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PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)
Q3 2009 Earnings Call
October 8, 2009 8:00 am ET
Lynn Tyson - Investor Relations
Indra K. Nooyi - Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer
Michael D. White - Vice Chairman
Richard A. Goodman - Chief Financial Officer
John C. Compton - Chief Executive Officer - PepsiCo Americas Foods
Zein Abdalla - Chief Executive Officer, Europe
Kaumil Gajrawala - UBS
Carlos Laboy - Credit Suisse
Bill Pecoriello - Consumer Edge Research
John Faucher - JPMorgan
Christine Farkas - Banc of America Merrill Lynch
Mark Swartzberg - Stifel Nicolaus
Caroline Leeney - Calyon CLFA
Lynn Tyson
…the Securities and Exchange Commission including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K.
And finally you should refer to the investor section of PepsiCo's website under financial news to find disclosures and reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures that may be used by management when discussing PepsiCo's financial results.
And with that I'll turn the call over to Indra.
Indra K. Nooyi
Good morning, everyone. First off, let me start by welcoming Eric Foss, Chairman and CEO of Pepsi Bottling Group, to the PepsiCo family. We are delighted he has agreed to be the CEO of PepsiCo Bottling North America once our transactions close. Welcome, Eric.
I would also like to take a minute to thank Mike White, Vice Chairman of PepsiCo, for his tremendous contributions to PepsiCo. Mike has served PepsiCo over the past 20 years in many leadership positions. He is a close friend, an outstanding executive, and will be a lifelong member of the PepsiCo family. We all wish him the very best as he embarks on the next leg of his life's journey.
Mike, would you like to say a few words?
Michael D. White
Sure. Thank you, Indra. Good morning, everyone. I need to start spending those million Marriott points I've worked up over the last nine years running international but really I just wanted to share two brief thoughts -- one is thanks and the other is confidence. First I would like to thank Indra and really PepsiCo has been so good to me and my family. I am grateful for all that it's done for me but for this purpose this morning, I would also like to thank all of the sell and buy side analysts -- all of the folks that over the years, the last 12 years, I recall when Peggy Moore first took me around, were kind enough to share their candor, sometimes positive and sometimes critical but always I think something that I found insightful and helpful for me as I tried to help us get better as a corporation.
[inaudible] confidence -- look, I think Indra is doing an outstanding job leading this company. I couldn't be more delighted with the strategy and I am still a big shareholder. I think the PAB structure is coming together brilliantly. I am confident in the total leadership structure that we have announced and I believe it is going to work very well in delivering the synergies that we have talked to you about.
But I suppose I will always be most passionate about the international opportunities that we have. I believe that our international business still has tremendous growth potential and I know Zein Abdalla and Saad Abdul-Latif are going to do a terrific job. They have worked with me for the last seven years, closely. They know how to build a business and how to work through both tough times and good times and ensure that we continue to drive profitable growth in our businesses. They are true business builders who are passionate about our business but more than that, they are passionate about building people and nurturing a culture of people that want to work and grow in this business.
So it's been a terrific run and I am grateful, Indra, for your support and I'll be around for a little longer.
Indra K. Nooyi
Thank you, Mike. Thanks for everything you have done for us. Today I am going to approach my opening remarks in a slightly different way than usual. You have read our earnings release and seen that we delivered another solid quarter, reaffirmed our 2009 guidance, and provided a performance target of 11% to 13% EPS growth for 2010, post the close of the acquisitions of our anchor bottlers.
Our expectation is that these transactions are likely to close at the end of 2009 or early I 2010, subject to the FCC and SEC regulatory processes, as well as shareholder approval.
In any case, we hope that as of our Q4 call in February, we will be talking with you about the new PepsiCo, an almost $60 billion company. But before we sign off on the old PepsiCo and transition to the new, I want to recap the last 12 months, both the environment and our transformational work. I then want to spend some time to set up 2010 with some broad themes.
So let me start with the last four quarters. All of us have lived through the incredible changes in the global economic landscape since mid-2008. Perhaps this was an inevitable adjustment to the boom times that came before. In any event, the resulting dramatic downturn in global GDP led to huge strings in commodity prices, big increases in joblessness across most of the developed world, as well as in some developing countries, and as one might expect, considerable changes in consumer spending patterns across most of the world.
Over this period, in anticipation of structural shifts and changes in consumer behavior that we expected in the market, both in the short and long-term, we at PepsiCo were among the first to begin to transform ourselves. We launched our productivity for growth initiative early in Q4 of 2008 to create P&L breathing room for 2009 and we completed this work flawlessly by the middle of the year.
We focused across the globe on margin management to ensure that amidst all the variability from commodities and transactional for-ex and all the uncertainties in consumer spending, we would be able to sustain or enhance our margins. That work encompassed proper revenue management so that we hit the right price points, product mix and trade spending levels to achieve both volume growth and appropriate gross margins, and productivity across the entire value chain in order to sustain a competitive cost advantage.
Year-to-date, both gross margin and operating margins are up versus prior year.
Next, we refreshed a considerable part of our North American beverage portfolio. As a result of our efforts, I am proud to report that brand equity's push for key brands has risen, including Gatorade with core fitness users and Pepsi with [inaudible]. And in CSDs in Q3, we have taken a leadership position in measured channels. Taken together, our brand refresh program is right on track.
We then reached agreement on the acquisition of our two anchor bottlers. Our post-merger integration efforts are on or ahead of schedule and the project management office is up and running to ensure both a seamless integration and delivery of the synergies.
And we have executed several tuck-in acquisitions in key markets around the world, which are transformational for our businesses in those countries. They include the Lebedyansky juice business in Russia at the end of last year, a dairy business in Jordan in conjunction with Almary, and the contribution of our Japanese snack business to a new joint venture with [Calbi], the leading salty snack company in Japan. And we are in the process of evaluating several more tuck-ins.
On the people side, we are also very proud of our transformational efforts. We made generational management transitions which were well-planned, well-planned in advance and executed seamlessly. We added or upgraded capabilities to accelerate our growth by bringing into our organization very talented people who have considerable experience in priority areas like R&D, digital marketing, marketing to athletes, transformational thinking, disruptive technologies, shopper insights, and areas such as these. All of these moves were intended to ensure that as a company, we are building capabilities for the future.
Through all of these changes, our portfolio has delivered. Year-to-date, net revenue grew 5%, division operating profit 7%, and EPS grew 8%. We have invested substantially in R&D, IT, and in the marketplace for the long-term and our cash flow growth has been spectacular also, which I will talk about.
I am very proud of the tremendous efforts our associates around the world have made and the results we've achieved in this challenging environment. I am proud of their can-do spirit and their must-do sense of responsibility.
So that was the recent past -- let me now turn to 2010 and beyond. As we think about the coming year, our planning assumption is that the rebalancing of the global economic landscape is still a work in process. Our planning assumptions include low levels of GDP growth in the developed world. However, as the outlook for job creation remains mixed, our consumer research shows that the age of thrift that we are seeing in consumers in the U.S. and Western Europe will continue in 2010 and that consumers will continue to remain very careful about their spending.
East of the Middle East and in parts of South America, the situation is quite different. We expect to see continued GDP growth below the 2003 to 2008 levels but still several points higher than the U.S. and Western Europe, and in those regions the growth in consumer spending will continue, although not at a pace that entirely offsets the slower growth in the west.
Overall, consumer staples like food and beverages have been less impacted by the economic turmoil than other categories. I guess the word staples really drove home. Looking forward, we expect continued attractive growth in most of emerging Asia and developing South American economies and growth at lower levels in the developed world, but growth all the same.
Even within that relative stability, we expect that both the pattern of growth and the shape of consumer spending are likely to be different going forward, particularly in two areas. The first is value. Consumers in the developed world are adjusting to a changing macro environment by placing value at the top of their agendas as they think about their purchases.
But value is an increasingly complex equation. Getting the right price point is often as important as getting the right price per pound around. And when we deliver value is also becoming important -- the first part of the month versus the second, on pay days versus normal days.
The second is an increased focus on health and wellness and functional benefits, as consumers look to achieve proper balance in the food and beverages they consume. They are placing an increased emphasis on prevention rather than cure. While this presents challenges in some areas, it also represents enormous opportunities to bring consistent, high quality healthier offerings to consumers who are looking for convenient food and beverages that taste great but are good for you.
So what are we going to do about these strengths in 2010 and beyond? As I said earlier, we have indicated a performance target of 11% to 13% EPS growth, assuming that the transaction is completed in early 2010. I know that some of you have us at higher numbers. However, we see 2010 as a year to reinvest in the company and continue to make important generational investment that will ensure the long-term sustainability of our top and bottom line growth.
So let me walk you through some of those areas where we intend to make those important investments. First, we will continue with high levels of investment in R&D to create products that have true science based differentiation and will enable us to accelerate our health and wellness transformation. We have put in place an outstanding R&D team with complementary skills and experience, and we have married them with our insights organization which we are continually upgrading.
While we are already seeing benefits from some of the work in our 2010 pipeline, we don't expect immediate major breakthroughs. This is an area where sustained investment is critical.
Second, we will continue to invest in the expansion of our businesses in emerging markets through infrastructure investments, launching new products, and significantly stepping up investments behind hiring and training talent for future growth. We will also continue to make tuck-in acquisition. As I indicated earlier, our pipeline is looking very promising. However, as you well know, we will take a very disciplined approach to all acquisitions.
