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(01/31/08 5:00am)
A lot has changed since Chan Marshall, a.k.a., Cat Power, released her debut, the appropriately titled covers album The Covers Record, in 2000. Between The Covers Record and her latest effort Jukebox, she released two stunning studio albums and gained widespread acclaim. She also spiraled in and out of alcoholism, became the new Face of Chanel, toured like hell and starred alongside Jude Law in "My Bluebrry Nights." \nBut one thing has stayed the same over the years: her soul. Her albums may have become more polished, but her essence is still there. Her everlastingly ethereal voice makes this clear. This compassion in singing was expected from female jazz and blues singers of the past, but nowadays it's hardly expected. It should come as no surprise, then, that on Jukebox Marshall chose to cover the likes of Janis Joplin, Billie Holiday and Jessie Mae Hemphill.\nYet, when Marshall covers a song, she doesn't try to duplicate it. Instead, she pays tribute to her influences by incorporating her own flair into their songs. This subsequently makes you forget these tunes were even covers to begin with. She makes Frank Sinatra's glitzy and warm anthem "New York, New York" bluesy and sultry as she howls, "If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere." \nA Georgia native, Marshall's work is often influenced by country blues, as can be seen in her take on Hank Williams in "Ramblin' (Wo)man."\nThree of Jukebox's tracks are Marshall's own, including "Song to Bobby," which appropriately follows her rendition of Dylan's "I Believe in You." Her tribute song sounds more Dylanesque than the actual cover, which further proves she is capable of imitating but chooses not to do so. Even her amazingly personalized "Sea of Love," which was remastered on the "Juno" soundtrack, is a cover of a 1959 R&B track by the Twilights.\nGranted, Jukebox isn't the most commercially friendly album out there. But neither was her breakout hit, 2006's The Greatest. As an indie artist, she's always had the freedom to make the music the way she's wanted. She's finally just getting the credit she deserves. \nHell, she could probably even make a Pussycat Dolls song sound classy.
(09/18/07 4:00am)
NEW YORK – If you’re not plugged into the Internet, you still have to buy an entire newspaper even if you only want to do the crossword puzzle. But online, that and other stand-alone features are increasingly popping up all over the Web.\nNow you can get The New York Times crossword on a customizable page from Google Inc.,or you can test your “Times IQ” on a Facebook application that launched last week. The Washington Post even offers a gizmo to view top photos or gauge your political leanings.\nThese pullout Web modules are commonly called “widgets,” and they’re one of the fastest-growing trends on the Internet, especially since Facebook opened up its user platform to outside software developers in late May.\nFor newspapers, widgets represent a huge opportunity to draw in new readers and to boost their brands throughout the Internet.\nYet they mark a fundamental change in approach for papers accustomed to selling news, entertainment and information only in prepackaged bundles. With widgets, newspapers are sending some of their content out into the world in piecemeal fashion and allowing users to share them with their friends – for free.\nGoogle, Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. all offer large varieties of such modules – in some cases they’re called “gadgets” instead of “widgets.” In the four months since the popular online hangout Facebook opened up its platform, outside software developers have created some 2,000 applications.\nKeenly mindful of steady declines in newspaper circulation and advertising, several newspapers are seeing widgets as a way to reach out to new, and especially younger, users online – those who might not otherwise come to the paper’s main Web site destination.\nAnd the widgets that they’re making aren’t necessarily clones of what you’d see in the paper. The Washington Post just launched a photo-viewing application and one that keeps track of issues most often brought up by the 2008 presidential candidates.\nEarlier, the Post wrote a Facebook application called “The Compass,” in which users take a short survey to gauge their political leanings and then compare results with their friends whom they invite to take the quiz.\nJim Brady, the executive editor of WashingtonPost.com, says widgets can boost a newspaper’s brand online, refer new readers back to the site and perhaps generate revenues through sponsorship deals.\nTraditionally, newspapers and other Web sites have first and foremost tried to drive traffic back the main destination so they can sell more advertising, the way a TV network, magazine or newspaper might do in the non-virtual world.