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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

The cancer society has not recommended routine screening for most men since the mid-1990s, and that is not changing. But its new advice goes farther to warn of the limitations of the PSA blood test that millions of American men get now. It also says digital rectal exams should be an option rather than part of a standard screening.

The new advice is the latest pushback from routine screening to hunt for early cancers. Last year, a government task force said most women don’t need mammograms in their 40s and a doctors group said most women in their 20s don’t need annual Pap tests.

American men have long been urged to have prostate cancer screenings, but over time studies have suggested that most cancers found are so slow-growing that most men could have avoided treatment.

The Atlanta-based cancer society is perhaps the most influential group in giving screening advice. Its new guidance released Wednesday on prostate cancer urges doctors to:

_Discuss the pros and cons of testing with their patients, including giving them written information or videos that discuss the likelihood of false test results and the side effects of treatment.

_Stop giving the rectal exam as a standard prostate cancer screening because it has not clearly shown a benefit, though it can remain an option.

_Use past PSA readings to determine how often followup tests are needed and to guide conversations about treatment.

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in American men. An estimated 192,000 new cases and 27,000 deaths from it occurred last year in the United States.

But it is a slow-growing cancer in many cases, and depending on a man’s age, he may be more likely to die of something else. Major studies have suggested routine screening doesn’t save lives and often leads to worry and unnecessary treatment.

The new cancer society recommendations could be “game changers” in two respects, said Dr. John Davis, a urologist who directs prostate cancer screening programs for the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

First, they could change how routine physical exams for many older men are conducted, he said. About 41 percent of men 50 and older get annual prostate cancer screenings. Even though the cancer society doesn’t recommend routine PSA tests, many doctors do it without even asking their patients. And there’s little conversation about it unless the test gives a worrisome result. The new guidelines may spur doctors to talk to their patients earlier about the pros and cons of getting the test in the first place.

Second, the guidelines could have a chilling effect on community prostate screening clinics in which hundreds of men line up and get free, quick exams, Davis said.

That was the intent, said Dr. Andrew Wolf, a University of Virginia physician who led the group that write the new guidelines.

“Yes, the guideline was explicitly crafted to put a damper on those community prostate screening activities that do not offer men the opportunity to make an informed decision whether to screen,” Wolf said.

Prostate cancer screening became a medical mantra in the 1990s, thanks to the development of the PSA test. Some celebrities became advocates for routine testing, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the actor Brad Garrett from the TV sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond.” In 2008, Garrett underwent an on-the-air digital rectal exam for a TV special called “Stand Up To Cancer.”

But concerns about the value of routine screening increased last year, after two large studies concluded screening for prostate cancer doesn’t necessarily save lives, and noted any benefits can come at a high price.

The American Urological Association — a longtime proponent of regular screening — last year backed off its call for annual tests after age 50. The group said men should be offered a baseline PSA test at age 40, with follow-ups at intervals based on each man’s situation.

The group also has stood by the rectal exam as a standard part of screening, saying it can find cancer that the blood test does not.

The cancer society has been more cautious about regular screenings for some time. The organization last issued guidelines in 2001, which said merely that doctors should offer screening and discuss the risks and benefits.

The new guidelines back away even more, dropping the sentence that doctors should offer prostate screening. Instead, the society says some evidence indicates periodic screening can save lives but that there are significant uncertainties about the overall value of finding prostate cancer early. Screening should not take place, the new advice says, unless a patient is fully informed of the trade-offs.

In a nod to the busy workload of doctors, the guidelines recommend videos, brochures and other “patient decision aids.”

Men at average risk should get detailed information around age 50, the society recommends. Men at higher risk, including African-Americans and men with a father or brother who had prostate cancer before age 65, should get the information beginning at age 45. Men with more than one close relative with prostate cancer before 65 should get such information at age 40.

For men who want to be screened regularly, the new guidelines recommend every other year if the PSA reading is less than 2.5, a measure of prostate specific antigen per milligram of blood. Annual tests are recommended for 2.5 or higher and a 4 suggests consideration of a biopsy.

The urological association considers the cancer society’s advice too simplistic and says it’s important to consider any rapid rise in PSA results.