Third, we will step up our investments behind a few big global brands to solidify their position in an increasingly cluttered retail environment.
Fourth, we will continue our investments in SAP, both domestically and internationally, to ensure we have the IT infrastructure to support our growth and indeed to help drive top line growth and middle of the P&L productivity.
Fifth, we will also continue to invest in upgrading our people capabilities. The world around us is experiencing profound changes resulting from the macroeconomic turmoil and the growth of emerging markets. To ensure that our talent base in every market and at the leadership level remains the best amidst these changing realities, we will step up our investments in the training and development of our associates, provide more experiential learning for our key executives, and if necessary add selectively from the outside to our company's talent base to ensure we have the right competency to lead us I the future.
Lastly, we will also be stepping up our focus on environmental sustainability, particularly water conservation, energy efficiency, and packaging recyclability.
We don't want to reduce our investment due to the economic conditions, especially since this is a time when governments need large companies to do their part and behave responsibly. We intend to make good on our promise to deliver performance with purpose.
So that's our 2009 year-to-date journey and some overall direction on what you can expect from PepsiCo in 2010.
With that, let me turn it over to Richard Goodman. Richard.
Richard A. Goodman
Thanks, Indra. Let me turn to our operating results. In the third quarter, we continued to see strong performance across our international businesses, as well as in our domestic snacks business, and our North American beverages team did a great job managing margin in a soft market.
Our teams around the world focus on driving balanced results while optimizing cash flow from operations. They achieve this by focusing on four key priorities. First, a commitment to providing value to customers and consumers and, as Indra indicated in her remarks, by value we mean the combination of price, size, and importantly the functionality of our offerings. By delivering value, we keep the consumer with us during challenging times.
Second, leveraging the benefits of our strong and flexible go-to-market system to make quick changes in response to the environment.
Third, continuing to implement consumer preferred innovation to drive sustained growth, and fourth, operating with financial discipline, keeping the laser focused on productivity.
These focus areas, taken together with our diversified global portfolio, helped us to drive solid performance, both in the third quarter and year-to-date.
Net revenue grew 5% in the quarter and 5% year-to-date. Operating profit improved sequentially, growing 8% in the quarter and 7% for the year. EPS grew 8% in the quarter, consistent with the year-to-date performance. Both overall gross margin and division operating margin increased in the quarter, as they did in the first half of the year, and management operating cash flow excluding restructuring and the Q1 pension contribution is up 22% on a year-to-date basis.
Taking a deeper dive into each operating division, PepsiCo America's foods continued to deliver strong results with 7% net revenue growth and 6% operating profit growth. Across DAF, we grew share in virtually every market where we operate and key long-term growth platforms outside of our core portfolio, such as nuts and seeds, bread snacks, and baked products gained traction, each growing more than 20% year-to-date.
Frito Lay North America grew volume share in the quarter off an already large base, delivering differentiated value that narrowed price gaps significantly to its competitors and taking its value message to price conscious consumers through relevant marketing campaigns.
Through the first three quarters of the year, Frito Lay was the fastest growing of the top 20 food and beverage companies in the United States.
As you'll recall, this was Frito's first full quarter lapping the pricing it took in the middle of last year's second quarter to offset commodity inflation. This resulted in a more normalized spread from volume to revenue in Q3 relative to the first half of the year. FLNA grew volume 3% and net revenue 5%. Profitability grew 5% and reflects changes in product and channel mix, our 20% more initiative, and also the pricing overlap. We also made incremental investments in new center store snack aisles in grocery stores across the country.
Looking at product performance, Lay's potato chips grew high single digits, due both to strong in-store execution and also to the Lay's local campaign, which highlights the local cultivation of the potatoes that go into its products. We also saw significant growth in dips, including from the [SABRA] joint venture and in our multi-packs, which provide the benefits not only of variety but also of portion control.
At Frito, we stay close to the consumer and are responsive to changes in their spending patterns. Although our 20% more free weight-up initiative, we learned that volume wasn't motivating purchase as much as price in this environment. In fact in the quarter, we saw consumers sharpen their focus on price point as the month progressed and budgets tightened. Frito capitalized on this trend by leveraging the flexibility of its go-to-market system to plan promotions and manage trade calendars on a weekly basis.
At the beginning of the month, FLNA featured promotions at higher price points while at the end of the month when budgets were more constrained, it promoted lower price point offerings. And the division is being surgical about delivering value in different ways. In large format stores, Frito is positioning its $2 value line at the perimeter of the aisles to draw traffic, while featuring differentiated value once consumers are in the aisle. And when we talk about differentiated value, we are referring not to reduced or promotional pricing. For example, if consumers find value in the functionality of Tostitos Scoops because its shape enhances their dipping experience. In the fourth quarter, FLNA will introduce Tostitos Strips, an innovation that enhances the dipping experience for consumers in a different way.
Another approach to differentiated value is product innovation, which delivers enhanced health and wellness benefits. Beginning next quarter, FLNA's entire Tostitos line will feature whole grains, making it a healthier alternative.
At Latin America Foods, the team delivered solid results despite challenging macroeconomic conditions in parts of the region, including double-digit GDP contraction in Mexico and significant inflation in Argentina and Venezuela. LAF net revenue grew 9% and operating profit grew 11% even after taking into account the 5 percentage point negative impact related to last year's gain from a fire related insurance settlement in Brazil.
The margin accretion, despite input cost inflation, reflected a combination of visual pricing and weigh-outs, disciplined cost control, and productivity improvements. In Mexico, Sabritas and Gamesa both gained market share and delivered solid operating profit growth in spite of the country's macro challenges. This summer was particularly hot in Mexico and as a result, we saw consumer preference shift to salty snacks over cookies. This category dynamic benefited Sabritas where salty volume improved sequentially. And Sabritas experienced particularly good performance from a salty snack innovation name [Packataxos], a large bag of mixed snacks that represents great value to consumers. At Gamesa, product extensions on core cookies contributed favorably to product mix and the company also added routes in the quarter to expand penetration into new neighborhoods.
In South America, the teams drove both value share and volume share across the region. We have now fully implemented SAP in Brazil, a transformation advantage that will enhance productivity and make it easier to integrate future acquisitions.
Planned inventory build-ups to prepare for the changeover to SAP, however, muted volume growth in the quarter.
Across a number of South American countries, we recently launched product innovations such as [Twiznos] Baked Bread Snacks, which continued to perform very well. And as the team works to expand its portfolio of better-for-you offerings, they are rolling out Quaker products across the region.
At PepsiCo Americas Beverages, the North American LRB category continues to be adversely impacted by weakened consumer spending. Nevertheless, PAB strengthened its market position as its revitalization efforts gained traction.
Among highlights for the quarter, PepsiCo CSD portfolio in the U.S. achieved the number one volume and value share position with measured channels in Q3. The company's enhanced water portfolio gained share in the quarter, reflecting high double-digit volume gains in Sobey Life Water, which benefited from extraordinary growth of its zero calorie [Sevia] sweetened line extension. And in Latin America, PAB had another very good quarter.
Turning now to Gatorade, volumes were down this quarter, as expected, but we did see a sequential improvement in volume trend and G2 continues to grow at high levels. We know there is considerable interest in the U.S. Gatorade business, even though it does represent just a small, very small part of the overall PepsiCo portfolio, so let me give you some additional color on this business.
At our last call we talked about the casual non-athletic user who would come into the Gatorade franchise between 2003 and 2007, and driven a large part of the higher-than-usual growth rates we experienced during that period. Based on our most recent comprehensive consumer research, we know that today's Gatorade volume is coming largely from the core athletic user. Importantly, this core user continues to be loyal to Gatorade, a brand that is second only to Nike, the world's number one sports franchise.
Since the relaunch of Gatorade and the brand refresh initiatives over the past few months, Gatorade's brand equity scores with the core athlete have improved substantially. For example, among core hydration drinkers, the Gatorade is for an active lifestyle equity score has increased by 13% versus 2008. All of this is good news.
Gatorade's recent volume challenge is primarily a result of the economic downturn. Comprehensive consumer research completed recently indicates that the issue is not lost penetration with the core user but some loss of frequency and that is very clearly related to consumer budget concerns. To that point, about 60% of the occasion losses went to water, both tap water, which is free, and bottled water, and another 30% went to cheaper options like juice drinks. Less than 5% of the loss occasions went to so-called competitive offerings.
Going into 2010, our plan is to keep Gatorade solidly in the athletic space and to deliver targeted innovation to that athlete.
Turning now to PepsiCo International, the PI teams again delivered solid results despite the continued headwinds in many parts of the world. The teams did an excellent job of managing the P&L, driving relevant promotions and price pack initiatives to deliver double-digit revenue and operating profit growth across both Europe and EMEA. The macroeconomic environment continued to be challenging in Europe this quarter. Unemployment approached double-digit levels in a number of key markets, including France, Russia, and Turkey, and is expected to reach nearly 20% in Spain by year-end.
However, there are signs of consumer confidence improving a bit in Western Europe. Unfortunately, we are not seeing as much of a recovery yet in Eastern Europe, although currencies have stabilized. Amidst this backdrop, the Europe division grew margins and profitability by driving productivity and maintaining tight cost controls. These actions resulted in net revenue growth of 12% and operating profit growth of 18%. Over the past year, the Europe teams have been able to deliver solid top and bottom line results by running creative value-added promotions, taking effective net revenue management actions to cover commodity cost increases, and resetting price pack architectures to hit a hot price point across snacks and beverages.