\nBut as people spend more time within networks of their own creation, such as on MySpace (owned by Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate News Corp.), Facebook or personalized Web pages with Yahoo or Google, newspapers are bringing pieces of their content to the users.\n“Web reality has kicked in, and it’s hard to get people to your site,” Brady says. “You have to throw a lot of fish hooks out there” to attract new readers.\nFor newspapers, breaking off pieces of their content and coming up with playful applications like online quizzes could be even more monumental than their first forays onto the Web a decade or so ago.\nThe New York Times is still in the early days of widget development, with just a handful launched so far, but many more are in the works.\n“Some of the most fun meetings we have are when we’re sitting around and brainstorming what kinds of widgets we can create,” says Vivian Schiller, the general manager of NYTimes.com.\nAs for getting a traditional media outlet to embrace the newest Web boom, Schiller said that “whatever cultural or institutional barriers to this are long gone.”\nSchiller and others say widgets are no flash in the pan, since they harness the biggest change currently going in online behavior. “It’s both reflecting and accelerating the personalization of the Web,” Schiller says.\nAs for making money, well, that’s still a matter of some discussion. The Wall Street Journal says it’s building traffic to its main site by allowing users to embed WSJ.com video elsewhere, but the paper hasn’t yet signed up advertisers for its first widget.\nAlthough the advertising model remains undefined, many marketers find the idea intriguing.\n“It’s a natural link between information and entertainment, which is a sweet spot for newspapers,” says David Verklin, chief executive of Carat Americas, a major ad-buying firm. “It’s a wonderful delivery strategy for the newspapers to deliver the information they’re gathering anyway.”
(05/10/07 4:00am)
It’s no secret that self-help gurus teach that people can dramatically change their lives by changing how they view the world. Nowhere is this more evident than with regard to how people view opportunities.\nWhat keeps many people from success is that they view opportunities as natural occurrences in life. In fact, they believe an average person will naturally have an “opportune time” and will have several opportunities to take advantage of. Rather then seizing opportunities, these people believe that opportunities are “presented to them.” People with this mentality generally do have several opportunities and either capitalize or fail to capitalize on them.\nThe reality of the situation is that opportunity is a dynamic beast. People of the same socio-economic level and school education can have vastly different numbers of opportunities. Furthermore, what looks like an opportunity for one person can look like an impossible task for another. In real estate, the most successful investors live by the mantra “the deal of a lifetime comes once a week.”\nEven those that are “presented” with opportunities have more to do with it than they would admit. Perhaps they presented themselves with this opportunity because of their knowledge in this specific area (education), or because they became friends with someone from their church or religious group (networking), or because they worked on a similar project several years ago (experience). Rarely do opportunities arise from thin air. (If someone knows of any such occurrences, please contact me and I will take you out to lunch.)\nThe number and quality of opportunities are a result of your conscious and unconscious actions. You can significantly increase your number of opportunities by increasing your knowledge and networking and by consciously choosing a career. Opportunities are directly correlated to how proactive you are with your life and how successful you are in planning your future.\nYou can start things off by deciding on a five-year plan for yourself. People often change careers and life plans. The important thing is not whether you strictly conform to your five-year plan, but that you always have a plan for the future. I have changed my plans many times, but I am always striving for some goal at a given time. Changing your plans does not mean you are a hypocrite or noncommittal. It simply means you have changed your priorities and interests through your personal life experiences.\nFor graduating seniors, you will soon be presented with an infinite amount of career paths. Unlike school, the real world is less systematized. This will create great opportunity for some and will reveal the glaring holes of the school system for others. It is this time of great opportunity that you must seize the day and take control of your future. Seek new experiences, continue to learn and always be networking. The real game starts the day after you graduate. Get your gloves on, because it’s time to play.
