Lesbian teen sues to force school to hold prom

An 18-year-old lesbian student who wanted to take her girlfriend to her senior prom is asking a federal judge to force her Mississippi school district reinstate the dance it canceled rather than let the couple attend.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi on Thursday filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Oxford on behalf of 18-year-old Constance McMillen, who said she faced some unhappy classmates after the Itawamba County School District said it wouldn’t host the April 2 prom.

“Somebody said, ‘Thanks for ruining my senior year.’” McMillen said of her reluctant return Thursday to Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton.

The lawsuit seeks a court order for the school to hold the prom. It also asks that McMillen be allowed to escort her girlfriend, who also is a student at the school, and wear the tuxedo.

The district’s decision Wednesday came after the ACLU demanded that officials change a policy banning same-sex prom dates because it said it violated students’ rights. The ACLU said the district violated McMillen’s free expression rights by not letting her wear a tux.

McMillen said she never expected the district to respond the way it did.

“A lot of people said that was going to happen, but I said, they had already spent too much money on the prom” to cancel it, she said.

McMillen said she didn’t want to go back to Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Fulton the morning after the decision, but her father told her she needed to face her classmates.

“My daddy told me that I needed to show them that I’m still proud of who I am,” McMillen told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “The fact that this will help people later on, that’s what’s helping me to go on.”

The school board statement said it wouldn’t host the event “due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events” but didn’t mention McMillen. District officials didn’t return calls seeking comment Thursday.

Same-sex prom dates and cross-dressing are new issues for many high schools around the country, said Daryl Presgraves, a spokesman for GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a Washington-based advocacy group.

“A lot of schools actually react rather than do the research and find out what the rights of these students are,” said Presgraves.

In 2002, a gay student sued his school district in Toronto to allow him to attend a prom with his boyfriend. A judge later forced the district to allow the couple to attend and stopped the district from canceling the prom.

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., said a bill he’s introduced in Congress would make it illegal to discriminate against gay and lesbian school students. He said at least 10 states have such laws, and his bill is modeled after those.

“This situation with the prom is a perfect example of why we need to protect students from discrimination. In this case it’s a prom. It other cases, it’s getting beaten up or killed,” Polis said.

The school district had said it hoped a privately sponsored prom could be held.

Southside Baptist Church Pastor Bobby Crenshaw said he’s seen the South portrayed as “backwards” on Web sites discussing the issue, “but a lot more people here have biblically based values.”

Itawamba County is a rural area of about 23,000 people in north Mississippi near the Alabama state line. It’s near Pontotoc County, Miss., where more than a decade ago school officials were sued in federal court over their practice of student-led intercom prayer and Bible classes.

Tiger Woods likely to return at Masters

Tiger Woods intends to remain out of golf at least until the Masters, two people with knowledge of his plans told The Associated Press.

Woods has been practicing at Isleworth near his Orlando home the last two weeks, and swing coach Hank Haney flew there during the weekend to work with him. That led to speculation Thursday he was close to playing again.

The two people, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because only Woods is supposed to release such information, say he is likely to play first at Augusta National in April.

Woods twice has gone nine weeks without competing before showing up at a major. The first time was in 2006, when he didn’t play after the Masters while coping with his father’s death, then missed the cut in a major for the first time in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Two years ago, he was out because of knee surgery until winning the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on a shattered left knee.

Woods has not played since Nov. 15, when he won the Australian Masters in Melbourne for his 82nd career victory. Twelve days later, he crashed his SUV into a tree near his Florida home, setting off shocking revelations that he had been cheating on his wife.

In his first public appearance Feb. 19 at the TPC Sawgrass, when he apologized for his behavior and confessed to having extramarital affairs, he said he would return to golf and that “I don’t rule out that it will be this year.”

There have been signs during the last few weeks he was getting closer.

Woods returned from family therapy in Arizona on Feb. 28 and began getting into a routine of fitness and practice. Haney was working with Woods on the practice range earlier this week.

Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG, came to the CA Championship at Doral this week to do business — Steinberg also is the managing director of golf for IMG, which conducts numerous tournaments around the world.

Meanwhile, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer declined to comment on reports that he had been brought on board to help with Woods’ return. Fleischer said in an e-mail to the AP he could neither confirm nor deny that Woods was a client.

Several reports said Woods was planning his return at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he is the defending champion and a six-time winner on a course that is a short drive from his home.

Bay Hill is the only regular PGA Tour event that Woods has never missed since turning pro.

Tournament director Scott Wellington already had made contingency plans for media and security, as have other PGA Tour events upon learning that Woods had returned to practice.

Wellington said he had not heard anything from Woods or his management team.

“At this point, we still don’t know,” he said. “He has until next Friday to commit. But it was a busy day, for sure. We had a lot of calls, a lot of interest and we sold some tickets. It was interesting.”

Woods won at Bay Hill last year for his first victory after an eight-month layoff from knee surgery.

He is a four-time Masters champion, setting records in 1997 as the youngest winner with the lowest 72-hole score. The Masters is more restrictive of media credentials than any other major, and it is the one tournament where the media is not allowed inside the ropes.

Tournament week is April 5-11.

Woods typically has a press conference on Tuesday of the Masters, and the Champions Dinner also is held that night.

‘Uncharted 2′ nabs 5 trophies at video game awards

“Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” stole the show at the Game Developers Choice Awards.

The high-octane PlayStation 3 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog won five trophies at the Game Developers Conference ceremony Thursday, including game of the year. “Uncharted 2,” which casts players in the role of globe-trotting treasure hunter Nathan Drake, was also honored Thursday evening for best writing, audio, technology and visual art.

“It”s one thing to have an idea,” said art director Robh Ruppel, “but you really need a great crew to make a game.”

“Uncharted 2″ foiled fellow game of the year nominees Rocksteady Studios’ “Batman: Arkham Asylum,” Ubisoft Montreal’s “Assassin’s Creed II,” From Software’s “Demon’s Souls” and BioWare’s “Dragon Age: Origins.” The unstoppable PlayStation 3 exclusive previously nabbed three prizes at December’s Spike TV Video Game Awards, including game of the year.

Selected by a jury of game creators, the Game Developers Choice Awards honor the best games of the past year. The 10th annual ceremony was hosted by “Deus Ex” and “Epic Mickey” lead designer Warren Spector. The show was capped off with the debut teaser trailer for “Deus Ex: Human Revolution,” the third installment in the futuristic role-playing game franchise.

Other winners at the Moscone Convention Center ceremony included 5th Cell’s word-happy puzzler “Scribblenauts” for best handheld game and innovation, Rocksteady Studios’ stealthy “Batman: Arkham Asylum” for best game design, Runic Games’ fantasy outing “Torchlight” for best debut game and thatgamecompany’s free-flowing “Flower” for best downloadable game.

“Think about what you can do to affect the people around the world, not just for entertainment or distraction but something that’s deeper and more meaningful,” “Flower” designer Jenova Chen told the crowd of game makers during his speech.

John Carmack, the id Software co-founder and lead programmer of such games as “Doom” and Quake,” was awarded the lifetime achievement award. Gabe Newell, Valve Corp. co-founder, won the pioneer award and used his speech to tease the upcoming sequel to “Portal.” Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik and Robert Khoo of Penny Arcade received the ambassador award.

Earlier in the evening, several trophies were handed out at the 12th annual Independent Games Festival Awards. Pocketwatch Games’ “Monaco” won the top honor, taking home the $20,000 Seumas McNally grand prize for best independent game as well as the award for excellence on design. Other indie winners included Cactus’ “Tuning” and PlayDead’s “Limbo.”

‘American Idol’ pares down to 12 finalists

Teen power won out on “American Idol” as Katie Stevens claimed a place in the top 12 while a more experienced singer got the ax.

Stevens, 17, earned viewer support even though the show’s judges were disappointed earlier this week by her performance of “Breakaway” that Randy Jackson likened to karaoke.

