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* * * * * * FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2014 ~ VOL. CCLXIII NO. 8 WSJ.com HHHH $2 .00

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Opinion................... A11-13Sports.............................. D8Television...................... D6Theater........................... D7U.S. News................. A2-6Weather Watch........ B6World News............ A7-9

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What’sNews

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World-Widen President Obama is con-sidering restructuring the NSAphone-surveillance programand extending privacy protec-tions to non-U.S. citizens. A1nNew Jersey Gov. Christiejettisoned two aides and apolo-gized for a traffic jam allegedlyplanned as retribution. A1, A2n The U.S. military is push-ing for a resumption of train-ing for Iraqi commandos toblunt a rising insurgency. A7n Pakistani militants killedKarachi’s antiterrorism policechief, a blow to security in thecountry’s biggest city. A9nAfghanistan said it wouldfree dozens of prisoners de-spite coalition fears they wouldrejoin the insurgency. A7n South Sudan held out apossible pardon to a rebelleader if he agrees to endnearly a month of fighting. A9nSenate Democrats offered aproposal to revive jobless ben-efits until Nov. 15 and offsetthe cost with spending cuts. A4nLawmakers unveiled a billto put congressional backing oftrade deals on a fast track.A4n Israel’s Ariel Sharon, whohas been in a coma for eightyears, is in critical condition.A9n Tunisia’s prime ministersaid he is resigning in favorof a caretaker government. A8n Died: Amiri Baraka, 79,poet, playwright and activist.

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The ECB pledged “decisiveaction” if needed to safe-

guard the euro-zone recov-ery, as it kept its key lendingrate at a record low 0.25%. A1nAnAlcoa-controlled firmpleaded guilty to bribing of-ficials in Bahrain as part of$384million in settlements. B1nMortgage bankers fore-cast that loan originations,hurt by higher rates, will fallto a 14-year low in 2014. C1n The Justice Departmentwarned banks that it plansmore enforcement actions tofight money laundering. C1nU.S. stocks ended the daylittle changed. The Dow eased17.98 points to 16444.76. C4n Intercept’s stock skyrock-eted after the small biotechcompany’s liver-disease drugdid well in clinical trials. B1nChina’s export growthweakened in December. Thetraditionally important sectorfaces a range of challenges. A9n Family Dollar cut its profitforecast. Sears and K-Marthad weak holiday sales. B1n Standard Chartered plans astructural revamp and said twotop executives are leaving. C1n Diamond Foods agreed topay $5 million to settle SECaccounting-fraud charges. B4nWorld-wide PC shipmentsfell 10% last year, researchfirms Gartner and IDC said. B2

Business&Finance

WASHINGTON—President Ba-rack Obama is leaning toward ex-tending broad privacy protec-tions to non-U.S. citizens and isseriously considering restructur-ing the National Security Agencyprogram that collects phone-calldata of nearly all Americans, offi-cials familiar with the processsaid on Thursday.

Mr. Obama plans to unveilthese and other changes to sur-veillance programs as soon asnext week, the officials said.

Though he has made no finaldecisions on some of the mostcontroversial proposals, Mr.Obama is nearing the end of hisclosely watched assessment ofsurveillance reforms that will de-fine the NSA’s rules of the roadfor years to come.

Mr. Obama will unveil his pro-posals in a highly polarized polit-ical environment, and his deci-sions are sure to upset one ormore interested parties in a de-bate that crosses political partylines.

Liberal and civil-liberties ad-vocates—and, to some extent,technology companies—havebeen pushing for a significantcurb on spy activities. Some in-telligence and law-enforcementleaders, as well as some telecom-munications companies, have qui-etly advocated for the status quo.

“This is really crunchtime,”Sen. Ron Wyden, (D., Ore.) amember of the Senate intelli-gence committee who has advo-cated a major surveillance over-haul, said in an interview. “Thisis when major decisions aboutthe new rules as it relates to sur-veillance are going to be made.”

