MORGANTOWN - A motorist who killed a West Virginia Universitystudent has been charged with driving under the influence of alcoholand causing death.
Joseph Paul Wolfe, 25, of Bobtown, Pa., had just left his job ataStar City grocery store and was bicycling …
Cotonou, Benin
What does the face of poverty look like? It looks like a man, rail thin, wearing old that are rumpled and torn. He is clean, though. He has come to tell us that his daughter-the one we helped him buy school supplies for last fall-had been very ill in the hospital. She was in the main hospital for three weeks and every day they fed three bottles of serum into her body by IV drip. He spent every cent he had and the church helped him out. This daughter, who was eight years old, was his only child. She died this afternoon at 3 p.m.
Now he needs to figure out what to do with the body. He doesn't have any more money. He can't pay to put the body in the morgue. He …
Spending on health care slowed slightly in 2007 as consumers turned more to generic drugs instead of brand-names to fill their medicine cabinets, the government reported Monday.
Although the cost of buying drugs, visiting the doctor or going to the hospital continued to increase faster than the overall economy, the 6.1 percent growth rate for all health care spending was the slowest since 1998. In 2006, spending increased 6.7 percent.
Officials worry that devoting more and more resources to health care makes it harder for families to meet other pressing priorities and for businesses to compete internationally.
Overall, Americans spent $2.2 …
Maintaining a certified handicap - regardless of how much youplay - can enhance your enjoyment of golf.
A handicap facilitates participation in social outings and theestablishment of friendly, informal matches as well as more serious,big-money battles. Players of different abilities can comparehandicaps and apply them for the purpose of reasonably faircompetition.
Starting Monday, for instance, players with established handicapscan compete for prizes in the Chicago Sun-Times Grand SlamSweepstakes. Any golfer who plays an 18-hole round before May 22 cansubmit the scorecard, with his score adjusted by his handicap, and beeligible for an array of drawing prizes if …
Identification of Cleaner Production Improvement Opportunities Kenneth L Mulholland, AIChE and John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 200 pp., $59.95, February 2006, ISBN: 0-471-79440-6
This book is a practical how-to manual for implementing the best pollution prevention strategies that are economical and efficient for eliminating costly end-of-pipe treatments. The author. Dr. Kenneth L. Mulholland, focuses on eliminating pollution at the source in order to achieve zero pollution and waste, thus lowering treatment …
Republican presidential contender John McCain on Saturday said he wants to again allow the importation of prescription drugs from Canada as a way to bring health care costs under control.
The Arizona senator, speaking to reporters about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Canadian border and just across the river from New Hampshire, said too much of health care costs are based on high drug prices.
"Drug companies and the lobbyists they pay in Washington want to keep your drug prices high. Obviously, I want them to be affordable," McCain said, returning to his criticism of how Washington works.
Until drugs are cheaper, the cost of health …
Brown, Clifford (Brownie) important and widely influential 1950s-era jazz trumpeter; b. Wilmington, Del, Oct. 30, 1930; d. in an automobile accident on the Pennsylvania Tpke. near Bedford, Pa., June 26, 1956. He studied at Del. State Coll. and Md. State Coll. and gained experience playing in college jazz bands. He worked and recorded with Chris Powell. Later, Brown joined Tadd Dameron and toured Europe with Lionel Hampton's orch. (1953). Upon returning to the U.S., he worked with Art Blakey. Brown joined the Max Roach Quintet (1954), with Richie Powell on piano, and Harold Land, who was replaced by Sonny Rollins in late 1955. The group was sometimes …
RECOGNIZED WORLDWIDE FOR HIS WORK ON ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE, MANAGEMENT ISSUES AND RE-ENGINEERING, JIM CHAMPY IS NOW WRITING BOOKS ON COMPETITION, CUSTOMERS, PEOPLE MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS EXECUTION.
JIM CHAMPY FIRST achieved international acclaim for co-authoring Reengineering the Corporation, a mid-1990s study that anticipated the arrival of the Information Age and advised companies on how to adjust their business processes to accommodate it. Now, Champy, the Bostonbased chairman of Perot Systems' consulting practice, returns with Outsmart! How to Do What Your Competitors Can't.
It's the first of four planned books focusing on the search for new business models. The other …
The worst of the nation's credit crisis may have passed, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday, though he acknowledged rising gas prices will blunt the effect of 130 million economic stimulus checks.
He ruled out a second stimulus package for now.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Paulson said the turmoil that has gripped Wall Street and that took a turn for the worse again in March has eased somewhat. "There's progress," he said. "I think we're closer to the end of this" than to the beginning.
A prolonged housing slump, a severe credit crisis and soaring energy costs have pushed the economy to the edge of a …
Q. Tony Bennett mentioned in an interview that of all the songs herecorded, his favorite is "I Wanna Be Around," and that it waswritten by Johnny Mercer. I am from Salem, Ohio, and I believe a ladyfrom Youngstown actually wrote the words and that Mercer wrote themusic. Am I remembering this right?
A. Pretty much. Youngstown, Ohio's very own Sadie Vimmerstedtmailed a letter to Johnny Mercer in 1957 suggesting a song with thelyrics: "I want to be around to pick up the pieces when somebodybreaks your heart." When the finished song came out a couple of yearslater as "I Wanna Be Around," the writing credit showed both Mercerand Vimmerstedt as co-writers. Though we know Sadie …
Hybrid Defender
I worry a little when I read this same attitude about HEVs over and over. Toyota and Honda are occasionally lectured to that their sales of hybrids are diminutive (only 0.5 percent of 17million) and limited to small low profit cars that no one wants. When the inevitable time conies that oil really does start to dry up (a large Chinese or Indian middle class?) Toyota and Honda will have had 10 years of customer experience and 15 years of engineering experience in practical hybrids. They are not doing all this R&D for PR, but because the engineering is difficult and they want to be there first. Fortunately for the other companies not making a commitment to develop …
Treasury prices are inching lower as worries ease about Europe's debt crisis.
Borrowing costs fell for Spain and other countries in Europe Friday, and there was speculation that the European Central Bank may loan money to the International Monetary Fund to help support debt-strapped nations there.
In the U.S., an index of leading economic indicators rose more …
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Latin Grammys are returning to Sin City.
The Latin Recording Academy announced Thursday that the awards show will once again be held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip. The 12th annual show is scheduled for Nov. 10.
Univision will continue to broadcast the show live.
Nominations will be announced Sept. 14 in Los Angeles.
The awards show has consecutively been held in Las Vegas since 2009.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Democrat Jerry Brown was sworn in Monday as California's 39th governor, returning to the office he left 28 years ago but inheriting a much different and more troubled state than the one he led then.
The man who once was California's most famous bachelor took the oath of office after being introduced by his wife of five years, former Gap Inc. executive Anne Gust Brown, inside Sacramento Memorial Auditorium.
She held a Bible that was her grandfather's and was used during her wedding to Brown.
Brown has predicted a grim future for the financially beleaguered state. Where his predecessor, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, expressed optimism at every turn, Brown has been realistic since winning the Nov. 2 election. California has faced several years of deep budget deficits and is confronting another estimated at $28 billion through June 2012.
Its general fund is $15 billion less than it was just three years ago, reflecting a sharp drop in tax revenue from a recession that has battered the economy of the nation's most populous state. Brown, 72, says the choices facing California's 38.8 million people are painful ones.
"The year ahead will demand courage and sacrifice," he said after taking the oath from California Supreme Court Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.