In Europe snacks, volume declined 1%, reflecting the challenging macros across the region, as well as pricing action, including weight-out, to offset commodity inflation. Importantly, the Europe division largely held or improved its competitive position across the region. In the U.K., Walker's grew value share through disciplined pricing and the continuing success of its [grip trips] campaign. And in the fourth quarter, Walker's will continue to build on its solid momentum through value-oriented promotions such as its gazillion bad giveaway promotion in partnership with [Tesco].
Our Russia snacks business drove volume growth and gained 6.5 share points, reflecting the success of locally relevant flavor extensions and the launch of sensations premium potato chips. The Russia team will further enhance its portfolio of locally relevant snacks in the fourth quarter with flavor extensions of its bread snack line.
In the Europe beverage business, volume grew 9% with a sequential organic growth versus the first half reflecting solid growth in Western Europe and Turkey. In Western Europe, we posted share gains in CSBs and ready-to-drink tea resulting from focused price pack initiatives, new flavor introductions, and successful marketing campaigns.
In Russia, Lebedyansky grew market share, expanded margins, and delivered solid profitability despite for-ex and commodity headwinds. One of the keys to Lebedyansky's success is its brand portfolio, which features strong brands across a full span of price points, premium, core, and value. Its broad array of locally relevant offerings enables them to keep consumers despite the macroeconomic environment.
Turning now to EMEA, the division again posted strong volume, net revenue, and operating profit growth. The EMEA team focused on delivering value, managing cost and driving productivity gains while continuing to invest in locally relevant innovation.
EMEA beverage volume grew 9%, reflecting broad-based gains across the region. India grew over 50%, with strong growth in both CSBs and non-carbs as a result of investments to expand cooler infrastructure, improved market execution, and the benefit of a particularly hot summer season.
In China, beverage volume growth was led by strong MCB performance, particularly in the Tropicana line of locally relevant juice drinks.
In the quarter, the China team continued to expand distribution for key products including PepsiMax, Lipton Ready to Drink Tea, and the Tropicana juicy pulp snacks drink.
EMEA snack volume grew 8% in the quarter, gaining momentum and more than doubling its growth versus the previous quarter. Growth was geographically broad-based, led by double-digit increases in India and South Africa, feeding off of strong innovation. For example, in India, the team launched [Aliva], a new savory cracker product with aggressive print and media activations. And in Australia, the team launched Brainwave, a multi-grain salty snack that expands its better-for-you lineup of snacks.
The teams also leveraged price pack architecture initiatives and promotions throughout the region to deliver value in locally relevant ways, ensuring that we maintain our competitive position with consumers across the economic spectrum.
Now let me turn to some below-the-line items and our outlook -- our third quarter EPS of $1.08 included a tax rate of 24.7%, primarily reflecting the favorable resolution of certain foreign tax matters. For the full year, we now expect our tax rate to be about 26%.
The company continued to generate strong management operating cash flow in the quarter, about $4.1 billion year-to-date excluding certain pension and restructuring payments for a 22% increase over last year. We are on target to hit our full-year cash flow guidance.
For fiscal 2009, we continue to expect to deliver mid-to-high single digit constant currency EPS growth off of 2008's core EPS of $3.68. Based on current spot rates, foreign exchange translation would represent about a mid-single-digit percent headwind to our full-year EPS growth.
Currently we do not anticipate repurchasing shares for the balance of the year, because of the pending bottler acquisition.
For fiscal 2010, we are going out with guidance a bit earlier than usual because we would like to provide some clarity as you consider statements we've made about the bottling transaction, as well as the recent S4 filings.
For 2010, we are targeting EPS growth of 11% to 13%. This includes the modest one-year accretion we talked with you about in August related to the acquisition of PBG and PAS, and it also includes the potential benefits from the acquisition related accounting that you saw in the form S4s. This guidance excludes one-time costs to achieve the synergies.
Please note that if next year we find our business is tracking better than the 11% to 13% range, we will take the opportunity to make further investments in our business to strengthen our competitive mix globally.
It is very important that you understand the context in which we are giving this guidance. We are still in the midst of our annual planning process. We do not have comments yet from the SEC on the S4 filings or regulatory or shareholder approval. We are still doing integration planning and while for the purpose of our guidance we have made the simplifying assumption that we would close in early 2010, we do not have a definitive date yet. Once we have closure on these areas, we will be able to go into more detail with you about our 2010 plans.
Now let me turn it over to the operator for Q&A. Operator.
Question-and-Answer Session
(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Kaumil Gajrawala from UBS.
Kaumil Gajrawala - UBS
Thank you. Congratulations, guys, on getting Eric and congratulations, Mike, on your retirement. Indra, given all your comments at the beginning on the value consumer, does that change the goals of your R&D team? In the past it's largely been focused on launching premium products and therefore having some margin benefit from mix. Has the focus shifted to innovating and launching more on the value side? And then what does that mean for margins as we think about them going forward?
Indra K. Nooyi
If you go back to my comments in the beginning, I think we are thinking about three things -- one, clearly one part of the effort has to be on launching lower priced options and our R&D people are focused on that but more than R&D, we have people that work on price pack architecture to make sure that we hit the right price points for the consumer because it's not just value -- it's also delivering value when the consumer wants it. So there's one group focused on that.
There's another group focused on differentiated value versus competitive offerings to make sure that our products, even the Lay's potato chip, for example, by providing a great quality potato chip with differentiated flavoring, you are provide incremental value to the consumer. So we have people focused on that.
But in today's world where people are also worried about prevention rather than cure, and they are worried more about how they take care of themselves, we want to make sure we have a whole range of science-based differentiated product offerings targeted to key [cohort] groups, whether it's women or boomers or athletes or kids. So we have our R&D team focused on these areas which can actually lift the portfolio. So it's a judicious balance of all three that we think will allow us to continue to improve margins next year and deliver the [algorithm].
Kaumil Gajrawala - UBS
Got it, and then just a very quick one -- Richard, as we think about the buy-back for next year, is there a catch-up for this year and then we add on what's been your normal buy-back?
Richard A. Goodman
That's what we are -- we are doing that planning now but clearly we will resume the buy-back and we will look to do some catch-up from where we were this year as well.
Kaumil Gajrawala - UBS
Okay. Thank you.
Your next question comes from Carlos Laboy with Credit Suisse.
Carlos Laboy - Credit Suisse
The new long-term macro and consumer reality you've discussed, where do you think that the sustainable long-term growth rate of the combined PI markets may be able to take you? Are these still mid- to high-teen currency neutral growth opportunities?
Indra K. Nooyi
Generally speaking -- again, this is not a guidance but we are talking more about general direction, that's about right. But I think in 2010 in particular, based on everything we've seen in markets east of the Middle East, what we would like to do is take some of the upsides from this transaction and step up our investment in those markets. Let me tell you why 2010 poses a unique opportunity for us.
Two reasons -- one, we will have some up-side from this transaction that we can reinvest. Second, we will have people -- very, very talented people that we will have in the system because you are putting two bottling companies together, we will have excess people, and this is an opportunity to use some of them to help us expand our efforts globally, so that's another reason why I think 2010 should be a reinvestment year. And three, we are beginning to see because of the economic downturn in the west, that we can invest more cost effectively now than perhaps two or three years from now, so we want to take 2010 as a year that we make substantial reinvestments to sustain the long-term growth of the company. So while the mid-teens growth for international is generally the right target, I think in 2010 look for stepped up investments.
Carlos Laboy - Credit Suisse
Thank you.
Your next question comes from Bill Pecoriello from Consumer Edge Research.
Bill Pecoriello - Consumer Edge Research
I wanted to get a little more granular on Frito Lay -- you talked about consumers more focused on price points and they didn't respond as much to the 20% more pounds. What exactly are you seeing in the large format stores versus the small format? Is large format, is it a shift to private label, other snacks that's concerning you? In the small format, obviously you are trying to hit the right price points, but I just wanted to understand exactly what you are seeing there and as the commodities come off further in Q4 and first half '010, do you think we'll see Frito more into that 6% to 8% operating profit or you will continue to reinvest heavily there?
Indra K. Nooyi
John, let me turn it to you.
John C. Compton
Sure. I think Frito Lay, if you look at the quarter in total, you have to remember that in Q3 has the two big holidays of July 4th and Labor Day, and those are two holidays that we absolutely want to win. So in the quarter, we did invest in value, in part the 20% more that Richard talked to and in part to ensure that we had the right price points for the consumer. Large format did grow faster than small format, to your point, but our small format business, primarily driven by the $0.99 line, did continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace. And we are putting some initiatives in the marketplace in the fourth quarter notably around Doritos to help take that growth back up.
If I look at the Frito Lay business year-to-date, we have 8% revenue growth in that business, reported. If you go to GDMX and look at the scan data, you would see that Frito Lay is far and away the fastest growing consumer goods company in North America, and that's not comparing it to [Wise] or us -- that's comparing it to other major consumer packaged goods companies. And as you well know, Bill, it is critically important for Frito Lay to keep the growth rate up because of the cash flow that it provides to retailers.
So I think the combination of ensuring that we had the right value in the market for the holidays to follow consumers as they shift their shopping behaviors, and to invest in go-to-market initiatives, primarily this quarter and racking initiatives in large format stores -- you know, I think in part we had a solid quarter over all and we continue to grow our market share.