Lilly Scott, despite earning praise for her artistry on “I Fall to Pieces,” was among the four contestants dropped Thursday. They included Alex Lambert of North Richland Hills, Texas; Todrick Hall of Arlington, Texas, and Katelyn Epperly of West Des Moines, Iowa.

Scott, who had been warned by Simon Cowell that her version of the country standard might be risky, stood onstage next to Stevens to hear which of them would be going home. Scott appeared stunned when her name was announced.

“I thought I did really well. I put my heart into every performance,” said Scott, 20, of Littleton, Colo. “I just know there’s an audience out there for me.”

Judge Kara DioGuardi, comparing the two, acknowledged that Stevens of Middlebury, Conn., had the advantage of a more contemporary sound but didn’t know herself as a performer yet, while Scott did.

It was no surprise that the judge’s favorite from previous weeks, Michael “Big Mike” Lynche, made the cut.

Lynche, 26, of Astoria, N.Y., especially dazzled the panel Wednesday with his performance of “This Woman’s Work,” which brought DioGuardi to tears.

The other finalists are Crystal Bowersox, 24, of Toledo, Ohio; Siobhan Magnus, 20, of Marstons Mills, Mass.; Lacey Brown, 24, of Amarillo, Texas; Paige Miles, 24, of Houston; Didi Benami, 23, of Los Angeles; Andrew Garcia, 24, Moreno Valley, Calif., Casey James, 27, of Fort Worth, Texas; Tim Urban, 20, of Duncanville, Texas; Aaron Kelley, 16, of Sonestown, Pa., and Lee Dewyze, 23, of Mount Prospect, Ill.

Lambert, 19, who had trouble overcoming his shyness on stage, looked downcast and tearful when he learned his fate.

“There’s a lot of things America hasn’t seen me do yet,” he said, adding, “I wish could just have broken out of my shell.”

Judge Ellen DeGeneres gave him a verbal pat on the back.

“You’re so good. Don’t ever stop believing in yourself,” she said.

Hall, however, looked on the bright side.

“This has been an awesome experience. I came here to prove that I’m not just a dancer, I can also sing. I think that I’ve done that,” he said, earning encouragement from Jackson. “Fantastic, dude,” the judge told him.

DioGuardi had criticized Epperly for “going through the motions” on her version of “I Feel the Earth Move” earlier this week. Cowell compared her performance to request night at a restaurant, but added that he did like her full, curly locks that evoked the song’s composer, Carole King.

“I’m not stopping now. It’s just a push actually, for me. I’ll do more stuff,” Epperly said Thursday.

Burial chamber of ancient Egyptian queen unearthed

French archaeologists announced Wednesday the discovery outside Cairo of the burial chamber of a mysterious queen from Egypt’s Old Kingdom more than 4,000 years ago.

The necropolis of Saqqara outside Cairo has yielded a string of new discoveries as 10 different teams excavate a previously untouched area of these burial grounds were used continuously for more than 2,000 years until Roman times.

French mission head Philippe Collombert said the mummy of Queen Behenu was destroyed, but the chamber contained green hieroglyphics picked out on white stone known as the “Pyramid Texts.”

“We are excited because the texts are well conserved,” he told The Associated Press, adding that the queen’s titles were written on the walls of the 33 by 16 foot (10 meter by 5 meter) burial chamber inside her small pyramid.

The text is primarily concerned with protecting the queen’s remains and her transition to afterlife.

Collombert called the queen “mysterious,” and said it was not clear whether she was the wife of King Pepi I or II, two long-ruling pharaohs of the Sixth Dynasty.

Under that dynasty, Egypt’s Old Kingdom period ended as centralized rule broke down and ushered in a period of competing dynasties and powerful nobles vying for power across the country.

Pyramids from this time were mainly concentrated in Saqqara and were shoddily built, compared to their more famous cousins in Giza, and have largely fallen apart.

Collombert said the mission has worked in the area since 1988 and has unearthed seven pyramids belonging to queens from the dynasty, but this is only the second pyramid with religious texts on the walls.

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