Hopefuls

One of America's outstanding male swimmers is an archaeology-anthropology major at Harvard University. Not Pepperdine or Santa Clara or one of those other major Aquaman-producing universities. Harvard. Ivy League. Location: Cambridge, Mass. Not Mission Viejo, Calif., or Boca Raton, Fla. "I didn't want to go to college to be an athlete," said David Berkoff, of Huntingdon Valley. "I wanted to go learn. " That also explains why Berkoff, as a senior at Penn Charter in 1984, turned down full scholarship offers from some of America's most prestigious swimming powers to pay his own way to Harvard.

If you spot a flock of orange-haired women and bizarrely attired young men around town today, don't mark it off to Halloween festivities. Instead, the credit (or blame) belongs to the Philadelphia Music Conference at the Doubletree Hotel, which is expected to lure more than 3,500 music hopefuls and scouts through Saturday. Now the nation's third-biggest music-industry shmooze (after Austin's South by Southwest and New York's CMJ), PMC will feature dozens of how-to-do-it panels (delving into management and publicity, starting your own label and getting a publishing deal)

FORMER COACH Bill Parcells, running back Jerome Bettis and NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue are among 26 modern-era semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The list was announced yesterday by the Hall of Fame following a vote by its selection committee. There were 105 preliminary nominees. Among other semifinalists for the Class of 2012 are wide receivers Tim Brown, Cris Carter and Andre Reed, along with former 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. Former Chiefs guard Will Shields is the only first-year eligible player to make the list.

S ABRIYA BILAL, a bus driver for the school district, wants to improve the city's representation in Harrisburg but admits that she is still getting the hang of politics. Commonwealth Senior Judge James Gardner Colins yesterday ordered her removed from the April 24 Democratic primary-election ballot for not having enough valid signatures on her nominating petitions. Bilal, who had hoped to challenge state Rep. Dwight Evans in the 203rd Legislative District, was removed from the ballot last year for the same reason, when she tried to run against City Councilwoman Marian Tasco.

With the 76ers set to begin training camp today at St. Joseph's University, four free agents were officially added to the team's roster to bring it to 17 players. That does not mean any of the newcomers will make the team, however. But they were there yesterday when the Sixers held their annual media day at the Wachovia Center. "We have 13 guaranteed contracts, and we may keep 14 [players on the roster]," said Sixers president and general manager Ed Stefanski. "If someone shows in camp, we may keep 14. " Among the hopefuls are shooting guard Dionte Christmas and point guard Sean Singletary, native Philadelphians who played in college at Temple and Virginia, respectively.

Politicians know a winning trend when they see one. Think Minnesota Gov.-elect Jesse "The Body" Ventura is the only elected official with his own action figure toy? Think again. Clout, with the help of cartoonist Signe Wilkinson, has developed action figures for our mayoral candidates. Let's face it, wouldn't they look a lot better in tights, trunks, sequined jackets, bleached hair and feather boas? And wouldn't it save a lot of money and be a lot more fun if we could settle this inside the ring?

Too many one-liners and too few issues. That's the way it was Saturday at an hour-long forum featuring the four candidates for mayor, sponsored by the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. The PABJ somehow persuaded all four to share the same stage - a feat, since the candidates' schedulers usually take care that their speaking times don't overlap. Occasionally, they may be seen pausing to shake hands - if TV cameras are nearby - before sprinting out the nearest exit. This is what happens when they're corralled in the same room: A wound-up Frank L. Rizzo took aim at everybody, calling Edward G. Rendell "a mediocre DA," declaring that Rendell and Mayor Goode "have a tough time telling the truth," and contending that John J. Egan Jr. "couldn't attract a crowd if he stood out there naked.

At the start of a Bensalem candidates' forum, mayoral hopeful James McMaster said he and his opponent, Edward F. Burns Jr., had decided to deliver their opening statements sitting down. "It's the one thing we agree on," he said. But during the nearly two-hour program Tuesday, which also featured candidates for council, treasurer and auditor, it was hard to find anything that the two men disagreed on. A trash-to-steam plant in Bensalem? Both are firmly against it. How to increase the township's tax base?

U.S. medal hopefuls continued to falter yesterday in track and field. Having already failed to advance anyone to the finals of the long jump and discus throw, the U.S. men's team in Beijing was shut out in the 1,500 meters and the high jump. The failures in the 1,500 stung particularly hard since one of the runners, Sudanese refugee Lopez Lomong, was the team's flag-bearer at the opening ceremonies, and another, Bernard Lagat, was the 2007 world champion. Along with former NCAA champion Leonel Manzano, all three were naturalized U.S. citizens with compelling personal stories.