We've also said from the very beginning that we wanted to price to the commodity curve and the commodity curve this year was extremely lumpy, and we've done that I think in the first three quarters of this year remarkably well and to your point, yes, as it starts to come down in the fourth quarter and into next year, you'll see less pricing from Frito Lay overall and more initiatives to drive our volume growth.
Indra K. Nooyi
Let me just add one other point -- I would encourage everyone to look at the PepsiCo portfolio in its entirety because any time that we see an opportunity to invest in the business, as long as the overall portfolio works, we would like to take the opportunity because in every business there is going to be puts and takes by quarter but the bottom line is the overall portfolio works.
Bill Pecoriello - Consumer Edge Research
Thank you.
Your next question comes from the line of John Faucher from JPMorgan.
John Faucher - JPMorgan
Thank you and Mike, once again congratulations -- it's been great working with you. Sort of following up on Bill's question here, and this isn't just an issue for you guys, it's an issue for everybody on the consumer staple side -- you know, lots of pricing going forward -- excuse me, in the past -- concern about the consumer -- what gives the confidence that the volume is going to bounce back as we cycle against very difficult pricing comps here? Is it that the consumers will finally have worn off the sticker shock? Do you see the underlying spending coming back? I think that's one of the bigger concerns that people have just from a macro standpoint.
Indra K. Nooyi
John, let me take the first part of the question then I'll toss it to John to provide more color. One of the things we are seeing is that more and more consumers are staying at home and eating more food at home and so I think that even though the overall consumer sentiment is weak, the fundamental growth in food at home I think is going to continue along low levels but will continue to grow. And I think that's a tailwind in our favor because they take the monies they were spending in food away from home and then bringing it back to food at home because it is still much less expensive to eat at home.
So John, given that as a background, talk about Frito Lay.
John C. Compton
John, as you see, Frito Lay had 3% volume growth in the quarter and that's actually faster than our year-to-date performance. Now in part, that's because we put 20% more back in packages but our unit growth continued to grow, so I have not seen any indication of volume in Frito Lay North America slowing down -- in fact, the opposite. Our volume growth is picking up.
Now in Latin America, most of our pricing initiatives -- sometimes we do visual pricing, i.e. raising the price of the Peso, but in many cases we do this through weight-out. So we did have volume softness in Latin America but we had a very positive spread between volume and revenue.
But overall, I think the volume initiatives are on track and we had volume growth last year in Frito Lay North America and we are seeing good, solid volume growth this year.
Richard A. Goodman
I think this is really also about innovation -- this is about our ability to continue to innovate to be able to draw more consumers in the category. It's something that certainly in our snack business, as we've done exceptionally well over the last decade in being able to make sure that we can drive positive volume growth and our goal is to have that balance between positive volume growth and positive profitability.
Indra K. Nooyi
Let me also toss it to Zein Abdalla, who runs our Europe business, to give some color on the consumers in Europe and what you are seeing there, Zein.
Zein Abdalla
What we have seen is a lot of the pricing actions that we took throughout the end of late 2008, early 2009, through weight-outs as well as through smart pricing architecture, are now actually built into the space of the business and they were there clearly to cover the commodity cost increases as well as cost increases driven by for-ex.
Now through that, what we have managed to do through our programs of differentiated value and innovation actually has maintain relatively stable volumes, so we are now getting to a point where we won't need to take as much pricing going forward and we are lapping the pricing that we did take.
We've also through that time built gross margin and built A&M levels, so we are pretty confident about our ability now to invest that to drive growth going forward.
John Faucher - JPMorgan
Great, thanks.
Your next question comes from Christine Farkas from Banc of America Merrill Lynch.
Christine Farkas - Banc of America Merrill Lynch
A question, if I could -- just actually a follow-up on Frito Lay before I move to beverages; I was just wondering, Richard, if perhaps you can give us your outlook for your basket of commodities and how that is shaped up for '09 and looking into 2010, if you can maybe compare the inflation, and is there a difference overseas versus the U.S.?
And then Indra, my question on beverages, we've seen volumes decline now in line in the third quarter with the first half, profit and revenue trends similar in the third quarter to the second quarter -- what should we be looking for here with respect to progress as you've indicated in your comments? Thank you.
Richard A. Goodman
Just to answer the first question, on the commodities side we are still seeing mid-single-digit inflation for -- overall for the company. It was a little bit -- it was probably a little bit less than we had expected just for the open positions, the commodities that come down during the course of the year but it was still pretty significant and it was more in the food businesses than in the beverage businesses and I think that that was true both domestically and internationally because a lot of it related to cooking oil and potatoes and stuff. So next year, we don't -- I mean, we're still in the process of working on next year but clearly we expect it to be deflationary next year and some of that depends upon what happens in the balance of this year but we would expect it to be deflationary, although we don't have particular figures to share with you at this point.
Indra K. Nooyi
And on beverages, Christine, it's an interesting time because of the bottler deal and the fact that we are going to have all of the efficiency and the productivity improvements that will result from integrating the anchor bottlers into PepsiCo. But let's look at the marketplace for next year because when you ask me about what to expect, we have to start with where do we see the category growing in 2010? Now unfortunately in beverages versus foods, there is a free alternative called tap water and so one has to be very cognizant of that as we think about the outlook for a beverage business, not just PepsiCo's beverage business. And so what we have to be careful about is to make sure that those functional efficacious beverages targeted to specific [cohort] groups keep their razor-like focus -- laser-like focus on that [cohort] group. So for example, Gatorade to the core athlete. We have to make sure we don't cheapen Gatorade and now we've restored it back to the core athletes, we need to build on that core athlete and make sure that we don't take short-term actions which dilute the brand versus the long-term.
Similarly, as we think about products like Sobey Life Water, Zero Calorie, Propel, we want to make sure each brand is focused against a target group and we maintain a pricing architecture consistent with that.
So going into 2010, our strategy is to deliver positive profitability I hope, because versus this year where we are overlapping negative profit growth, next year should be a much better year than this. But why don't you wait until about January, so that we can give you a better idea of where we think the category is going and where we think our profits will end up?
Christine Farkas - Banc of America Merrill Lynch
Thank you very much.
Richard A. Goodman
Christine, just let me clarify -- for next year, we are seeing more deflation on the food business than on the beverage business and there are some places internationally where as you know, sugar prices have gone up pretty considerably over the last couple of months and so that -- and so -- and those will affect our beverage businesses, particularly in some of the international, particularly some of the developing countries.
Christine Farkas - Banc of America Merrill Lynch
Okay, got it. Thanks for that, Richard.
Your next question comes from Mark Swartzberg from Stifel Nicolaus.
Mark Swartzberg - Stifel Nicolaus
I was hoping Indra or Mike, if you could help us get a little more granular, specifically in the area of Russia, the Leb effect kind of goes away from this point forward and you've been quite clear about how acquisitions have been aiding volume and profit growth in Europe generally. Can you just talk a little bit more about what you are seeing in Russia, A in the beverage business and B in the snacks business, and then talk a little bit more than you've told us about what you are doing to improve trends there when we of course know that the environment is tough but you also have a number of distinct advantages, including your route to market.
Indra K. Nooyi
Zein Abdalla
The environment is [inaudible] in Russia clearly a macroeconomic environment and the fact that disposable income has declined in recent months. What I can tell you is, you know, being involved with businesses in Russia across the last couple of decades is that this downturn is quite different to previous ones and that there is many more levers that the economy has to pull to turn around and I was there earlier in the week and as you go around the shopping malls, you still see people in the malls, you still see people transacting and the shelves are stocked, which is clearly different to previous downturns.
What we are doing in our business clearly is driving cost control very tightly, leveraging the strength of our combined businesses. We have a common go-to-market system across snack and snack and beverage, and clearly as the Lebedyansky asset, which is a tremendous asset with a very broad brand portfolio, covering premium through value and a tremendous capability in reach in terms of its go to market system, it gives us the ability to leverage that across all three lines of business. And through that we've managed to grow our margins on Lebedyansky. We are actually growing our profit base on Lebedyansky.
On snacks, we are leading the market in terms of growth. As Richard mentioned, we gained 6.5 share points of share growth on snacks and we feel very well-positioned that as the economy does turn around, that our businesses will benefit.
Richard A. Goodman
I'd just add, Mark, if you look at on the positive side, the Rubel has stabilized -- in fact, strengthened in the last month or two. The government is projecting positive GDP growth, albeit low-single-digits, for next year. And when I look at the power of one opportunities once we closed the PBG transaction, particularly in the East of Russia, I think we've still got lots of levers to pull and frankly our snacks business has powered right through this recession. It's just been amazing what the team there has been able to do, so we've still got good innovation ideas and I am confident we will have a good year next year in Russia.
Mark Swartzberg - Stifel Nicolaus
And if I could, actually owning PBG versus having this approach you've had in the past, highly integrated in the past but more integrated going forward -- any significant benefits you expect to get from that complete ownership of PBG?
Zein Abdalla
It clearly significantly simplifies the overarching structure that we put in place. If you think about it today, we have actually three different entities in Russia -- a joint venture on beverages, a joint venture on Lebedyansky and a wholly owned snack business. Clearly by simplifying that, we can push [inaudible] one actually to new limits.
Mark Swartzberg - Stifel Nicolaus
Great. Thanks, guys.
Your next question comes from Caroline [Leeney] with [Calyon CLFA].
