Roaring across the bay EARNIE GRAFTON / Union-Tribune The Oh! Boy Oberto kicked up a “rooster tail” of water yesterday during time trials on Mission Bay for this weekend's 41st edition of the San Diego Unlimited Hydroplane races. The sport has seen a resurgence with the development of new Thunderboat designs. Click for larger image

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WASHINGTON – One day after President Bush announced a limited drawdown of U.S. troops from Iraq by next summer, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday that it might be possible to reduce U.S. forces there further, to about 100,000 troops by the end of 2008.

For years, University of California students enrolled in medical, business or other professional-degree programs have paid similar fees, regardless of the campus they attended. Charging roughly the same fees for each specialty has fit UC's philosophy: to provide an affordable and equitable education across the public university system.

California's stem cell institute, having just overcome a legal challenge that stymied its funding for two years, has landed a marquee-name scientist to serve as its president and try to cement the state's reputation as the global epicenter for stem cell research.

For the past decade, privacy advocates have worried about government and corporate intrusion into peoples' digital lives. The real snoops are turning out to be much closer to home, as e-mail, Web site visits and cell phone records have permeated the messy business of divorce.

LAS VEGAS – O.J. Simpson was under investigation yesterday in an alleged break-in and armed robbery at a casino hotel room that netted sports memorabilia. But the former football star said he went there to recover items stolen from him and that there were no weapons involved.