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The ever-talented Stanford women’s tennis program kicks off its 2010 program this Friday at the Freeman Invitational in Las Vegas. Led by head coach Lele Forood, the team will seek a return to the top of the national rankings and to recapture the Pacific-10 title.

The Stanford Daily File Photo

Forood is heading into her 10th year coaching the Cardinal. She has had an accomplished career, including being named the 2003 National Coach of the Year and the three-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year (2004, 2005, 2007). The team’s record is an astounding 233-15 under her leadership and she was the first female head coach to win the NCAA team title when she went 30-0, 8-0 Pac-10 in 2001, her maiden season.

“We’ve set this year up schedule-wise to put our primary focus on winning the Pac-10 title again,” Forood said. “Last year was our first year in over 20 years that we didn’t win the conference title and it’s a big goal of ours again this year. When you win the conference title, it means you’re one of the top three teams in the country because our conference is so strong.”

As for the team, they’re pretty impressive in their own right. Stanford women’s tennis has a record-shattering 151 home-match winning streak, the longest active home streak of any intercollegiate sport in NCAA Division I history; the streak dates back to the 1999 season. They have fully dominated at home for the past decade. They have made 28 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and reached the round of 16 for the 24th straight season last year, finishing with a final record of 19-5.

Unfortunately for the 2010 team, it will face a little extra scrutiny this year despite its national No. 13 ranking. The Cardinal has seen a progressive slide in postseason victories since 2006, the last year they won the championship. A semifinal in 2007, a quarterfinal in 2008 and an appearance in the round of 16 last year all suggest that the program may be entering a lull. Last season’s finish of third in the Pac-10, snapping a streak of 21 consecutive Pac-10 titles, doesn’t help their defense either.

“It is definitely possible [to win the Pac-10 again], otherwise we wouldn’t put it out there as a goal. It’s not going to be easy,” Farood said. “Cal’s team got to the final, UCLA is always top 10 and Washington has two top players, so it’ll be a huge challenge for us, but even in years that we won it, they had been that good too.”

Stanford does have the players it needs to dominate nationally again though. Senior Lindsay Burdette finished the 2008-09 season with a 21-10 record, including 27-8 in doubles with her partner junior Hilary Barte. The pair reached the national championship match, but lost to California’s Mari Andersson and Jana Juricova 6-3, 6-4. The two have appeared in good form in the fall indoor season. They captured the doubles title at the ITA National Indoor Championships as the tournament’s No. 2 seed after defeating Tennessee’s Natalie Pluskota and Caitlin Whoriskey 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4).

Barte is one of the star singles players for the team as well. She was named Pac-10 Player of the Year last year, earning All-American honors in singles and doubles and finishing the year with a national singles ranking of No. 9. She led the team with a 35-6 record while playing at the No. 1 spot.

“We have a really interesting mix of players this year,” Farood said. “We have a really good blend of very experienced players and very talented freshmen and sophomores who know what it takes to win. We have a really nice balance for the team.”

Mallory Burdette, Lindsay’s sister, is just a freshman and already big things are expected. Her performance in the Saint Mary’s Invitational in October propelled her to be crowned singles champion of the Red Division, defeating the No. 2-seed, Pacific’s Jenifer Widjaja, 6-4, 6-1 in the championship while knocking off the No. 1-seed Alexandra Poorta on the way. Mallory also combined with fellow freshman Stacy Tan during the ITA Northwest Regional Championships, making a run to the semifinals before losing to Cal’s Andersson and Juricova 8-1.

When asked about Mallory, Farood responded, “I think she is already one of the top players in college tennis. Winning that tournament – that was a pretty strong tournament – and the fact that she’s ranked in the top 20 immediately are very important.”

Another rising freshman star is Stacy Tan. With a record of 5-3 for the year, Tan’s best result was a semifinal performance at the Saint Mary’s Invitational, which she followed up with a Round of 16 appearance at the ITA Northwest Regionals.

“Stacy’s results were very close to the top,” Farood said. “She had match point on the number 10 team in the region. She’s right there as well and we just have to get this team started.”

The women’s team played an exhibition against Hawai’i, prevailing 5-2 in their final fall action before spring Pac-10 play. Barte/Burdette won their No. 1 doubles action 8-4 as the Cardinal swept the doubles 3-0. In singles, the two won their respective singles matches in straight sets. Stacy Tan and Natalie Dillon were both edged in tough three-setters, but Stanford left the court with the win.

Following the Freeman Invitational, the team will travel to Indian Wells to compete in the NCTC Classic before returning to Stanford for a two-game home stand against Hawai’i (1/27) and UC Davis (2/02). Pac-10 team play starts against UCLA and USC at their courts in late February.

Prominent, organized, popular, glorious, fortunate, sane. What do these words have in common?

None of them have ever been used to describe the Los Angeles Clippers.

For the Staples Center’s second-favorite tenant, life has been all but rainbows and butterflies. As an organization, the Clips have been marred by bad luck and bad management, dismal coaching and dismal attendance, freak injuries and freak personalities – and Michael Olowokandi. Just today, news broke that the 2009 No. 1 overall pick and (possible) future phenom, Blake Griffin – the Clippers alleged remedy to a generation of failure – will miss the entire season due to a lingering knee injury.

