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[h=4]The Short List: Police find no evidence of U.Va. rape; Cruz announces 2016 bid; Vin Diesel's tribute[/h]Out of the loop today? We've got what you missed on police announcing they've found no evidence in the U.Va. gang rape, Ted Cruz's 2016 bid, and Vin Diesel's moving tribute to Paul Walker.
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Out of the loop today? We've got what you missed.(Photo: Steve Helber, AP)
'Rolling Stone's' credibility takes another hit after police find no evidence of U.Va. rape
The story has fallen apart. The case, however, will remain open. Police in Charlottesville, Va., said today they haven't been able to verify an alleged sexual assault detailed in a controversial Rolling Stone magazine article ever took place at the University of Virginia. (Last year we wrote about how the article violated Journalism 101.) The story, A Rape on Campus, detailed a female student's gruesome tale of a three-hour gang rape by seven men at a fraternity house in 2012. (It was a big deal for the campus, and led to the university president suspending all fraternity activities.) Police Chief Timothy Longo said the woman identified as "Jackie" in the story declined to provide a statement to police. But he said the fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi, cooperated with the investigation. Longo said the case was suspended but not closed because even though the Rolling Stone story didn't hold up, he can't prove something terrible didn't happen. "It's a disservice to Jackie and the university to just close this," he said. USA TODAY's Rem Rieder looks at how Rolling Stonecan prevent future debacles.
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Police Chief Timothy Longo said more than 70 interviews were conducted, and that the investigation was suspended but not closed. Taylor Maycan
What else in #TheShortList:
• Ted Cruz skips the one-step-at-a-time tradition and announces his candidacy
• The White House reminds us why science is so awesome
• A Confederate flag license plate is in the Supreme Court's hands
• If Vin Diesel's tribute to Paul Walker doesn't move you, nothing will
Short on time? Listen to the audio version of #TheShortList in the player below:
Ted Cruz introduces his presidential campaign and brings all of us into election season
Could a "wacko bird" become our next president? He's sure gonna try. In a speech at the conservative Liberty University, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, 44, became the first contender to officially announce his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Cruz has been overshadowed in recent months by Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and others who have more support in the polls (none are officially in the race at this point). In the Senate, the Tea Party favorite has been more of an agitator than a legislator. Arizona Sen. John McCain, the GOP's 2008 nominee, once called him a "wacko bird." So there's that. If you forgot, Cruz is the senator who in 2013 took to the floor for 21 hours. His filibuster-like protest to defund Obamacare helped set the stage for a 16-day government shutdown. The 2016 field will be crowded soon enough, but for now, all eyes are on Cruz.
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USA TODAY's Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page explains four reasons why Ted Cruz's presidential run matters. Paulo Fugen
These kids' science projects are more impressive than everything on your resume
Want to hear something really neat? A group of kindergarten and first-grade girls developed a page-turning machine — made of Legos — for handicapped people who want to read. At ages 5 and 6, they get to boast that their "brainstorming session" led to their first "prototype." (You now have permission to feel bad about how little you've accomplished in life.) It's just one of the many projects recognized today at the fifth annual White House Science Fair, where President Obama praised winning science projects that included efforts to turn algae into a fuel source, create a new treatment for curvature of the spine and block hackers and other computer data thieves. Obama also announced up to $240 million in private sector pledges for education in what officials call STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. When one of the girls from the page-turning group asked, "'Mr. President, have you had brainstorming sessions?'" the president reported. "I said, yes, but I didn't come up with something as cool as this."
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President Barack Obama announced new efforts to encourage more students from various background to pursue education in science, technology, engineering and math at the annual White House Science Fair. (March 23) AP
A Confederate flag license plate tests the bounds of the First Amendment
If the Confederate flag must be allowed on license plates, perhaps swastikas and racial epithets must be, too. And who wants to see that while stuck in traffic? The Supreme Court seemed to frown on state specialty license plate programs in general while hearing arguments today about Texas' denial of a plate with a Confederate flag on it. "They're only doing this to get the money," Chief Justice John Roberts said of Texas' program, which charges groups that seek the plates. The solution to blocking potentially offensive messages without infringing on free speech rights, he said, might be to ax the programs. Or only allow some state-approved specialty plates, but not take ideas from the public anymore. This is how a simple case about license plates becomes a crucial test of the First Amendment, pitting freedom of speech against government authority. We'll learn the court's decision by the end of June.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans are challenging Texas' refusal to issue a specialty license plate.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: AP)
Vin Diesel pays Paul Walker the ultimate tribute
It doesn't get sweeter than this. Vin Diesel named his fourth child Pauline, in honor of his late best friend and Fast & Furious co-star Paul Walker. He made the reveal to Today's Natalie Morales. "There's no other person that I was thinking about as I was cutting this umbilical cord," he said. "I just thought, I knew he was there. I thought it was a way to keep his memory a part of my family, a part of my world." Pauline was born around the time the new movie Furious 7 was screened for the first time at SXSW. The final installment in the Fast & Furious franchise hits theaters April 3.
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On NBC, actor Vin Diesel revealed he named his new daughter Pauline after the late actor Paul Walker.
Video provided by Newsy Newslook
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This is a compilation of stories from across USA TODAY.
Contributing: Susan Page, Catalina Camia, Richard Wolf, Susan Miller, John Bacon, Marisol Bello, Carly Mallenbaum, David Jackson, USA TODAY
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