Caroline Leeney - Calyon CLFA
I am going to ask to dig into China a little bit -- you didn't mention volume growth there and I am just wondering if the government stimulus there has had any benefit on your business, be it for volume or pricing? And if you can just talk about local competitors in that region -- is [Tengyi] gaining ground? It appears to be gaining ground, and just a little background on China would be great.
Indra K. Nooyi
And Caroline, you know, I spent a couple of weeks in China earlier this summer and the targeted stimulus spending that the Chinese Government has done has clearly taken root in the market and you can see the activity, especially in interior China, where there's many, many projects that are evident on the landscape. And so there is spending being targeted and those markets are growing. The question is can they be sustained? I think that consumer spending will go up in China because the government is encouraging it and we feel quite bullish about China going into 2010.
You know, China is sort of a very interesting market -- in fact, it's a market that we ought to use as a learning place to take ideas back to the rest of the world. Innovation abounds. It's not just innovation for the Chinese market -- the speed in which they fast follow anybody else's innovation is also spectacular. And so local competition abounds. Western competition, innovating for China also abounds and I think companies like PepsiCo, while our brands are highly respected for their quality, for their safety, for the fact that they provide a great eating experience, eating and drinking experience, our brands will always do well but I think we also have to adapt our model for the local Chinese market.
So China for us represents the biggest opportunity, the biggest learning country, and a [inaudible] that they can write an incredible story on.
Caroline Leeney - Calyon CLFA
Thank you. What about volume and pricing, Indra? How's it been looking there?
Indra K. Nooyi
In which business?
Caroline Leeney - Calyon CLFA
May I go for both?
Indra K. Nooyi
Well you know, it depends. Across the board on beverages, the CSD market is really western competition so there's different kinds of pricing dynamics there than there is in snacks. In potato chips, you have less local competition so we were able to get good pricing but in the area of non-carbonated beverages where you have a lot of local competition, we have to make sure that we remain very competitive with the local players.
Caroline Leeney - Calyon CLFA
Thanks, that's great.
Thank you. I will now turn the call over to Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, for closing remarks.
Indra K. Nooyi
Thank you, Operator. Let me close by saying that I am exceedingly proud of our teams around the world for delivering consistently strong results so far this year. I am even more enthusiastic about the tremendous opportunities we have to grow over the long-term.
Our bottler integration is just one step on our journey to extend our leadership in the North American beverage business and we are positioning ourselves to deliver on the potential of our merger.
At the same time, we remain focused on driving long-term sustainable growth by investing in key markets around the world in brand building and in R&D to drive innovation. These investments, together with our ongoing focus on cost discipline, operational excellence and productivity, make all of us very optimistic about our ability to continue to grow and prosper.
Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.
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By Kevin Wilson
I'm not what you'd call a 9-to-5 worker — maybe more like 4-to-1. It means a lot of late nights, whether I'm working or not.
It also means near-midnight snack runs — like a few nights ago at the Wendy's pick-up window, and the drive-through cashier apologized because the printer was broken and she couldn't give me a receipt for my debit card purchase. As I waited for my food, I struggled to picture a scenario where I would need that $3.21 receipt.
("All right, sir, your license, insurance and registration check out … but my captain tells me we've had a string of food robberies, so I'll need documentation on those bacon cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets.")
Another late-night habit is destroying mom-and-pop stores and contributing to the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor. For short, I call them Wal-Mart runs.
During my recent run, I thought about a promise I'd made to a few coworkers who smoke. I figured, just to be a friend, I'd keep a pack of their preferred cigarettes on hand, despite the fact that I don't smoke.
To me, cigarettes are like tampons or orthopedic shoes — I've never had a use for them, so I have no concept of how much they cost. Imagine my shock when this particular pack of cigarettes was $4.
Four dollars? That's a lot of money to spend on something neither entertaining nor beneficial to health. Even assuming somebody buys cheap cigarettes or buys in bulk at $3 a pack, a pack-a-day smoker could easily spend $1,000 a year.
Much of that $1,000 comes from taxes. I've learned throughout my life we call these "sin taxes," because they financially punish behavior certain groups find reprehensible.
But really, doesn't the sin go both ways? I give no excuse for the person who chooses to buy alcohol or tobacco, but I find it morally bankrupt for the government to profit off people who have an addiction and justify it by calling the respective activities sinful.
If taxing on sin is such a great idea, why stop at smoking and drinking? Add extra fees to any marriage license beyond the first, because it's sinful to not honor original marriage vows. Send extra property tax bills to people who don't throw the occasional neighborhood cookout, because the Bible says you've got to love thy neighbor. These ideas are stretches, but they illustrate how imperialistic it is to tax someone for their moral stances because they don't align with another person's stances.
Wait a minute, Kevin … you don't drink or smoke, so why do you care? My response is to quote another comedian, Dave Attell. He says if you neither drink nor smoke, "Then you're boring … they should tax that."
While I disagree that I'm boring, I certainly agree with the idea of taxing boring people — it sounds more beneficial than taxing smokers. I've spent plenty of time talking with smokers, and I've spent plenty of time talking with boring people. I've never come away from a conversation with a smoker thinking, "That guy owes me money for listening to him." That's how I leave just about every conversation with boring people.
I think I've found my new life goal. The day I can implement laws to tax the boring, I'll be the first name on the city council ballot.
And if I'm elected, I already know how I'm spending the first $4 of my stipend.
Kevin Wilson is a columnist for Freedom Newspapers of New Mexico. He can be reached at 763-3431, ext. 313, or by e-mail:

subset: commoncrawl


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Re: Another year, another loss
The #2 and #11 cars seemed to be the cars to beat, think how they feel?
Tony and Hamlins injuries from last year, well again i'm a Dale Snr. fan so with that i'll leave it at that with, no comment at this time. Great to see an Earnhardt in victory lane over the new but much the same #3 of RCR!


text: Home > Programs & Services > Surgical and Anesthesia Services > Vascular Surgery > Blood Clots Blood Clots/Deep Vein Thrombosis Blood clots can form in the veins near the surface of the skin (called "superficial thrombophlebitis") or deeper in a vein of a limb, most commonly a leg ("deep vein thrombosis," or DVT). DVT is a more serious situation because part of the blood clot may break off and travel to the lungs, causing a potentially fatal complication known as a pulmonary embolism. The surgeons of White Plains Hospital employ blood thinners and, where needed, endovascular approaches to treat blood clots to prevent such complications. Symptoms Superficial thrombophlebitis and DVT may cause skin redness, inflammation, pain, and tenderness in the affected leg. There may also be increased warmth in the leg. Diagnosis Doctors may order the following tests to diagnose blood clots: Duplex ultrasound (the use of high-energy sound waves to measure blood flow in the affected leg) Venography, in which x-rays and a special dye are used to visualize the affected veins Duplex ultrasound is available at White Plains Hospital. Treatment Thrombophlebitis is often treated with compression stockings and pain relievers, such as ibuprofen. Blood thinners such as heparin, enoxaparin, and/or warfarin are also commonly used to treat DVT. To reduce the risk of a complication called "post-thrombotic syndrome" (which can cause pain, swelling, sensitivity, shooting nerve pains, and, in some cases, skin ulcers in the affected leg in up to half of all patients with DVT), vascular surgeons and interventional radiologists employ catheter-based "thrombolysis" treatments. A catheter armed with a special device is inserted into a vein (typically the popliteal vein behind the knee) and advanced to the site of the clot. The surgeons can infuse medication through the device to dissolve the clot, and then use the device to break up and remove the clot. Vascular Surgery Surgery: What You Need to Know The Admissions Process Pre-op Forms Preparing for Surgery Your Discharge Your Care After Surgery Peripheral Vascular Disease Aortic Aneurysms Carotid Artery Disease Thoracic Outlet Syndrome Varicose Veins Blood Clots Vascular Lab Resources for Patients Surgery Guide for Patients We appreciate the loyal support from all of our friends... Make a Gift


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The serene area of the Ironwood Forest National Monument has been protected and managed by the Bureau of Land Management for the past 10 years. Now, BLM is looking to the future, and what may happen on the unique wilderness that awaits visitors a few miles west of Marana.
The monument encompasses about 128,400 acres of land with dense populations of ironwood trees, saguaros, creosote bushes and hundreds of other species of plants and animals.
Throughout the monument, speckled with "primitive camping areas," which means no established facilities, there are areas where visitors can hike, mountain bike, hunt, bird watch, sight-see, drive a loop-dirt road, and see petroglyphs and a cemetery created many years ago.
"The focus out here is really on the undeveloped primitive recreation experience where you come out and see the area kind of on your own terms," said Mark Lambert, monument manager with BLM. "You're not guided, necessarily, by anybody. The resources are out here, the environment is out here, and you experience it the way you want to experience it."
About 15,000 to 18,000 visitors make their way to the monument each year. Without the help of volunteers, BLM's small staff at Ironwood Forest could not oversee it all. Friends of Ironwood Forest volunteer time in monitoring, visiting and cleaning up the monument, removing overgrown invasive plants like buffelgrass, and cleaning up the waste left in the wake of human and drug smuggling.
"Without a partnership with them, there would be so much we wouldn't be able to do," Lambert said, referring to the Arizona Big Horn Society, hunting groups and the Friends of Ironwood Forest. "We couldn't be where we are today without their help."
Over the coming years, BLM looks to partner with the Town of Marana. In town, BLM would hopefully place a visitors center along with signs letting people know where the monument is and how to get to it.
BLM is also looking to put interpretive panels, giving visitors bits of information about the things they are seeing as they travel the forest.