(04/17/07 4:00am)
Someone once said, “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” Now, how exactly does this work, and how can the biggest mistake in life actually come from not doing anything? \nWell, this past year I have witnessed over and over again how this fear of failure can be a huge mistake.\nThis fear too often causes people to stop challenging themselves in school and other aspects of their life. It can stop them from taking more demanding classes or pursuing a tougher major. The chance of failure can stop people from learning and growing from challenging opportunities they could have taken. And ultimately, I have seen this fear stop students from reaching their potential, achievements and success. All because there was a chance of failure. They seem to have forgotten that not only will there always be a chance of failure, but also a chance of limitless success.\nSo, the more I think about the repercussions of this fear, the more it appears extremely logical that we actually have more at risk by being idle, not taking chances, not allowing ourselves the chance to fail. By doing this, we deny ourselves so many great opportunities; we don’t even get to live our life by holding ourselves back in this way. By living in this continuous fear we waste our potential, our opportunities and our success. Really, we waste our lives.\nThink of the most successful people you know. A lot of them have achieved so much because they did not let fear and a lurking possibility of failure stop them. While these people seem to have a lesser fear of failure, they also have enough courage to face it. Through the power of courage, they have so many more opportunities open to them. They are really the ones who do achieve great success.\nThe next time you are presented with an opportunity or a personal challenge, remember the mistake will not come from putting forth your full effort and energy. It will come from allowing your doubts and fears to overcome you and not even giving yourself the chance to succeed. In life, there are going to plenty of things and people that will stand in the way of your success. So why let yourself be the biggest obstacle?
(04/10/07 4:00am)
At age 14 I was an up-and-coming entrepreneur. I had just spent several years running a successful video-game company but was ready for a new challenge. My goal was to find the perfect business. This business would be easy to start and manage, highly profitable and encounter no competition.\nI tried many different industries. Among them were the travel, jewelry and vending industry. But something was wrong. Within every industry, different and often unexpected problems arose. No matter how well-thought-out my plan, I was still not able to find the perfect business.\nAfter spending thousands of dollars on failed ventures, I had an epiphany: There is no such thing as a perfect business. Every business has problems and opportunities. The success of the business largely depends on the experience and skills of the entrepreneur. A great entrepreneur can carry a poor business along; a poor entrepreneur can destroy a great opportunity.\nAs one dream died, a new dream was born. I committed to investing the time and effort needed into developing my entrepreneurial skills to become a great entrepreneur.\nI realized that the failure of many of my previous ventures had little to do with the ventures themselves. Although the ideas were good and the market was ready, I simply did not have the skills to tackle the business environments. \nIn 1982, William Deming, a quality guru, introduced the idea of constant improvement. His idea was that a company should constantly improve production, service and planning. Rather than worrying about being perfect, the business should focus on incrementally improving.\nIn Deming’s idea lies the key to becoming successful in business or any aspect of life: constantly improving. The problem with most aspiring entrepreneurs is that they try to come up with a perfect plan or a perfect product. Not only is perfection a mirage, but it keeps most great ideas from reaching the market. \nAll companies run imperfectly. Even FedEx, in my opinion the greatest company in the world, is not perfect. The truth is that imperfect businesses make money. Businesses with large fundamental flaws and imperfect business models make billions of dollars every year.\nThere are millions of reasons why businesses should not work. Many people believe they are original or smart in pointing out flaws in startup businesses. Research by a top professor at Purdue University has shown that even baby chimpanzees can do this successfully (tested on MBA class of ’98). The truth is that no business can ever be started in a perfect environment. What is important is that you start the business. Once you start the business, you will learn to adapt, or you will cease to exist.\nWhile most people believe in “ready, aim, fire,” entrepreneurs are infamous for embracing the “ready, fire, aim” mentality. Whichever mentality you embrace, it is important you are able to pull the trigger at the appropriate time. Though you should do the appropriate research, extra research will not alleviate your fear. Embrace the fear, because it is a natural aspect of entrepreneurship. Let go of your obsession for perfection and you can start making money today.
