Athletes Get New College Pitch: Check Out Our Tutoring Center - NY Times
Chris McFoy, a wide receiver at the University of Southern California, answers to about half a dozen coaches. Off the field, his coaching staff has been much larger.

Like many U.S.C. athletes, Mr. McFoy has had a lot of help during his five years as a student. During his freshman season, he met weekly with four tutors, one for each of his classes. He also met with a learning specialist who composed “action plans” to organize his schedule and help him plan for tests and papers. U.S.C. and most other N.C.A.A. Division I-A universities also use student “class checkers” who traverse campus to make sure athletes are where they are supposed to be...

...Mr. Carroll tries to make academics competitive, like football. U.S.C. has instituted a points system in which athletes can get in trouble with their coaches if they are not attending class or handing in assignments...

[Holtzman] Trojans, Bruins staring at different challenges - Daily Breeze
It's a getaway weekend to the San Francisco Bay Area for local college football fans. UCLA is at California and USC plays at Stanford, marking the first time the two have played in the Bay Area on the same day.

The games will be on opposite sides of the Bay, but neighbors could run into each other tonight in San Francisco...

...Especially since both games appear to be one-sided. USC should get back on track against a winless Stanford team and UCLA is a double-digit underdog at Cal.

At least, the drinking establishments should be interesting with the influx of tourists...

Playing USC is no way to get your first victory - SF Chron
..."I know it sounds like a broken record, but this is our situation. We've got to start fast, play good, play smart," Stanford coach Walt Harris said. "We need to put a complete game together."

USC's last four games have been decided by a touchdown or less. But the idea that the Trojans are vulnerable, ripe for the kind of 31-28 scare that Stanford gave them in 2004, seems like a stretch considering the Cardinal's average margin of defeat against Pac-10 opponents is 28.6 points.

In order for the Cardinal to have any hope of playing close, they are going to have to put points on the board. And that means jump-starting an offense that's stalled out in recent weeks against a team that leads the Pac-10 in scoring defense...

Also, For Stanford, here's USC - SJ Merc
Carroll OK on Harris' poll - LA Daily News
Stanford struggles to make the grade - OC Register

USC status is day to day - LA Times
As he often does, Pete Carroll turned to the NFL for a lesson when USC began preparations for today's game against winless Stanford...

...a hard look at three recent pro football case studies.

In the aftermath of their turnover-laden performance against the unbeaten Chicago Bears a few weeks ago, the Arizona Cardinals and former Trojan quarterback Matt Leinart lost to the winless Oakland Raiders the following week. Buoyed by the victory, the Raiders returned two interceptions for touchdowns the next week and beat the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers...

...Meanwhile, the Cardinals, who were on the verge of beating the Bears, continue to struggle...

Also, No. 9 USC at Stanford - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
Another chance to bounce back - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
Trojans look for growth at the Farm - Daily Breeze
Scouting Report: USC vs. Stanford - Daily Breeze
USC hopes to win by playing it cool - LA Daily News
USC keys to the game - LA Times
Carroll stands tall amid USC's storm - SJ Merc

Trojans report: Strategy and personnel - CBS Sportsline
USC at Stanford, Nov. 4 -- A perfect game for USC to rebound in...The Trojans don't have to play their best game... this game will be over at halftime.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
RB Chauncey Washington -- He fumbled twice in the loss at Oregon State...Other than that, he's doing well...

...QB John David Booty -- He passed for 406 yards last week...Pete Carroll said, "I think he made great progress." Having Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith healthy helps, as will going against a Stanford secondary that won't be able to...cover all of USC's weapons.

MLB Rey Maualuga...

Also, Trojans report: Notes, quotes - CBS Sportsline
Trojans report: Inside slant - CBS Sportsline

Jarrett undecided about immediate future - OC Register
Dwayne Jarrett said he still has not decided whether he will remain at USC after this season.

Slowed by a separated shoulder, the junior All-America candidate has caught just 31 passes for 335 yards in six games.

After the Trojans lost at Oregon State last week, Jarrett's chances to play for a second national title team likely vanished.

But he said neither of those factors would persuade him...

[Fryer] Rollinson has been here before - OC Register
Forty years ago to this very day, the first football game was played at Anaheim Stadium.

It was Mater Dei vs. Servite. Tonight, in the same location now known as Angel Stadium, it is Mater Dei-Servite again.