The loss of Griffin is a tremendous emotional blow to the few remaining soldiers of Clippers nation. He was the now. He was the future. Now, he’s following the lead Portland’s Greg Oden, sitting for his entire rookie season with the infamous always-treatable-but-never-fully-repairable knee injury.
It’s not that the 17-19 Clippers are deprived of talent. On the contrary, the team is shockingly deep with skilled players. Baron Davis (who came over in 2008 with the promise of former Clipper Elton Brand that they would build a dynasty, only to have Brand chunk up the deuce and peace to Philadelphia) is still one of the best point guards of the new millennium. Combo guard Eric Gordon, baby fat and all, is a star in the making. Hell, even Chris Kaman, who looks like he was plucked straight from a Geico commercial, is a top-15 center.
One of the major problems in recent years, as showcased by Mr. Griffin, is that the Staples Center, when adorned in red and white, is where limbs come to die. Shaun Livingston, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2007 draft, suffered a disturbingly gruesome knee injury and never returned to form. The aforementioned Brand, who had displayed the skills and athleticism of an elite power forward, missed nearly the entire 2007-08 season. Even Marcus Camby, the former UMass star and paint patroller, could only play in 62 games last year.
As emasculating as this is to admit, I really like the Clippers. It’s more than just a love for the underdog; I enjoy car crashes. This team just does everything it possibly can to prevent success. And although this is one of the most injury-plagued franchises in the history of professional sports, it would be ignorant to place the blame solely on the shoulders – or should I say knees – of a few individual players.
Since its founding in 1970, the Clippers organization has had six winning seasons. Six. Just to put this into perspective, since 1970, their roommates, the Los Angeles Lakers, have had five losing seasons. Yeah I get it, the Lakers had Kareem, Magic, Kobe and Shaq, while the Clippers had Darius Miles, Quentin Richardson, Zach Randolph and the exoskeleton of Olowokandi. Honestly, without Bill Simmons, the media coverage of the Clippers would be virtually extinct and nobody would notice or care. My crystal ball is predicting a brighter decade for the Kansas City Royals than for L.A.’s ugly child.

Why? For one, the Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, is a racist billionaire who spends more time choosing which lawyers to hire in settling housing discrimination lawsuits than choosing which coaches to hire in solving horrific defensive inefficiency. You think this is a joke, until you realize that he had to fork over five million dollars to minority plaintiffs whom he allegedly denied housing in Los Angeles’ Koreatown. What’s more, he was sued by former employee Elgin Baylor for racial discrimination when Sterling refused to raise his relatively low salary of $335,000. It’s Elgin freaking Baylor; you can’t badmouth the legend, let alone display your bigotry. Karma is a bitch, isn’t it?

His most notorious hire, current head coach and general manager Mike Dunleavy Sr., seems on the surface to be moderately successful. He’s currently the third longest tenured coach in the NBA, in the middle of his seventh season at the helm and trails only legendary coaches Jerry Sloan and Greg Poppovich on that list.

But in traditional Clips fashion, a closer look reveals that he’s had as much success at being head coach as Jersey Shore’s Snooki has had avoiding black eyes.

Dunleavy has recorded one winning season in his relatively lengthy reign and he’s missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons. As GM, he’s been responsible for several skeptical moves. From 2007 to 2009, he won a combined 42 games. You can give the dude two seasons and he can barely eclipse a single-season .500 record of 41 victories!

The future of this franchise is no less than dire. With Sterling driving the management bus and Dunleavy sitting shotgun, it’s hard to be optimistic. Winning isn’t exactly commonplace and instead of fixing what’s broken the organization seems more content playing down to its hilariously awful reputation. Every single year for as long as I remember – except for possibly the playoff anomaly of the 2005-06 season – there has been talk of Dunleavy’s axing. But it just won’t happen. There is no way Sterling and Dunleavy are completely oblivious to how bad their team sucks, but how many years do the terrible two really need to figure things out?

In the immediate future, there’s no clear solution. The Clippers are well on their way to another appearance in the lottery and are in perfect shape to royally blow a valuable pick on draft day. But hell, I have faith. Every team has to win at one point or another, right?

On second thought, better hope LeBron goes Hollywood.

Dining hall workers hash it out with The Daily

(ANNE PIPATHSOUK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

At 5:15 on a Sunday afternoon, a quarter of an hour into the dinner service at Lakeside Dining, things begin to stir. Greg Torres-Lopez leisurely places a single burger patty on the grill and a couple of potatoes through the slicer. The dinner-time rush won’t hit for another fifteen minutes.

Average height and stocky, Torres-Lopez appears to be well into his twenties, but in truth he’s just 18. He is a recent high school graduate from East Palo Alto, taking a gap year before pursuing a degree in mechanics at the College of San Mateo next fall. Torres-Lopez has been working the 5 to 9 p.m. dinner shift at Stanford five days a week since his sophomore year — first in the dish room of Ricker Dining and then settling as a hasher at Lakeside five months later.