(04/03/07 4:00am)
How many times have we heard the old saying “A woman’s place is in the home”? I know I’ve heard it before. But the beauty of the time and society that we live in is that women are no longer restricted to being housewives and mothers alone. In recent decades, women have climbed their way to the top of the corporate ladder and been as successful as men in the business world.\nBut does this professional freedom come at the cost of women’s abandonment of all other roles to make a place for themselves in a “man’s world”? Do all women considering business have to choose between having a career and having a family?\nAbsolutely not.\nWomen of today, you do not have to make that choice. Many companies now offer flexible work schedules and child care, creating opportunities for women to build careers and families.\nA degree in business opens so many doors to women because it provides so many options. There are numerous companies of differing sizes, levels of intensity and time commitments. Women can choose exactly how much of their time, energy and effort they want to devote to a career and how much to a family. With modern technology, women can easily be stay-at-home moms and run their own businesses at the same time. \nMany women hesitate to enter business because they believe it requires skills they don’t have or aren’t comfortable using. But again, the beauty of a business degree is the variety of options available for people with different strengths and interests. Business offers something for everyone: accounting and finance for the mathematically inclined, marketing for the visual and creative, management for those intrigued by human interaction. Creativity and business are not mutually exclusive, and a business degree can just as easily lead to a management job at Macy’s as it could to an investment banking position at Goldman Sachs.\nYou don’t have to give up your other interests to pursue business, because you can incorporate those interests into your business education and career. Companies have come to appreciate and value the strong interpersonal and communication skills that women offer, especially as the focus is now on successful teamwork rather than individual performance. \nSo to my fellow women out there considering a career in the business world, don’t look at it as giving up the opportunity to have a family. Look at it as an opportunity to live up to your potential as a bright, successful businesswoman – in addition to devoting yourself as a wife and mother. Never forget you can have both a successful family and a successful career. It’s just up to you to make it happen.
(03/27/07 4:00am)
There are many in the business world, including myself, who believe in the Keep It Simple Stupid, or KISS, method. It encourages individuals to keep ideas and concepts as simple as possible. Personally, I think the KISS method is brilliant. Using the KISS method as a framework I have come up with what I call the “third-grader” test. I have found that for something to be effective and to be accepted on a large scale, it must be easy enough for a third-grader to understand. This applies to customers, employees and even investors. \nAt its core, business was intended to be very simple. The higher up in the company you are, the simpler and clearer you need to communicate. A finance “number-cruncher” can use vocabulary words that only big-time MBAs would know, but a CEO and owner needs to be able to communicate to the entire company. \nNowhere is this more evident than in written communication. Many of my peers believe they are good writers because they sprinkle in big words amid painfully long sentences. It is much easier to use a thesaurus than to consistently work on your writing skills. While you might think you are a good writer, you aren’t fooling anyone. Maybe you can impress a second-grader, but after that it is going to be hard. Learn to write simple, clear sentences. There is nothing more effective than a revolutionary idea that is easy to understand. \nThe third-grader test also applies to customer service. It is the reason why so many MBAs and “highly qualified individuals” find it hard to interact with customers. I am not implying that you should talk down to a customer. All I am saying is that you should assume a third-grader’s level of comprehension (even though that is probably not the case). Educate your customer on your company and market and clearly explain everything to them.\nWhat surprises most businessmen and -women is that investors should also be treated as third-graders. There is a big misconception that investors are looking for highly complex business models. While there can be many facets and details about your plan, an investor wants to be able to easily understand your idea. The concept of “elevator pitch” competitions (where individuals are given one minute to pitch their business idea) demonstrates this idea. The KISS method is especially important when the entrepreneur is pitching his or her idea for the first time. As a general rule, the first meeting with an investor is a “What is your big idea?” meeting. Remember, investors are very busy individuals and don’t want you to waste their time before they have even decided whether they are interested in your business.\nTo many, the KISS method sounds counter-intuitive. But it is highly effective. \nThe art of keeping things simple (ironically) is difficult. It takes a lot of time and effort to develop these skills. However, if you put in the time, it will bring with it great rewards.