Brown noted the toll the recession has taken on California and referred to polls showing most voters believe the state is on the wrong track. He urged lawmakers of both political parties to get out of what he called their "comfort zones" and to "rise above ideology" for the good of the state.
The ceremony was a scaled-down affair, reflecting the austere style of the former Jesuit seminarian and Buddhism student.
Brown's speech lasted about 15 minutes, and the only other speaker listed on the one-page program was his wife.
Students from two charter schools Brown started — the Oakland Military Institute and the Oakland School for the Arts — opened the ceremony.
Schwarzenegger and former first lady Maria Shriver, former Gov. Gray Davis, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were among the roughly 3,000 people attending.
After winning office, Brown promised to travel California and hold what he called a civic dialogue about what Californians want from their government and what they are willing to pay for it. After voters rejected an $18-a-year license fee to stabilize state park funding, Brown declared that Californians were "in no mood to add to their burdens."
Yet his press aides have not quashed speculation that Brown will try to call a special election this spring to extend a set of temporary tax hikes approved in 2009. Brown said he would not raise taxes without voter approval, but will need some Republican help to reach the two-thirds legislative vote necessary to place any tax or fee measure on the ballot.
The new governor will release his budget proposal for the coming fiscal year next Monday, when he is expected to deliver voters a series of stark choices. He said his budgets would not contain "smoke and mirrors," an apparent reference to spending plans signed by Schwarzenegger over the past few years that often contained accounting gimmicks and unrealistic revenue assumptions as a way to balance the budgets on paper.
He promised his version would be painful.
"It's a tough budget for tough times," he said.
Brown has been engaged in the budget problem even before his official swearing-in, visiting lawmakers and finance experts in the capital frequently and hold town hall sessions in Sacramento and Los Angeles to discuss the health of California's finances and public school system.
Brown has spent a lifetime in politics, including terms as the secretary of state, attorney general and mayor of Oakland, but also will be calling upon a set of skills learned outside the political arena as he tries to negotiate with a Legislature that has grown increasingly partisan and in many cases hostile.
His years practicing Buddhism in Japan and working with Mother Teresa in India may come in handy as he tries to broker deals with dug-in lawmakers. Term limits in the Legislature mean many of them have little experience and are eyeing their next office with every vote they take.
Brown becomes only the second person to serve three terms as California governor when he takes over from Schwarzenegger, a Republican who won office during the 2003 recall election. His tenure as the 34th governor, from 1975 to 1983, was before voter-imposed term limits, allowing Brown to seek the office again this year.
He also is the second oldest person to hold the office — behind Gov. Frank Merriam, who tackled budget deficits during the Great Depression and turned 74 during his final weeks in office in 1939.
During his previous two terms, Brown was criticized for being distracted by his continual pursuit of higher office. He sought the Democratic presidential nominations in 1976 and 1980, then lost a bid for U.S. Senate in 1982.
This time around, he said he's too old to run for higher office. But after introducing his 98-year-old aunt, Connie Carlson, Brown offered a caution for those already eyeing his office.
"By the way, those of you who are hankering after my job, it may be a while. So relax. God willing, the genes are good," he said.
Brown adviser Steve Glazer said he was unsure of Brown's plans for his first day on the job. He could drop by any number of celebrations around town, visit the governor's office or even his rented condo across the street from the auditorium.
A late-afternoon reception was planned for the California Railroad Museum in the Old Sacramento tourist section, but all inaugural festivities were expected to cost less than $100,000.
ISSUE ANALYSIS
In recent years, several states have passed laws designed to stifle insurer efforts to steer consumers to certain collision repair facilities. Despite the laws, it's apparent to many that the laws aren't working and the practice isn't going away anytime soon.
"One could make the reasonable assumption that introducing a bill and seeing it become law is the greatest challenge one could face. Unfortunately, the reality is that it is far more difficult to enforce steering legislation than to see it become a law," says Dan Risley, executive director of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS).
"I believe steering exists," says Darrell Amberson, the president of the Minneapolis-area Lehman's Garage, Inc. "Some insurance companies are very good about choosing the wording they use to recommend without steering, but others are not. They use a really forceful set of words. I've seen too many examples of people saying I was told to go to this type of shop not to believe they just misunderstood."
Amberson's repair shops are in Minnesota, which he and others say has pretty good steering laws. So why hasn't steering gone away in Minnesota? "The laws don't make a lot of difference because they are difficult to enforce," Amberson says.
Enforcement is the largest problem because the only people who really complain about the effects of steering are collision repair shops.
"Most consumers don't know they've been steered. They think they've been provided a consumer service," says Stephen Regan, spokesman for the Massachusetts Autobody Association.
The nature of the "scripts" that Regan says are often used puts customers at a disadvantage, says Ed Kizenberger, executive director of the New York State Auto Collision Technicians Association. "I don't think it's fair that some insurance companies provide less than the full story about the questionable practice of using a word track that anticipates a consumer's answers and then continues to try to steer them back into a shop of the insurer's choice. That obviously circumvents the law-at least the intent of the law."
Proof of how little consumers know or care about anti-steering laws can be found in the low numbers of complaints that are filed with insurance commissioners throughout the country. An informal survey by ABRN of state agencies that enforce anti-steering laws found that the numbers of complaints were low-usually fewer than 10 per year. In states that did not keep complaint figures, officials couldn't recall the last complaint or said there were "a few."
"We don't keep specific records on steering, but anecdotally, our consumer protection folks say it hasn't been a problem. Most of our complaints are about payments," says Jim Hurley, spokesman for the Texas Department of Insurance.
"We definitely receive more complaints from shops themselves than from consumers," says Kate Kiernan-Pagani, spokeswoman for the Connecticut Department of Insurance. "When these issues have arisen a few autobody shops complain all at once."
And even if a customer who may have been steered mentions that to a shop owner, pursuing the complaint is difficult. Customers must be able to specifically identify the word tracking and that means recording or being able to recite it to know what caused them to believe they were being steered.
Even customers who are aware they have been steered may not file a complaint. "The funny thing about it is that in this fast-paced society it's very difficult to get someone to complain," says Kizenberger. "It's not very often that we get a real solid complaint that we can work with-one with all the facts and figures-because without that it's just a basic he said/she said."
Efforts to educate consumers about the laws can help, but are generally focused the wrong way. "Shops are doing some education, but by the time someone is in the shop it's usually too late," says David McClune, executive director of the California Autobody Association. "If they've been steered away they don't learn, and if they're in the shop with the sign about steering laws they are already there."
With regard to the problem of substantiating steering charges, Regan believes the government should be responsible for investigating these actions. "We don't have strong insurance commissioners who are willing to do so. And that's unfortunate," he says. "The only type of reform that will work is something similar to the insurance fraud bureaus in certain states where they put someone undercover-somebody calling insurance companies and seeing what kind of questions they are asked."
Regan says his state (Massachusetts) already has some of the strongest anti-steering protections for consumers and body shops, but without any specific penalties, insurers won't restrain their actions. "How would we curtail speeding if there wasn't a $200 ticket attached-just say,'Don't do it again, see you later'?" he asks.
"We were successful in getting legislation through the insurance committee [of the Massachusetts House] this year, which would have put $500 per incident fines on each steering occurrence and given the insurance commission a very broad authority to fine, which would really help reduce it," says Regan.
Kiernan-Pagani says the Connecticut Department of Insurance has looked at the scripts insurers have used to make sure they aren't improperly steering. However, she admits she is not sure what the punishment for a violation is in her state. In fact, Connecticut, like most states, doesn't have any penalty provisions in its anti-steering law.