The society’s new guidelines rankled Skip Lockwood, president and CEO of Zero — The Project to End Prostate Cancer, formerly known as the National Prostate Cancer Coalition.

Lockwood’s group recommends annual PSA tests for men beginning at 45, and conducts mobile prostate cancer screening programs at state fairs, churches and other sites. The group provides information about the risks and benefits of screening, and connects men to follow-up care if needed, he said.

What bothers him most in the new guidance is “the certainty of its tone,” Lockwood said.

“We acknowledge that the PSA test is lacking. I think nobody disagrees on that fact. I think that we all understand that this is not cut and dry — not an all or nothing situation,” he said.

Leonid Tyagachev, a former sports minister who’d led the committee since 2001, stepped down two days after President Dmitry Medvedev warned that sports officials would be fired if they failed to resign voluntarily.

“Leonid Tyagachev has offered his resignation,” committee spokesman Gennady Shvets said, according to the Interfax news agency. “This obviously concerns the Russian athletes’ performance at the Vancouver Olympic Games.”

Russia won just 15 medals — only three golds — two fewer than its previous low in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Officials said before the Vancouver Games that 30 medals and a top-three finish in the medal standings were the targets. Russia placed 11th for golds and sixth in the overall medal count, results that proved particularly embarrassing as the country takes the torch for the next Winter Olympics in its Black Sea resort of Sochi in 2014.

The 63-year-old Tyagachev helped Russia win hosting rights to the Sochi Games. He is a personal friend and, according to some Russian news reports, a former ski instructor of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

There was no word on a replacement.

Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said Tuesday in televised comments that he would “calmly leave” his post if Medvedev’s warnings were directed at him. Mutko — who has so far resisted calls to resign from a wide array of Russian politicians — on Monday blamed several factors for the Vancouver flop.

He said the team was unlucky, that no one in Russia takes new winter sports such as freestyle skiing seriously and doping bans had deprived Russia of several leading medal contenders.

The In Memoriam segment can be the most moving part of the Oscar telecast. It’s also the toughest to produce.

“It is the single most troubling element of the Oscar show every year,” says Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “Because more people die each year than can possibly be included in that segment.”

Davis’ office keeps a running list of academy members and others in the movie business who have passed since the previous year’s segment was compiled. Then, a few weeks before the awards, he and a small committee of academy officials whittle the list of more than 100 names down to the 30 or so folks who will be included in the show’s memorial — from the famous faces viewers at home are sure to recognize to the behind-the-scenes workers familiar only to academy members.

“It gets close to agonizing by the end,” Davis says of the annual meeting. “You are dropping people who the public knows. It’s just not comfortable.”

Oscar’s In Memoriam montage began in the early 1990s and other awards shows followed suit, including the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Grammys and Emmys — all of which go through the same painful process every year.

“It’s a killer because we have hundreds of members that pass each year and we can’t get them all in,” says SAG Awards producer Kathy Connell.

The film academy gives its final list of in-memoriam honorees to the producer of the segment just days before the big show. Chuck Workman, who is producing the memorial montage for Sunday’s telecast, says he was working with a temporary list until last week.

Many of the names made the final cut, he says, but some did not.

“It’s a constant balance for the academy,” says Workman, who has 20 years of experience making film montages for the Oscar show. “They do try their best, but there’s only so many spots.”

Workman says his first step would normally be to choose “some schmaltzy music” to accompany the segment, but this year the music “is coming directly from something they’re doing for the show.”

Workman’s task, then, is to find footage and photographs that best represent the 30 or so people in the memorial piece. He looks for images that “they would be proud of, their families would be proud of and the people in the audience would be proud of.”

For Patrick Swayze, who died Sept. 14, Workman picked clips from “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost.”

But Workman notes that “In ‘Ghost,’ you don’t want it to look too much like he died.”

Using computers and digital editing software, he assembles the sequence like a puzzle.

“It’s very tricky,” he says. “You want a good juxtaposition, but you don’t want it to be too cute. It’s really an honor to the people who died.”

Davis, meanwhile, is already prepared for the calls he always gets after the show from family members upset that their loved one wasn’t included in the memorial piece.

