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Dell chooses Triad
Michael Walden, agricultural and resource economics
Events
honoring veterans
NCSU commemorations
Documents
outline Cree courtship
Cree, product of research at N.C. State University
Riders speak on bus merger
transportation
Check
it out: Twins?
College of Veterinary Medicine
Project
puts critic on defense
Brickyard
Kiwanis
celebrates 50 years of service to the community
Soil and Water Conservation Program
NC
State Freshman Faces Child Porn Charges
Wesley Abram Mincey, student
NCSU
Freshman Accused Of Downloading Child Porn
Wesley Abram Mincey, student
N.C.
State Student Charged With Possessing Child Porn
Wesley Abram Mincey, student
Unfinished
business: This End Up furniture starts from scratch
For nearly three decades, This End Up marketed the bulky, basic furniture
that two North Carolina State University students first designed out of empty
crates after busting up a sofa during a party.
Editorial:
Smart marriage
UNC system
October
report key to soybean market outlook
Nicholas E. Piggott, agricultural and resource economics
Liposcience
Inc. Release: LDL-P A Better Predictor Of Cardiovascular Risk Than
LDL-C
James D. Otvos, NMR LipoProfile test
Nov. 10, 2004
News & Observer
By CINDY GEORGE
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH -- Bus riders and advocates for those who depend on Raleigh's public transit raised concerns Tuesday about the prospect of a regional bus merger.
They voiced their opinions at the second of three Raleigh public hearings about bus consolidation. The final opportunity for input is at 6:30 p.m. today at the Urban Design Center, 133 Fayetteville Street Mall. Comments about the plan also can be made in writing or by e-mail to catinfo@ci.raleigh.nc.us.
Of the region's bus systems, only the cities of Raleigh and Durham are considering a merger under the Triangle Transit Authority umbrella. At this time, Cary, Chapel Hill and N.C. State University have not decided to participate.
Managers for Raleigh's Capital Area Transit and TTA said Tuesday that a merger would make it easier for a person to navigate public transit across municipal boundaries, such as a Raleigh resident trying to get to doctor's appointment at Durham's Duke Hospital. Under the current system, the rider would have to ride CAT, TTA and the Durham Area Transit Authority to make the trip.
Poised to give a thumbs up or down for CAT, the Raleigh City Council's decision was delayed by members Jessie Taliaferro's and James West's call for hearings before the important decision. West represents Southeast Raleigh where one-third of the CAT's 26 routes are based and a large number of riders reside.
But Dwight Spencer -- an occasional bus rider, political consultant and grass-roots activist -- said he thinks the hearings are merely an exercise in protocol and will cut service to Southeast Raleigh.
"If you want to come into our area and cut us out of transportation, I think it's wrong. I just don't see where it's going to work," he said.
Lillian Miller, a Southeast Raleigh resident who takes the bus to work at the Wake County courthouse, said the late-evening hearings preclude face-to-face comments from the bus-riding faithful whose only transportation is public transit. "They're the most loyal customers."
Kathleen Mujais, who also depends on the bus, supports a merger.
"I think it's a good idea, but I think they need more transportation to Garner," she said.
Susan Rogers, a member of the grassroots Raleigh Organizing for Action and Results, felt transit leaders failed to address any downside to the program.
"Whenever you make it decision, you need both sides. It seemed like we were getting the pros here and not the cons," she said.
Nov. 10, 2004
News & Observer
By AMY MARTINEZ
© Copyright 2004
The Dell computer company accepted a $242 million package of incentives from the state Tuesday and promised to build a 2,000-worker assembly plant in the Triad.
Dell won't pay particularly well -- an average of $28,000 a year -- but Gov. Mike Easley said it will provide sorely needed jobs for workers hurt by federal trade policies that encourage manufacturers to move jobs out of the country.
On Jan. 1, the United States is scheduled to do away with all limits on textile and apparel imports. That is expected to unleash a surge in inexpensive products from China, and cause thousands more job losses in North Carolina.
"Whenever you have the opportunity to create jobs for 8,000 unemployed people, you don't miss it. You take it," said Easley, surrounded by Dell executives for the announcement. "It's morally incomprehensible not to do it."
But critics of the package were undeterred, and one group threatened to take the fight to court.
As many as half of the 85,000 North Carolinians still employed in textile mills and apparel factories could lose their jobs in the next 10 years, said Gary L. Shoesmith, an economist at Wake Forest University. Even so, he cautioned that North Carolina is headed down a "slippery slope."
"The folks who get these jobs will be better off than before," Shoesmith said. "But how many low-paying manufacturing facilities are we willing to subsidize?"
Dell plans to hire about 700 workers in its first year and grow to 1,500 employees within five years. Another 500 jobs will be created by Dell partners at the plant, to total 2,000. In addition, Easley's office estimates the plant will lead to about 6,000 more jobs from suppliers and businesses that move to the Triad to be near Dell.
The new plant will make desktop computers for customers on the East Coast. The North Carolina plant will add to Dell's manufacturing operations in middle Tennessee and central Texas, and is the third expansion announced in the United States this year. Dell increased its computer shipments by nearly 20 percent through the first half of this year. Its U.S. market share stands at more than 33 percent.
The General Assembly approved the Dell incentives -- the most ever for a single company in North Carolina -- during a special session Thursday. Small-business groups and others derided the package as "corporate welfare." Dell, which plans to open the plant next fall, is thought to be considering six sites in Guilford, Forsyth and Davidson counties. Those counties are likely to put up incentives as well.
The state's package is good through 2019, but some question whether Dell will be making computers in the United States in 15 years while other manufacturers move production offshore.
Dell's president and chief executive, Kevin Rollins, said the North Carolina plant fits with Dell's strategy. Dell takes orders by Internet or telephone and builds computers to each customer's specifications, often delivering within a week.
"Staying close to customers is what we do," Rollins said. "We already have an efficient business model. We don't need to move offshore to increase efficiency.
"I think our performance against other companies suggests we're doing something right."
Dell could pay off for the state beyond the 1,500 jobs it plans to create, said Mike Luger, director of the Carolina Center for Competitive Economies at UNC-Chapel Hill.
"It's Dell, and that can't be underestimated. The name recognition internationally is enormous," Luger said. "There are linked businesses in the Triad that haven't been developed, and if Dell can become a nucleus in a high-tech cluster, then it's worth it."
