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Worthy ofWesternPennsylvania

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VOL. 124 · NO. 2412 sections152 pages

WEATHER 42 · 30 INDEXMostly sunny today; clear

to partly cloudy tonight.Details, A14

Advice F2Automotive H17Books F5Business E1

Crosswords F2,H7Employment H1Food F9Living F1

Local C1Lotteries A14Movies F6Obituaries C4

Opinion D1Real Estate G1Sports B1Whispers D6

© 2012

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INSIDEOPINION

Call their bluff» Force the“state-related”universities toprivatize, says ColinMcNickle. D1

FOOD

Multicultural cuisine» Saigon 88 Sushi Bar andTastes of Asia offers dishesfrom the culinary traditions ofVietnam, China, Japan andThailand. F9

LIVING

Adiverse field» This year’s Oscar contenderscover an array of topics, rangingfrom race relations and the

origins of life to children’sbooks and baseball. F1

NATION

Make-or-breakdecision looms» The fate of PresidentObama’s health care lawmay rest with JusticeAntonin Scalia. A13

FEBRUARY26, 2012ENTERPRISE 2012 examines ourregion, economy, people INSIDE

LOCAL Health risks at formermeth labs can last for years C1

$183COUPONSWORTH

SUNDAYSPORTS Bucs’

BurnettBurnett says he’smellowed — but not

on the mound B1

Problems‘pandemic’inChinesesecuritiesTrib review finds fraudallegations,delistings that experts saycouldcostAmerican investorsbillionsofdollarsBY LOU KILZERTRIBUNE-REVIEW

Legal issues involving half of the Chinesecompanies trading on American stockexchanges could leave investors holding secu-rities paper that would be worth more as con-fetti, a Tribune-Review investigation found.Other investors in Chinese stocks are not

much better off after a year of stinging allega-tions that many of the securities are rife withfraud, abuse and fictional transactions.The Trib studiedmore than 125 Chinese com-

panies and found at least 105 onAmerican stockmarkets — Nasdaq, theNew York StockExchange, and over-the-counter — were subjectto federal enforcementaction or investigation,fraud lawsuits or delist-ing.The problems, which

surprised regulators atthe Securities and Exchange Commission, costAmerican investors tens of billions of dollars,experts say.“This is a problem of epic proportions,” said

Dan David, vice president of GeoInvesting, aPhiladelphia-area firm that tracks Chinesestocks. “It’s much larger than Bernie Madoff.”Not only are the losses far larger than the

$18 billionMadoff fraud, but the number of vic-tims is incalculable. People who don’t invest instocks could be hurt because the Chinese secu-ritieswindup inmany small-cap and emerging-market mutual funds or pension funds.

NATOstaffersinKabulrecalledAfghansecurityofficerkillsU.S.colonel,majorTHE WASHINGTON POST

KABUL, Afghanistan —The top U.S. commander inAfghanistan on SaturdayrecalledallNATOpersonnelworking in Afghan min-istries in theKabul area—aboldandpotentiallydivisiveresponse to thedeathsof twoAmerican service membersby an Afghan security offi-cial in the country’s fortifiedInterior Ministry earlier inthe day.Marine Corps Gen. John

Allen’s directive was issuedfive days after U.S. militarypersonnel burned a pile ofQurans at the largest mili-tary base in Afghanistan inan apparently inadvertentact that set off violent

ANDREW RUSSELL | TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Aragon, a graduate of California-based Canine Companions for Independence, maintains a vigilduring a funeral in Turner Funeral Home in Ellwood City. “Aragon won’t get rid of the pain, but hehelps (mourners) cope a little better,” said Pam Turner, Aragon’s handler.

LOVEHEELSBY CHRIS TOGNERI | TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Californianonprofit’s servicedogsprovideaidfordisabled, support forwounded, those inmourning

Inside a Butler funeral home, aGolden retriever/Labradormixnamed O’Shea greets mournerswith a basket of mints hanging

from her mouth.In Mt. Lebanon, a 13-year-old boy

with cerebral palsy drops his pencilwhile doing homework. Napping athis feet, Inga jumps to action. Shefetches the pencil, walks over to theboy and places her front paws on hislap, raising up to return the lost pen-cil.And in VA Hospitals around the

region, wide-eyed Soloman visitswounded soldiers and demonstrateshis skills by pulling and pushingtheirwheelchairs, turning lights onand off, and fetching drinks from

the refrigerator.All are products of Canine Com-

panions for Independence, an organ-ization that teams specially-traineddogs with disabled people, helpingthem reach a level of self-reliancethat might otherwise be unattain-able, or offering emotional supportto people in various facilities.Though the nonprofit is based in

California, its work touches peoplethroughout Western Pennsylvania.“They change lives,” said Carolyn

Hrach of Franklin Park, vice presi-dent of CCI’s North CentralRegional Board. “I’ll never stopdoing this.”

Online»» For moreinformationabout CanineCompanions forIndependence,visit www.cci.owww.cci.orrgg

»» To view a videoof how the dogsinteract withtheir trainers andhandlers, as wellas scenes fromtheir graduationceremony, visitwww.trtribliviblivee.com.com.

SERVICE DOGS · A6 CHINA · A8

To view a listof the 105 Chinesecompanies wherethe Trib has foundproblems, visitwww.www.trtribliviblivee.com.com.

U.S., Israel expected to be targets of trialConspiracyallegedaspro-democracygroupsfaceEgyptiancourtBY BETSY HIELTRIBUNE-REVIEW

CAIRO—As the head of agroup advocating for inde-pendent Egyptian courts,lawyer Nasser Aminexpected to becomeembroiled in Egypt’s crack-down on nongovernmentalorganizations, or NGOs.

He expected to be called infor questioning.He didn’t expect a full-

scale military raid.“They blocked off the

entire street with army bar-ricades,” Amin recalls ofDecember raids on theoffices of two Egyptian andfive foreign NGOs. “Therewere commandos,” whomhe described as “the mostviolent” of Egypt’s militaryunits.Three prosecutors, sur-

rounded by soldiers, ran-sacked his office for five

hours. They left with eightcomputers and boxes offiles, sealing the doorbehind them.Amin, a human rights

activist for 15 years, said hesees the raids as a continu-ation of the battle againstpolitical change waged byHosni Mubarak, the presi-dent ousted a year ago in anational uprising.Trials for 43 Egyptian and

foreign pro-democracyworkers, charged after

REUTERS

Suicide vehicleA police trooper transports the wreckage of a suicide carbomb on Saturday from the southern Yemen city ofMukalla. The attack killed at least 25 people. Story, A3

Snowsqualls blamedinmulti-vehiclecrashesonInterstates79,80BY ANDREW CONTEAND RICK WILLSTRIBUNE-REVIEW

Suddenbursts of snowcre-ated whiteout conditions onWesternPennsylvaniahigh-ways Saturday afternoon,causing accidents involvingmore than 80 vehicles andkilling three people, emer-gency officials said.About 50 to 70 cars, trac-

tor-trailers and sport utilityvehicles were involved inmultiple crashes shortlyafter 3 p.m. on a nine-milestretch of Interstate 80 inVenango County betweenBarkeyville and ScrubgrassTownship, east of Interstate79, state police said.

BUSINESS

Collaborative care» Policy changes andfinancial necessity pushdoctors and healthsystems to link up. E1

EGYPT · A6

3killedinW.Pa.pileups

PILEUPS · A8

AFGHANISTAN · A8