“This is my first time doing the grill,” he said with a bashful chuckle, pulling open steel drawers under the counter to give the ingredients another once over. It must have been the third time in the last half-hour.

Burgers: check — beef, veggie and black bean. Cheese: check.

Torres-Lopez has already assumed responsibilities in what may have been the honors track for hashing. The student manager, Jose, took him under his wing when Torres-Lopez arrived at Lakeside from Ricker Dining.

“He just started teaching me all the things he does,” Torres-Lopez said. “On Sundays, they would just let me do it.”

Within only two years of starting at Lakeside, Torres-Lopez was promoted to head hasher. He sometimes jokes about how much easier being a head hasher is, as most of his duties revolve around directing other hashers and leading the service in the buffet line.

“It’s chill but you do have to check on the workers and everything, make sure they’re doing their job and not horse-playing,” Torres-Lopez laughed as he described some of the privileges that come along with his new title, between student orders of grilled chicken and a cheeseburger.

Hashers are jacks-of-all-trade in the Stanford kitchens, assisting in a variety of tasks from food preparation to clean-up to cold and hot runs to manning the cash register. They are usually non-University affiliated workers employed by Stanford, many of whom are still in college. But Stanford’s current cohort of hashers is a relatively new breed — over 30 years ago, Stanford students used to be served by their peers. In fact, many prominent Stanford alums — including Vice Provost John Bravman, ‘79, MS ‘81, PhD ‘85 — used to call themselves hashers.

“There was a lot of camaraderie,” Bravman said, reflecting on his interactions with the students he used to serve. “I think students appreciated that [the hashers] were their peers.”

Bravman worked as a cook’s assistant in Wilbur Dining for all four of his years as a Stanford undergraduate. Working up to 15 hours a week on the dinner shift, Bravman forged a strong friendship with his former supervisor, Saul Cardenas. Even as Provost, Bravman still made regular visits to see Cardenas at Wilbur until the chef retired almost five years ago.

Bravman’s class became one of the last to have Stanford students as hashers, but he found hashing to be an unparalleled learning experience.

“I felt responsible,” he said. “I had a sense that what I was doing was important even though I was just feeding people. It helped cement my notion that it really doesn’t matter what you’re doing, you can really bring a sense of quality to almost anything you do. If it’s worth doing, then it’s probably worth doing well.”

Droves of students casually sauntered into Lakeside, many of them eager to go through the bread line as quickly as possible. All were polite but few were openly friendly. Torres-Lopez didn’t seem to notice.

“I just say hi and be nice to them,” he said as he handed a tall student in a San Jose State sweatshirt the double cheese burger he did not order, completely oblivious to the slight scowl on the boy’s otherwise good-natured face. “They do respond more often than not, unless they’re in a bad mood or something.”

The conversations between hasher and student are not always so cursory, however, said Henry Jackson, a part time hasher at Ricker Dining. Perhaps it’s Ricker’s removed location or smaller dinner population, but Jackson can list off the food preferences of almost any given resident of Sterling Quad when it comes to the grill menu. More often than not, his interaction with students is only limited by his current workload.

Jackson had been doing odd jobs for warehouses before applying for the hasher position at Stanford in 2006. He was “tired of going from job to job” and wanted to do something that served others. He found his calling.

“Customer service is important,” Jackson said. “[So,] if I’m not busy, I talk to students.”

Like Torres-Lopez, Jackson has quickly risen through the ranks, despite only having worked at Stanford for three years. Now he trains new employees.

“I’ve basically trained most of the people that come through,” he said. “[It’s] not really challenging. Actually, to me it’s kind of fun to show them you know to make sure that the job gets done because that’s where I started. It gives them aspiration.”

Jackson’s emphasis on helping others has also extended beyond just his day job —  he spends his free time volunteering at Palo Alto’s Opportunity Center, a nonprofit group to serve the needs of the homeless.

“I know how it used to be,” Jackson said calmly.  “I was homeless myself at one point.”

It was only for two years — 1996-1997 — a time when Jackson was struggling with bouts of substance abuse. He knows all too well that being homeless is difficult and dangerous, so he does what he can to help others in the same dilemma make changes in their lives.

“[Whether] they need a change of clothes or [help] down the right direction,” Jackson said, “it’s just helping somebody.”

Former hashers like Bravman appreciate Jackson’s and other hasher’s commitment to service — both in and out of the dining halls.

“For the most part the staff [now] take their jobs very seriously and they really like serving students,” Bravman said. “I think they feel really privileged to be working here and they derive a real sense of satisfaction from serving their students well. I have really high praise for them.”

Two quick things about 2010 AL30, the small object that passed the Earth earlier today:

1) I wrote that it looks to be natural and not some booster, but now an ESA scientist says it might be a booster from Venus Express. His argument is a good one, but it’s difficult to prove.

2) Universe Today has a very cool animation of the object as it slid past us, created using 30 still images. It’s fun to watch, if a little dizzying.