“They’re brokenhearted sometimes,” Davis says. “There’s nothing you can say that will make them feel better.

“I always hope that they take some comfort that the very fact that they worked in movies confers a certain amount of immortality … and their work lasts longer than being briefly acknowledged in a short clip sequence at one show in one year.”

Still, he takes the calls personally and feels the callers’ pain.

Davis says he’s “never had an enjoyable year” working on Oscar’s memorial segment. But it’s always worth it to pay tribute to those who have died.

“Even though I’ve been keeping the list as we went along, it’s always stirring to see it all assembled and just remember how much extraordinary work a list of 25 to 30 people may represent,” he says. “It’s important because even though every given Academy Awards broadcast is about the year just past, this is a way of evoking the whole history of movies.”

There are cocktail parties in every corner of the city. Gift lounges have sprouted up like spring flowers. Calendars are crammed with dress fittings and shoe fittings and diamond fittings, not to mention countless lunches and dinners in honor of various nominees. Meanwhile, rehearsals are going on inside the Kodak Theatre.

All of Hollywood is gearing up for Sunday’s big game — the Oscars. Here’s the latest:

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DRINKS WITH HISTORY: The week just started and the Oscar parties have already begun. Entertainment site TheWrap.com held its Oscar soiree Monday night at the Four Seasons, and Los Angeles Times’ awards section The Envelope celebrated the season Tuesday with a cocktail party at the Hollywood Museum.

Costumes from Oscar-nominated films filled the exhibition cases inside the historic Max Factor building. There were the military uniforms from “The Hurt Locker,” Sandra Bullock’s dress from “The Blind Side” and the romulan pistol from “Star Trek.” Also on display: Meryl Streep’s costumes from “Julie & Julia” and Brad Pitt’s Nazi-killing garb from “Inglourious Basterds.”

The museum also holds such relics as Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” and the first Irving Thalberg award, presented at the 1937 Oscar ceremony.

Guests from the media, the actors union and nearby studios toasted Hollywood history as they geared up for the latest chapter at Sunday’s 82nd Academy Awards.

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HOLLYWOOD HALTED: Hollywood Boulevard — and its merchants — are martyrs for the Academy Awards.

The famous street shuts down for several blocks each year to accommodate Oscar’s red carpet, fan bleachers and stages outside the Kodak Theatre.

Hollywood Boulevard is closed between Highland Avenue and Orange Drive until March 9. The subway stop at the Hollywood & Highland complex will also be closed beginning Saturday.

The survey of 24,000 people in 23 countries found 21 percent of adults would rather spend February 14 with their pet than their spouse, although the French were least likely to choose a furry friend over a human with only 10 percent taking that option.

But the survey found that age and income were more of a determining factor than nationality when it came to romance, with younger, less affluent people more likely to choose their pet as their Valentine’s Day companion.

John Wright, senior vice president of Ipsos, said 25 percent of people aged under 35 opted for their pet over their partner compared to 18 percent of those aged 35-54 and 14 percent of people aged 55 plus.

Men and women were evenly split over the question.

Those choosing pets over people were also more likely to be those who have a lower income (24 percent) compared to those who were middle or higher income earners (20 percent).

“Likely defying stereotype, the desire to spurn a partner for a pet is not rooted in gender but rather age and even there it seems the older you are, the least likely it is you’d choose pet over partner,” said Wright.

“While there are country differences, it’s more of a personal choice made by younger and less affluent individuals.”

On a country-by-country basis, residents of Turkey were the most likely, at 49 percent, to choose their pet over their spouse or partner.

Next came India with 41 percent, then Japan with 30 percent, China with 29 percent, the United States with 27 percent and Australia with 25 percent.

On the other hand, the nations where residents were the least likely to want to spend the day with a pet instead of their spouse or partner were France at 10 percent, Mexico 11 percent, the Netherlands 12 percent and Hungary at 12 percent.

About 1,000 individuals participated on a country by country basis via an Ipsos (http://www.ipsos.com) online panel with weighting employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample’s composition reflected that of the adult population according to the most recent country census data.