Responding to the furor thatfollowed disclosures contained inleaks of documents taken by for-mer NSA contractor EdwardSnowden, Mr. Obama is expected

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BY SIOBHAN GORMANAND CAROL E. LEE

ObamaReadiesRevampOf NSA

Carlo

Allegri/Re

uters

BANGKOK—In Thailand, poli-tics goes beyond life and deathto include the spirit world, too.

Kittichai Saisa-ard isn’t leav-ing much to chance in his questto topple Thailand’s government.Looking around the fortified pro-test camp outside Bangkok’s gov-ernment headquarterswhere this graying 52-year-old serves as se-curity chief, he ticksoff the supplies heneeds to continue themonthslong campaign.

Fish sauce and or-anges? Check.

Bamboo stakes andrubber-tire barricadesto fend off riot police?Check.

Talismans to wardoff magic spells that

some protesters believe govern-ment supporters have cast topreserve its hold on power? Yes,got those, too.

Thailand’s capital city is athrobbing hum of contradictions.Ancient temples nestle side-by-side with gleaming shoppingmalls, towering office buildingsand garish, neon-lit massage par-

lors. In street markets,amulets said to holdsupernatural powersare sold alongsidebootleg DVDs of thelatest Hollywood hits.

But few things bet-ter show how Thai-land’s old, pre-Bud-dhist animist beliefsare prospering thanthe way the country’spoliticians and theirsupporters are tappinginto spirit worship and

sorcery to gain an edge overtheir opponents.

“We’re Thais. We believe in alot of things,” Mr. Kittichai saidbefore leading a ceremony thisweek seeking blessings from thespirit of a long-dead warriorprince near the gates of Bang-kok’s Government House. “And ifour enemies are using blackmagic, we have to counteract it.”

Thai politicians for decadeshave consulted numerologists orperformed arcane rites to keepahead of the competition. Thewife of a former prime ministerin the 1990s habitually carried atoy elephant dressed in a frillychild’s dress to ward off Rahu, aHindu deity reputed to cause so-lar eclipses. Another premier,

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BY JAMES HOOKWAY

Magical Realpolitik: Thai Factions Turn to Sorceryi i i

Spells, Talismans Used by Groups to Gain an Edge; Spirit of a Prince

Kittichai Saisa-ard

Surprise Biotech Boost

Intercept’s shareperformance

Minute–by–minuteintervals

The Wall Street JournalSource: FactSet

$300

0

75

150

225

Wednesday Thursday

$275.87UP 281%

THURSDAY

Intercept Pharmaceuticals’ marketvalue zoomed above $5 billion aftera positive trial of a liver drug. B1

FRANKFURT—The EuropeanCentral Bank surprised marketswith an emphatic assurance thatit would respond aggressively ifinflation weakens to dangerouslylow levels, as officials sought tospur the fragile euro-zone recov-ery.

President Mario Draghi’spledge Thursday to deploy “fur-ther decisive action” if needed tocounter threats stands in con-trast to the Federal Reserve,which deployed its stimulusmeasures sooner and is nowslowly winding them down amidsigns of more robust U.S.growth.

It also reflects Europe’s grimeconomic prospects—among theweakest in the industrializedworld—which weigh on its globaltrading partners as well.

Growth returned in Europe lastspring, but just barely, after alengthy recession that pushed un-employment rates above 25% inparts of southern Europe. Annualinflation is far below the bank’starget. Some analysts warn of a“lost decade” that will rob futuregenerations of opportunities forhigher living standards.

Governments in France, Italyand elsewhere have been unableto combat this economic malaise,leaving the ECB widely seen asthe only institution with the fire-power to keep Europe from fol-lowing Japan’s path of fallingprices, stagnant activity andmounting debt.

Mr. Draghi’s comments sug-PleaseturntopageA8

BY BRIAN BLACKSTONEAND CHRISTOPHER LAWTON

ECBChief’sStimulusPromiseJarsMarkets

CAMPUS COFFERS

More Students Subsidize ClassmatesWell-off students at private schools have

long subsidized poorer classmates. But asstates grapple with the rising cost of highereducation, middle-income students at publiccolleges in a dozen states now pay a growingshare of their tuition to aid those lower onthe economic ladder.