In the midst of the growth and expansion, visitors and officials are dealing with threats, such as a restriction or ban on target shooting within the boundaries. BLM may also limit the locations people can and can't walk and drive off-road vehicles, all with the intent to protect the monument's resources. And BLM is dealing daily with drug and human smuggling issues.
On BLM's website, it warns of illegal activity, saying the forest lies "adjacent to 44 miles of the international border with Mexico. Visitors should be aware that narcotic smuggling activities occur within this national monument. If you see any activity that looks illegal, suspicious, or out of place, please do not intervene."
The website also cites tips for visitors, like keeping vehicles locked, along with keeping valuables – including pocket change – out of sight. Officials also caution of spotty cell phone coverage.
Lambert said the challenges BLM is facing are public information about the park, and restoration of damaged areas by both people and buffelgrass.
"It is a tough balance to let people know it exists, and visit it, but keep the wild character," Lambert said. "It is a delicate process. Some people might go out and look for a place that has facilities ,while other enjoy the raw experience."
BLM intends to keep the Ironwood Forest National Monument raw, no matter how popular the location becomes.
© 2016 Tucson Local Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Good evening guys.
I am writing to ask for advice on the purchase of a headset for my phone or any sansa clip.
Spending 30/50 €;
Favorite music around a bit but mostly trance / house / disco, so good and has low enough.
Obviously, if with less money reach the same results is fine equal


text:
Ian Nordell and Manny Mares combined for 43 points to lead the Concordia junior varsity boys' basketball team to a 56-52 win over Marysville Tuesday night in the Concordia High School gymnasium.
Nordell poured in 28 points for the Panthers.
Mares finished with 15 points.
Concordia jumped out to an 18-13 first quarter lead.
Marysville scored 11 points in the second period, to 10 for Concordia, and trailed 28-24 at halftime.
The Bulldogs poured in 22 points in the third quarter, and held the Panthers to 10 points, to go up 46-38.
Concordia limited Marysville to six points in the final stanza, and tossed in 18 points to rally for the win.
Brennen Acree scored nine points for Concordia.


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Marlon Sandro was oh-so-close to achieving greatness earlier this year when the Brazilian featherweight lost in the finals of the Bellator Summer Series tournament to Pat Curran. Now, with the sixth season of Bellator's tournament schedule set to begin, Sandro is entering the featherweight bracket once again.
Sandro holds a career record of 20-3, including a championship in SRC. Over his last eight fights, he is 6-2, with the lone losses coming to Curran and Hatsu Hioki.
MMA Junkie was first to report Sandro's addition to the tournament.
So far five total competitors have entered, with the Nova Uniao representative being joined by Alexandre Bezerra, Ronnie Mann, Wagnney Fabiano, and Daniel Straus. Sandro is currently 3-1 in Bellator, while the other four fighters have a combined 10-2 mark in the promotion. Only Fabiano is a Bellator newcomer.
The winner of Bellator featherweight tournament will secure a title shot against the champion and $100,000.


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GV Now
Grand Valley leaders to announce comprehensive campaign numbers
Posted on June 08, 2011
As an appropriate conclusion to Grand Valley's 50th anniversary, an announcement will be made that the university's first comprehensive campaign is coming to a close at the end of June and has far surpassed its original goal of $50 million.
University and community leaders will announce the total raised-to-date for the Shaping Our Future campaign at the annual Enrichment Dinner, hosted by Grand Valley University Foundation and set for June 8 at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids.
"We have so much to celebrate as we carry the momentum of this campaign into the next 50 years at Grand Valley," said President Thomas J. Haas. "We owe the success of this campaign to our community friends, loyal supporters of this university, who believed in us in 1960 and will continue to support us in the future."
More than 1,600 people are expected at the Enrichment Dinner. A reception will begin at 6 p.m., dinner and program at 7 p.m.
Dan and Pamella DeVos, co-chairs of Shaping Our Future, will make the announcement about the campaign numbers. Joining them will be campaign co-chairs Jim and Donna Brooks and honorary chairs Rich and Helen DeVos.
Shaping Our Future was launched in 2007 and concludes at the end of June 2011. Gifts to the comprehensive campaign have helped fund the Mary Idema Pew Library Learning and Information Commons, L. William Seidman Center and other capital projects, academic programs, academic centers, endowed chairs, and more than 90 new private scholarships.
Prior to the campaign announcement, the Enrichment Dinner audience will celebrate 14 West Michigan leaders whose involvement, leadership and support have shaped Grand Valley. These "Grand Stewards" are listed below; family members will accept posthumous honors.
• Bill and Sally Seidman; Rich and Helen DeVos; Fred and Lena Meijer; Bob Pew II and Mary Idema Pew; Peter and Pat Cook; Seymour and Esther Padnos; and Stuart and Barbara Padnos.
"We are so honored by the generosity of our Grand Stewards," said Maribeth Wardrop, vice president for University Development. "West Michigan is a special place and Grand Valley has benefited from generations of families who continue to support the work we do."
For more information, visit www.gvsu.edu/giving/sof.
* President Haas said the campaign was so successful they decided to stretch the goal (audio).
* President Haas said he is overwhelmed by a record number of donors to the campaign (audio).
* President Haas said the success of the campaign speaks to the vision of GVSU founder Bill Seidman (audio).
* President Haas said the campaign is all about the students (audio).
* Jim Brooks, campaign co-chair, said this level of support will provide scholarships and world-class programs (audio).
* Brooks said the Enrichment Dinner celebrates those who support Grand Valley and the vision of Bill Seidman (audio).


text:
Triton College Catalog » Course Descriptions » Nursing Courses » NUR 185◊ Transition from LPN to AD Student
NUR 185◊ Transition from LPN to AD Student
5 credits
Introduces the philosophy and curriculum of the Triton College AD Nursing program and the role and responsibilities of the AD Nursing student. Allows students to enhance development and demonstration of problem solving and critical thinking skills, which are expected of the RN, through application of the nursing process in a clinical setting. Includes demonstration of competency of nursing skills expected of students completing level one of the program.
Prerequisite: LPN license, admission to the AD Nursing program; Optional for Advanced Placement students who proficiency test out of semester one and two.
Lecture: 3.5 hours
Laboratory: 1.5 hours
Clinical Laboratory: 3 hours
(course fee required)


text:
Prompt, secure access to full statements:
Plan a virtual visit with a provider through your PC or mobile device:
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Most infections begin in the urethra, the tube that drains the bladder. It is theorized that because in women the opening of the urethra is in close proximity to the anus and vagina in women, organisms can more readily move from these openings to the urethra. This is said to account for the higher infection rate in women. In women the risk of UTI increases with sexual activity and age.
Post-menopausal women may experience bladder or uterine prolapse or a shifting of these structures from their normal position. The shift can lead to incomplete emptying of the bladder and create conditions conducive to bacterial colonization. Postmenopausal women also experience changes in hormone production, particularly estrogen, which can alter vaginal flora, the good organisms that populate the vagina and fight bacteria.
Other risk factors for UTIs are obstructions in the urinary tract such as kidney stones. Poor bladder emptying and bladder control in the elderly put them at risk. In men an enlarged prostate may impede the flow of urine and increase risk. People who have catheters placed for diseases or surgical procedures are at risk despite extraordinary sanitization procedures employed during catheter placement and maintenance. Disorders such as diabetes that alter or weaken the immune system raise the risk of UTI by lowering natural resistance.
Several studies have suggested that women who use a diaphragm have a higher incidence of UTIs than those who use other means of birth control. In some women, intercourse may trigger the onset of a UTI although the reason for this has yet to be determined.
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text:
|By Aawesome (Aawesome) on Wednesday, May 14, 2003 - 05:53 pm: Edit
What is a better summer plan?
Is it better to take a college course than taking an AP class online and take the exam in May?
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text:
Two Houston men are behind bars as they stole a vehicle which was impounded from a local wrecker yard. The incident occurred at Cliff's Towing Service in Crowley.
The two men went to retrieve a vehicle from the business but were unable to obtain the vehicle due to there being a hold on the vehicle. After the business owner entered his office area, he heard a loud crash and observed that the vehicle was driven through the fence of his yard by the suspects.
"With these two men being from Houston, our officers work with State Police and were able to locate the vehicle traveling west on Interstate 10. State Police were able to stop the vehicle in Jeff Davis Parish without incident" Stated Chief K.P. Gibson.
Arrested were Julian Sosa, 20 of Houston, Tx. And James K. Sosa, Jr., 20 of Houston, Tx. Both men were booked into the Jeff Davis Parish Jail and transferred to the Acadia Parish Jail for Unauthorized Removal of a Motor Vehicle and Criminal Damage to Property.


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WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 16: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks after meeting with Republican senators regarding a bipartisan solution for the pending budget and debt limit impasse at the U.S. Capitol October 16, 2013 in Washington, DC. The Senate announced that it had reached a bipartisan deal on funding the federal government and the extending the nation's debt limit after 16 days of a government shutdown. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)2013 Getty Images
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Canada-born U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has yet to renounce his birth country's citizenship as promised — but a spokeswoman said Saturday the Tea Party darling plans to have that finished soon.
Catherine Frazier, a spokeswoman for the junior senator from Texas, said lawyers are preparing the necessary paperwork.
The 43-year-old Cruz "has been fully focused on fighting for Texans' values and interests in the Senate for the last year," Frazier said via email. "He looks forward to the process being completed soon."