The lack of penalty provisions is an obvious reason why anti-steering laws have little impact. While insurance company executives work to ensure the company is complying with the law they can't oversee every second of every claim phone call. Without penalties, even the most scrupulous insurer is unlikely to be able to root out every instance of steering.
While fines, education and increased investigation may reduce the amount of steering that collision repair shops see, current laws do little in those areas and remain ineffective. The most effective element in achieving the full enforcement effect of current anti-steering laws is proving that the law has been violated.
"It's not really important what the enforcement provisions are," says Risley of SCRS. "It's proving the fact it was actually done so they can enforce it. You can have the best provision in the world, but if you can't validate that it was done, there's nothing to enforce."
[Sidebar]
Many find anti-steering laws lack effectiveness
[Author Affiliation]
By Mark Johnson
Senior Editor
Birthplace: London
Education: Law degree, University of London, King's College
Partner: Colin Ure, dramaturg at Houston Grand Opera
Royal honor: Named an officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006
Favorite opera: "Whatever I happen to be working on at the moment"
First opera attended: Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel," at age 4
Early adapter: At age 11, he began attending opera, theater and ballet. In his early teens, he started going alone three or four times a week. By age 14, he knew he "wanted to run an opera company."
Kiichiro Sato
The summer-long saga to decide who will represent Portugal in the Champions League is set to end next week.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear appeals Monday from Benfica and Vitoria Guimaraes, which want Portuguese champion FC Porto kicked out of Europe's most prestigious and lucrative club competition.
A panel of three lawyers hearing the case is expected to give its decision Tuesday.
Benfica and Guimaraes are challenging a decision by UEFA to reverse a ban it originally imposed last month on Porto taking part because of its involvement in a bribery scandal.
The CAS hearing is likely to focus on whether UEFA had the authority to handle the Porto case while investigations and appeals were ongoing in Portugal.
If Porto is suspended, Guimaraes _ which finished third in the league _ would be exempt from the qualifying rounds and go straight to the group phase alongside league runner-up Sporting Lisbon.
Fourth-place Benfica also stand to gain from Porto's exclusion by entering the Aug. 1 qualifying stage draw instead of the UEFA Cup.
In May, Porto was penalized six points by the Portuguese league for bribing referees in two matches during the 2003-04 season. The deduction didn't affect final placings because Porto led the league by a wide margin.
UEFA rules state that clubs must have a clean record in qualifying to play in the Champions League.
NEW YORK - Stock prices are higher in early trading as investors, having gotten over a bout of economic jitters in the previous session, focused on earnings reports. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 47.96 to 13,966.18 in the opening minutes
The Nasdaq Composite Index is up 18.65 at 2,718.14 and the Standard & Poor 500 index has climbed 5.69 to 1,552.12.
Investors will still be looking at economic news, however. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke returns to Capitol Hill for the second day of his semiannual report to Congress and the Fed is scheduled to release minutes from the June meeting of its Open Market Committee. At the meeting, the central bank again left short-term interest rates unchanged and reiterated its concerns about inflation.
Early Thursday stocks appeared to be extending a partial recovery that started late Wednesday, when the Dow Jones industrial average pulled itself up from a loss of 134 points and ended with just a 53-point deficit.
Light, sweet crude rose 45 cents to $75.50 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil closed above $75 Wednesday for the first time since last summer.
Bonds fell as stock futures pointed higher, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 5.05 percent from 5.03 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Stocks fell Wednesday amid uneasiness about Bernanke's assessment of the economy and in response to news that two Bear Stearns Cos. hedge funds were left essentially worthless after making bad bets on the subprime lending market.
But analysts noted there was actually little new in what Bernanke had to say, and the subprime problems are really coming as no surprise. Strong earnings from IBM Corp. released after the close of trading Wednesday appeared to give the market a further boost in confidence, so investors were optimistic early Thursday that more good profit news was in the offing.
Earnings news continued to affect investor sentiment. UnitedHealth Group Inc., among companies reporting Thursday, added to the market's upbeat mood, beating expectations and raising its forecast. Continental Airlines also turned in better-than-expected results.
High-tech companies Microsoft Inc., Google Inc. and Motorola Inc. are among the companies also reporting Thursday, along with Bank of America Corp. and Honeywell International Inc.
Beyond earnings, the Fed minutes and Bernanke's testimony will likely remain chief among Wall Street's concerns Thursday, though Bernanke's prepared text will likely be the same as Wednesday's. The market will be looking for any new clues during questioning by lawmakers.
In other economic news, the Conference Board releases its Index of Leading Economic Indicators for June at 10 a.m. EDT. The economic forecasting gauge is expected to drop by 0.1 percent, according to the consensus estimate of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR.
The Labor Department, meanwhile, will be releasing its weekly report on first-time jobless claims.
In market action abroad, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.56 percent. Hong Kong's Heng Seng Index rose 0.76 percent and the often-volatile Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.44 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.91 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 1.13 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.84 percent.
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On the Net:
New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com
Police say a grenade attack has killed three people and wounded another 50 at a festival in India's troubled northeast.
Police blame the blast early Sunday on a separatist group called the United Liberation Front of Asom. The group has been fighting for an independent homeland in the area for nearly two decades.
A district official says nearly 15,000 people were participating in a cultural festival when the attack occurred.
What the children of the MC Canada assembly took away from an adult-dominated conference
While their parents listened to budget statements and asset-liability ratios at this year's Mennonite Church Canada assembly in Calgary, Alta., their children watched a skit and made up their own, created crafts and sang songs with actionsall to learn about friendship with God.
One ofthe ways that the children learned about friendship with God was through sharing.
According to John Olfert, director of Camp Valaqua in Alberta, this is because "a big part of being a friend is sharing." This was illustrated through a skit done by the Kids Assembly leaders to show how, when Jesus fed 5,000 people, it was a miracle that was made possible by the sharing of a couple of hungry people who offered their loaves and fish to Jesus.
Along with sharing with God, the participating children said that they like to share toys and books with their peers, among other things. They demonstrated this in the skits put on by their respective age groups.
"We learned about being kind and sharing," Mackenzie Miller, a part of the preschool group, said.
Noah Klassen, who is in Grade 4, said that he learned "how to be a good friend."
Stephanie Jorritsma of Edmonton, Alta., who co-led the pre-school group, believes that Kids Assembly is an important part of a child's life. "[Children] are the future church," she said. "If they aren't here [at the assembly] now, they won't understand [the church] later," she said.
When it came down to it, the best part of the Kids Assembly was "playing games," pre-schooler Jonah Dyck said, as many others of various age groups echoed his opinion.
[Sidebar]
Children both young and older were treated to a variety of activities during this year's assembly in Calgary, Alta.
[Author Affiliation]
STORY AND PHOTOS BY RACHEL BERGEN
National Correspondent
A woman has filed suit against a Roman Catholic diocese uin California, claiming she was molested by a former Catholic priest from Ireland who was defrocked and deported for sexual abuse.
The unnamed 43-year-old plaintiff alleges Oliver O'Grady abused her when she was a child attending a parish in Lodi, northern California, in the 1970s, according to the lawsuit filed Oct. 31 against the Diocese of Stockton in San Joaquin County Superior Court.
O'Grady has admitted to abusing at least 25 children and has cost the diocese millions of dollars in settlements of civil sexual-abuse lawsuits.