(03/20/07 4:00am)
WASHINGTON – Banana company Chiquita Brands International admitted in federal court Monday that for years it paid Colombian terrorists to protect its most profitable banana-growing operation.\nThe company pleaded guilty to one count of doing business with a terrorist organization. The plea is part of a deal with prosecutors that calls for a $25 million fine but does not identity the several senior executives who approved the illegal protection payments.\nThe agreement ends a lengthy Justice Department investigation into the company’s financial dealings with right-wing paramilitaries and leftist rebels the U.S. government deems terrorist groups.\nProsecutors say the Cincinnati-based company agreed to pay about $1.7 million between 1997 and 2004 to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known as AUC for its Spanish initials.\nThe AUC has been responsible for some of the worst massacres in Colombia’s civil conflict and for a sizable percentage of the country’s cocaine exports. The U.S. government designated the AUC a terrorist group in September 2001.\nChiquita has said it was forced to make the payments and was acting only to ensure the safety of its clients.\nBut federal prosecutors noted in court Monday that from 2001 to 2004, when Chiquita made $825,000 in illegal payments, the Colombian banana operation earned $49.4 million and was the company’s most profitable unit.\n“Funding a terrorist organization can never be treated as a cost of doing business,” U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor said.\nChiquita sold Banadex, its Colombian subsidiary, in June 2004 for around $43.5 million.\nIn addition to paying the AUC, prosecutors said, Chiquita made payments to the National Liberation Army and the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia as control of the company’s banana-growing area shifted.\nLeftist rebels and far-right paramilitaries have fought viciously over Colombia’s banana-growing region, though the victims are most often noncombatants. Most companies in the area have extensive security operations to protect employees.\nCourt documents listed 10 unidentified company employees who participated in the illegal deals and helped conceal them on company books. Prosecutors would not identity them or say whether they remain with Chiquita.\nThey assured U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, however, that two executives who approved the plea deal – CEO Fernando Aguirre and Senior Vice President James Thompson – were not among those in court documents.\nThe company is set to be sentenced June 1. By law, it faces up to nearly $100 million in fines if Lamberth does not accept the $25 million deal with prosecutors.\nChiquita stock has risen sharply since the deal was announced last week but company shares were trading down 1 cent at $13.51 in late morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
(06/09/06 3:14pm)
With Little 500 quickly approaching, it's time to find the perfect beer for your kegs. To make sure you get your favorite brew, Bloomington Liquors and Big Red suggest ordering it this week. \n"We can get a hold of a keg of just about anything with a weeks' notice," said Galen Pejeau, assistant manager of Big Red on Third Street.\nIt's important to know which beer you want, as prices vary. \nDomestic kegs are easier to come by and are sold at numerous locations around Bloomington. Bud, Bud Light, Miller, Miller Lite and Coors are available at the smaller locations around Bloomington for $74.99-$79.99 without advance warning. \nFor those without a tap or tub on hand, Bloomington Liquors has deposits of $40 for the tap, $15 for the tub and $10 for the keg, all refundable costs. Big Red charges $50 for the tap, $20 for the tub, and $10 for the keg.\nPrices are current as of today, they may be subject to change at anytime.