As the Cardinal women’s gymnastics team faced the University of Georgia in its first meet of the season, it was well aware of the serious challenge that stood before them. Not only was Stanford contending with the five-time national champions and current top-ranked team, but it was also competing before 10,224 opposing fans in the bleachers of Georgia’s Stegeman Coliseum. Hopes were high and pressure was higher, but in the end, Georgia barely edged out the Card for a 195.150-195.050 victory.

According to head coach Kristen Smyth, however, the Stanford women had every right to head back to the Farm with heads held high, after what she deemed a “really good start to the season.”

“We performed really well and handled all the factors beautifully,” Smyth said. “We focused on ourselves, which is always what we strive to do. The girls covered one another and had each other’s backs and that really allowed us to compete with confidence.”

The team hopes this confidence will carry them into this weekend’s home meet against the University of Arizona. The No. 20 Wildcats will likely pose less of a challenge than No. 1 Georgia, but nonetheless, fans can expect an exciting match-up this Sunday in Burnham Pavilion.

In last year’s dual meet with Arizona, Stanford reigned supreme, achieving a 195.575-195.175 win to preserve its perfect 8-0 record. However, the team’s overall performance was far from flawless, as they were outscored by the Wildcats in two events and finished with a season-low score. Parts of the meet were undoubtedly rough, but solid performances from team members Carly Janiga, Nicole Ourada and Shelley Alexander helped the Cardinal hold off No. 24 Arizona and achieve their eighth victory and best-ever start to the season.

Now as the 2010 Stanford women enter this Sunday’s meet, they again expect to come out on top. This time, however, they will have the tremendous contributions from freshman Ashley Morgan, a particular standout at the Georgia meet last weekend. In her collegiate debut, Morgan proved her aggressive and confident nature and she showed just how easily she can compete with anyone, despite her age. Smyth praised Morgan for a “fantastic job,” and she has no doubt that everyone can expect equally stellar performances from the freshman this Sunday and for the remainder of the season.

Overall, there are a few changes that will be made in the team’s approach to the upcoming meet; there will also be several differences from last weekend in terms of the competition’s atmosphere. For one, senior co-captain Allyse Ishino plans to employ a new release on the bars and these improvements should substantiate the team’s overall goal of creating more depth in its all-around game.

In addition, unlike last weekend, this Sunday the teams will engage in an exhibition routine for each of the four events, rather than for just one. Smyth hopes the extra exhibition routines will give the young team an opportunity to gain more experience in competing and receiving judge feedback, without worrying about scores. Ishino will be competing all-around for the first time ever with her exhibition performance on the floor. The exhibitions will also prepare the team for a Jan. 24 meet against UCLA.

The beam stands out as a sore point for the Cardinal, after several rushed routines against Georgia weren’t necessarily up to standard. They look to enhance and tighten their beam work for Arizona. At the same time, the women will ideally repeat their very strong performances on their vault, floor and bars routines.

The Cardinal looks to improve its current 0-1 record to 1-1, as it faces a team that Smyth says is “always strong and well-prepared.” Each event will be run individually, so the fans will be able to see every routine as it occurs. The team sees this location as advantageous and the gymnasts are eager to compete in what Smyth calls a “small, intimate atmosphere.”

And though the gym may be small, it holds plenty of room for spectators. In order to increase student turnout, the meet will include competition between the freshman dorms to see which can provide the most fans and the loudest cheers. The winners will win pizzas, but they will also see fantastic gymnastics and, if all goes as planned, they will witness a Cardinal victory.

Events will start at 2 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion this Sunday.

Following over a quarter of preparation, the Stanford track and field team finds itself facing the first meet of year, as well as the first meet of the indoor season. As they head to Seattle for the University of Washington Indoor Preview, the Cardinal men and women will immediately be thrust into tough competition. The team is prepared to start the season with strong runs and personal bests.

Stanford Daily File Photo

With a recruiting class of over thirty, the Cardinal faces the exciting prospect of new talent that could both surprise and overwhelm opponents. This depth will prove particularly useful in the distance events, which require mental strength in addition to physical prowess. The Stanford runners should be able to utilize their large numbers to create a strong running pack that will overpower the competition.

The freshmen will play a key role in maximizing the team’s scoring and in increasing the team’s potential to win a championship title.

“The freshmen this year are just great,” said junior Maddie Duhon. “There’s a huge amount of enthusiasm and talent in this class across all event groups, so it will be exciting to see how they contribute to the team’s success this year and beyond.”

Indeed, a strong recruiting class such as this one not only indicates a favorable season, but also promises a bright future for the program.

“The attitude that the freshman adopt will affect the program for years to come,” agreed sophomore Chris Derrick. “If, as a collective group, they dedicate themselves to Stanford track and field, we could see some really great results in the years to come; the first few weeks leave me optimistic that that will happen.”

With such a large class size, the coaching staff must make sure to channel the talent in the proper direction, so that the sheer number of runners does not become overwhelming. The advantage of such a wide selection pool, however, is that the Cardinal can now be represented in events that previously went neglected, bringing more potential points to the team. Men’s high jump, for example, has frequently gone without Stanford participation, but freshman Jules Sharpe now seems to be a promising talent in the event.