Bruce Rollinson was on that field 40 years ago as a Mater Dei player, and he will be there tonight as the Mater Dei coach...

...Rollinson was a fast one at Mater Dei - he was one of the county's top sprinters at the time - and later at USC.

"I still remember I sort of conveniently slid off that knee brace before the Servite game," he said, "and just went for it."...

The Trojan War - Stanford Daily
Never awake a sleeping giant.

If the old adage holds true, USC football and the USC marching band might compete to see who can most dominate their Stanford counterpart tomorrow at 4 p.m...

...The football team, meanwhile, might wish they were in the Red Zone against a team infinitely stronger, faster, more talented — and now angrier as well — than the Cardinal...

...As Stanford Stadium has grown increasingly empty by the game and USC’s fan base ever larger by the season, the Cardinal may be facing a road atmosphere in their home stadium...

Trojans are trying to get tighter grip - LA Daily News
USC freshman tailback Emmanuel Moody carried the ball just three times in last week's loss to Oregon State, but even he can't seem to escape questions about fumbles.

"Everyone acts like I fumbled like crazy," Moody said. "I've only fumbled two times. I know it's magnified because I'm a freshman. But it gets annoying.

"When coaches say something, it's OK. But when people around you are saying it, it's annoying."...

...the issue came to the forefront because starting tailback Chauncey Washington fumbled twice against Oregon State...

Also, Garrett has talk with Washington - LA Times

Diminishing return for top recruit - SJ Merc
Jeff Schweiger does his best to hide the frustration. Asked how his USC career has gone, the former Valley Christian High star forces a slight smile and stares off in the distance.

``I've learned a lot, and in that sense it's been good,'' said Schweiger, a junior defensive end. ``Everything hasn't gone my way, but that's the way it goes in life. All you can do is keep working.''

Three years ago, Schweiger was the Mercury News' Central Coast Section player of the year, a Parade first-team All-American and one of the most coveted recruits in the country...Everyone wanted him. He chose USC, and it has not gone as he hoped.

Schweiger spent his first fall as a backup -- no surprise there...

No longer the understudy, Trojan QB relishes star role - SF Chron
John David Booty waited his turn on the USC sidelines for three years, mustering as much patience as could be expected when you're backing up one of the marquee players in college football.

Now Booty's got top-billing for the Trojans in his first season as the starting quarterback, and he knows first-hand that it was never as easy as it looked.

"I came here to USC to play on the biggest stages," said Booty, the Trojans junior quarterback. "You know everybody is gunning for you."

As Booty and his USC teammates found out last week in Corvallis, every once in a while they get you...

Also, Sanchez waiting in wings - San Gabriel Valley Tribune

How coaches handle the heat - Memphis Commercial Appeal
... The rash of heart attacks and surgeries among college football coaches, particularly those in their mid-40s to early 50s, seemingly has increased dramatically the last few years...

...two straight losing seasons will put a coach's job in jeopardy...

...Making the job fun: Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll is a notorious prankster, keeping his staff and team loose...

..."Coaching does consume you," Carroll said, "but you have to be a master of maximizing the spaces between the spaces and getting the most you can when you do have your breaks. We've found a way to work really hard and practice with great discipline to meet our objectives, but still allow for fun and good times out there. I don't know how to do it any other way."...

Trojan Tradition: Why we Weekender - Daily Trojan
The Weekender. A Trojan tradition everyone seems to follow without question. Every fall, hundreds of students and alumni make their way up the California coast to support our football team in its game against either Stanford or California. But does anyone ever wonder how this whole thing got started?

Joe Enloe, a 1957 USC graduate and chairman for the Bay Area Weekender Committee, is the perfect person to ask. He has been involved with the Weekender since 1964 and has seen it develop and change throughout the eras. It now stands as an important tradition to draw the Trojan family together in pride and to raise money for future family members.

The early years...

Also, For one weekend, even USC gets hyphy - Daily Trojan
SO HAPPY TOGETHER? - Contra Costa Times

BOUNCING BACK - Daily Trojan
...Despite the Cardinal's unimpressive statistics, the Trojans claim they will approach Saturday's game like any other matchup. Defensive end Lawrence Jackson said last weekend's loss to Oregon State doesn't give the Trojans any extra incentive to come out strong against the Cardinal.