(12/10/02 4:45am)
NEW YORK -- UAL's bankruptcy filing and a brokerage downgrade of IBM put investors in a black mood Monday, sending stocks sharply lower and the Dow Jones industrials down more than 170 points. \nAnalysts said many investors were tempted to sell following the market's recent two-month rally, while others were nervous about the United Nations' search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. \n"The market is still in a malaise," said Charles Pradilla, chief investment strategist at SG Cowen Securities. "You inject the recent news into a market still in the process of taking profits, and you get this real choppy action." \nThe Dow slid 172.36, or 2 percent, to close at 8,473.41, having fallen 2.8 percent last week to snap an eight-week winning streak. Blue-chip stocks have now declined in the last six of seven sessions to a level not seen since Nov. 13. \nThe broader market also fell. The Nasdaq composite index declined 55.30, or 3.9 percent, to 1,367.14, also the lowest since Nov. 13. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 20.23, or 2.2 percent, to 892.00. \nUnited Airlines filed for federal bankruptcy court protection Monday, one of the 10 largest Chapter 11 filings in U.S. history, underscoring the troubles in the airline industry. \nDow industrial IBM, meanwhile, fell $2.73 to $79.59 after Banc of America cut the computer maker's brokerage rating to "market performer" from "buy." \nAnalysts say investors are still largely upbeat despite recent declines and should bid stocks higher by year's end. After eight weeks of Dow advances, it's expected that some investors would cash in some profits, they said. \n"December is usually one of the market's strongest months, but it's usually the last week and a half that we see the gains," said Steven Goldman, chief market strategist at Weeden & Co. in Greenwich, Conn. \n"I think after we finish this consolidation, stocks should be set up for some type of year-end rally," he said. \nInvestors also were hopeful that Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's resignation will bring a new approach from the government to bolstering the economy, although reaction to President Bush's nomination of CSX chairman John W. Snow as O'Neill's replacement was muted.
(11/19/02 4:43am)
Giuliani wanted to chair WorldCom\nNEW YORK -- A leading investor of WorldCom Inc. reportedly wants former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to be named the company's chairman, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. \nThe investor, David Matlin, has started a fund with Giuliani to accumulate at least one-third of WorldCom's bonds. Matlin's group of investors could retain the right to appoint board members if it owns more than a third of the company's bonds. \nSources close to the situation told the Journal that Matlin, who heads a bond-investor group backed by Credit Suisse First Boston, is expected to urge U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez to accept a reorganization plan under which Giuliani would become chairman. \nWorldCom, the telecommunications giant, admitted a $9 billion accounting fraud earlier this year and is mired in the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
(11/05/02 5:02am)
NEW YORK -- Wall Street's momentum extended into a new week Monday, its optimism from a month of gains boosted by approval of Microsoft's antitrust settlement. \nTechnology enjoyed the biggest gain Monday. The Nasdaq composite index closed up 35.82, or 2.6 percent, to 1,396.52, according to preliminary calculations. \nThe market's other gauges were also sharply higher. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 53.96, or 0.6 percent, to 8,571.60, getting most of its boost from Microsoft. The Dow pulled back from an earlier 213-point surge as some profit takers stepped in. On Friday, the Dow climbed 120.61. \n"People are certainly in a buying mood," said Brian Belski, fundamental market strategist for US Bancorp Piper Jaffray. \nThe market built on four straight weeks of advances that followed better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and hopes that the economy is indeed getting stronger.