Other freshmen that will make their mark on the men’s side will be Spencer Chase in sprints and Tyler Stutzman and Andrew Berberick in distance.

As the freshmen look forward to competing for Stanford for the first time this weekend, they hope for a memorable experience that will give them an introduction to the collegiate level of competition.

“This weekend will be a good chance for us to get reacquainted with indoor track,” said senior Kate Niehaus. “I am especially excited for these freshmen who haven’t raced yet in the Stanford uniform; doing that for the first time is such a thrill!”

The indoor season presents itself as the first competitive arena for most collegiate track teams, just a few months before the much-anticipated outdoor season. But indoor races are not just a warm-up – the competition remains just as stiff, giving the athletes a chance to establish themselves in the track and field community.

“Although indoor is sometimes considered as just a stepping stone for outdoor track, no one really holds back when it comes to race day,” Duhon confirmed. “We still compete against many of the same athletes and our goals are the same: to be our best and win.”

Indeed, both the men’s and women’s teams hold season goals of victory in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and qualification of as many athletes as possible for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

So does a day in the life of one of these track and field athletes really look like? In addition to the incessantly stressful academic life of The Farm, these student-athletes also spend hours practicing and traveling, especially during the indoor season when all meets take place in other locations.

“Life as a student-athlete is almost always busy,” Niehaus agreed, “but I really love running, the team and competing – I could imagine my time in college no other way!”

Indeed, the joy of being a part of the team, as well as the pride of running for Stanford, keeps these athletes motivated and focused.

“Running for Stanford is something that I take pride in,” Derrick affirmed. “At the end of the day I enjoy both the end result of athletic success as well as the process of working toward it – rewards are more fulfilling when they are earned through hard work – and in that sense, there is nothing more rewarding for me than track and field.”

We all have our favorite go-to freeware applications we use all the time. I blog about mine all the time! Stuff like Firefox, CCleaner, 7Zip etc. Every time we load up a new computer, we always load these favorite programs as a part of our base install.

The problem? It sometimes takes all friggin’ day to download these apps and manually install them. You have to manually go out to all sites, check for the latest version, click to download, go through the install process. Click next, next, next a few hundred times, then after four or five hours you finally have all the apps you want… and you are tired as hell.

Well, those days are over! Say hello to Ninite!

From their page:

1. Pick your favorite software.
2. Start your customized installer.
3. You’re done!

Ninite installs software fast with default settings and
says “no” to browser toolbars and other junk.

Ninite checks your PC’s language and 64-bit support
to install the latest, best version of each program.

Ninite runs on Windows XP/Vista/7 and works in the
background unattended and 100% hands-free.

All Ninite does is automatically download and install
the apps you select. Not even Ninite is installed.

Two words = Friggin’ Awesome!

Now re-installing my netbook for the millionth time won’t take so epically long! If they have missed an application, they have a suggestion form at the bottom of their site.

What tools in their list (http://ninite.com) do you always have installed on your Windows machines? Any they missed? Let us know in the comments.

In the current economic environment, pickup trucks and large cars are surely the most affected models of the whole auto industry so parent companies are trying a different approach over this particular sector. Take Nissan for example. Sales of its Titan light-duty pickup dropped in 2009 by around 44 percent as compared to 2008 so investing in a new version that would come with last-gen technology could prove to be a waste of money.

That’s why the guys over at Nissan are considering 2014 as th… (read more)

With Bridgestone announcing their exit from Formula One at the end of the 2010 season, Bernie Ecclestone must be going crazy looking for tire suppliers to replace the Japanese maker. In recent months, the biggest players on the tire manufacturer market – Michelin, Pirelli and Goodyear – have all declined offers to return (or debut) in the Great Circus.

However, according to German publication Auto Motor und Sport, there is still hope for Formula One. It seems two Korean tire manufacturers are… (read more)

SPONSOR

* Cadbury calls Kraft's bid even more unattractive

 * Mandelson urges investors to take long-term view

 * Doubts raised on how Hershey can fund a rival deal

 * Cadbury shares close 1.2 percent up at 796 pence

(Releads with Cadbury comments, investor, share price)

 By David Jones

 LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Cadbury (CBRY.L) fired the final
salvo in its defence on Thursday, branding Kraft Foods' (KFT.N)
bid as more unattractive than a month ago, as Cadbury shares
rose on hopes of a rival bid from Hershey (HSY.N).

 But as Cadbury's Chairman Roger Carr attacked Kraft's bid
and its past performance, analysts remained doubtful over how
the much-smaller Hershey could finance an offer for Cadbury and
top Kraft's 10.5 billion pound ($17.1 billion) hostile bid.

 "Kraft's offer is even more unattractive today than it was
when Kraft made its formal offer in December," Carr said in a
final defence leaving Kraft five days to sweeten its offer.

 Because the bid is over half in Kraft's shares, it exposed
shareholders to Kraft's history of missed targets compared with
Cadbury's robust results and excellent momentum into 2010, while
the deal undervalued Cadbury compared with recent deals, he
added.