Easley and members of North Carolina's congressional delegation have urged President Bush to protect domestic manufacturers from the expected onslaught of Chinese imports. Easley said the Dell jobs are ideal for North Carolina because they don't require a lot of training or education.
"These are jobs that people with moderate skills, moderate training can move into, and I think that's exactly what we need," said Michael L. Walden, an economist at N.C. State University. "They're certainly better than $15,000-a-year jobs in the service sector."
Others were less convinced that the Dell deal makes sense. "We're trying to compete with China, so we're becoming them," Shoesmith said. "We're subsidizing low-paying jobs to get them here."
Shoesmith thinks the deal is unfair to businesses such as IBM, which employs 13,300 in the Triangle and competes with Dell for computer sales. IBM says it supports the state's use of incentives to lure Dell, as long as those incentives don't put it at a disadvantage, but Shoesmith said he's skeptical. "What sense does it make for IBM to pay state taxes to subsidize one of its competitors?" he said. "I just smell a lawsuit."
Indeed, the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, a new Raleigh organization set up to challenge incentives, among other things, is considering such a suit.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Ohio ruled this year against an incentives package for DaimlerChrysler in that state. The Ohio court's decision has no direct bearing on North Carolina, but it may set an important precedent for cases elsewhere.
"We're delighted Dell is coming to North Carolina," said Bob Orr, a former state Supreme Court justice who leads the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law. "We just hope they're not too disappointed if they don't get all their incentives."
Project puts critic on defense
Nov. 10, 2004
News & Observer
By SARAH LINDENFELD HALL
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH -- Dick Bell, a well-known local landscape architect, has railed against development for years.
Cities react to projects, he says, instead of planning ahead to find the best possible use for land.
"We're very wasteful as a nation," he said.
Now it's Bell's own ambitious plans for the wooded oasis called the Water Garden along busy Glenwood Avenue that are roiling some neighbors.
Bell wants to tear down much of the award-winning office complex, which includes his home and an art gallery. In its place he would build a nearly 800,000-square-foot building with two levels of underground parking, two levels of shops and restaurants and three levels for condominiums, where residents could operate home businesses.
The existing Water Garden, with its natural, forested landscape and contemporary buildings, has drawn artists, designers and other professionals to the unique setting, visible to the public mostly by its unusual sign at the entrance.
The city's Planning Commission considered Bell's new plans for the first time Tuesday and opted to study them in a committee. Russ Stephenson, a commission member and architect, called Bell's vision "bold."
It may be a "little bit idiosyncratic in its style, but I think it's a superior product," he said.
The project, called the Water Garden Marketplace, is vastly different from the kind of development the commission typically reviews.
The massive building would equal the size of about four Wal-Mart Supercenters, though it would be much different in form.
The building, in the shape of a capital "A," would pack shops, restaurants, offices and 110 condominiums into one building on 11 acres. The condominiums, with room for home businesses, would sit above nearly 200,000 square feet of restaurants and shops.
The project seeks to meet a goal that city planners have encouraged for years -- the mixing of homes, businesses and shops so people don't have to get in their cars to drive to the grocery store, a restaurant or work.
"You have to drive miles now to go anywhere or do anything," Bell said.
Bell's land is surrounded by more traditional development in an area that has boomed in the past few years, partly because of its proximity to Interstate 540. At least 1,270 homes and townhouses are being built in the Long Lake and Cornerstone Park developments.
Cornerstone Commons, a 141,000-square-foot shopping center, is scheduled to open in mid-March. The center will include a Lowes Foods grocery store, Jumbo China restaurant, Great Clips hair salon and other shops.
While Bell has been critical of the kind of development that now envelops him, his project has run into many familiar criticisms from neighbors.
They told commission members Tuesday that the project would add traffic and that a proposed jogging path and connections from Long Lake to the project could bring shoppers and others into the residential neighborhood. They also raised concerns about the loss of trees, stormwater runoff, noise from delivery trucks and Dumpsters, and the rapid growth in the area.
"That area of Raleigh is being overdeveloped pretty quickly," said Steven Goldfarb, who lives in the Long Lake development.
Bell, the first person to sue under the state's sedimentation and erosion-control rules, said his own pond is full of dirt from nearby development. He would like to turn the pond back into a natural stream.
And, he points out, dozens of trees were cut down to make way for the development that surrounds his land now.
Bell acknowledges he's breaking the mold with his plans for the marketplace. But the former Planning Commission member has worked on projects that have turned into local landmarks, including the Brickyard at N.C. State University and Pullen Park.
"It takes a while to get these prototypes on the ground, and then everybody starts copying them," Bell said. "Hopefully, I'll get my prototype on the ground, and people will start copying that. I think it makes good business sense. And it's good for the land and the water and the air."
Nov. 10, 2004
News & Observer
By JOYCE SYKES
© Copyright 2004
WAKE COUNTY
PARADE: The 2004 Wake County Veterans Day Parade and ceremonies will be Thursday
in downtown Raleigh. The parade will start between 9:45 a.m. and 10:15 a.m.
It will feature 65 participants and vehicles, and include a flyover of the
parade route by an Army Apache gunship from the N.C. National Guard. About
11 a.m., a Veterans Day ceremony will begin at the Veterans Monument on Capitol
Square. The ceremony will include a flyover by F-15 fighters from Seymour
Johnson Air Force Base; a speech by Maj. Gen. William E. Ingram Jr., adjutant
general of the N.C. National Guard; and a concert by the Enloe High School
band. A replica of the Vietnam Wall will be erected on the Capitol grounds,
and an exhibit from "Camp Flintlock" on 18th century military life
will be on display. Information: 781-5610 or www.bryantkids.com/ parade.
CONCERT: The North Carolina Symphony and Broadway Series South will present a free concert at 2 p.m. Thursday in Meymandi Concert Hall at the BTI Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh. Doors open at 1 p.m. Reserve tickets in advance by calling 733-2750 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are also available at the door until all seats are taken.
VETERANS DINNER: All Golden Corral restaurants will give veterans and active duty members of the U.S. military a free dinner buffet from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday.