(10/22/02 6:37am)
NEW YORK — More workers are taking sick days for family and personal reasons rather than illness, at a rising cost to employers, a new study says. \nOnly a third of unscheduled days off are because of illness, according to the survey by CCH Inc. But more workers are calling in absent because of family issues, stress and personal needs in what could be a sign of changing attitudes since last year's terrorist attacks, the company said. \nThe survey, of personnel officers at 333 U.S. companies, found that the overall rate of unscheduled absences has remained about the same in recent years. \nBut unscheduled absences because of family issues increased from 21 percent two years ago to 24 percent this year and absences due to stress jumped from 5 percent to 12 percent over the same period. \n"I think it's a change in mentality that says the job is important ... but that I have another priority in my life and I have to fit that in,'' said Lori Rosen, an analyst with CCH, a Riverwoods, Ill.-based business information publisher. CCH has conducted the survey annually for 12 years. \nEven though the absence rate is virtually unchanged, the cost to employers has continued to rise sharply, the survey found. This year, such absences cost $789 for the average employee over the course of the year, companies reported. That is up from $610 in 2000 and $755 last year. \nEmployers were not surveyed about the reason for the increasing costs. CCH said it probably reflects rising health care insurance costs, salaries and wages that had been rising steadily until the economy went into a downturn. \nThere may be other explanations, as well. Employers have pushed relentlessly in recent years to keep payrolls lean and improve productivity, leaving them with just enough workers to get business done. \nThat leaves companies less able to replace workers when they're absent and drives up costs, said Helen Darling, president of the Washington Business Group on Health, an alliance of 175 large employers focused on healthcare costs. \nWhen an employer is faced with an unscheduled absence of a worker, managers also frequently will have to call in a temporary replacement or substitute, which also drives up costs. \nThat was long the case at Owen County State Bank in Spencer, Ind., where managers scrambled to call in backup tellers and customer service representatives whenever they called in sick, said Ruth Jones, the bank's assistant vice president. \nIn 1998, the bank changed its policy, subbing a set number of vacation days and sick days for a system in which all employees accrue paid time off, which they can use for any reason. As a result, workers who used to call in sick for personal reasons, now are scheduling many of those days off in advance, Jones said. \nThat arrangement has proven particularly useful since last September, as employees rethought their priorities outside work. \n"Some were spending more time with their families, doing things with them ... going places that they always wanted to go,'' Jones said. "Feeling more urgency to do things that they had always wanted to do, but put off.''
(10/22/02 6:34am)
Cummins moving to New York\nCOLUMBUS, Ind. -- Cummins Inc. plans to move the bulk of its Columbus heavy-duty engine assembly operations to its Jamestown, N.Y. plant at the end of the year.\nThe company announced Oct. 9 that it would cease heavy-duty engine assembly in Columbus for the first time in company history and eliminate about 200 jobs.\nThe production will be transferred to a more modern and productive facility in New York, leaving about two-thirds of the Columbus engine plant's 1.3 million square feet idle.\nThe consolidation of the Columbus and western New York plants will reduce Cummins' southern Indiana work force from about 5,100 people to 4,900. The company projects the move will save $15 million next year and $20 million annually thereafter.\nThe work force reduction already has started and will continue throughout early 2003, company spokesman Jason Rawlings said.\nReductions already are occurring through retirements, employees going to other facilities and people leaving Cummins for other jobs, he said.\n"There's a lot of transitioning going on right now," he told The Republic for a story Monday.\nThe bulk of the assembly line move will occur during the plant's planned Christmas shutdown.\nCummins delayed its traditional summer shutdown until Christmas because orders for heavy-duty truck engines spiked in the second and third quarters, fueled by a new federal emissions standards that took effect Oct. 1.\nTrucking fleets tried to avoid having to buy the more environmentally friendly engines because they are more expensive.\nMedical company probed \nfor drug-marketing practices\nBOSTON -- Attorneys general in 47 states, including Massachusetts, are investigating whether pharmaceutical giant Pfizer illegally marketed the epilepsy drug Neurontin to physicians. \nWashington state Assistant Attorney General David Waterbury said in an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston that he is leading the fraud investigation for the states and the District of Columbia. \nWaterbury's statements were attached to a court filing in the civil lawsuit of Dr. David Franklin, a former company sales representative turned whistle blower who has sued both Pfizer and Parke-Davis in Massachusetts. The companies merged two years ago. \nIn the filing, Waterbury indicated that he requested extensive data from state Medicaid programs over the past eight months, including the prescribing practices of individual doctors for dates before and after their exposure to specific marketing practices. \nThe affidavit was included with a request from Franklin's attorney, Thomas Greene, seeking more time to gather evidence. \nThe civil lawsuit and the separate criminal investigation seek to prove that Parke-Davis and its parent company, Warner-Lambert, illegally influenced and paid kickbacks to doctors to prescribe Neurontin for conditions for which the drug was not approved. \nA Pfizer spokesman declined to comment on the investigation, but the company has denied the allegations in the past.
