Bmi

Size is the prize in the NFL, but a study suggests more than half the league's players would be considered obese by certain medical definitions. The study already has come under scrutiny, however, for its method of application. University of North Carolina endocrinologist Joyce Harp and student Lindsay Hecht determined the obesity of 2,168 NFL players in the 2003-04 season by using the body-mass index (BMI), a height-to-weight ratio that doesn't measure muscle over fat. Dr. Barbara Hansen, an expert in obesity and a faculty member in the department of physiology at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, allowed that the body-mass index was not a good measure for the study, but acknowledged the prevalence of obesity at certain positions in the NFL. "No question some NFL players are very muscular, work out a lot, have huge muscle masses, and to that degree, the BMI is inaccurate," Hansen said yesterday.

Treating obesity related illnesses in America cost about $75 billion last year - or $350 for every adult in the country. Taxpayers bore most of the financial burden through the government's Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs, according to a study released yesterday, and officials predicted the staggering costs would increase along with the swelling ranks of excessively fat Americans. The study was conducted by a private research firm, RTI International in North Carolina, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

A Boston investment group plans to revive the defunct Baltimore Marine Industries Inc. shipyard in Sparrows Point, creating up to 1,500 jobs over the next three years and using the 250-acre waterfront facility to its full capacity to build barges and repair and build light ships. Robert Willis, a principal with Barletta Willis LLC , said the new owner plans to restart operations at the former Bethlehem Steel shipyard by April, employing 300 to 500 workers in the first year alone. It expects to begin with work on barges.

Baltimore Marine Industries Inc., the struggling shipyard that was once part of the Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s Sparrows Point complex, has run out of financial lifelines and will be sold or auctioned Nov. 5. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court hired Michael Fox International Inc. to find a buyer for the property and the equipment, the auctioneer said yesterday. The Owings Mills auction house was hired a month ago but just got its marketing campaign into full swing. Bryan Goodman, a Fox project manager, said yesterday that the firm is compiling a list of prospective buyers, including other shipyards.

Baltimore Marine Industries Inc., the Sparrows Point shipyard that filed for bankruptcy protection last month, received court permission yesterday to operate for another week, and is putting together a plan to stay open through Oct. 31 as it continues to seek a buyer or a refinancing deal. Judge James F. Schneider gave permission for BMI to use $166,961 of its cash next week to cover payroll for 12 employees, employee insurance, security guard services, maintenance, legal fees and other general expenses.

With dwindling cash and no pending contracts, Baltimore Marine Industries Inc. appears to be running out of time in its effort to keep the historic 113-year-old shipyard at Sparrows Point from shutting down. BMI, which filed for bankruptcy protection last month and laid off more than 200 workers, received approval yesterday from a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Baltimore to use its funds to maintain the shipyard with about 30 remaining workers until Wednesday. Another hearing on the shipyard owner's financial position will be held at that time.

About 80 workers at Baltimore Marine Industries Inc.'s shipyard at Sparrows Point were laid off yesterday after finishing maintenance work on a U.S. Navy ship, leaving about 30 employees at the yard and casting further doubt on the future of the company. BMI, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection June 11, received court approval this month to meet payroll obligations so that workers could complete work on the USNS Dahl, a company official said. The company, which is owned by Veritas Capital, a New York private equity investment firm, filed for bankruptcy after seeing business decline more than 30 percent this year.

In the Region Former employees of Bethlehem Steel ratify ISG pact Union workers at former Bethlehem Steel Corp. facilities, including the Sparrows Point steel mill in Baltimore County, have ratified a labor agreement with new owner International Steel Group Inc. that helps make the company one of the lowest-cost steel producers in the country. The United Steelworkers union said yesterday that the contract was ratified 4,517 to 512 in mail balloting. The Steelworkers' union reached tentative agreement last month with ISG, which bought Bethlehem for $1.5 billion.

Baltimore Marine Industries, which has seen its ship repair business slump more than 30 percent this year, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and laid off its 200 workers. BMI, which depends mainly on government contracts for Navy ship repairs and maintenance, has seen business dry up after many military ships were positioned overseas last fall and this year in the buildup to the Iraq war, company officials said yesterday. The company filed for bankruptcy late Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Baltimore and is exploring reorganization alternatives, include debt refinancing and even a possible sale, officials said.

HOLLYWOOD - They called it the Motown Sound, but the vibrant, timeless R&B music that rolled out of Detroit in the 1960s could have gone by another, less succinct nickname: "the Holland-Dozier-Holland Sound." The songwriting and studio work of brothers Brian and Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier is dizzying in its prolific hit making, and today the group will be honored as icons by BMI, the performing rights organization that represents some 300,000 songwriters. The trio's resume of 200 songs includes more hits than most jukeboxes.