President-elect of national surgeons group resigns over editorial seen as demeaning to women

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- The world's largest organization of surgeons has accepted the resignation of its president-elect after he wrote a Valentine's Day column for the group's newspaper that some members found demeaning to women.

Dr. Lazar J. Greenfield, a renowned surgeon and professor emeritus at the University of Michigan Medical School, said Monday he had stepped down from his leadership post with the American College of Surgeons after the association's board rejected his attempts to make amends.

SUPREME COURT NOTEBOOK: Kagan absences no big deal

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Justice Elena Kagan's leather-backed chair was empty this week for the 26th and final time this term while the other Supreme Court justices listened to arguments in an obscure dispute between the government and an Indian tribe.

When President Barack Obama nominated Kagan for the Supreme Court last year, some court observers worried that her work as solicitor general would force her from enough cases to pose a serious problem for the high court.