New Orleans

AS NEW ORLEANS turns from a natural disaster to a human disaster, some are asking the farsighted question: Should the city be rebuilt? House Speaker Dennis Hastert yesterday told a suburban Illinois newspaper that on the issue of federal assistance in rebuilding New Orleans "We ought to take a second look at it. But you know we build Los Angeles and San Francisco on top of earthquake fissures and they rebuild too. Stubbornness. " Hastert is now facing some harsh criticism for suggesting that the Big Easy should be allowed to remain a big pond.

John Ashaolu, who played last season at Faith Christian Academy in Glassboro after attending Middle Township for one year, has earned a basketball scholarship to the University of New Orleans. The 6-foot-6 forward, who hails from Canada, is one of seven recruits brought in by New Orleans, which went 11-18 last season. This winter, Ashaolu averaged 17.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists. He had played one year at Middle and helped the Panthers reach the South Jersey Group 3 final.

Cardinal John Krol was hospitalized in New Orleans on Sunday when he suffered "a weak spell" after celebrating a Baccalaureate Mass that morning at Xavier University, aides said. Cardinal Krol, 76, leader of the Philadelphia archdiocese's 1.35 million Catholics, was listed in stable condition yesterday at Hotel Dieu Hospital, where he was undergoing tests, hospital spokeswoman Kathleen Brown said. "I am authorized to say only that he is in stable conditon," Brown said. "He came in because of weakness.

MANY OF the plans for rebuilding the Gulf Coast beg the question, who decides? Who pays is also important. And so is who gets paid. But the fundamental "who decides?" question will determine the answers to all the others. Pundits have now offered just about every possible option for the rebuilding, including exactly as it was, no rebuilding at all, a Key West or Venice tourist museum, a 21st-century model city. I favor the Venice strategy. It seems the best way to face all the competing realities, including preserving the historic areas, which were least affected by the flooding and will be the most missed by the world; creating, largely from scratch and on higher ground, a modern economic metropolis to exploit the advantages of sitting between the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, and restoring the Delta ecosystem to help tame the consequences of the next big storm.

Levan Alston, the point guard who helped Simon Gratz win the Public League boys' basketball championship last season, yesterday signed a letter of intent to attend the University of New Orleans. Another area player, Kevin Lewis, a 6-foot, 11-inch senior at Glen Mills, will sign a letter of intent tomorrow to attend the University of Rhode Island, Glen Mills coach Tom Mann said yesterday. Lewis played only three games for Germantown High last year before leaving the team and has yet to play a game for Glen Mills; he attracted college attention while playing in the Sonny Hill League this summer.

"The Big Easy," a suspense drama starring Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin and Ned Beatty. Directed by Jim McBride. Screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr. Running time: 96 minutes. A Columbia release. At area theaters. The Big Easy" is New Orleans. You know, the town where "dancing's a way of life. " The town where "folks have a certain way of doing things. " The town that's "a marvelous environment for coincidences. " When characters in a movie are as dead set on defining their city as the ones in "The Big Easy" are, you know you'd better pay attention; chances are that the town's supposed characteristics are meant to tie into the theme of the movie.

Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke may not be the most joyous gift you could give this holiday season, but it might be one of the most important. The three-disc set is not only the most personal account of the unnatural disaster that hit New Orleans, it is also the most complete. Lee's documentary, shown on HBO, is as much an indictment of local, state and federal officials as it is a tribute to the people of the Big Easy and their endurance in impossible and horrific circumstances.

We're planning to visit New Orleans soon, and have two questions: How can we tour the cemeteries there, and what's the weather like at this time of year? B.S., Elkins Park New Orleans' cemeteries are famous for their above-ground crypts, necessary because of marshy ground in the delta city. The structures and inscriptions can be very interesting, and some of the cemeteries hold dignitaries. Among them are St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, 400 Basin St., with the remains of Etienne de Bore, the city's first mayor, and Marie Laveau, a 19th-century voodoo queen.

NEW ORLEANS - Less than a week after New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu touted a string of peaceful and well-managed city events capped by the BCS championship game, he was back at the podium on Friday trying to reassure residents that an upsurge in violence was being dealt with. "This is a battle for the heart and soul of New Orleans," Landrieu said about an 18-hour wave of violence that saw 17 people shot and six killed, an evacuation of an elementary school, and shots fired at police twice.