The student subsidies, which are distrib-uted based on need, don’t show up on mosttuition bills. But in eight years they haveclimbed 174% in real dollars at a dozen flag-ship state universities surveyed by The WallStreet Journal.

During the 2012-13 academic year, stu-dents at these schools transferred$512,401,435 to less well-off classmates, up

from $186,960,962, in inflation-adjusted fig-ures, in the 2005-06 school year.

At private schools without large endow-ments, more than half of the tuition may beset aside for financial-aid scholarships. Atpublic schools, set-asides range between 5%and 40% according to the Journal’s survey.

The growth of subsidies is directly relatedto cutbacks in state aid, according to schooladministrators. Reductions in public spend-ing for higher education have prompted uni-versities to raise tuition levels, they said,making it tougher for students from poorerfamilies to cover costs. To offset that burden,wealthy and middle-class students pay morein subsidies known as tuition set-asides.

“Without it, there is no way I’d be here,”said Maria Giannopoulos, a 20-year-old ju-

nior at the University of Wisconsin, Madison,who receives $5,000 a year through the pro-gram.

But former classmate Allie Gardner, whosefather works at Costco and whose mother isa waitress, said she resented kicking in theextra money.

“It’s this sneaky little thing they’ve put inplace because they know we’ll pay it, we’realready taking out loans,” said Ms. Gardner,who graduated in December.

Most public and private universities pooltheir financial aid from a variety of sources,including endowments, taxes and state schol-arship funds. Additionally, public universitieshave a host of formal and informal subsidies:humanities students subsidize science stu-

PleaseturntopageA10

BY DOUGLAS BELKIN

Thai protesters showeropposition leader with cash... A9

New Jersey Republican Gov.Chris Christie battled a rapidlyunfolding scandal Thursday thatthreatened to derail his presiden-tial ambitions, jettisoning two

close advisers and apologizing fora traffic jam allegedly orches-trated by aides as retributionagainst a Democratic mayor.

“I am embarrassed and humili-ated by the conduct of some ofthe people on my team,” Mr.Christie said at the beginning of anearly two-hour, nationally tele-vised news conference. “Ulti-

mately, I am responsible for whathappens under my watch,” helater added.

Mr. Christie fired a deputychief of staff, saying she lied tohim about her involvement in theSeptember lane closures at a localentrance to the George Washing-ton Bridge, one of the world’sbusiest spans. He also partedways with his former campaignmanager, saying he was uncom-fortable with the way he talkedabout the closures in emails re-leased on Wednesday. The gover-nor said he first heard of hisstaff’s involvement Wednesday.

Hours after the end of Thurs-day’s lengthy news conference,Mr. Christie arrived in the Hud-

son River town of Fort Lee, N.J.,on the opposite side of the bridgefrom New York City, to apologizeto the mayor and residents. “Hesaid he wasn’t involved,” MayorMark Sokolich said of Mr. Chris-tie. “And you know what, we ac-cept that.”

U.S. Justice Department offi-cials said Thursday they wouldscrutinize whether the lane clo-

sures, which snarled traffic fordays, violated federal law. Itwasn’t immediately clear whichfederal statutes investigatorsmight be contemplating. Mean-while, New Jersey Democraticlegislators said they would con-tinue to issue subpoenas anddidn’t rule out calling Mr. Christiehimself to answer questions un-der oath.

Mr. Christie’s acts of contritioncalmed some nerves among na-tional Republican leaders, butthey remained concerned aboutthe possibility of future revela-tions, particularly in light of thefresh federal investigation andthe continuing inquiry by a New

Pleaseturntothenextpage

By Lisa Fleisher,TedMann

and Neil King Jr.

Traffic Jam Revelations put focus on

Christie’s management style,cloud his political future.... A2

Who’s who in the scandal.... A2More coverage at WSJ.com/NY

Christie Moves to ContainFallout From Bridge Scandal

‘I am embarrassed and humiliated by the conductof some of the people on my team.’ — Gov. Chris Christie

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