"We don't overlook anybody," Jackson said. "The loss doesn't mean anything. We're not putting anything extra on the rest of the games. We don't believe in false motivation."

USC has not beaten a team by more than 17 points in Pac-10 play this season, but Carroll...denied any motivation for a blowout against a team that is last in the conference in rushing defense, passing defense, total defense, passing offense and total offense...

[Withers] Why Troy finally fell - Seattle Times
Let's not issue the autopsy on USC, 2006, just yet. This is a team that still might win the Rose Bowl.

But after an eminently average four-game stretch — at least for the Trojans — it's also fair to say this isn't a team in the same league as any of the past three, and perhaps dating through 2002, pre-Reggie Bush days when USC shared the league title with Washington State.

The Trojans have had just enough slippage of various elements...to render them only a vague facsimile of 2003-05...

..."They're not like the cats they had before," said the same coach, referring to former Trojans like Kenechi Udeze, Mike Patterson and Shaun Cody. "These guys are good players, those guys were war daddies."...

Also, [Krikorian] Carroll has USC exactly where he wants - Long Beach Press-Telegram

Vocal Lua Ready to Play - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
Oscar Lua is healthy and making the case for a chance to play.

The senior middle linebacker from Indio said he sees himself as a senior leader who would like to lead.

"But it's really hard not being out on the field," Lua said Thursday of his injury-plagued season that has seen sophomore Rey Maualuga move into the starter's spot.

"We're a young defense with me and Dallas Sartz the only two seniors, and Dallas has never been a vocal leader," Lua said. "That's my role."

And now he's healthy, over a couple of hamstring pulls and a crack in his shin that caused additional problems...

USC at Stanford - AthlonSports
...Pete Carroll’s team likely will take out all of its pent-up frustrations against a youthful, undermanned Cardinal entry and spoil another sunny fall afternoon in Palo Alto at the league’s newest football facility, making all of the latest fan comforts moot.

It’s the team that never loses but did against a team that can’t win no matter what happens.

USC went back to work this week bent on restoring its dynasty and getting over the shock of going to practice on a sour note.

“We’re back to life and here we go,” Carroll said.

Still, some rough spots need to be smoothed out...

[Krikorian] USC's Rachal focused on jobs - Long beach Press-Telegram
Chilo Rachal is one of many underclassmen starting this season for the USC Trojans, a 6-foot-6, 305-pound sophomore guard from Compton who has set high standards for himself.

"I want to be the best guard ever to play at USC," says the Dominguez High graduate. "No way I'm going to leave early from college. I like it here a lot, and I want to maximize my potential to its fullest before taking that next step. I still have a lot to learn, and a lot more improvement to make."

His head coach, Pete Carroll, thinks that Rachal can attain the heights he has set for himself.

"No doubt that Chilo has a chance to be a great football player," says Carroll...

Schweiger to play in nickel - LA Daily News
USC defensive end Jeff Schweiger has been nearly invisible this season and did not play in the past two games, but he could finally have a key role Saturday.

"He's going to start in the nickel package," Coach Pete Carroll said.

It's quite a boost for Schweiger, a highly regarded recruit who has barely played this season. He did not see time against Oregon State or Arizona State and played just a few snaps against Washington.

"I'm excited," Schweiger said. "But I'm not going to be happy unless I get sacks because I haven't done anything yet."

The move is being made because USC's pass rush has been inconsistent...

Beating USC is low-marginal - LA Daily News
..."The losses have been similar, we've had turnovers and really hurt ourselves," Carroll said.

But here's the real stat of the Carroll era that is rarely mentioned but most impressive. In his six years as the Trojans' coach, Carroll has lost just one game by more than 10 points...

...Even with the Trojans facing that 33-10 deficit against Oregon State, Carroll's team somehow avoided getting blown out for the first time in his career. Compare that to the legendary Joe Paterno...

...Then there is so-called genius Charlie Weis...

Matchup with Stanford a prime opportunity to open up the playbook - Daily Trojan
...It's time to move on past the loss. Toss it onto the trash heap of inappropriate topics to broach at parties, right along with religion, politics and Vince Young. The Trojans played down to the Beavers and lost. It's over.

Look forward rather than back, to Palo Alto rather than Corvallis. This game against the winless Cardinal needs to be more than Novocaine to numb the loss without doing anything to heal the maladies that caused it.