NCSU COMMEMORATIONS: Three events are planned at N.C. State University: an all-night POW/MIA vigil at the Bell Tower from 7 p.m. today to 6 a.m. Thursday, a 6 a.m. "Warrior Run" involving approximately 400 ROTC cadets along Hillsborough Street from Dan Allen Drive to the Bell Tower and a 6:30 a.m. POW/MIA wreath-laying ceremony at the Bell Tower off Hillsborough Street. The wreath-laying ceremony will feature Emily Gile, a retired Woman Air Force Service Pilot (WASP) who served in World War II as one of the first women in history to fly American military aircraft, as guest of honor. Information: Dynasty Sicay at 512-7196 or (757) 206-5526.
SPECIAL ASSEMBLY: Vandora Springs Elementary School in Garner will hold a holiday assembly today at 2 p.m. The assembly will include a military color guard, a candle-lighting ceremony and patriotic music. Information: 662-2486.
JOHNSTON COUNTY
PRAYER BREAKFAST: American Legion Post 518 of Clayton will have a prayer breakfast at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Progressive Men's Club in Smithfield. The breakfast, open to the public, will cost $4. To obtain a $1 discount card, see any member of American Legion Post 518. Five pastors from the post, including Vice Bishop Richard W. Johnson, a Vietnam veteran, will speak. Information: John King Jr. of American Legion Posts of 270 of Smithfield and 518 of Clayton at 550-2194.
FREE MEALS FOR VETERANS: American Legion Post 71 in Clayton will serve free breakfast, lunch and dinner Thursday to veterans. The post, at 13000 Old Garner Road, will open at 6 a.m. The group will also present a $1,000 donation to the Hocutt-Ellington Memorial Library to help with the cost of a new wing to the library. Information: Bill Spreitzer at 553-1064.
VETERANS GROUPS: Representatives from all of Johnston County's veterans service organizations, including the American Legion, the VFW, DAV and Sea-Bee groups, will gather at the Johnston County Courthouse on Second Street in Smithfield at 11 a.m. Thursday. Guest speaker will be Ray Smith of Benson, former national commander of the American Legion and a member of the N.C. Veterans Affairs Commission. Information: 989-5067.
FREE BREAKFAST: Wal-Mart on Brightleaf Boulevard in Smithfield will provide a free breakfast for all veterans from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Information: 989-5067.
DURHAM COUNTY
FLAG RAISING: The Eno River Detachment of the Marine Corps League, representing Durham, Orange and Person counties, will conduct a flag-raising ceremony at Northgate Mall in Durham from 6:15 a.m. to 7 a.m. Thursday. The detachment will raise 80 flags starting in front of Harris Teeter and working around the mall to North Gregson Street. Information: Dave Young, commandant, at 274-8800 or Rocky Visconti, commanding officer, Young Marines of Raleigh/Durham at 806-2242 or (888) 889-0303.
ORANGE COUNTY
VETERAN RECOGNITION: C.W. Stanford Middle School will have its second annual Veterans Recognition Day from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Friday at the school, 308 Orange High School Road in Hillsborough. Students will give performances to show their gratitude for all veterans' service. Refreshments will be served. Information: 732-3614.
VETERANS DAY CEREMONY: Abundant Life Christian Academy in Hillsborough is having a ceremony at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the academy, 512 U.S. 70 East, corner of U.S. 70 and Orange High School Road. The academy has "adopted" a platoon of 35 soldiers stationed in Iraq for the holiday season. Family, friends and veterans are invited to attend the celebration, honoring each individual branch of the military. Information: 732-6460, ext. 233.
REMEMBRANCE: Downtown Merchants and other organizations in Hillsborough will conduct a World War II remembrance, "Hillsborough Homefront," Saturday. Activities will take place on Churton Street, at the Orange County Historical Museum and in the municipal parking lot off West King Street. Events include the collection of oral histories from WW II veterans, performance of swing music and the playing of 1940s favorite songs. Visitors are encouraged to dress in period clothing or uniforms. The event will begin at 11 a.m. and continue throughout the day. Information: Julia Williams at Brick Alley Books at 245-0062.
YELLOW RIBBON 5K: The Carolina Troop Supporters and the Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund will have a Yellow Ribbon 5K and Support the Troops festivities on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus Saturday. The race will start outside the Student Union Building on South Road at 11 a.m. Registration begins at 10 a.m. After the race, other events include a flag ceremony, guest speakers, live music, awards, games, prizes and a silent auction. All proceeds and donations, which are tax deductible, will assist in sending children of fallen soldiers to college. Registration fee is $15. Register online at www.cfsrf.org or www.carolinatroopsupporters.org.
ROTC TO HONOR VETERANS: The UNC-Chapel Hill Air Force, Army and Navy ROTC units will have their annual Veterans Day ceremony at 2:30 p.m. Thursday on Polk Place, the quad between Wilson Library and South Building. Veterans of foreign wars dating to World War II are expected to attend. Retired Col. Sam Holiday, a veteran of the Korean War and the Vietnam War, will be the guest speaker. A reception will follow in the Armory Building, located on campus at the corner of South Columbia Street and South Road. In the event of bad weather, the ceremony will be in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union. Information: Lt. Col. John Zornick at 962-5546.
TRIANGLE
FREE ICE CREAM: Cold Stone Creamery's Triangle locations will serve free ice cream for all military veterans Thursday. Area locations are: Cary (Crossroads Plaza), 858-7754; Garner (White Oak Crossing), 773-4545; Chapel Hill (Franklin Street), 933-2323; and Raleigh (Alexander Place), 957-2653. At the Garner store, Garner police officers will scoop ice cream from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. with 50 percent of the proceeds going to Garner Area Ministries.
VETERANS DAY
THURSDAY
Wake Durham Orange Johnston Chatham
Schools closed closed closed closed closed
Post office closed closed closed closed closed
State offices closed closed closed closed closed
City, county offices closed open closed closed closed
Federal offices closed closed closed closed closed
Banks closed closed closed closed closed
ABC stores open open closed closed open
Museums open open open open1 n/a
Libraries closed open closed closed closed
Buses regular regular regular n/a n/a
Landfills open open open open closed
State Farmers Market open n/a n/a n/a n/a
Garbage pickup regular2 regular2 regular2 regular2 none2
1. Benson Museum in Johnston County will be closed.
2. Raleigh: Thursday's trash will be picked up Saturday. Cary: No yard waste pickup Monday. Thursday's trash will be picked up today. Friday: Regular schedule. Apex and Garner: Regular schedule.
Documents outline Cree courtship
Nov. 10, 2004
News & Observer
By JONATHAN B. COX
© Copyright 2004
Cree's growth has won attention not only from investors and customers but
politicians too.