In the thick of the presidential primaries early next year, the Treasury Department may deny candidates millions of dollars in matching funds. Sure, the money would be provided eventually - probably once the primaries are over - but it wouldn't be there right when it's needed most. In short, the post-Watergate reform that substituted federal funds for huge donations from fat cats is in danger. And you don't have to be a cynic to wonder if partisan politics played a role in this arbitrary ruling by Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady, one of the President's closest friends and advisers.

Hoping for more money from the state, the SEPTA board is postponing action on its budgets for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Fare increases are still expected on that date. The board's budget committee on Thursday proposed deferring until June any action on the $1.3 billion operating budget, which funds regular transit operations, and on the $308 million capital budget, which pays for major construction and vehicle purchases. Even with the fare increases slated for July, the fiscal 2014 operating budget has a $38 million deficit.

JOANIE HESS hopes for bones. Hess, whose younger brother Anthony Tumolo was 14 when he vanished from a Philadelphia street in 1966, has long accepted that he'll probably never be found alive. But after nearly five decades, she still hopes to bury him with the parents who prayed for his return. "Because of the length of time, it's only realistic for me to believe that he is now deceased," Hess said. "He was small for his age, but not frail. I would think he would have fought his way out of a situation if he could.

When it comes to presidential elections in Pennsylvania, Republicans are like Tantalus, the figure of Greek mythology. The man whose name lives on in the word tantalize was doomed to stand in a pool of water that he could never drink, while grabbing for fruit from a tree he could never reach - for eternity. The Keystone State always looks winnable for Republicans, on paper, but in each of the last six presidential elections, it has slipped away. It's a strategic mirage. In 1988, George H.W. Bush cracked the code, clawing his way to 50 percent of the vote in the Philadelphia media market, home to up to 42 percent of votes cast statewide.

Revel's exit strategy from Chapter 11 bankruptcy was approved by a judge Monday, clearing the way for the lavish but financially troubled casino to restructure its finances and pump resources into better marketing and new amenities in time for the busy summer. "I can conclude that withstanding the challenges that await the debtor - including difficult competing circumstances of the industry and Atlantic City as well - a reasonable prospect of success has been shown on this record," Judge Judith Wizmur said in approving the plan.

JASON PETERS says the right Achilles' tendon he ruptured twice last spring is 100 percent again. Todd Herremans says the broken right foot that cost him half the 2012 season is as good as new. And Jason Kelce says the right ACL he tore last September is getting better every day and he expects to be "full go" for the start of training camp in 2 1/2 months. If you're looking for a reason to believe that the Eagles can be more than a 6-10 or 7-9 football team in Chip Kelly's first season as an NFL head coach, Peters, Herremans, Kelce and the rest of the offensive line are it. Let's face it. We don't have the slightest clue at this point what kind of production they will get from the quarterback position because we don't even know who the hell the quarterback will be, and probably won't know until the middle of August.

There will be expectations heaped on the shoulders of Lane Johnson, but they may come earlier than normal, even for a top-five draft pick, because of the position he plays. From 2006 to 2012, seven tackles were taken in the first five draft picks, and all six started in the season opener. The Eagles will most certainly want Johnson to start right away. But can he, considering how little he played on the offensive line in college? Asked after his first practice as an Eagle if he felt that he needed to start from Day 1, Johnson said Friday: "I just feel I have to kind of work every day and do my best, and I think if I do that then good things will happen.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Astronauts making a rare, hastily planned space walk replaced a pump outside the International Space Station on Saturday in hopes of plugging a serious ammonia leak. The prospects of success grew as the minutes, then hours, passed and no frozen flecks of ammonia appeared. Mission Control said it appeared the leak may have been plugged, although additional monitoring over the coming weeks will be needed before declaring a victory. "I will tell you that we're happy.

SAN FRANCISCO - Roy Halladay slouched on a couch Wednesday morning and kept a large cup of coffee at his side while the rest of the Phillies clubhouse stirred before another day of baseball. He watched Atlanta against Cincinnati on TV. They played the game to which he has dedicated his life. A surgeon will soon cut a small incision in Halladay's right shoulder, and it will be months before he can pitch again. Still, he smiled Wednesday. He vowed that it would take more to pry baseball from his prized but defective arm. "I have no regrets at any point in my career," Halladay said.

By Raymond Lamboy Gov. Christie has set the stage, and Mayor Dana L. Redd has cleared the path for a grand experiment in urban public education that will unfold in Camden. As with every well-thought-out experiment, a thesis or hypothesis statement is presented to measure success or failure. In this instance, the thesis seems to be this: The introduction and expansion of alternative-education models will lead to a functioning education system that will provide the children of Camden with an education on par with their suburban neighbors and will result in greatly increased student achievement.