A lawyer for the Stockton diocese says three additional suits are pending against the diocese.
O'Grady was deported to his native Ireland in 2001 after serving seven years in California's Mule Creek State Prison for molesting two brothers. A documentary featuring O'Grady, "Deliver Us From Evil," was nominated for a 2007 Academy Award.
According to an article published Dec. 9 in Ireland's Sunday Tribune, however, the former pedophile priest appears to have gone missing.
Attorneys representing two victims who filed civil suits in Ireland claiming O'Grady abused them even before he moved to California cannot locate him to serve him with court papers, according to the article.
O'Grady has moved twice since 2001 and is not listed on that country's sex offenders register, according to the Tribune.
Abstract/Resume
Several sophisticated menu analysis methods have been compared in studies using theoretical restaurant menus. Institutional and especially hospital cafeterias differ from commercial restaurants in ways that may influence the effectiveness of these menu analysis methods. In this study, we compared three different menu analysis methods - menu engineering, goal value analysis, and marginal analysis in an institutional setting, to evaluate their relative effectiveness for menu management decision-making. The three methods were used to analyze menu cost and sales data for a representative cafeteria in a large metropolitan hospital. The results were compared with informal analyses by the manager and an employee to determine accuracy and value of information for decision-making. Results suggested that all three methods would improve menu planning and pricing, which in turn would enhance customer demand (revenue) and profitability. However, menu engineering was ranked the easiest of the three methods to interpret.
Plusieurs methodes raffinees d'analyse des menus ont ete comparees dans des etudes utilisant des menus de restaurant theoriques. Les differences entre les cafeterias d'etablissement en particulier celles des hopitaux - et les restaurants commerciaux sont telles qu'elles peuvent influencer l'efficacite de ces methodes d'analyse des menus. Dans la presente etude, nous avons compare trois methodes d'analyse des menus - l'analyse en fonction des revenus, l'analyse en fonction des buts et l'analyse marginale pour evaluer leur efficacite relative dans la prise de decision. Les trois methodes ont ete utilisees pour analyser les donnees sur le cout des menus et les ventes dans une cafeteria representative d'un grand hopital urbain. Les resultats ont ete compares a des analyses informelles menees par le gestionnaire et un employe pour verifier la justesse et la valeur de l'information necessaire a la prise de decision. Ces resultats portent a croire que les trois methodes amelioreraient la planification des menus et l'etablissement des prix, qui en retour accroitraient la clientele (revenus) et le profit. Des trois methodes, l'analyse en fonction des revenus a ete consideree comme la plus facile a interpreter.
INTRODUCTION
Menu analysis has been defined as the systematic evaluation of a menu's cost and/or sales data to identify opportunities for improved performance (1). Several sophisticated menu analysis methods have been described in the literature, such as menu engineering (2), goal value analysis (3), marginal analysis (4), and analyses that use two or more criteria to evaluate menus (5-8). All except goal value analysis and marginal analysis use matrix approaches based on portfolio analysis (9), which is used in strategic marketing to classify products or business units by comparing them to the means on two or more dimensions such as share of the market and growth potential (10,11). These methods have been described and compared in published studies using theoretical commercial restaurant menus, but have not been studied in a hospital cafeteria setting.
Decision-making is a key function of management, and involves identifying and selecting alternatives (12) by using a combination of intuition, information, and experience (8). Although managers always use their intuition and experience in decision-making, better information would enable them to evaluate the consequences of decisions more accurately, and to consider all alternatives (12).
Morrison (13) noted that menu planners were reticent about using menu analysis, despite the availability of information technology. Planners considered traditional criteria, such as product availability and staff skills, more important than profitability or customer demand. In addition, despite the long-term use of portfolio analysis in business, no empirical evidence in the literature proves that it has positive effects on decision-making. Armstrong and Brodie (9) found that it might even have a negative effect. Although menu analysis methods are based on less controversial dimensions than those used in strategic marketing, their role in decision-making must still be evaluated empirically. This will enhance their credibility and use by menu planners.
Institutional and, more specifically, hospital cafeterias differ from commercial restaurants in ways that may influence the effectiveness of menu analysis methods. Hospital cafeterias cater to a relatively captive and diverse clientele, which traditionally has expected low-priced menu items. Commercial restaurants cater to a more distinct target market that will pay higher prices for special occasion or infrequent meals. The clientele of hospital cafeterias requires more variety than does the clientele of commercial restaurants, because hospital clientele tend to eat in the same place every day.
Canadian healthcare reform has brought and will continue to bring many changes to healthcare management and delivery. Reform has also led to changes in hospital cafeterias. Traditionally, non-patient foodservices were financed by a government subsidy formula based on dollars per number of non-patient meals. This subsidy and revenues from low-priced menu items were intended to cover food expenses. Labour and operating expenses were generally expected to be part of the patient funding, as the same staff prepared the cafeteria meals in the same facilities. Now, non-patient foodservices must be self-sufficient, if not profit-generating. An opportunity has been created to maximize profit through greater marketing of cafeteria menus and growth of branded products. This opportunity, along with low profit margins, means that hospital cafeteria managers must be able to analyze their menus effectively perhaps even more effectively than do commercial restaurant managers.
The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the relative effectiveness of the three methods - menu engineering, goal value analysis, and marginal analysis - for decision-making in hospital cafeteria menu management. Effectiveness was evaluated in terms of information value, accuracy, and ease of interpretation.
Menu analysis methods defined
Information about the various menu analysis methods is essential to a full understanding of the study reported in this paper.
Menu engineering - This matrix menu analysis method was developed by Kasavana and Smith (2). Its two dimensions are the contribution margin (CM) and the menu mix (MM). The CM is the difference between the selling price and direct, usually food, costs for each menu item. The MM is calculated as the percentage of an item's sales relative to total menu item sales. The CM and MM percentages for each item are compared with a mean menu CM and with an MM popularity rate, respectively. The MM popularity rate is calculated by taking 70% of the total MM percentage (100%) divided by the number of menu items. Kasavana and Smith (2) state that this 70% rule was based on extensive practical experience, and that it is unrealistic to expect each menu item to share equally in sales. It is unclear whether this rule applies to hospital cafeterias.
Once the comparisons with the two dimensions have been made, menu items are classified as stars (above the mean CM and MM popularity rate), dogs (below the mean CM and MM popularity rate), plowhorses (below the mean CM but above the MM popularity rate), or puzzles (above the mean CM but below the MM popularity rate). Various strategies to increase item CM and/or MM, such as repricing (changing the cost or selling price), repositioning (promoting or renaming the item), replacement (with a new item), or retaining the item, have been described (2).
Hayes and Huffman (3) and Atkinson and Jones (1) compared several matrix menu analysis methods and concluded that each could give different results. Beran (4) and Hayes and Huffman (3) pointed out that categories may be influenced by high or low menu item performers that can distort the true picture. Removing poorly performing items from the menu also changes the means for subsequent menu analysis, with the potential for only one menu item remaining (3). Although this is an unlikely scenario, it illustrates the limitations of menu analysis in management decision-making. Goal value analysis - Hayes and Huffman (3) propose goal value analysis as an alternative to matrix analysis. The formula is as follows: Goal Value = (1 - food cost %) x average numbers sold x average selling price x 1 - (direct cost % + food cost %) .
The use of this formula establishes an index based on expectations for or past performance of menu items. The score for each menu item is determined from actual sales and costs and compared with the goal value.
