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Sports
3:00 am
Wed April 4, 2012

Baylor Beats Notre Dame 80-61 For NCAA Women's Title

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

On a Wednesday, it's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And I'm Renee Montagne.

The Baylor Lady Bears have their title and a piece of history too. Last night in Denver, Baylor won a women's college basketball championship that many expected. The Lady Bears beat Notre Dame 80-61 to go undefeated and then became the first team in NCAA history to win 40 games in a season. NPR's Tom Goldman reports the player who led Baylor all year was the star once again.

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Law
2:19 am
Wed April 4, 2012

Gay Marriage Lawsuit Presses For Survivor Benefits

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Credit Courtesy of Herbert Burtis
Herbert Burtis' spouse, John Ferris (left), died four years ago. When Burtis went to the Social Security office to apply for survivor benefits, the clerk told him the federal government did not recognize his marriage.
Credit Courtesy of GLAD
Herbert Burtis is one of 17 gay men and lesbians who are part of a lawsuit on whether the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.
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Herbert Burtis met the person he wanted to marry in college, in 1948. But since the object of his affection was another man, they had to wait until 2004 for the ceremony, when Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriages.

"It's a long engagement," Burtis says, laughing. "We thought it was time that we made each other honest people."

His spouse, John Ferris, died four years ago. When Burtis went to the Social Security office to apply for survivor benefits, the clerk told him the federal government did not recognize his marriage.

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Around the Nation
2:18 am
Wed April 4, 2012

College Student Pieces His Way To Lego Mastery

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Credit Rick West / The Daily Herald
Andrew Johnson, 23, of Bartlett, Ill. has been named the new master model builder of Legoland Discovery Center Chicago after competing for the job against seven other finalists.
Credit Legoland Discovery Center Chicago
Andrew Johnson with one of his Lego creations.
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By Susie An

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Europe
2:06 am
Wed April 4, 2012

The Secret To Germany's Low Youth Unemployment

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Credit Waltraud Grubitzsch / DPA/Landov
Metal-working apprentices train in Leipzig, Germany, in 2010. Germany has Europe's lowest youth unemployment rate, thanks in part to its ancient apprentice system, which trains about 1.5 million people each year.
Credit Eric Westervelt / NPR
Robin Dittmar, 18, works at the Lufthansa Technik training center in Hamburg. He is about a third of the way through his apprenticeship as an aircraft mechanic and is confident his training will translate into a full-time job.
Credit Eric Westervelt / NPR
Apprentices are trained at the Lufthansa Technik training center in Hamburg last month. About 60 percent of German high school students opt for vocational training over further academic education.
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Originally published on Wed April 4, 2012 1:47 pm

For as long as he can remember, German teenager Robin Dittmar has been obsessed with airplanes. As a little boy, the sound of a plane overhead would send him into the backyard to peer into the sky. Toys had to have wings. Even today, Dittmar sees his car as a kind of ersatz Boeing.

"I've got the number 747 as the number plate of my car. I'm really in love with this airplane," the 18-year-old says.

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U.S.
2:05 am
Wed April 4, 2012

Activist Puts Albany Neighborhood On The Bus Map

Credit Marie Cusick for NPR
Willie White pushed for the creation of a new bus route for his previously underserved neighborhood in Albany, N.Y.
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Originally published on Wed April 4, 2012 1:47 pm

The New York state capital, Albany, is a gathering place for the state's most powerful people.

But in the city's poor and predominately black South End neighborhood, many residents once felt powerless.

They had repeatedly asked for better public transit for South End, an area plagued with poverty and crime not far from New York's gated governor's mansion.

Today, the city's Route 100 bus glides easily up Morton Avenue, a steep hill in the South End neighborhood. Many feel there would be no Route 100 if not for the efforts of local resident Willie White.

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