 This came after Britain's Business Secretary Peter Mandelson
met with fund managers to urge them to take a more long-term
view in takeover bids, and as Kraft's CEO Irene Rosenfeld went
from door to door to woo Cadbury shareholders in London.

 Hershey is still working on a Cadbury bid to top Kraft's
offer according to a source familiar with the matter on
Wednesday, while the Financial Times said Hershey had authorised
drawing up a bid for Cadbury and making an offer within weeks.
[ID:nN13171025]

 But analysts said a solo Hershey bid could be extremely
challenging as Hershey is only half the size of Cadbury and a
big share issue would dilute the controlling Hershey Trust,
while Kraft still has the option to sweeten its current bid.

 "We view a solo Hershey bid as a probability of 15 percent.
We estimate a two-third probability of Kraft winning," said
analyst Simon Marshall-Lockyer at Jefferies International, with
the other probability being Cadbury remaining independent.

 Other analysts pointed out that under the current timetable,
Hershey only has nine days to come up with a formal offer which
could prove tight if it is looking for partners to finance the
bid and find buyers for parts of the Cadbury's business.

 The FT report said Hershey was discussing a plan to
authorise banker Byron Trott to bring private equity investors
into the deal. Trott is a favourite adviser of Warren Buffett,
whose Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) is Kraft's top shareholder.

 Marshall-Lockyer believes Hershey would likely have to sell
its KitKat franchise in the United States back to Nestle
(NESN.VX) for around $1.6 billion and then sell Cadbury's
Trident gum business for $12.9 billion to leave Hershey with
Cadbury's chocolate and candy businesses.

 Cadbury has been defending itself for over four months
against Kraft's bid worth 762 pence against Cadbury shares which
closed 1.2 percent higher at 796p on Thursday, while analysts
and investors say that Kraft needs to offer 800p or above to
succeed.

 Under UK takeover rules, Kraft has until Jan. 19 to sweeten
its bid, while Hershey has until Jan. 23 to declare its hand and
Cadbury shareholders until Feb. 2 to decide on the Kraft bid.

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For a graphic comparing Cadbury, Kraft and Hershey:
here
For a BREAKINGVIEWS column, click on [ID:nLDE60D0M2]

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

 Analyst Jeremy Batstone-Carr at Charles Stanley says any
Hershey approach would have to be in cash and shares and involve
a rights issue to leave the Hershey Trust without control. Even
with selling off KitKat in the US and Cadbury's gum, Hershey
would still struggle to mount a stand alone bid, he added.

 "We view the likelihood of its success as low, particularly
given our strongly held belief that Kraft will raise its offer,"
Batstone-Carr said.

 Meanwhile, Britain's Mandelson was urging big investors to
take a longer-term view and not ignore local and workforce
interests in takeover situations. [ID:nLDE60D0DA]

 "I ask Cadbury shareholders to take a longer view of
shareholder value. I'm not in a position to block takeovers but
I do have an obligation to raise and ask questions," he said.

 While Kraft's Rosenfeld struggled to convince Cadbury
shareholders of her case according to one top stockholder.

 "Kraft didn't have much to say. In fact, I thought it was a
bit of a waste of time really. They seemed to be saying we are
here now and you will hear from us at a later stage. They talked
about strategy, but there was nothing beyond that".
($1=.6139 Pound)
(Additional reporting by Victoria Howley and Raji Menon)
(Reporting by David Jones; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

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While great strides have been made in cervical cancer prevention, the disease remains the second leading cause of cancer death in US women in their 20s and 30s. For Cervical Health Awareness Month, singer-songwriter and actress Mandy Moore (pictured), Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (GCF) and GlaxoSmithKline teamed up to help encourage young women to reduce their risk of cervical cancer.

A recent survey conducted on behalf of the GCF revealed that many young women aren’t well informed about cervical health. The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive with 1,006 female participants in the US ages 19-25.

According to the survey, 85% of young women don’t think they’re at risk for cervical cancer. Sadly, about one of five young women surveyed had “no clue” what the cervix does. Half of the women said they couldn’t identify their cervix on a picture of reproductive organs. The cervix connects the uterus (womb) to the vagina and is located in the lower narrow part of the uterus. The cervix keeps the uterus closed during pregnancy until it’s time to give birth.

“There’s a lot I didn’t know about cervical cancer and how to protect my cervical health, which inspired me to take action and rally other young women to join the cause,” said Mandy Moore. She commented that women shouldn’t have to suffer from the disease when there’s so much that can be done to prevent it.

The survey also revealed that 33% of young women feel more informed about the hottest music than reproductive health care.

One fact to know: Most women with cervical cancer or pre-cancer have no symptoms.

While approximately 75% of cervical cancers in North America are caused by the two most common human papillomavirus (HPV) types, an amazing 63% of women surveyed think they’re not at risk for HPV. Plus, 24% of the women surveyed said that the purpose of the Pap test hasn’t been properly explained to them. Many women (21%) incorrectly think that the Pap test detects ovarian cancer.