A potential problem is the establishment of a goal value based on expectations that may be unrealistically high or low. This could lead to unnecessary changes in the menu, or failure to realize the full potential of the menu.
Marginal analysis - Beran (4), also proposes marginal analysis as an alternative to matrix analysis. With this method, the menu engineering spreadsheet is modified to provide the calculations necessary for graphing individual item total CM (on the Xaxis) to total sales volume (on the Y-axis). The slope of each graph shows the CM in relation to other items. Items with more horizontal lines have a greater CM than items with more vertical lines. The length of the line, or the distance of the item's plot from the intersection of the X- and Y-axes, indicates the volume of sales. The graph shows how menu items actually compare with each other. Matrix analysis, on the other hand, uses comparisons with means or rates. Beran (4) suggests that a manager could evaluate the individual item and the overall menu performance with marginal and matrix analyses.
METHODS
Study site
The site selected for this project was a 25-seat, cafeteriastyle coffee shop in an 800-bed, acute care hospital and community health centre. The coffee shop is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., is staffed by three employees, and serves approximately 260 customers a day. The clientele is representative of the larger foodservice operations in this institution, which serve a mix of staff, visitors, and outpatients. The menu is a combination of both static and ten-day cycle items, which again is representative of the larger cafeterias at this institution.
Sales data collection - Sales data were collected from the daily sales summary reports printed from the cash register at closing, and entered on a Microsoft Excel 5.0 worksheet (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, 1993). (At the time of data collection, the cash register was not able to produce weekly or monthly reports.) Sales data were collected for 12 weeks in spring 1995. Food costs for menu items were determined from current ingredient and recipe cost reports from Carex Dietary Information Systems Inc. (London, ON N6A 1A9). Pre-tax selling prices were used. Budget information and other operating percentages were used as applicable to the specific menu analysis methods.
Menu analysis - The menu was analyzed on Microsoft Excel 5.0 spreadsheets, using menu engineering (2) and goal value analysis (3). Table 1 summarizes key sections of the spreadsheets to facilitate comparison. Sales data for menu items were summarized from the worksheet in fourweek periods to ensure that the data collection period was representative of the operation (2) and that cycle menu items were represented equally. Sandwiches, soups, entrees, and combinations were analyzed together because they were common lunch selections and had similar prices. The cycle menu items were grouped under the headings "specialty sandwich" and "special entree" for this analysis, and the mean CM was used. The individual cycle menu items were also analyzed separately to determine their performances within their groupings.
Scatter plot charts were prepared from the menu engineering spreadsheet (Table 1) for the menu engineering matrix (Figure 1) and for the marginal analysis graph (Figure 2). It was not necessary to prepare a separate spreadsheet for marginal analysis (4). For the menu engineering matrix, CM by item (Table 1, Column F) was selected for the X-axis and MM percentage by item (Table 1, Column C) formed the Y-axis. For marginal analysis, total CM by item (Table 1, Column L) formed the X- axis and total number of sales by item (Table 1, Column B) formed the Y- axis.
We compared the four- and eight-week analyses for differences in results and to establish the optimum time for data collection. We also compared the analyses for groupings to determine the effects of evaluating the whole menu rather than menu groups.
Manager and employee evaluations - Before they viewed the menu analysis spreadsheets and graphs, the foodservice manager and a staff member were asked individually to identify menu items as good, poor, or uncertain, and to decide whether to retain, reprice, reposition, or replace them. We assumed that they would base their evaluations on intuition, experience, and recent demand and/or cost information. We then compared their evaluations with the results of the three menu analyses.
The menu analysis spreadsheets and graphs were then explained to the manager, who ranked the three menu analysis methods according to their ease of interpretation. Menu decisions were revised as a result of more detailed information. Ideas to improve menu item prices, change portion sizes, or replace items were identified, and the potential for improved performance was tested with the menu analysis. The manager then selected three menu changes to introduce. Because of seasonal fluctuations in demand, it was not practical to compare actual menu analyses before and after changes.
RESULTS
There was no difference in menu item classifications in the four- and eight-week sales data sets, and we therefore selected the former to facilitate data collection. The analyses of the cycle menu items within their own groups-specialty sandwiches and specialty entrees - indicated which items were relatively poor performers.
The menu engineering spreadsheet (Table 1, Column S) classifies items in four categories, which enables the decisionmaker to identify the problem area(s) of a menu item easily. Goal value analysis (Table 1, Column Y) classifies items as above or below the goal value so that the decision-maker must analyze and compare each variable in the formula to identify menu item problem areas. In this study, the menu items classified as plowhorses and stars with menu engineering had scores above the goal value, while the puzzles and dogs had scores below the goal value. With goal value analysis, the reason for high or low scores is not readily apparent, but menu engineering clearly shows that a plowhorse has above average popularity and a below average CM.
The menu engineering matrix (Figure 1) presents the spreadsheet in a visual format. The degree of a menu item's classification is portrayed by the distance the item is plotted from the MM popularity rate or from the mean CM. For example, item 2 (designer sandwich) is very popular but only slightly below the mean CM. With this information a decision could easily be made to, either moderately increase the price or reduce the portion size, without affecting demand significantly.
The marginal analysis graph portrays the data differently. A diagonal line dissecting the chart facilitates identification of high slope (lower CM) versus low slope (high CM) menu items. The popularity, or total sales by item, is easily seen bv the distance of the plotted item from the Y-axis.
Similar decisions are possible using both menu engineering and marginal analysis. For example, item 7 (chili) is classified as a puzzle with menu engineering (Table 1 and Figure 1), which means that it had poor sales compared with the other items but an above average CM. Similarly, marginal analysis (Figure 2) shows that it has a low slope, or higher CM, and a relatively short plot from the Y-axis, or low sales. A decision strategy would focus on promoting sales of this item by lowering the price or by repositioning (i.e., name or accompaniment changes).
Manager and employee evaluations The manager and coffee shop employee generally agreed in their evaluations of the menu items, with some differences in the evaluations of individual cycle sandwiches and entrees. However, their evaluations for items 1, 3, 6, and 9 differed from the menu engineering spreadsheet (Table 1, Column S) classifications. The manager and the employee considered egg/tuna sandwiches good sellers with poor profit margins (plowhorses), cycle sandwiches poor in both categories (dogs), cycle entrees uncertain (puzzles), and soup with a roll a star. Menu engineering classified these items as dogs, puzzles, stars, and a plowhorse, respectively.
The manager placed more weight on her knowledge of food costs or production difficulties, and the employee based her evaluations on customer demand. A potential limitation may be that only two people evaluated the menu, and they based evaluations on intuition or experience rather than referral to current cost and/or sales data. Morrison (13) also reported that menu decisions were commonly based on intuition and experience.
Possible study limitations - The accuracy of the menu sales data depended on the staff's accuracy in keying in sales on the cash register. We expected that some errors, such as one item being keyed in as another, would be made daily, but that this should not affect the results as the analysis period was four weeks. To further control for this limitation, we regularly checked cash register key codes for accuracy with the menu. Staff members were told that correct key entry was important for the menu study. The student research assistant observed cash register operation for several days and promptly investigated possible errors on the daily sales summary. Ease of using the methods - The matrix format of menu engineering was found to be the easiest to interpret and use. The labels of menu engineering, with their associated meanings - dog, star, puzzle and plowhorse - facilitate communication of the results to all staff.
Marginal analysis was ranked the second easiest method, and essentially was deemed to be another way to present the information. Both the menu engineering and the marginal analysis charts can be produced from the spreadsheet.