And Stanford is the Red Cross of the Pac-10. Since Tyrone Willingham left after the 2001 season, the Cardinal has gone 9-28 in the Pac-10 and 15-37 overall. Eight of those 37 losses and none of the wins have come this year. Stanford hasn't won since Nov. 12, 2005.

Repairs must be made to the creaking machine that is the Trojans...

Also, Coming off loss, Trojans avoid a leisurely attitude - Daily Trojan

Suddenly Tough on Kicker - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
With 26 of his first 36 kickoffs going into the end zone for touchbacks, Troy Van Blarcom wasn't accustomed to getting many run back at him. Not until Saturday, that is, when Oregon State managed to return five kickoffs.

"In warmups I could tell my ball wasn't going as far," said Van Blarcom. "There was so much mist in the air. It was much heavier."

That mist was mostly fog that lingered almost until the 12:30 p.m. kickoff. The chilly air also made it more difficult for Van Blarcom to warm up and gauge his kicks.

He said a hip injury suffered last month hasn't bothered him in games...

Held back - Daily Trojan
The numbers - or lack thereof - are stunning.

Zero carries.

Zero catches.

Zero touchdowns.

In fact, the only statistic that can be attributed to freshman running back Stafon Johnson is minus-15, when he was called for offensive pass interference at Washington State.

All - or nothing - from the prospect who was supposed to replace Reggie Bush and LenDale White in the USC backfield...

Maualuga reflects on past troubles - LA Times
Rey Maualuga's USC teammates apparently could not help themselves.

The sophomore linebacker said several Trojans ribbed him about being arrested one year ago Wednesday after punching a man at a Halloween party near campus.

"My friends brought it up," he said. "They're saying, 'Hey, you're celebrating your one-year anniversary.' "

Maualuga, though, maintains that he has put his troubles behind...

..."I've grown up now as a person and a football player," he said. "I've learned here and there from mistakes."...

Cunningham didn't know he was making history - Tallahassee Democrat
Sam "Bam" Cunningham had no idea he was making history. He was trying only to win a football game and make a name for himself.

All three happened on Sept. 12, 1970.

Cunningham, playing in his first game at the University of Southern California, was the star when his racially integrated team thumped all-white University of Alabama, 42-21, at Legion Field...

...Paul "Bear" Bryant, Alabama's legendary coach, decided in the aftermath of that defeat that he needed to recruit black athletes...

...the USC-Alabama game is regarded as a watershed moment in college sports. Other universities followed...

Also, Face-to-face with a real-life legend - Tallahassee Democrat
More Gray Than Black and White - LA Times

Trojans report: Inside slant - CBS Sportsline
There is something going on at USC that hasn't occurred since September 2003.

The Trojans are trying to recover emotionally from a regular-season loss.

"After going through the film and setting the record straight, we went out and had a very upbeat and fast-moving practice on Monday," said coach Pete Carroll...

..."That's how we march our way back into it. We're not kicking the ground a little bit and scuffling around. The response has been right on the mark and very focused."...

Also, Trojans report: Notes, quotes - CBS Sportsline
Trojans report: Strategy and personnel - CBS Sportsline

[Forde] The Dash breaks out the Adriana rating system - ESPN
...3. Notre Dame-USC (9)...Rating: 4 Adrianas...
Not quite the gigantic event it was in '05, but not far behind. This is another top-five national rivalry, regardless of record -- and the records are good. If both teams get there with just one loss, there could be significant BCS ramifications. Think either side might enjoy knocking the other out of the national championship picture?...

...6. Cal-USC (12)...Rating: 3½ Adrianas...
If the Golden Bears get here 9-1, they'd have a chance to earn their first Rose Bowl bid in 48 years -- at worst. The BCS title game could still be in play. Unseating the four-time Pacific-10 champions would make it even sweeter. Or USC could take a big step toward a fifth straight league title with a win...

Booty plans to stay for senior season - LA Times
USC Coach Pete Carroll invited quarterback John David Booty to his office on Tuesday for a conversation that had nothing to do with tipped passes or the Trojans' loss to Oregon State.

Instead, Carroll felt compelled to meet with Booty amid radio and Internet discussions that said the fourth-year junior might leave for the NFL after only one year as the starter...

...Booty said he was not considering leaving after this season.