Of the women surveyed who’ve had an abnormal Pap test result, only 43% knew that cervical procedures to remove precancerous cells may be necessary. An abnormal Pap test may mean that changes have been caused by the HPV infection. Those changes can lead to pre-cancer, which can develop into cervical cancer if untreated. While 70% of women surveyed want to be mothers one day, only 13% realized that treatment of precancerous cells in the cervix could affect their ability to carry a pregnancy to term.

Prevention of cervical cancer can start with a vaccine and lifestyle modifications to prevent HPV infection, as well as Pap tests. HPV is spread through direct (usually sexual) contact with an infected person. Above all, young women should visit a doctor and ask lots of questions about the Pap test, as well as the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. Visit the Reality Check website to learn more about reducing your risk of cervical cancer.

(Images via PR Newswire/Reality Check campaign)

Post from: Blisstree

Cervical Cancer Reality Check

Hershey has been forced to accelerate plans to go it alone with an attempt to gatecrash Kraft’s £10.5bn hostile offer for Cadbury after a club deal that included Italy’s Ferrero fell through.

By Helia Ebrahimi and Amy Wilson
Published: 6:05AM GMT 14 Jan 2010

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The US chocolate maker had been working on a secret three-way consortium bid that also included private-equity owned United Biscuits.

But those talks broke down after a meeting in London between Ferrero, investment bank NM Rothschild and US private equity house Blackstone – the owner of United Biscuits. That has left Hershey, long seen as a white knight for Cadbury, urgently pursuing a solo bid.

Sources close to Hershey said the consortium’s failure to agree terms meant the US company had no other option but to work harder to finalise details of a possible solo bid.

“Having less options has sharpened the Hershey mind,” said the source.

The US company is now grappling with three hurdles: how to win approval from its controlling charity trust, which holds 80pc of Hershey’s voting rights and will determine the mix of the proposed cash and shares bid; the terms of the financing package it is agreeing with JPMorgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch that will allow the £5.1bn company to raise enough debt without damaging its investment-grade credit status; and the price it would have to offer to land Cadbury.

Plans could include a direct investment of £767m by the Hershey Trust in exchange for an increased stake in the enlarged group. Hershey has also employed financier Byron Trott, who is close to major Kraft shareholder Warren Buffet, to sound out other private equity to back a deal.

The development comes before next Tuesday’s final deadline for Kraft to raise its cash-and-shares offer though Kraft could raise its bid again in the face of a rival offer.

Under previous plans the proposed consortium would have made a higher offer and broken the company up with Hershey taking the US business, United Biscuits the UK operations, and Ferrero – maker of Tic Tacs and Nutella – would have got Cadbury’s European operations.

Ferrero, an entrepreneurial business still run by its Italian founding family, is notoriously conservative. The cash-rich company, led by patriarch Michele Ferrero, has always expanded without acquisitions.

The Hershey insider said that while a three-way bid was cheaper for the US chocolate maker strategically it made more sense to attempt its own Cadbury merger.

Kraft also moved to make its cash-and-shares offer to Cadbury more attractive on Wednesday, raising its profit forecast for the second time in two months. The US maker of Toblerone and Dairylea cheese expects earnings per share of $2 (£1.22), up from a November forecast of $1.97.

Kraft’s shares rose to $29.51, their highest price in the past year, on the news. That pushed up the value of its offer for Cadbury to 769p – still below the UK company’s share price, which closed last night at 789.5p.

As the deadline for Kraft’s final offer looms, unions and politicians are stepping up their campaign for Cadbury to remain independent.

The Unite union claimed a Kraft takeover could cost 7,000 Cadbury jobs in Britain, a claim strongly denied by the US company.

The defence of Cadbury will also be discussed on Thursday at a meeting in London of top institutional investors and Government ministers, led by Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, and Lord Davies, the trade minister.

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After General Motors closed several US plants as parts of its global reorganization, the American automaker might bring some of them back to life in a move supposed to help the company meet higher demand for several vehicles. Mark Reuss, GM’s North American president, said in a statement at the 2010 North American International Auto Show that plants currently in charge of Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain, Cadillac SRX and Buick LaCrosse production can’t satisfy demand.

Both the Terrain and Equi… (read more)

In the immediate aftermath of a 7.0 earthquake that caused an unbelievable amount of destruction to Haiti’s capital, Google has been asked by relief organizations and users to show images of what’s actually happening on the ground.

In partnership with geospatial imagery company GeoEye, Google has just released a new layer for Google Earth showing post-earthquake devastation. Haiti was first added to Google Map Maker in response to hurricanes that wreaked havoc on the country more than a year ago. Read on for before-after pictures and details.

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The Red Cross has stated that as many as 3 million Haitians have been affected by the earthquake, with as many as 100,000 deaths likely, according to Haiti’s prime minister. Since the quake’s epicenter was right off the capital city, Port-au-Prince, most of the official buildings, from government officials’ residences to jails and hospitals, have been significantly damaged or completely leveled. Google’s imagery shows exactly that:

You’ll have to install the Google Earth plugin if you haven’t already to see this layer.