Goal value analysis was found to be more difficult to interpret for menu decision-making. The manager could not easily identify the cause of a menu item's low score, and this method was therefore not found to be useful for menu planning and improvements.
The 70% MM popularity rate of menu engineering was determined to be acceptable for this operation, although for this particular menu a 100% MM popularity rate of 10% would not have resulted in any more dogs or puzzles. As 10% of all revenues must be paid to the provincial government by non-patient foodservices, this was considered to be a direct cost, like food cost, and was included in the calculation of the CM. (Other direct costs, such as labour, could also be included.)
Effects of menu analysis on decisions and profits - When she reviewed the information from the menu analyses, the manager identified four menu changes for testing. Table 1, Column T, summarizes the manager's decisions. When these changes to prices and/or menu description were tested using the same data, except for a projected small increase in sales for item 7 (chili), menu CM increased by 1%. This may seem small by commercial standards, but is significant in hospital cafeterias, which have low profit margins ( < 5%).
Because she was concerned about customer dissatisfaction, the manager did not make other changes suggested by the menu analysis, such as replacing dogs or repricing plowhorses. Her decision illustrates that intuition and experience remain important to management decision-making, even with improved information from menu analysis.
DISCUSSION
Maximizing profits with a low CM - Traditionally, government funders, hospital administrators and staff have viewed non-patient foodservices as a service to employees. The expectation that hospital cafeterias should offer items at cost or low prices persists and is accentuated by staff members' job insecurity and cautious spending. Sophisticated menu analysis is, therefore, perhaps even more necessary for hospital cafeteria managers than for restaurant managers; hospital cafeteria managers must try to maximize profits with a low CM, while high-priced restaurant or hotel menu items have a high CM and tend to be classified as stars or puzzles, depending on customer demand.
Menu analysis of static and cycle items - A hospital cafeteria menu differs in structure from those of restaurants, hotels, and commercial operations. To meet the needs of the diverse clientele, hospital cafeteria menus are a combination of cycle and static menus (12). The static menus correspond to those in commercial establishments or franchises, and are often part of a food fair concept designed to serve specific market segments. Cycle menus are intended to satisfy a diverse and captive clientele, which wants variety. Because they correspond to patient menu production schedules, cycle menus also enable hospital foodservice operations to benefit from economies of scale. This study demonstrated that combination cycle and static menus could be evaluated by menu engineering.
Profitability and demand as pricing components - Prices in hospital cafeterias traditionally have been established as a mark-up on the item food cost (12,14). This mark-up is based on desired or budget food cost percentages. Problems with this approach are that each menu item must bear the same multiplier for fixed expenses and profit, which may result in unfair prices for outsourced or convenience items that require little or no labour. This pricing approach also does not take into consideration the marketing potential of setting prices higher or lower than the mark-up to stimulate greater demand for certain items or combinations of items. This study identified an efficient and systematic method of menu analysis that would enable managers to evaluate profitability and customer demand as equal components of menu item pricing.
Ideal food cost percentage -The menu engineering spreadsheet also calculates the ideal food cost percentage (Table 1, Box K). This can be compared with the actual food cost percentage, calculated from inventories and purchases, for variance analysis. Thus, this menu analysis method provides additional and valuable information for foodservice managers.
Labour costs - Labour costs are another dimension of menu analysis. However, we did not know the labour costs per item, and the manager could not justify the time and expense required for this determination. A study of menu planning criteria used by upscale restaurants showed that, for similar reasons, labour cost was not a major criterion (13).
A three-dimensional matrix by LeBruto et al. (5) and the software program Menu Dynamics 2.0 (MP Talbert, Ithaca, NY 14850, 1996) do not use labour costs for specific items, but rather, classifications of high and low. These classifications could be based on intuition and experience, or calculations of direct menu item production and service. If based on intuition or experience, the information used in menu analysis could be wrong. As decisions usually involve varying elements of intuition, experience, and information, care must be taken to ensure that the latter is not compromised.
CONCLUSION
In many ways, the distinctions between commercial and institutional foodservice operations are becoming less apparent. However, differences in clientele, management, and menu planning in hospital cafeterias indicate a need to evaluate menu analysis methods originally developed for commercial ventures. Determining the relative effectiveness of the three methods should also prove valuable to commercial restaurants.
This study demonstrates that information is interpreted more easily with menu engineering than with marginal analysis or goal value analysis. The use of menu engineering is therefore more likely to improve management decisions about hospital cafeteria menus and to maximize sales and profit.
RELEVANCE TO PRACTICE
Under government subsidized funding guidelines, hospital cafeteria managers evaluated menu items by their adherence to a desired food cost percentage (14) and by customer surveys (12). When menus are evaluated only on the basis of food costs, the profit potential of individual items and the interactive roles played by menu items receive less attention. A low food cost percentage does not necessarily mean that a menu item will have a high profit margin (14). Customer surveys are expensive and time-consuming, and their value may be limited by low response rates and the influence of a recent good or bad meal.
Menu engineering, which uses a computer spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel or Lotus 1-2-3 plus accurate cost and sales data, can enable managers to evaluate menu performance more effectively and to forecast the effects of menu changes easily. However, the final decisions must remain with the manager, who can make the best judgments with a combination of intuition, experience, information and creativity.
[Reference]
References
[Reference]
Atkinson H, Jones P. Menu engineering: Managing the foodservice micromarketing mix. J Restaurant Foodservice Marketing 1994;1(1):37-55. Kasavana MK, Smith DI. Menu engineering. Okemos, MI: Hospitality Publications Inc, 1990.
3. Hayes DK, Huffman L. Menu analysis: a better way. Cornell HRA Q 1985; 25:64-70.
[Reference]
Beran B. Menu sales mix analysis revisited: an economic approach. Hospitality Research J 1995;18(3)/19(1):125-44. LeBruto SM, Quain WJ, Ashley AA. Menu engineering: a model including labor. FIU Hospitality Rev 1996;13(1):41-51. Merricks P, Jones P. The management of catering operations. London, UK: Cassell Publishing,1988.
Pavesic DV. Prime numbers: finding your menu's strengths. Cornell HRA Q 1985;26(3):70-7.
[Reference]
Miller J. Menu pricing and strategy. Boston, MA: CBI Publishing Company Inc,1980:77, 18.
Armstrong JS, Brodie RJ. Effects of portfolio planning methods on decision making: experimental results. International J Research Marketing 1994;11:73-84.
10. McCain G. Black holes, cash pigs, and other hospital portfolio analysis
problems. J Healthcare Marketing 1987;7(2):56-64. 11. Hedley B. Strategy and the business portfolio. Long Range Planning 1977;10:9-15.
[Reference]
12. Spears MC. Foodservice organizations: a managerial and systems approach, 3rd ed. Toronto, ON: Prentice-Hall,1995:589,185. 13. Morrison P. Menu engineering in upscale restaurants. International J Contemp Hospitality Management 1996;8(4):17-24. 14. Keiser J, DeMicco FJ. Controlling and analyzing costs in foodservice operations, 3rd ed. Don Mills, ON: Maxwell Macmillan Canada Inc,1993:380.
[Author Affiliation]
LINDA L. MANN, MBA, PDt, Department of Applied Human Nutrition, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia; DONNA MACINNIS, PDt, Food and Nutrition Services, Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia; NICOLE GARDINER, PDt, Clover Group, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Peter Berry Memorial Scholarship Benefit, with Seel Fresh, Babble,Matlock, I.L. and more
*10 p.m. Saturday
*Morseland, 1218 W. Morse
*Tickets, $10 (21-over show)
*(773) 764-8900
No one knows exactly what happened on the CTA Red Line tracksbetween Morse and Jarvis late at night on Aug. 16, 2004, but by themorning the word had started to spread.