NBA Teams are listed in order of playoff position. The first eight teams in each conference earn playoff berths, with the three division winners among the top four seeds.   W   L   Pct.   GB   Strk    y-Chicago 48   16   .750   –   W1    y-Miami 46   18   .719   2   W1    x-Indiana 42   23   .646   61/2   W1    y-Boston 37   27   .578   11   L1    x-Atlanta 38   26   .594   10   L1    x-Orlando 36   28   .563   12   L3    x-New York 34   30   .531   14   W1    x-76ERS 34   30   .531   14   W3    Milwaukee 31   33   .484   17   W2    Detroit 24   41   .369   241/2   L1    New Jersey 22   43   .338   261/2   L5    Toronto 22   43   .338   261/2   L4    Cleveland 21   43   .328   27   L2    Washington 18   46   .281   30   W4    Charlotte 7   57   .109   41   L21      W   L   Pct.   GB   Strk    y-S. Antonio 48   16   .750   –   W8    y-OK City 46   18   .719   2   L1    x-LA Lakers 41   24   .631   71/2   W1    x-LA Clippers 40   24   .625   8   W1    x-Memphis 40   25   .615   81/2   W5   ...

(x-Subject to change) Wednesday, Sept. 5 Dallas at N.Y. Giants, 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9 Indianapolis at Chicago, 1 p.m. EAGLES at Cleveland, 1 p.m. St. Louis at Detroit, 1 p.m. Miami at Houston, 1 p.m. Atlanta at Kansas City, 1 p.m. Jacksonville at Minnesota, 1 p.m. Washington at New Orleans, 1 p.m. Buffalo at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m. New England at Tennessee,...

We already knew the who and the where, and on Tuesday evening, the NFL added the when to the equation that Andy Reid and the Eagles will try to solve beginning in September in what might be a do-or-done year for Reid, or might be just pretty much like every other season since 1999. It has been a significant wait for the Eagles to enter the new millennium, but maybe the 2012 schedule that was released in an overwrought unveiling by the league, will be the ticket to the land Reid promised the franchise would someday visit.

NEW ORLEANS - Bill Parcells is unlikely to become the New Orleans Saints' interim coach, according to multiple reports. Parcells prefers to remain retired and not replace his protege Sean Payton, who will serve a season-long suspension for his role in New Orleans' bounty system, the reports said. On Tuesday, Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said the team "has nothing to report" concerning the search for an interim coach. Parcells' agent, Jimmy Sexton, also declined comment.

NEW ORLEANS - A federal judge sentenced five former police officers to years in prison for the deadly shootings on a New Orleans bridge in the chaotic days following Hurricane Katrina, but not before lashing out at prosecutors for allowing others involved to serve lighter penalties for their crimes. The case that wrapped up Wednesday was the centerpiece of a Justice Department push to clean up New Orleans' police department, which has long been tainted with corruption. U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt expressed frustration that he was bound by mandatory minimum sentencing laws to imprison former Sgts.

NEW ORLEANS - Kansas athletic director Sheahon Zenger looked at the scoreboard Saturday night, when the Jayhawks trailed Ohio State by 13 points, and figured they had a chance if they could get the lead under 10 by halftime. Travis Releford's layup at the buzzer cut it to nine. "You come to expect those things out of this team," Zenger said Sunday. The Jayhawks eventually would fend off the Buckeyes, 64-62, as Releford, the junior guard from Kansas City, Mo., had 15 points and six rebounds.

NEW ORLEANS - Hero of Order, the longest shot in the field at 111-1, won the $1 million Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on Sunday at the Fair Grounds. Hero of Order had the lead near the rail entering the stretch and held off favored Mark Valeski by about a half-length, winning in a time of 1 minute, 50.13 seconds. Hero of Order paid $220.80, $79.20, and $25.40. The horse, ridden by Eddie Martin Jr. and trained by Gennadi Dorochenko, had finished a distant fourth in the Risen Star Stakes, the major prep race for the Louisiana Derby.

NEW ORLEANS - The question has been dressed in different ways, asked by countless people in every situation imaginable: Is this the best coaching job of Kansas coach Bill Self's career? The second-seeded Jayhawks have played a who's who of major-college basketball: Duke and Kentucky, Missouri and Baylor. In the regular season they beat Ohio State, the team they'll play in the Final Four on Saturday night, and won their record eighth straight Big 12 title. And they've done it with an all-American forward (Thomas Robinson)

SO, LET'S GET this straight: The New Orleans Saints run a bounty scheme for the past 3 years, win a Super Bowl with it, get caught, their excellent head coach gets suspended . . . And they wind up with a better head coach? This is justice? Somehow, it doesn't seem likely that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expected the Saints to become a more respected team when he played hangin' judge last week. Goodell suspended Sean Payton for 10 months, beginning April 1, unless Payton appeals.

TEMPLE senior guard Juan Fernandez will participate in the State Farm college three-point shooting contest at Tulane University in New Orleans on Thursday. The 9 p.m. event will air live on ESPN. Fernandez was already scheduled to be in New Orleans to play in the Reese's College All-Star Game at the Louisiana Superdome on Saturday. In other Owls men's basketball news, Temple will face Syracuse in the Gotham Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York on Dec. 22. The Owls finished this season with a 24-8 record and lost to South Florida in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, while No. 1-seed Syracuse (34-3)