he would share with his social studies class in Grosse Pointe, Mich. For Chris Berkley, it was an opportunity to honor a former president who had gone to grade school with his grandfather. For Jeff Myers, a fellow alumnus of the University of Michigan, it was a way to show respect for a former Wolverine. They -- and thousands of other citizens -- honored the memory of Gerald R.

President Bush, joining thousands of average Americans who started the New Year by saying goodbye to an old president, stopped Monday at the U.S. Capitol after returning from his Texas ranch to pay his respects to Gerald R. Ford. Wearing a dark suit and gray tie, Bush was joined by First Lady Laura Bush and a small contingent of White House aides that included Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove. Shortly after 3 p.m.

Let's say you're the mayor of Los Angeles on an official visit here and you crack a joke about politicians. Bad move. Or perhaps you bring a lovely crystal vase wrapped in white paper, the color for funerals. Oops. Luckily for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, his staff has compiled a protocol playbook for his East Asian trade mission to China, South Korea and Japan that contains enough do's and don'ts to give Emily Post a headache.

The nation's capital prepared Wednesday to honor former President Gerald R. Ford with the pomp and solemnity of a state funeral, as tributes poured in for the self-effacing leader who in the mid-1970s steered the country through a particularly troubled period. Memorials for the 38th president -- who died Tuesday at 93 at his Rancho Mirage home -- will begin Friday with observances in Palm Desert, continue in Washington and conclude Wednesday in Grand Rapids, Mich.

I was disappointed that more mention of physical therapy was not included in your article on hip replacement surgery ["The New Hip Trend," June 5]. As a practicing physical therapist, I would argue that a comprehensive physical therapy protocol, including stretching, strengthening and stabilization exercises, would optimize the effects of the surgery and improve outcomes. While the total hip arthroplasty (THA) patient may be getting younger, a home exercise program or supervised protocol prescribed and implemented by a physical therapist is critical for improving both short- and long-term functional recovery.

High school threats: An article in Tuesday's California section said threats posted on Glen A. Wilson High School's Wikipedia page came from an anonymous e-mail address. The threats were posted by a user who had not registered with Wikipedia. He posted to the site using an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a number generated by the computer or device he was using.

Re "Pronunciation protocol," Opinion, May 7 If you write about pronunciation protocol, it makes sense to give correct guidelines and spelling. Former U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold's first name is definitely not pronounced with a short "a," as in "bag" -- it's got a long, open "a," as in "car." Furthermore, there should be two little dots over the "o" in his last name: "o" and "o" are different letters in the Swedish alphabet. Lionel Beehner does not make it clear if the correct pronunciation of Iran is "I-Ran" or "ee-RON," or if Kabul is "KA-bul" or "Ka-BUL," or how the honorific "U" in U Thant's name should be pronounced.

As thousands of mourners lined the route, Ronald Reagan ended his long journey Friday with a stately 28-mile procession through a California landscape of farmland, freeways and suburbs. Throngs of well-wishers had planted themselves at viewing spots hours before the plane bearing Reagan's flag-draped casket touched down at Point Mugu Naval Air Station. Proceeding at a solemn pace, the limousine convoy of security officers, family members and dignitaries left the base at 5:05 p.m.

When he got the call he had been dreading, Marine Maj. Daniel Hooker thought: I can't mess this up. He put on his dress blues, hung in his office in anticipation of such a mission, with a sense that he was donning religious vestments. He shut the door and tore a page from the manual he had been given, the one that spelled out the speech he was supposed to use. Hooker began reciting the words. "The commandant of the Marine Corps has entrusted me.... " But he couldn't get through them.