Cruz hasn't even been in office for a year, but already helped spark the budget fight that led to a partial government shutdown in October, and is being mentioned as a possible 2016 Republican presidential contender.
Frazier's response comes after Canadian immigration attorney Richard Kurland suggested Friday that the process was relatively simple and quick. Kurland wondered what was taking Cruz so long.
Amid questions this summer about his eligibility for the White House, Cruz released his birth certificate in August to the Dallas Morning News and pledged to renounce his Canadian citizenship. Cruz said then that his mother had been told he would have to take affirmative action to claim Canadian citizenship — and the fact he automatically received it at birth was news to him.
"If he's attempting to bring our system into disrepute by suggesting it's lengthy and complex, it's just not true," said Kurland, who's based in Vancouver. "Revocation is one of the fastest processes in our system."
The citizenship issue is a thorny one for Cruz, since some conservatives accused President Barack Obama of being born in Kenya and thus not eligible to be U.S. president. Obama is an American citizen; his father was Kenyan, his mother American.
Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta, in 1970, while his parents were working in the Canadian oil business. His mother, Eleanor, was born in Delaware, while his father, Rafael, is a Cuban who didn't become a U.S. citizen until 2005.
The U.S. Constitution says only a "natural born Citizen" may be president. Legal scholars, though, generally agree the description covers foreign-born children of U.S. parents. Canada, like the United States, gives automatic citizenship to anyone born on its soil.
Previous foreign-born Americans — notably Republicans John McCain and George Romney — have run for president with some mention but no serious challenges of their eligibility.
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Npt_guy needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 95 designs submitted by 25 freelance designers.
Newport Spice Company will sell superior quality herbs, spices and hard to find ingredients from around the world to local residents and visitors. Main focus will be spices but additional gourmet items from France, Spain and Italy will be featured.
An image or shape that is easily recognizable is used to represent your business.
An abstract shape or symbol is used to convey the values of your business.
Representing trends from the internet including gradients, rounded corner etc.
Light Green, Brown and Yellow


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New Nielsen data reveals the Xbox 360, in terms of minutes, is the most used gaming console in the United States, PC World reports.
Sony's last-gen PlayStation 2 ranked second while Nintendo's Wii came in third. Not only did Sony's PlayStation 3 fail to crack the top three, it didn't even make it on the final list apparently. It isn't clear exactly why the PS3 was omitted, but at least Sony can point proudly to the PS2 and say, "Look! We make consoles that last, people!" What's interesting about the omission though is that it seems to suggest that Sony's whole "It only does everything" approach isn't causing PS3 owners to use their consoles more, which has to be disappointing for Sony to hear.
The report includes other noteworthy findings like the fact that 73 percent of households use a device specifically to play games. Also, console/handheld system ownership has reached 54 percent, with next-gen consoles contributing to 41 percent of that. Also, females now make up 45 percent of all gamers, 49 percent of Wii owners and 52 percent of PSP owners. Goooooo girl gamers!
Any of these findings surprise you? What console do you use the most?


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Cozy Room Near Alexanderplatz
Size16 m²
Floor No.
- Family/child friendly
- Internet/WiFi
- Kitchen
- Washer/dryer
- Balcony/terrace
- Towels
- Dishwasher
- Baby cot
Accommodation summary
The room has a very comfortable single bed where you going to have very relaxing nights, a dresser and a desk area.
It's in an apartment with other three rooms so you will have to share with other guests, me and my two kids, the common areas, living room, kitchen and bathroom. The kitchen is fully equipped with all the things you need to prepare your meals, making your stay easier and perfect. It has also a terrace to the garden courtyard. The living room has a comfy blue couch and a dining area. The bathroom is equipped with bathtub..
Nearby, you will find a tube station and just 10 minutes walking the Alexanderplatz.
Berlin is a city with a laid-back attitude allowing for every kind of life style and particularly appealing is also the wide range of activities and events. Berlin offers a lot of green spots with over a third of the cities extensive surface covered by sweeping parks, forests, lakes, rivers and canals. Unsurprisingly, cycling is quite popular and the wide streets are usually filled with specially marked bicycle lanes. Public transport in Berlin is thorough and efficient with the railway and bus network the fastest way of getting around the capital.
It all makes Berlin a perfect place to live in with some of the liveliest nightlife in Europe to keep you going through the long grey winters.
Hope to see you soon!
House rules
Pets not allowed
|Weekly rate for 1 guest
|Monthly rate for 1 guest
|Price for > 1 guests
|$ 129 HKD per guest/night extra
|Check-in after
|On arrangement
|Check-in before
|On arrangement
|Check-out before
|On arrangement
|Cancellation Policy
Reviews for this host's other properties
Had a 3 day stay with my family at Milas lovely apartment in Prenzlauerberg. Absolutely hassle free and easy experience. Apartment is ideal if travelling with kids, as there are many restaurants nearby (as well as playgrounds) - and a nice balcony to relax on in the evening when the little ones are asleep.
Charming and spacious apartment. The location is in the middle of Penzlberg, with loads of cafés and parks nearby. Our kids love the apartment, and so did we.
A big plus was Milas flexibility and kindness. Thank you!
/Johan, Sweden
This is a beautiful appartment in a very nice neighourhood. The appartment is big and very good equipped. Nearby you'll find lots of restaurants, small shops, etc. Mila is a very good host!
We have spent with his 4en with pleasure 3 days in the apartment of Mila. The beds were fine and it was lovely to sit on the balcony where the morning the sun was shining. The location is superb, because around the corner are the metro and tram stations from where you can reach all of Berlin. So step inside for several minutes at Alexanderplatz or at the Berlin Wall memorial.
As we drove towards Berlin we have been delayed by an accident with our car. This gave not a problem because we could 00:30 key collection yet, super organized!
If we visit Berlin once again, we will, if possible, certainly again use this apartment!
Wij hebben met zijn 4en met veel plezier 3 dagen doorgebracht in het appartement van Mila. De bedden lagen prima en het was heerlijk vertoeven op het balkonnetje waar 's ochtends de zon volop aanwezig was. De locatie is super, want om de hoek zitten de metro en de tramstations waarvandaan je heel Berlijn kan bereiken. Zo stap je binnen enkele minuten uit op Alexanderplatz of bij het Berlijnse muur monument.
Toen we richting Berlijn reden hebben we vertraging opgelopen door een ongeluk met onze auto. Dit gaf geen probleem, want we konden om 00:30 de sleutel nog ophalen, super geregeld!
Mochten we weer een keer Berlijn bezoeken, dan zullen we indien mogelijk zeker nog een keer gebruik maken van dit appartement!
great stay. beautiful apartment ideal location. Mila thank you!
excellent séjour. emplacement idéal appartement magnifique. Merci Mila!
Nice big apartment in the cozy area, go more than happy to you again!
Trevlig stor lägenhet i mysigt område, åker mer än gärna dig igen!
Very nice flat, uncomplicated nice landlord!
Sehr schöne Wohnung, unkomplizierte nette Vermieter!
Simply perfect! Thank you very much!
A spacious and cozy apartment with balcony! We have enjoyed! Certainly the immediate area filled with restaurants and shops. A parking garage is nearby (7 euros per 24 hours), bikes are in the street at the pizzeria for rent (be careful as there are no defects are), and the subway is within walking distance. Overall a great base for a Berlin adventure.
Een heerlijk ruim en sfeervol appartement met balkon! Wij hebben genoten! Zeker ook van de directe omgeving, vol met restaurantjes en leuke winkeltjes. Een parkeergarage is vlakbij ( 7 euro per 24 uur), fietsen zijn in de straat bij de pizzeria te huur (wel even opletten of er geen mankementen zijn) en de metro is op loopafstand. Kortom een geweldige uitvalsbasis voor een Berlijns avontuur.
This appartement is a very nice place to stay. The three bedrooms are very large. And there is a large ktichen/liviingroom.. We liked the atmosphere of the apartment very much.
The apartemnt is close to the u-bahn
The neighbourhood is one of the nicest, maybe the nicest, in Berlin with lot's of shops, bars and restaurants.
- Quality assured accommodation
- Every host is verified by telephone
- Secure payment via SSL encryption


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Laino, Charlene
The anti-psychotic drug olanzapine improves the control of breakthrough nausea and vomiting in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy, according to results of a Phase III trial reported at the ASCO Annual Meeting.
"This is the first study to demonstrate an effective treatment for breakthrough chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting [CINV]," said lead author Rudolph M. Navari, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Associate Dean, and Clinical Director of Harper Cancer Institute at Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend, who presented the findings at a webcast briefing held in advance of the meeting. He noted that this is the first time that breakthrough CINV has been studied in a systematic way.
In the study (Abstract 9064), 205 patients with a range of tumor types who had not previously received chemotherapy were given standard guideline-recommended drugs to prevent CINV prior to starting highly emetogenic chemotherapy with cisplatin or cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin.
Eighty of the patients developed breakthrough CINV and were randomized in a double-blind manner to receive either olanzapine (10 mg daily for three days) or metoclopramide (10 milligrams three times a day for three days).
Baseline characteristics, including age range (39 to 79 years), percentage of females (about one-fifth), ECOG performance scores (about 31% had scores of 0), and distribution of tumor types (breast, lung, lymphoma, and bladder), were similar between the two groups.
The researchers chose to test olanzapine because physicians treating patients with psychosis made the "empirical observation that they appeared to have less nausea and vomiting from other drugs they were on," Navari said.