"I've never even thought about it," he said...

Also, Tipped passes not just Booty's fault - LA Daily News
Passing still up in air - Daily Trojan

Rose Bowl would still be sweet - Daily Trojan
USC is not out of the national championship race.

If it can get help from Alabama, Florida State, Rutgers, Texas A&M and maybe a few others, it will play on Jan. 8...

...With its two toughest conference foes, Oregon and California, coming to the Coliseum, USC still controls its own destiny in the Pacific-10.

And before the boondoggle that is the Bowl Championship Series consumed the world of college football, there was nothing wrong with playing on New Year's Day in the Arroyo Seco.

Pac-10 versus the Big Ten in the granddaddy of them all...

Also, USC can still win national title with a lot of luck - Daily Trojan

Roger Hong, 65; landlord tried to rejuvenate Chinatown - LA Times
Roger Hong hated the cliche that Chinatown was insular...

Five years ago...he invited a hip, Japanese American boutique, a purveyor of underground toy art and a bohemian-minded Vietnamese cafe that would cater to the many artists that have flooded the neighborhood.

It was a sizable risk for Hong, because the business district was still little more than a weekend tourist attraction...

...From an early age, Hong expressed a flair for drawing and sketching. He went directly to architecture school at USC after graduating from high school. He was among the first Chinese Americans to join a Jewish fraternity at the university...

Coliseum, 'SC could go long-term - Daily Trojan
With the uncertainty of an NFL team in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission might reach a long-term lease with USC that would ensure Trojan football would not have to move in favor of an NFL team, said Todd Dickey...of the USC Office of the General Counsel.

As a long-term tenant, USC would provide the Coliseum with assistance in maintaining and improving the facility in aspects ranging from restrooms to scoreboards.

Currently, the commission and USC negotiate a year-to-year lease.

In return, USC would have greater access to the Coliseum.

The commitment would also ensure that the venue has a viable use for years to come even if Los Angeles does not gain an NFL team...

Also, Coliseum exploring options - LA Daily News
Shifting time for Coliseum - LA Times
Coliseum scales back on NFL - LA Times
NFL: Cost of returning to L.A. could surpass $1 billion - NBC Sports

Students angry over new downtown classrooms - Daily Trojan
The School of Social Work's last-minute move of some of its classes to the Downtown City Center has angered the affected students and made them feel disconnected from the University Park Campus.

"I signed up on accident because I had no idea what DWT was when I signed up for classes," said Paulina Arango, a first-year graduate student studying social work. "I thought it was just another building code on campus, and when I got here they told me I was a 'downtown student.'"...

..."We had insufficient adequate classrooms for graduate professional education on the University Park Campus," wrote Social Work Dean Marilyn Flynn in an open letter to students, e-mailed Sept. 22...

Once short of NFL skills, USC's Smith gives all to catch up - Daily Breeze
He's unyielding on the football field. He'll twist, turn and embarrass defenders. He'll dominate a game, a rarity for a receiver, especially in the era of 6-foot-5 game-changers.

But Steve Smith knew when to take "no'' for an answer.

It was in January, leading up to the deadline for filing for the NFL draft. The USC flanker had consulted all he could to determine what his status would be, then certainly didn't like what he heard.

"When you hear things that are negative about your game, some people say, 'They don't know what they're talking about,' and they don't want to work at that,'' the 6-foot, 200-pound Smith said Tuesday. "I wanted to work at those things to improve my all-around game. That's just helped me and made me a better player.''...

Also, Smith strong, then silent - LA Times
Idea received - OC Register

USC turns to another linebacker to play fullback - Daily Breeze
Maybe the sixth time's a charm in USC's season-long search for a fullback.

Linebacker Thomas Williams, who has already had spot duty at the position, made the switch Tuesday...

"We're going to go for it, see if we can find a spot for him where he can help us a little bit,'' Coach Pete Carroll said after practice. "We're continuing to look for a physical presence at that spot.

"He's tough and he understands a lot, he's picked up stuff so fast just from his experience at other spots playing defense. He can identify the defense which is so much a part of being a fullback. ... He understands the schemes and principles, kind of like Powdrell did.''...

Also, Linebacker to play fullback - OC Register

Quiet Time for USC - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
It seemed like old times, circa 2000, at USC football practice Tuesday as a mere 25 fans turned out for the workout.