In a post just published by Googlers Dylan Lorimer and Jessica Pfund, they write, “We hope that Google Map Maker can also play a role in disaster relief efforts…Today, we have made this Map Maker data for Haiti available to the UN in its raw form for the earthquake relief efforts. If you have any local knowledge to share, please help us continue to build a better map of Haiti with Google Map Maker.”

For a list of ways you can donate money to help suffering Haitians and stay informed on Haiti-related breaking news, check out this post we published earlier today on resources, charitable organizations and news outlets.

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American manufacturer GM announced yesterday the approval of an immediate $100,000 contribution to the American Red Cross relief fund to be send in the aid of Haiti, devastated after the 7.0 quake which struck on January 12. GM also announced it has set up a special web-link to be used by employees who want to make their own contribution.

"As one of the world’s largest car companies, doing our part to contribute aid to Haiti is not about business but our obligation to our fellow man,&quo… (read more)

German carmaker BMW announced a revised range of petrol engines for the MINI, MINI Clubman and MINI Convertible which will meet the EU5 exhaust emissions standard in Europe and the ULEV II standard in the USA from spring 2010.

New to the model range is the MINI One Convertible, powered by a low-fuel consumption and low-emissions four-cylinder engine producing 72 kW/98 hp.

According to the manufacturer, the new MINI One MINIMALISM Line, available with two engine variants, has the lowest e… (read more)

January 14, 2010, 02:14 AM EST

By Sungwoo Park

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Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) — Posco, Asia’s most profitable steelmaker, posted the highest net income in six quarters and said capital expenditure will soar to a record this year as demand rebounds with the global economic recovery.

Net income advanced to 1.28 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31, from 721.4 billion won a year earlier, according to calculations derived from full-year results released today by the Pohang, South Korea-based company. Spending for 2010 will reach 9.3 trillion won, and sales will surge 9.3 percent, it said.

The global steel market has bottomed and will grow by 9.2 percent in 2010 as demand rebounds in the U.S., Europe and Japan, the World Steel Association said Oct 12. Posco is planning $30 billion of overseas expansion in India, Indonesia and Vietnam to regain its spot as Asia’s largest steelmaker.

“Posco was able to recover faster than anybody in the market,” the company said in the statement. “We weathered the crisis by cutting output by only 20 percent in the first half, while global rivals had to cut by more than 40 percent.”

Shares of Posco, which counts Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. as a stakeholder, fell 0.7 percent to close at 592,000 won in Seoul trading. They rose 63 percent last year compared with an 89 percent gain in ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker.

Fourth-quarter operating profit was 1.59 trillion won, the company said.

Posco will raise crude steel output by 16.6 percent to 34.4 million metric tons this year, as sales may advance to 29.5 trillion won, it said. It plans to cut 1.15 trillion won of costs.

‘Recession Defying’

“Posco will probably continue to report solid, recession- defying earnings through the second quarter of this year,” Chung Ji Yun, an analyst with HI Investment & Securities Co., wrote in a Jan. 11 report. “Growing chances that the company will raise local steel prices are behind the outlook.”

Posco is the only steelmaker among the 10 biggest globally that didn’t report a loss in any quarter in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“The market has recovered and raw material costs declined in the second half,” Posco said.

Fourth-quarter operating profit increased 14 percent to 1.59 trillion won from a year earlier, while sales dropped 12 percent to 7.29 trillion won, the Korean steelmaker said today.

‘Aggressive Management’

Posco will pursue “aggressive management to seize opportunities ahead of others in the post-crisis era,” Posco Chief Executive Officer Chung Joon Yang said in the statement.

The company intends to build a $7 billion plant in India’s Karnataka state, according to the state government this month. This will add to the $12 billion steel plant and iron ore mining project in Orissa state. Posco has also agreed to invest $5 billion in Vietnam, and is in a $6 billion Indonesian venture.

The Korean mill may post a record operating profit this year as it is likely to raise steel prices in tandem with increasing global rates, Kyobo Securities Co. said Jan. 11. Domestic prices of Posco’s hot-rolled coils should advance by 20 percent in 2010, Seoul-based Cindy Park, an analyst with Nomura International Ltd., wrote in a Dec. 10 report.

Hot-rolled sheet prices in China, the largest consumer of steel, have gained 15 percent since the end of September as the nation’s $586 billion stimulus spending boosted demand from builders, automakers and manufacturers of appliances.

Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., China’s largest steelmaker, raised benchmark steel prices by 8 percent for January delivery last month, the first increase since September.

Car Sales

South Korean carmakers including Hyundai Motor Co., the nation’s biggest, raised production by 45 percent in December from a year ago, according to data provided by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association on Jan. 7.

Posco, which derived about 70 percent of sales in South Korea in 2008, slashed local prices of hot-rolled coils by 20 percent in May, the first price cut since January 2006. The company sells steel to carmakers including Hyundai Motor.

Steelmakers will have to contend with the rising costs of iron ore and coking coal this year. Iron ore prices plunged 33 percent and coal almost 60 percent in 2009 in the recession.

Iron ore contract price may jump 40 percent to 50 percent in 2010, Nomura Holdings Inc. said Jan. 11.

–Editors: Tan Hwee Ann, Richard Dobson.

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