Peter Berry, 22, known to some as an art student and a member ofthe U.S. Army Reserves, to others as the graffiti writer King Kaiser(or just Kiser or even Kyser), and known to thousands of others onlyby the vandalism he'd created, was dead.
A mother who had pleaded with her son to stop doing graffiti hadlost him. A crew of graffiti writers had lost one of their most well-known friends. Chicago's hip-hop community had lost one of its own.And the letters pages of the city's papers flared with emotionssparked by graffiti.
Now, a year later, Berry's family and friends are working toensure his legacy is one that supports the arts -- the legal arts --and that the memory of Berry is one of a young artist on the rise,rather than of a clandestine vandal who thrived in the shadows.
On Saturday night, several Chicago performers -- some of whom grewup in the Evanston hip-hop circles that attracted Berry at a youngage, some who did graffiti with him and some who just believe hismemory holds something positive -- will give a concert to benefit thePeter Berry Memorial Scholarship.
The scholarship, started by Berry's mother, Cinda Cason, is giveneach spring to the Student's Choice Award winner of the AmericanAcademy of Art spring show.
"We all know that Peter was a graffiti artist," Cason says, addingthat this was a point of contention between the two. "But I want hisfriends and everyone to know he followed his dream to the academy. Hewent with that extreme confidence he had. He was fearless with hisart."
Seel Fresh, a Chicago rapper who says he did graffiti with Berryand refers to his fallen friend as "Kaiser," says this fearlessnessand confidence is what made Berry a "king" of Chicago graffiti.
"Kaiser," he says using Berry's graffiti name, "never did anythinglittle. Everything he did, he did big. He wouldn't do 2-foot[pieces]; he'd do 7-foot [pieces]."
Seel says that Berry had unrelenting creativity in style and inhis vision, adding, "He'd do things that no one else would evenimagine doing and he had styles that no one else had."
Beyond graffiti, Seel Fresh says, Berry endeared himself to hisfriends with his commitment and selflessness.
"Before he died, I had just started recording my album," SeelFresh says. "I played him just a few songs and he told me he wantedto do all of the promotion for it, he wanted to be my street team. Hesaid, 'We'll do this [promotion] unlike what has ever done before.'Now when I work on my music, it's like I'm keeping a promise toKaiser."
Cason says this provides just a glimpse of who her son really was.
"The most amazing thing about Peter was that at his age he wasabsolutely authentic," she says. "He had a passion for life."
And, she added, he was dedicated to his art.
"I remember I asked him to take a day off before Thanksgiving, andbefore I could finish he said, 'No,' he didn't want to miss school,"Cason says. "He wanted that discipline the academy was giving him. Itwas like it was harnessing that creativity."
David Jakubiak is a local free-lance writer.
BEIRUT, Lebanon - University students loyal to Lebanon's government clashed with Hezbollah supporters Thursday, setting cars ablaze and battling with homemade clubs and stones. The melee deepened worries that Lebanon cannot contain the political and sectarian rivalries threatening to push it toward civil war.
At least three people were killed and dozens were injured before army troops backed by tanks and firing barrages of warning shots into the air dispersed most rioters. The military then declared Beirut's first curfew since 1996.
But the fallout reaches far beyond the casualty count. The clashes, sparked by a cafeteria scuffle between pro-government Sunni Muslims and pro-Hezbollah Shiites, reinforced fears that Lebanon's sectarian divisions are erupting into violence as they did during the 1975-1990 civil war.
It was the third straight day of violence, sparked by a Hezbollah-led strike Tuesday that came ahead of a crucial gathering of donor nations in Paris. The conference Thursday raised pledges of $7.6 billion to help Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's U.S.-backed government rebuild after last summer's devastating Israel-Hezbollah war.
The money and show of international support could boost the embattled Saniora. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah has vowed to bring him down unless the opposition is given more power.
The chaos has paralyzed the government. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said Wednesday that donors were backing the wrong party in the standoff and that he could topple Saniora at any time.
In Paris, Saniora pleaded to his countrymen to "distance themselves from tensions."
"No one can help a country if the people of this country don't want to help themselves," he said. "I call on your wisdom and reason."
Leaders on all sides called for calm. Nasrallah - who has insisted in recent days he does not want Lebanon to tumble into civil war - went on TV in the evening to tell followers it was a "religious duty" to get off the streets to allow security forces to keep order.
"I appeal to you in the name of Lebanon and human conscience ... It's a pity to waste Lebanon like this," said Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally. "It is time we learn from the past."
During Lebanon's civil war, Christians battled Muslims. But the new confrontation has taken different sectarian lines: Shiites support the opposition, Sunnis back the prime minister and Christian parties are divided between the two camps.
If sectarian divisions explode in Lebanon, it would likely further fuel Sunni-Shiite tensions around the Arab world, already heightened by Iraq's turmoil. Mainly Sunni Arab nations like Egypt and Saudi Arabia have shown alarm at Hezbollah's increasing strength in Lebanon and have backed Saniora.
Thursday's clashes in Beirut showed just how quickly any spark can turn into a wildfire.
Students said it began with a scuffle in the cafeteria of Beirut Arab University between Sunni Muslims and supporters of the Shiite Hezbollah. As Sunnis in the surrounding Tarik el-Jadideh district moved in, Hezbollah activists called in reinforcements.
Hezbollah activists with walkie-talkies were seen coordinating as a ragtag convoy of hundreds of vigilantes raced to the campus. Gangs - many wearing blue and red construction hard hats and wielding clubs made from sticks and even chair legs - poured into the area and battled Sunni students and riot police and soldiers.
Hezbollah backers claimed Sunni gunmen fired from apartment balconies near the school, wounding several people. The claim could not be independently confirmed.
Thick black smoke rose over the campus and the neighborhood on the southern edge of Beirut as rioters set fire to vehicles, tires and trash. Bands of youths clashed with stones and clubs in running street battles as the army tried to close off streets with tanks and armored vehicles. Troops fired tear gas and warning shots into the air.
"We are afraid about the future of the country. We are afraid about civil war," said Mohammed Abdul-Sater, a 21-year-old Shiite student.
Three people were killed and 169 injured, security officials said. It appeared one of the dead was Sunni and the other two Shiite, judging by the district of the hospitals their bodies were taken to.
Up until the 8:30 p.m. curfew was imposed, young men were in the streets around the university. Government backers set fire to the offices of a small pro-Hezbollah party and burned its banner in the street as sporadic gunfire was heard. Hezbollah supporters smashed store windows miles away in downtown Beirut as they left a protest camp ahead of the curfew.
After the curfew began, most streets were emptied. The last time Lebanon imposed a curfew was February 1996 to stop labor unions from holding anti-government protests. In 1984, the army imposed a curfew to halt street battles between the army and Muslim militias.
The alarming violence signaled what Lebanese have been fearing for months: that the drawn-out confrontation between Hezbollah and Saniora's government could move into the streets and rage out of control.
The Hezbollah-led opposition has staged two months of demonstrations and sit-ins in a bid to topple Saniora's government. But the prime minister has held out, refusing the opposition's demands for a veto-wielding share of the Cabinet.