He added that the mechanism of action is unclear, but olanzapine appears to block receptors in the central nervous system that stimulate nausea and vomiting. Metoclopramide, which is approved to treat heartburn caused by gastroesophageal reflux, was chosen as the control drug since it has been shown to be an effective antiemetic in some circumstances, he explained, noting, though, that it is not recommended for prophylaxis in any national guidelines.
Patients were monitored for 72 hours after initiation of randomization. Among the 42 patients given olanzapine, 30 (71%) had no emesis episodes, compared with 12 (32%) of the 38 patients given metoclopramide.
In addition, 28 patients (67%) in the olanzapine group reported no nausea versus nine (24%) in the metoclopramide arm. Both differences were statistically significant.
Used as an anti-psychotic, olanzapine is associated with side effects, including weight gain, although this occurs in patients after several months of treatment—"three, six, nine months"—Navari said. Used for a short period of three days as an anti-emetic in the current study, the drug was well tolerated, with no Grade 3 or Grade 4 toxicities and no central nervous system adverse effects.
Commenting on the study, ASCO 2012–2013 President Sandra M. Swain, MD, Medical Director of the Washington Cancer Institute at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University, and a member of Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, called the results truly remarkable—"a huge benefit for a really important quality-of-life issue."
About 30% of patients treated with highly emetic chemotherapy will have breakthrough vomiting despite preventive treatment recommended by ASCO or other guidelines, "and [the proportion] goes up another 20 percent if you add in nausea," she said.
"As we get better at treating and curing cancer, [these figures] remind us that we still have to find ways to improve the patient's experience."
Copyright © 2012 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
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The BCS No. 10 Michigan State Spartans built an early lead and did enough to hold on in beating the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes 34-24 in the Big Ten Championship at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday.
This landmark triumph dashed the Buckeyes' BCS national title hopes and will send the Spartans to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl for the first time in a long while, per ESPN Stats & Info:
Michigan State will play in the Rose Bowl for the 1st time since Jan. 1, 1988.— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 8, 2013
Everything seemed to be going Sparty's way from the beginning as head coach Mark Dantonio saw his defense stifle the Buckeyes in the early going en route to a 17-0 lead.
However, an offensive onslaught by Ohio State led by quarterback Braxton Miller and running back Carlos Hyde turned the tide in the Buckeyes' favor, giving them a lead as late as the fourth quarter.
Connor Cook had an amazing game for the Spartans in winning MVP honors, throwing for a career-high 304 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Jeremy Langford provided solid balance, running for his 17th touchdown of the season to ice it with 2:16 left.
Michigan State controlled the ball in the first quarter and racked up 10:55 in time of possession, but had only three points to show for it. The Spartans then gave the ball back to Ohio State after the first play in the second quarter—but not before Cook hit Keith Mumphery for a 72-yard touchdown.
INSTANT HIGHLIGHT: Connor Cook + Keith Mumphery = 72-yard @MSU_Football TD. #orvillemoment WATCH - http://t.co/eVg9wBScCu— Big Ten Network (@BTN_Michigan_St) December 8, 2013
Another nice stand by the Spartans, who were ranked No. 1 in total defense entering this game, gave it back to Cook and Co. That led to a five-play, 66-yard drive, where Cook found junior receiver Tony Lippett for a 33-yard touchdown connection.
MSU's Connor Cook has impressed with his poise. Lobbed a perfect 33-yard TD pass. Bad night for OSU secondary. MSU leads 17-0.— Pete Thamel (@SIPeteThamel) December 8, 2013
Miller had seen enough and took matters into his own hands, scampering for a 48-yard gain from deep in Buckeye territory.
That run galvanized the entire Buckeyes team, and Miller found Philly Brown for a 20-yard TD toss to cut the deficit to 17-7.
From there, it was the Buckeyes who established more of a physical tone. A clutch 36-yard completion to tight end Jeff Heuerman with seconds left in the half set up Drew Basil for a 28-yard field goal. That made it a 17-10 lead for Sparty at the break.
Right out of the locker room, Miller and Co. flourished.
The junior signal-caller ran it in from eight yards out to tie things up, and then Cook was intercepted by C.J. Barnett on the next Spartans possession. That led to Miller's second trip to pay dirt on the ground from six yards out, giving OSU its first lead.
But the scrappy Spartans weren't done fighting, as Langford ripped off a 34-yard run to help set up a field goal, and Cook led an amazing fourth-quarter drive to put Michigan State back on top.
Cook rolled right on a third down and found freshman tight end Josiah Price wide open on the back side, lobbing it to him for a nine-yard TD and a 27-24 Spartans advantage with 11:41 remaining in the game.
Connor Cook hits Josiah Price for a 9 yard TD! Michigan St. 27, Ohio St., 24 in the 4th quarter! #B1GChampionship— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) December 8, 2013
Then Dantonio rolled the dice by attempting an onside kick, which trickled out of bounds after a scramble that saw the bold decision nearly pay off for Michigan State.
Miller didn't make the Spartans pay for the generous field position, but a blocked punt put Ohio State in range to tie things up later in the quarter. After being stopped short on 3rd-and-3, another fourth-down quarterback run was stuffed.
When Langford broke through the heart of the OSU defense to run 26 yards to the end zone, there was no hope for a Buckeyes comeback.
ESPN's Jay Crawford highlighted how the Buckeyes became too one-dimensional, which had a lot to do with why they converted only one out of 10 third-down opportunities:
Congrats to Michigan state. Better all around team. Balance is a must. Buckeyes didn't have it.— Jay Crawford (@jaycrawfordespn) December 8, 2013
Brent Yarina of the Big Ten Network puts the Spartans' accomplishment into perspective:
When #Spartans kick off in Pasadena on Jan. 1, it will be 9,497 days since it last played in the Rose Bowl.— Brent Yarina (@BTNBrentYarina) December 8, 2013
After the game, Dantonio spoke about how he planned on celebrating the win:
Here is a look at some grades from some of the game's key performers, along with analysis on the impact this result has on the BCS.
Braxton Miller, QB, Ohio State: B
Some of it was sensational defense and his receivers not quite being able to come up with the big play on 50-50 balls, but Miller did not pass it well enough in the second half to keep the Spartans honest.
Braxton Miller is a phenomenal athlete, but MSU has exposed his inability to make a forward pass...— Aaron Goldhammer (@HammerNation19) December 8, 2013
Miller was as electric as might be expected as a ball-carrier (21 carries, 142 yards and two touchdowns), yet he couldn't do enough through the air to outplay his much-less-accomplished counterpart in Cook.
Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State: A
The sophomore could have easily shrunk from the moment after he threw a tough interception that gave the lead and all the momentum back to OSU.
Instead, Cook stepped up and delivered in the final 15 minutes, with the touchdown toss to Price showing particular moxie and the type of play that bodes well for his future in East Lansing.
Connor Cook completes 24 of 40 for career-high 304 yards and 3 touchdowns.— Spartan Football (@MSU_Football) December 8, 2013
It was a career game on an unprecedented big stage, which has to have Cook feeling good for holding up his end after the Spartans defense has received all the hype.
Joe Rexrode of the Detroit Free Press provides this quote from Cook, who spoke about heading to the Rose Bowl:
Connor Cook gets MVP trophy and says: "We're the ones, baby! We're the ones!"— Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) December 8, 2013
Carlos Hyde, RB, Ohio State: A
There was no doubt that Hyde exuded the necessary power and tenacity to attack Michigan State's stout front seven that was tops in the country against the run.
The Spartans allowed 2.23 yards per rush before this game, and Hyde racked up 6.6 yards per carry almost exclusively between the tackles in piling up 118 tough yards.
Hyde wasn't utilized as much late, though, because the Buckeyes fell behind and were forced to throw the ball, which they couldn't do well enough to win.
Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan State: A
The physical cornerback proved why he is considered a top contender to win the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back.
Dennard's ball skills served him well when he robbed Devin Smith of a touchdown in the end zone on what was a great throw by Miller.
Darqueze Dennard breaks up a third-down pass intended for Devin Smith in the end zone. #B!GFCG #Spartans— Spartan Football (@MSU_Football) December 8, 2013
He also poked away a key third-down conversion after the Spartans took the initial lead in the fourth quarter and was a menace for Buckeyes receivers all evening. Nothing was really completed in his area, and Dennard lived up to his billing.
There had to be at least a little bit of a "nothing to lose" mentality going on for the Spartans, because they could count on going to the Rose Bowl as long as they didn't get blown out in this one.
Although it is disappointing that Michigan State has a loss on its resume and can't really improve its BCS status, nothing is better than a Big Ten title at this point for the Spartans.
It doesn't even compare to the disappointment Ohio State is feeling. With the opportunity to win and likely play for the national championship against Florida State, the Buckeyes fell flat in the fourth quarter, squandering a lead they battled so hard to get.
NFL Network's Albert Breer chimed in:
Got the utmost confidence in my guys. Incredible run of 24 straight wins. But I can't say I'm totally shocked. Michigan State is real good.— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 8, 2013
The early deficit turned out to be too much for OSU to crawl out of, as head coach Urban Meyer fell to 24-1 in losing his first game as Ohio State coach.
It will be interesting to see how far the Buckeyes fall in the BCS, and what bowl they will play in after blowing a chance at a prospective battle with the Seminoles for the Coaches' Trophy.
Note: Team statistics are courtesy of NCAA.com.