(10/22/02 6:33am)
CHICAGO -- United Airlines said Monday that it is cutting 1,250 more jobs, or 1.5 percent of its work force, and closing three reservation centers as part of cost-cutting efforts aimed at saving the troubled carrier about $100 million annually. \nMore cutbacks are expected later this week by United as it joins other airlines in trimming back this fall to try to fight declining air traffic and mounting losses. \nThe announcement came three days after United, which is restructuring in an effort to stay out of bankruptcy, announced an $889 million third-quarter loss and said its operations have been losing about $7 million a day. \nThe Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based airline also said it will close a maintenance line and convert five cities to United Express service. \nThe moves came as United prepares to file an updated business plan with the federal government this week, hoping to strengthen its application for further financial assistance by detailing cost cuts and showing progress from weeks of concession talks with unions and lenders. \nThe nation's No. 2 airline, which has lost $4 billion since the middle of 2000, is seeking a $1.8 billion loan guarantee from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board to meet impending debt payments and help it return to profitability. \n"United is facing its toughest challenge ever,'' said Glenn Tilton, the carrier's recently named chairman, president and chief executive. "These actions are unfortunately necessary given the current weak revenue environment. Like other airlines, we need to make sure that we correctly match supply with demand.'' \nTilton made clear he is still counting on unions to agree to substantially more cutbacks at the airline, which is 55 percent owned by its employees. \n"These painful cuts will lower some of our costs, but they will not provide the labor-cost savings we need for our recovery plan to succeed,'' he said. \nUnited and the leaders of its five unions have agreed in principle on a target of $5.8 billion in labor concessions over 5 1/2 years. But implementation of such an agreement hinges on separate deals being reached with each union, and the International Association of Machinists is balking at some terms of the latest proposed concessions in direct talks with the company. \n"If these terms are not resolved, acceptance of the United Airlines recovery plan may not be ratified,'' Scotty Ford, president of IAM District 141-M, and other union officials said Sunday. \nTalks between the machinists and the company about the recovery plan and the layoffs were continuing late Monday afternoon, IAM spokesman Joe Tiberi said. He had no details. \nThe latest layoffs, which come on top of 20,000 made after the terrorist attacks in September 2001, largely affect mechanics and reservations workers -- both represented by the machinists union. \nUnited said that as of Jan. 7 it will convert to United Express service in Eugene and Medford, Ore.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and White Plains and Syracuse, N.Y. It said United Express carriers SkyWest, Air Wisconsin and Atlantic Coast Airlines can more efficiently serve those cities. \nThe switch will result in 150 layoffs. \nUnited said it also will close down one of its three Boeing 757 maintenance lines at its Indianapolis maintenance center, resulting in the layoffs of 250 mechanics as well as an additional 160 line maintenance positions related to schedule reductions. \nIt also will close its reservations offices in Indianapolis, San Francisco, and Long Beach, Calif., on Jan. 4, resulting in the layoffs of 686 employees. Nine reservations centers will remain. \nThe airline said it will announce additional adjustments to its schedule and staffing levels soon -- expected to be later this week, according to spokesman Joe Hopkins. He said he did not know what day the changes to the loan guarantee application would be filed. \nUnited currently operates more than 1,900 flights daily. As of Oct. 7, it had just under 84,000 employees, including 8,767 pilots, 22,294 flight attendants and about 37,000 machinists' union members -- encompassing mechanics, ramp, and reservations and customer service employees. \nShares in United's parent company, UAL Corp., closed 22 cents higher Monday at $1.93 on the New York Stock Exchange before the company's announcement.