Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 2004)
Cinderella (fall in love with your favorite fairy tale all over again) ' are so wicked! \ Those step-sisters The step-sisters have their go at ^ the prince first. m Cinderella meets the handsome prince next. They look pretty good together, | don’t they? —ever u^ter. What is it about this story that inspires so many? Perhaps it’s the sympathy for the title character, the fantasia of the pumpkin carriage, the optimism of the Fairy Godmother, or, in this case, the breathtaking dance by the Moscow Festival Ballet. You’ve read it many times. Now, witness CINDERELLA in its most magical and enchanting form, ballet. CINDERELLA Moscow Festival Ballet | Company of 50 Saturday, February 7 at 7:30 PM Sunday, February 8 at 2:00 PM „ " " sSo.-* TICKETS 845-1234 www.MSCOPAS.org PATRICIA S. PETERS LAGNIAPPE LECTURE SERIES: How does a ballet become a fairy tale? Join us for an informal discussion about CINDRELLA with a representative from the Moscow Festival Ballet. Presented by The OPAS Guild, the discussion will be held one hour prior to the performances in the Forsyth Center Galleries of the MSC. buy tickets, be inspired MSC OPAS Three Decades of Performing Arts eni l 9 Lte n entertain ins pi — 6A Thursday, February 5, 2004 NATloJ THE BATTAllfl Factory orders surge b 1.1 percent in Decembei By Jeannine Aversa THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Factory orders WASHINGTON America’s factories saw orders rebound in December, rising by a strong 1.1 percent, a fresh sign that the national economy’s recovery was in full stride as it headed into the new year. The over-the-month increase reported by the Commerce Department Wednesday came after orders placed with facto ries dropped by 0.9 percent in November. The latest snapshot of manufacturing activity was better than economists were expecting. They were forecast ing a modest 0.3 percent rise in orders for December. Much of the strength in December reflected stronger demand for “nondurable” goods. After keeping their invento ries lean, “businesses are now having to restock everything from clothing and apparel to toothpaste, diapers and prescrip tion and nonprescription medi cines,” said Mark Vitner, econo mist at Wachovia. That restock ing, he said, bodes well for help ing economic growth in the cur rent quarter, which some ana lysts predict will exceed at 4 percent annual rate. For all of 2003, orders to U.S. factories rose by 3.9 percent. On Wall Street, the news failed to impress investors. The Dow Jones industrials were off 10 points and the Nasdaq was Here is a look at total new orders to American factories. Seasonally adjusted $345 billion 340 $342.4 Change from previous month 335 Dec. 1.1% Nov. -0.9% 330 Oct. 2.4% 325 JFM AMJJASOND 2003 SOURCE: Department of Commerce AP down 30 points in trading around noon. Wednesday’s report, along with other recent economic data, suggest that the nation’s manufacturing sector is gain ing some ground. A more forward-looking report released Monday by the Institute for Supply Management said that manufacturing activity was robust in January. Job creation in the sector remains weak. Factories have lost 2.8 mil lion jobs since July 2(MX), the month manufacturing employ ment peaked in the last expan sion. The nation’s manufactur ers were hardest hit by the 2001 recession and have strug gled since then to get back on firm footing. Recent economic data gest that demand at homei abroad for U.S. manufactu goods is getting stronger. A weaker dollar and stn demand from other whose economies are ing, have been helping exports in recent months, weaker dollar makes U.S. gw less expensive and thus competitive on global marl The 1.1 percent increase: overall factory orders December was the largest! since October, when orderswg up by 2.4 percent. Orders for “nondurablsl goods rose by 2 percent: December, on top of a 0.8 f cent increase in Novemh Orders placed with facto for food, clothing, leal goods, petroleum and products, and plastics protkj all showed gains. Orders for “durable" rose by 0.3 percent December, an improverr from November’s 2.4 decline. Stronger demand machinery and electrical equ ment were among the categord posting an increase in while orders for cars and fr.| lure were among category: which orders declined. Excluding transportatw equipment, all otherorcbj factories rose by 0.9 in December, a tuma from the l. I percent seen in November. lie : kti hid die F dll Vet :hr Ihe 1 bthe b [tie tug I Iboi boss ieii F |o U| For ieii J 'Jev iaid / brat Ihe I mor NASA works on Spirit s memor plans new Opportunity road trip pagi lion lane Luc By Andrew Bridges THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - V' NASA follows clues in telltale mineral PASADENA, Calif. — NASA awakened its Mars rover Spirit early Wednesday and started the delicate process of cleaning old files out of its memory to cure it of the problems that have delayed its search for signs that the planet was once a wetter place. The process did not begin until after four days of tests. “It’s not an operation that we do lightly,” Mark Adler, a deputy mission manager, said at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The six-wheeled vehicle was ordered to con serve power before being awakened. Two hours later it began the four-hour process of reformat ting its flash memory, which involves erasing all the contents. Scientists believe a buildup of too many files in the flash memory caused the rover to stop trans mitting data back to Earth beginning Jan. 21. Spirit briefly resumed science operations earlier this week before NASA once again halted the work to finish correcting the memory problem. The rover was expected to resume normal oper ations late Wednesday. On the other side of Mars, the twin rover Opportunity was readied for a little road trip. Its destination was a rock formation where instru ments suggest there are higher concentrations of hematite — a mineral that can form in water — than had been found at its current site. Geologic evidence of water would support the possibility that Mars once had life. The rovers NASAs Mars rover Opportunity landed m the Mental ftanisl an area shown to be nch in gray hematite, a type of ton oukti! mineral Gray hematite can be produced under watery oondtentj hospitable to life Scientists hope to determine which typed hematite-forming environment existed at Mendlanl. hat< Scenario Clues to folloi Gray hematite can form in oxygenated water m an iron-rich lake or ocean Iron-rich groundwater heated by volcanism can deposit veins of gray hematite Weathering can create a veneer of gray hematite on rocks bearing other types of iron oxide. Gray hematite can result from direct oxidation of iron-rich lava, without water. bed SOURCES: NASA; Assoc.Bled Press have found intriguing geological data, but seif lists remained cautious. “With respect to extrapolating from a ff| grains of sand to a story about water on Mars' little hard to do at this point,” said Steven Sq the mission’s principal scientist. Spirit landed on Mars on Jan. 3, followed this weeks later by Opportunity. We are America's #1 Brake Service Company for *9 S 979-764-1844 BRYAN COLLEGE STATION Carkeeper Brakes 2715 S. Texas Ave. -Across from Wal-Mart corner of S. Texas Ave & Harvey Mitchell Pkwy 1 Year/12,000 Mile Warranty Most Cars 9 99 i Installation Extra Open Monday - Saturday 7:00am - 6:00pm Lube, Oil & Filter Lifetime VSD Brakes ! Most Cars 30 99 Engine Light On? We can help 17 95 The People Who Kno*| Use Valvolina I ’Plus Installalionl Lifetime Warrantyi I 45 pt. Brake Inspection Included | I With coupon. Not valid with ony other offer. ] Coupon must be presented at time of service. (mjoAS J FREE Car Maintenance Inspection For Ag's I Up to 5 Qts. 10W/30 | Most cars & light trucks diesel | vehicles excluded. Synthetic oil extra. With coupon. Not valid with ony other offer. I Expires 02.28.04. 4ii loin ^Expires02.28.04. VlAJ ttio Total Car Care - From Wiper Blades to Engine Repair