Virginia created a lucrative package of enticements last spring to attract
the company's proposed $300 million manufacturing expansion, according to documents
made public by the N.C. Commerce Department.
In addition to tax credits, leaders of the neighboring state promised a work force schooled in semiconductors and a site near Richmond geared to the industry, the filings show.
Durham-based Cree ultimately was persuaded to expand at home after North Carolina officials offered incentives potentially worth more than $5.1 million. The Commerce Department documents -- Cree's application for those inducements and the state's evaluation -- provide better insight into exactly what the state got.
Cree said that it expects the average salary of the 300 jobs it plans to create will be $1,197 a week. That's 87 percent higher than the $641 average weekly wage for all industries in the state. In addition, as many as 700 indirect jobs could be created during construction and to service the larger company.
"There is considerable optimism for substantial growth in this industry," Cree wrote in its application.
During the next five years, the company, which already has begun grading for its expansion in Durham, plans to invest at least $163 million in land, building and infrastructure. It will also spend $143 million for equipment.
The filings don't say how much Virginia offered Cree, but it says incentives included sales tax exemptions, work force training and funds to improve infrastructure. The state has invested in an area called the White Oak Technology Park with water and electric capabilities ideal for semiconductor manufacturers.
The Cree filing also points out that Virginia's community college system offers an accredited program for technician training and that universities offer undergraduate and graduate programs in chip-manufacturing.
Cree, a product of research at N.C. State University, decided to expand here. But in coming years, the company might have reason to set up operations in more far-flung reaches of the globe.
"I see Cree's five-year plan as further expansion in North Carolina and expansion overseas," said CEO Chuck Swoboda, at the company's annual shareholder meeting last week.
NC State Freshman Faces Child Porn Charges
Nov. 9, 2004
WTVD
By Ed Crump
© Copyright 2004
An NC State student is behind bars, charged with downloading child pornography. Campus police arrested 18-year-old Wesley Abram Mincey after his roommate allegedly discovered videos of children engaged in sex acts with adults on Mincey's computer.
Word spread fast among the residents of Sullivan Dorm. One of their own was arrested after police found child pornography on his laptop computer. "I was very shocked to learn that something like that was going on where I live. It was very disconcerting."
It all apparently started a couple of weeks ago on the 9th floor of Sullivan when 18-year-old Wesley Mincey loaned his computer to his roommate. According to campus police the roommate happened across a video file showing young girls having sex with men. "He's already made a confession."
NC State police captain, Joe Goodrow says after Mincey confessed and the SBI pulled evidence from the computer, Mincey was charged. Today, the NC State freshman was jailed under a $10,000 bond.
He was bailed out a short time later and will appear before a Wake County judge Wednesday. While students may be surprised by his arrest, campus police are not. "We're a microcosm of the overall society, hence nothing would surprise you. Whatever's out there is here."
Goodrow says the SBI is continuing to investigate to see if there's any evidence that Mincey shared any child pornography files. If so he could face more charges. In the meantime, first year students like Ruth Garland are getting a rude awakening about the world around them. "Now we're in the adult world and we're not in high school where our parents can protect us from seeing things like this."
Mincey, who is from the Pitt County town of Winterville, also faces disciplinary action for NC State administrators. He could ultimately face expulsion.
Kiwanis celebrates 50 years of service to the community
Nov. 9, 2004
Elizabethtown Bladen Journal
By JACK McDUFFIE
© Copyright 2004
It has been more than 50 years since a group of Elizabethtown men met for the first time to consider organizing a local club of Kiwanis International here in Bladen County. That meeting has resulted in one of the most consistent and prolific community service programs in the county.
According to Don Worsley, who has been a member for more than 49 years, the idea of organizing Kiwanis in Bladen came when Judge Hemer Clark of Fayetteville called Elizabethtown resident and attorney Frank Grady in the summer of 1954 and asked him if he could get five or six interested people together to discuss forming a club.
"Kiwanis was active in Fayetteville at the time and its members were interested in forming clubs in neighboring areas," said Worsley. "That's what led him (Clark) to call Frank about possibly organizing Kiwanis here. Mr. Clark and another man from the Fayetteville Kiwanis came to the meeting and spoke to the group.
"After that meeting, the group decided that they could get the required number of people interested to charter a club here (in Elizabethtown)," added Worsley. "That was in the fall of 1954."
The club was officially chartered on November 2, 1954.
Worsley said some of the charter members of the club included well-known Elizabethtown residents Johnny Hemingway, Frank Grady, Doug Waller, and Lupert Barefoot. The group held its first meetings in the G. A. Restaurant, which was located beside Leinwand's. (The building that housed the restaurant is now a part of Leinwand's.)
The club began its community service activities almost immediately, when it agreed to sponsor Boy Scout Troop 602. The troop was organized around the same time as the local Kiwanis.
Over the years it has added numerous other projects. The projects they are now sponsoring, in addition to the Boy Scout troop, include the Key Clubs at East and West Bladen high schools, $500 scholarships to one student from the Key Clubs at each of the two schools, and the Cape Fear Boy Scout Council.
The Kiwanis sponsors a selected student to attend the Soil and Water Conservation Program workshop at N.C. State University each year, and the Farm-City Week Banquet held in November of each year. It also sponsors a student from the East Bladen High School Band to attend band camp at East Carolina University annually and contributes to the Sports Banquet at each high school.
In addition, the club sponsors the Kiwanis Cottage at Boys and Girls Home of Lake Waccamaw and gives the residents of the cottage a Christmas party and summer outing each year.
According to Kiwanis President Jim Seyler, the club relies exclusively on fundraising activities and donations to support its many community service projects.
Over the years the club has used a variety of fundraisers. For example, at one time the club had a dog and pet show, along with a raffle. According to Worsley, the shows were hilarious; however, the members decided that the possible liability outweighed the benefits the pet show generated and decided to discontinue it.
The club also held a turkey shoot for a number of years.
Its primary fundraisers today include the annual Claxton Fruitcake sales, an auction, and a raffle. The fruitcake sale is scheduled to get underway within a couple of weeks.
Over the years, Kiwanis has spread around the globe. Today, Kiwanis has more than 600,000 members in 94 countries.
The first clubs were organized to promote the exchange of business among the members; however, when the first club was organized in Detroit, Michigan, in 1915, the members were distributing Christmas baskets to the poor.