On Tuesday, the opposition stepped up the confrontation with its general strike, which erupted into street battles around the country between its activists and government supporters. Three people were killed. Gunbattles broke out for a second day Wednesday in the northern city of Tripoli.
The alarming violence has stunned supporters of both sides. But the leadership of the two camps do not appear to be backing down.
Hezbollah, in a statement on its television station, accused pro-government factions of provoking the clashes even as it called on its supporters to get off the streets to "avoid a strife which is being inflamed" by pro-government groups.
A fugitive convicted of taking part in the assassination of Serbia's Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic seven years ago and several other murders has been extradited from Croatia, Serbia's police said Wednesday.
Sretko Kalinic was flown on a Serbian government plane from Zagreb to Belgrade early Wednesday amid tight security measures that included blocked traffic by heavily armed SWAT teams.
His extradition was made possible after Serbia and Croatia, wartime foes in the 1990s, recently signed an extradition treaty. Kalinic, 26, has a dual Serbian-Croatian citizenship.
Croatian police spokesman Krunoslav Borovec said Kalinic is the first Croatian citizen to be extradited to Serbia. The new extradition agreement is intended to stop numerous Balkan crime figures from evading justice by finding shelter in the neighboring countries.
Kalinic was sentenced in absentia to 30 years in prison with 10 other former gang members and paramilitaries for a planning role in the March 2003 assassination of Djindjic, Serbia's first democratically-elected prime minister who was killed by a sniper bullet in downtown Belgrade.
In 2008, Kalinic was separately sentenced to 40 years in prison for taking part in a series of mobster-style killings conducted by the so-called "Zemun clan" that operated from a Belgrade suburb in the 1990s and early 2000.
Kalinic, known in the underground circles as "the beast" for his brutality, was arrested in Croatia in June after a shootout near Zagreb with another convicted Djindjic's killer, Milos Simovic, who was caught soon after by Serbian border police while trying to flee Croatia.
Serbian police say Kalinic's specialty was dismembering bodies beyond recognition after gang-style killings.
Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said police hope that Kalinic's testimony could resolve several other murders believed committed by the clan.
___
Associated Press writer Snjezana Vukic contributed to this report from Zagreb.
Chelsea Tales: The Wealthiest Place In Britain (BBC2, 9pm) THE bigpuzzle which surrounds the arrival of Chelsea Tales tonight is howthe show will be received in other parts of the nation.
It's a brand new docu-soap which follows the luxury lifestyle ofresidents who reside in Britain's richest and most exclusivelocation - London's Chelsea.
Ten of the "inmates" have volunteered to put their lives in frontof the cameras, along with those of their friends and families, whichwill then bring those watching, says the BBC, "a captivating slice oflife form a little-explored world". By that they mean the world ofthose far more privileged than most of us who populate the rest ofthe rat race.
The first instalment, for example, introduces us to Alex. He's a30-year-old artist and model who has lived in Chelsea most of hislife.
Then there's charity fashion show hostess Melanie, who "spendsmost of her time socialising or shopping" when, presumably, she's notdoing charitable works.
Another is Ed Mead, an estate agency director with premises onSloane Avenue, while a fourth comes with a really tragic tale totell.
She's California-born Anne-Marie Ciccini, who has been living inthe area since the 80s but who is now battling against terminalsmall cell lung cancer.
Two years after the diagnosis she is in remission and, during thefilming for this series, Anne-Marie went from having fortnightlycheck-ups to having them once every three months.
Currently single, she has been married once and has a seven yearold son called Duncan.
She has dated a string of high profile wealthy men, including rockstar Rod Stewart. True to form for any Chelsea inhabitant, though,once Duncan's gone to school she loves nothing better than headingfor the shops.
Anne-Marie loves designer clothes and is generally dressed to thenines.
Alex was packed off to boarding school from an ealry age, then wonan army scholarship and a place at university where he studied fineart.
He left the Army after winning his commission and decided topursue his art, spending most of his days at his Chelsea studio,where he paints in between zooming off for modelling jobs on hismotorbike.
These are just a sprinkling of the people the series meets as itcharts the ups and downs of their lives from autumn through tosummer "as they pursue their careers, win or lose in love, attendfabulous parties and holiday in the UK and abroad".
In the episodes to follow we will see fortysomething divorceeJulia Stephenson who will prove a rather expensive Chelsea flower.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automakers Nissan and Mitsubishi are strengthening their cooperation by expanding the number of models they make for each other in Japan.
Nissan and Mitsubishi have had what is called an original equipment mmanufacturer or OEM deal since December 2010. They manufacture specific vehicle models for each other and sell them under their own brands.
Nissan Motor Co. said Thursday it will provide the Fuga luxury sedan to Mitsubishi Motors Corp., starting from summer next year.
They have also started talks on Mitsubishi providing the Minicab-MiEV commercial electric car to Nissan in fiscal 2012, which starts April next year.
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 15 -- United States Patent no. 8,052,223, issued on Nov. 8, was assigned to Hayes Lemmerz International Inc. (Northville, Mich.).
"Multi-Piece Vehicle Wheel Cover Retention System and Method for Producing Same" was invented by Patrick McCorry (Plymouth, Mich.) and Todd Duffield (Westland, Mich.).
According to the abstract released by the U.
S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A multi-piece vehicle wheel retention system includes a wheel disc, a first wheel cover and a second wheel cover. The first wheel cover is secured to the wheel disc and includes a generally U-shaped outer end, a first leg which extends generally parallel with respect to the axis, and a second leg which extends generally perpendicular to the first leg. The first wheel cover covers the entire portion of the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the wheel disc. The second wheel cover is secured to the first wheel cover and covers at least a portion of the outboard facing wheel surface of the wheel disc. The second wheel cover includes an outboard surface and an inboard surface. At least a portion of the second leg of the first wheel cover extends behind the second wheel cover so as to be adjacent the inboard surface of the second wheel cover and such portion of the second leg is at least secured to the second wheel cover by such portion of the second leg being disposed within a surface feature provided only on the inboard surface of the second wheel cover."
The patent was filed on July 8, 2009, under Application No. 12/499,124.
For further information please visit: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?
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US Patent Issued to Hayes Lemmerz International on Nov. 8 for "Multi-Piece Vehicle Wheel Cover Retention System and Method for Producing Same" (Michigan Inventors)ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 15 -- United States Patent no. 8,052,223, issued on Nov. 8, was assigned to Hayes Lemmerz International Inc. (Northville, Mich.).
"Multi-Piece Vehicle Wheel Cover Retention System and Method for Producing Same" was invented by Patrick McCorry (Plymouth, Mich.) and Todd Duffield (Westland, Mich.).
According to the abstract released by the U.
S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A multi-piece vehicle wheel retention system includes a wheel disc, a first wheel cover and a second wheel cover. The first wheel cover is secured to the wheel disc and includes a generally U-shaped outer end, a first leg which extends generally parallel with respect to the axis, and a second leg which extends generally perpendicular to the first leg. The first wheel cover covers the entire portion of the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the wheel disc. The second wheel cover is secured to the first wheel cover and covers at least a portion of the outboard facing wheel surface of the wheel disc. The second wheel cover includes an outboard surface and an inboard surface. At least a portion of the second leg of the first wheel cover extends behind the second wheel cover so as to be adjacent the inboard surface of the second wheel cover and such portion of the second leg is at least secured to the second wheel cover by such portion of the second leg being disposed within a surface feature provided only on the inboard surface of the second wheel cover."
The patent was filed on July 8, 2009, under Application No. 12/499,124.
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