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
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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.
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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.
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