That led to a debate about whether the club's mission should be dedicated to community support or to the exchange of business. In 1919, the group who supported community service as the mission of the organization won the debate and since that time, Kiwanis has been a community service organization. Its motto is: "Serving the children of the world."
Like its parent organization, the local Kiwanis Club's service activities are primarily oriented to causes related to children and youth.
Seyler said the local Kiwanis is actively recruiting new members to carry on the work of the club in the future. Individuals who may be interested in becoming a member should call Worsley at 862-6634 or Carl McCullough at 862-3013.
Unfinished business: This End Up furniture starts from scratch
Nov. 10, 2004
Associated Press; Charlotte Observer; WCNC; Wilmington Morning Star; Winston-Salem Journal; Akron Beacon Journal, OH; Biloxi Sun Herald, MS; Bradenton Herald, FL; Centre Daily Times, PA; Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, IN; Fort Wayne News Sentinel, IN; Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX; Grand Forks Herald, ND; Kansas City Star, MO; Kansas.com, KS; Kentucky.com, KY; Lakeland Ledger, FL; Miami Herald, FL; Monterey County Herald, CA; Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC; Ocala Star-Banner, FL; Philadelphia Inquirer, PA; San Luis Obispo Tribune, CA; The State, SC; Tallahassee.com, FL; Times Daily, AL; Worcester Telegram, MA; WVEC, VA
By EMERY P. DALESIO
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. - For nearly three decades, This End Up marketed the bulky, basic furniture that two North Carolina State University students first designed out of empty crates after busting up a sofa during a party.
The Richmond, Va.-based manufacturer and retailer built a chain of 240 stores before going bankrupt in 2000 and being liquidated.
Apparently, though, the news didn't get to customers.
A second incarnation of This End Up, now based in Sanford, still gets 100 to 200 phone calls a day seeking the location of their nearest store, said Kevin Kelly, the Silicon Valley turnaround specialist who bought the company's name, product designs, customer lists and financial records for $1 million in late 2000.
"We started with what they gave us in the briefcase," said Kelly, who has built an organization despite having no experience in the furniture business. "The demand existed, which is what caught my eye."
Last month, This End Up opened its first retail store in years in Raleigh. It's one of several conservative steps Kelly has taken to bring the company back.
The restarted company has annual sales of $8 million to $12 million and about 50 employees, Kelly said. At its peak, the old This End Up had annual sales of about $150 million.
For its comeback, This End Up is returning to two markets that made the original company's yellow-pine pieces furniture staples for two generations _ college dormitories and vacation rental homes.
Before its demise, the original company sold about $35 million of furniture annually to institutional customers who were furnishing dorms, halfway houses and drug rehab centers. That market was waiting for This End Up's revival, Kelly said.
The relaunch has also benefited from owners of vacation homes eager for inexpensive furnishings. Kelly said it's not uncommon for customers to drive to the factory in Sanford, load up on furnishings and cart them home.
One man flew from California to Raleigh, bought a heavy-duty pickup truck with dual rear wheels, rented a big trailer and bought $10,000 worth of beds and living room furniture. He told Kelly he'd bought a house at Lake Tahoe that he planned to rent to skiers and thought This End Up furniture could take the hard use.
Furniture-industry analyst Jerry Epperson believes there's no reason This End Up's future can't be its past. In the old days, condo and time share owners were This End Up's most profitable customers and "we've got more time shares and condos than ever," Epperson said.
In addition, the children of baby boomers who were the company's first customers are familiar with the This End Up style and see it as practical starter pieces for their own households. After all, many grew up sleeping on the children's bunk beds that were the company's best seller for years, Epperson said.
Laurie Borshard of Hopatcong, N.J., said durability was the main reason she outfitted a bedroom for her children with a This End Up bunk bed set and a computer desk. She bought the set nine years ago, and her kids are now in their teens and have outgrown it.
"It's wonderful furniture. It's virtually indestructible," she said.
Kelly said he's benefited from latching onto a ready-made market and ramping up production to meet existing demand.
"There is a brand, a product, that people want," he said. "We've done nothing more than try to come in here and live up to the brand."
There were other elements that helped bring the business back.
Kelly moved to central North Carolina to run the revived company because hundreds of workers who lost their jobs at two manufacturing plants when the company went bankrupt were available to return to work.
And furniture sales agents were eager to see This End Up return to business. One sales rep contacted Kelly, describing the latent demand from institutional buyers who went unserved after This End Up shuttered its factories and sold off inventory and machinery, Kelly said. They were the new company's first customers.
A couple months later, Kelly started a Web site that offered nothing more than an opportunity for customers to describe what they wanted to buy. The site got more than 100 hits on its first day.
"It was just people typing in thisendup.com," he said.
Most people were seeking replacement cushions for sofa sets, so Kelly found an upholstered furniture maker to handle the work, set up a toll-free number and started taking orders.
By 2002, the Web site was attracting several hundred thousand hits a day and people were asking about buying furniture over the Internet. High shipping costs made Kelly leery of mixups, so he set up a phone ordering system that now handles 40 percent of the company's sales.
The Raleigh store is an attempt to gauge customer tastes. It offers the company a chance to display about a dozen room settings, as well as bedding or candleholders and other accessories not shown on the Web site, Kelly said.
There was no advertising or advance publicity.
"We opened the doors quietly because we wanted to make sure all our systems worked," Kelly said. "We're just going to see what causes people to go shopping. I don't understand because I don't shop. This is going to help me understand."
Kelly is also taking things slowly because This End Up is short on manufacturing capacity for now. He hopes to have a new factory in Sanford up and running by early next year that will allow the company to expand production by 500 percent.
"We're going to be around a while. Let's just do it intelligently," he said.
While the domestic furniture industry is being hit hard by low-wage foreign competition, This End Up's brand of furniture is actually cost-effective to make in the United States. It doesn't involve labor-intensive carving and finishing, and shipping the hefty pieces in from Asia would be costly, Epperson said.
The analyst said he would not be surprised to see a revived This End Up also give new life to imitators, who once numbered about two dozen.
"This is a low-cost entry type of business," he said.
NCSU Freshman Accused Of Downloading Child Porn
Nov. 9, 2004
WRAL
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. -- An N.C. State University freshman is accused of using the computer in his dorm to download child pornography.
Wesley Mincey, 18, is expected to be arrested soon.
Investigators say his roommate called police after he borrowed Mincey's computer and discovered the images.