Maybe it was Halloween, maybe it was the time change, or maybe it was the loss to Oregon State.

Coach Pete Carroll didn't seem to care. It had been quiet in the USC locker room...and quiet on the team bus after assistant coach Todd McNair pulled a few laughing freshmen off the bus to advise them how to handle the situation.

And except for the coaches correcting the players, it was quiet at practice Monday and Tuesday...

Also, Loss no joke for coaches - LA Daily News

UCLA ticket lines run down Trousdale - Daily Trojan
The Ticket Office was jam-packed Monday with students waiting to purchase USC-UCLA football tickets.

The line stretched beyond the office's open doors and extended outside of the Student Union Building, spilling onto Trousdale Parkway.

Many students worried the Ticket Office would close its doors and they wouldn't be able to buy their tickets; however, the office decided to accommodate students by remaining open well past its 5 p.m. closing time...

Also, USC and UCLA to end up close by on the road - LA Times

Pac-10 Catches On - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
...The league has caught on to the Trojans' act. What was once cutting-edge stuff is now just something to gameplan against.

While the rest of the Pac-10 uses USC's history against it, the Trojans seem almost trapped in it.

Teach all you want, but to expect any of this year's Trojans to replicate the ball-hawking, takeaway-producing ways of Troy Polamalu, Matt Grootegoed and Lofa Tatupu is folly. Their ball skills, unique physical talents and football instincts come along once in a lifetime -- and that once has happened for USC. Even now after...the current Trojans practice those drills with a relaxed nonchalance that Polamalu, Grootegoed and Tatupu would neither understand nor stand for. USC controlled games, and its destiny, with a defense that would not be dominated...

Also, History of bouncing back - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
Trojans 'Holding on for Dear Life' - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
Rare loss doesn't faze the Trojans - Daily Breeze
The aftermath - Daily Trojan
Players look to each other when things get tough - Daily Trojan
Trojans held to ridiculous standard by spoiled fans - Daily Trojan
Players humbled in wake of loss - LA Times
[Adande] Their BCS dance was a masquerade all along - LA Times
Trojans ready to start new win streak - OC Register

[Curtis] A momentary pause to honor USC's great run - SF Chron
...we devote much of our six R's to Trojans.

Respect
The loss does not erase the fact that USC's four-year run is one of the most impressive in college football history...It is probably more of a tribute than a condemnation that the Trojans managed to win so many close games...

...Regression
With USC's reliance on new starters at key positions, it was assumed USC would improve as the season progressed. The opposite has happened...

...Reasons
Turnovers and big plays...have turned against USC this season...

Also, Pac-10 Analysis - Daily Californian
Schedule heats up after Trojans' loss - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
USC's loss could be upsetting to others - Boston Globe
[Markazi] Up and down - CNNSI
[Hayes] The Trojans' loss gives hope to many - Sporting News

Lynn Swann: With star power...he makes first electoral bid - Philly Inquirer
Even a cinder-block fire hall, a sparse crowd, and bad lighting can't diminish Lynn Swann's star power.

When he enters the Vigilant Fire Company, looking football-fit at 54 and wearing a suit and tie, the few dozen audience members pop out of their fold-up chairs to cheer him.

Swann flashes a megawatt smile, grabs a stool at the front of the room, and tells them why he left a comfortable life as a celebrity broadcaster to run for governor of Pennsylvania.

"If I didn't think we needed a change, I'd be content to stay at home, do the football thing, and play with my kids," Swann told the audience, most of them older residents...

Also, Struggling Swann needs 4th quarter rally Chicago Sun-Times
Ex-NFL players Swann, Shuler seek comebacks as political stars - USA Today

'Poster boy' for death - Deseret News
This past year hasn't been kind to Art Buchwald, the 80-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning political satirist who...has poked fun at politicians for 50 years.

Buchwald lost a leg in February...his kidneys failed due to diabetes...a poor candidate for a transplant. And dialysis, a five-hour "washing-machine process," did not cheer him up.

So he told his family at the end of February that he would pass on daily dialysis and accept the fact that it was his time to go...

...Buchwald never finished high school. He ran away to join the Marines instead. Afterward, he enrolled at the University of Southern California on the G.I. Bill. He was editor of Wampus...and he wrote a column for the college newspaper, The Daily Trojan...