N.C. State Student Charged With Possessing Child Porn
Nov. 9, 2004
NBC-17
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A North Carolina State University freshman was charged Tuesday with having child pornography on his computer in his dormitory.
Wesley Mincey, 18, turned himself in Tuesday morning after contacting N.C. State police Monday night. He was in Wake County Jail Tuesday night, awaiting a Wednesday court appearance.
Officers said hundreds of pictures and streaming videos of child pornography were found on Mincey's computer after it was seized from his dorm room. According to a search warrant, the computer contained video clips of adult men having sex with 6- and 7-year-old girls.
"It is something that is hard to deal with, but we will charge and prosecute to the fullest extent," North Carolina State Police Sgt. Jon Barnwell said.
Investigators said that two weeks ago, Mincey's roommate called police after borrowing the computer and discovering the images.
Authorities want to know if Mincey was sharing or trading his material. Officials said more charges were possible.
Mincey moved out of his dormitory, Sullivan Hall, over the weekend. The teen's mother told NBC-17 that he has never been in any kind of trouble before.
Nov. 10, 2004
News & Observer
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
North Carolina's lawmakers ought to approve quickly a request from community colleges and the University of North Carolina system for $6.5 million to encourage joint efforts on the part of those institutions to help them work together. They intend to boost the number of teachers trained for the state's schools, the number of nurses in hospitals, and the number of UNC advisers on community college campuses to help students transfer into the UNC system.
No one disputes the notion that with North Carolina having faced the loss of tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs over the last few years, the community colleges are the key to retraining those who lost their jobs and getting them back in the workforce. But the long-underfunded community colleges also are important as the number of high school graduates with college aspirations increases.
Many students in this state can't afford a university education right out of high school (and UNC system tuition has itself regrettably increased over recent years) but they can enter a community college with an eye toward transferring later. In the last seven or eight years, that's been easier to do as community colleges and the UNC system worked out a system whereby credits could be transferred.
But now the two systems recognize that with teacher and nursing shortages in the state, they need to intensify their cooperation. With UNC advisers on community college sites, they can perhaps steer students into these professions. This is a worthy effort on the part of both systems, in the true spirit of the common mission they share, namely serving the state of North Carolina.
Community colleges have evolved over the years as the student population has grown. The truth is, the 59 colleges, spread all over the state, have long needed a much heartier budget, though they have done better of late. Still, these schools no longer focus primarily on vocational education or on courses generated by community interest or just on associate degrees. The mission is broad and vast and has adjusted to the ambitions of students, most of whom see a community college as the gateway to more education and opportunity.
By intensifying their relationship with the community colleges, the member schools of the UNC system are being smart. They're getting in many cases -- with community college transfers -- students who are little bit older, perhaps who have had other careers, but certainly students who are motivated to work hard and achieve a level of success. Importantly, by focusing attention on teaching and nursing, UNC and community college advisers will help students find rewarding professions and reliable employment.
More cooperation is refreshing. It's constructive. It's positive for the state. But finally, it can open the dream of a higher education and a better life to those who despair from having lost a job, those who thought they could never afford to go to college, those who are inspired later in life to leave unrewarding jobs for employment that gives to others, those who came to realize the importance of higher education after a few years in the workforce. In the end, this kind of effort is about horizons, and making them broader and broader.
Nov. 10, 2004
News & Observer
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
Susie in Cary writes: "At dinner last night, one of the women at our table mentioned that she has friends who have twin dogs. What???? That was the response of the rest of us. We all agreed we had never heard of twin dogs. How would you know? As one man pointed out, aren't all dogs from the same litter twins? Anywho, this is a conundrum for all my dining companions and me."
A quick Google on the subject revealed only vaguely related "twin dog" topics: Twin Cities Obedience Training Club, a recipe for twin chili dogs with cheese and onions, J's Twin Wormer for Dogs.
Frankly, Susie's dinner companions, your question stumps us. It's also making our head hurt from so much pondering.
So we'll do what we usually do in situations such as this -- issue a plea for assistance: Please, is there a veterinarian in the house?
Certainly in a region boasting one of the nation's top vet schools -- and here we would be referring to N.C. State's College of Veterinary Medicine, not Brenda's Poodle Grooming Academy in Garner (though we welcome thoughts from Brenda's as well) -- someone knows whether such a phenomenon is possible.
Won't you please help? The sanity of a Cary dinner party is at stake.
Raleigh 3 still in jail! First court appearance Friday
Nov. 9, 2004
Infoshop News
By OREN DORELL AND BARBARA BARRETT
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH -- An apparent supporter of three people arrested in an attack on the N.C. Republican Party headquarters tussled with two cameramen as they followed him from the Wake County Public Safety Center on Monday afternoon.
The young man shielded his face from the cameras as he left the first appearance hearing for David Reuben Hensley, Melissa Lynn Brown and Vanessa Marie Zuloaga, where he had tried to communicate with them from his front row seat. He smashed the cameras to the ground and ran.
Officials charged Asa Lincoln Collier, 18, of Cayce, S.C., with simple assault and two counts of damage to property in connection with the incident, according to a news release from the Raleigh Police Department. Officers were searching for the 5 foot 11 inch tall teen late Monday night.
Hensley, 20, Brown, 18, and Zuloaga, 24, were arrested Friday after they were detained by residents in the Cameron Village area after about 100 demonstrators smashed windows, spray painted vulgar slogans and apparently tried to torch the GOP headquarters at 1506 Hillsborough St.
Wake County District Court Judge Robert Rader officially informed each defendant of the charge against him or her -- felony malicious damaging by use of an incendiary device -- and asked each whether he or she wanted a court-appointed attorney, would supply one, or would represent himself of herself.
When each defendant was brought forward, the man in the audience, who wore a black T-shirt and had dark hair with the ends dyed reddish blond, tried to signal to them, apparently trying to communicate that each should request a court-appointed attorney.
Hensley, who had an anarchist symbol tattooed on his forearm, looked at him and took the cue. Brown did not respond to the man's coughing and tapping but requested a court-appointed attorney also. Zuloaga ignored the noise from the audience and waived her right to an attorney.
At that, the man in the audience grabbed his head.
Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker asked police for a report about Friday's incident in time to discuss it when the City Council meets a week from today.
"It's worrisome that we would be a site for this kind of attack," he said.
Friday's activities followed a legal anti-war demonstration about 5 p.m. at the N.C. State University Bell Tower sponsored by the Student Peace Action Network. Capt. Ken Mathias, who supervises the Raleigh Police Department's intelligence unit, said he knew of no connection between the legal demonstration and the later one.
About 11:30 p.m. Friday, police spotted people in masks and gloves gathering at the Bell Tower on Hillsborough Street in an impromptu parade. Mathias said a supervisor, Lt. Octavious Benifield, saw the group marching east on Hillsborough Street, carrying banners, drumming on five-gallon plastic paint cans, and hoisting a two-headed effigy of President Bush and Sen. John Kerry on a bamboo pole.
Benifield called for more units.
Officers coming to the scene noticed something amiss at the GOP headquarters and doubled back, Mathias said. They found the building sprayed with slogans, windows smashed and the effigy soaked in a flammable liquid.
Mathias said Friday's vandalism continues a pattern of illegal political protests in the Triangle in recent months.
* On Feb. 21, two men were arrested and charged with painting slogans on statues, the Capitol and other state buildings before a Neo-Nazi demonstration in downtown Raleigh.
* On June 10 and 11, protesters threw smoke bombs on the railroad tracks in Durham and triggered several automatic crossing gates, clogging traffic. They also unfurled banners from overpasses on Interstate 40 at Miami Boulevard and the Durham Freeway. The action coincided with the end of the G-8 summit at Sea Island, Ga.
Like Friday's incident, the other actions piggybacked on legal demonstrations. They also occurred under cover of dark, without warning, and were committed by masked participants clad in black.
Anarchist demonstrations have been a continuing problem in other parts of the country, often coinciding with national or world events. Incidents have occurred in Miami, Washington, Boston, Seattle and elsewhere.
Police in Eugene, Ore., for several years scuffled with protesters over issues varying from animal rights to politics to the rights of bicyclists.
"It was a significant problem," said Capt. Thad Buchanan, the former chief of the police department's Special Operations Division.
He said the agency finally dealt with the protesters by cracking down hard. In one case, a demonstration in 2000 netted about 70 arrests over two days. Every suspect was convicted of at least one misdemeanor and sentenced to a year's probation. About the same time, he said, two arsonists were convicted. One, a leader in the group, is serving a prison sentence of more than 20 years.
"Even though they're anarchists, it's a loose organization, but it's still an organization," Buchanan said.
"The only advice I can give is, if it's allowed to continue, hang on," he said. "Once they get a foothold, they won't go away."
Officers asked anyone with information about Collier to call 890-3555.
October report key to soybean market outlook
Nov. 9, 2004
Southeast Farm Press
By Forrest Laws
© Copyright 2004
"If the news is favorable – the crop is larger than expected – we should see the market decline further and test a second support level at around the $5.28 per bushel level,” Nicholas E. Piggott, associate professor and Extension specialist.
USDA’s October crop production report, typically a bellwether for new crop soybean futures, is taking on even greater significance as farmers ponder their next move in this year’s highly volatile market.
The November 2004 soybean futures contract, set to expire in mid-to-late November, has given growers a wild ride, climbing from its 2003 harvest time low of $4.83 per bushel to a 2004 planting time high of $8.02 before dropping back to late September levels of $5.40 per bushel.
More of the same? Producers may see more of the same, depending on the Oct. 12 crop report and growing conditions for the crop farmers in Argentina and Brazil who are beginning to plant, according to a North Carolina State University economist. “Several marketing newsletters are claiming that the bottom is in (at $5.40), but it is this analyst’s opinion this claim is premature and not supported at this stage,” says Nicholas E. Piggott, associate professor and Extension specialist with NCSU’s Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics. “The market has been trading more recently in a tight range trying to decide exactly what the production in the United States this year will be, and it might not be until the October report that we have a clearer picture.”
Speaking at the Southern Region Agricultural Outlook Conference in Atlanta, Sept. 28, Dr. Piggott urged farmers who have not priced their 2004 crop to pay close attention to the Oct. 12 crop production report, which, he said, should reflect field data measurements more so than earlier reports. “Once a clearer picture on the yield prospectus is obtained, look for the market to break out of its current tight range of $5.40 to $5.50 we have seen this week (the last week in September),” he said. “If the consensus is that the crop is smaller than expected we should see the market rally and make a run for the filling the gap that begins at the $5.94 level. “If the news is favorable – the crop is larger than expected – we should see the market decline further and test a second support level at around the $5.28 per bushel level.”
Marketing options Farmers who have not sold any new crop soybeans should look to any rally from the October report to do some pricing “with realistic expectations around the $5.90 level. This is especially important for farmers who have little on-farm storage given the poor carries on offer.” If the rally fails to materialize and prices decline, marketing options will be limited, he said.
“A wait-and-see-approach storing soybeans and holding out for planting woes in the South American market might offer the most promise,” says Piggott. “Something less than perfect growing conditions will lead to a tightening of world supplies. “Herein lies the key to post harvest price prospects for the U.S. soybean market. Any adverse weather in the South American growing season should have a positive and significant impact on post harvest U.S. prices.”
Piggott says the October report is likely to show lower yield prospects than USDA’s initial projection of an average yield of 40 bushels per acre last May. “This projection has tempered since, downgraded in the June and July reports to 39.9 bushels per acre, 39.1 in August and in the most recent September report to 38.5 bushels,” he said. “The reasons cited for the overall lower yield prospects were less than perfect conditions in the Midwest. This reduction of 1.5 bushels per acre represents a decline in total production of 111 million bushels (on the 73.7 million acres to be harvested). Interestingly, this projected reduction is more than half of the anticipated ending stocks of 190 million bushels for 2004/05.”
New record possible Last spring’s higher prices helped reverse a three-year decline in U.S. soybean acres, prompting growers to plant an estimated 74.8 million acres or 1.4 million acres more than in 2003. If on target, the 74.8 million acres will be the largest U.S. planted acreage on record. A national average soybean yield of 38.5 bushels per acre and 73.7 million harvested acres would translate into a soybean crop of 2.836 billion bushels, which would be 13.3-percent larger than last year and just shy of the record 2.891 billion bushels harvested in 2001.
Piggott expects the demand side of the soybean balance sheet to increase 10.5 percent in 2004/05 (September-August), due to a 5.2-percent rise in U.S. soybean crush and a 13-percent jump in soybean exports. “This turnaround in use represents a departure from the two previous marketing years where total use, crush and exports were significantly below the previous record levels of 2001/02,” he noted. “Although 2004/05 use levels do not represent a full recovery, falling 175 million bushels short of the record 2.933 billion bushels in 2001-02, it does represent a substantial rebound.”
Analysts predict the total world crush for soybeans will increase 8.7 percent to 6.608 billion bushels in 2004/05. The breakdown provides some disturbing numbers for the U.S. soybean industry. South America has taken the lead with Argentina processing 963 million bushels and Brazil 1.274 billion bushels for a total of 2.236 billion bushels. The United States is next with 1.615 billion bushels followed by China at 1.021 billion bushels and the European Union at 570 million bushels. The 8.7-percent increase in world crush from 2003/04 stems from a 5.19-percent increase in the United States, a 10.76-percent increase in South America, a 9.32-percent increase in China and a 6.02-percent increase in the EU-25.
“It is noteworthy that the increase in crush in South America and China for this year compared to the previous year is about twice that of the United States,” says Piggott. “This observation should act as a heads up to the U.S. soybean complex and livestock industry about more longer-run consequences and strategic implications of these value-added players and the location of the world’s crushing capacity.”
Besides being the largest crusher, South America has also become the largest exporter with 2004/05 shipments projected at 1.137 billion bushels compared to 1 billion for the United States. The majority of those exports are destined for China, which is projected to import 827 million bushels and the EU, 594 million bushels.
“Clearly, China is positioning itself as a supplier of crush capacity or value-added with imports of 827 million bushels and a crush of 1.021 billion bushels,” he noted. Overall, the projected 9.52-percent increase in total use in 2004/05 will not be enough to full offset the substantial projected supply increase of 18.28 percent, meaning an increase in world ending stocks of 37.96 billion bushels, says Piggott. “This increase in world ending stocks releases some of the pressure on world price that transpired the previous year.”
Liposcience Inc. Release: LDL-P A Better Predictor Of Cardiovascular Risk Than LDL-C
Nov. 9, 2004
Biospace; PR Newswire; Yahoo! Finance
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- LipoScience ( http://www.liposcience.com/ ) announced today the results of a major study confirming that the number of LDL particles (LDL-P) measured by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy provides better prediction of heart disease risk than levels of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C). LDL particles are the spherical "containers" that transport cholesterol throughout the body. Excessive numbers of these particles enter at the artery wall to cause atherosclerosis, which can lead to heart attack and stroke.
In a paper presented by Ernst J. Schaefer, M.D., and co-investigators from the Framingham Heart Offspring Study, LDL-P was shown to provide significantly more information about cardiovascular risk in middle-aged men and women followed prospectively over eight years than traditional cholesterol measures. The risk associated with elevated LDL-P was independent not only of LDL and HDL cholesterol, but also of non-lipid risk factors such as age, high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking. The results were presented as part of the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2004.
The study involved the analysis of frozen blood samples obtained from 1,529 men and 1,708 women who were followed for an average period of eight years to monitor the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD), defined as fatal and non-fatal myocardial infarction and stroke, claudication and angina. Two hundred twenty men and 116 women developed CVD during the follow-up period (14.4 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively). LDL particle numbers, as well as numbers of large and small LDL particle subclasses, were obtained by NMR LipoProfile(R) testing at LipoScience in Raleigh, N.C.
Statistical analysis showed that levels of LDL-P and the small LDL particle subclass were significantly more predictive of CVD events than LDL-C or the large LDL particle subclass, after taking into account the risk contributed by established non-lipid risk factors.
Dr. Schaefer, a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and chief of the Lipid Metabolism Laboratory, explained that many high-risk individuals have LDL particles that are smaller and contain less cholesterol than normal. As a result, even those with optimal LDL cholesterol levels may still have elevated, far from optimal numbers of atherogenic LDL particles. "The good news is that once these patients are identified, their LDL-P elevations can be treated effectively with the same proven therapies that lower LDL cholesterol," said Schaefer.
Among the patients expected to benefit from LDL particle testing are those with pre-existing heart disease, diabetes or a family history of heart disease. Patients with elevated triglycerides and other characteristics of the metabolic syndrome also are likely to have higher LDL-P levels than indicated by LDL-C testing, Schaefer said.
About the NMR LipoProfile test
Developed by James D. Otvos, Ph.D., and coworkers at North Carolina State University and introduced commercially in 1997, the NMR LipoProfile test employs novel magnetic resonance technology to measure directly the numbers of lipoprotein particles of different size in a patient's blood. Large, medium and small particle subclasses of VLDL, LDL and HDL are measured simultaneously in a rapid and fully automated process. LipoScience provides a patient's physician with a computerized report containing this lipoprotein particle information, highlighting abnormalities, to help guide individualized treatment decisions.
In addition, the NMR LipoProfile test is used in a wide range of clinical studies conducted by government, academic and pharmaceutical company researchers. By illuminating relationships between lipoprotein particles and cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other disorders, these studies seek to develop more effective prevention and treatment strategies. Results previously reported from the Cardiovascular Health Study, Women's Health Study, PLAC-I and VA-HIT, among others, have all shown LDL-P to predict future cardiovascular disease better than LDL-C. The present findings from the Framingham Offspring Study confirm and extend these earlier reports.
About LipoScience, Inc.
Headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., LipoScience develops and markets new clinical applications of NMR spectroscopy in the areas of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders. Its flagship product, the NMR LipoProfile blood test, was introduced for clinical research in 1997 and for use in patient care in 1999. The test provides a direct and accurate count of the numbers of atherogenic LDL particles (LDL-P) and VLDL particles of different size, as well as the numbers of protective HDL particles. It is ideally suited for patients who are being considered for or who are currently on LDL- lowering therapy -- patients considered to be at moderately-high or high risk for having a cardiovascular event. The lipoprotein particle information is used as an adjunct to traditional cholesterol measures to help physicians assess and manage their patient's risk of cardiovascular disease more effectively.
Founded in 1994, LipoScience markets and sells the NMR LipoProfile test to physicians, other healthcare professionals, commercial diagnostic laboratories and clinical research clients. LipoScience works with prominent healthcare organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins, Columbia University, Northwestern University and Duke University, as well as most of the major pharmaceutical companies on a wide variety of research initiatives. To date, over 1.4 million NMR LipoProfile tests have been performed.